Omer Devotional Day 22

April 21 at sundown - Day 22
Today is day 22 of counting the Omer 
Today is day 22 out of Egypt
Today is day 22 of Messiah Resurrected

Punk’d, Part 2 (Matthew 8:23-34)


Master of the Storm

23 As He got into the boat, His disciples followed Him.
24 Suddenly a great storm arose on the sea, so that the boat was being covered by the waves. But Yeshua kept on sleeping.
25 So they came and woke Him up, saying, “Master, save us! We’re perishing!”
 
26 He said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it became totally calm.
27 The men were amazed, saying, “What kind of person is this? Even the winds and the sea obey Him!”

Freedom from Demons

28 When He came to the other side, into the region of the Gadarenes, two demon- plagued men coming from the graveyard met Him. They were so violent that no one could pass by that way. 
29 And they screamed, “What’s between You and us, Ben- Elohim? Have You come here to torment us, before the appointed time?”
30 Now a large herd of pigs was feeding some distance away from them.
31 The demons kept begging Him, “If You drive us out, send us into the herd of pigs.”
 
32 And He told them, “Go!” So they came out and went into the pigs, and the whole herd rushed down the cliff into the sea and drowned.
33 The herdsmen ran away, went into the town, and told everything, including what had happened to the demon-plagued men.
34 The whole town came out to meet Yeshua. And when they saw him, they begged Him to leave their region.

Reflect:

It is a common misconception these days to view a life of faith as one of passivity; we often just take what life gives us and believe that if we will just be stronger, be better or do better that our circumstances will be changed. Friends, this is both a lie from the pit of hell and a misunderstanding of what Yeshua came to do. He came to set us free from sickness and disease, and He does it by the authority that the Father gave Him! This freedom He offers us can’t be obtained by anything we do but instead comes from the utter simplicity of just believing that Yeshua can do it. The centurion believed this, and his servant was set free because of his

great faith in Yeshua’s power. As Yeshua moved forward to set those in demonic captivity free, we can see that the great tempest that struck the boat they were on was no normal storm; instead it was yet another focused attack by the prince of power of the air (Satan, the god of this world) to disrupt Yeshua’s ministry. Again here we see the devil get punk’d by Yeshua’s absolute authority over all things demonic. After He rebuked the tempest, they sailed to the Gaderenes (a territory of gentile pagans). Upon being confronted by two demon-plagued men, Yeshua cast the evil spirits out of them and sent the pigs running into the sea. This not only set those men free, but also destroyed the pagan economy of that place; their pigs were what they sacrificed to their non-gods. Yeshua’s entire ministry in this place was a display of God’s absolute power over spiritual darkness. Friends, we must understand this concept as our congregation moves forward. As we seek to impact the kingdom, our adversary will oppose us as he did Yeshua. Our hope for deliverance is not in what we are able to do in our own power; it is in our faith in our God who has absolutely defeated darkness!

Prayer: Heavenly Father, we rejoice in knowing that you have utterly defeated spiritual darkness and oppression. Help us to pray with this understanding and to have the boldness in prayer to challenge areas where the devil has set up strongholds. Please use Restoration as a place where people are set free! In Yeshua’s name, amen.

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At Restoration, we have made it a priority to seek God first in prayer. During this season of counting of the Omer, we have decided to do this collectively as a congregation in the days leading up to Shavuot. Together, we want to trust in His power to impact our lives, our congregation, our city, and our world. The last 10 days we will encourage a corporate time of fasting and prayer, which starts the evening of May 9 and ends the evening of May 19. The conclusion of this season of prayer will culminate in a congregational picnic on the 50th day, the day of Shavuot - Sunday, May 20 at noon.