Archive for June 2nd, 2010


There are quite a few references in the Bible to the ‘hand’ of God. There are some to the ‘strong arm’ of God. But this demon Jesus drove out by just “the finger of God”.

Afterwards Jesus tells the story of a strong man that kept a good watch over his home. But this strong man was attacked and overpowered. His armor is taken and he is utterly defenseless.

Jesus also tells about what happens when an evil spirit comes out of a man; that it goes and finds more evil spirits and goes back to the man it was driven out of. The spirits go in and the final condition of that man is worse than the first.

I believe this ‘man who had been mute’ was once the strong man that Jesus tells about? I believe He knew that at one time he had driven a demon or two out himself but was eventually attacked and overpowered. When Jesus found him, his condition was at its worst. But He did not see weakness and walk on by with criticism; He saw a man that used to be strong and stopped to even the odds.

While away on vacation, I read a book, given to me by a friend, called Same Kind of Different as Me. It is based on a true story that tracks a black man, ‘Denver’, who was born in Louisiana in the 40’s into modern day slavery. He was a good and strong man. But one day he tried to better himself and wound up homeless in Texas.

The book also tracks ‘Ron’, a white man that becomes fairly wealthy and lives in the same Texas area. Fortunately Ron had a wife, ‘Deborah’ that had a heart for God and winds up drawn to help out in a homeless mission where of course Ron and Deborah meet Denver.

Deborah did not see the homeless as weak and worthless. Instead she saw them as people, some of which were once strong and had simply been overpowered by life. They were people who just needed someone to stop and help even the odds.

In addition to the stories in this book, of the difference they made in some of the lives they touched, are the stories in the sequel, What Difference Do it Make, which is filled with stories of what others have been inspired to do as a result. The two are a compelling pair and a modern day example of the same thing Jesus did when He stopped to even the odds.

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