“ANYTHING Can Happen: There are no ‘Ifs’”
Mark 9: 17-27 (Focus verse 23)
23Jesus said, “If? There are no ‘ifs’ among believers. Anything can happen.”
1.) This father was beyond desperate to get help for his child… to no avail.
17-18A man out of the crowd answered, “Teacher, I brought my mute son, made speechless by a demon, to you. Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, grinds his teeth, and goes stiff as a board. I told your disciples, hoping they could deliver him, but they couldn’t.”
-We go out of our way to make sure our children, grandchildren, GOD-children, etc. have everything they need and some of their wants.
Jesus said in Matthew 7: 9-11
9“Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children…
We Go HAM FOR OUR KIDS
Now Desperate times calls for Desperate Measures…
1.) (Verse 17) the demon took the little boy’s voice. (My story)
-The Importance of GOOD Vocal communication skill is evident in the world today.
-My Experience with stuttering for more than 20 years
Impact on an individual self-esteem
2.) The demon had placed an epileptic condition on the kid.
“Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, grinds his teeth, and goes stiff as a board…
22…Ever since he was a little boy. Many times it pitches him into fire or the river to do away with (or Kill) him. If you can do anything, do it. Have a heart and help us!”
-The father spoke of it trying to “do away with him” some translations reads “kill” him.
-I dare to believe…there was something locked inside of the young man that the world needed…
-It shut the boy’s mouth and kept trying to kill him
*Somethings we go through, is the enemy trying to stop us. Often times the individuals that are the biggest threats to the enemy’s kingdom are the very ones that get attacked by the devil the most.*
If you’re being attacked, or it seems like pure hell is breaking loose inside your life…Take hope you’re not just being hit…there is something you have the enemy wants…….
3. Jesus said “Bring the boy here.” (Take it to the source)
18 I told your disciples, hoping they could deliver him, but they couldn’t.” 19Jesus said, “What a generation! No sense of God! How many times do I have to go over these things? How much longer do I have to put up with this? Bring the boy here.”
-Verse 18 depicts how we often bring our issues, grievances, cares to everyone but JESUS… the one who can do something about it.
-Bishop Flournoy says “take it to the source…”
Instead of bringing it to people who can’t/won’t do anything about it accept talk, let’s take it to the One who is able…..
My old church would sing: “When you’ve tried everything and everything has failed, try JESUS…”
Why NOT TRY JESUS FIRST!!!!!!!!!
4. It might seem to get worse before it gets better.
20They brought him. When the demon saw Jesus, it threw the boy into a seizure, causing him to writhe on the ground and foam at the mouth.
-Just because we bring our problems to Jesus, doesn’t mean our life will instantly become perfect.
-Yes, instant “microwave” miracles have and continue to happen, however more often there is “personal work” we must do first that unlocks the greater breakthrough.
5. The Father’s Personal Work
22If you can do anything, do it. Have a heart and help us!”23Jesus said, “If? There are no ‘ifs’ among believers. Anything can happen.”24No sooner were the words out of his mouth than the father cried, “Then I believe. Help me with my doubts!”
-The father was most likely losing faith from fighting with the demon for so long
-then bringing the kid to the disciples and not getting the breakthrough.
- Getting to “here” and then watching the situation get worse.
Sometimes all I can do, is get here….I can’t do anything else…
Have you ever been so close to the breakthrough, miracle, increase, promotion? But you couldn’t see your miracle for the misery…
THE BOY GOT TO JESUS AND THEN GOT WORSE
6.) The Place of Beyond
“If you can do anything...” came from a place of beyond.
Beyond tired, beyond tried, beyond broken,
beyond death, beyond upset…..
Have you ever been in the place of beyond?
I had the faith to fight when he was 2,3, and 4….
I had the faith to leave the first job, but I can’t do it again….
I had the faith to go without a car the first year….but it’s too hard now
I got through it the first time….
The first breakup, the first break out,
The first break in, the first break down…
Because I thought my BREAK THROUGH was coming quicker….
Biblical Accounts From the Place of Beyond
Martha and Mary the sisters of Lazarus John 11
29-32Jesus had not yet entered the town but was still at the place where Martha had met him. When her sympathizing Jewish friends saw Mary run off, they followed her, thinking she was on her way to the tomb to weep there. Mary came to where Jesus was waiting and fell at his feet, saying, “Master, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
John, the Baptizer, was in the place of Beyond in Matthew 11: 3
2-3John, meanwhile, had been locked up in prison. When he got wind of what Jesus was doing, he sent his own disciples to ask, “Are you the One we’ve been expecting, or are we still waiting?”
Have you ever been passed the breaking point, into the broken place?
The unsure of GOD and yourself place? The Burial Place…, the Place of beyond…
7) Jesus said “There are no ‘ifs’ among believers”
23Jesus said, “If? There are no ‘ifs’ among believers. Anything can happen.”24No sooner were the words out of his mouth than the father cried, “Then I believe. Help me with my doubts!”
This was not a test of Jesus’ power, but of the father’s faith!!!
-Never be afraid to share your doubts with Christ.
Trust Him enough to know that GOD is big enough for your questions…..
It is through being transparent/surrendered to the One who already knows us that we experience the deeper, more meaningful relationship….STOP PRETENDING WITH GOD and ask for HELP.
8) GOD will give us a NEW Resurrection in the midst of the one’s who thought of us as dead.
25-27Seeing that the crowd was forming fast, Jesus gave the vile spirit its marching orders: “Dumb and deaf spirit, I command you—Out of him, and stay out!” Screaming, and with much thrashing about, it left. The boy was pale as a corpse, so people started saying, “He’s dead.” But Jesus, taking his hand, raised him. The boy stood up.
It is never too late for GOD to raise you up…
This message came to me after several seasons of not preaching, and actually after an evening of heavy drinking, I thought my ministry was over……
But with GOD…..ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN!!!