Welcome to our new project, the Daily Bible Devotional. The goal is to help you understand and apply

scripture as you go through a New Testament Bible read five days a week, Monday through Friday,

as we move from Matthew straight through to Revelation. In under four minutes each morning, we will recap the chapter,

make some application, present thought questions for the day, and offer a prayer together.

I'm excited about exploring God's word with you, so let's get started.

Hey, thanks for joining in to our study from Matthew chapter 17.

Jesus takes his closest three disciples on a high mountain and is transfigured right before their eyes.

Peter, James, and John are amazed at Jesus' face shining like the sun.

The father then speaks and says, quote,

This is my beloved son, with whom I am well pleased, listen to him.

Following this incredible event, Matthew records something unfortunate. A boy has a demon that the disciples cannot cast out.

Jesus is frustrated at their unbelief, stating this as the reason they fail to help the boy.

Jesus strongly advises prayer and fasting.

Faith would be crucial very soon, as Jesus again describes that he must die and be raised on the third day.

The chapter ends with Jesus casually fetching pole tax money from a fish's mouth, indicating how little

such things are of concern to him. Here are some things we can think about personally. We have every

reason to believe in the power of Christ. He is God's son and is testified as such by the father

himself. We must live by faith in him. This does not mean we

always understand everything about him. The disciples had questions about what to do on the mountain

and the significance of Elijah's appearance. A lack of understanding is not necessarily a lack of faith,

but later the disciples did not trust in Christ's power

to cast out demons through them, and Jesus was extremely upset by their doubt. They needed more

...