Jesus healed people of demons. The demons were afraid of Him.

Luke 4:

³³ Once when he was in the synagogue, a man possessed by a demon—an evil^[a] spirit—cried out, shouting, ³⁴ “Go away! Why are you interfering with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!”

³⁵ But Jesus reprimanded him. “Be quiet! Come out of the man,” he ordered. At that, the demon threw the man to the floor as the crowd watched; then it came out of him without hurting him further.

³⁶ Amazed, the people exclaimed, “What authority and power this man’s words possess! Even evil spirits obey him, and they flee at his command!”³⁷ The news about Jesus spread through every village in the entire region.

I woke up with a song bumping all around the walls in my brain. It was an old song for young people but it’s a worthy classic. It was  by aChristian singer, Rich Mullins ~ the song, Step By Step. And to my surprise, when I read Psalm 63 this morning, there were the words in the first verse! I love when that happens. I’m in tune with God. And I love that so long ago the man who was a man after God’s own heart, penned those words in the Bible. David was the songwriter and musician of the Old Testament. Rich Mullins made his words famous again a few decades ago. I’m glad that song is a song that gets stuck in your brain. Over and over the Word of God plays in your mind and your heart hears it and your life gets better!

Psalm 63:

I never want to forget how Jesus dealt with temptation. He absolutely did not yield to the enemy and quoted the Bible. The devil misused Bible verses and quoted them back but Jesus said, “No!” and was (is) the victor. As Christians, with Jesus, we study and copy all He does!

The three verses Jesus used against the ultimate adversary of our soul…Memorize!

Luke 4:

4 Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan River. He was led by the Spirit in the wilderness,^[a]2 where he was tempted by the devil for forty days. Jesus ate nothing all that time and became very hungry.

³ Then the devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become a loaf of bread.”

⁴ But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone.’^[b]”

⁵ Then the devil took him up and revealed to him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. ⁶ “I will give you the glory of these kingdoms and authority over them,” the devil said, “because they are mine to give to anyone I please. ⁷ I will give it all to you if you will worship me.”

⁸ Jesus replied, “The Scriptures say,

⁹ Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple, and said, “If you are the Son of God, jump off! ¹⁰ For the Scriptures say,

¹² Jesus responded, “The Scriptures also say, ‘You must not test the Lord your God.’^[e]”

¹³ When the devil had finished tempting Jesus, he left him until the next opportunity came.

I agree with David and the words of Psalm 63. God is our…rock…salvation…fortress against all of our enemies! And He’s even more! Today and every day!

Psalm 62:

5 Let all that I am wait quietly before God,
    for my hope is in him.
⁶ He alone is my rock and my salvation,
    my fortress where I will not be shaken.
⁷ My victory and honor come from God alone.
    He is my refuge, a rock where no enemy can reach me.
⁸ O my people, trust in him at all times.
    Pour out your heart to him,
    for God is our refuge.

John the Baptist was a preacher. He told people to stop doing wrong. He was preparing those around for the coming of the greatest preacher of all…Jesus!

Luke 3:

1 It was now the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius, the Roman emperor. Pontius Pilate was governor over Judea; Herod Antipas was ruler^[a] over Galilee; his brother Philip was ruler^[b]over Iturea and Traconitis; Lysanias was ruler over Abilene. ² Annas and Caiaphas were the high priests. At this time a message from God came to John son of Zechariah, who was living in the wilderness. ³ Then John went from place to place on both sides of the Jordan River, preaching that people should be baptized to show that they had repented of their sins and turned to God to be forgiven. ⁴ Isaiah had spoken of John when he said,

⁷ When the crowds came to John for baptism, he said, “You brood of snakes! Who warned you to flee the coming wrath? ⁸ Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God. Don’t just say to each other, ‘We’re safe, for we are descendants of Abraham.’ That means nothing, for I tell you, God can create children of Abraham from these very stones. ⁹ Even now the ax of God’s judgment is poised, ready to sever the roots of the trees. Yes, every tree that does not produce good fruit will be chopped down and thrown into the fire.”

¹⁰ The crowds asked, “What should we do?”

¹¹ John replied, “If you have two shirts, give one to the poor. If you have food, share it with those who are hungry.”

¹² Even corrupt tax collectors came to be baptized and asked, “Teacher, what should we do?”

¹³ He replied, “Collect no more taxes than the government requires.”

¹⁴ “What should we do?” asked some soldiers.

John replied, “Don’t extort money or make false accusations. And be content with your pay.”

I find this interesting and challenging. Pop your comfort bubble!

Jesus was a humble kid. As a child He grew in every healthy way.

Luke 2:

⁴¹ Every year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the Passover festival.⁴² When Jesus was twelve years old, they attended the festival as usual.⁴³ After the celebration was over, they started home to Nazareth, but Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents didn’t miss him at first,⁴⁴ because they assumed he was among the other travelers. But when he didn’t show up that evening, they started looking for him among their relatives and friends.

⁴⁵ When they couldn’t find him, they went back to Jerusalem to search for him there. ⁴⁶ Three days later they finally discovered him in the Temple, sitting among the religious teachers, listening to them and asking questions.⁴⁷ All who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers.

⁴⁸ His parents didn’t know what to think. “Son,” his mother said to him, “why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been frantic, searching for you everywhere.”

⁴⁹ “But why did you need to search?”he asked. “Didn’t you know that I must be in my Father’s house?”^{[a] 50} But they didn’t understand what he meant.

⁵¹ Then he returned to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. And his mother stored all these things in her heart.

⁵² Jesus grew in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and all the people.

The angel Gabriel visited Daniel when the Israelites were in captivity in Babylon in the Old Testament. He also came to Mary in the New Testament to announce that she would have Jesus.

You can honestly say, the angel Gabriel has seen almost everything. He’s a warrior and messenger for God. He’s like the Farmers Insurance commercial that says, “We’ve seen almost everything.

https://www.ispot.tv/ad/IdIv/farmers-insurance-hall-of-claims-a-huge-drag

I love the thought of quoting Bible verses that are unique. The angel Gabriel told Mary that with God nothing shall be impossible. He knows what he’s talking about. He’s been on the frontlines of spiritual battles through the ages with God!! I’m with Gabriel!! I refuse to deny the power of our Heavenly Father!

The Bible also says in the end times people will know about God but deny that He is powerful. I understand why people would be this way. In America, we can easily be materialistic. But as Christians we need to step forward. We should unite and boldly proclaim God’s power even if everyone around thinks we’re having too much faith or depending on God too much! If others think that, that just means we have the privilege of being like Paul…We are fools for Christ!  Everyone in earshot needs to hear bold words that God powerfully intervenes in our lives! And He deserves to be greatly respected for His ability to fully, above and beyond, meet all our needs! Set aside pride and speak out bold words that God is our powerful source!

I refuse to deny the power of God in these end times when Christians half heartedly trust God’s power. Let it be that I appear to be a fool for the cause of Christ!

THE PRESENT

Last Wednesday I cried out to God. I told Him I’m real tired of my back hurting. I trust that God heals. He has healed me in every way because the Bible says that. Every day I do my best to thank God that He has forgiven my sin and healed my diseases. (Psalm 103:1-5) So, then I asked God why my back hurt the day before.

THE PAST

I’ve prayed and sought the answer for my back to be healed since I was 14 years old. I’m 52 now. That’s 38 years. When the doctor diagnosed me with scoliosis (s curve 35 degrees/25 degrees) I figured it would be too costly for dad (raising an extra large family) to afford. He always complained about giving Mom money for the family anyway. I surely didn’t want to burden him down more.

So, I did the best I could to make my back better. For the side of my back that bulged out, I would sleep on a paperback book. Then in the evenings after school I would do lots of back flips in the back yard. The thought of wearing a Milwaukee back brace was scary. It was bulky and I didn’t want to be made fun of at school. I was already real shy and didn’t want mean kids to make fun of me. I even sought God, in an odd sort of way. I asked God to heal my back through me drinking raw milk with honey in it. In my immature thinking, I was getting healthy natural calcium there for the bones in my back and I had heard about the wonderful Promised Land flowing with milk and honey in the Bible.

In my child bearing years, I had four children. The s curve progressed. When I carried my babies on my hip I tried to carry them on the the hip that was least harmful to my back. Once I saw in the paper of a doctor that promised a cure for scoliosis. When I saw the article I got on my knees and begged God to use this doctor to heal my back. We went to the meeting and it was a chiropractor doctor who was trying to talk patients into selling supplements that supposedly helped cure scoliosis along with getting treatment from him. It was vague so we walked out of the meeting.

In my thirties, I worked at a manufacturing plant. The insurance was awesome but taking the weeks off for back surgery wouldn’t be realistic. So I learned to deal with the pain by stretching on my breaks. I learned to press on the parts of my back with my thumb that were in pain to calm down the overactive imbalanced muscles. I liked the physical movement in the job but everyday my back hurt.

I have a high tolerance for pain. So, if my back is hurting I won’t tell anyone. All through the years, oh, how I wanted to just have a normal back. All of my life, I have intentionally, tried not to complain out loud. I don’t want to be a whiner so I don’t say my back hurts until it’s so distracting that I can’t focus on the task at hand. I’ve tried sucking my gut in and working hard to have the best posture possible. I’ve always been sensitive to people noticing my back. So sensitive, at times, that someone, as a kind gesture, would touch me on the back and I would jerk away.

In recent years I’ve taught Yoga. It really helped keep the pain down. I even gained confidence and lossed the fear of people judging me for being different. I’ve also discovered that when I lie still for a long time the pain gets worse. My back has hurt so bad, my mouth would water but I would try hard to ignore it. An important way I keep pain away is movement. Sometimes I wish others could see the s shape (60 degree/45 degree) X-rays that have been taken.

THE PRESENT

God answered my prayer last Wednesday. It was a windy warm springish evening. It reminded me of happy grade school days when my best friend and I would play on the playground together. I was supposed to go to church but I was burdened down so I went for a walk on a familiar walking trail since the weather was finally warm enough. I have had pain in my lower back for about a year. I try my best to take pain relievers as little as possible but I’ve taken them more in recent days. In my fifties, I’m not on any regular medicine. I like it that way and thank God. After the walk, my crying out to God had an answer. I realized the three mile walks take the pain away. I had stopped walking during the winter and have just been a couch potato.

In a reasonable way, God had promptly answered my prayer. I still trust God to heal me completely. I am healed. I don’t care what anyone thinks that reads the previous words. If I’m going to look like a fool to anyone it will be because I’m looking to the Creator of all existence who has unfailing love toward me. So I trust and thank my ultra powerful Heavenly Father that He has healed me in every single way before I die and go to Heaven, and it is all to glorify His name. Jesus rules my life everyday.