“KEEPING IN STEP WITH THE MERCY OF GOD” In Mark chapter 4 we see the account of Jesus calming the storm. The disciples are amazed that he has the power over the wind and the waves. They don’t have the understanding that a spiritual battle just took place and the first victory was just won. They got a revelation that Jesus has power over nature, yet this was so much more. No matter what problem you are facing, no matter how many of the enemies forces try to stop you from getting to your divine appointment, Jesus can change that with just one word! Praise God! Mark chapter 5 we have the story of the man with the legion of demons. This is what I really want to look at today. After facing the storm Jesus comes to land. As soon as he steps on land a man comes running out of the tombs towards him. The demons came to “meet” him. The enemy comes to “meet” the Jesus in you. Remember our lives are a battleground of 2 kingdoms. Unless we KNOW that greater is he that is in us then he that is in the world, we will be defeated. This was a man that people tried to help by tying and then even using chains to hold him. Yet his “problem” got so strong in his life that even metal chains could hold him. Maybe today there is something in your life that seems like no one can help you out of. Well, it is true, there is no help in man but Jesus is here! It says the man was in Great distress! He would cry night and day, no rest. He would cut himself with rocks! Doctors today are trying to treat kids that cut themselves with medication –they need the delivering power of Jesus Christ to set them free from the demon of destruction! We see that the demons “begged” Jesus not to send them out of the area. They wanted to stay around. Take note of this! In verse 10 the demons beg to stay and in Verse 18 the man in his “right mind” is begging Jesus to leave and go with him. The first thing that will change in our lives after we cry out to Jesus and he frees us is that we will want to change the places where we have been spending the most time - either physically or mentally. Too often we say we want to change yet how hard are we pressing in to get that change? The change that the Lord has planned for us may not look like what we think it should. In verse 19 Jesus tells the man “NO” that he cannot come but then tells him of his plans instead. How many times does God tell us no and we are not in a place to even hear a “no”? I have seen in my own life that at times I can be so focused with the place I think I should be I can’t hear anything else from the Lord. I tell the Lord to show me his way, yet all I can think about is how I would like to see it turn out or what time I think it should happen. Will I do it my way or his? “Go home and tell your family how much God has done for you and how he has had mercy on you” “What he has done for you” it is easy to tell the “what” God has done when we are walking in the middle of a great victory or deliverance. We need to testify of the power of God and what he can do. It says in Revelations 12:11 “They overcame him (the devil) by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death. “ The word of our testimony is a powerful weapon against the enemy. When God brings about a change or deliverance in our lives he releases his power into that situation to break the power of the enemy. Now that power is there for us to also release to others. Acts 3:6 “Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” 2 Corinthians 1:3,4 “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.” Psalm 23 says “surely Goodness and Mercy will follow me all the days of my life.” I have heard people quote this verse many times saying that goodness and mercy is right behind them and will overtake them. That is NOT what that verse is saying!! It is saying – to have something follow you is to leave a trail of it behind you as you go. The evidence that you were there is the goodness and mercy you have left behind you. When the Lord is your shepherd – you will overflow with goodness and mercy. – That’s another whole teaching!!! Note the second thing Jesus told the man to tell about in Mark 5:19, “and how he has had mercy on you.” This is the part that we need the most and I believe is the most powerful! This is not the “what” but the “why” of God. How this man got to this point and what his past was the scripture does not say, but the Lord instructed this man to tell the “why”. If you look at this man’s life, we know he has done nothing to merit the mercy of God. Yet God saw where he was and that he was beyond the point of any human intervention. People only saw what he had turned into but that wasn’t WHO he really was. The real him as still inside! God only knows the number of times this man cried out to him in his heart when no human ear heard it! Humans had tried but to no avail. The father knew about this man and had his deliverance marked on his calendar in heaven. He has yours marked too! The father sent Jesus there to free him. That was the only reason Jesus went to that area, yet we think “who am I that God would do something just for me?” God thought this man was important enough to send Jesus to his land to save him. You are just as important to God! We can get so caught up in the “what” of God that we lose the blessing of the “why”. I believe this is the thing that God wants us to see the most. It is all about the relationship of a father with his child. Why does God send his power to save us when we are beyond all hope? His great love for us and nothing else! We are beyond man’s hope but never Gods! The scripture instructs us in Romans 12:1 “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.” If something is in your “view” you are looking at it. If we look at the mercy of God in our lives the natural response should be to give ourselves to God. To walk in response to God’s mercy the verse says is “your spiritual act of worship”. Mercy is spiritual and will bring about spiritual worship. It will cause you to give yourself back to God – Relationship! The response to mercy or the act of deliverance will be just that. If we lack the relationship, anything the Lord does for us will be nothing more than a historical occurrence that is looked back upon once in a while and will have very little to no effect. It will become void of the life giving power it was meant to have. To know that God is aware of you and will come to your rescue when you need it is life changing. That is the purpose of trials that we walk through. God is trying to teach us to trust him that he will never leave us or forsake us! We must do our part or we will miss our “day of visitation”. It says in Hebrews 5:7 “During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.” If Jesus was willing to do whatever it took to get the attention of and answer from the father, why do we think we don’t have to? When was the last time we inconvenienced ourselves for the Lord? We need to keep it simple and not lose site that it is all about relationship. I have been praying for change of an issue in my life. This is something that I say I really want to be different. I was sitting on my couch the other day and I heard the Lord say “how much do you want it?” I saw right away just by hearing that question that I really haven’t been living like I wanted it to change. Oh sure I want it to change but how much am I praying about it? I mean REALLY praying and not complaining! Better yet am I walking in faith that God is not only aware of my problem but providing the answer to it. Am I thanking him that my problem is already solved and I need to press in and wait to see it revealed? It is easier to stay in the familiar, no matter how bad it is then to really seek change sometimes. The question was meant to draw me deeper to him so he could in fact give me the answer. I have found that in the process of getting the answer, he will mention some other stuff that isn’t even on my radar but is priority #1 to him. God will often use the opportunity of what we are going through to get us into his presence to deal with a few “OTHER” things. In Mark 5:20 we see that the man accepted the direction of Jesus. It says “so the man went on his way and began”. When was the last time we got a word from the Lord and headed in a new direction in our life? In Hebrews 4:12 it says” For the word of God is living and active.” If we are alive in Christ we will be living and active too. We are not called to be monuments or statues. The absence of movement is the evidence of the absence of life. Not mortality but life, the quality of existence as God has it. Are we settling for mere mortality, breathing air in and out but not life? It says that the man went not only to his family but to 10 cities and told the people what Jesus had done for him. All the people were “amazed”. The power of a life lived in obedience to the word of God truly is amazing and will speak to people louder than any word ever will. So let’s not only tell them “what” our God can do but tell them “why” - God’s incredible love has changed our lives – so they too can truly be “AMAZED”
Posted on: Tue, 25 Mar 2014 01:34:52 +0000
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