😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace and presence be with you. Mark 9:38-40 ‘John said to Him, “Teacher, we saw someone driving out demons in Your name, and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow us.” Jesus replied, “Do not prevent him. There is no one who performs a mighty deed in My name who can at the same time speak ill of me. For whoever is not against us is for us.”’
The disciples were right there with Jesus, following Him and learning from Him. They knew they had the real presence of God with them and they were protective of Him. It seemed the disciples didn’t want others speaking falsely in Jesus’ name. Or maybe the disciples felt threatened by those outside of Jesus’ close circle speaking with authority in Jesus’ name. Or maybe it was a pride issue and they thought they were the only ones qualified to cast out demons in Jesus’ name. Maybe a part of them thought they were special and above the rest because of their relationship with Jesus. These sound like some stinkin’ thinkin’ that we as Christians still fall into today.
As I read the above verse, I couldn’t help but think of the different denomination of Christians. We all serve the same God, Father, Spirit, Jesus, but we certainly don’t always get along. Heck, there’s division within denominations but ultimately as Jesus so directly put it, “There is no one who performs a mighty deed in My name who can at the same time speak ill of me. For whoever is not against us is for us.” – Mark 9:39-40
It is by choice that we have a relationship with the Lord and it is by choice that we act to make Him and His grace, forgiveness, mercy, love, and presence known to those we encounter along our journey back to the Lord. God knew that not every person would believe in Him and choose to join Him. He knew that not 100% of those that believed in Him and chose to be in relationship with Him would choose the same path of faith formation and knowledge. He also knew that He would have to meet us where we are, because we don’t freely choose to 100% go to Him.
Be the evangelist that God has instilled in you to be. A great way to keep yourself from falling into the traps that Satan is placing on your path, is to cast out demons in Jesus’ name. The more time you faithfully speak in Jesus’ name, the less time you have available that could be filled with the lies Satan places before us. “There is no one who performs a mighty deed in My name who can at the same time speak ill of me.” – Mark 9:39
The clip I’m sharing with you today is one that was shown during the faith formation class I attended last Monday. That was my first time seeing it, but it looks like it’s been around for six years.
Bless others and be blessed.
Shelly :0)
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#JasonSignalness – Alexa, who founded the … Church?
Third Day Devotions 