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The Difference Jesus Makes: Trusting Him in Every Situation
What are you struggling with right now? A little boy sits staring at a framed picture of his father, who has been away on military duty for some time now. The boy begins to cry, and his mother, seeing that he is upset, asks, “What’s wrong?" "I want daddy to come out of the frame," he says. Have you ever felt like that in your relationship with God, like He’s disconnected from the situations of your life and you want Him to come out of the frame? Well in the Lord Jesus Christ, that’s exactly what God has done. When Jesus took on human flesh, God stepped out of the frame and dwelled among us. In The Difference Jesus Makes , Pastor H.B. Charles Jr. walks us through stories found in the Gospel of Mark to highlight the truth that Jesus is present in all things and Lord over all things, including the details of our lives. No matter what we are facing, we can trust Jesus to care for us, even if he doesn’t fix our every problem. The Difference Jesus Makes shows us who Jesus is, why we can trust Him, and what that looks like day to day.
- GenresNonfictionChristian
144 pages, Paperback
First published August 25, 2014
9 people are currently reading
56 people want to read
About the author
H.B. Charles Jr.
16 books52 followersH.B. CHARLES, JR. Is the Pastor-Teacher at the Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church of Jacksonville, Florida, where he has served since the fall of 2008. He is primarily responsible for preaching-teaching, vision casting, and leadership development. Prior to coming to Shiloh, he led the Mt. Sinai Missionary Baptist Church of Los Angeles for almost eighteen years. Succeeding his late father, he began his pastorate at Mt. Sinai at the age of seventeen.H.B. Charles regularly speaks at churches, conferences, and conventions around the country. He has contributed to several books and journals, and is the author of It Happens After Prayer. H.B. and his wife Crystal have three children: H.B. III, Natalie, and Hailey. Keep in touch with HB Charles at HBCharlesJr.com.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
November 24, 2020
Are you looking for a book that makes you love Jesus more and trust in Him in your life? You will be edified and love Jesus more as a result of reading this book. The author H.B. Charles is a preacher that I have enjoyed hearing him before in the past during the Shepherd’s Conference. It turns out I enjoy his book also!
The book looks at various stories about Jesus from the Gospel of Mark. After the introduction in which Charles expound that Jesus can make the difference there are six chapters in the book to make the point. Chapter one is titled “Embracing the Priorities of Jesus” that looks at Mark 12:1-12. The next chapter is “Trusting Jesus in a Storm” based upon Mark 4:35-51 while chapter three is titled “Trusting Jesus to Set You Free” that is an exposition of Mark 5:1-20. Chapter four is “Trusting Jesus at a Dead End” and based upon Mark 5:21-24, 35-43 while the following chapter is “Trusting Jesus When All is Spent” based upon Mark 5:25-34. The final chapter is titled “The Danger of Knowing Jesus Too Well” based upon Mark 6:1-6.
I really enjoyed how the book is based upon the Scripture and explains what’s going on well along with proper application that flows from the study of the text. For those who want to read what expository preaching sounds like this book would be a good sample. I learned quite a bit from this book even though I felt I have studied quite a bit on the Gospel of Mark recently. It was such a good work that if I were to preach through the Gospel of Mark I’m going to check on this book as my references for my study. Some of the good observations that the author made include the following:
- There is a lot of irony in the story of Jesus during the storm in Mark 4:35-51 with how the disciples were in a crisis while Jesus was asleep. Of course when Jesus later would be in the Garden of Gethsemane the disciples would be asleep as Jesus head towards His trial of anticipating the crucifixion.
- In Mark 4:35-51 there are three “greats:” A great wind (v.48), a great calm (v.39) and a great fear (v.41).
- In Mark 5:1-20 there are three group of “beggars:” The demons, the town folks and the man that was possessed. Of those three group the first two got their wish but the healed man did not get his wish of being able to follow Jesus. We see that its about what Jesus wants and not what we want.
- The women who bled for twelve years is in juxtaposition with Jairus the leader of the synagogue who asked Jesus to heal his twelve year old daughter: Jarius is named but the woman is not. She’s a woman while Jairus is a man. One is respected but the other is shunned. While Jairus is wealthy the woman was destitute. Jairus goes to Jesus on behalf of daughter but the woman comes to Jesus for her own healing.
- In Mark 5 we see Jesus is Lord over the elements of nature, the Lord over the world of demons, the Lord over diseases and climatically Lord over death.
There’s a lot more I learned than I can list. It is worth purchasing this book for yourself to get the great insight from H.B. Charles!
The book looks at various stories about Jesus from the Gospel of Mark. After the introduction in which Charles expound that Jesus can make the difference there are six chapters in the book to make the point. Chapter one is titled “Embracing the Priorities of Jesus” that looks at Mark 12:1-12. The next chapter is “Trusting Jesus in a Storm” based upon Mark 4:35-51 while chapter three is titled “Trusting Jesus to Set You Free” that is an exposition of Mark 5:1-20. Chapter four is “Trusting Jesus at a Dead End” and based upon Mark 5:21-24, 35-43 while the following chapter is “Trusting Jesus When All is Spent” based upon Mark 5:25-34. The final chapter is titled “The Danger of Knowing Jesus Too Well” based upon Mark 6:1-6.
I really enjoyed how the book is based upon the Scripture and explains what’s going on well along with proper application that flows from the study of the text. For those who want to read what expository preaching sounds like this book would be a good sample. I learned quite a bit from this book even though I felt I have studied quite a bit on the Gospel of Mark recently. It was such a good work that if I were to preach through the Gospel of Mark I’m going to check on this book as my references for my study. Some of the good observations that the author made include the following:
- There is a lot of irony in the story of Jesus during the storm in Mark 4:35-51 with how the disciples were in a crisis while Jesus was asleep. Of course when Jesus later would be in the Garden of Gethsemane the disciples would be asleep as Jesus head towards His trial of anticipating the crucifixion.
- In Mark 4:35-51 there are three “greats:” A great wind (v.48), a great calm (v.39) and a great fear (v.41).
- In Mark 5:1-20 there are three group of “beggars:” The demons, the town folks and the man that was possessed. Of those three group the first two got their wish but the healed man did not get his wish of being able to follow Jesus. We see that its about what Jesus wants and not what we want.
- The women who bled for twelve years is in juxtaposition with Jairus the leader of the synagogue who asked Jesus to heal his twelve year old daughter: Jarius is named but the woman is not. She’s a woman while Jairus is a man. One is respected but the other is shunned. While Jairus is wealthy the woman was destitute. Jairus goes to Jesus on behalf of daughter but the woman comes to Jesus for her own healing.
- In Mark 5 we see Jesus is Lord over the elements of nature, the Lord over the world of demons, the Lord over diseases and climatically Lord over death.
There’s a lot more I learned than I can list. It is worth purchasing this book for yourself to get the great insight from H.B. Charles!
January 22, 2025
This book is ABSOLUTELY AMAZING, in every sense of the word. There are a few quotes that really really really really spoke to me, hot home for me, and challenged me, so here they are, in the order of where they appeared in the book:
"It does not matter the category. It does not matter the circumstances. And it does not matter how severe it may be. If Jesus controls the winds and the waves, you can trust Him in your storm. He can say 'Peace! Be still!' to your situation. The stormy waters of your life can become a quiet sea again by the power of Jesus."
"And the LORD is gracious enough to show up where you need Him the most." (This one absolutely spoke to me at my core and was absolutely what I needed to hear given my current trials.)
"First of all, you never trouble Jesus when you bring Him your troubles. Jesus is not like some people who ask how you are doing and then hope you won't really tell them. Jesus is a friend to the disappointed. He cares about your situation. And He calls 'Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.' (Matthew 11:28). Likewise, with Jesus, there is always hope. Nothing is too hard for Him. The LORD is never too late. David testified, 'You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; you have loosed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness.' (Psalm 30:11). When things go from bad to worse, Jesus is there to comfort, strengthen, and intervene." (This one also absolutely spoke to me at my core and was absolutely what I needed to hear given my current trials).
All in all, this book was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING, in every sense of the word and I can't highly recommend it enough to anyone else.
"It does not matter the category. It does not matter the circumstances. And it does not matter how severe it may be. If Jesus controls the winds and the waves, you can trust Him in your storm. He can say 'Peace! Be still!' to your situation. The stormy waters of your life can become a quiet sea again by the power of Jesus."
"And the LORD is gracious enough to show up where you need Him the most." (This one absolutely spoke to me at my core and was absolutely what I needed to hear given my current trials.)
"First of all, you never trouble Jesus when you bring Him your troubles. Jesus is not like some people who ask how you are doing and then hope you won't really tell them. Jesus is a friend to the disappointed. He cares about your situation. And He calls 'Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.' (Matthew 11:28). Likewise, with Jesus, there is always hope. Nothing is too hard for Him. The LORD is never too late. David testified, 'You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; you have loosed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness.' (Psalm 30:11). When things go from bad to worse, Jesus is there to comfort, strengthen, and intervene." (This one also absolutely spoke to me at my core and was absolutely what I needed to hear given my current trials).
All in all, this book was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING, in every sense of the word and I can't highly recommend it enough to anyone else.
April 10, 2020
This is a great little book that walks through encounters that people have with Jesus in the Gospels and how He changes their lives.
April 14, 2020
H.B. Charles has a knack for using insightful analogies to hone his points and bring clarity to the topic.
Read
June 15, 2020For studying Christianity.
February 16, 2025
Top 3 on my bookshelf!!! Wonderful solid Biblical teaching with great breakdowns of these scriptural account to. Wonderfully encouraging … as all of scripture is!
March 4, 2021
Excellent book that helped me deal with doubt
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews