The Gift of Freedom

The Gift of Freedom || Day 4

Luke‬ ‭8:22-39‬ ‭NKJV ‬‬
"Now it happened, on a certain day, that He got into a boat with His disciples. And He said to them, “Let us cross over to the other side of the lake.” And they launched out. But as they sailed He fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water, and were in jeopardy. And they came to Him and awoke Him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” Then He arose and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water. And they ceased, and there was a calm. But He said to them, “Where is your faith?” And they were afraid, and marveled, saying to one another, “Who can this be? For He commands even the winds and water, and they obey Him!” Then they sailed to the country of the Gadarenes, which is opposite Galilee. And when He stepped out on the land, there met Him a certain man from the city who had demons for a long time. And he wore no clothes, nor did he live in a house but in the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he cried out, fell down before Him, and with a loud voice said, “What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You, do not torment me!” For He had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For it had often seized him, and he was kept under guard, bound with chains and shackles; and he broke the bonds and was driven by the demon into the wilderness. Jesus asked him, saying, “What is your name?” And he said, “Legion,” because many demons had entered him. And they begged Him that He would not command them to go out into the abyss. Now a herd of many swine was feeding there on the mountain. So they begged Him that He would permit them to enter them. And He permitted them. Then the demons went out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd ran violently down the steep place into the lake and drowned. When those who fed them saw what had happened, they fled and told it in the city and in the country. Then they went out to see what had happened, and came to Jesus, and found the man from whom the demons had departed, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid. They also who had seen it told them by what means he who had been demon-possessed was healed. Then the whole multitude of the surrounding region of the Gadarenes asked Him to depart from them, for they were seized with great fear. And He got into the boat and returned. Now the man from whom the demons had departed begged Him that he might be with Him. But Jesus sent him away, saying, “Return to your own house, and tell what great things God has done for you.” And he went his way and proclaimed throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him."

Beloved, we will spend the next few days building on this one thought…

Freedom is always the by product to the plan, not the end result.

The Bible says that Jesus cast the demons out of this man and sent them into the swine in the hill country. This man was so set free that he went from being completely out of his mind, to being completely calm and in his right mind within a few moments. He went from running naked throughout the tombs in the wilderness, to being clothed and in his right mind, sitting with Jesus and the disciples.

This is what you call a radical deliverance. This is what you call being made free by the power of the Holy Spirit. Church, I want to stop and take time to let everyone know that Jesus still delivers like this. He still makes people free like this. He still breaks chains like this. He still drives out demons like this. Look around and you will see living testimonies that in one moment a person can be tied down by almost every chain known to man, and in one encounter with Jesus and everything changes.

Beloved, that is what happened to this man. Night and day he was out of his mind. The people of the city would hear him cry at night because of all the demons that were in him. But when he encountered Jesus every one of those demons had to leave. Every bondage had to break off of his life. However, this was only the beginning.

We will continue this thought tomorrow.

Further reading: Matthew 8:23-34, Mark 5:1-20, 1 John 4:4