I will share about Christian books I have read or listened to.
I will be sharing about my life before and after Christ. I will include stories about my pet and other pets I have encountered.
Jesus Challenges Doubt
While the Gospel of Mark’s author is anonymous, early church traditions associate the book with John Mark, “the Evangelist.” In Mark 9, he writes about an emotionally charged scene where a father, surrounded by a crowd, is asking Jesus to help his son who is possessed by an evil spirit.
Jesus’ response? Our verse of the day, verse 23: “‘If I can?’ … Anything is possible if a person believes.” The very next verse contains the father’s response, confessing that he does, in fact, believe, but asks that Jesus would help him overcome his unbelief!
This pair of verses extends a rich invitation to dive deep into the questions: What is belief? Why is it so important to Jesus? What can we do when we both believe and doubt at the same time?
The answers can be found in Jesus’ answer. He confronts our “if” with His “anything.” His ability isn’t in question, our belief is. Do we trust Him? Are we confident in Him?
That’s not to say our emotions dictate our faith. Like the boy’s father, we can confess that we’re experiencing both belief and doubt at the same time, trusting God is able to do “anything” with the faith we do have.
Believing in the One who created us stabilizes us. Jesus prizes our belief because, without it, we can’t know Him; it’s the first necessary thing. It’s what allows everything else to follow, and anything at all to become possible.
The Center of Salvation
Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus lays a foundation for the power of salvation that is achieved through Jesus’ death and resurrection. The core of the Christian faith is found in this event.
The forgiveness of sins that we experience as Christians came through the blood of Christ that was shed on the cross. Jesus lived a perfect life, and became a perfect sacrifice for the brokenness of all mankind. Without the shedding of blood, there would be no forgiveness of sins (Hebrews 9:22). And without the forgiveness of sins, we would not be able to approach our holy and perfect God. Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection made a way for us to have a relationship with Him.
Jesus gave His life once and for all, which means that He doesn’t have to die again. All of your sins—past, present, and future—are forgiven through Jesus. In fact, nothing can separate you from the love God has for you.
Paul says that all of this is in line with God’s grace and His ...
