The Demon Possessed Man

This morning brought tears to my eyes, as I saw myself in this Bible story, and I want to share my thoughts, but first, the passage that moved me:‘Then they sailed to the region of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee.  When he got out on land, a demon-possessed man from the town met him.  For a long time, he had worn no clothes and did not stay in a house but in the tombs.  When he saw Jesus, he cried out, fell down before him, and said in a loud voice, ‘What do you have to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, don’t torment me!’  For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man.  Many times it had seized him and though he was guarded, bound by chains and shackles, he would snap the restraints and be driven by the demon into deserted place.  ‘What is your name?’ Jesus asked him.  ‘Legion,’ he said, ‘because many demons had entered into him.  And they begged him not to banish them to the abyss.  A large herd of pigs was there, feeding on the hillside.  The demons begged him to permit them to enter the pigs and he gave them permission.  The demons came out of the man and entered the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and drowned.  When the men who tended them saw what had happened, they ran off and reported it in the town and in the countryside.  Then people went out to see what had happened.  They came to Jesus and found the man the demons had departed from, sitting at Jesus’ feet, dressed and in his right mind.  And they were afraid.  (Luke 8:26-35)

Today, when I read this passage, I teared up because I remembered what Jesus has done for me.  Where I was five years ago compared to where I am today. And then it occurred to me that this same thing happened to me when I was trapped in a sin of my own making:

1-when we turn to Jesus, He heals us!  He addresses what is wrong in our lives and keeping us from knowing Him. That is what happened to me.  When I turned to Jesus (as a last attempt at happiness), my eyes were opened!  I had it all wrong!  Backwards!  My sin was not ‘making me happy’, it was literally killing me.   When we truly acknowledge that his way is right and our way is wrong, we are on the path to healing!

2-when we turn to Jesus, we get our mind back! I remember my daughter telling me on the phone: ‘Mom, you are not making any sense!’  I thought I was, but I had allowed the enemy to lie to me successfully.  He did it so long and subtly at first, that when the lies got bigger, I fell for them too!  But the same thing happened to me that happened to the prodigal son: one day, after he had squandered his inheritance on wild living and found himself starving we read this: ‘When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have food to spare and here I am starving to death!  I will set out and go back to my Father and will say to him: ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.  I am no longer worthy to be called your son: make me like one of your hired men.’  So, he got up and went to his father.  But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him: he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.” (Luke 15:17-20).  To come to your senses is a gift from God.  if you find yourself in a spot like me, trapped in some sin, it is not too late to turn it into something beautiful.  Turn to Jesus!  Really seek him and repent.

3-when we turn to Jesus, we get our dignity back!  Dignity is another gift from God.  Did you notice that the demon-possessed man now had clothes on? He had lived for a long time without clothes, and everyone knew it.  They knew who he was, but that is not who he is anymore.  He had changed, and it no longer mattered who he was: he was now a new creation.  If you have struggled with some sin that you have now put behind you, the enemy will still try to make you feel bad about it.  But that is only someone that you once were.  God knows who you were, and He knows now who you are.  And we are who He says we are, not who Satan tries to say that we are.   Do you know what the father did while the prodigal son was reciting his confession?  He was ignoring his words and speaking to his servants: ‘Quick!  Bring the best robe and put it on him.  Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.  Bring the fattened calf and kill it.  Let’s have a feast and celebrate.  For this son of mine was dead and is alive again, he was lot and is found.’ (Luke 15:22,23).  Not only did he throw a party, he made sure his long-lost son was the best-dressed one at the party!  He honored his son!  He did not make him grovel, or promise not to do it again, or put him on probation.  No, he was the guest of honor at the party.  He gave him his dignity back.

4-when we turn to Jesus, we want to sit at His feet!  Sometimes, after you have sinned in a big way like I did, thoughts can come back to your mind of ways that you fell.  But I am different now, and I do not let those thoughts run around in my mind.  Now I ‘take every thought captive’ and do not give it an inch.  And this is one big way that I know that God has forgiven me:  I just want to sit at His feet and learn from Him!  I did not want that before, but I do now!  I want to know Him more than anything else I want in this life. Did you know that all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in Jesus?  And that is also called ‘the mystery of God’ and this is how we get there, according to the apostle Paul:

‘My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love; so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. (Colossians 2:2,3)

5-when we turn to Jesus, we want to share our story!  The people of the Gerasenes were gripped with fear at the healing of this man who they had gotten ‘comfortable’ with having in the tombs nearby.  So, they asked Jesus to leave them, and he got back in the boat.  But the man he had healed begged to go with Jesus: ‘But he sent him away and said, ‘Go back to your home and tell all that God has done for you.  And off he went, proclaiming throughout the town how much Jesus had done for him. (Luke 8:38b,39).  This, then, is how we overcome: ‘They conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they did not love their lives to the point of death.’ (Rev:12:11).  When Jesus heals us we want to tell others our story: maybe my story will help someone else to fall in love with Jesus like I did.