Mark 11 Reading today, I found myself thinking about how easily I pick and choose which parts of scripture I choose to believe and others I glance past. I don't disbelieve them but I pass over them.

 

I don’t disbelieve them but I pass over them. We all do this to one extent or another. We all have our favorite passages. The word of the Spirit to me is, “the whole of the Scripture, every word of it is mine,” says the Lord. “Bill not only can you trust the entirety of scripture, I want you to build your life around it all, that which you find a blessing as well the parts you find a challenge.”

It happened this way, I was reading verse 22-25: "Have faith in God," Jesus answered. "I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins." As I was reading these verses I became aware of my reactions:

·       The mountain moving part: In one way my heart soared. Wow, I could do that!? But even as I thought about that, I became nervous. What if it didn’t happen? What if what I prayed for didn’t happen, moving a mountain or praying for someone’s healing? I found myself thinking it is easier to simply “skip over” this verse, not disobey, not disbelieve it, just not deal with it…

·       The ‘whatever you ask for in prayer’ sentence: I had some similar thoughts but this was a verse I wanted to hold on to. I found myself thinking, “Yeah, God, I like that”. This verse fuels my prayers. Maybe this is because I have heard many people say and hold on to this verse…

·       Then I came to the forgive sentence: I thought about many people I know who hold a grudge and choose not to forgive and yet, at the same time, they hold to the ‘whatever you ask in prayer, receive’ part. Hmmm, I thought Jesus links all of these together in one paragraph. Can I pick and choose?

Well, that’s how God brought me to the place of dealing with my own likes and dislikes of scripture, which ultimately led to prayer…

Lord, Jesus… I am sorry that I pick and choose among Your word. Help me to take ALL OF IT, believe it by faith and let it ALL guide and direct my life; those parts I naturally gravitate toward and those that are hard for me. I love You and surrender all of myself to You and submit my whole life to Your whole word… lead me Lord Jesus, Lead me Holy Spirit, Lead me Gracious Father… with Your word, ALL of it! In Jesus’ name, amen!!!