The 260 Journey

Day 17

Today’s Reading: Matthew 17

If you had a chance to ask God a “why?” question, what would you ask him? Why did this bad thing happen to me? Why did my mom pass away?

How about a personal failure question? That’s what we find in Matthew 17! The disciples failed at something they were empowered to do and did not know why they’d failed.

The disciples had tried to heal a young man and were unable, so the man brought his son to Jesus. Let’s pick up the story:

“Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is a lunatic and is very ill; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water. I brought him to your disciples, and they could not cure him.” And Jesus answered and said, “You unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him here to me.” And Jesus rebuked him, and the demon came out of him, and the boy was cured at once.

Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not drive it out?” And He said to them, “Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you. But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.” (verses 15-21)

Verse 19 highlights the private why—“Why couldn’t we drive the demon out?”

I love that the disciples asked this question. People don’t do this today when they finish a task. It’s rare to find someone asking for critique to get better, but these disciples did. We live in a culture that will blame others but not inspect ourselves.

Jesus’ answer is astounding and multi-layered:

• The big issue Jesus says is: faith.
• The problem is the size of it: it’s little.
• Because of that: failure.

Jesus refers to mustard-seed faith: if the mustard seed is little and that’s all you need to get big stuff moving, then you’re not in the ballpark of “little faith.” Your faith is smaller than little, it’s microscopic because nothing got changed.

And then he tells you what can get your microscopic faith kick-started and moving toward little: prayer and fasting.

Faith is not a concept about God. Faith is like a lens on how big we see God. When Jesus spoke about prayer and fasting as His follow-up to their little faith failure, He said that prayer and fasting will help get the God lenses on.

How? It’s about connecting fasting to prayer. Does fasting make God big? Not really.

Fasting is not a hunger strike to get God’s attention. Fasting creates space for God. To make a meal during this time period was not going to Whole Foods or Costco, it was an all-day affair from killing an animal to cooking it. Fasting meant creating space to pray, space for God.

When someone fasts they are giving God more time, and when you get more time with God, trust me, God gets bigger. That’s why I believe you can fast from many different types of things and not just food—social media, television, certain activities—to create space for prayer.

How do you deal with demons? Not by deliverance classes and learning crazy ways to deal with the dark world. Create more space for God by fasting. When you do that, God gets bigger. When God gets bigger, faith starts getting bigger. And when faith gets bigger, then mountains (and demons) start moving.

The way you get a grain of faith is by praying and fasting. A private “why” did not help only the disciples. What great insight for us to have when we need some movement on things that won’t budge.

Day 16

Today’s Reading: Matthew 16

Poor Alexander. He was having a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. Maybe you’ve read about his day?

From the moment he woke up, one terrible thing after another horrible thing happened to him. From finding gum in his hair to tripping over his skateboard to dropping his sweater in the sink while the water was running. And when his brothers found wonderful prizes in their cereal boxes, Alexander found . . . nothing.

On his way to school, he was squished in the center seat, and at school his teacher picked on him. After school he had a dentist appointment and the dentist found Alexander had a cavity.

And on and on it went—one catastrophe after another. Alexander decides he wants to move to Australia, where they probably never have bad days—but his mom tells him they do have bad days there too. What a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day Alexander had.

Alexander had a bad day. Australians have a bad day. And what’s not hard to believe is that Christians do too. We have no promises from God that once you and I become a Christian, all our days are always going to be great. But somehow we forget that when we have bad days!

In today’s reading, we see a disciple who had a great day—and then he had terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. Or to put it another way, he had a Simon day, a Peter day, and a Satan day—all in one day.

You already read this chapter, but let’s take another look at Matthew 16:

“Who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. (verses 15-18)

Wow! Jesus changed Simon’s name based on his revelation of Jesus. None of the other disciples had this happen.

But then Peter had his name changed again. This is where it becomes the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day:

Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day. Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You.” But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.” (verses 21-23)

What a change—from Simon to Peter to Satan. Have you ever felt like that? You’re going along having a Simon day (ordinary), and something happens in which you move to a Peter day (revelation that God is awesome), and then all of a sudden you get smacked with a Satan day (get behind Me).

In all of those days, though, you are loved by God. Your worst day does not make you any less accepted by God. The prodigal son covered in mud never stopped being a son, did he? He was still loved by his father. Jesus didn’t stop loving Peter, did He? No. And the same is true of you.

Author Brennan Manning does a good job of giving us a glimpse into the revolutionary love of God: “His love is never, never, never based on our performance, never conditioned by our moods—of elation or depression. The furious love of God knows no shadow of alteration or change. It is always reliable. And always tender.”

I read those words while traveling from Queens to Brooklyn on the F Train, and I started crying.

The revolutionary thinking that God loves me as I am and not as I should be requires radical rethinking and profound emotional readjustment. Our religion never begins with what we do for God. It always starts with what God has done for us, the great and wondrous things that God dreamed of and achieved for us in Christ Jesus.

What makes Jesus amazing is that He absolutely knows you and me and every evil and wicked thought and not only accepts us but furiously loves us—even when we mess up.

Your behavior does not dictate His behavior. He is who He is. He doesn’t change based on who you are. Your actions don’t control His character. Second Timothy 2:13 tells us, “If we are unfaithful, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny who he is” (NLT).

I love this verse! He cannot deny who He is. God is absolutely consistent. He can’t be anything but who He is. Your bad day does not change God.

Regardless of how your day will go today or if it already went, here is one unchanging thought to carry with you:

We change, we get moody . . . but God is always the same, which means no matter what kind of day you’re having, He loves you.

Day 15

Today’s Reading: Matthew 15

Abraham Lincoln famously stated, “I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had absolutely no other place to go.” In today’s reading, we find a woman who had absolutely no other place to go but on her knees in front of the Son of God. This has to be the craziest story on prayer in the entire New Testament. Sometimes it’s a fight to get an answer to prayer and prayer can seem like a wrestling match. In fact, Paul used one of the Greek words for prayer when he wrote in Colossians 4:12 (CSB): “Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, sends you greetings. He is always wrestling for you in his prayers.”

Wrestling in prayer for you. The Greek word is agonizomai. What does that sound like? Agonizing. That is what we see in today’s story.

They call her “The Syrophoenician Woman.”

Jesus . . . withdrew into the district of Tyre and Sidon. And a Canaanite woman from that region came out and began to cry out, saying, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is cruelly demon-possessed.” But He did not answer her a word. And His disciples came and implored Him, saying, “Send her away, because she keeps shouting at us.” But He answered and said, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But she came and began to bow down before Him, saying, “Lord, help me!” And He answered and said, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” But she said, “Yes, Lord; but even the dogs feed on the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.” Then Jesus said to her, “O woman, your faith is great; it shall be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed at once. (Matthew 15:21-28)

This woman participated in a wrestling match to get her demon-possessed daughter healed. The end of the story was that she received what she asked for. The journey there, though, is worth discussing.

This Gentile woman came to Jesus and faced three big hurdles to get her answer—three hurdles we too must wrestle through if we want to experience a breakthrough in our prayers, especially when we’re involved in a wrestling match for someone else’s deliverance.

An old preacher friend used to say that we must “pray the price.”

And this woman did.

The first hurdle she had to overcome is receiving silence. When she begged God for an answer, “He did not answer her a word” (verse 23).

Can we pray when we feel like nothing is being heard or responded to? This woman was crying and getting nothing. This is one of the battles we face in prayer. We’re doing all the talking but not hearing anything back.

Do we stop?

Do we give up?

I think it’s a test. As Rick Warren says, “The teacher is always silent when the test is given.” God wants to know how serious we are.

The second hurdle is being overlooked for others.

Jesus told his disciples, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (verse 24). He spoke but not to her. She had to overhear what Jesus said. She did not even get a direct word. She was listening to Jesus explain and speak to others.

Others are getting God but not you. Can you get over the hurdle when God does for others before He does for you?

Still she did not stop.

The third hurdle is getting a standard answer but not the answer.

Jesus told her, “It’s not good to take the children’s bread and give it to the dogs” (verse 26). These seem like harsh words but they were simply standard lines. The children’s bread is what God gave to Israel. Dogs is what Israel called all non-Jews. She was listening to standard lines.

Instead of being offended, she fought through the standard answers everyone hears. Still she didn’t give up. She told Him, essentially, “All this is good but I need my daughter healed.”

And Jesus’ response? “‘O woman, your faith is great; it shall be done for you as you wish.’ And her daughter was healed at once” (verse 28).

Prayer is wrestling. And to get your answer, you have to fight on when you receive silence.

You have to fight on when everyone else is getting an answer and you are being overlooked.

You have to fight on when you receive only standard answers.

You fight on. Just as the woman did, you don’t give up, you don’t stop praying. Keep wrestling!

Day 14

Today’s Reading: Matthew 14

As he awaited his death as a prisoner in a Nazi concentration camp, the famed theologian, pastor, and Christian martyr, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, wrote a letter about losing people we love. He wrote, in part:

There is nothing that can replace the absence of someone dear to us, and one should not even attempt to do so. One must simply hold out and endure it. At first that sounds very hard, but at the same time it is also a great comfort. For to the extent the emptiness truly remains unfilled, one remains connected to the other person through it. It is wrong to say that God fills the emptiness. God in no way fills it but much more leaves it precisely unfilled and thus helps us preserve - even in pain - the authentic relationship. Furthermore, the more beautiful and full the remembrances, the more difficult the separation. But gratitude transforms the torment of memory into silent joy. One bears what was lovely in the past not as a thorn but as a precious gift deep within, a hidden treasure of which one can always be certain.

I love this statement: “Gratitude transforms the torment of memory into silent joy.” Gratitude helps us deal with loss. Jesus showed us one other way to deal with the grief that accompanies the loss of people we love—compassion.

In today’s reading we see that Jesus faced loss:

When Jesus heard about John, He withdrew from there in a boat to a secluded place by Himself; and when the people heard of this, they followed Him on foot from the cities. When He went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and felt compassion for them and healed their sick. (Matthew 14:13-14)

John the Baptist was Jesus’ cousin. John was murdered because of a crazed and convicted adulterer and a robot of a dancing daughter. She danced before Herod, who became so intoxicated with this sensual dance, he offered her whatever she wanted. The little girl went to her mom for her advice on what to ask for. Her mother hated John because he had confronted and condemned her for sleeping with the king. She told her daughter to demand John’s head on a platter. Can you be more vindictive than that?

So Herod gave the order and had John the Baptist beheaded.

When Jesus heard the news, He withdrew out of grief and sorrow. He went to a lonely place by Himself. He wanted to be alone. Tragic death paralyzes.

The big problem for Jesus was that though He wanted to be alone to grieve and process His loss, the multitudes wanted His healing. When they realized where He had gone, they followed Him.

Now consider this . . . when He saw them, He felt compassion for them. He did not say, “Hey, I need some time alone. Let’s do this next Thursday.” Even in His deep grief, He felt something when He saw them and their needs.

This is instructive to us. This is one of the great ways to overcome our grief when we have lost a loved one. Our tendency leads us toward loneliness: “I just want to be alone,” “Give me some private time,” “I don’t want to see anyone or talk to anyone,” “Just leave me alone.”

Jesus was alone, but He shows us that compassion trumps grief.

The way out of the grief funk is not through a season of loneliness but through ministering to others. When you start to tend to others’ needs, God heals you and takes care of you. The passage says, “He healed their sick.” We would say, “I need healing.”

Among all the “professional Christian counseling” and “grief counselors,” I’ve never heard them tell us in the midst of our grief to “go help others.”

Seclusion does not fix you. It’s dangerous to be left alone with your thoughts when you suffer great loss. It is in giving that you receive.

Day 13

Today’s Reading: Matthew 13

Every day as you read one chapter of the New Testament, the goal is more than just experiencing a feeling of accomplishment but to grow and become more like Christ. Sometimes when you struggle to find time for God’s Word, it isn’t because you’re busy, it is because you’re experiencing spiritual warfare!

This book is a supernatural book and changes people’s lives. That’s why it’s hard to read the Bible. Jesus explained about this in today’s Scripture reading. In Matthew 13, Jesus told seven parables, or Kingdom stories. The most famous parable in this chapter is called the sower and the seed. Jesus used the surroundings of the people, more specifically the agricultural fields, to explain the battle that goes on to stop the Word of God from taking root in people’s lives and changing them.

Behold, the sower went out to sow; and as he sowed, some seeds fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate them up. Others fell on the rocky places, where they did not have much soil; and immediately they sprang up, because they had no depth of soil. But when the sun had risen, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. Others fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them out. And others fell on the good soil and yielded a crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty. He who has ears let him hear. (Matthew 13:3-9)

His big point was this: Satan sees what God’s Word can do in people’s lives and so he will do whatever he can to stop it from producing in you.

The seed being planted in the story is the Bible, God’s Word, and it faces challenges to take root and produce.

Challenge #1: the devil. That is the seed on the roadside. The moment you read the Bible or listen to a sermon, Satan waits to steal that Word because it is powerful. Sin will keep you from the Bible or the Bible will keep you from sin.

Challenge #2: difficulties. That is the seed that takes root but does not go deep. The way you win against difficulties is through depth. Go deep in God. Go deep in His Word.

Challenge #3: distractions. Jesus said the weeds that choke the seeds are the worries of the world and deceitfulness of riches. If you’re too busy to read the Bible, you’re too busy.

And yet there are those who will get through these hurdles and produce fruit with their lives. Jesus called them seeds that grow in good soil and produce a good crop—a good God-honoring life.

The devil will challenge every word and chapter you read in the Bible, because he knows what it can do. When you signed up for this 260 Journey, you also signed up for a battle. But it’s a winnable battle!

If you want to win at it, start treating your Bible like you treat your cell phone. Ever wonder what would happen if we did that?

• What if we carried it around in our purses or pockets?
• What if we scrolled through it several times a day?
• What if we turned back to get it if we forgot it?
• What if we used it to receive messages from the text?
• What if we treated it as though we couldn’t live without it?
• What if we gave it to kids as gifts?
• What if we used it when we traveled?
• What if we used it in case of emergency?

And something even better: unlike our cell phones, we don’t have to worry about our Bible being disconnected, because Jesus already paid the bill.

The best protection against Satan’s lies is to know God’s truth. The next time you find yourself struggling to read the Bible, remember who’s behind that struggle and then remember that you were meant for the good soil.