Meditate on it

A mish-mash of what I find interesting from my commentaries right now: The New Testament uses two kindred words to denote the evil spirits which possessed men, and which were so often east out by Christ: διάμων, of which demon is a transcript, and which occurs, according to the best texts, only at Mat_8:31; and δαιμόνιον, which is not a diminutive, but the neuter of the adjective δαιμόνιος, of, or belonging to a demon. The cognate verb is δαιμονίζομαι to be possessed with a demon, as in Mar_1:32.  - Vincent's Word Studies This evil sense the words always bear in the New Testament as well as in the Septuagint. Demons are synonymous with unclean spirits (Mar_5:12, Mar_5:15; Mar_3:22, Mar_3:30; Luk_4:33). They appear in connection with Satan (Luk_10:17, Luk_10:18; Luk_11:18, Luk_11:19); they are put in opposition to the Lord (1Co_10:20, 1Co_10:21); to the faith (1Ti_4:1). They are connected with idolatry (Rev_9:20; Rev_16:13, Rev_16:14). They are special powers of evil, infl

St. Greg's--my childhood church home, Williamsville, NY I came to faith in Christ in my twenties.  Raised Catholic, I had a basic foundation in the following: *I was taught that there is a God.  *I was taught that I sinned against God. *I was taught that I needed to repent of my sin (albeit via a priest) and make amends.  *I was taught that I should respect/fear/obey God by keeping the sacraments and traditions of the Catholic Church and doing good works. *I had a sense that there was a heaven and hell, rewards and punishments, that I could be in good favor with God or out of His favor. *I knew some of the parables of Jesus, was exposed to none of the Old Testament, but oddly, yet despite this, my understanding of God was clearer in my mind than my understanding of Christ. *My understanding of God and my relationship with Him was fuzzy, apart from confession which is inherently personal despite the corporate way the Catholic Church taught me to confess---in a line,

This morning I'm turning over this thought from John 3:27 "A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from Heaven." -John the Baptist All comes from above.  We take so much for granted. It's also a statement on giftedness.  Here is another translation: "A man can only receive what was given Him from Heaven." Any abilities or callings we possess are merely passed down from above.  We do not generate or originate the giftedness; instead, we receive it, and at best, use the gifts in God-honoring ways.   Paul touches upon this concept in 1 Corinthians as well: "For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?"  - 1 Corinthians 4:7 That first line is striking---"...who maketh thee to differ?"  God maketh me to differ, right?  If I differ, it's because He de