Verse of the Day 1/26
Matthew 17:19-20 Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, "Why could we not cast it out?" 20 He said to them, "Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you." English Standard Version (ESV)
Today's verses came up in the read through the New Testament plan that I'm following. I've been doing this for over 20 years and I'm often surprised by how things will come out of a passage that I had never seen before. Today was just one of those instances. In this passage the disciples were surprised by the fact that they were not able to cast out a demon. They had done it before, they had performed healings and other demonstrations of the power of the Holy Spirit before, so why not this time. Jesus stated that it was due to their lack of faith. If His disciples lacked enough faith then what about us? We need to dig a little deeper.
John MacArthur writes, "the deficiency did not consist in a lack of confidence; they were surprised that they could not cast out this demon. The problem lay in a failure to make God - rather than their own gifts - the object of their confidence." The issue was that the disciples did not rely on God, they had fallen into an expectation for God to work through them without seeking Him and praying. Do we do the same type of thing? Jesus told them "this kind" of work (the casting out of this demon) could only be accomplished through prayer and fasting.
Think about it. When we begin some new ministry we seek God in prayer in preparation for it, we depend upon His grace, His wisdom and His power. It may be preaching, leading a Bible study, teaching a Sunday School class, working with the youth group or any other kind of ministry. We are nervous about it at first and we need to come to Him week by week. Then something happens, we become confident in "our" preparation, perhaps we come up with "our own system" of preparation and we drift away from the prayer and communion with God without even realizing it.
The faith of a mustard seed may be small at first but it continues to grow as it receives its nourishment from God's Word and prayer and is put into practice in ministry. Jordan Feliz has a song out "Faith" that says "you just gotta have faith". The faith that he writes and sings about points to searching and praying and waiting, depending on God day by day for the grace and the faith that can move mountains and part oceans.
There is no ocean that can't be parted
There is no mountain that can't be moved
I know there's help for the heavy-hearted
The weak will find their strength renewed
You just gotta have faith
You just gotta have faith
Searching for purpose in all the waiting
Praying through so many silent hours
Finding a breath when you feel like fading
Learning to love where you are right now (where He's got you now)
You just gotta have faith
You just gotta have faith
-- In Christ, Mike Folllow the Verse of the Day blog at http://mikesvotd.blogspot.com Ephesians 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace. NIV
Matthew 17:14-21 New King James Version (NKJV)
A Boy Is Healed
14 And when they had come to the multitude, a man came to Him, kneeling down to Him and saying, 15 "Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is [a]an epileptic and suffers severely; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water. 16 So I brought him to Your disciples, but they could not cure him."
17 Then Jesus answered and said, "O [b]faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him here to Me." 18 And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him; and the child was cured from that very hour.
19 Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, "Why could we not cast it out?"
20 So Jesus said to them, "Because of your [c]unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. 21 [d]However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting."
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