The Holy Habit of Believing

The Holy Habit of Believing: “Mark 9:23 Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.
Mark 9:24 And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.

Grace and peace be unto you, from God our Father, and from the LORD Jesus Christ. Beloved this week we are going to look at the holy habit of belief. We have heard so many sermons on what it means to believe, have faith, trust in God. We have also engaged in many discussions with believers, and non-believers alike, about the logic of belief, in the face of overwhelming evidence, that faith is a foolish endeavor. What is the definition of belief.
Belief is an acceptance that a statement is true or that something exists. This presents a rather scary problem when examining this text. First of all, when looking at the context of this text, we have a few problems staring us in the face. First of all, the custom of the time, is that in the case of young children, the mother is the primary caretaker of any child till the age of 13, when if the child is male, he then moves into his father’s care. The word used for son suggest that the boy was not yet 13, so we understand that the fact that the father is involved at this point means several other avenues were exhausted.
He now has resorted to leaving the ranks of the medical field, to get the help of a popular rabbi, and prophet, who has gained some fame for healing many.
Now I need you to look at this problem. According to this verse, the problem is this demonic activity has been going on for years. The threat of bodily harm has been a constant problem. The facts are not only indisputable, but they are not at all a secret. You see it is rough when the thing you go to God for, is so far gone, it can no longer be kept under wraps. With all this, a father, desperate, sets out to find this Jesus who has healed others and may be able to help him. When he finally comes face to face with this prophet, Jesus says to him the answer is for the father to ignore what he and his family has been going through for years, and believe the word of Prophet, who has not been through it. Ignore the fact that he has a real problem and believe that his problem can be dealt with by adjusting his belief. The real threat of the health of his son, is to be solve by his accepting the power of God.
Here is the challenge we have. What we believe defines us. What we believe also dictates what we will do. The problem is that many of our beliefs have been tempered by what we understand to be facts. This poor man is being asked to believe that healing he has not seen, despite his multiple attempts through other legitimate channels will now work because a preacher tells him to believe that it will. This is crazy, and also a bit condescending. It is crazy because Jesus is talking about faith and he has never examined the boy. He does not know the family, he has not conducted any test. He has not prescribed any medicinal solutions. He has not displayed any competence in any field either in medical or psychiatric, that would put any family at ease. Yet he takes the time to almost blame this on the very person seeking the solution. Follow this logic. Would we have any right to be able to accuse a father of not believing when he took the time to seek Jesus out. He even had occasion to be found in the midst of an argument with the disciples. Yet with him in his presence, Jesus says your problem is you do not believe. Question, how many things do we do everyday, that because of our past, we really do not believe will work. How many times do we waste our time doing things even though we know somewhere in the pit of our stomach, this will not work out. We approach things with this attitude, and many time engage in self fulfilling prophecies. We know we are not going to get the job, but we go to the interview any way. Sometimes our doubt has nothing to do with any facts, just our fear.
Jesus’ admonishes the father to believe. You see belief fosters an attitude of expectancy. If we engage in the habit of believing God, we will tend to live in expectancy. Why is this important? When we operate in expectancy, we do not accept eventuality. So many of us except things we have no business accepting. The awesome thing in this text is the fathers answer. Lord I believe, but help thou my unbelief. I will accept as true, what you are telling me, but where my mind prevents me from accepting your truth Lord, negate my logic, and assist me to think correctly. Many of our problems come from the wrong mindset. We can not achieve a positive outcome from a negative mindset. God is not asking us to believe in fairy tales, he is asking us to believe his word, believe him. Beloved, his word will always be more real than our perception of what is real. Believe God. Believe his word, even when your past tells you it can not be done. You believe, and God will.

Yours Because I’m His
Leo Colon
pastor@ihpfwc.org
http://www.ihpfwc.org

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(Via .)