The Other Character

Yesterday in our morning service we looked at how evil can and will speak into our lives using the story in Acts 19 about the 7 sons of Sceva. We discussed how if these 7 sons were here today they would probably have 3 things they would like to say to us and they would be #1 "the voice of evil takes on many forms." #2 "Satan's kingdom is aware of who you are." And #3 "you can't use Jesus' name effectively if you're not convinced of His power." And the entire theme they would like to get across to us would be "Don't try this on your own!"

Now today as I've been reflecting on this true story again about this demon possessed man beating these 7 grown men until they ran off bleeding and naked I've stumbled upon another truth that was invisible to me before. And this truth isn't just about these 7 "religious" men trying to use Jesus' name as some Harry Potter type of "magic word" to exercise the demonic presence from this other character in the story, but it's more about the fact that the force of evil made it's residence inside of this man.

First I noticed that while we don't exactly know the individual names of these 7 men, we do know who's sons they are. Because they're recorded as belonging to the Jewish Chief Priest Sceva. So we can see by this fact that they are of Israeli descent and are evidently well versed in the religion of Judaism. But while we do have an idea of these 7 mens background and who they are, the possessed man in this story remains nameless for posterity.

Why is that?

Now I know this story's all about the fact that you can't defeat evil if you don't have a personal relationship with Christ. But what about the other character in this story? What about this nameless man who is tormented and controlled by evil?

Just look at what this man single handedly achieves (with the help of evil of course). When they came to exercise him they confront him and they say, "In the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out." But the evil spirit in this man tells them, "Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?" Then he puts the hurt to all 7 of them.

So my thought is that maybe this mans remaining nameless displays the fact that none of us are immune to evil being able to work in or maybe even through our lives. Just a hypothetical question but what if we were to write our name in the blank space where this mans name would be? You see this story shows me that if it's allowed to, evil can voice itself through our vocal cords, personify itself through our flesh, and even inflict emotional and physical harm to those around us most likely scaring them for life.

So here's a few questions we should probably ask ourselves everyday.

1. Do we make sure that we're always in the "right spirit"?
2. Do we always watch what we say, or even how we say it when speaking to, or even about others?
3. Do we always weigh the consequences and the affects of our actions towards others?
4. Which type of personification are we permeating through our actions and our words, helpful or hurtful?

I know one thing. I wouldn't want to be like the 7 sons of Sceva and get a beat down every time I'm confronted by evil in my life, but on the other hand, I never want to be like the other character in this story either!

2 voices

The seven sons of Sceva learned the hard way that evil can speak into our lives. With everything that goes on in this world and all the voices talking to us, at us, and over us there are really two voices we need to learn to distinguish. Good and evil. The only question is which one are we listening to. Think about it.

Caught In The Current

I’ve always been told that “today is the first day of the rest of my life.” But doesn’t that mean that today is also the last day of what was my life?

As a matter of fact the few seconds it took you to read the first sentence of this blog is no longer your present but is now considered your past. And the sentence you are currently reading which only a moment ago was your future is now destined to be your past whether you choose to finish reading it or not.

You see to me, living in the future is just as unhealthy as living in the past. This is why I think we should always live in the moment because it’s really all we have. Now please don’t get me wrong because I’m not saying we should forget our yesterdays or ignore our tomorrows because it’s alright to reminisce about the past and we defiantly need to plan for the future. But what I am saying is its wrong to constantly live in either one like so many of us do. And of course the past can affect our now as well as our future but only if we allow it to.

I guess I’m trying to articulate that sitting around wishing things could be like they used to be or that we could go back and change our past is really no different than sitting around hoping our tomorrows will turn out better than our today’s. Because both waste precious time and steal our ability to not only live in, but enjoy the moment God’s given us to experience right now.

And yes, allowing our past to affect both our present and our future seems to just be human nature. So wouldn’t it stand to reason that we can choose to make our futures better if we could just learn how to live every moment knowing that the moment we’re currently residing in will soon become our past?

Just some random thoughts.

Thanks be to God

Thanks be to God our Creator and Redeemer. It's yet another day we've set aside to come together and corporately worship the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Today we are lifting up our praise and thanks for all of His benefits. We have the best medical and life insurance known to man and it's totally free to us. We just have to receive it. Thanks be to God our Creator and Redeemer.

A Life Of Praise And Thanks

Psalm 103 is referred to as David’s “Hallelujah Chorus.”

Now if U remember, “Hallelujah” is Hebrew for “Praise God” and to praise means to glorify and give thanks. So that makes Psalm 103 David’s Thanksgiving Chorus.

Now the psalms are poems and songs of praise and thanksgiving to God as our Creator, Sustainer, and Redeemer.

And since David’s accredited for writing 73 to 75 out of the 150 Psalms that sort of means that he's the top singer and songwriter who’s singles hit number one in the charts recorded in the bible. And if you read his songs you'll notice they all have the same pattern. Because all of the verse’s are about his true life experiences, the good, the bad and the ugly.

But then his Choruses, like all choruses, are repetitious statements after every verse that always point out how God loves and provides for him in the good and in the bad times of his life.

SO what if we were to look at praise and worship the way David did?
(Who by the way God says was "A man after His own heart.")

Would we better see that in order to worship God in spirit and in truth we would need our everyday lives to be like verses of a worship song that always lead to the glorious chorus and proof of God’s constant and consistent love and provision in our lives meaning that our lives would not just be seen by the world but our lives would resonate in the world as expressions of gratitude and thanks to our God in all things at all times?

Dis-couraged

Discouragement effects everyone.

Job said, "God has no right to treat me like this... it isn't fair."

Elijah wrote, "I have had enough, Lord... Take my life."

King David wrote in Psalm 69, "I am exhausted from crying for help... waiting for my God to help me."

C.S. Lewis, "Where is God? Go to Him when your need is desperate... and what do you find? A door slammed in your face."

Mother Teresa once said, "In my soul, I can't tell you how dark it is... I feel like refusing God."

Billy Graham once said, "I have my moments of deep discouragement. I have to go to God in prayer with tears in my eyes."

And even Jesus Himself asked, "My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?"

So why do we think any of us would be immune to discouragement? Listen, it comes in all shapes and sizes. It could be from losing a job, losing somebody you love or you just losing your mind. And on top of that, what discourages you may not discourage the next person but that doesn't mean you are weaker, we're just all different.

What we really need to realize is that those things that happen to us that bum us out didn't surprise God. He knew it was going to happen to us and we have to understand He didn't cause them but He allowed them to happen. Not because He doesn't love us or because He's some evil overlord that gets His kicks out of kicking us around. But these things happen to us because He loves us enough to allow us to make our own choices in life... right or wrong. Now He doesn't want those discouraging things in our lives to make us bitter, He rather we become better in spite of them.

Now I know it sounds like I'm trying to be a ray of sunshine here... but in all honesty, as long as we're on this earth we will have problems, pain and heartache. It's just life in it's fallen state. But there is a God who loves us and tells us that He has plans to prosper us, and not harm us, plans for us to have hope and a future. And we can see those plans fulfilled even in those times of discouragement if we will not only except His Son as our Savior but live for Him as the LORD of our lives.

This is the day.

Well it's Sunday morning again. Today we're hearing a few parables or stories that Jesus told and a few stories about real events that took place. And the thing about these stories is they all have one thing in common. And that commonality still seen today. So this is the day to make a change to see this chain of stories cease.