Wednesday February 22 nd, 2023
Meditate on: Psalms 114:5-6 NET Bible
5 Why do you flee, O sea? Why do you turn back, O Jordan River? 6 Why do you skip like rams, O mountains, like lambs, O hills?
Read: Matthew 17:14-20 GNT
14 When they returned to the crowd, a man came to Jesus, knelt before him,
15 and said, “Sir, have mercy on my son! He is an epileptic and has such terrible attacks that he often falls in the fire or into water.
16 I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him.”
17 Jesus answered, “How unbelieving and wrong you people are! How long must I stay with you? How long do I have to put up with you? Bring the boy here to me!”
18 Jesus gave a command to the demon, and it went out of the boy, and at that very moment he was healed.
19 Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked him, “Why couldn’t we drive the demon out?”
20 “It was because you do not have enough faith,” answered Jesus. “I assure you that if you have faith as big as a mustard seed, you can say to this hill, ‘Go from here to there!’ and it will go. You could do anything!”
Understand
From our Lord’s message in today’s Bible text, we learn that mountain symbolizes the challenges of life.
The good news is that Jesus also assures us in this teaching that we can be mountain movers, even if our faith is as small as a mustard seed.
In the story captured in today’s reading, the demons of epilepsy constituted not only a nuisance to the life of a young man and his father, they were also a source of embarrassment to the disciples of Jesus Christ, as they refused to leave the boy after the disciples had commanded them to.
Why were the disciples not able to cast these demons out?
Jesus explained that it was because of their unbelief.
This is food for thought for those of us who call ourselves men and women of faith.
Before this event, the disciples might have felt that they had faith, but when their faith was put to test, they failed.
One can safely assume that before the disciples embarked on trying to deliver the young man of these demons; they must have believed that God was able to use them to carry out this deed. In the same way, one would assume that before people leave their homes for a church program, they must possess a level of faith to receive from God. However, experience has shown that such assumptions are not always valid.
Many people are very religious but don’t have faith at all.
To be a mover of mountains, you must possess the right kind of faith.
Beloved, what kind of faith do you have? Is it living or dead faith?
It is not the size of faith that matters; what matters is whether the faith is alive or not.
Before confronting a mountain, you need to check if you have the right kind of faith that can move mountains.
An example of someone with mountain-moving faith is the Canaanite woman in Matthew 15:22-28. She came to Jesus so that her daughter could be delivered of the evil spirit that troubled her. In spite of all the discouraging obstacles thrown her way, she convinced herself that the only solution to her challenges lay with Jesus Christ, and so she would not let Him go. The result of her tenacity is clearly seen in Matthew 15:28 NKJV, which say:
« Then Jesus answered and said to her, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed from that very hour. »
Some people seem to have alternatives to the miracle-working Jesus, and so, after they have tried Him once or twice and things seem not to be working, they go looking for a solution elsewhere.
Mountain movers tarry long with the Master until their petition is granted.
I join my faith with yours and decree that those intimidating mountains in your life are removed today in Jesus’ Name.
Prayer point: Father, please make the mountain of problems confronting me today to become a plain in Jesus’ Name.
Author : Pst E. A. Adeboye.
Edited by Naomie
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