Demon-Possessed, Blind, and Mute Man | Miracles of Jesus Christ

You may remember reading about Jesus delivering the demon-possessed man who could not speak and once he was made whole, he could talk and the people marveled. If you missed that study, you can read it here. Today we will read Matthew and Luke's accounts of Jesus healing another man demon-possessed and unable to speak but also blind. As with all of these miracles of Jesus, we will find that the healing was not the only thing taking place, but also Jesus was building up a large witness against the religious leaders of that time who chose to not believe in Him. Let's look at the text together.

Matthew 12:22-24 Then was brought unto Him one possessed with a devil, blind, and dumb: and He healed him, insomuch that the blind and dumb both spake and saw. And all the people were amazed, and said, Is not this the son of David? But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils.

Luke 11:14-16 And He was casting out a devil, and it was dumb. And it came to pass, when the devil was gone out, the dumb spake; and the people wondered. But some of them said, He casteth out devils through Beelzebub the chief of the devils. And others, tempting Him, sought of Him a sign from heaven.

Someone who cared a lot about this man tormented of the demons that took ownership of his body, leaving him unable to speak or see, took him to Jesus to be healed. Someone must have known the power Jesus had over unclean spirits. We know from studying these miracles that Jesus has been getting more famous as He heals in ways no one had ever seen or heard of before. Jesus was doing the work of His Father and of course we see the religious leaders stalking Jesus yet again. They are not concerned about asking God to give them wisdom concerning Jesus and the miracles He performed, but they rather want to lord over Him. They are not pleased that He is not under their thumb. They are jealous and angry because people are looking to Him for healing and not running to them.

The world will persecute us because we bear the name of Jesus. The world is controlled by the devil and he hates Jesus. So we will be targeted as well, but we are to consider ourselves blessed if they persecute us because it means they see Jesus at work in us and through us. It is a good thing to be counted worthy of persecution. It confirms we are on the right path. Let's see what Jesus's response is to the doubters and accusers.

Matthew 12:25-29 And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand: And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand? And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? therefore they shall be your judges. But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the Kingdom of God is come unto you. Or else how can one enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house.

Luke 11:17-22 But He, knowing their thoughts, said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and a house divided against a house falleth. If Satan also be divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand? because ye say that I cast out devils through Beelzebub. And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your sons cast them out? therefore shall they be your judges. But if I with the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the Kingdom of God is come upon you. When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his good are in peace: But when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armour wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils.

Jesus makes perfect sense here. He tells the crowd including the Pharisees and scribes, that if He was casting out the devil with the power of a devil, then He would be fighting against Himself. He then asks them what power and authority they are using to cast out devils. And I love the statement He makes, "If I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the Kingdom of God is come to you." Meaning, if Jesus is casting out the devil by God's authority and power then they need to support Him and stop hindering Him or else they are fighting against God.

Jesus always explains how this is spiritual and not natural forces at work. Jesus is conquering the devil through the power of God but since that is too much for them to understand, He gives them an example anyone should understand. If you have a home and you choose to protect it, but someone bigger and stronger comes in, disables you from stopping them, they will rob you of all that you have. This is what is happening in the spirit realm. A demon is coming to these weaker vessels (humanity) and when given the opportunity the unclean spirit will dwell in that person and take over their life. It brings sickness, diseases, pain, and suffering. Jesus is stronger than the devil. Jesus tells us in Matthew 28:18 "All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth." The devil has to obey Jesus. He is not smarter, stronger, or able to overtake Jesus. So when Jesus commands the unclean spirits to leave, they must obey because they are defeated.

Matthew 12:30-37 He that is not with Me is against Me; and he that gathereth not with Me scattereth abroad. Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come. Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit. O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.

Luke 11:23 He that is not with Me is against Me: and he that gathereth not with Me scattereth.

Jesus is drawing the line in the sand. The Pharisees need to make a choice. They can keep going against Him, or they can stand united with Him and conquer the forces of darkness. They must choose. Jesus makes it very clear that it is one way or the other. They cannot have it both ways. Jesus says if they are not gathering people together with Him, then they are scattering the people. In other words, Jesus is trying to unify the Body of Christ and these religious leaders are bringing division. They are jealous and angry because Jesus is doing righteous and good things.

Jesus tells those listening to Him, and He is telling us today, that we can know if someone is good or evil based on their actions. We can look at a tree and know it is an apple tree, an orange tree, or a cherry tree based on the kind of fruit hanging on the branches. We do not have to wonder what kind of tree it is. We can label it what it is based on the fruit it produces. We have the same ability to see what people are like based on the fruit in their life. Is it good fruit or bad fruit? Do they help others, serve in their community, honor God with their lifestyle and not just words? They have good fruit if they do these things. Do they help themselves, serve their own needs before looking out for others, honor themselves with lavish lifestyles and activities that only make them better, more prosperous, more popular? That is bad fruit. If they have pride and arrogance those are not fruits of the Spirit. We must watch and label people according to the fruit in their life.

Jesus also addresses the unpardonable sin. They can attack Jesus but when they say the Spirit of God at work in Him and through Him is an unclean spirit, they will never be forgiven of that: not in this lifetime nor eternity to come. It is unforgiveable. The Spirit of the Most High God is Holy and pure and blameless. It is blasphemy to speak such things and it is dangerous! 

Matthew 12:38-42 Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered saying, Master, we would see a sign from Thee. But He answered, and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall not sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here. The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here.

These men are incredible! They literally just watched Jesus deliver this man of at least one demon and the man can speak and see again and yet they ask Jesus to give them a sign. What are they even doing? Jesus tells those unbelieving leaders of their day that the only sign they will get from Him is the sign of Jonah. He was in the belly of that great fish three days and three nights and Jesus was speaking of how He would be buried three days and three nights. He even says that the people of Nineveh that Jonah preached to repented and changed from their wicked ways. They will rise up in judgment against those religious leaders because the Son of God is walking the earth with them and showing them the way to God and they are so blind and deaf they can neither see nor hear what He is saying. The queen of the south traveled a great distance to hear the wisdom of Solomon that she had been told about. She wanted to see it for herself. You can read that in 1 Kings 10:1-13. She will rise up and condemn this generation of people because she would have loved to sit at the feet of Jesus and hear the wise words that came from His mouth. They have the opportunity and they reject Him.

Matthew 12:43-45 When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none. Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation.

Luke 11:24-26 When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he saith, I will return unto my house whence I came out. And when he cometh, he findeth it swept and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh to him seven other spirits more wicked than himself; and they enter in, and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first.

Again Jesus shows us there is no middle ground. You are either with Jesus or you are with Satan and there is no neutral territory. When Jesus delivered the man in this story, for example, he is made clean. This man can choose to go back to the lifestyle he lived prior to this miracle, or he can choose to follow Christ. He cannot say that he will abandon his old way of life and also not follow Jesus. Choosing to reject Jesus is to accept Satan and that is as clear as it gets. When the man's vessel is not filled with the Spirit of God, the unclean spirit will examine the man and find a vacancy and Jesus tells us that he doesn't just move in, he also picks seven other unclean spirits that are worse than it is and the end of that man is a lot worse than it was in the beginning. Jesus says this is also the case for this wicked generation that has the chance to serve Jesus now and chooses not to.

Friends, it all comes down to choices and consequences. We can choose life and walk with Jesus enjoying the rewards of the labor. We have the freedom to choose good things. We also can choose death and eternal separation from Jesus for all eternity. We can serve ourselves, do what feels good, whatever it is that makes us happy, and live with reckless abandon, throwing caution to the wind, and enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season, but in the end, we find death and destruction is our reward.

I hope that you choose Jesus. I hope that you choose life. I hope that you choose to walk the straight and narrow path before you. The road to hell is a wide path and many choose that way, falling for the illusion that it is more fun and enjoyable to laugh and party your way through life, never considering anyone else, or how much Jesus sacrificed to give you pardon. You can take hold of that liberty and walk in newness of life, or you can choose to dance your way into the unquenchable fiery flames of hell. Jesus leaves that choice to us. Choose well.

I hope that something you have read on the blog today has been strength for your journey and light for your way. God bless you!

~Bridgett Owens

Psalm 6 | Wednesday Bible Study

Welcome back to another Wednesday Bible Study. This year we have started studying the book of Psalms. We are working our way through this delightful book in the center of the Bible. It is found in the Old Testament and in it we find psalms written by Moses, David, and Solomon. Chapter six in Psalms is a Psalm of David. It is the first of seven penitential psalms. These penitential psalms were recognized by the ancient church as dealing primarily with sin and forgiveness of sin. If you have not taken the time to read these 10 verses, please take the time to do so. Feel free to take notes, cross-reference verses and study this further on your own. Let's begin.

Verse 1 David opens the prayer up with a plea for mercy. He is requesting God not to reprimand him when the LORD is angry. It has been said that correcting a child when one is angry will cause that child to become bitter and angry, too. If one has an opportunity to cool off, then they can reason with the child and the child will then learn the lesson and hopefully not do it again. David is asking God not to correct him in God's hot displeasure. This is David acknowledging that he had sinned. He is not pleading innocent. He is not making excuses. He just wants God to be gentle with him right now.

The Bible tells us God corrects those He loves. Proverbs 3:12 "For whom the LORD loveth He correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth." Hebrews 12:6 "For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth."

Verse 2 David asks God for mercy. He tells God, "I am weak." Now that David admits to sinning, he can see that he was operating in the flesh and our flesh is always weak. Do you remember when Jesus was talking to Peter? They were in the garden of Gethsemane and Jesus was going to be crucified. It was just a short time before Jesus was arrested. Peter wanted to die with Jesus but now Peter gives in to slumber in the garden when he should have been watching Jesus and praying with Him. In Matthew 26:41, Jesus said, "Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." We all know that Peter denied Christ three times right after Jesus was arrested. David recognizes his flesh is weak. 

David says his bones are "sore vexed" which literally means his "entire being" were vexed. Hebrews thought such suffering was connected directly with sin. This then would indicate David is begging for mercy because he is asking for forgiveness of sin.

Verse 3 Have you ever wondered how long you would suffer? Did you ever ask God, "How long?" David is sorrowful over the wrong he had done. He feels that separation from God because sin always separates us from our Holy Father. He longs to feel close to God again. It is not just a plea for God's pardon, but he longs to have that fellowship again. David wants God to mend their broken relationship. 

Verse 4 David asks God to return to him. David was a man of worship. He loved God and was devoted to God but that did not give him a pass on sin. He still had to confess it to God and allow God to cleanse him and set him back in right standing. David says "Save me for your loving kindnesses sake." He is calling out God's character now. David is saying in essence, "God I need you to save me. I know you are kind and loving and merciful. Please let me feel Your presence again."

Verse 5 This verse is interesting. David begins to talk about death and dying. Sin always leads to death. Remember in the garden of Eden when God told Adam not to eat the fruit of a specific tree? Genesis 2:15-17, "And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." The reason they died the day they ate of it was it immediately separated them from God. Sin always creates a schism between us and God. They did not die immediately upon one bite of the fruit, but they did begin to die because of the separation of sin. Disobedience is a sin and they willfully disobeyed God. They heard what God said and knew what the instructions were, but when they heard another voice that sounded more appealing they went with the decision to do what they wanted to do. Proverbs 14:12 says, "There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death."

James 1:15 tells us when sin is finished it brings forth death. David is making a case for his forgiveness. He tells God that when we die we no longer remember God. We are not able to praise God in the grave. We can no longer thank God for what He has done and is doing when we die.  In Psalm 115:17 it reads, "The dead praise not the LORD, neither any that go down into silence." David is basically saying that he wants fellowship again with God, so he can praise and worship God like he had before.

Verse 6 David is not just sorry that he has sinned against God, he is sorrowful. He has been covering his bed with tears. He is exhausted from the groaning and grief he feels. He has been wrestling with this for a while. He is weary. He wants God to be merciful to him and deliver him. Can you feel the wrestling he is going through in the spirit? He wants to be reconnected with God.

Verse 7 David continues to speak of his grief and how it is affecting him. In another Psalm, David shares his heart about how he is feeling. Psalm 31:9 "Have mercy upon me, O LORD, for I am in trouble: mine eye is consumed with grief, yea, my soul, and my belly (body)." This grief in verse seven is overtaking his whole being. He does not want to live without God's fellowship.

Verse 8 David begins to speak to the sinners around him. He is telling them to leave him alone. He no longer wants to be a part of what they are doing. Sometimes we have to cut ties with people. Sometimes we have to separate ourselves from workers of iniquity. If we continue to spend time with them and learn their ways, it will not be long before we find ourselves separated from God. 2 Corinthians 6:18-18, "And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you. And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be My sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty."

Verse 9 David says, "God heard my prayer of repentance and He has forgiven me." He knows God received his prayer. He knows God is listening. He wants us all to be saved and repent from our sinful ways. God wants to save all of us from the destruction of doing whatever we want. Matthew 7:13-14 says, "Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." Just because something is popular or it looks like a lot of people are doing it, does not mean it is Biblical or pleasing to God. We must pray and ask God to help us know what to do and how to do it. Many will find the wide gate and the broad way to hell. The straight gate and narrow path that leads to life is less crowded. Not as many people want to sacrifice anything for God. Not many are willing to stand out or be different in an effort to be closer to God.

Verse 10 Victory at last! David has received God's pardon. He is forgiven. He is cleansed. David prays all his enemies will be ashamed and greatly troubled. He says they will turn around and suddenly feel ashamed. We know the devil is our enemy. When God forgives us in His grace and loving kindness, we know the enemy is angry and has no choice but to turn around and run. He is no match for God and he never will be. James 4:7, "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."

The Bible tells us, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness," according to 1 John 1:9. We are all imperfect human beings. No one goes through this life without sinning. We read in Romans 3:23, "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." If you have sin in your life, please tell God. He already knows. Just tell Him what you have done and ask Him to forgive you. The Bible promises you will be forgiven and He will put you back in right standing with Him again. He longs to be in relationship with His children. Be like David, and admit you have sinned and ask God to forgive you, and just like God forgave David; He will also forgive you.

I hope you have enjoyed today's Bible study. It is such a blessing to dig deep into the Scriptures and break the Bread with you all. Share today's blog post with someone you think could benefit from today's lesson. Feel free to leave a comment below, or you can email me if you would rather do that. I appreciate all the feedback and kind words you all share with me. Have a blessed day!

~Bridgett Owens

Thankful For Death? | Thankful Thursday

I am thankful for God taking my loved ones, even though I prayed He wouldn't.

That statement sure does sound funny, doesn't it? Why would I be happy my loved ones died? I am not happy, but I can rejoice in knowing where they went and have hope I can one day join them. I did not want my dad to die. I was very clear in my prayers I wanted God to give my dad a miraculous healing. I did not want my dad to have cancer anymore or the paralyzing effects of the stroke. I wanted a divine miracle where my dad was restored to health. It was a tall order and God is very capable of answering my prayer in a supernatural, extraordinary way. But I also prayed for God to have His way. And so I was at peace when the initial shock and extreme grief left.

Do you remember in the Bible when David saw Bathsheba naked? He desired to have her, it consumed him, but there was one problem; she was another man's wife. David had more than one wife. He could have chosen any number of women to add to his collection, but he was fixated on someone else's woman. He had someone bring her to his bedchamber. Scripture does not tell us if she was willing to commit adultery with King David or if she felt like she had to because of David's power and position. Regardless the two were intimate and she conceived.

Now David has a real problem. He not only slept with another man's wife; he got her pregnant. Now David tried to be clever and have her husband come home from war and sleep with his wife, but Uriah was too noble to do that. He knew his comrades were missing their families too and if they were out in battle, he wanted to be, too. So Uriah did not take advantage of some alone time with his wife. David's plan to cover things up backfired. He knew in time it would be obvious that his wife was pregnant and the math was just not going to add up, so he has Uriah sent to the front lines and killed. Now that Uriah is out of the way, David can marry her and raise his own child. But there is another issue that David did not consider in the heat of his passion.

God saw the whole thing! God was upset. David was a man after God's own heart, but this is not something God would ever go for. So God sends a messenger, Nathan the prophet. Nathan pays David a visit in 2 Samuel chapter 12. Nathan knows that David is mostly an upstanding guy, an ethical man. So he tells David a story. He tells David that there are two men in a city, one is rich and the other is poor. The poor man had nothing except one little lamb. The poor man had raised the little lamb and it was like a member of his own family. The rich man had all kinds of lambs to choose from, but when he needed to kill a lamb to have a dinner party, he chose the poor man's lamb. The rich man stole that poor man's lamb and fed it to his dinner guest. 

David was so upset about what Nathan had told him. David demanded that whoever did such a thing would pay dearly for that lamb. He was outraged that anyone would be so cruel to do so. In fact, David went so far as to say that the rich man would die for doing this because he had no pity. Nathan looked at David and said, "You are the man."

Whoa! What a blow that must have been. He could have reacted a lot of different ways but David immediately confessed that he had sinned. He did not try to deny it, cover it up, excuse it away; he simply admitted that he was wrong. God did not make David pay for this transgression with his life, but God did say He would take David's son away from him. What a terrible feeling that must have been. David knew the baby was innocent but God had made His decision.

2 SAMUEL 12:16-23 David therefore besought God for the child; and David fasted, and went in, and lay all night upon the earth. And the elders of his house arose, and went to him, to raise him up from the earth: but he would not, neither did he eat bread with them. And it came to pass on the seventh day, that the child died. And the servants of David feared to tell him that the child was dead: for they said, Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spake unto him, and he would not hearken unto our voice: how will he then vex himself, if we tell him that the child is dead? But when David saw that his servants whispered, David perceived that the child was dead: therefore David said unto his servants, Is the child dead? And they said, He is dead. Then David arose from the earth, and washed, and anointed himself, and changed his apparel, and came into the house of the LORD, and worshipped: then he came to his own house, and when he required, they set bread before him, and he did eat. Then said his servants unto him, What thing is this that thou hast done? thou didst fast and weep for the child, while it was alive; but when the child was dead, thou didst rise and eat bread. And he said, While the child was yet alive, I fasted and I wept: for I said, Who can tell whether GOD will be gracious to me, that the child may live? But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.

I think about when Dad was so sick and the cancer was everywhere. The doctors gave us zero hope. They assumed Dad would die any day. They told us to cherish every MOMENT because they did not expect many MOMENTS to come. Mom, my brother, my sister and her husband and their children, my husband, our children, and I all joined together. We started meeting for church services in my dad's music studio. We met each week and we rallied around Dad. We prayed and fasted and we believed. We had faith and we had hope and we were expecting great things.

God gave us many miracles with Dad. But one day God told me that Dad would not see the New Year. I was so upset. I cried. I begged God to not let Dad go on Kadesia's birthday, so He honored that request. He took Daddy home the evening of Kadesia's birthday party, December 29, 2013. 

I am glad my Dad is no longer in pain, not suffering, not miserable and disabled. My dad served God his whole life. He made mistakes, and chose to run after other things and away from his calling for a while, but in the end he came back to God with everything in him. It seems that facing eternity will make a person take stock of their life. Dad was given the gift of time and he had a lot of it to reflect on his life and the way he raised us and the things he taught us intentionally and unintentionally. He had the opportunity to repent of some stuff, to ask forgiveness from some people, and to make things right between him and God. 

When Dad went to be with God, I did not pray or fast for him anymore. There was no bringing him back. There was no trying to bargain with God for a Lazarus-type resurrection. Dad got what he wanted, to be with God. So I did something similar to David. I worshiped God for being good and faithful. I thanked God for the Comforter who will comfort like none other. I thanked God for the good times and the laughter and the new memories of a wonderful earthly father. I knew that I could not bring Dad back, but I have confidence that one day I will go to him.

We do not always understand God's ways or His timing. Why did God punish David by killing his baby? Why did God not let things happen differently for Dad? We can worry ourselves sick over the questions, or we can embrace the truth that God's timing is not our own and His ways are higher than ours and we cannot figure them out. (Isaiah 55:8-9 and Romans 11:33)

Death is not easy. We have lost a lot of wonderful people recently. Last year cancer took many of my relatives' lives and spilled over into the first few days of this year. We do not know everything God is doing. We do not always understand, but He promised to never leave us or forsake us, but will go with us all the way to the end of the world if we allow Him to. (Matthew 28:20 and Hebrews 13:5)

If you are suffering loss or enduring sickness, hardship, or despair please remember that Jesus loves you. He is walking through this with you and He is near to you. Do not allow the grief to consume you. Stay close to Jesus. His Word says He is near to the brokenhearted. (Luke 4:18, Isaiah 61:1, Matthew 5:4) He promises we will be comforted and I can attest that is the truth.

I pray healing, comfort, peace, and love be yours today in the name of Jesus. God bless you!

~Bridgett Owens