THE STORY OF JESUS: Matthew 8:28-34
“They pleaded with him to leave.” (Matthew 8:34)
The deceiver does whatever he can to keep us from knowing the truth.
We will be surprised to discover how weak the deceiver actually is.
He specializes in fear and deception, but those are his only powers.
If he can get us to believe in his lies, he will enslave us and ruin our lives.
Like he did Adam and Eve, and these demon-possessed men, and all of us.
Like he did with the townspeople – who believed that Jesus was a threat.
Jesus offers love, life, healing, hope, mercy, grace, blessing… yet so many reject Him.
It is because the deceiver succeeds in poisoning their minds to Jesus.
The same is true for ‘believers’ who have mixed up ideas about Jesus.
When the church misses the point, and commits crimes in Jesus’ name, the deceiver smiles.
So many people today reject Jesus because of His followers, the church.
“And when they saw Him…” (v.34) – this is the problem, they did not really see Him.
We’ve got to fight the deceiver in this, we’ve got to let people see the real Jesus.
We need to offer love, life, healing, hope, mercy, grace, blessing, in Jesus’ Name.
Like the pig-herders, we need to let people know about Jesus.
But our message needs to be positive, not negative…
So that the people will plead for Jesus to come into hearts and lives.
What do you sense the Lord saying to you?
PRAYER
Lord, may my life, and my words, reflect positively on You. May the truth of You be louder in me than the lies of Satan. May we all experience the blessing that these two men experienced.