Good Monday to you my ‘Walking with Jesus’ friends,
If you happen to be an American College football fan, tonight is a big event… the national championship game! It’s been a remarkable year in American college football which will go down in sports history as unforgettable. Does it amaze you that young college guys just turning 20 years old can be 6′ 6″ and weigh 350 lbs. and yet be fast as a cat and strong as an elephant? If you’ve ever seen the weight room of these University athletic programs, it’s nothing short of amazing as athletes from all sports tone their bodies and strengthen their muscles for competition. But today, let’s meet a man who had superhuman strength and simply could not be restrained by ropes or chains, and I’m not talking about Samson.
In our journey with Jesus through God’s “Grand Narrative” I left you yesterday watching a shocking scene on the Gennesaret shoreline of the Sea of Galilee as recorded in Mark 5 & Luke 8. A demon possessed man came running toward Jesus from the cemetery and yesterday we looked at TWO specific evidence of a person under strong influence of the dark kingdom: a fascination with death and sexuality distortion.
Now let’s consider another description of this out-of-control man. Mark 5:3 “…no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain. For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him.” Oh my! What images come into your mind as you read about his superhuman strength?
Luke 8:29 adds another perspective: “Many times it [the evil spirit] had seized him, and though he was under guard, he had broken his chains and had been driven by the demon into solitary places.” Do we see that from time to time the demonic forces of the dark kingdom took control of this man and gave him unrestrainable and uncontrollable power? Power enough to snap chains and break iron leggings? With such fearful strength no person or group of persons could control this man. And furthermore, the demon drove the man away from people into isolation and darkness.
Yes, demonic forces can invade a human body and give that person superhuman strength. If that is possible, can demonic forces invade a person’s mind and give them ideas, thoughts that are not natural to them? Yes, and that is the danger of the occult, diviners, sorcerers etc. That is why God was very clear with His people that any dabbling in this darkness must be guarded against at all costs. (Deut. 18:9-13)
That is also why King Solomon, anointed by God’s wisdom, wrote: “Above all else guard your heart for it is the wellspring of your life.” (Prov.4:23) and also: “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” (Prov. 9:10) My friends, do you understand the battle between the dark kingdom and the kingdom of God is for your soul… your mind, your heart, your personality, your will, your very life? Everyday you and I either protect our souls for God’s work in us, or we place our souls in danger by allowing the influence of the dark kingdom into our lives!
Mark 5:5 gives us yet one more sad glimpse into the life of this demon possessed man who lived among the tombs: “Night and day among the tombs and in the hills, he would cry out and cut himself with stones.” Oh my, the emotional, spiritual and physical torment this man was living with. And did you notice his self-destructive behavior, ‘cutting himself with stones’? Does that sound familiar wherever you live in the world?
Psalm 139:14 says “I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made…” Have you spent much time considering the complexity of your God designed, God created, God sustained human body? Do we understand that God holds all of us responsible to care for our God given bodies and guard against anything that would harm or defile or destroy our bodies?
What the demonic forces were doing to the man as he cut himself with stones, is what demonic forces are doing to people everywhere in the world. People of all ages, educational and economic levels, married and single, male and female.
I urge you, my “WWJ” friends, to look closely at what people do to themselves which is actually self-destructive!! It’s what we eat or drink that is killing us. It’s a wide array of drugs and various chemicals like nicotine. It’s alcohol and other dangerous substances we actually pursue, purchase and prize, yet it’s killing us!
Oh, but it’s much more isn’t it my friends? Teenagers struggling with bulimia or anorexia; or cutting themselves; or even out of control piercings. And what about tattoos, the intentional permanent marking of their bodies with needles injecting dye into their skin, changing the beautiful body God has designed for them?
What do all these things have in common? A rejection of God as designer, creator and sustainer of life! An insistence that I can redesign my body to be better than what God made. In our day this has reached the ultimate rejection of God’s design by gender change surgeries and hormone medications!
Now I know this likely sounds a bit radical, so I urge you to pause and ponder what I’ve said. Look closely at what the demonic forces were doing inside this man which caused him to behave in such violent, offensive ways and motivated him to live among the dead rather than with his family.
Be careful to notice it was NOT the demons who ripped the clothes off this man, nor did demons drag him to live in a cemetery, nor demons who cut him with rocks. He did all these things TO himself, under the strong influence of dark kingdom demons! He was killing himself emotionally, spiritually and physically, can we see this happening in our cities and maybe even among people we know?
We need to pause right here and deeply reflect on this, asking Jesus to give us HIS perspective and tomorrow we’ll watch as the power of Jesus deals with this situation as only Jesus can!
For today I urge you to look closely and the “lessons learned” link below will help you. And then let’s worship with a great song honoring Jesus Christ. And I’d like to pray with you right now my friends…
Today’s Scripture: Mark 5:1-5; Luke 8:27-29.
Choose below to read or listen.
Mark 5:1-5
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Luke 8:27-29
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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