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Jesus Duels the Devil

¹ From the baptism in Jordan Creek, Jesus rode out into the desert where the Spirit led him. ² He stayed there for forty days and was tempted by the devil. He hadn't eaten anything in all those days and he was very weak.

³ That's when that old snake attacked. "If you're God's Boy, make you some bread out of these stones on the ground."

⁴ Jesus said, "The Good Book says, 'Bread alone won't give you life.'"

⁵ Then the devil took him up to a place where they could see all the countries in the world and said, ⁶ "All you see has been given to me and I will give you all its pleasure, all its treasure. ⁷ All you have to do is take a knee before me and kiss my boot."

⁸ Jesus never batted an eye as he said, "The Good Book says, 'Kneel only before God and ride for him only!'"

⁹ Then that old serpent took Jesus to the highest point of the main church and said, ¹⁰ "If you're God's Boy, jump off here and let the angels catch you like your good book says they will. ¹¹ It also says that 'them angels won't even let a pebble strike your heel.'"

¹² But Jesus said, "The Good Book says, 'Don't try God.'"

¹³ The devil snarled and knew he'd been whipped. He slithered off to wait for another opportunity to challenge the Top Hand.

Jesus Starts the Gathering

¹⁴ Then Jesus went back to the area around the Sea of Galilee. The Holy Spirit was ridin' with him like a saddlebag full of dynamite. There was nothing that could stop him. The news about Jesus spread like wildfire through the region. ¹⁵ He gave clinics in the churches and everyone was amazed by him.

¹⁶ Then Jesus rode over the hills and to his old stomping grounds of Nazareth. On the day of rest, he went like always to the local church. ¹⁷ He stood up to read out of the Good Book and turned to Isaiah. He scanned through the verses and then read,¹⁹ I will announce that the time is now when the Lord will save his people."

²⁰ Jesus shut the book, handed it back, and sat down. Everyone in church was staring at him and you could've heard a pin drop. With all their eyes locked on him, ²¹ he looked up and said, "All I read has come true today."

²² They all agreed that what Jesus said and did was mighty impressive. They all wondered, "Isn't this Joseph's boy?"

²³ As they were all wonderin', he said, "About now y'all are going to start asking me about that old saying that goes, 'Doctor, cure yourself.' You're also fixing to ask me to start doing some of things you heard that I had done in Capernaum. ²⁴ But I'm here to tell you that God's top hands are never recognized on the ranch they grew up on. ²⁵ Listen to this, there were many widows in Israel during the time of Elijah. There was no rain for three and a half years and many were starving. ²⁶ But God didn't send Elijah to care for any of the ladies in Israel, only a widow living in Zarephath in Sidon. ²⁷ And not just that, but there was a lot of people who had rotting skin in Israel during the time God put Elisha in charge. But God only allowed him to heal the Syrian guy called, Naaman. Nobody else in Israel was cured."

²⁸ Now this sure got their hackles up. ²⁹ They jumped him and dragged him to a cliff outside of town to pitch him off of it. ³⁰ But right before they succeeded, he just shook his head and walked right out of the middle of them like it was no big deal. He saddled up and rode off.

Jesus Wallops an Evil Spirit

³¹ Jesus rode off to Capernaum and gave a clinic on how to ride for God on the day of rest. ³² Everyone loved his preaching because it sounded like he knew what he was talking about. ³³ While they were in church, a fellow with a demon shouted, ³⁴ "What're you doing here, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you already to come to destroy us? We know who you really are!"

³⁵ Jesus said, "Shut up and get out of that man." The demon threw the man to the ground as it left.

³⁶ Everyone started talking about these things. "What kind of cowboy can whip evil spirits?" ³⁷ Jesus's reputation was starting to travel far and wide.

Jesus Fixes Many People

³⁸ Jesus left the church and walked over to Simon's house. His mother-in-law was there and she was deathly sick. They told Jesus about her and ³⁹ he walked over to her bed. He stood there for a moment and then told the fever to leave. It did and she immediately got up and began to fix everyone some dinner.

⁴⁰ That evening, people came from all over to be healed by Jesus. He touched them all and every one of them was fixed. ⁴¹ He even got rid of demons for many people and every time the demons shrieked, "You are God's Boy!" They knew he was God's Top Hand and he made all of them be quiet.

⁴² At daylight, he rode off into the country. Everyone was searching for him and when they found him, they tried to talk him into staying with them. ⁴³ But he said, "I've got to go tell everyone the good news. That's why my Dad sent me."

⁴⁴ So off he rode to other churches to give clinics on how to truly ride for God's outfit.