Where God is at work, Satan soon follows to wreak havoc among the children of God.  Count on it—but we don’t have to fall for it.

Spoiler alert:  God wins now and in the end of time.  Jesus is victorious over Satan.  God’s Holy Spirit’s power lives in us and guides us in the daily skirmishes with our Enemy whose goal is to distract us from God.  This Holy Spirit power equals the power that resurrected Jesus from death to life!  Our response is to lean into and obey His Holy Spirit leading. 

Mark 3, The Message

Satan Fighting Satan?

^20-21 Jesus came home and, as usual, a crowd gathered—so many making demands on him that there wasn’t even time to eat. His friends heard what was going on and went to rescue him, by force if necessary. They suspected he was believing his own press.

^22-27 The religion scholars from Jerusalem came down spreading rumors that he was working black magic, using devil tricks to impress them with spiritual power. Jesus confronted their slander with a story: “Does it make sense to send a devil to catch a devil, to use Satan to get rid of Satan? A constantly squabbling family disintegrates. If Satan were fighting Satan, there soon wouldn’t be any Satan left. Do you think it’s possible in broad daylight to enter the house of an awake, able-bodied man, and walk off with his possessions unless you tie him up first? Tie him up, though, and you can clean him out.

^28-30 “Listen to this carefully. I’m warning you. There’s nothing done or said that can’t be forgiven. But if you persist in your slanders against God’s Holy Spirit, you are repudiating the very One who forgives, sawing off the branch on which you’re sitting, severing by your own perversity all connection with the One who forgives.” He gave this warning because they were accusing him of being in league with Evil.

Jesus’ Mother and Brothers

^31-32 Just then his mother and brothers showed up. Standing outside, they relayed a message that they wanted a word with him. He was surrounded by the crowd when he was given the message, “Your mother and brothers and sisters are outside looking for you.”

^33-35 Jesus responded, “Who do you think are my mother and brothers?” Looking around, taking in everyone seated around him, he said, “Right here, right in front of you—my mother and my brothers. Obedience is thicker than blood. The person who obeys God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

“There’s nothing done or said that can’t be forgiven.” As soon as we say, “I repent of my sins, dear Jesus, please forgive me,” our sins are forgiven and we are given a new life with power!  This power generates from the Three-In-One, the Holy Trinity: God, The Father, Jesus, The Son, and God’s Holy Spirit. 

God created all and is in all He created.  Jesus, God in flesh, came to earth and moved into the neighborhood of all God created to seek and to save the lost.  When Jesus completed his mission to die for our sins and rise in resurrection power, he visited those who were still mourning his death to prove He defeated death for eternity for all who believed in Him then and now!  When Jesus ascended back to the Father, God’s Holy Spirit was sent as a Helper to come and live in the hearts of all believers, continuing to teach them all that God wanted them to know.  The Three-in-One lives in all who believe and follow Jesus!

We must believe and obey what the Holy Spirit says and go where He leads.  The Holy Spirit helps in every detail of our lives that God desires to be a part of.  His Word says that God actually “delights” in all the details of our lives.  Who else, but God, wants to hear about all the details?  Maybe only a few loved ones who give us some of their time and understanding to really see and hear us.  But God? —He is ALWAYS ready to listen as He guides us into all truth.  This is the work of the Holy Spirit living in us.

Want proof?  Of course—God proves Himself over and over to us…

“The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives. Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand.” Psalm 37:23-24

Proverbs 16:9: “We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps.”

Psalm 31:14-15: “But I trust in you, Lord; I say, ‘You are my God. My times are in your hands.”

Proverbs 20:24: “The Lord directs our steps, so why try to understand everything along the way?”

Psalm 119:105: “Your word is a lamp to guide My feet and a light for my path.”

Proverbs 19:21: “Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.”

Isaiah 48:17 (The Message): “I am God, your God, who teaches you how to live right and well. I show you what to do, where to go.”

Father, Son, Holy Spirit have been Three-In-One since the beginning of creation.

We are “joint heirs” with Jesus, the One who saves us, the One who we believe, trust, and obey.  That means, as Jesus reveals in this passage, that we are His brothers and sisters!  Romans 8:17 says, “Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.”

Our response?  Believe, repent, and be forgiven with the promises of God of His Helper living in us to guide us daily as we seek to trust and obey what He knows is best for us. 

God is for us, not against us.  Satan wants to destroy us.  Know the difference.  Be the difference.  Live the difference!

Lord,

I offer my life to you, all that I am, all that I have.  Cleanse my heart, remove all that offends you, renew and transform my mind, refresh and feed my soul, restoring the joy and peace of your salvation at work within me. Thank you, Lord!

In Jesus Name, Amen