Tag Archives: exorcism

Go tell the story (Luke 8:39) October 18, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – 2 Chronicles 21-24

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Luke 8:39
Jesus: No. Go home. Tell your people this amazing story about how much God has done for you.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

Jesus and His disciples travel to the region of the Garasenes. There they meet a man possessed by an army of demons. I can’t imagine what that would be like. I can’t imagine what being possessed by one demon would be like. I don’t want to find out. I don’t want to know what it’s like to lose control of who you are because of one or more of Satan’s minions living in you. But this man had a war going on inside him. A battalion of demons warred for control. They had him, it was a question of which of them would be in charge at any one time and so the man was driven mad.

You know the story. Jesus comes along and tells the demons to leave the man. They request to go into the a herd of pigs instead of into the abyss prepared for Satan and his demons. Jesus grants their request, but the demons drive the pigs mad also and the animals run off the edge of a cliff into the sea and drown. The town hears about the events and come out to see this man who could deliver their mad-man from his army of demons.

The town comes out en mass and listens to Jesus’ words but then ask Him to leave. They just can’t handle the things He does or the things He says. They want Jesus gone. They are comfortable with their way of life and don’t want any change, even if it means putting up with their demon possessed mad-man. They just can’t imagine giving up their routine for anything or anyone. “Jesus, just go away and leave us alone.”

I’m afraid as I look at our society we, as a nation, act a lot like that group of citizens who told Jesus to go away. “We like our comfort. We like our toys and gadgets. We like to enjoy our pleasures. We like to do what we want. We don’t want anyone to tell us what to do. Go away Jesus.” You might not think that’s what we do, but that’s what our actions as a nation tell me. We are very far from being a Christian nation. In fact, I’m afraid we’ve let that attitude creep into many of our so called Christian churches. We’ve adopted the attitude of the world and want our way more than God’s way. We want Jesus’ picture in the hallway, but we don’t want His direction ruining our plans. So in the back of our minds we say, “Go away Jesus.”

What does that have to do with the words we’re exploring today? Jesus told the man He freed from the demons to stay in his hometown and spread the word of what happened. Many of our churches and denominations spend a lot of money and effort sending missionaries to other countries to spread the gospel around the world. My own denomination has missionaries in 180 countries around the world. That’s a good thing. We should continue to do that. Part of the great commission is to go into all the world. But that’s the last part of the location stream Jesus talked about.

Jesus first said go to Jerusalem, hometown, where you live, the street you call home. Witness there. Jesus knew there were plenty of people all around you that needed to hear the good news. You don’t have to go to a foreign country to find people who don’t know Christ. If I were a betting man, I would bet a month’s pay you have members of your family that have not given their life fully to Christ. Disciple them. I would be a year’s pay you have someone on your block that has not heard God will forgive them of their sins if they will confess and in repentance ask for His forgiveness.

I know there are hundreds, or thousands within a one mile radius of where you live, depending on whether you live in the country or the city, that are not citizens of the kingdom of God and are at this point eternally lost unless someone shares with them the nature of God and His desire to bring everyone into His kingdom if they will repent.

Who will tell them? Do you expect a missionary from some other country to come to your neighborhood that must learn our language and culture to convey God’s message of salvation to them? Do you expect another church to send out invitations to Christ to the people in your neighborhood? Do you expect your neighbors to just happen by the church you attend and give their lives to Jesus because you attend your church?

Those might sound like crazy questions, but that’s the way we act most of the time, isn’t it? The Garasean Jesus freed from the control of that army of demons wanted to go with Him to help share the message that God’s kingdom had arrived in the person of Jesus. But Jesus gave him a mission. Go home and tell those you meet in your village the story of what happened to you. That’s what Jesus asks of each of us, too. Go home and tell the story of what Jesus has done for you. Simple mission. Now go and do it.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

Names mean something (Mark 5:7-9) July 23, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Luke 23-24

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Mark 5:7-9
Jesus: Come out of that man, you wicked spirit!
Unclean Spirit (shouting): What’s this all about, Jesus, Son of the Most High? In the name of God, I beg You—don’t torture me!
Jesus: What is your name?

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

As with several of the parallel incidents in the gospels, the writers give us just a little different account of the happenings around a particular event. It’s not unlike any eye-witness account you might hear in a court of law if you sit as a juror in a trial. If every witness told the same story about an event in exactly the same way with exactly the same words, the opposing attorney would scream that the witnesses had been rehearsed. No one sees an event exactly the same way another person sees it.

Because of our individual backgrounds, we always see events through our lens. We subconsciously pick out the things that are most important to us. Consequently, we each see every event just a little different than the person sitting right next to us who observes the same event. So we should not be surprised that the gospels shed a little different light on each of these encounters.

Back to the story and two things I’d like us to see from Mark’s observation of Jesus’ command to the man possessed by many demons.

Jesus commands the demon to come out of the man. And the demon replies, “…In the name of God, I beg you…” Did you notice that? The demons serve Satan. They devote their lives to the powers of darkness. That give their all to the enemy of God. They do everything they can to thwart the plans God has for His kingdom and our salvation. They want to capture our soul and turn us to wickedness and away from God and His holiness. These demons want to lead us on the world’s path toward eternal destruction and join them in Satan’s hell.

Yet, when Jesus confronts these demons with the command to leave this tortured man, the demons cry out, “In the name of God…” They know where the real power lies. They understand their boss, Satan has no real authority. He has no real power. He cannot defeat the creator of the universe. His strength cannot match that of the Almighty’s. He knows it and he is very afraid when Jesus comes near.

The demon expects great pain, severe punishment because of who he is and what he’s done when Jesus comes near. The demon is now in the presence of God and expects judgment when he encounters His Son in the flesh. He assumes his eternal punishment will begin right then since Jesus has come from heaven and touched His feet to this planet. The demon assumes time has ended for him. “I beg you – don’t torture me.”

The demon’s response when Jesus came near tells me that when Jesus lives in us, we do not need to fear the evil of this world. Evil cowers in the presence of Christ. If we live by the Spirit as Paul describes it, and let God’s spirit consume us, teach us how to live, and guide our steps each day, we do not need to fear what Satan may put in our path. He will flee in the presence of God. He can not stand in the power and presence of God.

The second thing about this encounter is what we learn about the importance of names. The demon called out God’s name when it saw Jesus. The demon understood that even the mention of His name meant power over him. Then Jesus asked the demon its name. That probably seems strange to us. Why would Jesus ask the demon its name? What’s so important about knowing the demon’s name?

Throughout the Old and New Testaments and on through much of history until just a few years ago in our country, names were important. They meant something. People chose a child’s name carefully because subconsciously a child grew into the meaning of their name as they came to understand what it meant. Think of some of those characters of the Old Testament and see how they lived up to their names: Abraham – father of many; Jacob – deceiver; David – beloved; Elijah – my God is YAHWEH; Job – persecuted. Names are important.

I sorrowed when my school teacher daughter told me about the names of the children in her first class as a teacher – Chaos, Clinique, Shithead, Abcde. Names with horrible or no meaning strapped to children whose parents helped them live up to those standards because they held them to no standards as six and seven year old kids. It makes me wonder sometimes what parents are thinking when they label their children or what God thinks when He pens their name in the books that He will open on judgment day. How much do we live up to the name we are given by our parents?

Legion bowed at the name of Jesus. We will too. If Jesus lives in you, we should live up to His name. It meant something then and it means just as much in the evil times in which we live. 

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

Don’t you love the power in His simple words? (Mark 1:25) July 6, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Psalms 78-80

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Mark 1:25
Jesus (rebuking him): Be quiet, and come out of him now!

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

Jesus starts His ministry with a bang. He teaches and people listen. They are in awe of His understanding of the scriptures. They like what He says. He speaks with authority and the way He shares the Law and the Prophets with such intimate knowledge but as an uneducated carpenter from the village of Nazareth just blows them away. This just shouldn’t be happening. Nazareth was a dean of thieves and robbers. It was the bad side of the tracks for the bad side of the tracks. Nothing good came out of Nazareth and yet here is this Man with such a wonderful gift of teaching God’s message.

Then a man bursts through the crowd screaming out above the sound of His teaching, “I know who you are! You are the Son of the Holy God! What are you doing here? Have you come to destroy us?” It was the demons inside the man screaming out, evaluating the presence of this teacher. They knew exactly who the Man was. And they were afraid. They knew His power. They knew His holiness. They knew He could destroy them with just a single word.

But Jesus’ ministry was just beginning. He didn’t want people to believe because of the testimony of demons. He wanted people to believe in Him because of their faith. He didn’t want His demonstrations to sway them. He wanted them to exercise their faith to realize He was the Son of God. So Jesus stopped the demon from saying anything else.

“Be quiet. Come out of him now!” Jesus demanded silence from the demon that announced who He was. We probably can’t understand why other than what scripture tells us. The timing wasn’t right. He didn’t want to be found out and made king or priest or ruler because people found out too early who He really was. He didn’t come to hold any of those earthly positions. Jesus came to conquer sin. He knew the best way for Him to do that was to live a sinless life and die as the perfect sacrifice for our atonement.

So what can we learn from this exchange between Jesus and this demon He exorcised from this tormented man?

First, we find without a doubt that Jesus is God incarnate. He is the Son of the living God. The second person of the triune Godhead. We don’t understand how all that works, but we can trust that God’s words is true and Jesus, by declaration of the those who walked with Him and the demon’s who feared Him recognized He is God.

The second thing we learn from this exchange is the demons lived among the people of Judea. They inhabited some and did all sorts of dispicable things in and through them. Sometimes it was one demon and sometimes it was many that invaded the life of a single person as we discover in scripture. The Bible doesn’t tell us how demons came to possess this man or others in scripture, but we know they did so to a violent end in most instances. And often the individual had little control over their behavior when the demons decided to take control. No sane person without that influence would throw themselves into the fire, throw themselves on the ground injuring themselves, require chains outside the city because of their violent behavior. But all these describe the activities we read about in God’s word among the demon possessed.

The third thing we learn about this exchange is the demons feared the Son of God. They thought He came to destroy them when they saw Him among the crowd. They feared for their very existence when He approached. They assumed their time had come to an end and judgment day had dawned because Jesus appeared on the scene. They knew they could not defeat Him and bowed in cowardice in His presence.

Next, we learn Jesus had complete and total control over these demons. He told them to be quiet and they spoke no more. He told them to get out of the man and they left. He told the demons to leave immediately and no sooner had Jesus spoken the words than the demons fled. He showed complete and total mastery over the minions of Satan. They could not stand in His presence and power and all He did was speak the words. They could do nothing but obey Him.

Finally, I think we learn that Jesus wants to bring freedom to any of us who want freedom from the sin and evil that is resident within us. We may not be possessed by demons, but we all have sinned and harbor that dark place that needs His light shined upon it so the darkness is dispelled. He wants to do that for us if we will let Him. He is anxious to do the work and all it takes is the sound of His voice. Come out and leave him. For Jesus, it’s that simple. Where no one else can soothe the guilt and turmoil in our soul, Jesus can with just a few simple words. You are forgiven. Enter in. Faithful servant. Child of God. Simple words with great impact.

Don’t you love the power in His simple words?

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

Maybe we need pig’s eyes (Matthew 8:32) February 13, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Matthew 17-19

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 8:32
Jesus: Very well then, go!

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

The storm ends, the little boat lands in the region of the Gadarenes, and two demon-possessed men who lived by the tombs come out and block the path to the village.

The demons worry that Jesus has come to torture them before the day of judgment and ask a request of the Son of God, “If you drive us out of these men, would you let us go into that herd of pigs over there?” Then we come to Jesus’ words.

So what can we make of it? Is Jesus granting requests from demons? Do they hold any sway over Him? How do we accept this encounter and the ensuing results and make any sense of it? What does all of it mean to us today?

The first important point is God’s word recognizes the spiritual warfare that goes on with demons. Just as we believe His Spirit can inhabit us, Satan’s minions can inhabit us, if we let them. These two men allowed demons to use their bodies as their dwelling place. Once there, they took up residence and weren’t about to let go of him. Some may think it’s just a story. Some may think demons don’t exist today. It’s just some kind of illness or disease process that Jesus healed.

I disagree. God’s words acknowledges demons throughout the scriptures. Those beings that work for Satan just as God’s angels work for Him. Are all the evil things that happen today cause by the demon possessed? Absolutely not. Is it easy to become demon-possessed? I don’t know and frankly, don’t care to find out. But I think it’s possible and easier that some might think. But I think it is a voluntary process just as coming to Christ and asking His Spirit to live in us is a voluntary process.

In whatever way it happened, these two men were demon-possessed and their actions became so disruptive to the community they were driven from their homes, from the village, and forced to live among the tombs by the seashore. The two men scrounged for what food they could find and lived off of what they could find or steal. Their demon-possession caused their behavior to banish them from society and they were more comfortable dwelling among the dead in the tombs than among the living.

So, we have that discussion out of the way, there were and are demons in the world.

Second, the demons had no problem recognizing who Jesus was. They had no blinders on their eyes. No false religions to tell them something was more important than God. They didn’t need to guess about the origin and authenticity of the One who stood before them. They called Jesus by His rightful title, Son of God. Satan and all his demons know Jesus is the Son of God, why do we have such a hard time believing.

Third, the demons didn’t question Jesus’ power. They knew they were doomed. Judgment day was coming and their torment was to begin. They were just a little surprised their judge came early. They knew Jesus would judge them as well as all of humanity. He is King of kings and Lord of lords. That doesn’t leave anyone or anything out. The title encompasses all of creation and that includes the demons. They knew it wouldn’t be a fair fight. In fact, they knew it wouldn’t be a fight at all. When He spoke, they would leave. And that was that. Done.

But the demons made one request, “Can we go into the herd of pigs?”

I sometimes wonder why they asked to do that. Maybe it’s because demons must have a host of some kind and they were afraid to try to find a host with Jesus close by. They knew He would only throw them out again and I expect the exercism involved some kind of pain for them as well as the host in their symbiotic relationship. So maybe they just decided an animal host was one Jesus would accept without trying to make them leave again.

Fourth, I think Jesus knew the outcome. Satan’s demons in those pigs meant disaster for the demons. We think animals are not smart and certainly humans are at the top of the pyramid for intelligent life on the planet. (at least I think we are most of the time, although at times I wonder) As soon as the demons flew into the pigs, the herd killed themselves running over a cliff into the sea. The pigs couldn’t handle the evil that suddenly took residence in their bodies. God made them and they were good, the evil tainted them so badly, they destroyed themselves. It was the only way the pigs knew to get rid of the evil inside them.

It’s interesting to me that the pigs couldn’t tolerate that evil for even a few minutes, but we can live with it for a lifetime. We convince ourselves so well that what we do against God is okay, that we live that evil brewing in us and just no longer see it. Maybe we need to get pig’s eyes for a little while so we can see what we are and realize just how much we need God’s cleansing in our lives. Maybe then, we would fall on our knees and beg His forgiveness and mercy for our sins. Maybe then, we would understand His willingness to make us clean and whole again. To rid us of the filth in our lives and make us new in Him. Maybe we need pig’s eyes for a while.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.