Jaw-dropping Jewels about Jesus
Rarely does Jesus, God the Son, do exactly what we expect of Him. It seems odd that He so frequently surprises us, given that He never changes. Hebrews 13:8 makes this absolute statement: “Jesus the same yesterday, and today, and forever.” Still, though He is blessedly consistent in His goodness, Jesus does unforeseen things. Even when He does what is expected, He does not always do it in the way that we anticipate. Let us join with Jesus on a jaw-dropping journey. (I will be using this opening paragraph for each of the brief messages in this series. The following material will change daily.)
The disturbing reality of demonic actions (Revelation 9) means that we must fight for the faith. Ephesians 6:10-14a repeatedly exhorts us to “stand” or “withstand” in this ongoing spiritual conflict. Clearly, the enemy is strong: “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (I Peter 5:8). Furthermore, our own might is actually miserable weakness. Isaiah 64:6 reminds us, “We are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.” In John 15:5, Jesus emphatically states, “For without Me ye can do nothing” – nothing good, that is. However, the Biblical teaching is clear: we do not need to be frightened by the opposition. In I John 5:18-19, we read, “We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not. And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness.” Both things are true: “the whole world lieth in wickedness” [“the wicked one” – the literal translation], but “that wicked one” cannot have the Christian. We do not have to be scared of Satan; we do have to be aware and alert.