While I am recharging my batteries, take a look at this blast from the past. It is just as relevant now as it was then. Click here to view today’s devotion.
Tag Archives: Demons
All Authority
Read Luke 9:1-5
ALSO IN SCRIPTURE
“Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions.” (Matthew 7:20, NLT)
What I am trying to point out, however, is that Christians do see themselves as being people of faith. I am pretty sure that all Christians, everywhere, would agree with that statement. Yet, in my own observance, many Western Christians (in American especially) do not live out their faith with much conviction. Sure, we are good at being convicted about certain things. I mean, many Christians will flip over backwards to tell you how we’ve fallen from God’s glorious standard (Romans 3:23), how Christ’s death was God’s plan to save us from our sins and close the chasm that lay between us and God, and that all we need to do to be saved is to say the sinner’s prayer (whatever that is) and accept Jesus into our hearts. Once that has been done, we are saved and no longer a slave to sin and death (Romans 8:1-2); what’s more, once we’ve been saved nothing can ever separate us from the love and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 8:38-39).
We are convicted to tell you that part of the Gospel story, but that is just about where our conviction ends. As a result, Western Christianity is rather shallow and completely skips over the ACTUAL end of the Gospel. Being forgiven of our sins is only a part of the Gospel story…and it happens to be the beginning of it, not the end. You see, anyone who has read any part of the Hebrew Scriptures could figure out we’re sinners and that God is working to forgive us of our sins. It’s not like God wasn’t forgiving sins before Jesus. Yes, Jesus sacrifice for us and the salvation that sacrifice brings is a part of the Gospel story, but not the whole of it; rather, when we accept Jesus and his atoning sacrifice, we also accept the authority Christ has given us.
What authority you ask? The authority to represent Christ in the world. We have been the authority to fight against injustice and oppression, the authority to care for and bring healing to the sick, the authority to be present with the lost, the depressed and the lonely. We have been given authority over the powers of darkness and over the inner demons that try to take us and others down. To accept Christ’s forgiveness, to attain salvation in Christ, is to accept the authority that Christ is giving us over such things. But that’s not the end of it either. Once we’ve accepted Christ, and Christ’s authority, we being sent out by Christ into the world proclaiming the arrival of God’s Kingdom. In other words, we are to proclaim to the world that the day of equality, social justice, mercy, compassion, peace, love, and God’s presence has finally arrived. This is exactly what Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was doing when he spoke to the nation at the Lincoln Memorial. It was Mother Teresa was doing in Calcutta, India. It was what Bonhoeffer was doing in Nazi Germany. This is not an activity reserved for a few who are called; rather, ALL CHRISTIANS ARE CALLED to go out into the world and proclaim the Gospel. All Christians have been equipped with spiritual gifts to do such.
Of course, this will not make Christians the most popular people in a world that wants to keep the have-nots in their places. Yet, if we are truly convicted in our beliefs, if we are truly a people of faith, then we will bless those who hear and accept the proclamation of God’s Kingdom and shake the dust off of our feet when it comes to those who refuse to. The latter is not intended to be our judgment against them; rather, Christ is telling us to leave the opponents of God to God and is calling us to focus on those who would ally themselves with God and with the arrival of God’s Kingdom of hope, healing and wholeness. The question for us is this, how convicted are we? How much faith do we possess. God knows what tree we are by our fruit.
THOUGHT OF THE DAY
It is much easier to call oneself “a person of faith” than it is to ACTUALLY live a life of faith.
PRAYER
Lord, strengthen me and continually work in me so that I may move beyond my fear and accept the authority you have given me. Amen.
Name Your Demons
Read Matthew 8:28-34
ALSO IN SCRIPTURE
“So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free.“ (John 8:36)
In fact, I was pleasantly surprised. Not only is the show smart, fun and witty, it is also rather deep for a “superhero” film. The more and more I watch of this show, the more and more I start to see that there is something larger going than just the stories themselves. Each week I find that I am not only rooting for Kara Zor-El (aka Supergirl), but I find myself relating with her, and learning from her. I find myself laughing, crying and emoting over stuff I am going through in life. This show has been so well written and thoughtout that it literally transcends mere entertainment and is, at least for me, feeding my soul. All of this in a superhero flick.
This past week’s episode is a prime example. In it she battles a robot that seems hell bent on destroying her. What’s worse, this robot seems to be out of control and virtually unstoppable. She just cannot seem to get an edge on it and it seems to be overpowering her, despite how strong she is. The robot is super fast, he can turn himself into a tornado, and has a strenght that matches, if not bests, the strength of Supergirl. What’s more, his super solid exterior makes him a difficult target. Not even Kara’s superpunches cannot penetrate him and she finds herself at a loss.
As it turns out, there is another thing Kara is battling that is an even stronger force than this robot. That force is the anger that she has internalized of the years. At first she thought that she was just mad because the guy she likes is taken and that she’ll never find a special someone for herself. Yet, as the episode goes on, we find out that there is “anger beneath the anger.” She discovers that she was angry at her parents sending her to earth and choosing to stay and die on planet Krypton. She was angry that she never got to say goodbye to her adopted father, never having closure following his disappearance and death. She was angry because as normal as she tried to be, she was not normal. She was angry because she, as a girl, felt invalidated and felt that she had to work twice as hard to prove herself. Her rage was such that she was losing control of it, which was having some pretty awful consequences.
Looking back on the episode, the robot (though it was a real enemy that posed a real threat) was a living embodiment of the hard, brutal, unquenched rage that was burning inside her. It wasn’t until she came to terms with the things that she was struggling with that she was able to focus her rage in appropriate ways. It’s not that the rage within her disappeared, but that she was able to work through it rather than be controlled by it. The challenge for us today is to be like Kara Zor-El. We need to penetrate deep into ourselves and reflect on the hurts and the wounds we find deep inside. Are you angry, are you hurt, are you envious, are you bitter and/or unforgiving? Whatever the case, name your demons, call them out for what they are, and then be free of them. Allow God to turn your struggles in to triumph.
THOUGHT OF THE DAY
“If you don’t deal with your demons, they will deal with you, and it’s gonna hurt.” – Nikki SixxPRAYER
Lord, help me to name my demons so that, through your power and authority, I may cast them far away from me. Amen.
Be Still, My Soul
Read Mark 5:1-13
ALSO IN SCRIPTURE “Be still, and know that I am God! I am exalted among the nations, I am exalted in the earth.” (Psalms 46:10)
Yet, as it turns out, later that night following those words being recited to him, Larry is bitten by what looks like a large wolf and his life becomes a living nightmare. As the full moon draws closer, Larry became more and more convinced that he was, in fact, bitten by a werewolf. He was so paranoid that he tried to convince his father who refused to believe him. Instead, his father put him in the care of a psychiatrist. On the morning following the full moon, Larry found himself lying in bed with tattered and dirty clothes on. His window was open wide and dirty footprints could be seen. At first they were wolf-like, but each footprint became more and more human. Once he saw this Larry knew his worst nightmare had come true: he was the wolf man.
As you have probably figured out, I have just summed up the first half of the movie, “The Wolf Man”, starring Lon Chaney, Jr. It is one of my favorite films because I find that I truly relate with the character. I think many, if they are honest, can relate with him. We are all flawed people. Even when we have the best of intentions, we are not pure in heart. We often try to hide the impurity and the ugliness; however, at some point, that ugliness always shows. No matter how hard we try to suppress the beast within us, whatever that beast is, the full moon eventually rises upon it and the beast is unleashed. This, of course, is a metaphor and our inner “beasts” take the form of anger, depression, hatred, bitterness, addiction, gossip, divisiveness, cynicism, and many other things.
This is a reality. We may not like to admit it, but we all have a beast that lies underneath the surface just waiting to come out of the darkness to take over and destroy our lives and the lives of those around us. The question is, will we like Larry deny that the inner beast exists? Will we deny our impurities? Will we pretend that we are all “good” people who have no weaknesses or hangups? Or will we come to terms with the fact that, while our life can be beautiful at points, it is also true that we find ourselves walking thorny paths? Will we acknowledge the thorny paths we are on. This reminds me of the first verse of a famous hymn, “Be Still, My Soul: the Lord is on your side. Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain; leave to your God to order and provide; in every change God faithful will remain. Be still, my soul: your best, your heavenly friend through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.”
While “Be Still, My Soul” is talking about having strength in times of tribulation, there really is no greater tribulation than trying to fight our inner demons alone. The reality is that we were born in a broken world as broken people. The more we deny our weaknesses the more our souls suffer the consequences of that inner struggle. The Good News here is that you need not fight it at all. Christ has power over our demons if we will only allow him into our lives and into our hearts. That takes humility, it takes repentance, and it takes a willingness on our part to be transformed and to change; however, is the alternative a better option? The same Christ who cast Legion out of the possessed man in the reading for today, is the same Christ who can conquer the inner demons, the inner beast, in your life. All you need do is have faith, to be willing to change, and to allow Christ to still the storm in your soul.
THOUGHT OF THE DAY “Be still, my soul: the waves and winds still know the Christ who ruled them while he dwelt below.” – Katharina von Schlegel
PRAYER Lord, still the storm within my soul. Should it ever return, remind me that you are Lord in my life and that I need not fight the battle alone. Amen.