Hey bloggers...here are verses 22 - 30...I'll have the rest of the chapter posted by tomorrow...speaking of tomorrow, the service at CITN is going to be very powerful...you need to be ITB for the full impact...I've used this Jesus picture before, but I love the portrayal of Him as light...enjoy!
22. Then they brought him a man who was under the control of a spirit of blindness, and was also mute, and Jesus healed him, so that he could both talk and see.
23. All the people were impressed to the point of astonishment and said, "Could this be the Son of David?"
24. But when the typically cynical Pharisees heard this, they dismissed it and said, "It is only by Beelzebub, the Lord of the Flies, that this charlatan exorcises spirits."
25. Jesus saw right through them, knowing what they were thinking, and said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand.
26. If Beelzebub drives out Beelzebub, he is divided against himself. How then can he maintain his domain over the flies of the dunghill?
27. And if I expel darkness by his authority, then how do your exorcists drive it out? So then, they will be your judges.
28. But if it is by the Spirit of God that I drive out darkness, then the now-ness of the Kingdom of God has been revealed to you.
29. How can anyone enter a strong man's house and carry off his possessions without first tying up the strong man? Then his house can be plundered.
30. Whoever is not in the flow with Me rejects the authority of My Kingdom – and My authority over darkness sets the captive free. So if you're not helping to bring about Kingdom purposes, you're making things worse for everybody.
6 comments:
plundered = looted, wrongfully emptied or stripped of anything of value; "the robbers left the looted train"; "people returned to the plundered village". This verse is saying to me that we have to pull down every stronghold (strong man)in order to take dominion and authority in our homes, our ministries, our communities.
I looked up the above definition to better understand the word plundered so I could better understand how to deal with strongholds. Again, your writing communicates the good news of Matthew in everyday concise langugage.
Thank you for your work of labor, Bish.
Yvonne
Wasn't today a beautiful day?
Flowing with the authority of God's Kingdom.
The Lord has been speaking to me lately about "assuming the sale" when it comes to things of the Kingdom and our movements within it.
In sales, as I have been for 20 years, the technique is used to eliminate asking someone if they want the product/service and going straight for the write up, ie "Will that be cash or charge?"
What I have been seeing is that people WANT the Kingdom and its King and when this is our assumption, it often becomes the person's we are talking to/ministering to. "I would like to pray for you", or "I'm going to pray for your healing vs. "Can I pray for you?"
God brings us by these people for His purposes to be accomplished...assume that!
My new expression: "I am a 'glass is ALWAYS FULL' type of a guy!"
Is that not who we are?
Amen!
word ver: GYCLER: " God Yearns for CLosers Expecting Results."
Bro Lar
Verse 30! How refreshing it is to hear this somewhat scary verse spoken with love, clearly, so that there is no doubt about the permanence of His Love and the power of His light. Ever the includer, Jesus is so revealed here in MITN...so someone "not in the flow" can move away from fear of total rejection and more easily see the path to getting "with" the program instead of being "against" it. I can almost hear Love saying that to the Pharisees--"come on guys, get with the program! I can raise you up to stand on mountains!"
MITN will be light that overcomes much darkness and many people who have given up will be set free.
Great pic! Like the embodiment of these Scriptures to me:
Romans 13:12 - The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore, cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.
1 Cr. 15:53 - For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal [must] put on immortality.
Galatians 3:27 - For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
Ephesians 4:23 - ...be renewed in the spirit of your mind; 24...put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
Col. 3:10- ...put on the new [man], which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him.
14. And above all these things [put on] charity, which is the bond of perfectness.
The words "under", "control" and spirit", are meaningful . (Whose?)
It's interesting - the varying degrees of affliction and perception.
The opening verse signifies one man. In the next, it's all the people. And, then, the Pharisees.
Verse 25. The word, "through" resonates in me.
Like Heb. 4:12. For the word of God [is] quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and [is] a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
These words seem significant:
22. under
23. to the point
24. by
25. through
26. against & over
27. by
28. by & to
29. up
30. in, with, of, and, to, about & for
Peculiar segue: Is this chapter a song of degrees?
Hey Y'all,
Just stepping in and out..."extremly" busy lately...it's all good!
Loved this verse:
19. He will not have to yell louder than anyone else to be heard, and no one will need to hear His voice crying out in the streets, because His message will resonate with the heart.
Gotta get back to CITN in progress....PRAISE GOD!!!
Peace,
Dennis
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