Daily Blast - The Book of Matthew: Chapter 17
Scripture
“He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”
Reflection
Chapter 17 is rich in teaching and supernatural events! It begins with a story of Jesus’ transfiguration. Jesus leads Peter, James and John up a mountain and at the top His glory was reflected in a transformation of His appearance. His face shone like the sun and His clothes became as white as the light. Suddenly Moses and Elijah appear too and talk with Jesus. Moses lived 1400 years earlier and Elijah lived 900 years earlier! On top of all this, a cloud formed around them all and the voice of God spoke from within it, saying “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!”. After falling to their knees in fear, the disciples looked up and saw no one except Jesus. Sometimes we have a similar experience to this. We have a spiritual experience or encounter with the Holy Spirit and it’s beautiful and it’s great but afterwards it feels like it’s gone. Like everything’s back to ‘normal’. But here we can be reminded that we will never be left alone or left behind. Jesus will always remain to pick us up and continue the journey alongside us.
Afterwards we hear about a boy that had been struggling with seizures and the disciples had been unable to heal him. Jesus then immediately casts out the demon in the boy and heals him. He teaches that the disciples had not been able to heal the boy because they did not have the right faith. At that moment, they did not put their belief fully in God. Imagine everything God would do through us if we were to fully put our faith in Him! Jesus also teaches here how vital prayer and fasting is to our faith journey as a display of obedience, affection, and dependence on the Lord.
Challenge
Verse 20 says “Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain”….
Prayer is powerful when we believe God is a miracle-working God (which He is!). Spend some time praying for the world in this current time. Declare His healing over the global pandemic. Declare His peace and His power over the anti-racism movement currently happening globally. He will be listening, He will answer, and He will bring change!