Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - How to Fight Your Demons | The Gospels | Mark 3:20-35

Episode Date: January 13, 2026

What does growth look like? What's your spiritual pain point? Are there parts of your life that are off-limits to God? In today's episode, Tanya shares how Mark 3:20-35 encourages us to fight the demons in our hearts by the power of God. Read the Bible with us in 2026! This year, we’re exploring the Gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Download your reading plan now. Want to learn even more about the Gospels? Tune into Not Just Sunday. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it so that others can find it, too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passages: Mark 3:20-35

Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life. In the time it takes to get to work. I'm Tanya Wilmuth. How do you feel about growth and fresh starts? Does hearing that excite you or scare you? If it excites you or scares you either one, then you're probably ready for a fresh start. So I want you to picture a piece of paper with a line drawn down the middle. Or if you can, grab a piece of paper.

and draw a line down the middle. On the left side of your paper, write the heading, what's working for me? And on the right side, you're going to write the heading, what's not working for me. To give yourself a fresh start, use this chart to take inventory of where you are and where you're going.

And as you go about your day, begin to populate these two columns. What are the rhythms that are working for you today? And what are the habits and the patterns that aren't. Consider what is working well in your life and list those routines and those systems and those commitments. Also consider what isn't working well.

For example, waking up at 6.30 a.m. didn't give me enough time to pray or read my Bible and get ready. I'm going to try to wake up at 6 o'clock to get a better start to my day. Or picking up my phone to answer a text and then scrolling through social media didn't help me be present with my family. I'm going to check social media on my computer, but not on my phone. Or counting to three before I responded or talked about myself kept me from dominating conversations. I'm going to apply that to more of my interactions. Think of today as a new beginning. Recognizing pain points helps us grow. Highlighting joy and success helps us do more of what we

really want and minimizes distraction. Jesus was a master at addressing pain points. Our church did a sermon series a few years ago called Questions Jesus asked, and most of his questions were to help people get to the pain points, to the heart of the thoughts and beliefs that were driving and motivating their behaviors. The Gospel of Mark is what many scholars believe to be the least embellished and most historical portrait of Jesus. And of course, we see lots of the questions that Jesus asked. Mark is showing us very important things about Jesus and his gospel. On one hand, he's showing us that the powerful acts that Jesus performs prove that he truly

is the Messiah, the Son of the Living God. And he's also showing us the events of Jesus' life are all part of his journey to the cross. As the Messiah, the Son of God, Jesus, of course, knew what people needed most. a rescuer. He knew he was the one to rescue them. He wanted them to see him as the promised fulfillment of Old Testament scripture, the one sent to save them. He asked questions that made people think about what they really wanted and who they really loved. Today, we're diving into an account that seems a little weird to modern readers. There are three main things happening in Mark chapter 3 for his 20 to 25. One, crowds are beginning to follow Jesus everywhere, and his family is worried about him.

They tried to take him away, and they said he was out of his mind. Two, the conflict between Jesus and the religious leaders reaches a climax. They said he was possessed by Satan, and that's how he had power to cast out demons. And three, Jesus addresses all of this with a question and an illustration. The question he asked was to make them think about their accusation. He said, how can Satan cast out Satan? And then he explained, a kingdom divided against itself will collapse, just like a family divided or a nation at civil war will weaken itself through division. No, Satan was not defeating himself, but they were right to see that Satan was being defeated.

Jesus is not just casting out demons. He is tying up Satan. He is plundering Satan's position. He is plundering Satan's possessions, taking back people who have been captured by him. Does this all sound a little weird to you? Well, Jesus' response to the teachers of the law shows that there is a war going on for our affections and attention. We don't talk about it as much in our culture in this moment, but there is a spiritual war going on for our hearts. The Bible is clear. In the Christian life, we battle against evil forces. First, Peter 5.8 warns the believer, be a alert and of sober mind. Your enemy, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him standing firm in the faith because you know that the family of

believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings. So when we say the light, Jesus, has come into the world. We mean that the kingdom of God is invading and overwhelming the realm of Satan. Jesus is overcoming the darkness. Belmont. Belmont. Belize. Belize. Belize. Belize. Belize. Belize. Belize. Belize. Belize. longing to Jesus, we've been given the ability to fight the demons that want to distract and divide us. Ephesians 6 uses a word picture to describe the strength we're given to stand strong against the devil's schemes. It says, for our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore, put on the full armor of God so that when the

day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground. Henry Cloud is a Christian author and a psychologist. He actually wrote the popular book called Boundaries. You may have heard of it. Henry Cloud uses the word demons to describe the unaddressed patterns, lies, and pain that occupy the territory in our hearts that he says actually belongs to God. The things that keep us from God's good purposes and from a healthy life. Now when a believer courageously confront and works through the pain of addressing these things, the previously occupied land of the heart is reclaimed for freedom, for growth, and love. In other words, hard things shape us when we are willing to face what they expose inside us. But when we avoid,

deflect, or blame others, those same hard things leave us unchanged. Or worse, is there a territory of your heart that you've made off limits to God. You can go back to that list that we started at the beginning of the podcast. See, 10 years from now, you will still be shaped by the hard things that you've walked through. The question is not whether they will shape you, but how. Maybe your prayer today is simple. God, here's the place I've been avoiding. Give me the courage, the energy, and the persistence to fight it with your help starting now.

Amen.