Delivered, live

aturday, January 24, 2015

Devotions: Ps 30, 32, 42, 43; Isa 46:1-13; Eph 6:10-24; Mk 5:1-20

Lord, I praise You, because you protect me and don't let my enemies exult over me. You have helped and healed me. God's anger is brief; His mercy is everlasting. Pain and sorrow come and go; weeping may stay for an evening, but joy comes in the morning. Let YHWH alone be my Helper. Lord, even as I suffer, I affirm: You have turned my mourning into dancing; You have girded me with gladness, and I thank and praise You forever. Blessed am I when God imputes to me no iniquity, but rather the righteousness of His beloved Son! Lord, I admit my sins to You, freely confessing and begging for Your forgiveness. Teach me, Lord; steadfast love surrounds me as I trust in You. Let all the righteous shout God's praise! Lord, I thirst for You; my tears do not quench my thirst, but deepen my longing for Your. My soul, hope in God; let His Spirit call and exalt me! Defend my cause, Lord, against deceitful and unjust people. Send out Your light and truth, and let them lead me to Your holy hill. I will praise God again and again.

God carries me forward. He says: 'I Am He, Who carries you forward to gray hairs and old age. I Am God; there is no other; there is none like Me. My counsel shall stand forever, and My purpose will be accomplished. Let the stubborn hear and ponder: I bring My salvation near to you, and glorify Myself in you.' Amen, YHWH. 

At the last, do this: be strong in the Lord and His might; put on the whole armor of God, that you may withstand the devil's wiles. We do not contend against flesh and blood, but against principalities, powers, world rulers of this age, spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places. Gird your loins with truth; put on the footwear of the gospel of peace. Take up the shield of faith, with which you can quench the flaming darts of the evil one. Put on the helmet of salvation and take up the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God. Pray at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. Stay alert with perseverance, interceding for all the saints. And pray for His apostles, that they may proclaim the mystery of God's gospel boldly, as they should. And let God's peace and love and faith overflow to all believers from God the Father and the Lord Jesus the Messiah. Grace be to all who love our Lord Jesus the Messiah with undying love. 

Jesus and His followers arrived on the east shore of the Sea of Galilee and stopped into the country of the Gerasenes. He was met by a man coming out from the tombs. He was possessed by an unclean spirit, and lived alone among the tombs. No one could bind him; he had often been fettered with ropes and chains, but he broke them apart, and no one had strength to subdue him. Among the tombs and on the mountains, this man cried aloud and bruised himself with stones. Seeing Jesus from afar, he ran up and worshiped Him, crying loudly, 'What have You to do with us, Son of the Most High God? By God, I adjure You: do not torment me.' For Jesus has already said, 'Come out of the man, you unclean spirit.' Jesus asked: 'What is your name.' The spirit spoke: 'Legion, for we are many.' The spirits begged Jesus not to send them out of the country. It happened that a great herd of swine was grazing on a hillside nearby, and the spirits begged Jesus to send them into the swine and allow them to possess the pigs. Jesus gave them leave to do this, and the spirits left the man and entered the pigs. And the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank and into the waters, where they drowned. The herdsmen fled, reporting all this in neighboring country and city, and people came out to see for themselves. They found Jesus and the former demoniac, now clothed and in his right mind. Those who had witnessed what happened to the man and the pigs told their story, and the people were frightened and began to beg Jesus to leave their neighborhood. As He was getting into the boat, the man delivered from demons begged Jesus to allow him to come along. But Jesus refused and instead told him, 'Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how He has had mercy on you.' And the man went his way and proclaimed throughout the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him; and all people marveled.