{"id":9958,"date":"2021-11-06T06:37:05","date_gmt":"2021-11-06T11:37:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/pastorscott\/index.php\/devotional-on-mark-9\/"},"modified":"2021-10-26T15:16:46","modified_gmt":"2021-10-26T20:16:46","slug":"devotional-on-mark-9","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/localhost\/pastorscott\/index.php\/devotional-on-mark-9\/","title":{"rendered":"Devotional on Mark"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_15728\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-15728\" style=\"width: 960px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/localhost\/pastorscott\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/100_2657.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/localhost\/pastorscott\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/100_2657-1024x577.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"960\" height=\"541\" class=\"size-large wp-image-15728\" srcset=\"http:\/\/localhost\/pastorscott\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/100_2657-1024x577.jpg 1024w, http:\/\/localhost\/pastorscott\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/100_2657-300x169.jpg 300w, http:\/\/localhost\/pastorscott\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/100_2657-768x432.jpg 768w, http:\/\/localhost\/pastorscott\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/100_2657-1536x865.jpg 1536w, http:\/\/localhost\/pastorscott\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/100_2657.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-15728\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">2014 &#8211; Looking out over Canyonlands NP from Dead Horse Point State Park, UT<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Struggling faith<\/p>\n<p>Mark 9: Then I believe. Help me with my doubts!<\/p>\n<p>The man is desperate to get help for his son who\u2019s possessed by a demon causing the boy to have dangerous convulsions.  He brings him to Jesus, pleading for help.  However, Jesus is absent at the time.  Some of the disciples, though, have had experience with such things.  They\u2019ve been commissioned by Jesus to do exactly what needs to be done.  However, in spite of their efforts the condition of the child is unchanged.  Just as the father is about to leave Jesus arrives and asks what\u2019s going on.  The man explains the need.  As the boy is again thrown into a seizure, Jesus asks how long this has been going on and the man answers, adding, \u201cIf you can do anything, do it&#8230;help us!\u201d  Jesus calls the man to faith reminding him that there are no \u201cifs\u201d in faith.  I love the answer of the desperate father.  For the sake of his son he\u2019ll banish all the \u201cifs\u201d and replace them with belief.  Then, with transparent honestly, he pleads \u201cHelp me with my doubts!\u201d  Oh how I identify with this good man.  With the hard facts so close at hand he struggles to get a grasp on absolute faith.  As he says these words, he has a son trashing about on the ground and, right before him he has Jesus, the Miracle Worker.  With every fiber of his being he wants to be doubt free.  Apparently, that\u2019s good enough for Jesus.   An honest struggle for faith is enough faith for the impossible to happen.  As I struggle with the hard realities of life in view of the claims of God\u2019s grace and mercy I\u2019m often like that father.  Happily, I\u2019m reminded here that the Lord does, indeed, help us with our doubts.  Even a struggling faith has power in God\u2019s eyes.<\/p>\n<p>Take Away: An honest struggle for faith is enough faith for the impossible to happen.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Struggling faith Mark 9: Then I believe. Help me with my doubts! The man is desperate to get help for his son who\u2019s possessed by a demon causing the boy to have dangerous convulsions. He brings him to Jesus, pleading for help. However, Jesus is absent at the time. Some of the disciples, though, have [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1517,1428],"tags":[1210,340,518,536,722],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/localhost\/pastorscott\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9958"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/localhost\/pastorscott\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/localhost\/pastorscott\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/localhost\/pastorscott\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/localhost\/pastorscott\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9958"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/localhost\/pastorscott\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9958\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15729,"href":"http:\/\/localhost\/pastorscott\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9958\/revisions\/15729"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/localhost\/pastorscott\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9958"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/localhost\/pastorscott\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9958"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/localhost\/pastorscott\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9958"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}