All posts by John (HFJ Director)

Jesus Casts Out Demons

In Matthew 8:28-33, Jesus casts out demons from two violent men. We gain some insight into the relationship of Jesus, demons, and the people.

28 When Jesus arrived on the other side of the lake, in the region of the Gadarenes,[g] two men who were possessed by demons met him. They lived in a cemetery and were so violent that no one could go through that area.

29 They began screaming at him, “Why are you interfering with us, Son of God? Have you come here to torture us before God’s appointed time?”

30 There happened to be a large herd of pigs feeding in the distance. 31 So the demons begged, “If you cast us out, send us into that herd of pigs.”

32 “All right, go!” Jesus commanded them. So the demons came out of the men and entered the pigs, and the whole herd plunged down the steep hillside into the lake and drowned in the water.

33 The herdsmen fled to the nearby town, telling everyone what happened to the demon-possessed men. 34 Then the entire town came out to meet Jesus, but they begged him to go away and leave them alone.

A few observations to highlight:

  • Jesus wants to help even violent men whom others have given up on. Jesus, as son of God, has no fear of the two men in the cemetery.
  • The demons not only believe in Jesus, but they also recognize Him as son of God, when many religious people do not. However, they do not follow or serve Him. If we tell ourselves we “believe in” Jesus, or “know” Jesus… that puts us in the same relationship with Him as demons. The better question is “Do we follow and serve Jesus?”
  •  The demons recognize that Jesus has power over them. They know they can not win over Him. They simply ask why He is coming before the appointed time to torture them, presumably to cast them into Hell.
  • Jesus is not there to change the appointed time for the demons to be destroyed, just to help the men and demonstrate the power of God.  He casts the demons into the herd of swine at their request.
  • The immediate and dramatic change in the behavior of both the men and the pigs demonstrates a conclusive picture for those who witnessed it of the real existence of demons. They exist to destroy,  but are constrained by God to within certain boundaries.
  •  The herdsman fled and told everyone what happened to the demon possessed men. Instead of celebrating or worshipping Jesus, they asked Him to leave. How sad for people to clearly see the power of almighty God and have a response to push it away.

Reflect on these points and others in the scripture. How can you apply them to your life today?

Are you celebrating the power of God in your life? or pushing it away?

Do you “know” and “believe in” Jesus? or do you serve and follow Him? Can others tell? How does your life reflect this by being different from those around you who do not serve Jesus?

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The Cost of Following Jesus

Jesus reminds us Matthew 8:18-22 that to be His followers we must leave behind many things that are be important to us.  He must come first… before anything else.

18 When Jesus saw the crowd around him, he instructed his disciples to cross to the other side of the lake. 19 Then one of the teachers of religious law said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” 20 But Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens to live in, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man[e] has no place even to lay his head.” 21 Another of his disciples said, “Lord, first let me return home and bury my father.” 22 But Jesus told him, “Follow me now. Let the spiritually dead bury their own dead.[f]

When we put Jesus first, even ahead of our own family, He shows us how to take care everything else. The relationships and things that honor God and are consistent with His word will still fit and have the correct priority. The relationships or things that are inconsistent with God’s word must be left behind and quickly.

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Bitterness Hurts the One Who Holds It

Bitterness, resentment, and unforgiveness can be real obstacles to healing relationships or just healing in your own life after feeling hurt by others. Even if the person who hurt you does not repent and you never reconcile, holding bitterness and resentment is not helpful. Release it to God and move on with your life.

[Matthew 6:14-15] 14 “If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. 15 But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.

[Romans 12:14-19]

14 Bless those who persecute you. Don’t curse them; pray that God will bless them. 15 Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all!

17 Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. 18 Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone. 19 Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say,

“I will take revenge;
    I will pay them back,”[a]
    says the Lord.

[Hebrew 12:14-15] 14 Work at living in peace with everyone, and work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord. 15 Look after each other so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God. Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many.

Remember that holding bitterness and resentment in your heart continues to hurt you and impede your healing process. It is like holding a hot pot without a handle… it hurts the one who holds it.

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Am I Hearing From Jesus? or Satan?

As Jesus’ followers we must learn over time to recognize the voice of our shepherd and distinguish it from the voice of the evil one, Satan. God allows Satan to tempt and lie to us.

Satan wants to separate us from God. God wants us to study and know God through His word so as to easily recognize when Satan is at work and choose instead to honor God and reject Satan’s lies.

Satan was allowed to tempt Eve in the Garden of Eden. She choose to trust Satan instead of God, with grave consequences.  Satan tempted Jesus in the wilderness. Jesus knew and trusted the word of God and thus recognized the lies and deceit… the trap Satan was trying to lure him into.

Satan continues today to try to trick and deceive people in an effort to separate them from God. Sadly, he is very successful because people are not prepared as Jesus was with a strong foundation of understanding God’s word as truth.

There are key differences, or tells, that can help us distinguish between God’s voice and that of Satan.

  • God speaks clearly and directly about the truth of what is good and what is wrong. There is not much “gray” area. Satan lies and rationalizes why wrong behavior is really acceptable.
  • God’s will never contradicts what He has already revealed to us in His holy scriptures. Satan’s lies contradict or twist scripture out of context. They are easier to spot for those who have taken the time to study and know God’s word.
  • God calls us to admit we are sinful, repent wholeheartedly and change our behavior in pursuit of a holy standard. Satan tells us the Bible is wrong or inaccurate or no longer applies. He tells us that we are like many others or better than most, we are good enough, we don’t need to change our behavior.
  • God’s path is typically harder, takes longer… it requires discipline and conviction. People will mock you and try to stop you. Satan’s path is easy and comfortable. People do not mock you. You blend in with the world.
  • God warns us that there are negative consequences to our sin. Satan tries to convince us there are no negative consequences.
  • God leads us to have a humble spirit, knowing who we are in Christ and giving glory to Him. Satan fills us with pride, focusing our thoughts on how good we are by ourselves.
  • God cares not only about “what we do” but also cares about “how we do it” and “why”. Satan says “the ends justify the means”.  Satan suggests you can act in a way that is against God’s word so long as you have a good cause.
  • God provided a way through Jesus Christ to atone for our sins and reconcile with God. Satan tells us we do not need God…that we are good enough on our own.

As followers of Christ we must acknowledge that Satan is real and is working to trap us and lead us into sin and away from God. Then we must study God’s word and focus on developing a relationship with Him through consistent prayer. We must listen carefully and test what we hear to ensure it lines up with God’s will and character. Only by doing this can we live the life that God wants for us.

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God Requires Obedience As Part of His Covenant

In Genesis 17, God reminds Abram about the agreement they have in which Abram will be made the father of many nations if he and his children obey God. God commands a physical sign of the covenant that will serve as a reminder of the agreement to God’s people.

17 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord came to him and said, “I am God All-powerful. Obey Me, and be without blame. And I will keep My agreement between Me and you. I will give you many children.” Then Abram fell on his face. God said to him, “See, My agreement is with you. You will be the father of many nations. No more will your name be Abram. But your name will be Abraham. For I will make you the father of many nations. Many will come from you. I will make nations of you. Kings will come from you. I will make My agreement between Me and you and your children after you through their whole lives for all time. I will be God to you and to your children’s children after you. I will give to you and your children after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan for yourselves forever. And I will be their God.”

Then God said to Abraham, “You must keep My agreement, you and your children after you for all time. 10 This is My agreement between Me and you and your children after you, which you must obey: Every man among you must have this religious act done. 11 In this religious act the skin is cut off from the end of your sex part. This will be the special act of the agreement between Me and you. 12 Every male child among you who is eight days old must have this religious act done, through all time. The same must be done to all the men born in your house or bought with your money from any stranger, who is not one of your family. 13 He that is born in your house and he that is bought with your money must have this religious act done. So will My agreement be marked in your flesh, an agreement that lasts forever. 14 But the man who has not had this religious act done, of cutting off his piece of skin, will be cut off from his people. He has broken My agreement.”

15 Then God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, do not call her name Sarai. But Sarah will be her name. 16 And I will bring good to her. I will give you a son by her. I will bring good to her. And she will be the mother of nations. Kings of many people will come from her.”

17 Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed. He said to himself, “Will a child be born to a man who is 100 years old? 18 Then Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael might live before You!” 19 But God said, “No, but your wife Sarah will give birth to your son. And you will give him the name Isaac. I will make My agreement with him and for his children after him, an agreement that will last forever. 20 As for Ishmael, I have heard you. I will bring good to him. I will make him grow in number. He will be the father of twelve rulers. I will make him a great nation. 21 But I will make My agreement with Isaac, who will be born to Sarah at this time next year.”

22 When He had finished talking with him, God went up from Abraham. 23 Then Abraham took his son Ishmael, and all who were born in his house, and all who were bought with his money, and every man and boy who lived in his house. And he cut off their piece of skin that very day, as God had told him to do. 24 Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he had the religious act done of cutting off his piece of skin. 25 His son Ishmael was thirteen years old when he had the religious act done of cutting off his piece of skin. 26 Abraham and his son Ishmael had this religious act done that very day. 27 And all the men of his house, who were born in the house or bought with money from a stranger, had this religious act done with him.

It is common for a covenant agreement to have a clause concerning a witness as reminder that the covenant existed. Of course the reminder is for God’s people as God will not forget. In the case of the covenant with Noah, God created rainbows as a reminder. With Abram it is circumcision.

Circumcision was more than just a physical reminder though, it also represents accepting the covenant… a willingness to obey the laws of God. This is somewhat similar to the practice of baptism which is an outward sign of a person accepting Jesus Christ as lord and savior. The physical act is representative of an inner choice.

God’s covenants are typically not just one-sided promises where God says you can reject Him and still be blessed. As in this example, God calls for obedience in our hearts and behaviors as our part and if we do that, then He will be our God and bless us.

Abram… now Abraham…wasted no time to fulfill God’s command. Abraham was already committed to obeying God, so after discussing the covenant and hearing God’s command, Abraham immediately took the appropriate, obedient action. He did not delay or wait until later to do what God asked.

As a moment of reflection… each of us should consider if we obey God when He leads us to take some action (through His word or through other ways He communicates with us). Do we debate God, delay until “later” or obey immediately?

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Jesus Heals and Casts Out Demons

We often face hardship in this world including sickness, and yes… demon possession, though many today reject that concept. However, scripture is clear… it differentiates between Jesus’ healing of sickness and His casting out of demons. Jesus demonstrates His power through a series of miracles in Matthew 8:1-17.

Large crowds followed Jesus as he came down the mountainside. Suddenly, a man with leprosy approached him and knelt before him. “Lord,” the man said, “if you are willing, you can heal me and make me clean.”

Jesus reached out and touched him. “I am willing,” he said. “Be healed!” And instantly the leprosy disappeared. Then Jesus said to him, “Don’t tell anyone about this. Instead, go to the priest and let him examine you. Take along the offering required in the law of Moses for those who have been healed of leprosy.[a] This will be a public testimony that you have been cleansed.”

When Jesus returned to Capernaum, a Roman officer[b] came and pleaded with him, “Lord, my young servant[c] lies in bed, paralyzed and in terrible pain.”

Jesus said, “I will come and heal him.”

But the officer said, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come into my home. Just say the word from where you are, and my servant will be healed. I know this because I am under the authority of my superior officers, and I have authority over my soldiers. I only need to say, ‘Go,’ and they go, or ‘Come,’ and they come. And if I say to my slaves, ‘Do this,’ they do it.”

10 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed. Turning to those who were following him, he said, “I tell you the truth, I haven’t seen faith like this in all Israel! 11 And I tell you this, that many Gentiles will come from all over the world—from east and west—and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the feast in the Kingdom of Heaven. 12 But many Israelites—those for whom the Kingdom was prepared—will be thrown into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

13 Then Jesus said to the Roman officer, “Go back home. Because you believed, it has happened.” And the young servant was healed that same hour.

14 When Jesus arrived at Peter’s house, Peter’s mother-in-law was sick in bed with a high fever. 15 But when Jesus touched her hand, the fever left her. Then she got up and prepared a meal for him.

16 That evening many demon-possessed people were brought to Jesus. He cast out the evil spirits with a simple command, and he healed all the sick. 17 This fulfilled the word of the Lord through the prophet Isaiah, who said,

“He took our sicknesses
    and removed our diseases.”[d]

Jesus makes no promise of healing everyone physically in this world. We live in a fallen world based on our own sin nature. Sometimes it may even serve God’s bigger plan to allow sickness or death in some circumstances for the furthering of His kingdom. God allowed Satan to torment Job, a faithful servant of God’s,  with physical illness and pain… not to mention a long list of other suffering.

In most of the examples above… people who had demons or were ill sought out Jesus. They came to him humbly and in faith that He could and would heal them. It is clear that neither illness nor demons are a difficult problem for Jesus to solve.

Unfortunately quite a few pastors twist this scripture and others like it. They would have you believe if you come to Jesus with faith you are guaranteed a healing and if you are not healed then you failed in your faith. Though a lack of faith may certainly block you from receiving healing from Jesus, the fact that you were not healed does not always mean you did not have enough faith or that God did not hear your prayers. Sometimes He wants us to glorify Him even in our illness or suffering. Sometimes it is just a result of a fallen world and He has chosen not to intervene to provide healing. We may never know why He chooses not to intervene at times, but we are to trust God as His followers.

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Not All Who Call Jesus’ Name Will Enter Heaven

Jesus speaks a strong warning to each of us in Matthew 7:21-23.

21 “Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter. 22 On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ 23 But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’

There are far too many who even identify as Christians that have not truly accepted Jesus Christ in their hearts. They accept Him in name, perhaps go to church, maybe volunteer and even do good works. However, only those who actually do the will of God will enter heaven.

If you identify with Christ, I encourage you to spend time studying His word and changing your behaviors to become more like Him and less like the world. It is a hard road, as it was for Jesus. It is not typically a comfortable walk from a worldly perspective but when we walk with the Lord we can find joy in living as He commands.

Want to evaluate if you are “on the path” to heaven?  The Bible provides the answers. You may start by reviewing devotions from the category “Am I On The Path?” on our website home page. (On the  sidebar for computer users and by scrolling down on home page on mobile devices).

Understanding your eternal destination while you still have time to make corrections is important… make time for it.

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Resurrection from the Dead

Many non-Christians, and even many Christians struggle to really comprehend resurrection of the dead.  Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 15:12-28 how essential resurrection is to our Christian faith.

12 But tell me this—since we preach that Christ rose from the dead, why are some of you saying there will be no resurrection of the dead? 13 For if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised either. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your faith is useless. 15 And we apostles would all be lying about God—for we have said that God raised Christ from the grave. But that can’t be true if there is no resurrection of the dead. 16 And if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still guilty of your sins. 18 In that case, all who have died believing in Christ are lost! 19 And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world.

20 But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died.

21 So you see, just as death came into the world through a man, now the resurrection from the dead has begun through another man. 22 Just as everyone dies because we all belong to Adam, everyone who belongs to Christ will be given new life. 23 But there is an order to this resurrection: Christ was raised as the first of the harvest; then all who belong to Christ will be raised when he comes back.

24 After that the end will come, when he will turn the Kingdom over to God the Father, having destroyed every ruler and authority and power. 25 For Christ must reign until he humbles all his enemies beneath his feet. 26 And the last enemy to be destroyed is death. 27 For the Scriptures say, “God has put all things under his authority.”[a] (Of course, when it says “all things are under his authority,” that does not include God himself, who gave Christ his authority.) 28 Then, when all things are under his authority, the Son will put himself under God’s authority, so that God, who gave his Son authority over all things, will be utterly supreme over everything everywhere.

What a glorious promise from God for those of us who accept Jesus as lord and savior! We can look forward to overcoming death and being reunited with Jesus Christ in heaven after we die. Properly understood it helps put our priorities and values in perspective.

Those who follow Christ should strive to live with eternal life in mind rather than living just to pursue personal desires and an easy life in this world.

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When We Fail to Wait for God

Few would dispute that Abram (later Abraham) was a man of great faith. He enjoyed a personal and close relationship with God. There were times during which Abram demonstrated amazing faith, and then other times, as in Genesis 16 , when we may find ourselves asking… “Why did he do that?” while we read the scriptures.

16 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had not been able to bear children for him. But she had an Egyptian servant named Hagar. So Sarai said to Abram, “The Lord has prevented me from having children. Go and sleep with my servant. Perhaps I can have children through her.” And Abram agreed with Sarai’s proposal. So Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian servant and gave her to Abram as a wife. (This happened ten years after Abram had settled in the land of Canaan.)

So Abram had sexual relations with Hagar, and she became pregnant. But when Hagar knew she was pregnant, she began to treat her mistress, Sarai, with contempt. Then Sarai said to Abram, “This is all your fault! I put my servant into your arms, but now that she’s pregnant she treats me with contempt. The Lord will show who’s wrong—you or me!”

Abram replied, “Look, she is your servant, so deal with her as you see fit.” Then Sarai treated Hagar so harshly that she finally ran away.

The angel of the Lord found Hagar beside a spring of water in the wilderness, along the road to Shur. The angel said to her, “Hagar, Sarai’s servant, where have you come from, and where are you going?”

“I’m running away from my mistress, Sarai,” she replied.

The angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit to her authority.” 10 Then he added, “I will give you more descendants than you can count.”

11 And the angel also said, “You are now pregnant and will give birth to a son. You are to name him Ishmael (which means ‘God hears’), for the Lord has heard your cry of distress. 12 This son of yours will be a wild man, as untamed as a wild donkey! He will raise his fist against everyone, and everyone will be against him. Yes, he will live in open hostility against all his relatives.”

13 Thereafter, Hagar used another name to refer to the Lord, who had spoken to her. She said, “You are the God who sees me.”[a] She also said, “Have I truly seen the One who sees me?” 14 So that well was named Beer-lahai-roi (which means “well of the Living One who sees me”). It can still be found between Kadesh and Bered.

15 So Hagar gave Abram a son, and Abram named him Ishmael. 16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Ishmael was born.

We must observe that Abram and Sarai’s choice to try to fulfill  God’s plan rather than waiting on God resulted in much trouble and sorrow for them and for generations to follow. It is a great reminder to us in our journey with God not to be discouraged and quit when we make mistakes, but rather to pick ourselves up and resume our journey with God as best we can, asking forgiveness and trying to learn from our mistakes.

One aspect we can learn from Abram’s actions in this passage is how to wait on God and how to discern if a solution someone proposes lines up with the word of God. The idea that Abram should have a child through Hagar, who was not his wife, to help God accomplish His promise to Abram is clearly not an idea from God. It does not line up with God’s instruction as to marriage being between one man and one woman and sexual relations being reserved only for a husband and wife in marriage. He commanded this at the beginning with Adam and Eve.

We must challenge ourselves not to try to hurry God’s timing by finding our own solutions to speed things up. We must wait on God to enjoy the fullness of what He has in store for us.

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Beware of False Prophets Disguised As Sheep

In Matthew 7:15-20, Jesus once again warns His followers to use discernment and wisdom to judge the motivations and heart of others. We are only able to judge based on actions and words where God judges from the heart and intentions. Though our assessment will be imperfect, we are called to judge the intentions of others wisely and apply that knowledge to protect ourselves and others.

15 “Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep but are really vicious wolves. 16 You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act. Can you pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. 18 A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. 19 So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire. 20 Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions.

It really seems quite obvious in the context of con men or criminals who may wish to rob or harm us for their selfish gain. We naturally identify a need to discern their intent from their actions and use judgment to protect ourselves.

However, Jesus is warning about something much more sinister. His warning applies to those who pretend to be His followers… or pastors or church leaders that pretend (often convincingly) to be serving Jesus when they really serve only their own selfish ambition and greed. Often these wolves know the Bible well, as Satan does… they just twist the scripture when they teach it to mislead their followers to do what they want instead of what God wants.

One of the best ways to recognize these false prophets is to be consistently reading and studying God’s word in the Bible ourselves. Add to your study by using multiple different resources from different, independent Christian leaders. Those who allow themselves to rely solely on a once a week trip to church to listen to someone else talk about the Bible and never or seldom study it themselves are easy prey to false prophets.

Some of the most effective wolves preach from the Bible but intentionally only teach part of the gospel… the part that God is a God of love… the part that makes people feel comfortable in their sinful lives rather than leading them to change. Some even openly say that they do not wish to talk about things that make people sad or uncomfortable. Does that sound like the Jesus of the gospels? No it does not. Jesus confronted sin, made people uncomfortable, and challenged them to change. When we read the Bible we see that while God is a God of love, He is also a God of righteousness and judgment. We are accountable for what we do and what we fail to do.

When a flock is led astray by false prophets, they do not get all that God wants them to have.  They may live their lives missing out on large parts of God’s word… they often become a powerful tool for Satan… a person identifying themselves as Christian, pointing to the Bible, but not living righteously. While the false prophets are accountable to God for their deception, so too are the people responsible for allowing themselves to be misled due to failure to study the scriptures themselves.

It is urgent that we each study God’s word consistently and connect with objective study tools to help us in addition to seeking out a godly church and godly counselors.

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