He saves, He heals, He sets free

Some problems shake you to your very core.

This was the case for a certain man from Gadarenes on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. His problem couldn’t be seen or touched. It was in his mind and it was out of control.

He was held in bondage by demons and declared incurable. Uncontrollable. The Bible repeated the words “no one”. No one could bind him. No one could subdue him. The demons ravaged his life as days turned to weeks, weeks turned to months and eventually to years.

He remained in torment until the day a man named Jesus set foot on the shore.

When those spirits saw Jesus, they knew their time was up. They knew He was about to do what no one had been able to do. He was their eviction notice – they had to leave.

The demons ran up to Jesus and willingly submitted themselves, begging Him not to torment them. How is it that the same demons who tortured one man, were  begging this other Man not to torture them?

Dr Luke, in the 11th chapter and the 21st verse tells us “When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are safe. But when someone stronger attacks and overpowers him, he takes away the armor in which the man trusted and divides up his plunder.”

Jesus was now that Stronger Man who had come in and subdued them.
There was no contest. He was Lord and they were in thrall to Him.

So Jesus commands the evil spirits to take leave of the man’s body and sends them into herd of pigs and for the first time in a long time, the man tastes freedom. His mind is restored. He sits beside Jesus and has a peaceful interaction.

My question is, do you need peace?

Is there something going on that has defied all logic and solution? If there is, it does not deter Jesus. It is no match for him. Whether it’s a sickness or an addiction or a behaviour or a negative experience, it ends when Jesus sets foot on the shores of your heart.

He is that Spirit that supersedes all other spirits. The Wind that commands other winds to be still.

Jesus came so that you and I may be free.
He went to the cross thousands of years ago so that His name may be glorified.  When we mention that name, every lingering problem takes its leave.

The villagers couldn’t help the demoniac. The Bible tells us people actually tried but did not succeed. But Jesus is that rock that no problem can escape. Anything the Rock opposes will be completely pulverized.

It may seem strong but Jesus is infinitely stronger. Take the problem to Jesus. Where others fail, He succeeds.

Jesus saves. Jesus heals. Jesus sets free.

Something About Our God

On my morning run, I reflected on my life and some events, I thought to myself, ‘.. there’s definitely something about this God.’

That Paul, who had devoted his life to seeing Christians exterminated, proclaimed that his whole life belonged to Christ and dying was still gaining for Him.

Something that made three Hebrew boys – young, vibrant, and in their prime, unashamedly and unequivocally tell their executioner that dying for Him was better than living without Him.

Something that made a servant boy refuse the enticing, pleasure-filled advances of his masters wife, turning down an opportunity most would jump at, out of reverential fear of God.

Something that made a public servant – hearing the newly passed decree not to worship God, go home, open the window of his top floor apartment, and do exactly that.

Oh… there must be something about a God that looked at a valley full of the dead, dry, scattered bones that were once men, and in the blink of an eye, roused them back to life with the Word of His power.

There has to be something about this God… that made an exquisitely beautiful queen at the height of her reign, religate her position to a place of inferior importance, and risk her life to save HIS people.

Something about a God that made one man, outnumbered and unarmed, take on a whole government and its 450 prophets and effortlessly defeat them.

There just has to be something about this God that caused a man, dead for four days, embalmed, entombed, to hear his name called out with an instruction to come out, and respond!

There is something about a God who spoke in one location, and a man’s servant was healed in another location. Who gave sight to people who never saw and movement to people who had never known what it felt like to walk. Who gave mental, physical, and spiritual freedom to captives.

There has to be something about a God who loved so much, that He looked beyond all others and sent His prized Son to take the place of millions of unworthy sinners and mischief-makers and rogues and fornicators, so that anyone of them who believes in Him, has their slate wiped clean! They escape their rightful judgement and enjoy everlasting life.

Something that made him forgive the same people He came to save, as they hurt Him, betrayed Him, condemned Him, and finally killed Him.

Maybe it’s His loving heart or His able hands, but when I consider these things, I am convinced, without a shadow of doubt that there is something about my God that makes Him different from the rest. That same thing makes me love Him with all my heart and soul like I do ❤️

A Matter of The Heart

Isn’t there a time or two when you went outside for a solution when you should have gone inward? Reminds me of the golfer who was about to hit his first shot on the first hole. He swung and missed the ball. Swung and whiffed again. Tried a third time, missed again. In frustration he judged, “This is a tough golf course.” He may have been right, but the golf course wasn’t the problem.

You may be right, as well. Your circumstances may be challenging, but blaming them is not the solution. Nor is neglecting them. Consider the prayer of David. He said, “Create in me a new heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me” (Psalm 51:10).Real change is an inside job. You might alter things a day or two with money and systems, but the heart of the matter is, and always will be, the matter of the heart.

White Flag

Maybe your past isn’t much to brag about. So do you rise above the past and make a difference? Or do you remain controlled by the past and make excuses? Many choose the latter. Lean closely and you will hear them say, “If only…” If only I’d been born somewhere else… If only I’d been treated fairly…  If only: the white flag of the heart.

Maybe you have every right to use those words. For you to find an ancestor worth imitating you’d have to flip way back in your family album. If that’s the case, let me show you were to turn. Put down the scrapbook and pick up your Bible. Go to John’s gospel and read Jesus’ words: Human life comes from human parents, but spiritual life comes from the Spirit” (John 3:6). God is willing to give you what your family did not.