"Even the Demons Knew Jesus Was the Christ" - #410

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Welcome to the new readers of this message!  Here is your Devotion, A Moment of Introspection, JCSM's Challenge, the Word of the Week, a faith-builder from "The Skeptic's Annotated Bible: Corrected and Explained," and the Quotes of the Week.  Have a fantastic week and God bless you!

Love in Christ,

Jason Gastrich

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JCSM's Weekly Devotions (click here to listen!)

"Even the Demons Knew Jesus Was the Christ"

Matthew 8:28-32  "When He had come to the other side, to the country of the Gergesenes, there met Him two demon-possessed men, coming out of the tombs, exceedingly fierce, so that no one could pass that way.  And suddenly they cried out, saying, 'What have we to do with You, Jesus, You Son of God?  Have You come here to torment us before the time?'  Now a good way off from them there was a herd of many swine feeding.  So the demons begged Him, saying, 'If You cast us out, permit us to go away into the herd of swine.'  And He said to them, 'Go.'  So when they had come out, they went into the herd of swine.  And suddenly the whole herd of swine ran violently down the steep place into the sea, and perished in the water."

Luke 4:33-35  "Now in the synagogue there was a man who had a spirit of an unclean demon. And he cried out with a loud voice, saying, 'Let us alone!  What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth?  Did You come to destroy us?  I know who You are—the Holy One of God!'  But Jesus rebuked him, saying, 'Be quiet, and come out of him!  And when the demon had thrown him in their midst, it came out of him and did not hurt him."

Luke 4:40, 41  "When the sun was setting, all those who had any that were sick with various diseases brought them to Him; and He laid His hands on every one of them and healed them. And demons also came out of many, crying out and saying, 'You are the Christ, the Son of God!'  And He, rebuking them, did not allow them to speak, for they knew that He was the Christ."

James 2:19  "You believe that there is one God.  You do well.  Even the demons believe—and tremble!"

Insight: Jesus had power over the demons and they feared Him.  In fact, they recognized Him as the Christ, the Son of God.  If the demons trembled and worshiped Jesus, shouldn't we fear and praise Him as well?

Prayer: "Dear Lord, bless us and protect us from evil.  Give us great spiritual strength, so we can overcome the temptations from the enemy.  Lift our eyes to your throne, Lord.  Praise You for being mighty.  Praise You for being good and holy.  There is no other like You.  Remind us that You have power over all.  Remove our fears and our worries.  Give us peace as we stand on the solid foundation of You.  In Jesus' name, Amen."

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A Moment of Introspection

Did the demons worship Jesus better than you do?

Make a list of things that are hard for you to do, but things that you know that you should do.  Pray that you will find a way to do them.  You could even get an accountability partner to help you do them.

God bless you as you meet this week's challenge!

diablos (Greek, see Matthew 4:5): a traducer, specifically Satan, false accuser, devil, slanderer

The Skeptic's Annotated Bible: Corrected and Explained

"The Skeptic's Annotated Bible" claims:

Genesis 25:2 - Abraham needed God's help to father Isaac when he was 100 years old (Gen.21:1-2, Rom.4:19, Heb.11:12). But here, when he is even older, he manages to have six more children without any help from God.

Since Abraham had so many sons, why does the bible say that he had only one son?

"The Skeptic's Annotated Bible: Corrected and Explained" responds:

Abraham needed God's help to have a child with the barren Sarah.  He didn't need His help, per se, with Keturah.

Isaac was the son of promise, a type of Jesus Christ and this was mentioned and explained above (earlier in my book).  This gave Isaac a special designation.

(This explanation came from "The Skeptic's Annotated Bible: Corrected and Explained", by Jason Gastrich.  This book is on CD and explains over 3,000 difficulties regarding the entire Bible at http://www.skepticsannotatedbible.org.  There is also a 300 question workbook that accompanies the CD-ROM.)

Demons consider Jesus worthy of their worship and so should we.

Demons acknowledge Jesus as God and so should we.

Demons know that judgment is coming and so should we.

Demons fear Jesus as Lord over that judgment and so should we.

Demons submit to His Word and so should we.

The Devil is extremely organized.

The Devil has detailed plans.

The Devil deals with prime ministers and economies.

The Devil directs his demons to tempt people.

The Devil wants you to believe anything except the truth.

Some of us are singing in church, but we aren't worshiping God.

Worship is a response of respect to God.

Hell wasn't created for humans.  It was created for the Devil.  Don't go to a place that was never intended for you.

Sometimes we get ourselves into trouble and it has nothing to do with the Devil or his demons.

The Devil can tempt you, but he can't force you to do anything.

When Jesus tells you to do something, do you do it?

Don't think just because you're blessed that you are being blessed to the maximum level that God can bless you.

The more you obey, the more you'll be blessed.

God didn't design you to be addicted, depressed, or discouraged.

These quotes came from God, me, and Miles McPhearson.

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