A Pause to Ponder God's Word
"Delivered"

"Jesus said, 'Come out of this man, you evil spirit!' --- When they came to Jesus , they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind." (Mark 5:8, 15)

What a sight! This nameless person was known only by his condition. The attempts to bind him where fruitless, for no chain had been forged that could hold him. There he is among the graves. In his state, he is at home in the desolate place of death. We want to look away from the hideous sight of this partially clothed man raging around amidst the tombs covered with self-inflicted open wounds.

Yet we are compelled to look and as we do we recognize that there are chains that bind him; chains that have a death grip on his soul. Oh, how this nameless one mirrors our lives in sin. Each link of our chain can be named; sins committed, harbored bitterness, jealously, greed, vengeance, slander, unforgiveness, idolatry... they are legion. "Oh, wretched that we are, who will deliver us from this body of death?"

Then Jesus comes walking among the tombstones. An odd place for the perfect one to be. He stops and with eyes that are full of mercy He looks deep into the man's soul seeing the bondage and the need. He does not turn away. Rather, with all authority Jesus speaks the words of deliverance, forgiveness and healing. At the sound of His voice the chains vaporize and man stands erect, liberated! No demon, or legion of demons, can resist the power of God in Christ. The man is new! Look again. Now he is standing next to his Savior in his right mind, healed, and clothed. He is clothed with more than new garments. He is clothed with the very righteousness of Christ.

As the nameless possessed man mirrors our life in sin, so now the liberated man pictures our life in Christ. "If any man be in Christ he is a new creation. The old is gone and the new has come." Jesus, the same yesterday, today, and forever, still walks among the tombstones seeking the lost and enslaved. He continues to speak the words of deliverance and new creation. When He sets us free we are free indeed! "Glorious freedom, wonderful freedom, when Jesus broke my fetters in twain. Jesus the glorious, emancipator, now and forever He shall be mine."

Jesus tells we who know this deliverance, this glorious freedom, to "go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you." (see verse 19) Indeed, we've got to tell somebody; we need to tell everybody! Beloved, spread the Word. Today is the day of salvation!

Keep Close To Jesus
Pastor Gerry


A Pause To Ponder God's Word is written and distributed by Gerald Whetstone, Ordained Elder and teacher in the Church of the Nazarene. These devotionals may be transmitted, duplicated, used in part or in entirety without permission for nonprofit purposes only. Responses welcome. To Subscribe Click Here.
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