Fearlessly Courageous
Desk of Dennis Piller
11/11/2021
“No One Spoke Like This Man!”
For my ways are not your ways. When the guards of the Pharisees first tried to arrest Jesus, they failed, and when asked why.? They said, “No one ever spoke like this man” John 7:46 Rev 12-7 Revelation describes a war in heaven between angels led by the Archangel Michael against those led by “the dragon”, identified as the devil or Satan, who will be defeated and thrown down to the earth. Wow, a spiritual war in the heavenly‘s between good angels and bad angels. Really? That there are spirits and demons that live to influence human beings to do everything except to hold to the teachings of this man called Jesus.
So that’s what you’re asking me to believe? That may be a bit of a stretch for some of us. Who can actually believe that? Or, I believe but I haven’t really respected the influences and their real impact on living my life.
Over the course of 21 centuries, there have been many non-religious theories about this Jewish rabbi, with peasant roots and ordinary disciples. His influence is massive, ever-increasingly global, all because of this first-century Jewish rabbi. What did he say that was so historically profound?
He said HE was God.
No one ever spoke like this man John 7:46 His words have been more read, debated, dissected, more scrutinized, more torn apart, more books written about. But the truth of this man, this god/man, is still growing over 2000 years later because no one ever spoke like this man. He is still changing lives. His influences continue to grow. And all he has ever asked us… is to take what he said at face and faith value. I say all of this for you to believe what he says.
In Matt 4:1 “Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.” We must know by this that the devil is real. He tried to destroy Jesus in the wilderness to stop his redemptive work. Satan said in Matt 4:3 if you are the son of God, command the stones to become loaves of bread. He said this…although he knew he was the son of God.
In Matthew 48-9 the devil took Jesus to a high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in their glory. And he said all these I will give you if you will fall down and worship me. Here Satan shows his great power by taking Jesus to the pinnacle. If he can do such things we should never underestimate his power on earth. And we should not be surprised by the evil we see around us. Still, the devil can only do what God allows him to do. Job 1:12
But Jesus has authority over the devil in Matthew 4:10 and In Deuteronomy 6:13 he said ”be gone Satan. For it is written you shall worship the Lord your God in him only will you serve”. Jesus had to pass the test that Adam had failed in the garden of Eden.
We too must pass that test. To know Christ. To use His name with real faith, to believe His words and walk in their authority as His words are life to us. Know there are the influences of evil angels but He gave us the armor of God and the sword of the spirit to live by and walk in a victory he already won for us.
Your meditative scripture: 2 Corinthians 10:4-6 (NKJV)
4 For the weapons of our warfare are not [a]carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, 6 and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.
One final question: When was the last time you took every thought
captive to Jesus Christ?
The Change in me Casting Crowns
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8TCZiy5A2A
