Forbid Him Not - Mark 9:39

Mark wrote how Jesus told His disciples, “Whosoever shall receive one of such children in my name, receives me: and whosoever shall receive me, receives not me, but him that sent me. And John answered him, saying, Master, we saw one casting out devils in your name, and he follows not us: and we forbade him, because he follows not us”, and in chapter nine and verse thirty-nine of his book, Mark shared how Jesus said, “forbid him not” where we read:

But Jesus said, Forbid him not: for there is no man which shall do a miracle in my name,

that can lightly speak evil of me.

The verse reads, “But Jesus said, Forbid him not: for there is no man which shall do a miracle in my name, ...” Mark began with the words, “but Jesus said” which means “nevertheless, moreover and Jesus whose name means Jehovah is Salvation and is the Son of God, the Savior of mankind and God incarnate uttered, declared and proclaimed”, “forbid him not” or “do not hinder or prevent the man”: “for there is no man” which means “because, since and on account that there is not a person whether male or female” “which shall do a miracle” or “who will perform and produce a supernatural act or spiritually powerful deed” “in my name” which means “in Jesus' name which is used for everything which the name covers including everything the thoughts or feelings aroused in the mind by mentioning, hearing and remembering”. Mark shared how Jesus told John not to “prevent” the man from “casting out demons” because no one is able to do a “supernatural act” like this in the “name” of Jesus who does not align with the following.

The verse continues, “... that can lightly speak evil of me.” Mark added the words, “that can lightly speak evil” which means “who is able to quickly and speedily revile, accuse and curse” “of me” or “pertaining to Jesus Himself”. Mark shared how Jesus said no one who aligns with Him and performs “miracles” is able to “speedily revile” Jesus Himself.

When we meditate upon Mark's words in this verse, we see how Jesus told John when a person aligns with Him, they can hardly “speak evil” of Him as they perform a “miracle”. God desires to have a relationship with every person through His Son Jesus, and when they submit their lives to Him as their personal “Savior and Lord”, He may use them to do “supernatural” works. When this happens, it is very unlikely for that person to “speak evil” of Jesus who is the source of the “miracle” in the first place. May all who read these words yield themselves to Jesus who is able to do “exceeding abundantly above all they ask or think” when they align with Him.

Next time Mark shares how Jesus said, “he that is not against us is on our part”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".