Daily Devotional

                       Pactolus Baptist Church

 Daily Devotional

By Pastor Jerry Teboe

 

A Closer Walk with Christ in 2026

 

A Walk with the Master Series

 

The Work of the Holy Spirit

 

Mark 3:22-30

  And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “by the prince of demons he casts out the demons.” Mar 3:23  And he called them to him and said to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan? Mar 3:24  If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. Mar 3:25  And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. Mar 3:26  And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end. Mar 3:27  But no one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. Then indeed he may plunder his house. Mar 3:28  “Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, Mar 3:29  but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”— Mar 3:30  for they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.” 

 

Jesus faced constant opposition from the religious and political rulers.  They were always there to criticize  and scoff at all He did and said.  When they could not deny that He had the power to do things they could not, they argued that His power came from Satan and not from God.

We also have an enemy who is constantly trying to fight against what God wants to do in our lives.  Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.  For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places (Ephesians 6:11-12).  And we too are faced with opposition and scoffing from the people around us who do not know the Lord.  They are the devil’s tools to attack God’s children.

The Holy Spirit is the power we have, and it was the Spirit that worked through Jesus to perform the miracles that He did.  The truth Jesus taught was that Satan cannot divide his power, for a house divided will not stand.  And he called them to him and said to them in parables, How can Satan cast out Satan?  If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.  And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand.  And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end (Mark 3:23-26). 

Those scoffers were saying Jesus’ power came from the devil.  They were committing what was known as the “unpardonable sin.”  That sin is declaring the Holy Spirit to be the spirit of Satan.  Since the Holy Spirit is the one who convicts the lost of their sin, the scribes rejected the work of the Holy Spirit’s conviction and as a result could not be saved. Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter  but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin.

I do not believe that a person can commit the unpardonable sin today,  But I do believe that they can reject the conviction of the Holy Spirit so many times that they refuse God’s grace and will not be saved.  For this reason, we need to pray for God’s Holy Spirit to work in people’s lives so that they will not reject God’s Word and will come to Jesus for salvation. 

 

Bible Reading for the Year

March 7th, Deuteronomy 5-7; Mark 12:1-27

March 8th, Deuteronomy 8-10; Mark 12:28-44

Prayer Needs

 

Please pray for Phil Corey in his continual dialysis treatments.  He had a port removed and is still in the hospital.

 

Pray for Dr. Joe Jordan who will be having an angioplasty on March 12th.

 

Please pray for the cousin of Sarah Crandall, Margo Fields, who is doing chemo now for colon cancer.

 

Please pray for Robbie Harvey, Barbara Teboe’s nephew, who has MAC lung disease, and antibiotics are no longer working.  Pray for healing!

 

Please continue to pray for Jennifer Teboe Buchamer.   Praise the Lord!  Her pain is better.  Pray for her healing.

 

Please pray for Madison Bowers Millwee.  She is now at 27 weeks and is doing well.  Everything is relatively stable at this point.  She will continue modified bedrest until she delivers

 

Please pray for family members of Phylis Whitley who have some medical issues that will require surgery. Her grandson had surgery at Duke on March 4th.  He  will require 10-12 weeks of recovery.  Her son also will have back surgery soon.

 

Please continue to pray for Beth Buchta that her hip will completely heal.  She saw the doctor the other day, and found she was overusing her hip.  Her recovery can take up to a year.

 

Please continue to pray for Marvin Silverthorne for his eyesight to improve.

 

Please continue to pray for Jackson Broome.  The transplant took place on February 11th.  He came through it well, but is having some trouble with his medication.

______________________________________________________________

Pray for our Missionaries!

Sue Singleton and the mission in Cambodia

Dr. Joe Jordan and the CBM (Cross and Bible Ministries)

Travis and Caroline Fennessy – IBM missionaries to Southeast Asia

 

Message From The Pastor

LOADING PLAYER…