At the end of Matthew 16, from yesterday's Spoken Word Bible Reading Plan, JESUS said THIS in verse 28:
28 Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in (into) His kingdom.
We see this fulfilled in today's Bible Reading in Matthew 17:1-8:
And six days after this, Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John his brother, and led them up on a high mountain by themselves. 2 And His appearance underwent a change in their presence; and His face shone clear and bright like the sun, and His clothing became as white as light. 3 And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, who kept talking with Him. 4 Then Peter began to speak and said to Jesus, Lord, it is good and delightful that we are here; if You approve, I will put up three booths here—one for You and one for Moses and one for Elijah. 5 While he was still speaking, behold, a shining cloud composed of light] overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, This is My Son, My Beloved, with Whom I am [and have always been] delighted. Listen to Him! 6 When the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces and were seized with alarm and struck with fear. 7 But Jesus came and touched them and said, Get up, and do not be afraid. 8 And when they raised their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.
This was quite the experience for these three trusted disciples! We know that they were trusted by JESUS because He tells them in verse 9 not to mention what they saw to anyone until after He had been raised from the dead. I imagine that this last statement went right over their heads! They could not understand at all what the great plan for our Salvation entailed! Everyone ran scared when the soldiers took JESUS from the Garden! But it all made sense once He was raised up and they were born again! There is SO much in the Word of God that we do not yet know and understand, no matter how much we DO know or how long we have been studying the Word! There is ALWAYS something knew to learn or a new way to look at something we've already learned! Make studying and meditating the Word of God your top priority every day and you will never stop learning and growing! And the results are well worth it all! Look at Joshua 1:8:
8 This Book of the Law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may observe and do according to all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall deal wisely and have good success. AMP
The promise is that we will not only learn and grow, but we will have the needed wisdom to prosper and to deal wisely and have GOOD success, in every area! Grab THAT promise! Also, as you do study the Word of God, you will sometimes find things that are not quite what you have always heard or been taught! Take a look at Matthew 17:20:
20 He said to them, Because of the littleness of your faith [that is, your lack of firmly relying trust]. For truly I say to you, if you have faith [that is living] like a grain of mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, Move from here to yonder place, and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.
After JESUS and His disciples had come down from their mountain top experience, they were confronted by a man whose son was demon possessed and the other disciples who had not gone with them had not been able to cast the demon out. JESUS told them that it was because of the littleness of their faith that the demon did not obey them! They had NOT grown their faith to that point yet! Verse 21 speaks of prayer and fasting, but that is NOT in the original language. I'm sure that the translators thought that they were helping with that addition, but prayer and fasting does NOT bring faith! Faith COMES by hearing and hearing and hearing the Word of God (Romans 10:17)! Prayer and fasting is needful for US to get in position to learn and grow in the things of God, but the devil MUST leave at the mention of the NAME of JESUS! Meditate on the verses that speak of the Name of JESUS and our authority by and through that Name! THAT is what is needful to put and keep the devil in his place! AMEN! Here is Hillsong with "Not Today":
Shalom in Him!
