You know, I have never really been a big award show person. I have always been so busy with other things that the Academy Awards just don't make a high priority list. Also, I haven't seen most of the movies that are up for awards (and now got them) anyways. I do like the Grammys because I'm a music person, so I'll watch those, but not so much movies/TV show awards.
I had such a fantastic time with my Dad while he was here. We got to enjoy church together yesterday, a wonderful movie, and lunch. We really don't have to do much to have fun. I know that I'm usually so busy, that staying home and just relaxing is fun to me! My dad is a homebody too, so that's probably where my sister and I get it from.
I was a little bit confused (and also frightened) when I read a part from Mark this morning....
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20 So they brought the boy. But when the evil spirit saw Jesus, it threw the child into a violent convulsion, and he fell to the ground, writhing and foaming at the mouth.
21 “How long has this been happening?” Jesus asked the boy’s father.
He replied, “Since he was a little boy. 22 The spirit often throws him into the fire or into water, trying to kill him. Have mercy on us and help us, if you can.”
23 “What do you mean, ‘If I can’?” Jesus asked. “Anything is possible if a person believes.”
24 The father instantly cried out, “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!”
25 When Jesus saw that the crowd of onlookers was growing, he rebuked the evil spirit. “Listen, you spirit that makes this boy unable to hear and speak,” he said. “I command you to come out of this child and never enter him again!”
26 Then the spirit screamed and threw the boy into another violent convulsion and left him. The boy appeared to be dead. A murmur ran through the crowd as people said, “He’s dead.” 27 But Jesus took him by the hand and helped him to his feet, and he stood up.
28 Afterward, when Jesus was alone in the house with his disciples, they asked him, “Why couldn’t we cast out that evil spirit?”
29 Jesus replied, “This kind can be cast out only by prayer."
I really don't like to watch exorcist or demon movies. They scare me to my core because I truly believe that those things are real. I just can't handle them at all. This is one of the reasons why. Look at what this demon did to this poor little boy! Fires? Trying to kill him by drowning him?
But the part that frightens me the most is what Jesus ended with... "This kind can be cast out only by prayer."
What does this kind mean?
What prayers should we pray?
How does a person become possessed?
Why do demons possess people?
What if prayers don't work?
Why did Jesus have trouble with this demon? Normally, when a demon just LOOKED at Jesus through it's host, it left, but this one taunted Jesus and his power... What does this mean???
So many questions, and honestly, my heart is a little bit uneasy. I hate being scared. I don't like going to haunted houses, I don't like most scary movies, I don't really like the whole concept of fright. It doesn't sit well with my nervous system. But demons, I just... It's terrifying.
I saw the Exorcism of Emily Rose awhile ago, and just all of those voices that came out of this girl, all of the unnatural motions, all of the damage it did... And then I remember how my mom and I actually went online and listened to the recording of her exorcism. It's absolutely horrifying.
We have been talking in church a lot about the fall of man. We have been talking about sin and we recently have talked about Cain and Abel. We are going through the book of Genesis and really seeing how God set up our world.
I just have so many questions about demonic beings. How do they become demons? What is their purpose? Where is God in all of this? How many people are truly possessed a year? How does it happen?
I know these are so many questions, but this is probably my weakest area of faith--is that of demonic presences. This isn't an issue that will make me become an atheist or anything, because I have felt God's love and presence in my life. I know that Jesus is my Lord and Savior and nothing can shake those things. But honestly, if you don't ask the hard questions, if you don't seek the answers, if you don't learn everything you can about what you believe, then how can your faith grow stronger? If you find answers to the tough questions, if you are able to find proof in the word that relieves your doubts, then in my opinion, your faith will grow that much stronger.
I know for me, it's not enough to just be satisfied with what I know and just accept the things I don't blindly. I need to constantly study, learn more, become immersed, do research, and learn not only things from the Bible, but historical things that the is backed up in the Bible as well. I'm not saying I'm wanting to be a religious scholar, no, but I do want the ability to be able to answer the tough questions, and to find peace with some things that I want to know as well.
God bless,
Lauren
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