Moving Mountains

What if we could do what Jesus did?

On the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, a great crowd met him. Just then a man from the crowd shouted, "Teacher, I beg you to look at my son; he is my only child. Suddenly a spirit seizes him, and all at once he shrieks. It convulses him until he foams at the mouth; it mauls him and will scarcely leave him. I begged your disciples to cast it out, but they could not." - Luke 9:37-40

Today's reading begins with a disappointment for Jesus.  The disciples had been approached to cast out a demon, but they failed.

Jesus reacts as if they should have been able to do the work he wound up doing, accusing them of having too little faith.

So what does that mean for us?  Are we all potential healers, limited only by the depth and breadth of our faith?

It is an intriguing thought, don't you think?  Who among us would even attempt to cast out demons?

Even those who heard Jesus tell them they could do it doubted, so are we fooling ourselves to think we could do what they failed to do?

I think that is what holds us back.  We see Jesus as a healer, a miracle worker, when he kept telling his disciples that they only needed faith to move mountains.

Now if we were told we could learn how to heal one another of demonic afflictions like mental illness, we might choose to study how to do these things.  We might have to pay great sums of money but it would be worth it to be able to give people hope.

But if we are told all we need is faith, are we apt to believe it?

I can't imagine that Jesus came to show us his power, but that he wanted us to do all in our power to help one another, showing us what he did is possible with faith.

So, what do we do to build up our faith?

The first thing we need is to love one another.  Without love as our intent, we will have no chance to use the power of the Holy Spirit to help ourselves or anyone else. 

Practice love.  It is something we can do every day.  And through love, we will grow our faith.

Then, who knows what will be possible?

More to come...