40 DAYS - Day 21 - 3.13.21

Love Goes the Distance - Day 21 – Saturday, March 13th – Pastor Todd Crofford
Scripture Reading – Mark 9:14-29; focus on 9:14-19, and 28-29
Remember to Pause | Read | Reflect | Listen |Pray | Journal |Practice | Encourage/Share |Fast

When they came to the other disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and the teachers of the law arguing with them. As soon as all the people saw Jesus, they were overwhelmed with wonder and ran to greet him. “What are you arguing with them about?” he asked. A man in the crowd answered, “Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not.” “You unbelieving generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.”

After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?” He replied, “This kind can come out only by prayer.”

It is somewhat odd that the disciples could not drive out the evil spirit since much earlier in Mark, the disciples have been successfully doing so (Mark 6:12-13).  Without diving too deep into the reasons for their failure, I find it interesting that their lack of power has led to arguing instead of healing.  Jesus seems a bit taken back that the disciples are in argument posture and directly questions them what they are quarreling about amongst themselves. How sad that the fallback from demonstrating the power of God in our lives is often just fighting with others.
Sometimes I wonder in this age of argument if we should quiet our loud voices on social media, around the office, and in the neighborhood and be more focused than ever on the power and love of God flowing through us.  Perhaps our determination to defend ourselves, protect our Christian rights, and win every moral argument is a sign of weakness more than strength. I don’t mean we shouldn’t take a stand for what is right, but the kind of love and power should back up the authority of what we say in our lives that those who stand against us will find undeniable. If we are determined only to be right and not resolved to be filled with the Holy Spirit of power and love, then our words will just be a bunch of angry noise.

Prayer Focus – Let’s pray today for a church bold enough to declare the truth and kind enough to do so with love, not anger and hate.