September 26, 2024 Which room are you in?

“Jesus said to them, ‘You faithless people! How long must I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring the boy to me” (Mark 9:19 NLT).

Which Room are You in?

Jesus often expressed exasperation at the lack of faith he witnessed in people. In Mark 9:19, for example, when a man brought his son to Jesus and shared that he had brought him first to His disciples, but they could do nothing, Jesus exclaims, “O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you?”

Then when the father expressed in a questioning tone, “If You can do anything…,” Jesus turned it back to him saying, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes” (Mark 9:23). So I choose not to hang around with the “faithless.” I choose to be among the faithful and among those who not only know that God can, but that He will. Remember how Jesus responded when a leper came to Him and said, “Lord, if you are willing, You can make me clean?” (Luke 5:12). Jesus said, “I am willing. Be clean!” (V. 13) That man had faith! He did not say, “If you can” but “If you are willing.” Your faith touches the heart of God and moves mountains!

Still, it is difficult to have faith when you are surrounded by distracting voices and forces. In general, people in the church are in one of two rooms, the lower or the upper room. This brief space will not permit me to go into details. But Mark 9 is an illustration of this. Jesus took three disciples and went up to the top of a high mountain. Up there, they saw Jesus clearly, as He is. His appearance was transformed, and his clothing became a dazzling white, different and more brilliant than any they had ever seen. They also heard the voice of God saying,“This is my dearly beloved Son. Listen to him” (Mk. 9:7 NLT).

This, I would say, is a picture of the upper room of the church.

Meanwhile, the other eight disciples were at the foot of the mountain (the lower room), surrounded by a chorus of cynical voices, religious teachers, who were arguing with them as they tried unsuccessfully to cast the demon out of the boy. It’s difficult to have faith in the lower room because your vision is not clear. You cannot see Jesus in all of his glory. Your hearing is distracted by the wrong voices. And faith comes by hearing—hearing the voice of God (Rom. 10:17)!

Everyone enters through the lower room. But by now, we should all be in the upper room! Come on, let’s go up!! Which room are you in?

Focus Quote: “And when they had entered, they went up to the upper room” (Acts 1:13 NKJV).

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“Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us” (1 John 5:14).

Just pause and pray wherever you are. There is no call line or zoom link that you need to remember or retrieve and connect to. Just connect to God and pray! I will also be praying with you. There is power in agreement!