the man called Legion....
Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2008 12:23 amso I was sitting in youth group tonight wondering exactly what I was doing there cause I really didnt feel the want to be all Holy and stuff but then we some how ended up on the topic of Legion.....in my opinion he was probably the worlds first recorded emo....although Im pretty sure legion wasnt his actual name...but thats how he identified himself...
for those who dont know this story you can find it's Mark 5:1-20.
check this out.....
"2When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an evil spirit came from the tombs to meet him. 3This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him any more, not even with a chain. 4For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him. 5Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones. "
.....this guy was possessed by an evil spirit, living in a graveyard, running round breaking the chains that people tryed to tie him down with,yelling and screaming....and cutting himself....with rocks....
kinda makes me think that none of us are actually that different from him. ok so no, we dont live in graveyards running round screaming and cutting ourselves with rocks. however. we all at some time on our lives find ourselves in a place where we feel like everything around us is just barron waste land, that everything around us is just dead. we all have times in our lives where we feel like we wanna scream bloody murder and just go insane, and yeah okay not all of us have times when they feel like they wanna cut themselves with rocks but we all have those times were we end up shooting ourselves in the foot and hurting ourselves by making stupid decisions or saying or doing something that we know is gonna hurt but we do it anyway.....(aka:sin)
who would realy wanna live like that? well....I really hope no one WANTS to. so here is the really great part of it all....
"6When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him. 7He shouted at the top of his voice, "What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Swear to God that you won't torture me!" 8For Jesus had said to him, "Come out of this man, you evil spirit!" 9Then Jesus asked him, "What is your name?" "My name is Legion," he replied, "for we are many." 10And he begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of the area. "
is he seriously begging Jesus not to torture him?! yes. yes he is. "MY name is legion, for WE are many". this guy is being tortured by demons and they threw him down at Jesus' feet and begged him not to torture them and send them away...isnt that what we do? we throw ourselves at the foot of the cross and ask for forgiveness and we know that we'll be forgiven and yet we refuse to let Jesus take away whats destroying us....
what happens next is just freakin amazing in my books....
"11 A large herd of pigs was feeding on the nearby hillside. 12The demons begged Jesus, "Send us among the pigs; allow us to go into them." 13He gave them permission, and the evil spirits came out and went into the pigs. The herd, about two thousand in number, rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned. "
....2 thousand demon pigs just drowned themselves....duuude! who besides Jesus has to power to make a flock of demon possed pigs and send them to their death?! thats right. Jesus can take your demons and destroy them...maybe not exactly as spectacularly as this but still in an equal if not more awesome way.
"18As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. 19Jesus did not let him, but said, "Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you." 20So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis[c]how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed."
This is what God intended us to do with our salvation. he doesnt want us to keep it bottled up and keep it from people or leave your family to go traveling with out seeing their salvation either.After this man was saved from his demons and he was left in his right mind aka sane he was sent by Jesus to go and tell his family what the Lord had done for him.
I,as a "youth", really need to learn that. I know that God can take away our sins and spread them as far as the east is to the west but what I always end up doing is locking that joy inside me and letting it fizzle out. I dont bring it home to my family, and I dont take it to my friends. I break the intended holy cycle. which is really sad because people need to know that no matter how bad things get that no matter what happens to you...even if you end running round screaming your brains out and cutting yourself with rocks in a graveyard....Jesus still loves you so much that he will ignore what his disciples are probably thinking, walk up to you and cast the sins out of you and destroy them....possibly in a very spectacular way but I cant promise that.....however what I can promise is that no matter what situation you or I are in we will always be able to find ourselves at the feet of Jesus and he will ALWAYS love us and he will ALWAYS take the things that are destroying us and cast them out.
that my friends. is the love of Jesus christ.
for those who dont know this story you can find it's Mark 5:1-20.
check this out.....
"2When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an evil spirit came from the tombs to meet him. 3This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him any more, not even with a chain. 4For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him. 5Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones. "
.....this guy was possessed by an evil spirit, living in a graveyard, running round breaking the chains that people tryed to tie him down with,yelling and screaming....and cutting himself....with rocks....
kinda makes me think that none of us are actually that different from him. ok so no, we dont live in graveyards running round screaming and cutting ourselves with rocks. however. we all at some time on our lives find ourselves in a place where we feel like everything around us is just barron waste land, that everything around us is just dead. we all have times in our lives where we feel like we wanna scream bloody murder and just go insane, and yeah okay not all of us have times when they feel like they wanna cut themselves with rocks but we all have those times were we end up shooting ourselves in the foot and hurting ourselves by making stupid decisions or saying or doing something that we know is gonna hurt but we do it anyway.....(aka:sin)
who would realy wanna live like that? well....I really hope no one WANTS to. so here is the really great part of it all....
"6When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him. 7He shouted at the top of his voice, "What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Swear to God that you won't torture me!" 8For Jesus had said to him, "Come out of this man, you evil spirit!" 9Then Jesus asked him, "What is your name?" "My name is Legion," he replied, "for we are many." 10And he begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of the area. "
is he seriously begging Jesus not to torture him?! yes. yes he is. "MY name is legion, for WE are many". this guy is being tortured by demons and they threw him down at Jesus' feet and begged him not to torture them and send them away...isnt that what we do? we throw ourselves at the foot of the cross and ask for forgiveness and we know that we'll be forgiven and yet we refuse to let Jesus take away whats destroying us....
what happens next is just freakin amazing in my books....
"11 A large herd of pigs was feeding on the nearby hillside. 12The demons begged Jesus, "Send us among the pigs; allow us to go into them." 13He gave them permission, and the evil spirits came out and went into the pigs. The herd, about two thousand in number, rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned. "
....2 thousand demon pigs just drowned themselves....duuude! who besides Jesus has to power to make a flock of demon possed pigs and send them to their death?! thats right. Jesus can take your demons and destroy them...maybe not exactly as spectacularly as this but still in an equal if not more awesome way.
"18As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. 19Jesus did not let him, but said, "Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you." 20So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis[c]how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed."
This is what God intended us to do with our salvation. he doesnt want us to keep it bottled up and keep it from people or leave your family to go traveling with out seeing their salvation either.After this man was saved from his demons and he was left in his right mind aka sane he was sent by Jesus to go and tell his family what the Lord had done for him.
I,as a "youth", really need to learn that. I know that God can take away our sins and spread them as far as the east is to the west but what I always end up doing is locking that joy inside me and letting it fizzle out. I dont bring it home to my family, and I dont take it to my friends. I break the intended holy cycle. which is really sad because people need to know that no matter how bad things get that no matter what happens to you...even if you end running round screaming your brains out and cutting yourself with rocks in a graveyard....Jesus still loves you so much that he will ignore what his disciples are probably thinking, walk up to you and cast the sins out of you and destroy them....possibly in a very spectacular way but I cant promise that.....however what I can promise is that no matter what situation you or I are in we will always be able to find ourselves at the feet of Jesus and he will ALWAYS love us and he will ALWAYS take the things that are destroying us and cast them out.
that my friends. is the love of Jesus christ.
so very true and it made my morning to be reminded just how much the Lord loves us all. No matter what He is beside us, just waiting for us to choose the right paths and do His will. Have a blessed day in the Lord and continue to shine that light you have shining within you, never allow anyone or anything to blow it out and keep you from the Lord, for He IS within you, always loving you and working His love through you.
