34-DemonDiseased-A

And We Thought We Knew You:
Soul Journey With the Real Jesus

Demon Diseased
WAR OF THE WORLDS

May AD 28
Capernaum, Galilee

�� There is a crowd outside the house.� There usually is these days.� People come from everywhere trying to get healed.� But sometimes Jesus and is apostles need to be alone.� So the crowd mingles among themselves.� They will wait.� They have waited centuries for him.� Another hour or two is nothing.� Their new leader is everything.

�� Jesus knows that Satan is now changing his tactics.� Instead of just causing an illness, Satan is now sending his demons to actually possess humans to make sure the illness stays with them.�

�� Jesus has a lot of work to do, finding these demons and convincing them this tactic won't work either.� Three years is not much time.� But he will find them all.� And he will overpower them all.�

�� "Come and get it, Jesus.� Dinner's on the table."

�� Jesus puts down his scroll and go to table.� But the crowds outside continue to interrupt.

�� "Jesus! �Are you in there?� Please come out!� We need you!" [1]

�� Despite pleas not to, Jesus excuses himself from the meal and opens the front gate.

�� It has started.� Facing down the demons who cause so much physical misery, and won't back down.� It has started.� Facing down the enemy.� It has started.� The war.

�� "Are you Jesus?"

�� "Yes, I am."

�� "Please help our cousin.� He can't see.� He can't hear.� He can't talk.� Please, isn't there something you can do?"

�� A triple whammy.� Can he heal someone of three things all at once?� It takes divine will power to heal someone of one thing at a time.� Can it be done?� The demands on Jesus seem to be getting harder and harder.� Does he have what it takes?� Will he just select one problem and deal with it, and tell the man to make another appointment for another healing in a month or so?

�� Jesus shifts so that he is facing the victim.� The demon's victim.� Satan's victim.� Jesus is about to make him a victor instead.� It is a battle of words.� Jesus is word. [2]

�� Silence.� Did the demon hear?� Is there really a demon in him?� His relatives wait in anticipation.� The victim waits in expectation.

�� The lightening strikes.�

�� "Come out!� Right now!"

�� The demon cannot hide.� Who can defend himself against lightening?� It is too powerful.� Jesus is too powerful.� Fragmented and splintered, the demon slithers out of the man in utter defenselessness, utter defeat.�

�� The man's face lights up.� His eyes no longer stare blankly into space.� He focuses on something in front of him, and smiles in delight.�

�� "He can see!" his cousin shouts.

�� Another battle won.

�� People have learned to keep an eye on the house where Jesus lives.� Someone down the street shouts, "He's at it again!� Come quick, everyone!� Jesus is at it again!"

�� The man is startled to hear voice.� He's never been able to hear anyone's voice.� He laughs.� He's never heard his own voice before either.� He points to his ears.

�� "He can hear!"� It is obvious to people closest to him in the growing crowd.� "He can hear!"

�� With that, he tries to imitate the words he has just heard.� He has never heard words before, language before.� Delightful discovery!� A whole new world!�

�� "He can speak!" [2]

�� Ecstatic confusion.� Delirious disorientation.

�� All three at once?� Yes, all three at once.

�� But that's impossible, Jesus.�

�� "He has to be the son of David!" someone calls out.

�� "The prophesied king?"

�� "Yes!� The one who will rule God's kingdom!� The forever one!"

�� "You're right.� This has to be him!"

�� "Anyone know what tribe he descends from?"

�� A neighbor who has known the family a long time has been listening intently to the comments.� He has been remembering.

�� "The tribe of Judah!� You belong to the tribe of Judah, don't you Jesus?� You're one of his descendants!" [3]

�� "We really should finish dinner now.� I get the feeling tomorrow's going to be a very long day," admonishes Nathaniel.� So the group returns to the table.

�� It does not last long.� There is another knock on the gate.� It is unlatched, so three young men, younger than Jesus, rush in angrily.

�� "Where is he?� Where is that brother of ours?"

�� "He's embarrassing the whole family!"

�� Jesus appears.

�� "Are you out of your mind?" Jesus' brother, Joseph, demands.� "You can't get demons out of people!� Did you know the officials from the Temple are in town to check you out?� Now cut all this out, Jesus!" [4]

�� The team is indeed there.� They are in the crowd that has remained assembled outside Jesus' gate.� They must put out the fires Jesus keeps setting.� they must maintain control.� He is outdoing them.� They must protect their power, their sacred positions.

�� "He's a Satan worshipper, pure and simple," one of them shouts loudly enough to be heard inside the house.� "He is deceiving you!� It takes a demon to cast out a demon!� He is the Devil himself!" [5]

�� Jesus goes back to the gate.� And to the crowd.� Jesus never runs from a fight.� Bring the enemy on.� Let us do battle!� His presence jumps at them like a threatening lion.

�� "Every nation split up against itself comes to ruin.� Why would Satan turn his followers against each other?� He'd only destroy himself." [6]

�� "Don't listen to him!" shouts another Temple Pharisee feeling threatened by Jesus' powerful words.� No one gave him permission to cast out demons.� He must get permission.� He must maintain protocol.

�� "You snakes in the grass!" Jesus shouts back.� "You spit venom at these people because your hearts are filled with poison!� You will have to give account to God some day for every word you've ever said!� Your own words will condemn you!" [7]

Winter AD 28 [8]

�� People continue to ask Jesus to help them with their infirmities.� He does under the condition they listen to what he has to say, as their future high priest and king. [9]

�� Having just healed some people in a house, he is now trying to leave, but that is never a simple matter.� Crowds mill around outside all the time.� Thaddeus opens the gate and Jesus and the other eleven stand in the archway.

�� A man stands there with a sign carved on a tablet.� He holds it high above people's heads.�

�� HELP ME.� I CANNOT SPEAK.

�� Jesus is aware of things the man doesn't understand himself.� For this man is yet another victim of Satan's demons.� Jesus suddenly looks stern and walks over to the man.� He is not angry at the man.� He is angry at Satan. [10]

�� Oh yes, another skirmish.� Another one of those demons that's got to be eliminated from the war.� The war of the worlds.

�� Though the man sees Jesus' anger, he stands firm.� He is angry too.� Angry at his loss of speech.� He's got a right to be angry.� He is glad Jesus is angry too.� They both have a lot of fight in them.� But, of course, Jesus has more.� For he's the captain of the heavenly host of angels.� No one can touch him. [11]

�� Jesus flexes his spirit muscles.� He pulls out his weapon.� His will and his word.� He fires on the enemy.� He does it with a bellow.

�� "Come out of him!"

�� Steady aim.� Perfect control.� Straight shooting.� Right at the target.� Bull's eye!

�� Contented, Jesus now speaks to the man.� "Well, what do you think?"

�� He's supposed to answer?� Yes, he's supposed to answer.� But....

�� The man tries to form the words that have eluded him for so long.� He tries to remember just how to hold his tongue.� He recalls just how to form his lips.� Then he abruptly whisks his breathe out between them.

�� "Tha...� Tha..."

�� So far, so good.� Someone from the crowd shouts out.� "Go ahead.� Just say it!"

�� He gains his courage.� He smiles.� He goes for it.

�� "Thank you....!"

�� Empathetic laughter with the man.� Admiring laughter with Jesus.� Derisive laughter at the demon.� Loathing laughter at Satan.

�� Some in the crowd cheer.� Some applaud.� some remain silent in awe.� Some weep.� All are amazed beyond belief.

�� "Nothing like this has ever occurred in the entire history of Palestine!" [12]

�� But the crowd is not entirely friendly.� That team from Jerusalem is still spying on him.� The Pharisees.� The religious leaders.� The great righteous ones.

�� "Everyone!� Listen to us!� Do not pay attention to this man!" one of them shouts.� "He is not religious.� He is doing these things as a Satanic ritual!� Do not follow him!� Jesus is going to hell and he's taking you with him!" [13]

�� Jesus just turns and leaves.� They're not worth his time right now.� He already gave them his answer just a month ago.�

�� But they are not the only people after Jesus these days.� Both Temple and palace leaders are trying to get Jesus arrested on any charge they can think of.� He is trying to take over the religion.� He is trying to take over the country.� He is a threat to society.

Summer AD 28
Caesarea, Philippi, Decapolis [14]

�� Welcome to the grand city.� The beautifully accursed city.� Built for the god Pan.� Rebuilt for the god Caesar.� No one can avoid seeing the great white temple to Caesar.� It is imposing.� It is magnificent.� It is demonic. [15]

�� Demons?� Yes.� They are alive and well.� They have already taken control of Nathan's life.

�� Nathan is a protege.� At least he used to be.� At an early age he had become a promising apprentice scribe, but was forced to drop out.� He had to.� He had become deaf and of course unable to speak. [16]

�� Then he began having seizures.� The dreaded episodes are almost every day now.� He is in and out of the doctor's care.� Different cures are tried on him.� Nothing works.� Nothing has ever worked.�

�� Nathan is baffled.� He feels like a failure in life even before his life has had a chance to begin.�

�� Nathan's father, Michael, is baffled.� He feels like a failure as a father, for he has not protected his son from life's rough places like he's supposed to do.� He is a bad father.

�� Is it time yet, Jesus?� Time for Nathan?

�� How does Jesus make these terrible decisions?� How does he decide who to help at which time?� There are things he understands that no one else does.� He always knows when the time is right.� Right for the one being helped.� Right for the friends and family.� Right for the unbelieving public.� Right for the ultimate battle plan for the ultimate of wars.�

�� "Ahhhhhhh!"

�� Nathan is in the courtyard trying to fry some bread. [17] ��He is jerking uncontrollably.�

�� "Ahhhhhhh!"

�� He is being thrown by an invisible force into a nearby bench.� Now into a table.� Down on his knees.� Up again.� And now...now he's being thrown into the hot grease.�

�� "Ahhhhhhh!"

�� The pan goes skidding onto the ground and across the courtyard.� Nathan jerks up again.� Then down onto the red-hot grating.� The grating with the flame.� The lapping flame.� The devouring flame.� The destroying flame.

�� "Ahhhhhhh!" [18]

�� His tunic is on fire!� Michael runs from the roof.� He grabs his son and forces him over toward a pitcher of water.

�� His son fights him.� Fights him with the strength of a young man in the prime of his life.� But more than that, his son fights with the strength of the netherworld.� That despicable strength.� That hideous strength.� That obliterating devilish strength.�

�� But love is stronger.� Michael is refusing to give up.� He is wrestling and struggling with the enemy inside his son.� Fury is filling his eyes.� His face is flushing with outrage.� His body is being drenched in heated conflict for his son's life.�

�� Skirmish upon skirmish.� Closer to the sink.� Down on the floor.� Back over to the stove.� Again to the sink.�

�� That's right!� Resist the devil and he will flee from you!� Resist!� Resist! [19]

�� At last the demon stops.� At last the father can get his son to the life-saving water.� At last the son can be immersed in comfort.�

�� Father and son now work their way across the house to Nathan's room.� Stumbling.� Arm in arm.� Struggling to stand.� Struggling to keep going.� Agony upon agony.� Torment upon torment.

�� "Oh, God.� Help my son."

�� Instead, Jesus goes on another tour of Galilee.�

�� Jesus, isn't it time yet?

�� Nathan is walking near the river where the Jordan begins. �His father has warned him not to go too far from home because of his attacks.� But the river, with its whimsical ripples, gives him a sense of inner peace.

�� But the return.� His head jerks.� He falls backward.� He makes his way up again, but now he's being thrown over into a bush.� Back up again.� Down onto his shoulder.�

�� Lashing.� Yanking.� Wrenching his life away by bits and pieces.�

�� Nathan tumbles forward.� Forward down the embankment.� Arms flying.� Head bumping into rocks on his way.� Rolling. �Bumping.� Cutting.�

�� A man runs down the bank after Nathan.� He dives in.� Get to him quickly, before the current does.� Grab him out of his watery grave before he goes under for good.

�� Nathan's hands and arms flail, still fighting between life and death.� He is fighting off the rescuer, but the rescuer is sticking with him.� Grabbing.� Holding on.� Grabbing again.� Holding on again.

�� A crowd gathers.� Several more make their way down the bank.� They grab hold of both men.� And with mass muscle and determination, they pull them back again into shore.

�� Nathan jerks one last time.� The demon has lost again.� But he'll rest up and try another time. Maybe a few days from now.� Maybe a few hours.� Whenever he's ready.

�� He lies still.�

�� "Is he dead?" [20]

�� "No.� Probably in shock."

Early Spring AD 29

�� A year has come and gone.� Jesus travels to� Jerusalem.� But Jesus' enemies are moving in fast.� He goes home briefly, then escapes to Phoenecia on the Mediterranean.� There he tries to rest before the final encounter, and at the same time take care of some problems there.� Then he returns home.� Home for a rest.� A very brief rest. [21]

�� He has such little time left ~ only weeks.� Then his end.� He needs reassurance who he is.� His apostles need reassurance who Jesus is.� They receive that reassurance.� High on a mountain.� A mountain aglow with dazzling resplendence.� A mountain momentarily transfigured to its original glory.� A man momentarily transfigured to his original divinity. [22]

�� After his transfiguration of glory, he will be ready.� Ready for his final battle with Satan.� First there is a confrontation with that demon down the mountain in Caesarea.� He must get to it.� It is a terrible one.� One of Satan's most powerful ones, a real champion of the netherworld.

�� "Michael, Jesus is coming to town."� It is an old family friend.� "Some of his disciples are here already.� You need to take Nathan to him."

�� After breakfast, Michael explains to Nathan that they should go over to the forum and try Jesus.� Nathan is very tired.� He's had another siege just before dawn in his bed.� They will wait until tomorrow.� Maybe then.

�� The next day in the afternoon, Michael and Nathan head toward the city center.

�� The two men, father and son, walk down the street and eventually see a crowd of people gathered around a speaker.� They stand in the back and watch.� The new kingdom of God is coming soon, they hear.� Their leader, Jesus, will be the high priest and king of that kingdom.� People must follow God more closely to be accepted as citizens into that new kingdom.

�� "How do we know what you're saying is true?" someone shouts from the audience.

�� "Is there anyone here who needs the power of God to help with an infirmity?� Jesus has given us the power to heal these infirmities.� We can show you Jesus' power right now.� We will show you that you need to be on his side." [23]

�� Silence.� Someone goes to the front.�

�� "My arm never healed right after it was broken.� It's crooked."

�� They heal the arm and make it straight again.� The audience marvels.� So does Michael.� And Nathan.� "Father!" Nathan signs.� "Did you see that?"

�� More and more people go to the front.

�� "Heal me!"

�� "Father, can they help me?" he signs.

�� "I don't know, son.� I just don't know."

�� "Let's try, Father. �Please."

�� Michael moves forward.� Nathan walks behind him.�

�� "Please.� Can you heal my son?� Please.� He's got a spirit in him, a demon!� It pushes him, and throws him, and dashes him down on everything around him.� It tears him and bruises him.� He foams at the mouth, he grinds his teeth.� Please, can you heal my son?� Please...." [24]

�� Philip looks over at Nathan.� He takes aim.� And fires.

�� "Be gone out of him!� Leave him!"

�� Nothing happens.� Thomas tries.� He looks at Nathan sternly.

�� "Leave him now!� Leave him, never to return.� Be gone out!"

�� Still nothing.� James Junior tries.

�� "Retreat!� You cannot fight Jesus power!� Go out of him!� Right now!"

�� Nothing.� Failure upon failure.� All as expected.� Why should they have expected anything else? �No one else has been able to help him.� The doctors.� No one.� It's useless.� It's impossible.

�� "Hey, you!� You wise guys!"

�� It is the teaching of the Law of Moses from Jerusalem.� They've been in the crowd all along.� Just waiting to pounce.

�� "Making a fool of yourselves, aren't you?"He is gloating.

�� "Philip, you didn't have enough faith," Matthew complains to his friend during the commotion.

�� "I had as much faith as I ever did," Philip retorts nervously.� "Thomas didn't do any better."

�� "Your Jesus is just a fraud and trouble maker!" another member of the crowd shouts.

�� "I've cast out a dozen demons!" Thomas answers, trying to defend himself.� "I just don't understand what happened this time."

�� "Well, maybe you'd better reconsider whether you're cut out for this sort of work!"� Laughter from the crowd.� "Maybe you're not holy enough."

�� The crowd grows more disillusioned.� "Why waste your time with them?� Stay on the good side of the Temple!� You don't want to make trouble for yourselves over this nobody!" [25]

�� "What's going on in here?"

�� Everyone turns, startled.� It is Jesus!� Where did he come from?� He is ready for more than just a skirmish.� He is ready for a battle.� A raging hot battle.

�� The crowd quickly deserts the humiliated apostles and runs in Jesus' direction.� Somehow he looks different.� But how?� some detect some kind of glow about him.� Others aren't sure. [26]

�� People in the crowd part and he walks through them.� As he does, he questions, "What are you trying to get my men to do?"� And when he reaches the apostles, he mutters under his breath, "What are you arguing about?" [27]

�� Suddenly all is quiet.� No one dares answer.� This Jesus has powers.� Powers that no one understands.� They've been caught talking behind his back.� He doesn't like that.� Will he strike them all dead?� He communicates with demons, you know.

�� But Michael is thinking of only one thing.� His only begotten son.� He walks toward Jesus.

�� "I brought my son to you.� But you weren't here.� So I brought him to your apostles.� They healed others.� But they couldn't heal my son.� I begged them.� Why should they leave my son out?� But they couldn't or wouldn't do it." [28]

�� Jesus looks over the crowd, then to his apostles.

�� "Such puny faith!� All of you!� How long must I be patient with you?"� Then he turns to Michael.� "Bring your son here to me." [29]

�� His nine apostles walk toward him with Nathan.� But, no sooner does Nathan look at Jesus, than his head jerks back in the familiar impertinent manner that mockingly says, "You can never destroy a master destroyer."

�� Nathan pulls from the grasp of the two apostles on each side of him.� An arm thrusts in front of him and knocks a bystander off balance.� He lunges into another bystander.� The crowd quickly moves away to give him room.� To give the demon room to taunt the existence of goodness.� Nathan' eyes roll back into his head.� He cannot see what he does not want to see.� He is thrust into blackness. [30]

�� "How long has he been like this?" Jesus asks the helpless father.� Not for his benefit.� He knows how long.� But the crowd needs to know this.

�� "Since he was a child.� The demon's trying to kill him.� Always trying to kill him.� He can't survive much longer.� He seems to be getter stronger.� I can't control him."

�� Still Nathan shudders and reels and falls.� His head is now hitting on the pavement, over and over and over.� Someone rushes in to put a cloak there to protect Nathan. [31]

�� "If you can do anything," he sobs, "if you can, help us...."� His face distorts.� He buries it in Nathan's chest.� "Take pity on us.� Please.� Have pity...." [32]

�� "If I can?" Jesus repeats to Michael.� "If I can?"�

�� Oh, Michael.� You do not understand.� This being in front of you in a man's body, this being is your Creator!� If he can?� Michael, look at who you are talking to.� Look, Michael!� Really look!

�� "I can do anything, Michael.� And for you, I can do anything you request if you think I can do it." [33]

�� Think, Michael!� Look at Jesus!� He has faith in you.� Do you have faith in him?� Try, Michael.� You must try!

�� Frantically, Michael cries out.� "I believe!� I believe!"�

�� But his belief is drown once more in disbelief.� Michael, struggle!� Struggle with the demon!� Struggle with Satan!� Don't let them win, Michael!� Don't let them win!

�� "H e l p�� m e !" he cries out to Jesus.� "H e l p . . . m y . . . unbelief...."� And once more Michael sobs. [34]

�� The crowd gathers courage.� They inch their way closer to Jesus.� Closer to Michael.� Closer to Nathan and his demon.

�� Jesus, too, draws closer to the pair.� But he is marching.� He is advancing on the enemy.� Is the enemy ready for this?� The unconquerable enemy?�

�� Jaw set, veins bulging in his neck, fish clinched, Jesus bellows, "Speechless and deaf spirit!"� His voice echoes around the square.

�� "I command you!"

�� Command?� You're commanding the demon?� Who are you to command?

�� "Come out of him!� Come out now and forever!" [35]

�� The crowd once again backs up, for Nathan has begun shrieking.

�� "Ahhhhhhhhh!"

�� The convulsions intensify.� Nathan thrashes on the ground, throwing his father from him.

�� Michael hits his head on the pavement and struggles unsuccessfully to get back up.

�� Abruptly Nathan stops convulsing.� Nathan stops moving.� Seemingly Nathan stops breathing.

�� "He's dead!" someone whispers. [36]

�� The crowd looks in anticipation.� The religious leaders stand amidst the crowd gloating.�

�� But Jesus steps closer and stoops down.� He takes Nathan' hand, and Nathan opens his eyes....and....jumps up smiling and clear eyed. [37]

�� Jesus turns and helps Michael up too.� Michael is dumbfounded.� His mouth gapes in confusion.� His eyes widen in belief beyond disbelief.

�� "Here is your son.� The demon is gone."� Jesus' voice is calm.

�� "Hi, Father!"

�� Nathan is talking!� Hi, Father?� He's saying, hi, Father?� How?� How can he?� Nathan cannot talk.� Nathan cannot hear.

�� Oh, but he can now.�

�� Jesus is satisfied.� But a little tired.� This demon was very strong.� Not strong enough to overpower Jesus, but strong nonetheless.�

Winter AD 30
Somewhere in Perea

�� Another battle.� Another of the enemy defeated.� Closer to the victory.� Much, much closer.� But he cannot stop yet.� There's another one to be fought.� Another demon.�

�� Jesus has returned home for a last rest.� He prepares to go back to Jerusalem for a winter feast.� He cannot stay long.� He cuts across Perea to go back home.

�� He is in Ramoth Gilead.� He goes to a local synagogue and asks to preach.� He is allowed to do so, but realizes permission is given only so the Temple can keep track of him and whatever nonsense he's filling the heads of the people with. [38]

�� Soon after beginning his sermon, Jesus stops.� The rest of his sermon will come from the audience.� He has just spotted a woman sitting in the back.� She slipped in after the rest of the congregation arrived.� People tend to make fun of her.� Or to pass her and pretend she does not exist.� Everyone is embarrassed to be seen talking to her.

�� Maacah is deformed.� For nearly twenty years she's been deformed.� Her spine has gotten weaker and weaker.� The demon in her has grown stronger and stronger.� Her back has bent over more and more.� She can no longer look up without the greatest of effort, as well as pain to her neck.�

�� She is forced to face the floor.� She is forced to look at the dark ground instead of the bright sunlight.� She is forced to look at scruffy feet instead of friendly faces.� Sometimes, when it has rained, people walk through puddles too close to her and carelessly splash her in the face. [39]

�� Maacah has been long suffering for so long.� Too long.� She has borne up under the strain of the demon for as long as anyone has.� Jesus was only a teenager when the demon entered her.� He has come a long way to make the power of God known.� She has endured a long way to do the same.� Together, Maacah and Jesus are about to be partners.� Partners in power.

�� "Maacah, will you please come up here?"� Jesus knows her name.� He knows everyone by their name.

�� Maacah has heard of Jesus.� Everyone has by now.� She must go.� go to Jesus.� Slowly she makes her way up the aisle.� the monster women.� People watch curiously.� A few of the younger ones snicker under their breath.

�� Once at the front, Jesus whispers to her, "You are now free."

�� He gently puts both arms around her and places his hands on her deformed spine.� Her bent back.� Her shame. [40]

�� And in her effort to look up at Jesus, she finds herself....she finds herself....unbending.� Effortlessly.

�� "Jesus?" she questions in an abbreviated way.�

�� Jesus understands, for it is not really a question.� It is statement.� A statement of, "We did it!� We really did it, didn't we?"

�� She turns toward the congregation.� "I can stand straight, everyone!� The demon is gone!"

�� Hallelujahs from everyone.� "Praise God!� Praise God!"

�� The local priest stands.� He has got to say something.� But what?� It is obvious this woman has been rid of her demon.� And it is obvious this Jesus has more powers than anyone ever dreamed of.� He feels intimidated.� He decides to attack indirectly.� Just attack the whole city. [41]

�� "There are six work days to be observed, everyone.� So don't come to synagogue expecting to have your physical problems looked at."� His righteous indignation grows more confident.� "This is not the time or the place for it.� The Sabbath is much too holy for such as this." [42]

�� Jesus turns.� He is now as angry at this man as he is with demons.� The earth enemy.� Some of the religious leaders.� Where are they leading these people to?� The people believe everything their leaders tell them?� They must be exposed.

�� "Hypocrites!" he shouts at the priest and those standing with him.�

�� Now wait a minute, Jesus!� Where's your respect for clergy?

�� "You go out to feed your livestock on the Sabbath.� This woman, one of your own saved people, has been starved of health for eighteen long years.� Shouldn't she be fed on a Sabbath?" [43]

�� Applause.� The people understand.� The people are glad someone is finally courageous enough to say what they have always thought.

�� Go get 'em, Jesus.� Tell them like it is, Jesus.� Face them down.� Face down the enemy.� Those of the netherworld.� Those of this world.� Help the people think for themselves.� Help them fight for themselves.� Help them with your word. [44]

LIFE APPLICATION

1.�� Many people blame God for their diseases.� But it is not God that causes disease.� It is Satan.� Satan exists as much as God does.� The possibility of evil exists as much as the possibility of good does.� Think of some bad thing in your life that you blamed God for.� Now turn the blame where it belongs ~ to Satan.� How does this make you feel?

2.�� Having a disease does not mean someone has a demon.� According to the Bible, demons did not possess people before Jesus came, and they only did until months after he left.� It was as though Satan was incarnating himself in grown people in a cheap imitation of God being incarnated in Jesus the baby.� Think of what other things today cause disabilities and illnesses that are of mankind's own doing.� God did not create robots; we all have free will.� How does this help your opinion of God?

3.�� Did you ever know someone who was debilitated by a disease, but later accomplished even greater things in spite of or even because of the debilitation?� Apply this to Romans 8:28 in the Bible, "All things work together for good to those who love the Lord."� Contact someone with a disability and share this with them.

Hosted by www.Geocities.ws