When Demons Pray

Wednesday, December 14, 2022

When Jesus arrived on the other side of the lake, in the region of the Gadarenes, two men who were possessed by demons met him.  They came out of the tombs and were so violent that no one could go through that area.  They began screaming at him, “Why are you interfering with us, Son of God?  Have you come here to torture us before God’s appointed time?”  There happened to be a large herd of pigs feeding in the distance.  So the demons begged, “If you cast us out, send us into that herd of pigs.”  “All right, go!” Jesus commanded them.  So the demons came out of the men and entered the pigs, and the whole herd plunged down the steep hillside into the lake and drowned in the water.  The herdsmen fled to the nearby town, telling everyone what happened to the demon-possessed men.  Then the entire town came out to meet Jesus, but they begged him to go away and leave them alone.  Matthew 8:28-34

There is a question here, screaming to be posed to anyone who reads this Gospel account:  Which is a better outcome…two men tortured and driven to hell, or two men healed of their madness, the consequence being a herd of pigs sacrificed?

So often I’ve heard the argument turn towards compassion for a herd of pigs (which were being raised for food), and ignoring the tormented men, possessed by demons.  The evidence of our sinful nature is seen in the epilogue to Jesus healing the men.  The whole town agrees, the pigs were more important to them than the healing of the possessed men.  By begging Jesus to leave, the entire town takes a stance against the liberating compassion of Christ, choosing instead the company of evil.  And thus it has always been.

If you take a closer look at the tortured men, the demons reveal everything that drives their decision.  Their whole activity has one purpose…to bring misery, pain, and death.  All their actions drove the men to violence and disruption.  This has been the game plan of Lucifer since being kicked out of heaven for opposing God.  Apostle Peter warned the flock about Satan’s ways:

Stay alert!  Watch out for your great enemy, the devil.  He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.  1 Peter 5:8

Why is this account in Scripture?  It holds up a mirror to today’s culture…anger, violence, murder, deceit, all of which turns upside-down that which God planned for us, His creation.  He designed the fruit of the Spirit as our dwelling:

But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!  Galatians 5:22-23

Ever opposing the good work of God, demons are under orders from Hell to destroy our peace, and every other work of Heaven, take us by the hand, and lead us to death’s doorstep.

For You Today  

The question of the day (always) requires choosing whom you will serve.  So let’s ask it:  What if it were YOUR herd?

Spiritual warfare is not a choice…the battle is already raging.  And in any war, the choice of which side you’ll take must be settled long before the battle begins.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

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There are about 2,000 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road Devotions library.  To dig deeper on today’s topic, explore some of these: 

   Faith That's BAD for Business and Ears Open - Heart Straight - Eyes on the Road - Sure Foot

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Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©   

Familiar Pain

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Wednesday, January 31, 2018

So they arrived at the other side of the lake, in the region of the Gerasenes.  When Jesus climbed out of the boat, a man possessed by an evil spirit came out from the tombs to meet him.  This man lived in the burial caves and could no longer be restrained, even with a chain.  Whenever he was put into chains and shackles—as he often was—he snapped the chains from his wrists and smashed the shackles.  No one was strong enough to subdue him.  Day and night he wandered among the burial caves and in the hills, howling and cutting himself with sharp stones.  When Jesus was still some distance away, the man saw him, ran to meet him, and bowed low before him.  With a shriek, he screamed, “Why are you interfering with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?  In the name of God, I beg you, don’t torture me!”  For Jesus had already said to the spirit, “Come out of the man, you evil spirit.”  Then Jesus demanded, “What is your name?”  And he replied, “My name is Legion, because there are many of us inside this man.”  Then the evil spirits begged him again and again not to send them to some distant place.  There happened to be a large herd of pigs feeding on the hillside nearby.  “Send us into those pigs,” the spirits begged.  “Let us enter them.”  So Jesus gave them permission.  The evil spirits came out of the man and entered the pigs, and the entire herd of about 2,000 pigs plunged down the steep hillside into the lake and drowned in the water.  The herdsmen fled to the nearby town and the surrounding countryside, spreading the news as they ran.  People rushed out to see what had happened.  A crowd soon gathered around Jesus, and they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons.  He was sitting there fully clothed and perfectly sane, and they were all afraid.  Then those who had seen what happened told the others about the demon-possessed man and the pigs.  And the crowd began pleading with Jesus to go away and leave them alone.  As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon possessed begged to go with him.  But Jesus said, “No, go home to your family, and tell them everything the Lord has done for you and how merciful he has been.”  So the man started off to visit the Ten Towns of that region and began to proclaim the great things Jesus had done for him; and everyone was amazed at what he told them.  

Mark 5:1-20^(NLT)

The wild man could not be restrained; he broke every chain and smashed every shackle they tried.  He ran through the countryside, demons within screaming like an animal in pain.  He lived with the dead and terrorized the whole region.  Sounds pretty much like one of those zombie movies!

This man’s family, friends and the whole community had given up on the wild man.  “What a shame” they would whisper, shaking their heads.  “Yeah – he had such a bright future till all that evil spirit stuff got on him.”  “Can’t have him around town; all the children are scared to death of him; who knows what he’d do to the young women…and when the tourists get here…forget about business profits.”  “I know what you mean; if he can’t be normal it’s better that he lives out in the graveyard with the other wild animals…nobody can help him anymore.”

Then Jesus showed up.  The cost of saving this one man’s sanity was a herd of pigs.  The only problem with this approach to mental health care was that it was not his herd of pigs.  And when the people saw how Jesus had changed everything, and the cost of it, they wanted nothing to do with him; they pleaded:  please leave…quickly!

Often, in our churches, living rooms, hospital waiting rooms, and anywhere pain forces its way into our lives there are prayers lifted for healing.  When the pain hangs around for a while we pray harder.  When the pain just won’t leave us alone we do what we can to manage the assault.  For those who live in chronic pain, that daily dose of death becomes so familiar we can’t imagine life without it; our painful normal becomes that cross we must bear, running wild through our landscape, howling all over the countryside of our inner life.  The very thought of living pain-free, like the young, demon-possessed man who was healed, is a dream. 

Cutting to the quick here, let me offer that our world is stocked with people in pain.  And there is no shortage of people breaking the restraints our Creator intended for His creation in order to spread the pain around.  Shootings, mass-murder, bombings and in untold other ways the wild howling demons have their pain-inflicting influence on humanity.  We wonder if there is any hope for our world.

For You Today

Resolve that there is hope.  Scripture says that one man – Jesus – died for the sins of all.  It was that way with the wild man that day; Jesus drove out the evil, put him in his right mind, and the upshot was a lot of people got mad over it.  There is indeed hope for our world…but it’s never without letting go of the familiar pain we seem to love.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road…have a blessed day!

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[1] Title Image courtesy of Pixabay.com

Let the Whole World Know

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Thursday, August 10, 2017

Give thanks to the Lord and proclaim his greatness.  Let the whole world know what he has done.  Sing to him; yes, sing his praises.  Tell everyone about his wonderful deeds.  Exult in his holy name; rejoice, you who worship the Lord.  Search for the Lord and for his strength; continually seek him. 

Psalm 105:1-4^(NLT)

And the people of Berea were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, and they listened eagerly to Paul’s message.  They searched the Scriptures day after day to see if Paul and Silas were teaching the truth.  As a result, many Jews believed, as did many of the prominent Greek women and men.  But when some Jews in Thessalonica learned that Paul was preaching the word of God in Berea, they went there and stirred up trouble.   Acts 17:11-13^(NLT)

The Psalm writer says the task of those who love God is to let the whole world know.  Those of us who take that seriously also understand that’s not an easy job!  Paul found that out on a regular basis.  Some won’t hear the message because they don’t want to; others react with hostility, stirring up trouble.  Some receive the message!

As anyone who has taken the task of evangelism seriously has found out, our job does not include management; we are in sales.  Our job is to offer Christ, not force-feed salvation to the masses.  The question is:  What’s the best way to to that?

Scripture rarely paints a broad picture of what our task is without also telling us how we can accomplish it; these texts from Psalms and Acts are no different.  According to the Psalmist we are to actively engage the world by singing to God, preaching about God, exulting in God, rejoicing in our worship and always seeking God.

I was captivated by the word exult this morning.  I’ve always had a warm-fuzzy picture of this word when associating it with my relationship to God.  But I looked-up the definition today and found that, among other synonyms, exult is a verb, meaning there is action…and so, if we are to exult in God, we revel, glory, delight, or even wallow in the substance of our relationship with God.

Perhaps it may be a little sacrilegious to make a comparison here, but you may have watched a pig wallowing.

  I‘m not comparing Christians to pigs, nor God to the mud, but consider the pig’s relationship to mud…he loves it.  He rolls, roots and revels i
n mud!  Why do pigs wallow?  Scientists have suggested that lowering the temperature of their big, fatty, round bodies which store too much heat is the reason.  But recent studies indicate this is one way they shed parasites[ii].  This is a behavior which is natural; wild or tame, it’s a fact of pig hard-wiring:  pigs gonna wallow!

The follower of Jesus Christ is to exult in God.  In the same way pigs just gotta wallow in the mud, believers need to recognize and practice the Christian behavior of taking delight in being surrounded by the presence of God, how it soothes and marks us as His children.  (Probably gets rid of a few sin-parasites too!)

Being covered by His presence is what marks a witness who wants to let the whole world know the Good News.

For You Today

So, let me ask; are you wallowing in Him?

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road…have a blessed day!

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NOTES

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[i] Title Image: By Pixabay.com

[ii] LiveScience.com

Image via Pixabay.com