Liz’s Morning Devotional: Scripture selected from Upper Room
November 18, 2022
Read Matthew 17:14-20
14 When they came to the crowd, a man met Jesus. He knelt before him, 15 saying, “Lord, show mercy to my son. He is epileptic and suffers terribly, for he often falls into the fire or the water. 16 I brought him to your disciples, but they couldn’t heal him.” 17 Jesus answered, “You faithless and crooked generation, how long will I be with you? How long will I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.” 18 Then Jesus spoke harshly to the demon. And it came out of the child, who was healed from that time on. 19 Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and said, “Why couldn’t we throw the demon out?” 20 “Because you have little faith,” he said. “I assure you that if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Go from here to there,’ and it will go. There will be nothing that you can’t do.”
Good Morning, May we have faith to move a mountain in the name of Christ!
There are many who do not believe in God in our world today! For each disaster or injustice, the non-believers shout out, “Why isn’t your God fixing this?” or “Why would God let this happen?” During unspeakable tragedy, even some believers begin to doubt. It takes great faith to believe in those things that are unseen. Because of all of the technological advances that we have made, we have developed a need to see everything.
We also have learned that just because we see something, it might not be as it seems because we have great programs to alter or change images. So in a time when not even seeing is believing, it is hard to believe in those things that we do not see.
I remember a story that was shared about a missionary in a small village. The village elder was very ill and the townspeople asked for the missionary, who had taught them about God and what it means to have faith, to pray for their leader. He prayed for this man for hours and finally they agreed that it was time to go to bed. As the missionary, lay down he wondered how he would explain that despite the prayers their leader had died because there was no way that he would survive the night.
The next morning he awakened to the sounds of a great celebration. As he approached the tent of the elder, he saw that not only was he alive, but that he was sitting and eating some food. The missionary joined in the great celebration and praised God, but later he spoke to one of those who helped him in his mission work. He asked, “what happened?” The townsperson said that after he, the missionary, went to bed they returned and continued to pray as he had taught them and God answered their prayers. He went on to say that they knew he didn’t believe that their leader would be healed, so they encouraged him to go to bed. These infants in Christ had more faith than the one who was their teacher.
Jesus walked among us to teach us and show us the way. Unlike the disciples who were able to walk with him, we must have faith in those unseen things. When we see miracles around us, we catch glimpses of God’s glory at work. Blessed are those who have not seen, yet they believe. How do you recognize God at work within you?
Gracious God, Thank You for loving us. We love You. Life is challenging and sometimes we doubt You. May our faith endure all our struggles! In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen
Thought for the day: I have faith today that God is present in my life.
Hold steadfast to your faith! Pastor Liz
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