September 4, 2019
Mark 5:19-20
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.
New International Version (NIV)
                 One sure way to be considered foolish these days is to admit any sort of belief in evil forces in the world.  Even pastors tiptoe around such issues in the scriptures.  Start talking about the devil and the demonic and pretty quickly people dismiss you as an overzealous troglodyte, unfamiliar with something like modern science. 

                This reminds me of a friend who said in the Sunday School classes at his church the people would read the text and then dismiss it with, “What do you think really happened that day.”  Of course what we think happened is not nearly as important as what actually happened.  I trust the text.

                In celebration of the Apostles John and Peter’s first Easter, I jog though cemeteries sometimes.  It is hard to imagine living in one.  This poor demoniac lived in a cemetery, while forces of evil lived in him.  Doesn’t that sound hopeless?  Well it was, and he was hopeless until Hope arrived in the form of Jesus.  Whatever we believe about personal evil, the Legion of demons within him believed in Jesus.  Jesus sent them into the swine and set the man free.  (If the poor pig part bothers you, I am with you.)

                What next?  In his right mind, no longer under the sway of evil, the man wanted to go with Jesus.  Instead Jesus, who thus far has been big on keeping his messiahship secret, told him to go and tell about the Lord’s mercy.  So he did, surprising everyone.   Transformation is remarkably winsome and powerful in a witness.  “I once was blind,” said the formerly blind man who now had 20-20 vision. 

                This is precisely the kind of work that God does in our world.  I cannot say with certainty that I have ever encountered a demon-possessed person.  What I can affirm is that there are demons and that they create havoc in our world.   A counselor in Abilene, Texas didn’t believe in the devil or “Old Scratch,” until he started visiting prisons where everyone he met believed in a personal form of evil. 

               Even more we should note that like wind and waves in a storm, evil forces in our world are subject to Jesus and his power.  This fills our ministry with power and purpose today.  Jesus served notice to evil.  It will come to an end.  We can stand against it now, if we will.  Light will win.  In the meantime we should surely tell people the great things God has done for us.  
Pray with me:    
Father, we thank you that in your Son you have shown you are for us.  Who then can be against us?  Let us stand in the victorious power of the risen Lord.  Help us to continue to light candles to penetrate the darkness of our world.  Teach us to love the people whom others have already written off as irredeemable.  Thank you that no one is beyond your redemptive reach, through your church.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.  
This year our Every Day with Jesus readings will follow The Bible Project Read Scripture Plan.  Copies of this reading plan are available at Tallowood Baptist Church, or download 
the app at readscripture.org.  Read through the Bible with us in 2019!
Joyfully, 
Duane 
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