GENESIS 27:
In yesterday's reading we read the history of Isaac and Rebecca's family before the narrative focuses on their dissimilar twin sons— and especially Jacob.
JOB 15:
We know a lot more than Job did. One thing was shown yesterday. Job asked,
14 If a man dies, can he come back to life? …
MARK 9b:
After coming down the mountain with three of his disciples, Jesus met his other disciples who were having two difficulties simultaneously with people arguing with them and with failing to heal a man’s son— who was possessed by an evil spirit or a demon.
Repeating a little of what I said in an earlier podcast: In Greek, ‘demon’ is daimonia, and the other term, ‘evil spirit’, is more literally ‘unclean spirit’. As someone who has worked in another culture and seen what has happened over my lifetime in the USA, I hope it will be helpful to some readers if I share about this topic. Some of you— particularly those of the older generation in the USA, will say, “What people called demons in Jesus’ day were just what we call mental illness.” While, paradoxically, it is the younger generation in the USA who more readily believe that demons actually exist. I think the younger generation have it right this time. Demons do exist.
Here’s what I have observed: Where demons are not believed in, they are happy to stay in the background— where they are very adept at promoting falsehood and sin. Where demons are feared, worshipped, where people listen to satanic music and take part in occult rituals, demons come out more openly— to increase people’s fear of them and to manipulate people.
As believers in Jesus, remember that Jesus has complete power over Satan and all demons. We who belong to Jesus should not fear them. Nor should we seek communication with such beings. Remember two things from yesterday’s story: The father wisely cried out, “Help my unbelief!” So the first thing to remember is to fully believe in Christ Jesus. The second is the answer Jesus gave to the disciples question: Prayer is of vital importance in this area of spiritual warfare.
GNT Translation notes:
Job 15:25 That is the fate of those
who shake their fists at God
and defy the Almighty [— like you].
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Mrk. 9:42“If anyone should cause one of these little ones [who believe in me to fall away//to lose faith in me], it would be better for that person to have a large millstone tied around the neck and be thrown into the sea.43 So if your hand makes you [fall away from me//lose your faith], cut it off! It is better for you to enter life without a hand than to keep both hands and go off to hell, to the fire that never goes out.45 And if your foot makes you [fall away from me//lose your faith], cut it off! It is better for you to enter life without a foot than to keep both feet and be thrown into hell. 47 And if your eye makes you [fall away from me//lose your faith], take it out! It is better for you to enter the Kingdom of God with only one eye than to keep both eyes and be thrown into hell. 48 There ‘the worms that eat them never die, and the fire that burns them is never put out.’
[Jesus also taught using these sayings:]
49“Everyone will be purified by fire as a sacrifice is purified by salt.
NLT Translation notes:
Mrk. 9:22 The [demon/spirit] often throws him into the fire or into water, trying to kill him. Have mercy on us and help us, if you can.”
25 When Jesus saw that the crowd of onlookers was growing, he rebuked the evil f spirit. “Listen, you [demon/spirit] [who/that] makes this boy unable to hear and speak,” he said. “I command you to come out of this child and never enter him again!”
26 Then the [evil/0] spirit screamed and threw the boy into another violent convulsion and left him. The boy appeared to be dead. A murmur ran through the crowd as people said, “He’s dead.”
29 Jesus replied, “[That/This] kind can be cast out only by prayer. ”
heading at 38:
[Doing thing for Jesus' cause//Using the Name of Jesus]
38 John said to Jesus, “Teacher, we saw someone using your name to cast out demons, but we told him to stop because he wasn’t in our group.”
31 for he wanted to spend more time with his disciples and teach them. He said to them, “[I, the//The] Son of Man, [am/is] going to be betrayed into the hands of [my/his] enemies. [I/He] will be killed, but three days later [I/he] will rise from the dead.” 32 [However/0] they didn’t understand what he was saying, however, and they were afraid to ask him what he meant.
39 “Don’t stop him!” Jesus said. “No one who performs a miracle [on my behalf/in my name/using my name] will soon be able to speak evil of me.
[One thing I do not like about the NLT is the translation of 'in my name' as 'using my name' in places having to do with prayer like John 16. In v38 here, it works well. For believers in this age, when we pray 'in Jesus' name', the meaning is not simply that we end our prayers with an automatic 'in Jesus name'. The meaning of praying in Jesus' name is that we pray things for the cause of Jesus, on behalf of Jesus, or for Jesus' glory. This is why I end so many prayers on these podcasts with the idea of Jesus’ glory!]
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