Instagram Jesus Week 6: Devotional Day 4

Instagram Jesus Week 6: Devotional Day 4

DAY 4 – Thursday

Daily devotional

Read

Mark 1:21-27, Mark 1:20, Ephesians 6:10-13

Ask

What did the disciples learn about who Jesus is in the synagogue that day?

What do Jesus’ actions and reactions teach you about his authority over unseen, dark parts of our world? What does that mean for your life today? 

Reflect

Imagine you’re James or John and you recently dropped your fishing nets and bid your father Zebedee farewell to join this new crew heading out to fish for men. Do you think this is the beginning of a great military unit? Do you imagine achieving a high rank of honor in a new kingdom? The disciples’ motives are hard to ascertain, but what we do know is they followed Jesus’ lead into Capernaum where he was about to astonish them all.

In our house we talk a lot about being people of substance over style. Today’s culture often esteems exterior or visible performance over internal, unseen depth of character. Substance over style says that who we are and what we do supersedes how we look doing it. Jesus is our ultimate example of someone who lived a substance over style life. The Son of God had no need to posture himself to appear all-knowing even when he was simply Jesus of Nazareth to unknowing crowds. The King of Kings didn’t need to entertain negotiations with an accuser in order to validate his worth. When the unclean spirit in verse 24 attempted to undermine Jesus’ mission by questioning his approach to evil Jesus demonstrated his intentions with swift action. Had Jesus come to destroy evil? Absolutely! With seven recorded words in verse 25 Jesus showed his unwavering authority over the unseen, supernatural world. These unseen battles are still being waged in our world today, and Jesus’ authority over them is as true now as it was in the synagogue that day. Where does the substance of our strength come from? Ephesians 6:10-13 spells it out for us, and like the disciples we can follow Jesus into any situation trusting his God-given, faithful authority over every aspect of our lives.