
When they returned to the other disciples, they saw a large crowd surrounding them, and some teachers of religious law were arguing with them. When the crowd saw Jesus, they were overwhelmed with awe, and they ran to greet Him.
“What is all this arguing about?” Jesus asked.
One of the men in the crowd spoke up and said, “Teacher, I brought my son so you could heal him. He is possessed by an evil spirit that won’t let him talk. And whenever this spirit seizes him, it throws him violently to the ground. Then he foams at the mouth and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid. So I asked your disciples to cast out the evil spirit, but they couldn’t do it.”
Jesus said to them, “You faithless people! How long must I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring the boy to Me.”
So they brought the boy. But when the evil spirit saw Jesus, it threw the child into a violent convulsion, and he fell to the ground, writhing and foaming at the mouth.
“How long has this been happening?” Jesus asked the boy’s father.
He replied, “Since he was a little boy. The spirit often throws him into the fire or into water, trying to kill him. Have mercy on us and help us, if you can.”
“What do you mean, ‘If I can’?” Jesus asked. “Anything is possible if a person believes.”
The father instantly cried out, “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!”
When Jesus saw that the crowd of onlookers was growing, He rebuked the evil spirit. “Listen, you spirit that makes this boy unable to hear and speak,” He said. “I command you to come out of this child and never enter him again!”
Then the spirit screamed and threw the boy into another violent convulsion and left him. The boy appeared to be dead. A murmur ran through the crowd as people said, “He’s dead.” But Jesus took him by the hand and helped him to his feet, and he stood up.
Afterward, when Jesus was alone in the house with His disciples, they asked Him, “Why couldn’t we cast out that evil spirit?”
Jesus replied, “This kind can be cast out only by prayer.” Mark 9:14-29 NLT
Note that the father of the child had enough faith to come to the King. The father realized that his faith in the King was lacking. Many believers have the same problem. They have enough faith to believe in Jesus and attend church but not enough faith to be healed from their diseases or troubles. They turn to doctors or pills before they turn to our Lord and King. My goal is to totally trust and believe the Lord God for all of my needs and anxieties. Every day I am improving in my goal.
The father of the demon possessed son realized what he was lacking and cried out, “Lord, help my unbelief”. Then and only then did the King rebuke and cast out the unclean spirit. “What do you mean, ‘If I can’?” Jesus asked. “Anything is possible if a person believes.”
The father instantly cried out, “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!”
When Jesus saw that the crowd of onlookers was growing, He rebuked the evil spirit. “Listen, you spirit that makes this boy unable to hear and speak,” He said. “I command you to come out of this child and never enter him again!” Mark 9:23-25 NLT
There is a contrary spirit that wants to keep citizens of the Kingdom from totally trusting and having faith in the King. It wants you to doubt. I face this every day, but I remind myself of what the Lord God’s Constitution says: You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You. Trust in the Lord forever, for in the Lord is everlasting strength. Isaiah 26:3-4
There are believers who have been saved for many years but haven’t grown any further in their faith in Him than the first day that they accepted Him as their Lord and Savior. They have more faith in the created than the Creator! That is a shame and an embarrassment before the King, Every day we are to strive to be more like Him. All of the healings and deliverances in God’s Constitution that the Lord Jesus performed are meant to strengthen our faith in our King.
If you want to know what pleases the King, it is your faith in Him. Do you recall the men who let down the crippled man through the roof? Now it happened on a certain day, as He was teaching, that there were Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting by, who had come out of every town of Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was present to heal them. Then behold, men brought on a bed a man who was paralyzed, whom they sought to bring in and lay before Him. And when they could not find how they might bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the housetop and let him down with his bed through the tiling into the midst before Jesus.
When He saw their faith, He said to him, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.” Luke 5:17-20
Remember, it was the faith of the men who lowered the cripple down through the roof that the Lord God recognized, not the cripple. They believed that King Jesus could deliver the healing that the crippled man needed. Again it was their faith that the King recognized and nothing else. Now, do you recall the woman with the flow of blood who came for her healing? Now a woman, having a flow of blood for twelve years, who had spent all her livelihood on physicians and could not be healed by any, came from behind and touched the border of His garment. And immediately her flow of blood stopped.
And Jesus said, “Who touched Me?”
When all denied it, Peter and those with him said, “Master, the multitudes throng and press You, and You say, ‘Who touched Me?’ ”
But Jesus said, “Somebody touched Me, for I perceived power going out from Me.” Now when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling; and falling down before Him, she declared to Him in the presence of all the people the reason she had touched Him and how she was healed immediately.
And He said to her, “Daughter, be of good cheer; your faith has made you well. Go in peace.” Luke 8:43-48 Everyone was touching Him, but it was the woman who put all of her faith in Him, that was delivered and immediately healed of her affliction. King Jesus felt her faith and power going out of His body! She acted upon her faith. It is not enough to say you believe in the Lord God. We must put action with our faith. You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? James 2:19-20
Remember, act on what you believe; and grow and mature in your faith in the King. Have total, unshakable faith in your Lord and King and put action to your faith. Come to Him first, not last after you’ve tried everything man has to offer. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:16
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! Matthew 7:7-11
Have faith in God! So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them. Mark 11:22-24
Remember, your faith in the Lord Jesus is your greatest asset in the Kingdom.
All NKJV, except where noted.
W.R. Luchie
www.kingdomcitizens.org
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