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…

ADHD Gospel, Day 27 He does everything well. Read Mark 7:24-37. Jesus continues traveling places and healing people. As he goes, the conversations he has amaze and astound people. At the end of this chapter, we see a really interesting statement. People look at Jesus, and they say he has done everything well. At this point, it’s not even just about the miracles, although they do call those out. People are looking at everything about his life and saying he does everything well. When we look at our lives, there are so many things that I feel like I do well, and so many things I know I don’t do…

ADHD Gospel, Day 27 What comes out? Read Mark 7:9-23. The pharisees were so focused on cleanliness. They wanted to be ritualistically clean in everything that they did. However, Jesus gave them a different perspective. He wanted them to understand that what’s on the outside of a person doesn’t define whether or not they are dirty or clean. It’s about what’s on the inside of the person. What squeezes out? When we say things, they are a reflection of our heart and what we are thinking. When we do things, they are a reflection of what’s going on in our minds. When we are under pressure and stress, the way…

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…