Go and Tell

As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. Jesus did not let him, but said, “Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed. (Mark 5:18-20)

The one set free from a lifetime of torment and torture was not always so 'grateful' and 'trusting' toward Jesus. When Jesus first sees the man who was demon-possessed, he asked Jesus to leave him alone - to not change anything in his life. He actually saw Jesus as 'interfering' with his lifestyle. Tortured though he was, the evil spirit within him didn't want to leave him. Jesus wasn't put off by the demons asking to stay. "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." (vs. 9-10) Why was this man's healing so long coming? Why is our deliverance so long coming? Could it be that Jesus is just waiting for us to be honest about what it is that is troubling us? 

At first, the demons did not want to leave - they had become comfortable right where they were. There was a 'willing host' and they weren't excited to be leaving. What do we hold onto that has become comfortable to us that is actually holding us back, bringing us down, and causing us so much misery. Like the man tormented by so many demons, we might just need to identify what it is and then be willing to let it go! The demons leave the man at Jesus' command and enter a herd of pigs, who promptly run wildly from their keepers and straight off a cliff. Nothing remains when Jesus utters the words of deliverance, my friends. We can rest assured that whatever it is that troubles our hearts is of concern to Jesus and his word is all it takes to change the course of what has been happening within us.

The man was free. The pig keepers were stunned. The crowds were amazed, but also a bit afraid. Why? When God displays his power in our lives, it can be a little frightening at times. We may not understand how he works, but we can always see evidence of his work. The change may be immediate, like it was for this man, but it could be gradual in revealing itself. Either way, our commission is to go and tell - all that Jesus has done in us is a message of what he can do in others, as well. Just sayin!

Have you ever...

For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile. This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.” (Romans 1:16-17)

Have you ever been 'ashamed' of something you have said, done, or believed? I have and it didn't leave me feeling all that good! Why? Shame has a way of 'eating at you'. You feel 'guilty' all the time, and your emotions range from embarrassment to inferiority. Somehow, the enemy of our soul is delighted anytime there is this fear of dishonor, a sense of disgrace, emotions of disappointment, and feelings of extreme condemnation. This is not the way God wants us to live. He wants us to shed our shame as we come to him for when sin has been erased, shame has no place. 

There might be times when we feel a bit 'ashamed' to admit that Christ has been at work in our lives. It is as though we don't want to be 'judged' by others when God has pinpointed something in us that he wants to work on and heal. Why do we do this to ourselves? God's plan was always to have us in relationship with other believers - as support, encouragement, and advisors to live a godly and wholesome life. When we fear what they will think of us, how they will treat us 'differently' once they 'know' what God is working on, we give into Satan's plan to keep us isolated and without that support that comes within community.

The thing we must keep in mind is that salvation (saying yes to Jesus) was just the door opening to a dynamic way of living. Shame has no place there, but sometimes it takes a bit to convince our minds that the work begun in our hearts by Jesus is changing the way we see ourselves, how others see us, and most importantly - how God the Father sees us. There should never be shame in telling others the joy we have found in our salvation. We don't hesitate to tell others about the latest fads or diets, so why do we hesitate to tell others what God has been doing in our lives. It is likely a pride thing - because when we 'cop to the plea' of sinner, we fear others will see us in a different light.

When we say yes to Jesus, the 'difference' seen isn't anything we should be ashamed of - it is life, light, and goodness expressed in the totally undeserved grace of God within our lives. Satan my try to make us feel the shame of our past, but God's good news is that there is no condemnation (shame) for those who are in Christ Jesus. Just sayin!

More than "feeling" it

The gist of the entirety of scripture is the concept of taking what we come to know or discover there, and then applying it to our lives so our lives are affected by whatever it is we are discovering. Isn't this the basis of all learning? Application being the basis of all change because without application there really is no advantage to knowledge - it is nice to have, but if not applied, it is 'trivia'.  It is only when knowledge is applied that we can say we are truly developing "wisdom".  As we explore scripture each day, I think God is wanting to tell us something more than, "This is a nice little tidbit of knowledge for you." In fact, he likely is saying something closer to, "Take this, use it, learn to live within it, and be blessed beyond your wildest dreams."

Later a few religion scholars and Pharisees got on him. "Teacher, we want to see your credentials. Give us some hard evidence that God is in this. How about a miracle?"  Jesus said, "You're looking for proof, but you're looking for the wrong kind. All you want is something to titillate your curiosity, satisfy your lust for miracles.  (Matthew 12:38-40)

Day after day, week after week, Jesus has been healing the sick, setting the demon-possessed free from their torturous existence, and teaching the truths of the Word. Still, after all these "signs and wonders", the religion scholars "get on" Jesus about his "credentials" for teaching the Word of God! If I had been there, my response would have been something like, "Wake up dudes!" It is quite possible to be surrounded by the greatest of evidence and totally miss the point of it! They came with the demand for "hard evidence".  If opening the eyes of the blind from birth, or unraveling the shriveled hand of a man born with a birth defect is not "hard evidence", I am not exactly sure what they were looking for! They ask for a miracle! What on earth had they been seeing over these past several weeks or months right there in their midst? In fact, they had seen more miracles in one day than most of us see in a lifetime and they were still looking for "hard evidence"!

Jesus hits it on the head - all they wanted was something to "titillate" their curiosity. It is amazing to me how many times we fall into this same trap. We wander off to church each Sunday, go to our small groups one night a week, attend a revival meeting, or go off to a retreat center, all in search of something to "titillate" our senses. What we miss in our "wandering" is the touch God designed for our spirit, not our senses! It is our spirit that requires the touch from him, not our senses - yet we look for that which will 'thrill' us in some manner. I imagine this disappoints God a little because he has prepared so much for us to enjoy and we seem to miss it. Did you know the root of the word "titillate" is "tickle"?  We are often looking for God to "tickle" our fancy - give us just a little sense of his presence, assurance, or direction. We aren't really looking for life change - we want "sensation". God gave us the functional capacity to be curious - he also gave us the spiritual capacity to be in sync with his movement. When our focus is only on the "feeling" of being "tickled" by God's grace, we often miss the evidence of his grace right in the midst of our most desperate need for it!

Jesus encountered this face-on. He did not back down. He called it what it was - sensational seeking! Whenever we want the "sensation" of God's presence apart from the change his presence desires to bring, we miss it! Those who received their miracles came expectantly - not looking for the sensation of healing, but for the ACTUAL healing! This is what God honors - expectant faith, hungering hope. I wonder how many times we have missed what we so desperately needed for our deliverance from some life struggle we have dealt with incessantly for years simply because we come to Jesus hoping he'd tickle our fancies with some "feelings" of deliverance? Over the years, I have come to realize Jesus does more in one moment of yielded obedience than he ever does in the hours I have spent in church! Yep, church attendance is important, but if we were honest, it is in the quiet of alone time with him where we are most frequently touched by his grace! Maybe we need to open our eyes afresh to the "hard evidence" of obedience in our lives - this seems to be the "evidence" which produces change! It is not about "feeling" deliverance as much as it is learning to walk in it until the "feeling" becomes a permanent part of who we are and how we respond to life. Just sayin!