The Healing of a Devil-Possessed Boy
In Consideration Of Matthew 17 and Mark 9
Matthew 17:15-21 And when they were come to the multitude, there came to him a certain man, kneeling down to him, and saying,
Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is lunatick, and sore vexed: for ofttimes he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water.
And I brought him to thy disciples, and 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 suffer you? Bring him hither to me.
And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour.
Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out?
And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.
Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.
As I read these two gospel accounts in Mark 9 and Matthew 17 of God's grace and power in action,
I looked at them differently. As I read I thought of my art parable "1/2 Hearted Obedience, the Double Minded Man © 2013 Debbie Turner Chavers.
Reading Matthew 17 and the lunatics response to being attacked, I was reminded of another type of parable or scenario in which the water and fire were represented as holy and unholy immersion.
The goal was destruction of the man. He was sore vexed.
A double-minded man at times seeks the water of life and also the fires of Hell.
It is the struggle of the carnal man, the double-minded man who finds himself going backwards and forwards and being held in captivity.
Jesus came to set the captives free. He came to earth, died, and rose again for this very purpose. (Ephesians 4:8-10) ( Psalm 68:18)
All the largess of His earthly and heavenly treasure was freely given to man while he walked among them and after He returned to heaven.
Jesus went about doing good on this earth. He is still doing good.
How much more are the riches of heaven available through his atoning death for you and I even now? Abundantly more than we can ask or imagine.
Help thou Lord, our unbelief. Even as the father of the child with a dumb and deaf spirit besought the Lord with tears. So we also in our generation call out to the LORD.
Lord, we believe; help thou our unbelief. (Mark 9:14-29)
The disciples asked Jesus why they could not cast the devil out. The father of the boy begged, he confessed his lack of faith/ belief and petitioned the Lord for more belief.
The only one Jesus denied freedom and faith ...was the devil.
Note that in both gospel accounts that Jesus told the disciples their lack of success was not based on :
1. The willingness of the devil to cooperate.
2. It was not based on the ability of the possessed to be free.
3. Nor was it based on Jesus' desire to free the one possessed.
So in consideration of prayer and fasting. Both require effort in our flesh. The end result was that the child was overcome by the wicked one and at this point, the effort..the belief would be required of those who called upon the LORD in faith for the deliverance of the afflicted.
As the one requesting belief, we are to be led by His Holy Spirit not our flesh.
Remember Jesus said..This kind can come forth by nothing but by prayer and fasting. (Mark 9:29)
FASTING:
*Fasting prompts a pushing aside of my own natural flesh desire...the works of the flesh..Galatians 5: 16-21.
*A prompting to think on those things which are pure and lovely...Philippians 4:5-8.
*The opportunity to eat the fruit of the Spirit..Galatians 5:22-25.
To experience a purifying of motives and modes of daily operation. A setting aside of our agenda to seek His face, His way.
PRAYER:
Jesus died and rose again to give us complete VICTORY in all areas.
We have received victory through Jesus' shed blood sacrifice.
His Spirit within us recognizes the victory, prayer confesses the victory.
God reveals his word by his Spirit in a way that we individually and corporately can relate to it.
We receive Holy Spirit wisdom by the grace of God for victory in our everyday walking out of our faith in this world. We receive wisdom of God as we seek Him in prayer and the eating, and listening to His Word.
Study and communion.
Fellowship..Relationship with our God and Father who loved us in Christ before the foundation of the world. (John 17:24)
Jesus came to set ALL the captives free.
Trust Him. Believe Him. AGREE with Him.
In conclusion, my understanding is that fasting convinces our flesh ...what our spirit already knows and prayer that speaks it forth.
~Debbie
**If you click on the art parable painting title you will be redirected to its website for more information about the painting.
All writing, poetry, posts, art, and photography copyright © 2016 Debbie Turner Chavers. All Rights Reserved. Encouragement? http://lolo-livingoutloudonline.com Protected by US and International copyright laws. Scripture references from King James bible..resource at Biblegateway.com
