One Day in the Life of Jesus

Day 4

Mark 9

How do you think you would have felt to be either Peter, James or John, when Jesus led them up to a high mountain to witness not only His glory, but two of the greatest patriarchs in the Old Testament?  I think that I would have been so excited.  Jesus request for me to keep quiet about this experience would probably have been the hardest to keep.  But with Jesus being on His Father's time table to have shared it before time would have been disobedient, and it would have caused a lot of flack so that Jesus would have had even a harder time accomplishing the will of His Heavenly Father.  Also as the notation in The Quest said "it would only increase the clamor for the sensational and not the more desirable change of heart."

I think I might have been like Peter too (seems like we have a lot of things in common) that I too would have loved to camp there on the mountaintop in the Glory of God. Even today when I experience the awesome presence of God, I just don't want to leave.  But I believe we experience His presence so strongly at times so that we can remember in hard times, His presence gives us JOY for the JOURNEY.  We can be more victorious in every battle we face when we are walking in the Spirit and not in the flesh.

In the last part of Mark 9, we see Jesus operating in the gifts of the Spirit.  One man had recognized the reason his little boy was having seisures and being thrown all over the place was the result of an evil spirit possessing the child.  He recognized it, but was powerless to do anything about it.  But he also reconized that Jesus had the power.in which Jesus did cast it out.  Jesus gives all believers authority to do the same.

Mark 16:16-18 (NIV)
He said to them, " Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.  Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. 
And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well."

My first encounter with a situation like this was at a small church I attended years ago.  A lady had been having ear problems for years and years. Having sat under the teaching of the baptism of the Holy Spirit and briefly after I was baptized in the Holy Spirit, I began praying at home for this lady,  One night when we were in a heavy  presence of the Lord, I was kneeling at a pew praying and heard the Holy Spirit say to me, "Go and whisper the name of Jesus in her ear"  So I promptly got up from my pew, went over to the lady, and did what the Spirit spoke.  When I did, the lady sort of shrieked and was lifeless.  So lifeless, I thought she was dead.  But after she realized the pain was gone, she began to thank and praise the Lord for His healing. That was one of my first encounters with evil spirits.  But like Jesus said to the disciples once, rejoice that their name was written in heaven, which is far more important than knowing that the demons are subject to the authority Jesus has given to us over them.  However,that is why we do not fear the enemy.  God has equipped us with weapons of warfare to give us victory, not defeat.  He has not given us a spirit of fear, but of love, power, and a sound mind

We must be careful with our actions not to cause another person to sin.  If our actions are not Christlike, then we will lose our saltiness and will not be beneficial in bringing others into the kingdom of God. 

I pray that God will give us His grace to walk in the Spirit, every moment of every hour of every day.  Lord help us I pray.