Category: Devotion of the Day

DOING BUSINESS WITH CHRIST: DEMONS

What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God?
Matthew 8:29

The devil and the world of demons must face Christ. The devil tried to do business with Him, but the Lord dismissed him: “Get thee hence, Satan.” The devil is not in the first two chapters of the Bible or in the last two. Thank God for a Book that disposes of the devil!

There is no concord between Christ and Belial. The demons cried, “Art thou come to torment us before the time?” They are doomed to the lake of fire prepared for the devil and his angels. They are overactive today because their time is short. The only power that can control them is Christ. Much that goes by other names today is really the work of the powers of darkness. And note that they know Jesus is the Son of God, a fact which many poor humans will not accept.

Our Lord has no traffic with the world of demons. There is no ground where they can get together. Let us beware of doing business with the devil. And if you don’t want to trade with him, stay out of his shops!

ALONE, YET NOT ALONE

Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me.
John 16:32

Blessed paradox of the Saviour and the Saint! Our Lord was a solitary soul, yet not alone. And the Christian who presses into the deeper things of God will often be lonely but never alone. Paul was lonely in the Roman prison: “All men forsook me.” But he was not alone: “The Lord stood with me.”

“He that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone.” Jacob may fancy himself alone in a strange land, with a stone for a pillow, but he will make a discovery: “Surely the Lord is in this place and I knew it not.”

Live as though He were with you, for He is. You have His word for it and you can be confident of His promise, though you may not be conscious of His presence.

Even through the Valley of Death’s Shadow, “I will fear no evil, FOR THOU ART WITH ME.” Alone yet not alone!