Day: January 15, 2013

a little experiment

You may happen across someone who is sick or injured today. If you do, try this:

  1. ask if you can pray for them right then and there: “Can I pray for you right now?”
  2. if they say okay, simply ask God to heal them, not wordy, religious, or bargaining, just ask: “Hey God, [name] is sick/hurting, please come and heal him/her right now.”
  3. ask them if they feel better, if they don’t pray again

A couple of things to note here:

  1. many people will actually let you pray for them if you ask. It may seem weird at first, but they usually say yes
  2. it doesn’t matter if they believe or not, God actually likes being an “non-anonymous benefactor” and often does stuff to show people how much he loves them, especially when they don’t already know

Red Letter Year: 1/15

Mark 3:20-35

20 One time Jesus entered a house, and the crowds began to gather again. Soon he and his disciples couldn’t even find time to eat. 21 When his family heard what was happening, they tried to take him away. “He’s out of his mind,” they said.

22 But the teachers of religious law who had arrived from Jerusalem said, “He’s possessed by Satan, the prince of demons. That’s where he gets the power to cast out demons.”

23 Jesus called them over and responded with an illustration. “How can Satan cast out Satan?” he asked. 24 “A kingdom divided by civil war will collapse. 25 Similarly, a family splintered by feuding will fall apart. 26 And if Satan is divided and fights against himself, how can he stand? He would never survive. 27 Let me illustrate this further. Who is powerful enough to enter the house of a strong man like Satan and plunder his goods? Only someone even stronger—someone who could tie him up and then plunder his house.

28 “I tell you the truth, all sin and blasphemy can be forgiven, 29 but anyone who blasphemes the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven. This is a sin with eternal consequences.” 30 He told them this because they were saying, “He’s possessed by an evil spirit.”

The True Family of Jesus

31 Then Jesus’ mother and brothers came to see him. They stood outside and sent word for him to come out and talk with them. 32 There was a crowd sitting around Jesus, and someone said, “Your mother and your brothers are outside asking for you.”

33 Jesus replied, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” 34 Then he looked at those around him and said, “Look, these are my mother and brothers. 35 Anyone who does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”

Comments

Jesus’ family thought he was crazy, so much that they came to take him away. The religious leaders accused him of using demonic power to set people free from spiritual oppression. 2000 years later and really, not much has changed. These same accusations have been leveled since the modern Pentecostal movement began in 1906, up through the charismatic movement, Jesus movement, and third wave movement, even up to today. If we really walk out this life Jesus modelled, we can expect to be called crazy and even demonic. I really feel like we are on the verge of another move of the Spirit like those great ones I just mentioned. Each of those had detractors, each was met with resistance. But, no weapon formed against us will prosper. The ruler of this world can’t win, he has already been condemned. When we begin to hear people cast aspersions of this sort against us, we will know we are advancing the kingdom of God. We will know that we are plundering the strong man’s house. Stealing souls for God.

New Living Translation (NLT)

Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.