Bible Verse: Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own town, among his relatives and in his own home.” He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. He was amazed at their lack of faith. Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village. Mark 6:4-6 NIV
Scripture Reading: Mark 6:1–6; Mark 9:23; Luke 7:1-10; Hebrews 11:6; Hebrews 13:8; James 1:17
There are 37 different miracles of Jesus recorded in the Gospels. It would strengthen your faith to spend some time reading these miracle stories for yourself.
A famous old preacher used to say, “What you’re not up on, you’re down on.” Miracles are that way. If you never spend time learning what Jesus taught and did regarding miracles, you will develop a nonchalant attitude towards them, perhaps even doubting them altogether.
There are only two places in the New Testament where Jesus is said to be “amazed.”
- In today’s passage from Mark 6:1-6, Jesus was amazed at the unbelief in His hometown. People took Him for granted as an ordinary man they thought they knew, not the anointed Son of God who worked miracles.
- Also, in Luke 7:1-10, Jesus was amazed at a Roman centurion for his great faith. A leader in the Roman army believed that Jesus only had to say a word for his servant to get his healing miracle.
Jesus was amazed at one town’s level of unbelief and was amazed at one man’s level of belief. If you ever need to believe God for your own miracle, you definitely want to be in the second category.
Mark 6:6 says, “He could not do any miracles there, except lay His hands on a few sick people and heal them.” Notice it doesn’t say He “would not” but “could not.” In other words, Jesus had the power to do more…but something in their attitude and unbelief stopped Him. The scoffers approached Jesus’ ministry with skepticism and sarcasm, and they were the ones who lost out. What Jesus was looking for was simple faith.
To be clear, a lack of faith does not always cause a lack of miracles. There can be many other reasons, some of which are out of our control. But our personal faith in a miracle-working God should be the first thing we strengthen if we want to see God do the miraculous in our lives. God is pleased when you believe and trust Him for the difficult and the impossible (Hebrews 11:6).
God hasn’t changed; He still performs miracles for those who believe (Mark 9:23). Go ahead and believe Him for yourself!
Prayer: Father, I want to grow stronger in faith for miracles in the days ahead. Help me make this personal, and trust You to do miraculous things in my life. When things are challenging, difficult, or even impossible, help me remember that my role is to trust You. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Reflection: As you walk with the Lord, you may face situations you feel are not worth bringing to God in prayer. You may just assume you can handle it alone or even accept the inevitable. God wants you to stretch your faith to the point where you ask yourself, “What if?” instead of “Oh well.” Invite God in on your biggest problems and trust His mighty hand to do what only He can do.
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