Student Devotions - Friday, February 20th

Good morning students. Keep Ian and me in your prayers today as he head home later on this afteroon. We will be arriving home very late and we will be driving while we are tired. Thanks.

In Mark 5 we find Jesus being confronted by a demon-possessed man. We can see from this and many other incidents that the spiritual creatures recognize the authority of Jesus. In fact they fear him. There is never any argument; he speaks and they respond. Elsewhere the scripture tells us that demons believe in Jesus and shudder. It is unfortunate that the ones he came to rescue, the ones he died for don't recognize his authority at all.

We know the lack of respect we show Jesus. Consider the casual way we use his name as an exclamation in a sentence. Consider how we reject the thought of him. Consider how easily we set aside what he told us. He had said that if we loved him we would do what he instructed us. Instead of loving him we walk all over him and his sacrifice.

Yet, when someone prays over us in the name of Jesus, in his authority we are healed. When someone commands demons in his authority they obey. Where his name is uttered in desperation hope arrives to the heart. I was asked to come to a family home last night to pray over a family that was being hit by disaster after disaster. I don't mean just just mom and dad and the kids. I mean the whole family, aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins. I entered into a family that was overwhelmed by loss but after we prayed and sang in Jesus' authority there was hope, peace, deliverance and victory. The difference was not the words of the prayer but the authority of Jesus Christ that the family submitted to.

Are you respecting the authority of the Life Giver over your life? Do you go beyond the reaction of the demons? Is your reaction a thing of shuddering or of loving awesomeness? The fear the demons feel is horror. The fear we should show is that of respect born out of love and adoration. If you truly knew Jesus you would never be able to disrespect him; your heart would never allow it.