Luke 8:26-32 Then they sailed to the country of the Gadarenes,[a] 27 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,[b] nor did he live in a house but in the tombs. 28 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!” 29 For Jesus 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. Then the people 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.
I don’t really remember when the demons came. Slowly, at first… then more until I was totally possessed. The terrible things I did to my wife and my children haunt me at night. It was as if I had no control over my mind and my actions. One day I realized that indeed I had no more control at all. My life had been destroyed. My family was gone, my friends were gone, my work was gone. In fact, all I have ever known had been taken away by the demons living in me. My body was covered with cuts and scars and my soul was consumed with evil. My mind was tormented day and night. Every night they tried to tie my hands and feet to protect the people around. I was living in the grave yard. And then …there he was…JESUS! And he was commanding them to come out of me. And to my surprise they were powerless in his presence. He asked me my name and I could not even tell him my name. The demons spoke and said “Legion” which meant many. I think they were trying to intimidate him, But how wrong they were. Immediately I was free! They were gone. My mind was clear, my heart was clean. I wanted clothes on my body and as I sat before him there was peace in my soul.
I wanted to stay with him but he told me to go home and tell my friends all that he had done. As I got to the door of my house, I saw the fear in the eyes of my wife and my children but as soon as I spoke they knew I was different. I was free. What a tearful and joyous reunion we had! With hugs and kisses and tears of joy we bowed to pray and thank the Lord for my encounter with the Savior. What a change he brought to our home!
Prayer: Lord, Let me speak peace to someone in the darkness. Help me to realize that the fearful, hard hearted, mean individual may just need your touch to set them free. Give me a One2One encounter with a desperate person today.
