February 22, 2025 • 26 mins
Today on Bold Steps Weekend with Mark Jobe talks about exploring your needs before God. This is part two of last weeks message titled Speaking Up from the series Moved: How to Prepare for the Moment and will be coming from the book of Mark chapter 10.
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S1 (00:00):
Exploring your needs before God. That's our topic today on
Bold Steps Weekend with Mark Jobe. You know.
S2 (00:07):
I believe that sometimes what holds us back is that oftentimes,
we're unwilling to let go of our security blankets to
follow Jesus all the way. No, I'm going to Jesus
with full confidence that I will never return to the
person I was. I'm going to get out of this
place of stuckness, and I'm going to a different level.
I will not return.
S1 (00:39):
Welcome to Bold Steps Weekend with Mark Jobe. Mark is
president of Moody Bible Institute and the senior pastor of
New Life Community Church in Chicago. I'm Wayne Shepherd. Today,
we're moving forward in our series on learning how to
prepare for the moment, and we're looking at how we
can speak up. Mark started this message last weekend, but
if you missed it, you can catch the complete message
(01:00):
online when you go to bold steps. Org. Right now
let's turn to the book of Mark chapter ten for
our message titled Speaking Up.
S2 (01:10):
A couple years ago, I was driving with someone and
on a trip and in the corner of their window
they had a little black box. He was driving pretty
fast and suddenly a little blinker started going off. Bleep
bleep bleep bleep bleep bleep bleep a little red lights
are going crazy. And I said to him hey what
is that. Oh he said that's my radar detector. I
(01:33):
said what do you mean. Well he says anytime it
comes close to a radar it it activates. It starts
to blink. Telling me I'm getting close to a radar,
so slow down. I believe that's the way our faith is.
I believe that we have a measure of faith, and
every time there's faith that gets close to the presence
(01:54):
of Jesus, that faith suddenly starts blinking and activating because
your faith is activated by the very presence of Jesus.
Can I tell you this? If Bartimaeus would have listened
to the people around him. You would have never known
(02:16):
his name because his story would not be in the Bible.
Jesus would have walked by and Bartimaeus would have continued
to be blind. If Bartimaeus would have listened to the
people saying, don't be so fanatical, don't cry out, don't
call out. If he hadn't allowed his faith to activate
(02:36):
the boldness and the press in, we would have never
known his name. The next day after Jesus left, he
would still be blind. He would have heard not too
long afterwards that this Jesus was crucified and died. He
would have still been begging. He would have remembered it
(02:57):
as the moment that Jesus walked by him, but nothing happened.
But because Bartimaeus refused to be dampened by the crowd,
he refused to listen. He refused to shut his voice down.
He allowed his faith to activate his boldness. Bartimaeus is
in the Bible. Three of the Gospels. Listen, I'm talking
(03:21):
to someone here today, I know it. Secondly, I want
you to write this down. Not only. Not only do
we need to be bold and not let our intensity
be dampened by the people that are around us, but
(03:43):
you need to be ready and leave your old security
blanket behind. How many, when you were babies, had little
security blankets. All the men say.
S3 (03:57):
I read about that.
S2 (04:02):
You know, little kids have blankets that they hang on to.
It's a security blanket. I was staying at someone's house recently,
and she was saying that they left the little girl.
She was three years old. They left the security blanket.
They lost it, and she just could not sleep. She
was mommy. She would get down on her knees at
night and pray that they would find her security blanket.
And because she just. That was her security blanket. So
(04:26):
her mom kind of switched it out to another big blanket,
not a little blanket. And. But what does security blanket do?
It gives you security. Can I tell you I read
the story of Bartimaeus, and there's something about what happens next,
that next that caught my attention. It says so. They
called the blind man. Oh, before that, I want you
(04:49):
to notice. It says in verse, I believe it's verse 49.
It says Jesus stopped. Jesus stopped. Hey, I love that concept.
Why did Jesus stop? Because he heard the voice of faith.
(05:10):
Jesus was on his way and he stops. Why did
he stop? Because he hears a desperate man calling out
to him. There was a lot of voices, a lot
of noise, a big crowd. But Jesus can tell the
difference between the voice of the crowd and the voice
(05:30):
of someone who's desperate, calling out in faith. It's an
incredible thought that the God of the universe would stop
when he hears you and I calling out in desperate faith,
sincere faith. He's on his way. He's going to pass
him by. But he stops because he hears. He hears
(05:51):
a cry. He hears, Son of David, have mercy. Jesus
stops and then he he calls out to him, notice
what it says in verse 49. And he said, call him.
And so they called the blind man. Cheer up. On
(06:11):
your feet. He's calling you. Verse 50, the very first
thing that Bartimaeus does, it says, is it says. And
throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and
he came to Jesus. The blind man had a cloak.
(06:36):
He's a street guy. He lives in the street. It's
interesting as I see how Jesus heals people in the Gospels.
It almost always he has a fixation on the mats
that they're on. Jesus said, leave your mat, get up
and walk to the crippled man. He seems to want
(06:58):
to make sure that whatever. You know, a homeless person
lives in a cardboard box in the times of Jesus
they didn't need. The weather was fairly nice. They didn't
need cardboard boxes, but they had mats and they had cloaks.
Their cloak was their home. It represented where they stayed.
(07:19):
Their mat was what they laid on. This blind man
jumps up. He's a beggar. He's poor. I've seen beggars,
homeless people, and they cling to the little stuff that
they have. They're very guarded about it because it represents
their house, their identity, everything they have in the world,
(07:41):
they don't just throw their cloak aside. They're not careless
about their stuff. They hang on to it. They guard
their cardboard box like you guard your house. They hang
onto their coat like you hang on to your car.
This man gets up and he throws his cloak aside
as if nothing. And you wonder, hey, why? So I
(08:03):
believe that Bartimaeus, there was a statement he was making there.
I believe that Bartimaeus was making sure he went with
the mentality. I'm going to come to Jesus and I
will never, never go back to where I was before.
(08:27):
This is not hold my cloak because I may come back.
This was take me to Jesus because I'm never coming back.
I'm not hanging on to it just in case it
doesn't work out with Jesus. No, I'm going to Jesus
(08:48):
with full confidence that I will never return to the
person I was. I will never go back to the
lifestyle that I'm leaving. I will never be stuck again.
I'm going to get out of this place of stuckness
and I'm going to a different level. I will not return.
I believe that's that's the statement that he was making.
That's faith. That's faith. You know, I believe that sometimes
(09:11):
what holds us back is that oftentimes we're unwilling to
let go of our security blankets to follow Jesus all
the way. For quite a while I heard about this,
and I actually looked it up to see if it
was true or if it's just kind of a legend.
And I actually found verification that it's true that there
(09:32):
are some hunters in Africa that when they want to
catch some pesky monkeys that are pretty smart and avoid
being caught, one of their tactics is they'll take a
gourd or the equivalent of a coconut. They'll put a
hole in it, empty what's inside? They'll make the hole
(09:57):
just big enough so that a monkey can stick his
hand in, and they'll put nuts inside of that, and
then they'll tie a rope around the gourd or the
coconut and leave it out in a place where they
know that the monkey will see it. And what happens
is the monkey goes and he starts to investigate, sees it,
looks in the hole, smells the nuts and sticks his hand,
can barely get his hand in, but sticks his hand
(10:19):
into the coconut, sticks his hand in and grabs a
handful of nuts. But then when they make a fist
with the nuts, they can't get their hand out. I
saw a little video of a monkey jumping around trying
to get his hand out, and they're going like this
and and trying to get their hand out, and we think,
(10:40):
that's so crazy. Just let go, just let go. Let
go the nuts and you're free. Listen. Man, I see
so many people like that. You say all.
S3 (10:56):
Those dumb monkeys.
S2 (10:59):
But you know how many people I see the very
same way saying, I want to go to Jesus. I'm
so stuck. I want to go to Jesus. I can't
get here. No, no, no, no. All he's saying is,
let go and you're free.
S1 (11:24):
You're listening to Bold Steps Weekend with Mark Jobe. Today's
lesson is the second part of a study in Mark
chapter ten titled Speaking Up. And if you'd like to
replay or share this message, visit us online at Bold
Steps org. You can also listen and even share the
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Just search for Bold Steps Weekend with doctor Mark Jobe,
(11:47):
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(12:08):
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part of our online family. Now let's get back into
the second half of today's message from Mark Jobe. It's
titled Speaking Up.
S2 (12:28):
I want Jesus, but I don't want to let go
of this. Yeah, maybe you're living with that boyfriend that
you've been living with for 6 or 7 years. You
keep thinking, I'm going to leave him. It's no good.
It's not working out. He mistreats me. It's not a
healthy relationship. I'm going to leave him. But it's your
security blanket. You know, it feels like, hey, I need
to be with this guy. Come to Jesus, I want
(12:51):
to I can't really you can't or you won't. Come on.
I've had guys ask me, pastor, I want to come
to Jesus. Hey, a private question here, though. I want
to come to Jesus. You know, it's not a big
(13:14):
deal in my life, but I smoke pot. It makes
me feel calm. This guy. You. You drink coffee, right?
It's kind of the same thing. Do I need to
give it up to follow Jesus? Let go!
S3 (13:32):
Ah, you know I want to.
S2 (13:34):
But it's kind of. It doesn't mean a lot to me,
but I want to. But I can't quite. Hey, let
it go.
S4 (13:41):
Amen.
S2 (13:43):
Pot. Jesus. Seriously? Seriously? You're having that conversation in your head. Seriously?
You're really wondering about it? Seriously? Are you thinking through that?
Some of us have security blankets. It's your God substitute.
It's what you've gone to year after year to make
(14:04):
you feel good. It's. It's your fallback. It's the thing
that when you're down, you go to. And it may
be food, it may be drugs, it may be alcohol.
It may be a bad relationship, it may be bad friends,
whatever it is. But some of you are unwilling to
let go, to go to Jesus and you feel like
you're stuck. But no, it's not about being stuck. It's
about being willing to let go of your security blanket,
(14:28):
throw it off and say, okay, I'm going to God.
There is no there is no rivalry here. I'm going
to God. Bartimaeus threw his cloak off. He jumped up,
and he made his way to Jesus. You see, blindness
(14:51):
actually became his greatest gift because in the hour of
his need, his faith was activated by the presence of Jesus,
and he had an irreversible encounter with the living God.
Number three, you need to speak up and be bold.
(15:12):
You need to speak up and get ready to release
your security blanket. And lastly, you need to speak up
and be clear and declare your need before God in faith.
Verse 51, he's finally in front of Jesus. And Jesus
(15:32):
looks at blind Bartimaeus and he asks him a question
that seems like a rhetorical question, like, really, Jesus, this
is your profound question. He looks at Bartimaeus and he says,
what do you want me to do for you? If
(15:55):
I was Bart, I'd be. Hello? Jesus. Can I tell
you this? When God asks a question, it's not because
he doesn't know the answer. Ever. When God asks a question,
it's because he's causing us to either search our heart
(16:19):
or to declare something with our mouth that up until now,
we've been unwilling to declare. There's something about speaking, something
that takes it to another level. You can believe in
your heart in Romans chapter ten. It says if you
believe in your heart, you are justified. But if you
(16:40):
confess with your mouth, you are saved. They work hand
in hand. If you believe something but are not willing
to speak it, usually you don't believe it enough. You've
been dating a guy for seven years. He keeps. There's
another level you cross when it's like, yeah, man, my boyfriend,
(17:02):
we love each other. We're like, yeah, yeah, my soul mate.
But there's some. There's a line that's crossed. When he
finally says, do you want to marry me? It always
kind of surprises me because every video that I see, every,
every girl always goes, oh.
S3 (17:24):
Oh.
S2 (17:27):
Wow. And, like, seriously, after ten years, you're still surprised.
I mean, you look like. You look like it just
totally caught you by surprise. I mean, ten years, I'd
be like, yeah, it's about time, dude. Not like, oh. Oh, wow. Yeah.
Every everyone I see, it's like, oh, like they're surprised.
I'm like, I don't get it. What are you surprised about?
(17:49):
But but it's not the surprise. It's not. It's not
like I'm shocked. You know what they're surprised about that
it finally was spoken because a woman knows that it
can be in the heart, but when it's finally spoken,
it takes it to another level. When you believe something
in your heart, it's okay. But when you speak it,
(18:11):
it takes us to another level. Jesus said, what do
you want from me, Bart? And this is what Bartimaeus says. Listen,
the blind man said, Rabbi, which means teacher. I want
to see. I think there was a defining moment here
(18:32):
where Bartimaeus had to declare, yeah, I acknowledge I have
a need. I acknowledge what I want. I'm not covering it.
I'm not hiding it. I want to see. I want
to see. I've been calling out to you. But I
acknowledge my need. And I declare it clearly before you. Jesus.
(18:57):
Jesus matter of factly says, go, said Jesus, your faith
has healed you. Immediately he received his sight and started
following Jesus along the road. Say immediately, I'm amazed at
(19:19):
how many places in Scripture says and suddenly, immediately, at
the moment. Can I tell you something? God works in
a lot of different ways. But there's something about the
power of God that can work immediately. There's something about
an encounter of God that can happen now. There's something
(19:42):
about the presence of God that comes with faith that
it happens. There's a before and after moment. It's not
where there was a long journey prior. No no, no.
It may have been a journey leading up to it,
but there's a moment that suddenly becomes the moment. There's
a build up. The journey may have been long, but
(20:02):
there's a moment. There comes a moment where. No, this
is the moment. There's a before and after that moment.
There's a line. I was this and now I'm that.
There was an encounter where the supernatural intersected with the natural.
Where the divine released something into the normal world. Where
(20:28):
the power of God came. And it wasn't there before.
And I was different after the power of the living God.
Immediately there was a release that happened into his life.
Immediately there was the power of the living Jesus, the
one that has always been and will always be, the
(20:49):
one who has no beginning, who was not created because
he's always existed. I'm talking about Jesus creator, Alpha Omega,
all God, all man incarnate as a baby. Perfect life.
Died on a cross. Defeated death was resurrected, has put
death and disease and sickness and sin and everything else
(21:12):
under his authority and power. I'm talking about the power
of the living Most High God. And immediately, suddenly, in
an instant, in a moment, there was a before and after.
S1 (21:35):
You're listening to Bold Steps Weekend in part two of
a message titled Speaking Up from Mark chapter ten. If
you missed any portion of this message so far, or
if you'd like to find more Bible teaching from Mark Jobe,
you can do that online at Bold Steps. Org. Well,
we have a book we'd like to send you, Building
Love Together and Blended Families. It's our bold step gift mark,
(21:56):
and we have the authors with us, Gary Chapman and
Ron Diehl. Deal.
S2 (21:59):
So, Gary, in the book you talk about how blended
families aren't actually blended on day one. They're really just
a collection of insider and outsiders searching for what you
call family ness.
S1 (22:13):
How do the love.
S2 (22:14):
Languages help bridge that gap?
S5 (22:16):
Well, I think because our basic need, at least one
of our basic emotional needs, is the need to feel loved,
you know, by the significant people in our lives. But
in the beginning, these people may not seem like meaningful
people in our lives. You know, this child doesn't know
this stepmother or this stepfather, or maybe they've been around
(22:37):
them a bit, of course, in the dating process and
all that sort of thing. But they don't have an
emotional connection with that person. And I think that's where
the love languages can be very, very helpful, because what
makes one person feel loved doesn't make another person feel loved.
S1 (22:51):
And Ron, it calls for a lot of patience, doesn't it?
S6 (22:54):
It does. Do you remember when we were coming out
of the pandemic and you went back to church for
the first time, and you didn't know if you could
hug people, fist bump them, hit him with the elbow,
or stay ten feet away with a hazmat suit on.
You know, we just we didn't know where the closeness
distance thing, how it would work. That is the journey
(23:15):
of becoming a blended family on day one. Everybody's unsure
of the new people in their world and in their life.
They're unsure how to do this. Can we move in?
Are you okay with me being here? Nope. You want
hazmat and you want me on the other side of
the of the room? Got it. Yeah. And you, you
gently navigate that terrain until you bring some definition to
that ambiguity, and then you know how to do life.
(23:38):
When we first came out of the pandemic, we were clueless.
Fast forward a few weeks, a couple of months, we
kind of figured out how to do it. That's right.
And that's what happens in Stepfamilies.
S1 (23:47):
And Mark is a pastor. You see the value of
this book?
S7 (23:49):
Oh, I see it all the time. And I deal
with the dynamics of people wrestling through this. So there
you have it. Building love Together in Blended Families by
Doctor Gary Chapman and Ron Diehl. We would love to
get this in your hand, especially if you're a blended
family or you know someone that is wrestling through making
(24:12):
a blended family work.
S1 (24:13):
We'd like to send you a copy of Building Love
Together in Blended Families. When you make a donation of
any amount to support bold steps, just call us at
800 D.L. Moody. That's (800)Â 356-6639 or give online at bird-stamps.org.
You can also send your gift through the mail. Our
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(24:37):
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And when you give a monthly gift of $30 or more,
(24:59):
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(25:21):
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Download the Bold Steps app today. I'm Wayne Shepherd inviting
you to join us again next weekend when we'll hear
another encouraging message from Mark Jobe. That's next time right
here on Bold Steps Weekend with Mark Jobe. Bold steps
(25:45):
is a production of Moody Radio, a ministry of Moody
Bible Institute.
Exploring your needs before God. That's our topic today on
Bold Steps Weekend with Mark Jobe. You know.
S2 (00:07):
I believe that sometimes what holds us back is that oftentimes,
we're unwilling to let go of our security blankets to
follow Jesus all the way. No, I'm going to Jesus
with full confidence that I will never return to the
person I was. I'm going to get out of this
place of stuckness, and I'm going to a different level.
I will not return.
S1 (00:39):
Welcome to Bold Steps Weekend with Mark Jobe. Mark is
president of Moody Bible Institute and the senior pastor of
New Life Community Church in Chicago. I'm Wayne Shepherd. Today,
we're moving forward in our series on learning how to
prepare for the moment, and we're looking at how we
can speak up. Mark started this message last weekend, but
if you missed it, you can catch the complete message
(01:00):
online when you go to bold steps. Org. Right now
let's turn to the book of Mark chapter ten for
our message titled Speaking Up.
S2 (01:10):
A couple years ago, I was driving with someone and
on a trip and in the corner of their window
they had a little black box. He was driving pretty
fast and suddenly a little blinker started going off. Bleep
bleep bleep bleep bleep bleep bleep a little red lights
are going crazy. And I said to him hey what
is that. Oh he said that's my radar detector. I
(01:33):
said what do you mean. Well he says anytime it
comes close to a radar it it activates. It starts
to blink. Telling me I'm getting close to a radar,
so slow down. I believe that's the way our faith is.
I believe that we have a measure of faith, and
every time there's faith that gets close to the presence
(01:54):
of Jesus, that faith suddenly starts blinking and activating because
your faith is activated by the very presence of Jesus.
Can I tell you this? If Bartimaeus would have listened
to the people around him. You would have never known
(02:16):
his name because his story would not be in the Bible.
Jesus would have walked by and Bartimaeus would have continued
to be blind. If Bartimaeus would have listened to the
people saying, don't be so fanatical, don't cry out, don't
call out. If he hadn't allowed his faith to activate
(02:36):
the boldness and the press in, we would have never
known his name. The next day after Jesus left, he
would still be blind. He would have heard not too
long afterwards that this Jesus was crucified and died. He
would have still been begging. He would have remembered it
(02:57):
as the moment that Jesus walked by him, but nothing happened.
But because Bartimaeus refused to be dampened by the crowd,
he refused to listen. He refused to shut his voice down.
He allowed his faith to activate his boldness. Bartimaeus is
in the Bible. Three of the Gospels. Listen, I'm talking
(03:21):
to someone here today, I know it. Secondly, I want
you to write this down. Not only. Not only do
we need to be bold and not let our intensity
be dampened by the people that are around us, but
(03:43):
you need to be ready and leave your old security
blanket behind. How many, when you were babies, had little
security blankets. All the men say.
S3 (03:57):
I read about that.
S2 (04:02):
You know, little kids have blankets that they hang on to.
It's a security blanket. I was staying at someone's house recently,
and she was saying that they left the little girl.
She was three years old. They left the security blanket.
They lost it, and she just could not sleep. She
was mommy. She would get down on her knees at
night and pray that they would find her security blanket.
And because she just. That was her security blanket. So
(04:26):
her mom kind of switched it out to another big blanket,
not a little blanket. And. But what does security blanket do?
It gives you security. Can I tell you I read
the story of Bartimaeus, and there's something about what happens next,
that next that caught my attention. It says so. They
called the blind man. Oh, before that, I want you
(04:49):
to notice. It says in verse, I believe it's verse 49.
It says Jesus stopped. Jesus stopped. Hey, I love that concept.
Why did Jesus stop? Because he heard the voice of faith.
(05:10):
Jesus was on his way and he stops. Why did
he stop? Because he hears a desperate man calling out
to him. There was a lot of voices, a lot
of noise, a big crowd. But Jesus can tell the
difference between the voice of the crowd and the voice
(05:30):
of someone who's desperate, calling out in faith. It's an
incredible thought that the God of the universe would stop
when he hears you and I calling out in desperate faith,
sincere faith. He's on his way. He's going to pass
him by. But he stops because he hears. He hears
(05:51):
a cry. He hears, Son of David, have mercy. Jesus
stops and then he he calls out to him, notice
what it says in verse 49. And he said, call him.
And so they called the blind man. Cheer up. On
(06:11):
your feet. He's calling you. Verse 50, the very first
thing that Bartimaeus does, it says, is it says. And
throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and
he came to Jesus. The blind man had a cloak.
(06:36):
He's a street guy. He lives in the street. It's
interesting as I see how Jesus heals people in the Gospels.
It almost always he has a fixation on the mats
that they're on. Jesus said, leave your mat, get up
and walk to the crippled man. He seems to want
(06:58):
to make sure that whatever. You know, a homeless person
lives in a cardboard box in the times of Jesus
they didn't need. The weather was fairly nice. They didn't
need cardboard boxes, but they had mats and they had cloaks.
Their cloak was their home. It represented where they stayed.
(07:19):
Their mat was what they laid on. This blind man
jumps up. He's a beggar. He's poor. I've seen beggars,
homeless people, and they cling to the little stuff that
they have. They're very guarded about it because it represents
their house, their identity, everything they have in the world,
(07:41):
they don't just throw their cloak aside. They're not careless
about their stuff. They hang on to it. They guard
their cardboard box like you guard your house. They hang
onto their coat like you hang on to your car.
This man gets up and he throws his cloak aside
as if nothing. And you wonder, hey, why? So I
(08:03):
believe that Bartimaeus, there was a statement he was making there.
I believe that Bartimaeus was making sure he went with
the mentality. I'm going to come to Jesus and I
will never, never go back to where I was before.
(08:27):
This is not hold my cloak because I may come back.
This was take me to Jesus because I'm never coming back.
I'm not hanging on to it just in case it
doesn't work out with Jesus. No, I'm going to Jesus
(08:48):
with full confidence that I will never return to the
person I was. I will never go back to the
lifestyle that I'm leaving. I will never be stuck again.
I'm going to get out of this place of stuckness
and I'm going to a different level. I will not return.
I believe that's that's the statement that he was making.
That's faith. That's faith. You know, I believe that sometimes
(09:11):
what holds us back is that oftentimes we're unwilling to
let go of our security blankets to follow Jesus all
the way. For quite a while I heard about this,
and I actually looked it up to see if it
was true or if it's just kind of a legend.
And I actually found verification that it's true that there
(09:32):
are some hunters in Africa that when they want to
catch some pesky monkeys that are pretty smart and avoid
being caught, one of their tactics is they'll take a
gourd or the equivalent of a coconut. They'll put a
hole in it, empty what's inside? They'll make the hole
(09:57):
just big enough so that a monkey can stick his
hand in, and they'll put nuts inside of that, and
then they'll tie a rope around the gourd or the
coconut and leave it out in a place where they
know that the monkey will see it. And what happens
is the monkey goes and he starts to investigate, sees it,
looks in the hole, smells the nuts and sticks his hand,
can barely get his hand in, but sticks his hand
(10:19):
into the coconut, sticks his hand in and grabs a
handful of nuts. But then when they make a fist
with the nuts, they can't get their hand out. I
saw a little video of a monkey jumping around trying
to get his hand out, and they're going like this
and and trying to get their hand out, and we think,
(10:40):
that's so crazy. Just let go, just let go. Let
go the nuts and you're free. Listen. Man, I see
so many people like that. You say all.
S3 (10:56):
Those dumb monkeys.
S2 (10:59):
But you know how many people I see the very
same way saying, I want to go to Jesus. I'm
so stuck. I want to go to Jesus. I can't
get here. No, no, no, no. All he's saying is,
let go and you're free.
S1 (11:24):
You're listening to Bold Steps Weekend with Mark Jobe. Today's
lesson is the second part of a study in Mark
chapter ten titled Speaking Up. And if you'd like to
replay or share this message, visit us online at Bold
Steps org. You can also listen and even share the
message directly from your smart device by subscribing to our podcast.
Just search for Bold Steps Weekend with doctor Mark Jobe,
(11:47):
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(12:08):
and meaningful conversations when you connect with us on Facebook, Instagram,
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part of our online family. Now let's get back into
the second half of today's message from Mark Jobe. It's
titled Speaking Up.
S2 (12:28):
I want Jesus, but I don't want to let go
of this. Yeah, maybe you're living with that boyfriend that
you've been living with for 6 or 7 years. You
keep thinking, I'm going to leave him. It's no good.
It's not working out. He mistreats me. It's not a
healthy relationship. I'm going to leave him. But it's your
security blanket. You know, it feels like, hey, I need
to be with this guy. Come to Jesus, I want
(12:51):
to I can't really you can't or you won't. Come on.
I've had guys ask me, pastor, I want to come
to Jesus. Hey, a private question here, though. I want
to come to Jesus. You know, it's not a big
(13:14):
deal in my life, but I smoke pot. It makes
me feel calm. This guy. You. You drink coffee, right?
It's kind of the same thing. Do I need to
give it up to follow Jesus? Let go!
S3 (13:32):
Ah, you know I want to.
S2 (13:34):
But it's kind of. It doesn't mean a lot to me,
but I want to. But I can't quite. Hey, let
it go.
S4 (13:41):
Amen.
S2 (13:43):
Pot. Jesus. Seriously? Seriously? You're having that conversation in your head. Seriously?
You're really wondering about it? Seriously? Are you thinking through that?
Some of us have security blankets. It's your God substitute.
It's what you've gone to year after year to make
(14:04):
you feel good. It's. It's your fallback. It's the thing
that when you're down, you go to. And it may
be food, it may be drugs, it may be alcohol.
It may be a bad relationship, it may be bad friends,
whatever it is. But some of you are unwilling to
let go, to go to Jesus and you feel like
you're stuck. But no, it's not about being stuck. It's
about being willing to let go of your security blanket,
(14:28):
throw it off and say, okay, I'm going to God.
There is no there is no rivalry here. I'm going
to God. Bartimaeus threw his cloak off. He jumped up,
and he made his way to Jesus. You see, blindness
(14:51):
actually became his greatest gift because in the hour of
his need, his faith was activated by the presence of Jesus,
and he had an irreversible encounter with the living God.
Number three, you need to speak up and be bold.
(15:12):
You need to speak up and get ready to release
your security blanket. And lastly, you need to speak up
and be clear and declare your need before God in faith.
Verse 51, he's finally in front of Jesus. And Jesus
(15:32):
looks at blind Bartimaeus and he asks him a question
that seems like a rhetorical question, like, really, Jesus, this
is your profound question. He looks at Bartimaeus and he says,
what do you want me to do for you? If
(15:55):
I was Bart, I'd be. Hello? Jesus. Can I tell
you this? When God asks a question, it's not because
he doesn't know the answer. Ever. When God asks a question,
it's because he's causing us to either search our heart
(16:19):
or to declare something with our mouth that up until now,
we've been unwilling to declare. There's something about speaking, something
that takes it to another level. You can believe in
your heart in Romans chapter ten. It says if you
believe in your heart, you are justified. But if you
(16:40):
confess with your mouth, you are saved. They work hand
in hand. If you believe something but are not willing
to speak it, usually you don't believe it enough. You've
been dating a guy for seven years. He keeps. There's
another level you cross when it's like, yeah, man, my boyfriend,
(17:02):
we love each other. We're like, yeah, yeah, my soul mate.
But there's some. There's a line that's crossed. When he
finally says, do you want to marry me? It always
kind of surprises me because every video that I see, every,
every girl always goes, oh.
S3 (17:24):
Oh.
S2 (17:27):
Wow. And, like, seriously, after ten years, you're still surprised.
I mean, you look like. You look like it just
totally caught you by surprise. I mean, ten years, I'd
be like, yeah, it's about time, dude. Not like, oh. Oh, wow. Yeah.
Every everyone I see, it's like, oh, like they're surprised.
I'm like, I don't get it. What are you surprised about?
(17:49):
But but it's not the surprise. It's not. It's not
like I'm shocked. You know what they're surprised about that
it finally was spoken because a woman knows that it
can be in the heart, but when it's finally spoken,
it takes it to another level. When you believe something
in your heart, it's okay. But when you speak it,
(18:11):
it takes us to another level. Jesus said, what do
you want from me, Bart? And this is what Bartimaeus says. Listen,
the blind man said, Rabbi, which means teacher. I want
to see. I think there was a defining moment here
(18:32):
where Bartimaeus had to declare, yeah, I acknowledge I have
a need. I acknowledge what I want. I'm not covering it.
I'm not hiding it. I want to see. I want
to see. I've been calling out to you. But I
acknowledge my need. And I declare it clearly before you. Jesus.
(18:57):
Jesus matter of factly says, go, said Jesus, your faith
has healed you. Immediately he received his sight and started
following Jesus along the road. Say immediately, I'm amazed at
(19:19):
how many places in Scripture says and suddenly, immediately, at
the moment. Can I tell you something? God works in
a lot of different ways. But there's something about the
power of God that can work immediately. There's something about
an encounter of God that can happen now. There's something
(19:42):
about the presence of God that comes with faith that
it happens. There's a before and after moment. It's not
where there was a long journey prior. No no, no.
It may have been a journey leading up to it,
but there's a moment that suddenly becomes the moment. There's
a build up. The journey may have been long, but
(20:02):
there's a moment. There comes a moment where. No, this
is the moment. There's a before and after that moment.
There's a line. I was this and now I'm that.
There was an encounter where the supernatural intersected with the natural.
Where the divine released something into the normal world. Where
(20:28):
the power of God came. And it wasn't there before.
And I was different after the power of the living God.
Immediately there was a release that happened into his life.
Immediately there was the power of the living Jesus, the
one that has always been and will always be, the
(20:49):
one who has no beginning, who was not created because
he's always existed. I'm talking about Jesus creator, Alpha Omega,
all God, all man incarnate as a baby. Perfect life.
Died on a cross. Defeated death was resurrected, has put
death and disease and sickness and sin and everything else
(21:12):
under his authority and power. I'm talking about the power
of the living Most High God. And immediately, suddenly, in
an instant, in a moment, there was a before and after.
S1 (21:35):
You're listening to Bold Steps Weekend in part two of
a message titled Speaking Up from Mark chapter ten. If
you missed any portion of this message so far, or
if you'd like to find more Bible teaching from Mark Jobe,
you can do that online at Bold Steps. Org. Well,
we have a book we'd like to send you, Building
Love Together and Blended Families. It's our bold step gift mark,
(21:56):
and we have the authors with us, Gary Chapman and
Ron Diehl. Deal.
S2 (21:59):
So, Gary, in the book you talk about how blended
families aren't actually blended on day one. They're really just
a collection of insider and outsiders searching for what you
call family ness.
S1 (22:13):
How do the love.
S2 (22:14):
Languages help bridge that gap?
S5 (22:16):
Well, I think because our basic need, at least one
of our basic emotional needs, is the need to feel loved,
you know, by the significant people in our lives. But
in the beginning, these people may not seem like meaningful
people in our lives. You know, this child doesn't know
this stepmother or this stepfather, or maybe they've been around
(22:37):
them a bit, of course, in the dating process and
all that sort of thing. But they don't have an
emotional connection with that person. And I think that's where
the love languages can be very, very helpful, because what
makes one person feel loved doesn't make another person feel loved.
S1 (22:51):
And Ron, it calls for a lot of patience, doesn't it?
S6 (22:54):
It does. Do you remember when we were coming out
of the pandemic and you went back to church for
the first time, and you didn't know if you could
hug people, fist bump them, hit him with the elbow,
or stay ten feet away with a hazmat suit on.
You know, we just we didn't know where the closeness
distance thing, how it would work. That is the journey
(23:15):
of becoming a blended family on day one. Everybody's unsure
of the new people in their world and in their life.
They're unsure how to do this. Can we move in?
Are you okay with me being here? Nope. You want
hazmat and you want me on the other side of
the of the room? Got it. Yeah. And you, you
gently navigate that terrain until you bring some definition to
that ambiguity, and then you know how to do life.
(23:38):
When we first came out of the pandemic, we were clueless.
Fast forward a few weeks, a couple of months, we
kind of figured out how to do it. That's right.
And that's what happens in Stepfamilies.
S1 (23:47):
And Mark is a pastor. You see the value of
this book?
S7 (23:49):
Oh, I see it all the time. And I deal
with the dynamics of people wrestling through this. So there
you have it. Building love Together in Blended Families by
Doctor Gary Chapman and Ron Diehl. We would love to
get this in your hand, especially if you're a blended
family or you know someone that is wrestling through making
(24:12):
a blended family work.
S1 (24:13):
We'd like to send you a copy of Building Love
Together in Blended Families. When you make a donation of
any amount to support bold steps, just call us at
800 D.L. Moody. That's (800)Â 356-6639 or give online at bird-stamps.org.
You can also send your gift through the mail. Our
address is simply bold. Steps 820 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago,
(24:37):
Illinois 606 ten. Just be sure to tell us you
want a copy of Building Love Together in Blended Families.
When you're right, and you can easily step up from
being just a listener of bold steps and actually become
part of the team today by signing up as a
bold partner and supporting the ministry on a monthly basis.
And when you give a monthly gift of $30 or more,
(24:59):
You'll also receive a number of personal benefits as well,
including discounts on moody publisher items, special content from Mark,
and more. Becoming a bold partner is quick and easy
when you go to Bold steps.org. Just this reminder before
we wrap up that you can always stay connected with
Mark's inspiring teaching on the go. Just download the Bold
Steps app. Watch and listen to an entire sermon series
(25:21):
right from your phone, and discover even more teaching videos
centered on biblical truths right at your fingertips. Go to
the App Store and on your phone or mobile device.
Download the Bold Steps app today. I'm Wayne Shepherd inviting
you to join us again next weekend when we'll hear
another encouraging message from Mark Jobe. That's next time right
here on Bold Steps Weekend with Mark Jobe. Bold steps
(25:45):
is a production of Moody Radio, a ministry of Moody
Bible Institute.
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