JUNE 24 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#20 “O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you?” (Matthew 17:17)
LIVING FOR JESUS Daily Prayer
Jesus, You are Worthy to be called Lord, You are Worthy for Your victory over death, You are Worthy for all You did for man, our salvation, and the atonement of our sins. You are Worthy for the Perfect Example You lived and for Your great and marvelous Teachings. You are Worthy for Your Sacrifice, You are Worthy because Your Motive was the simple and complete Obedience to the Father’s Will! You are Worthy because You did everything for a sinful and unworthy world and You did it all in the Father’s Name and for the Kingdom’s sake. Praise be to the Son of the God Most High and to the Holy Spirit, that Teaches us these great things and leads us in the paths of righteousness to have Fellowship with the Father. AMEN
THE JESUS QUESTIONS
Jesus is Teaching His disciples and those that are seeing the works of God performed by Jesus a very important distinction between those miracles being “performed by” someone and those same miracles being “accomplished through” someone, the distinction being the “source” of the “working power” able to actually accomplish the “miracle”. This is the distinction Jesus is Teaching when the man brings the demon possessed boy to Jesus because His disciples “could not cure him” and what seems like a harsh criticism coming from Jesus is actually a wake up call to everyone! This wake up call is bringing to our attention that the “person/flesh” of Jesus is not the “source” or “power” to accomplish the miracles everyone has seen Jesus doing. The “True Power” or “Ultimate Source of Power” that is able to “accomplish” these miracles is not from a “physical” person and Jesus is pointing that out when He asks “How long shall I be with you…” that Jesus is indicating that the “physical” Jesus will not always be with us!!! The importance of understanding the distinction Jesus is making here cannot be overstated — If we believe that only the “physical” Jesus has “power” then what are we to do if His “physical” presence is not with us? If we learn the Truth of God that Jesus is Teaching with JQ#20 we will understand the distinction that the “physical” Jesus was not the “Source” of the “Power” to perform miracles but that it was the “Spirit of God” working through the “physical” Jesus that accomplished the Great Works of God!!! When we understand that Jesus came to be an “example” of how to live our lives so that the “Power of God” will work “through” us then we will understand why Jesus rebuked the father of the demon possessed boy and the disciples that failed to cast out the demon from the boy when Jesus declared “O faithless and perverse generation…” (Matthew 17:17). Jesus with this declaration is exposing “why” the disciples were unsuccessful in accomplishing the “Work of God” which in this case was casting out a demon — the disciples were unsuccessful for they wrongly thought that they were able to do the “Work of God” instead of making the distinction that “only God can do the Work of God” but that God has chosen to do His Work “through” certain individuals. Jesus has been performing the “Work of God” to be an example of how to live our daily lives so that God will perform His Work “through us” — we must make the Divine Distinction that we cannot do the “Work of God” but if we “live as Jesus lived” then God will do His Work “through” us!!! Jesus is making that point when He points to “why” they were unsuccessful — it was because their faith and our faith is too weak and that “weakness” is from living a “perverse physical” life which always results in us being “Spiritually faithless”. So Jesus is Teaching with JQ#20 that we should “live” our lives by His Perfect Example and acknowledge that God is the Source of all Power. God has given us Jesus as an Example of “how” to live on earth and become a “conduit” for the Power of God to help a sick and dying world. Jesus became flesh to show us how to live in the flesh, and Jesus has clearly demonstrated that it is the “Spirit of God” in us that is the “Source” of the True Power of God and we must be motivated to help others in God’s Name and for His Kingdom’s sake or else we will fail in our attempts to do His Work if we are motivated by personal glory for ourselves — everything must be done for one simple reason — FOR THE GLORY OF GOD MOST HIGH !!! After all, it’s His World and we are His Creation so doesn’t it make sense we should do things HIS WAY???