Gospel Reflections #75: Only God's Power Can Work and is at Work!

Mark 9:25 Jesus is ... He rebuked the unclean spirits. 'A spirit that neither speaks nor hears, I command you. Get out of this child. Do not enter him again."

Jesus is the one who can both rebuke and command demons. The disciples were also given the power to cast out demons, but at this time they could not cast them out. It was not because the demons were too strong, but because the disciples were beginning to feel that the power given to them by Jesus was their own power.

When Peter looked at Jesus and walked on the water, as soon as he suddenly looked at himself, he began to sink. The same thing happened in the casting out of demon.

We are only God's tools. God's power works in us because He uses us. It is not our power. When our work also continues to go well, we feel like it is our own achievement, but God makes us aware of the seeds of such arrogance in us. God is a God of love and mercy.

Jesus had compassion on the child possessed by the evil spirit, He was with the father in his grief, and He had compassion on the disciples in their pride. We are God's instruments, but He does not use us as mere tools, or disposable instruments, but as precious treasures that are unique in the world.

It is only our God who pours into the disciples the power of love and mercy that is His character. It is also God who sharpens our blades so that we can always use them, and it is God who devises ways to use them. We just need to let God use us and do as He wills!

---

This Gospel Reflections page is written by Masae San, a devoted student of the Bible who passionately embraces the Gospel of Jesus Christ. She shares her daily reflections on the Gospels as a way to reach out to others and spread the message of Jesus. We're sharing her message here so that you too can experience the joy that comes from the Gospel that has filled her heart.