Bible Truths
- God has promised us eternal life through Jesus. (Week 10)
- Jesus is God. (Week 15)
Bible Verse
But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world.
I John 4:4 NLT
Focus
Last week Jesus preached his most famous sermon – The Sermon on the Mount. Jesus finishes teaching and leaves the mountain. Let’s see what happens next.
Day 1
After Jesus leaves the mountain he meets several people. Let’s learn about some of those people.
Read A Sermon with Parables from The Action Bible pages 612-623 (top) or read Matthew 8:1-27 NLT.
Day 2
One of the people Jesus encountered was a man who was possessed by demons. Read his story from Matthew 5.
1 So they arrived at the other side of the lake, in the region of the Gerasenes. 2 When Jesus climbed out of the boat, a man possessed by an evil spirit came out from the tombs to meet him. 3 This man lived in the burial caves and could no longer be restrained, even with a chain. 4 Whenever he was put into chains and shackles—as he often was—he snapped the chains from his wrists and smashed the shackles. No one was strong enough to subdue him. 5 Day and night he wandered among the burial caves and in the hills, howling and cutting himself with sharp stones.
6 When Jesus was still some distance away, the man saw him, ran to meet him, and bowed low before him. 7 With a shriek, he screamed, “Why are you interfering with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? In the name of God, I beg you, don’t torture me!” 8 For Jesus had already said to the spirit, “Come out of the man, you evil spirit.”
18 As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon possessed begged to go with him. 19 But Jesus said, “No, go home to your family, and tell them everything the Lord has done for you and how merciful he has been.” 20 So the man started off to visit the Ten Towns of that region and began to proclaim the great things Jesus had done for him; and everyone was amazed at what he told them.
Matthew 5:1-8, 18-20
- Describe the man’s life before he encountered Jesus.
- Why do you think the man wanted to go with Jesus.
- What command did Jesus give him?
Day 3
In Week 23 we learned that if you accepted God’s gift of salvation you are his child. Our Bible verse this week is about some of God’s promises to his children. Let’s look at one of them.
But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world.
I John 4:4 NLT
You belong to God. God will always be with you no matter what. God hold’s on to you tightly. When you were little did you parents ever hold your hand tightly when you were in a crowd. I know mine did. One time I wiggled away from my mom and got separated from her in a big store in downtown Fort Worth. I was frightened but thankfully my mom found me quickly. God’s grip is much stronger. No matter how much you wiggle nothing can pull you out of His hand. Romans 8:38-39 says:
38 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. 39 No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:38-39 NLT
Day 4
Today let’s look at the second promise.
But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world.
I John 4:4 NLT
We are promised victory over the devil. Here is the really cool part read the highlight part again. Notice it says we have already won. Not that we will win or might when. Jesus has already defeated the devil. We will learn more about that in a few weeks.
One of my favorite hymns is Victory in Jesus.
I heard an old, old story how a Savior came from glory
How He gave His life on Calvary to save a wretch like me
I heard about His groaning of His precious blood’s atoning
Then I repented of my sins and won the victory.Oh, victory in Jesus, my Savior forever
E. M. Bartlett
He sought me and bought me with His redeeming blood
He loved me ‘ere I knew Him and all my love is due Him
He plunged me to victory beneath the cleansing flood
Day 5
Let’s look at the part of our verse.
But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world.
I John 4:4 NLT
So far we know that we belong to God and he holds tightly. He will never let us go. We also learned that God has given us victory over the devil. Why do we have this victory? Read the highlighted part of the verse again. That’s right God is more powerful than the devil. God created the universe from nothing. He parted the Red Sea for Israel to cross on dry land. He is more powerful than any force in the universe, even the combined powers of all the Avengers could not defeat God.
Keep growing in grace. — Dee