Jesus Said It; That Settles It

I am delighted and humbled to find that this blog has several new readers. I welcome you and encourage your comments.

This set of scriptures below presents a number of interpretive difficulties. I do not claim to know or have the answers or solutions. I've found I am not alone after reading many commentaries and theological opinions. Some commentaries skip these verses entirely; some are brief and shed little light. This morning, I read on the internet, a skeptic's opinion of these verses. His conclusion: It is obvious Jesus lied and prayer is nothing but a practice of superstition. He based his opinion on "scientific studies" in which people prayed for the sick and none got well. It would be useless to debate with such a person because as is said in 1Corinthians 2:14, " But the natural man does not receive the things of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." What follows are my thoughts for what they are worth:


Mark 11:22-26 "So Jesus said to them,"Have faith in God. For assuredly, (I tell you the truth) I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be removed and cast in the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says, will come to pass, he will have whatever he says.

"Therefore I say to you, what ever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.


"And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive your trespasses.


"But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses."


Have you pondered these verses in the past? Have you said to yourself, "It would be great if it could really happen like that when I pray." Or," Who could possibly have that much faith?" Jesus would not have spoken these words unless they were true and possible. He would not place before us something wonderful knowing all along that we would find it unattainable. That would be capricious and completely against the nature of God.

Have faith in God Not faith in your faith, or in the church, or other people, or your pastor or doctrines. Have total faith in God.

"Whover says......." Some believe this promise was limited to the Apostles and their time . However it seems clear 'whoever"embraces all who have faith in God. Nor was any limited time period stated. "Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever." It is as valid today as the day Jesus spoke the words. In Jesus' day prayers were usually said aloud. I don't believe that is necessary for this promise but it certainly wouldn't hurt to pray aloud and with someone who agrees with you in prayer and faith.

There are provisions to be met. Obviously, and already established, our prayer must be in line with God's will. Next, our faith cannot be a reed swaying in the wind. The amount of faith is not in question. Only as much as a mustard seed is needed. The key is the persistent, constant, immovable, unwavering, rock-solid application of that faith in belief that God will fulfill His promise. And it is at this point where we usually fail. If results do not happen as quickly as we would like, doubts begin to creep in. The world, the flesh, and the Devil will continually apply pressure to try to influence us to give up.


"Believe it will come to pass." Visualize the result. See it. Imagine it has already happened. This is not just positive thinking. It is believing God will do what He says He will.


Forgive. Our sins are forgiven in Jesus. The meaning here may be that those who cannot forgive are also incapable of receiving forgiveness.

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I think anyone paying attention can see the need for health care reform. But, the public has said the proposed Obamacare bulldozing, pork-laden, monstrosity is not the answer. The president mis-judged the magnitude of his magic powers and will, if he's as smart as I think he is, move to center-right where the majority of Americans are.

He could begin by allowing Medicare to negotiate lower prices with pharma companies, (as the VA already has) a sensible action forbidden by the previous (Republican) congress who were not about to bite the hand that fed them.

The law enforcement part of Medicare needs exponential enlargement to crack down on the $50 billion a year in fraud and outright stealing taking place. At present there are a comparative handful of investigative agents and like most govt bureaucracies Medicare does not seem motivated to go after the crooks. Even when unlawful activities are reported, Medicare officials are very slow to act.

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I strongly recommend the book "Lost Shepherd" by Agnes Sanford. It is out of print but used copies are available on Amazon.com.

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Another unintended funny headline from our local paper. I do not make these up.

"TWO ARRESTED FOR FIGHTING CHICKENS"

The article that followed did not say what caused the fight. Maybe the two men involved tried to pick up some "chicks" and roosters objected. The men arrested told police they didn't know that fighting chickens was against the law.
(As you may have guessed the headline and article were actually about roosters being made to fight each other for bloodthirsty people who find this 'sport' entertaining. That is not funny.)