ADHD Gospel, Day 36 I do believe. Read Mark 9:22-24. This may be one of the truest statements in all of scripture. The father desperately wants to believe that his son can be saved, but he has been so overwhelmed by the reality of this situation that he has been experiencing. Jesus has challenged him to believe and he exclaims, “I do believe. Help my unbelief.” We can be both believing and unbelieving at the same time, but we have to recognize that we make a choice as to which side is going to win out. Are we going to allow the truth of who Jesus is to dictate our…

ADHD Gospel, Day 35 Recognize authority. Read Mark 9:19-21. Do we recognize authority when we see it? Often we understand that there are certain authorities in life. And yet, when we have the opportunity to be around or to see those authorities, are we truly understanding how Christ is over everything? When Jesus came close to this boy, the evil spirit knew and understood exactly who Jesus was and exactly what was going on here. The spirit recognized and acknowledged the authority that God has. Are we looking and understanding truly who God is and who God should be in our life? He has the authority in every area. How…

ADHD Gospel, Day 34 Listen to Him. Read Mark 9:7-13. When we’re going through so many things and have so many thoughts and ideas running through our heads, sometimes we just need a moment to recenter ourselves. We need somebody to look at us and say, “Stop. Stop running around. Stop chasing the things. Stop trying to be all the stuff and just listen to the Father.” Peter had been overwhelmed and terrified by what had happened in the earlier verses. As a result, he started babbling and saying things that really made no sense. God’s taking a time out. God reminds him to pause, to stop, to listen. How…

ADHD Gospel, Day 33 When to speak and when not to. Read Mark 9:1-6. Have you ever been so scared that you didn’t know what to say, and so you just started babbling? That’s actually not that unusual for people, especially when you get to the place where it’s silent and you feel that you need to fill the space with something. That’s where Peter found himself. Jesus had done something truly amazing and the disciples were having a glimpse of the incredible glory of God. But Peter was so overwhelmed that he just couldn’t stay quiet. I love that the Bible shares the detail behind his words because it…

ADHD Gospel, Day 33 Make a good trade. Read Mark 8:34-38. Have you ever traded an item? Many times when making a trade, there’s always a question as to whether or not each side of the trade is getting a good deal. We make trades every day, even if it is an exchange of money for goods or services. Today, Jesus is talking about making trade of a much different kind. As part of this trade, we trade our entire lives and ourselves and what we gain in return is Jesus. In reviewing the merits of this trade, we find that, while it seems extreme on our side to trade…

ADHD Gospel, Day 32 In mind. Read Mark 8:31-33. Jesus has been teaching his disciples and he’s doing incredible and miraculous things, and he even goes so far as to tell them what’s coming and all of the pain and the suffering that he’s going to go through. Instead of receiving the sympathy or the compassion that he would have liked to receive from his disciples, he has one of them pull him aside and tell him how wrong he is and that he doesn’t know where he’s talking about. Jesus uses that moment to go back to Peter and tell him he does not have the things of God…

ADHD Gospel, Day 31 Who am I? Read Mark 8:22-30. This is often seen as one of the biggest questions of life. Who are we? Why are we here? Jesus confronted this question head on because he knew exactly who he was and definitively why he was here on Earth. The question was more about whether or not others knew who he was or why he was there. When Jesus asked his disciples what other people thought about Jesus, it wasn’t as defined, but when then Jesus made it personal. Who did they think that he was? Now, given the stories just a few verses ago, it is important that…

ADHD Gospel, Day 30 Still not understand. Read Mark 8:11-21. Have you ever been in the situation where someone’s explaining something to you and you listen to their explanation, but yet it still doesn’t click. You still don’t get it. They get to the place where they finish their explanation and they look at you, and they say, “what do you think?” You have to admit to them that you still don’t understand. That can be really frustrating for both sides of that conversation. The person feels like they have done everything to tell you all about whatever it is and you don’t understand why they can’t explain it in…

ADHD Gospel, Day 29 Compassion. Read Mark 8:1-10. So much of what Jesus does is as a result of compassion for the people. We see him focus on the importance of their needs and ensuring they are cared for. This was not the focus of the disciples, but Jesus made it their focus. We may not always be focused on compassion toward other people, but Jesus sees their needs and he sees their shortcomings, and he knows how to impact them. If we will be listening and be patient and be obedient to what Christ tells us to do, we will impact others with the compassion that Jesus has for…