DATE POSTED Thursday, 2023-02-09
WRITTEN AT: O’Brien, FL

SCRIPTURE FROM: Luke 9:38-43
TRANSLATION: Living Bible (TLB)

BIBLE TEXT: ³⁸  … a man in the crowd called out to him, “Teacher, this boy here is my only son, ³⁹ and a demon keeps seizing him, making him scream; and it throws him into convulsions so that he foams at the mouth; it is always hitting him and hardly ever leaves him alone. ⁴⁰ I begged your disciples to cast the demon out, but they couldn’t.”
⁴¹ “O you stubborn faithless people,” Jesus said to his disciples, “how long should I put up with you? Bring him here.”
⁴² As the boy was coming the demon knocked him to the ground and threw him into a violent convulsion. But Jesus ordered the demon to come out, and healed the boy and handed him over to his father.
⁴³ Awe gripped the people as they saw this display of the power of God.

APPLICATION: Back in the beginning of this chapter, Jesus gave His disciples power to go out and preach the Good News and cast out demons. Don’t you know that the crowd was no different then, than we are today, and they just flocked in to see how Jesus would respond to this father who reported that His disciples were unable to cast the demon out of his son? Were they given the power, and now lost it? Did they run out of that supernatural power? But wait, that was covered in Romans 11:29 where it reads that God’s power would never be withdrawn from those He gifted. However, this may be a good time for us to review the origin of our gifts – for it is a gift of God. Divine followers of Jesus Christ may be blessed with a gift of God and they may have power from on high to heal, to counsel others, to teach others, or even have evangelistic gifts, and there may come a time when they find those gifts weaning away from them. Why?? Well, Jesus covered this for us in the Scriptures also, for in Mark 9:29 Jesus said: “This kind [of unclean spirit] cannot come out by anything but prayer [to the Father].” God forbid if we ever take it on ourselves to think that ‘we’ have any healing power. Only through the power, and the blood of Jesus Christ alone, might we ever be honored with Him using us to lay hands on anyone so that He can bring about healing. No matter how gifted we feel that we are, we might have even been one of the most gifted witnesses in the whole country, we will be ineffective today if we have not been maintaining that gift by prayer and fasting, by spending time in the presence of God. Now, being in the presence of Jesus, of course He was able to heal the young boy of the demons that impacted him on a frequent basis. But notice the crowd when they witnessed this healing – they were struck with awe and wonder! They witnessed for themselves the love, compassion and healing power of this man they had heard so much about. One Bible version says that they had a time of clapping and praising God. Do you recall the last time that you were struck with awe at the miracles by God in the life of someone at your church? Hopefully this is not just a private affair that takes place at the altar after a sermon, and not shared with the congregation to celebrate this power of God released in response to the faith of a believer. Friends, we must never forget that the God we serve today, is the same God that we read about in the Bible, learn about in Sunday School and hear from our pulpits when our pastor shares what God has laid on his heart for His people. This is not ‘pie in the sky’, but this is true power from our all-powerful God! Worship Him, my friend. Call on Him for your needs, and call on the pastors and elders of your church to pray over you in faith, believing in the power of Almighty God. Let the church come alive with times of awe and celebration! It will rejuvenate us to go on in victory to win the unsaved and heal the sick – in Jesus’ Name!

BLESSING(S) NOTED: The crowd was struck with awe at the power of Almighty God! I believe that will bring revival to a church that sees this happening on a regular basis!

PRAYER: Praise the Lord God Almighty, our God’s not dead, but very much alive because we see Him at work in our own lives and in the lives of His church! He healed the young man in our story today, and He still has the power to heal today, if only we will give Him the opportunity to use His power in our lives. Thank You Jesus! You are our mighty and awesome God, and we humble ourselves before You like this hurting father did for His demon-struck boy. Needs are numerous in my life, in the life of my family and also in my church, oh God. Please move in miraculous and mysterious ways in these needs so that Your church might be revived and renewed in their mission. I pray that every reader and listener of this devotional will catch a glimpse of the powerful God that we serve and call Father. AMEN!

FOOTNOTE: There are two more pages on my blog that will provide you with additional information, one of them being ‘To Know Jesus’. If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading this devotional, please click on the above page, or speak with a local Bible Teaching Pastor, or contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com. Please allow someone to pray with you and give you help and/or encouragement as you begin, or continue your walk with Jesus. Words underlined in my blog might indicate a link to a song that came to mind as I wrote the devotional. Feel free to click on the link and listen as you continue to read or pray. If this devotional was forwarded to you and you would like to see more, please go to Nuggets From God’s Word and read more, or you may freely subscribe for a daily email conveniently containing each day’s devotional. You may also visit me on Spotify and listen to Nuggets while you’re out and about. I would encourage you to find a church home near by your home, and attend as frequently as you could. Get to know God, and allow His people to encourage and strengthen you in your Christian walk, while making every effort to be a blessing to them. God is at work among His people! Please consider growing in your faith, as you worship with fellow believers!