In this turning point in Mark, Jesus returns Peter back to the way of Jesus, and also invites everyone else to follow Him as well. But first, Jesus makes it clear what it truly means to follow Him.

Christ reveals his glory in the Transfiguration as a foretaste of things to come. As we behold Christ’s glory, we ourselves are transfigured from one degree of glory to another, being prepared to inherit immortality with Christ.

Jesus tells us to abide in Him, for apart from Him we can do nothing. He tells us it’s by our obedience that we remain in His love. Simply put, to obey Jesus is to continually abide. To disobey Jesus is to disconnect.

We stumble over Jesus because our expectations are too mundane and the reality is too glorious.

When it comes to abiding in Jesus, one of the biggest battles we face is in our mind. How many times have our thoughts run wild rather than focus in on God? How many of our thoughts are toxic, unGodly, and leading us away from Him rather than to Him? We are called, with the help of the Spirit, to take every thought captive to obedience to Him. And this will help us abide further into Jesus.

One of the primary obstacles to abiding in Jesus is a distraction & preoccupation with doing and getting more of lesser things. We must trust the way and teaching of Jesus that being with God is the most important thing, even more important than doing for Him.

The fullness of life that we all desire is found when we live according to our purpose in life; BEING in a loving relationship with God, and then GIVING that love to the world around us. We only do that as we abide in Jesus. So how do we abide in Jesus? Well it all starts with faith - a trust in Jesus and His ways that moves our lives to follow in surrender and obedience.

The fullness of life that we all desire is found when we live according to our purpose in life. So what is our purpose? It is to BE in loving relationship with God, and to DO what God does (love) toward others. And the only way we can live in this purpose is when we ABIDE in Jesus.

After everything the disciples have witnessed Jesus do up to this point, we see in Mark 8:27-30 a huge moment and a declaration from Peter that Jesus is The Christ. The Chosen One. The Messiah. We have to make a decision for ourselves between Jesus either being Lord or being a liar.

Surrounded by miracles, the disciples and the Pharisees are still not seeing Jesus for who He is. Jesus shows us His desires for us through healing a blind man. He takes him by the hand, brings him to a blurred vision, then heals him to clear sight!