Face di Wicked One

January 9, 2024
Tuesday for di First Week for Ordinary Time
Di Readings for Today

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One man wey get unclean spirit dey inside dia synagogue; e shout, “Wetin concern You with us, Jesus of Nazareth? You don come destroy us? I know who You be–di Holy One of God!” Jesus rebuke am and talk say, “Keep quiet! Come out of am!” Mark 1:23–25

For Scripture, plenty times dey wey Jesus face demon dem directly. Each time, E rebuke dem and use Im authority over dem. Di passage wey dey above show one of those times.

As di devil dey show imself again and again for di Gospels, e tell us say di wicked one dey real, and we need to deal with am for di proper way. Di proper way to deal with di wicked one and di other demon dem wey dey with am na to rebuke dem with di authority of Christ Jesus Imself, for way wey calm but firm and full of authority.

E no dey happen often at all say di wicked one go show imself to us fully as e show imself to Jesus for di passage wey dey above. Di demon dey talk directly through dis man, and dis one show say di demon don take over di man completely. Even though we no dey see dis kind way of showing imself often, e no mean say di wicked one dey work any less today. Instead, e show say Christian faithful no dey use di authority of Christ reach di level wey dem need to fight di wicked one. Instead, many times, fear dey make us shrink back when we face evil, and we no dey stand firm with Christ with confidence and love.

Why dis demon show imself for way wey clear like dis? Na because e face di authority of Jesus directly. Normally, di devil prefer to hide and deceive, dey present imself as angel of light so that people no go clearly know im evil ways. Many times, even di people wey e dey control no know how much di wicked one dey influence dem. But when di wicked one face di pure presence of Christ, di Truth of di Gospel wey dey set us free, and di authority of Jesus, many times dis encounter dey force di wicked one to react by showing im evil.

Today, reflect on di fact say di wicked one dey work all di time all around us. Think about di people and situations for your life where dem dey attack and reject di pure and holy Truth of God. Na for those situations, pass any other one, Jesus want give you Im divine authority to face evil, rebuke am and take authority over am. Na mainly through prayer and deep trust for di power of God we dey do dis. No fear to allow God use you to face di work of di wicked one for dis world.

Lord, give me courage and wisdom when I face di work of di evil one for dis world. Give me wisdom to recognise where im hand dey work, and give me courage to face am and rebuke am with Your love and authority. Lord Jesus, make Your authority dey alive for my life, and make I become better instrument for di coming of Your Kingdom every day as I face di evil wey dey dis world. Jesus, na You I trust.

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