Good Morning!

I was convicted as I read my devotional this morning! The text was from Matthew 17. The disciples had just come down from the Mt. of Transfiguration, where Peter, James, and John had been given a remarkable glimpse at the glory of Christ! But then…

“And when they had come to the multitude, a man came to Him, kneeling down to Him and saying, “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and suffers severely; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water. So I brought him to Your disciples, but they could not cure him.” Then Jesus answered and said, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him here to Me.” And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him; and the child was cured from that very hour. Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” So Jesus said to them, “Because of your 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. However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.” Matt 17:14-21

This desperate Dad brought the child he loved to the followers of Christ, but they couldn’t help him because of their unbelief! Jesus told them that the missing ingredient, the reason they couldn’t help this man and his child, was that they hadn’t been spending time alone with God in prayer and fasting.

When we don’t spend time with Him, our awareness of His Presence fades and our faith weakens as the urgencies of this world displace the priorities of the eternal realm!

Their minds were so full of “who’s gonna be the greatest?” that they couldn’t even serve the people He brought to them for help! No, He didn’t physically walk this man to them, but He was certainly behind this lesson in faith, orchestrating it for their growth!

What is your mind full of, today?

Are your thoughts centered around what you will receive from Jesus? Or better, is your central focus on how He might use you to effect the eternal destiny of some condemned “child” whom the Father loves deeply?

Are you “prayed up“, and ready to serve!? Or are you worried about some “pressing” earthly situation (which He has promised to take care of for you ) and therefore miss the opportunity He wants to give you to change someone’s life!?

Luke 12:29-37 NKJV And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind. For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things. But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you. Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell what you have and give alms; provide yourselves money bags which do not grow old, a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches nor moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. “Let your waist be girded and your lamps burning; and you yourselves be like men who wait for their master, when he will return from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks they may open to him immediately. Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching. Assuredly, I say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and will come and serve them.

He is bringing people to us all the time! So many new faces walk into our lives, and into Calvary Chapel Miami Beach each week! Let’s not be distracted by things He has under control! Let’s be ready to serve them!