"Evil Visits, Invading
Lands! (E.V.I.L)"
By Ramesh
C.Reddy
Pittsburgh Standard
February 29,
2008
Editors Note: The devotional has a background song which can be heard if you use Internet
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SCRIPTURE:
"Whenever the evil spirits saw him, they
fell down before him and cried out, "You are the Son of God." But he
gave them strict orders not to tell who he was.” (Mark 3:11-12, NIV)
Observations:
I asked myself what can I learn about the
evil spirits!
Evil
spirits were not just one but many and
-
Whenever the evil
spirits saw Jesus, they fell down before Jesus.
-
Whenever the evil
spirits saw Jesus, they cried out to Jesus saying, “You are the Son
of God.”
Observations/Interpretations:
I asked myself what is significant about
them not being one.
It
emphasized to me that evil comes in many forms and Satan uses his evil
spirits to do the dirty work. However, evil spirits cannot stand before
Jesus or handle Jesus. They are powerless before Jesus. This is evident
by two points:
Point 1:
Whenever the evil spirits saw Jesus, they fell
down before Jesus!
The
evil spirits could not stand the sight of Jesus. They were so powerless
before Jesus that they fell down before Jesus. This is so amazing. Not
only that but they do something else that is more significant which is
evidenced by point 2.
Point 2:
Whenever the evil spirits saw Jesus, they cried
out to Jesus saying, “You are the Son of God.
The
evil spirits who were sent to do Satan’s dirty work fell down before
Jesus and cried out to Jesus saying, “You are the
Son of God.” This is amazing and radical. I say that because lots
of human beings even do not fall down and cry acknowledging Jesus to be
the Son of God. They go on living their own lives how they wish. The
evil spirits whatever their power was in the realm of evil, they could
not stand before the presence of Jesus but had to acknowledge who Jesus
is!
Observation/Interpretations:
I asked myself how Jesus responds?
“But he gave them strict orders not to
tell who he was.”
I
found it very significant what Jesus did when He gave them strict orders
not to tell who he was. First, of all it tells us that Jesus can order
and command evil spirits and they become powerless before Him. This is
awesome and great!
Also, I believe Jesus did not want the evil spirits to testify on his
behalf letting people know who he was. First of all the personification
of evil in a person’s life will never be a good testimony when they talk
about Jesus. If a person’s life is filled with evil then they definitely
cannot be a good testimony when they talk about Jesus. It is good to
know that Jesus can order evil spirits too and they have to listen to
Him. Also, Jesus had His timing for everything. He did not want evil to
let people know who He was but wanted to reveal it in His timing and not
let the people hear it from the evil spirits.
Application:
I
saw important implications for my own life. Evil spirits no matter what
form they take, cannot stand Jesus. Instead, they fall down before Jesus
and cry acknowledging Jesus and His power. This means when I have the
power of the Lord residing in my heart and life, evil spirits cannot
touch me. Instead, they will fall down in the Name of Jesus! With Jesus
on my side, the evil spirits will have to hide. The key is having Jesus
in my life and allowing the power of the Holy Spirit to work in me and
protect me.
I ask you now dear friend, how do you
fight evil?
Dear
friend, evil can come in many forms and it can do all kinds of damage.
Satan is expert at sending his demons and evil spirits to do his dirty
work. They become successful and powerful in people’s lives who are not
covered by the Blood of Jesus Christ. When they are on their own, evil
will pervade their lives in many forms. This is how evil spirits work.
But there is Good News and the Good News is Jesus Christ, my friend. We
see in the Word of God that the evil spirits could not stand the sight
of Jesus but fell down and cried before Jesus. This is so powerful.
Jesus even gave them strict orders. I learned in the previous chapters
that Jesus even gives orders to evil spirits and they obey Him.
No
matter what evil has done to you or you are faced with, you can be
delivered. I know you can! Yes, you can friend! Jesus Christ is His Name
and to save you and me, He came. His blood will cleanse you where you
are and give you the best antidote to protect you from the enemy. In
Heavenly armor you can enter the land, for the battle belongs to the
Lord. No weapon formed against you will stand, for the battle belongs to
the Lord.
Turn
to Jesus whatever you are faced with and know you can command evil to
get away from you and it will have to because of Jesus who resides in
you as you acknowledge you are a sinner and need the grace of Jesus
Christ to save you and bring you deliverance. When you do that, you will
have a new hope! Yes, you will and you can! Don’t let the enemy steal
your joy for the enemy comes to steal, kill, and destroy but Jesus has
come to give life in all its fullness for you!
May
you know even when evil visits invading land, evil will one day be
completely vanquished when Jesus Christ comes back to run the show here
on earth! May you know that until that day the battle still belongs to
the Lord and you can fight evil with Jesus on your side! Amen!
“Evil Visits Invading Lands!”/"How do you fight
evil?"
Prayer:
Dear Lord Jesus, thank you so much for your love and for showing us that
evil spirits cannot stand the sight of you. Instead, they fell down and
cried before you acknowledging you are the Son of God. We are so sorry
for our sin! Lord we ask you to please forgive us as we fall down before
you with our heart, mind, soul, and strength. We acknowledge we are
sinners and need your grace to save us and deliver us from the enemy.
Help us please Jesus. Come into our heart and make our heart your home.
Live in us Jesus and help us to live for you and serve you the rest of
the days of our lives. We live in a world of evil and need your
protection to fight evil. We need you Lord and know that there will come
a time when all evil will be vanquished. Until then help us to stand
with you Jesus and remember the battle belongs to you Lord as we enter
the land. Thank you that no weapon formed against us will prosper when
we have you! When we know you, no matter what happens here on earth, we
can be with you! Thank you Jesus. Thank you for your help and that you
have heard our prayer and answered it! In Your Name I Pray Jesus! Amen!
If you would like to invite Jesus
Christ into your heart and make Him a daily part of your life, you can
this very moment. You will never be alone. You can claim God's promises
for you in the Bible and see them come true, before your eyes, in His
wonderful timing. You don't have to wait for a special time to come to
the Lord. You can come right now as you pray this prayer, meaning it in
your heart.
You can invite the GREAT PHYSICIAN right now as you make this your prayer.
Dear Jesus,
thank you for healing the paralytic after forgiving his sins. You set him
free to go home. I want to be free. I don’t know
everything about you. I still have a lot of questions. What I do know is
that you died on the cross for my sins. When it comes to sin, I am a
paralytic Oh Lord. I am infected with this deadly disease known as sin.
I am not perfect but a sinner who needs your cleansing blood to clean me
of my sin everyday. I confess to you my sin and repent of my sin. I know
you have forgiven me when you died on the cross. I want to accept that
forgiveness. Thank
you for shedding your cleansing precious blood for me. You were nailed
to the cross because of me. It is like I actually held the hammer and
pounded the nails so I could be free. Thank you for willingly dying for
me Jesus. Thank you for taking the shame and pain for me. Thank you for
doing that to set me free. I come to the cross and ask you for your
healing in my life. Thank you for the power of your Blood to redeem
humanity. Thank you for coming back to life to save us and give us
Eternal Life as we yield to you. Your blood can heal us where we are. I
love you Jesus. Even with my questions, I come to you now and accept you
into my heart. Please Jesus come into my heart and make my heart your
home. Give me a transfusion of change. Live in me Jesus and I will live
for you and serve you the rest of the days of my life. I thank you Jesus
for coming into my heart and making my heart your home. Thank you for
living in me Jesus. I acknowledge you now as my Lord and Personal
Savior. Please be the Lord and Savior of my life. Thank you for being my
Lord and Personal Savior Jesus and because of what you have done for me when
God looks at me, He now sees me covered in your blood and His judgment
passes over me. Thank you that you have heard my prayer and answered me.
Thank you for being with me Lord. Please fill me with your Holy Spirit.
Thank you Jesus I now belong to you and never need to be alone! You will
always be with me and have given me Salvation. In Your Name I Pray
Jesus! Amen!
Friend, if you have prayed this
prayer and meant it in your heart, you are a new creation in Christ and
all old things are passed away and everything has become new! You may
feel something or may not but don’t base it on feelings but base your
new life in Christ on the promises of our Savior who will never leave
you nor forsake you! Amen!
No matter what you feel in your heart,
know that Jesus has come in and resides with you! You are not alone! To
make your walk strong with the Lord, spend time in prayer talking to Him
as you would to a friend. You don’t need special words to talk to the
Lord. Spend time in His Word reading Psalms and turning them into
prayer. Next allow God to heal you and speak to you through the Gospel
of John or Gospel of
Mark before moving on to other Books of the Bible! Slowly, let the Lord
show you to which Scriptures He wants you to go to next. It is also important to be part of a body of believers to
help you grow in the faith. Find a Bible believing church that preaches
the Word of God from Genesis to Revelation proclaiming Jesus Christ our
crucified and risen Lord who brings us hope, healing, and help! But
beware of churches who do believe in the Word of God completely but
there is no freedom in Christ but legalism involved.
As a
student, it is not too late to join a fellowship on campus too this
blessed New Year of 2008! May the Lord's presence and peace fill you with His
love now and forever! Amen!
Feel free to email me at
reddy4hisglory2004@yahoo.com if you want to meet to study the Bible,
pray with, talk about spiritual issues or whatever is on your mind! My
number is 412-720-4579.
"This is my
work and I can do it only because Christ's mighty energy is at work
within me." (Colossians 1:29, TLB)
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' I AM ' Series
Archives:
What kind of L.I.G.H.T do you follow? (Dec 13,
07, 10:09 a.m.)
"What kind of B.R.E.A.D do you eat?" (Dec 08,
07, 10:10 a.m.)
"Who is your S.H.E.P.H.E.R.D?"
(June 30,
06)
Gospel of Mark Archives:
Mark 1:1:
"What does the G.O.S.P.E.L mean to you?" (Jan
15, 08, 1:15 p.m.)
Mark 1:1-4: "How
seriously do you T.E.S.T.I.F.Y about prophesy?" (Jan
12, 08, 11:18 p.m.)
Mark 1:5-8:
"Who do you P.O.I.N.T to?" (Jan 16, 08,
8:48 a.m.)
Mark 1:9:
How will you take a S.T.A.N.D? (Jan 17, 08,
11:21 a.m.)
Mark 1:9-11:
"How is your loving P.R.A.I.S.E?" (Jan 18, 08,
8:53 a.m.)
Mark 1:12-13: "How
do you handle T.E.M.P.T.A.T.I.O.N?" (Jan 19,
08, 12:27 p.m.)
Mark 1:14-15:
How do you handle T.I.M.E given to you? (Jan
21, 08, 1:31 p.m.)
Mark 1:16-18:
"What kind of P.R.O.F.E.S.S.I.O.N are you in?" (Jan
26, 08, 10:22 a.m.)
Mark
1:19-20:
"Without having to P.R.O.C.R.A.S.T.I.N.A.T.E, what should you do?"
(Jan 29, 08,
10:44 a.m.)
Mark
1:20-22:
"How do you rate in the B.U.S.I.N.E.S.S of Jesus?" (Jan
30, 08, 11:29 a.m.)
Mark
1:20-22:
"Whose T.E.A.C.H.I.N.G.S do you follow?" (Jan
31, 08, 11:52 a.m.)
Mark
1:23-28:
"What C.A.P.T.I.V.I.T.Y are you facing today?" (Feb
01, 08, 10:35 a.m.)
Mark 4:3-20:
"What if Jesus talked F.O.O.T.B.A.L.L?" (Feb
02, 08, 10:35 a.m.)
Mark 1:29-31:
"Where do you need H.E.A.L.I.N.G?" (Feb 05,
08, 11:44 a.m.)
Mark 1:32-34:
"Where do you need an A.N.S.W.E.R?" (Feb 06,
08, 11:16 a.m.)
Mark 1:35-39:
"Where do you give your S.O.L.I.T.A.R.Y time to the Lord?" (Feb
07, 08, 11:41 a.m.)
Mark 1:40-42:
"Where do you need to be C.L.E.A.N?" (Feb 09,
08, 11:00 a.m.)
Mark 1:43-45:
"What do your actions C.A.U.S.E?" (Feb 11, 08,
9:23 a.m.)
MARK CHAPTER 2:
Mark 2:1-2:
"What do you do with your P.O.P.U.L.A.R.I.T.Y?" (Feb
12, 08, 9:52 a.m.)
Mark 2:2-5:
"What kind of F.R.I.E.N.D are you?" (Feb
13, 08, 11:49 a.m.)
Mark 2:5-12:
"Where does P.A.R.A.L.Y.S.I.S take hold of you?" (Feb
15, 08, 7:42 a.m.)
Mark 2:5-12:
"What are you thinking in your M.I.N.D?" (Feb
16, 08, 11:08 a.m.)
Mark 2:5-12:
"What do you represent by your A.C.T.I.O.N.S?" (Feb
18, 08, 8:23 a.m.)
Mark 2:13-15:
"Where are you looking for A.C.C.E.P.T.A.N.C.E?" (Feb
19, 08, 11:22 a.m.)
Mark
2:15-17:
"Who do you I.N.V.I.T.E to Jesus?" (Feb 20,
08, 9:57 a.m.)
Mark
2:18-20:
"When do you F.A.S.T?" (Feb 21, 08,
9:32 a.m.)
Mark 2:21-22:
"How do you see your L.I.F.E?" (Feb 22, 08,
9:56 a.m.)
Mark 2:23-28:
"What kind of L.E.A.D.E.R will you be? (Feb
23, 08, 10:46 a.m.)
Mark 2:23-28:
"What does the S.A.B.B.A.T.H mean to you?" (Feb
25, 08, 10:46 a.m.)
CHAPTER 3:
Mark 3:1-6:"Whose
N.E.E.D.S do you meet?" (Feb 26, 08,
9:54 a.m.)
Mark 3:7-8:
"What is your I.M.P.A.C.T?" (Feb 27, 08,
8:17 a.m.)
Mark 3:9-11:
"What S.P.A.C.E do you give yourself?" (Feb
28, 08, 9:38 a.m.)
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