Kristi Burchfiel

ADHD Gospel, Day 26 What are we holding on to? Read Mark 7:1-8. So many traditions. The Pharisees had a long history of all the rules and regulations that the Jewish people were to follow. They had been focused on ensuring that those rules were passed down from generation to generation as a way to ensure that they were never forgotten. However, while the rules were passed down, the meanings behind them apparently weren’t. The Pharisees are criticizing Jesus and his disciples for not observing all specific rules that they were accustomed to. However, Jesus turns it back on to them and asks why they are holding on to these…

ADHD Gospel, Day 25 Calm Waters. Read Mark 6:45-56. Jesus has just finished feeding over 5000 people. Counting the women and children, it would probably have been closer to 20,000. He took some alone time and sent the disciples off. Now, he is walking on the water. The water was stormy, but Jesus wasn’t bothered. He created the storms. I wonder if the storm matched his thoughts or mood at the time? He’s walking across the water and while the disciples are completely scared, Jesus is perfectly calm. Seeing this made me think, are we seeking calm waters, or a calm Savior? Jesus wasn’t bothered by the storms. In fact,…

ADHD Gospel, Day 24 Responsibility. Read Mark 6:30-44. It’s an iconic story and many people may not know much about the Bible, but will have heard that at one point Jesus fed a lot of people with five loaves of bread and two fish. As we read this account from Mark’s perspective, we see just how much Jesus puts the responsibility on the disciples. They were the ones responsible for finding something to eat. Jesus told his disciples that they were responsible for feeding the people. All of a sudden, their responsibility felt so overwhelming, and they realized that they could not possibly do what God asked them to do.…

ADHD Gospel, Day 23 Guilt. Read Mark 6:7-16. Today’s verses are two stories that often are read separately, yet when I saw them today and read them together, they make so much sense together. Jesus sends out a group of people, his disciples, into the cities to preach and to teach and to share the message that people are to repent and turn to him. His disciples go and do exactly what he has told them to do. Because they do that, the king Herod hears about it. When Herod hears about it, he is immediately reminded of the message of John the Baptist, and he has tremendous guilt over…

ADHD Gospel, Day 22 Disrespect and Disbelief. Read Mark 6:1-6. We all want to be believed. When we are trying to share information or convince others of something, it can be very frustrating when they don’t believe. Jesus faced this scenario. He had gone back to the area where he grew up and unfortunately, the people there only remembered him as a boy and his life growing up. They did not see him as the authoritative figure with the power that he truly had. Instead they didn’t believe what he was saying or what he was doing. Scripture says that Jesus didn’t do much while he was there because they…

ADHD Gospel, Day 21 Don’t be afraid. Read Mark 5:35-43. We’ve all been afraid. As a parent, one of the things that can create the most fear in our life is dealing with difficult situations with our children. When our children are in pain or hurting or struggling with something, that can be one of the most fearful and fear inducing situations for any parent. This dad had to be feeling that way about his little girl. People had told him that his daughter had died, but Jesus said to not be afraid and to believe in him. As a result, the man saw a miracle and his daughter was…

ADHD Gospel, Day 18 What to do with Jesus. Read Mark 5:11-20. For centuries, this has been the question. We’ve read scripture, and we see the things that Jesus does. We seek to understand why and how and for what reason, but ultimately, the question always comes back to us and what are we going to do with Jesus? Jesus has remained the same. He is steadfast he is consistent and we can trust him. But, we ultimately have to decide how we are going to respond to Jesus. As we finish this story, we see the man. He is changed remarkably, indescribably changed. He is changed in a way…

ADHD Gospel, Day 17 Leave things the same! Read Mark 5:1-10. How many times have we begged Jesus to not change things in our life? Certainly, we all have the specific things that we want Jesus to improve or to heal, but ultimately, most of us really don’t want him to upend our life. We want to maintain the status quo and just continue on that way. Jesus never leaves people the same. Satan and his demons knew it then, and they know it today. As we read this story of a man who was possessed by multiple demons, their one cry to Jesus was to let them be. Let…