Mark 5:15-17 - "And they come to Jesus,  and see him that was possessed with the devil, and had the legion, sitting,  and clothed, and in his right mind: and they were afraid. And they that saw it told them how it befell to him that was possessed with the devil,  and also concerning the swine.  And they began to pray him to depart out of their coasts. "

The most wonderful word in these passages besides "Jesus" is "was". Was possessed! How wonderful! Yet instead of rejoicing,  instead of being glad for the poor soul who had been possessed, hey were afraid and asked Jesus to leave them! They should have held a feast in His honor and invited the formerly possessed man to testify, but instead they wanted Jesus to leave! Today still, some want a powerless Christ-  they're ok with him,  with his name,  with a religion based on his words - as long as his presence and his power never manifest (his power and his presence are inseparable). The real Christ makes them uncomfortable, they fear they'll lose their carnal, comfortable,  self-centered lifestyles! The man with the legion of demons' deliverance hit them where it hurt them the most - their wallets! Two thousand dead swine costbthem a lot of money. They didn't care at all for the man who had been delivered- they'd rather he remain possessed and get their swine back - though swine were forbidden under the law of Moses, which they were pretending to follow. Jesus was passing judgment on their hypocrisy. They would much rather keep their dead religion, full of the traditions of man, which were in direct opposition to God's commands, then have Jesus, who would have given them spiritual riches, worth far more than any amount of money.  

How many churches in our day are afraid of "power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you?" How many have prayed, in the inner chamber of their hearts, for the Lord to "depart out of their coasts" (churches)? But those who personally experience his presence and his power want to be with him "And when he was come into the ship, he that HAD BEEN possessed with the devil prayed him that he might be with him." This is the reaction we should all have when we encounter Jesus, when he puts us in our right minds, when he clothes our nakedness  and delivers us from evil, when we're able to sit still, after being tormented for so long, never able to find peace, or rest, we should want to be with him, forever. But God had other plans for him (v 19) Instead of allowing his newest disciple to stay with him, Jesus gives him a mission and a purpose- "Go home to your friends, and tell them how great are the things the Lord done for you, and that he has had compassion on you". 

This is also our mission - to testify of the compassion of our Lord, and of the great things (plural) he has done for us. The difference between us and he who had been possessed is that we don't have to depart from Jesus "And they went forth, AND PREACHED EVERYWHERE,  THE LORD WORKING WITH THEM, and confirming the Word with signs following". Amen. 

Each of us, like the demoniac at the tombs, is surrounded by dead people, and each of us is a living testimony  of God's greatness and compassion V 20 - He obeys Jesus and he "departed and began to publish in Decapolis how great things Jesus had done for him: and all did marvel". He published the first "Marvel comic" only it was about a real hero. We too want all to marvel when they hear of Jesus, what He's done and can do. Rather than use his name as a curse word, we want them to be in awe of him. Interestingly,  sometimes Jesus would tell people to testify of what he had done for them, and other times he told them to tell no one. Why the difference? He was obeying his Father's will! He had no ego and no desire to promote himself or his ministry.  He was about his Father's business - which is saving souls from damnation.  He was all about glorifying his Father.  

In verse 21, a ruler seeks Jesus! How rare and precious this is, then and today. Granted, some will only seek Jesus in times of great distress, in extreme desperation, but better then than never. In verses 25 & 26, we see that man is never the answer to our problems, whatever they may be - Jesus is! The woman with the issue of blood had "suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse". What a colossal waste of time and money! Even today, with all our modern "medical miracles", with all the advances we've made, under man's care, we will, eventually, get worse, for the one disease man will never cure is death. Only God can cure us of that. 

Part two next

The Lord has ministered to me through 1 Chronicles 21:8-30. I say, with David, unto God - "I have sinned greatly (boy have i ever), because I have done this thing: but now, I beseech you, do away the iniquity (the gross injustice or wickedness, the violation of rights or duties) of your servant, for I have done very foolishly" and with David, I cried "I am in great distress; let me fall now into the hand of the Lord; for very great are his mercies: but let me not fall into the hand of man." And even so, as the angel of the Lord was destroying Jerusalem, the Lord beheld and he repented him of the evil -  and the angel ceased from his destruction- for sin always leads to our own destruction  - and the angel of the Lord stood by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.

David sees the angel standing between heaven and earth (angels exist in both realms simultaneously, as do we). David sees the angel's sword and pleads with God on behalf of His people for the sin of numbering the people (something pastors do all the time) - David is a man after God's own heart, and he is a prime example of godly leadership  -  here, punish me, not the people, he prays. Leaders should lay down their lives for the flock, not the other way around. The angel of the Lord then tells Gad the prophet to tell David to set up an altar to the Lord right there on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. 

This place was chosen by God for a purpose and a reason- to teach me truths. When we are set upon a path of sin and destruction,  God must bring us to our own personal "threshing floor". This is where they separate the seeds from the wheat by beating it. "Ornan" literally means "that rejoices" or "he that rejoices" and, i mean it when i say this, it is a joyful thing to be chastised by God "for whom the Lord loves, he chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives". Now, scourging sounds an awful lot like threshing- it means "to whip with a lash - severely punish" And we're told to "despise not the chastening of the Lord", and, "Ornan" tells us to rejoice when he does this to us! Rejoice in the Lord always! even build Him an altar there, in the midst of your chastening! To offer up a sacrafice of praise to Him, as we're going through it - to endure it and faint not. It's the hardest thing I've ever gone through - and I want more of it, to become the godly, obedient son he deserves me to be. I want to give my heart as an altar, as his threshing floor. I want the Lord to answer by fire upon the altar of my heart, to accept my sacrafice- to burn away anything unclean in me, forever.  Not just for one day or a week or any other measurement of time.

 One of the best reasons to fellowship with one another is to build up each other's character, to help form Christ within each other that he may be known without each other. We should all be seeking to become as Christ-like as possible, but this is not usually done in most church "services", because it can only be done in intimate relationship with one another. In a typical service,  the focus is on the worship leader and the pastor. Each member of the flock is encouraged and invited to receive what they can from the service-  each comes to be fed, to be touched in some way, and to worship, but the pastor is there to feed the flock as a whole, he is not required to personally disciple individuals-  his focus is on "the flock". He may do one on one counseling, occasionally, usually in reaction to a crisis situation- but even then, he is not in a personal relationship with the counselee, but rather in a professional one, that of pastor to congregant.

So each member comes to the service to feed themselves- the focus is not on fellow sheep, unless there is a brief moment to greet and sometimes pray for each other but they may or may not be in a personal relationship with each other, but most likely not. In some churches, personal relationships are discouraged,  if they are not under the supervision and control of the leadership. If the Bible is discussed without an approved leader present,  a false doctrine might slip in (false doctrines being defined as any teaching they don't agree with, Biblical or not).

The point of all this is - The apostles became Christ-like by daily fellowship with Him AND WITH EACH OTHER, with fellow disciples of Christ, not man. Following Him together, wherever He led them as a group, receiving whatever HE taught them as a group. They did not meet with Jesus and with each other once a week or twice, no, they "continuing daily with one accord in the Temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart. And the Lord added to the Church daily." He added to "The Church", not a church, His Church, not any denomination but His people, in daily fellowship with one another, in the Temple and house to house, breaking bread and eating meat together. Why shouldn't our church buildings be open 24/7 for believers to use? Why shouldn't our homes be open to one another, daily? This would go a long way to causing Christ to grow strong in each other, and to properly care for those He adds "such as should be saved"...babies need a lot of attention! And older siblings are supposed to help raise little ones, not just mom and dad. 

 The best people we meet are so overflowing with love they fill up the deep reservoirs of our hearts till we start overflowing too -

So if your heart is empty or low,

let the spigot of God's love flow,

for i love you

because He does.

So drink deeply now

of the wine of His love.

If your well has run dry -

be now filled with His boundless supply.

Keep drinking in

till your heart is so full of Him

there's no room left for sin,

or rejection within.

Life or Death

Like a wise virgin choose -

Be lost forever 

or be rescued.

 So, a few years back, I'm doing a thousand piece jigsaw puzzle that my daughter Karianna gave me. It's a lovely painting of a mommy and daddy fishing with their little girl in a beautiful, rustic setting. As I'm working on it, the Holy Spirit begins to speak to me, to reveal things to me, to awaken my understanding to some truth -  something He does so well and I hope He continues to do whenever He pleases.

He showed me the Body of Christ is like a giant Jigsaw puzzle,  and a huge problem today is pieces in the wrong place. First of all, if you are not where you should be,  doing what you should be doing, you'll be really uncomfortable, discontented, irritable, you just won't be happy till you're connected perfectly with those around you-  touching them and being touched by them - no piece is alone! This is a major function of Apostles and Prophets-  to establish people in the anointing,  gifts and calling God has placed on and in them, and release them to operate fully as who they're supposed to be.  

While putting the pieces together, i couldn't tell what the picture would end up looking like -  it was much, much easier if I looked at the complete picture as I was laboring to place each piece where it belonged. So it is with us. If we want to know where each of us belongs, we must keep our eye on the "Big Picture" - we must look at Christ Himself.    Found within Him is each and every one of us, and when we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, when we grow up into him in all things, fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplies - then we'll step back and see Jesus,  for He is the most beautiful face and the most beautiful picture any of us will ever see and I'll tell you this - some of those pieces did not seem like they belonged together- they did not look like they should be together- but they fit perfectly with one another. Some churches use man's wisdom to try to "fitly join together" the members of the Body of Christ. This is a shame and causes many to be put where they do not belong. Churches stick singles together and teens with teens and young married couples in another -  and it all sounds so logical and it all appeals to soulish wisdom but it isn't God's wisdom, no, not at all.

He might put a young, single man or woman with a family. He might put an older, retired couple with a young, newly wed couple.  He may put a homeless man with a rich man, and on and on. If we'd only let Him have His way (His ways are not our ways), then Church might look vastly different from what we've known.  He might form the unlikeliest of relationships and friendships,  in His Body - How wonderful! In Him, a black family might become life-long friends with a white family- He doesn't see our flesh or our outward appearance- He sees our hearts, and He's far more likely to put younger and older people together,  pairing mature with immature apostles or prophets, evangelists with evangelists, pastors with pastors, teachers with those who will in turn teach others. Imagine five seperate services happening at the same time each time we meet. So, we being many, are one body in Christ,  and everyone members one of another.  So, we being many pieces of the puzzle form the complete picture of Christ-  once we join together in perfect unity, no one piece standing out, lording it over the others, but each piece realizing it is nothing without the other pieces,  worldwide, that they all may be one, as You Father are in Christ,  and Christ is in Thee, that we may be one, framing a complete picture of You in us, that the world might believe.  What will be the greatest fruit of this kind of unity? Of every piece of the puzzle being where they belong? The world will finally see Christ, as He truly is! In us! The glory of the Father! And they'll believe Christ is of God, not a man-made religion,  organized and founded by men, oh hallelujah! The unity the Holy Spirit brings is the greatest witness the world will ever see, for it cannot be found anywhere else. True peace can only be found in the Prince of Peace, Amen! We must connect the Christ in each other to fit the way we should. Selah.