Before we begin, I want to say how much it means to me that you read what I’m writing. If I felt I had the answers, I would seek solitude in the furthest corner of the globe. I believe God has called me to this purpose and placed these messages on my heart. Therefore, I will share them. They would not be worth the ink they’re written with otherwise.
Today, we look at Matthew chapters 7–9. These passages speak to faith, warn us against false teachers, and teach us how to grow as disciples through trust in Christ alone.
Faith Begins with Surrender
I never know why God does things the way He does. His ways are higher than mine (Isaiah 55:9). Faith is not wondering if God is still in control — it’s knowing that He is and always will be.
In Matthew 8:2, a man with leprosy kneels before Jesus and says, “Lord, if you are willing…” He wasn’t doubting Jesus’ power to heal, but questioning whether Jesus would choose to. That’s a posture of humility — not entitlement.
Life has a way of humbling us. I was a skier, a musician, a comedian, and a restaurant owner. At twenty-five, I thought I had it all. But I was immature, squandering what I had, and hurting the people around me. I didn’t care. I was determined to set the world on fire, even if I burned down the mission to do so. Meanwhile, I was refusing God in my life. But He knew who I was — and who I would become.
Then came the accident. I broke my neck and back. To an outsider, it looked like God had given me a snake (Matthew 7:10). But I’ve learned He was giving me a fish. Had I continued on the path I was on, death was my ultimate reward. My generation never wanted to live beyond thirty-five. Yet most of us do — and then we have to figure out how to make those extra years matter.
Healing Comes Through Transformation
God led me to a path where I had to learn to crawl, then walk again. He could have miraculously healed me — as He did the centurion’s servant (8:6) and the paralytic (9:6). But I was like the two demon-possessed men from the Gadarenes (8:28). I always pictured one man, as in Luke and Mark, but Matthew says there were two. I was hardworking and determined, but I had no respect for life.
Had I found success then, it would have been my demise. So instead of healing my body first, Jesus forgave my sins (9:2). We are all two men — body and spirit. He cast out what was destroying me, just as He cast out the demons from those men (8:32).
What I deserved for my lack of faith and wrong living was death. But dead men can’t come to Him. Jesus says, “Let the dead bury their own dead” (8:22). To have faith in Jesus, He must first call you — and you must respond. He is the door (John 10:9), but you have to knock (Matthew 7:7). This is both action and reaction. We act by calling on His name when we respond to the Gospel.
Discernment in a Time of Awakening
I believe we are on the verge of another Great Awakening. People are reaching out to God, needing answers in an unsettled age. But this is when Satan plays dirty. He infiltrates the church with easy answers. Instead of the genuine Gospel, people hear what tickles their ears — that they can follow Jesus without repentance, without change.
But you cannot be the lord of your own life and allow Jesus to be Lord too. Many will come in His name to deceive (7:15). We must test the spirits (1 John 4:1). Jesus said, “By their fruit you will recognize them” (7:16). Not through their charisma. Not through their platform. By their fruit.
Believers must help others avoid these traps. It’s our responsibility to have greater faith than the apostles, who panicked in the storm (8:26). They should have known they had God on board.
As you go through the next few months, test the spirits. If someone preaches lies, call them out. Help the vulnerable. Just as Jesus took the hand of the dead girl (9:25), we must take the hand of those heading toward spiritual death and guide them to life.
None of us knows how many days we have to make a difference. Be that difference today.
Tomorrow, we will read Matthew 10–11.