And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, "Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here…” (Luke 24:5-6).
So Jesus said to them, "The light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going. While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light."(John 12:35-36). I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness (John 12:46).
Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols?(2 Corinthians 6:14-16).
Why do folks often seek light within darkness? To seek life among death? Never has there been such an obvious and simple contrast throughout the world and all nations as night and day, and life and death. No human is immune to the knowledge of either. “Why do you seek the living among the dead? HE IS NOT HERE!” But who is “He”?
He is the Living Water and the Light of The World. He is Life. He has the ability to quench the thirst of our soul, overcome the darkness within, and give life where we were dead. His name is Jesus Christ. And if you are swimming in darkness, bathing in death, and running to the desert to find water…He is not there. You will not see Him peeking from under the bed in a porn movie. You will not see His face in that puff of smoke. No, you will not find Him in the bottom of the bottle. He isn’t buying rounds for adulterers and their mistresses at the bar. He isn’t writing a hate speech that is about to be delivered to a neighbor or co-worker. He isn’t in any other sin that one may seek in order to drive away internal darkness and offer temporary false peace. He isn’t in darkness. He isn’t in death.
But so many people put Him there. Alcoholics may say that Jesus is in the booze because He turned water into wine. Smokers may say that God made tobacco and weed so that it can be smoked. And since God put sexual desires into man, I reckon lust and adultery is OK? To say these things is to say that God created the darkness, death, and sin that plagues the hearts of mankind. Therefore Satan must be innocent.
A great book to read in the New Testament is the Gospel of John. If you want to read about the contrast between darkness and light, then this is it. If you read, you will find that the god of this world, Satan, is the giver of darkness and lies in the hearts of men. When a man’s heart is pummeled by darkness and lies, and his heart is parched, exhausted, and dehydrated from truth, then death is imminent. Jesus Christ is the polar opposite of that darkness. He holds the keys to light, truth, and life and is the water that dry hearts seek (John 4:7-15).
Many things cannot coexist. Light and dark is one of them. For darkness to prevail means that light is absent. For light to prevail means that darkness is absent. You cannot say a room is well lit when it is in total darkness, nor can a lit room be called a darkened room. It doesn’t make sense, right? So how can the living be among the dead? How can a dry, battered, and lost soul say that it is comforted? How can righteousness be found in sin? How can love be found in hate? How can Jesus be found in Satan? You cannot put your hand in a fire and say it is cold. It makes as much sense as trying to breath underwater.
You will not find life in death. And if you find that your life is among the dead, then you may be void of Christ altogether. As a matter of fact, you may need to examine if the Holy Spirit is even dwelling within you. Because if He was, then the darkness would have been overcome by the light.
Oh, if I had a dime for every miserable Christian that I have met! Miserable about life, their job, money, themselves and the company they keep. Everything is just dark and dead to them. Yet they profess to be Christian. My friends, do not be fooled and do not fool yourself. If the Holy Spirit dwells within you, then there is no way that death and darkness has it’s grip on you. May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope (Romans 15:13). To say that the Spirit is within you, and yet to say that death and darkness is within you as well, is to say that the gift of The Holy Spirit, delivered to you by Jesus upon your salvation, is broken. Therefore The Spirit has failed. Therefore Jesus Christ has failed. Therefore God has failed.
It isn’t God that has failed, but maybe your faith has failed, or maybe there was an error at your repentance. Maybe you didn’t fully trust that you would be saved, or maybe you wanted to be saved for personal, not spiritual, gain (for example; a man being saved so a Christian woman would date him). I don’t know the reasons, but it is up for your personal examination and between you and God. But as the scriptures above have said: He is alive and is not among the dead and He is the light that overcomes the darkness. And what fellowship does darkness have with light?
“Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” (Psalm 139:23-24). Confess the sins that are found in your heart and nail them to the cross, that you may bare them no more. Seek true repentance from Christ, that the Holy Spirit may truly take hold of you and separate you from the darkness, the sin, and the death that is within you. And may your thirst be quenched.
Love In Christ!
NOTE: I will not be posting any blogs for the month of July as I will be taking the time out for prayer to further my walk and faith in the Lord and for the future of this blog. Thank you and God bless!
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Legion And The Woman
They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes. And when Jesus had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit. He lived among the tombs. And no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain, for he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he wrenched the chains apart, and he broke the shackles in pieces. No one had the strength to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones. And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and fell down before him. And crying out with a loud voice, he said, "What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me." For he was saying to him, "Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!" And Jesus asked him, "What is your name?" He replied, "My name is Legion, for we are many." And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country. Now a great herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, and they begged him, saying, "Send us to the pigs; let us enter them." So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out, and entered the pigs, and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea and were drowned in the sea. The herdsmen fled and told it in the city and in the country. And people came to see what it was that had happened. And they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed man, the one who had had the legion, sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid (Mark 5:1-15).
And a great crowd followed him and thronged about him. And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse. She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. For she said, "If I touch even his garments, I will be made well." And immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, "Who touched my garments?" And his disciples said to him, "You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, 'Who touched me?'" And he looked around to see who had done it. But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth. And he said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease." (Mark 5:24-34).
Who is your “Legion”? Who are your demons and monsters? Do they have names like Sickness, Hopelessness, Despair, Depression, Addiction, etc.? Have you tried everything to kill the beast? Let me tell you about two people in the Bible who were beaten by Sickness to the point that no one could do anything else for them and there was no hope left. Those two people are Legion and the woman who touched Christ’s garment.
How often do we hear of people who are so far lost in the halls of their minds, that they no longer know joy, reality, themselves, etc.? People who rely on medication to escape their torments and/or invest in psychologists to help solve their problems. Maybe a shelf on their bookcase has bowed from the weight of all the self-help books. Some people are so far lost that they physically cut themselves, as Legion did. Some simply have low self- esteem and create storms in their lives, doing things such as fornication, drinking, and abusing drugs. The darkness of their hearts and minds have swallowed them whole, and they have fallen so deep into the pit that it seems that no one can find them, not even themselves.
Let’s look at Legion for just a moment. Here we have a man who is so drenched in darkness, that he lives among the tombs. The air of death does him no discomfort. It matters not that he spies people mourning around the bend from time to time. His heart has no sympathy, just apathy. Even chains cannot bind his tormenting demons. He is so enthralled with demons, that he grabs stones and slices himself open. We hear about this all the time, don’t we? Teens who are so depressed that they inflict wounds on themselves. Maybe its anyone who is lacerating their soul with the stones in life? The emotions are ravaged. The spirit is six feet under. The soul is dead. It seems no one can help them anymore. Enter Jesus.
Before any formal introduction, Christ knew what Legion was all about, and likewise. There they stood toe to toe and eye to eye. I can see the disciples standing behind Christ, shaking in their sandals. Maybe they said to each other “What is He going to do? Doesn’t He know who that man is? No one could ever help him.” And in one simple “Go” from the lips of our Savior, Legion left the man and entered into a herd of pigs, which then became pork chops for the sharks. All that was left was a man who was sitting, not living, among death. Sane, not cutting, screaming, or writhing. It was a done deal.
There is Dependency upon medication, alcohol, fornication, drugs, anything else to cope and escape whatever it is that ails us. Both physically and emotionally. Sounds familiar? When it seems like you are being visited by Hopelessness and Despair and there is no solution, then what? Is Sickness knocking at your door? Is Addiction calling? Did you get that e-mail from Depression? No one could help the woman who spent years with Hemorrhage. She had been to countless doctors. Everything from “Take this”, “Try this”, “Do this”, and “Maybe you should stop doing that” to herbs and old wives tales filled her daily regiment. She had grown exhausted and hopeless. She spent many nights crying herself to sleep, and many more where she did without it. She may have even had frequent visits with Depression. Then Jesus walked by.
All it took was a touch that day from the Physician. And Hemorrhage left her alone, along with Depression and it’s child, Hopelessness.
What was it that she and Legion both had that healed them, other than being with Jesus? They had faith. Legion had it when he knew who Jesus was, and what He could do for him. So he asked Jesus to deliver the demons from him, and it was granted. The woman knew that a simple touch to Christ’s garment would heal her. So she reached out to Him, and was healed. It was their faith in knowing that Christ could do for them what no one else could do when they were at the end of their rope.
Are you at the end of your rope? Do you not know where to turn or what else to do? Have you tried everything to put away your monsters? Have you tried falling on your knees and crying out to Jesus? Come to the throne and ask for deliverance. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened (Matthew 7:8). Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours (Mark 11:24). And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith (Matthew 21:22).
Tell Him what your monster’s name is. Ask Him to rid you of your never ending bleeding and suffering. Ask Him to take away your Legion. Have faith and trust in Him that He can do this for you. Ask Him to restore the joy in your heart and clear the dark clouds. After all…you are at the end of your rope, aren’t you? You have tried all that man can do and nothing seems to work. Right? Lean on the everlasting arms! Pray without ceasing and do not let go of God. As Jacob said: "I will not let you go unless you bless me." (Genesis 32:26).
Love In Christ!
And a great crowd followed him and thronged about him. And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse. She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. For she said, "If I touch even his garments, I will be made well." And immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, "Who touched my garments?" And his disciples said to him, "You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, 'Who touched me?'" And he looked around to see who had done it. But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth. And he said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease." (Mark 5:24-34).
Who is your “Legion”? Who are your demons and monsters? Do they have names like Sickness, Hopelessness, Despair, Depression, Addiction, etc.? Have you tried everything to kill the beast? Let me tell you about two people in the Bible who were beaten by Sickness to the point that no one could do anything else for them and there was no hope left. Those two people are Legion and the woman who touched Christ’s garment.
How often do we hear of people who are so far lost in the halls of their minds, that they no longer know joy, reality, themselves, etc.? People who rely on medication to escape their torments and/or invest in psychologists to help solve their problems. Maybe a shelf on their bookcase has bowed from the weight of all the self-help books. Some people are so far lost that they physically cut themselves, as Legion did. Some simply have low self- esteem and create storms in their lives, doing things such as fornication, drinking, and abusing drugs. The darkness of their hearts and minds have swallowed them whole, and they have fallen so deep into the pit that it seems that no one can find them, not even themselves.
Let’s look at Legion for just a moment. Here we have a man who is so drenched in darkness, that he lives among the tombs. The air of death does him no discomfort. It matters not that he spies people mourning around the bend from time to time. His heart has no sympathy, just apathy. Even chains cannot bind his tormenting demons. He is so enthralled with demons, that he grabs stones and slices himself open. We hear about this all the time, don’t we? Teens who are so depressed that they inflict wounds on themselves. Maybe its anyone who is lacerating their soul with the stones in life? The emotions are ravaged. The spirit is six feet under. The soul is dead. It seems no one can help them anymore. Enter Jesus.
Before any formal introduction, Christ knew what Legion was all about, and likewise. There they stood toe to toe and eye to eye. I can see the disciples standing behind Christ, shaking in their sandals. Maybe they said to each other “What is He going to do? Doesn’t He know who that man is? No one could ever help him.” And in one simple “Go” from the lips of our Savior, Legion left the man and entered into a herd of pigs, which then became pork chops for the sharks. All that was left was a man who was sitting, not living, among death. Sane, not cutting, screaming, or writhing. It was a done deal.
There is Dependency upon medication, alcohol, fornication, drugs, anything else to cope and escape whatever it is that ails us. Both physically and emotionally. Sounds familiar? When it seems like you are being visited by Hopelessness and Despair and there is no solution, then what? Is Sickness knocking at your door? Is Addiction calling? Did you get that e-mail from Depression? No one could help the woman who spent years with Hemorrhage. She had been to countless doctors. Everything from “Take this”, “Try this”, “Do this”, and “Maybe you should stop doing that” to herbs and old wives tales filled her daily regiment. She had grown exhausted and hopeless. She spent many nights crying herself to sleep, and many more where she did without it. She may have even had frequent visits with Depression. Then Jesus walked by.
All it took was a touch that day from the Physician. And Hemorrhage left her alone, along with Depression and it’s child, Hopelessness.
What was it that she and Legion both had that healed them, other than being with Jesus? They had faith. Legion had it when he knew who Jesus was, and what He could do for him. So he asked Jesus to deliver the demons from him, and it was granted. The woman knew that a simple touch to Christ’s garment would heal her. So she reached out to Him, and was healed. It was their faith in knowing that Christ could do for them what no one else could do when they were at the end of their rope.
Are you at the end of your rope? Do you not know where to turn or what else to do? Have you tried everything to put away your monsters? Have you tried falling on your knees and crying out to Jesus? Come to the throne and ask for deliverance. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened (Matthew 7:8). Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours (Mark 11:24). And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith (Matthew 21:22).
Tell Him what your monster’s name is. Ask Him to rid you of your never ending bleeding and suffering. Ask Him to take away your Legion. Have faith and trust in Him that He can do this for you. Ask Him to restore the joy in your heart and clear the dark clouds. After all…you are at the end of your rope, aren’t you? You have tried all that man can do and nothing seems to work. Right? Lean on the everlasting arms! Pray without ceasing and do not let go of God. As Jacob said: "I will not let you go unless you bless me." (Genesis 32:26).
Love In Christ!