In Mark 5, Jesus steps out of the boat and is immediately confronted by “a man with an unclean spirit. He lived among the tombs.” (2-3)

O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.(Psalm 63:1)

“This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.” -Jesus, Mark 9:29

Jesus’ disciples had just asked Him, “Why could we not cast out the unclean spirit in that child?”

“What account is he?” This means: they don’t count. You don’t need their approval to be who you are or do what you’re supposed to do. They can’t approve of you (or disapprove of you). They don’t count because you don’t have to give an account to them. They’re not your master; they breathe air through their nostrils just like you do.

Ecclesiastes 1:9 says, What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun. Is there a thing of which it is said, 'See! This is new!' It has been already in the ages before us. The author of Ecclesiastes, we should point out, wrote roughly 3,000 years ago. Since then, only one new thing has happened. Only one thing has happened that is truly, genuinely, new. And we call it The Good News.

Do you ever wonder what God sees when He looks down upon us?

God sees all that is. God sees “the things now hidden in darkness.” God knows “the purposes of the heart.” (1Cor 4:5) God sees and knows all sin.

Psalm 150 is the final psalm.149 reflections precede it. 149 poems, songs, and laments describe the wide variety of experiences of walking with God. They describe God in unique ways. We know Him through the psalms as a fearful God, a strange God, a wondrous God, a tender God, a gentle and loving God, a ferocious God, a faithful God. The Psalms are the variety of the experiences of God.

Blessed be the LORD, for he has wondrously shown his steadfast love to me when I was in a besieged city.
I had said in my alarm, "I am cut off from your sight." But you heard the voice of my pleas for mercy when I cried to you for help.
Love the LORD, all you his saints! The LORD preserves the faithful but abundantly repays the one who acts in pride.
Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the LORD!

(Psa 31:21-24)

What does the prophet Isaiah really care about? What is he aiming for, ultimately? He wants to renew faith in the faithful God.

Discipleship and Holiness are talking about the same thing: drawing nearer to the Lord. In discipleship, we draw closer to Jesus, living more like Him in every part of our lives. In holiness, we move closer to God in Christ, opening every part of our lives to reflect Him more and more. See? Same thing.