Saturday March 02nd, 2024
« But on Mount Zion there shall be deliverance, And there shall be holiness; The house of Jacob shall possess their possessions »
1Jesus and His disciples arrived on the other side of Lake Galilee, in the territory of Gerasa.
2 As soon as Jesus got out of the boat, He was met by a man who came out of the burial caves there. This man had an evil spirit in him
3 and lived among the tombs. Nobody could keep him tied with chains anymore;
4 many times his feet and his hands had been tied, but every time he broke the chains and smashed the irons on his feet. He was too strong for anyone to control him.
5 Day and night he wandered among the tombs and through the hills, screaming and cutting himself with stones.
6 He was some distance away when he saw Jesus; so he ran, fell on his knees before Him,
7 and screamed in a loud voice, “Jesus, Son of the Most High God! What do You want with me? For God’s sake, I beg You, don’t punish me!”
(8 He said this because Jesus was saying, “Evil spirit, come out of this man!”)
9 So Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” The man answered, “My name is ‘Mob’—there are so many of us!”
10 And he kept begging Jesus not to send the evil spirits out of that region.
11 There was a large herd of pigs near by, feeding on a hillside.
12 So the spirits begged Jesus, “Send us to the pigs, and let us go into them.”
13 He let them go, and the evil spirits went out of the man and entered the pigs. The whole herd—about two thousand pigs in all—rushed down the side of the cliff into the lake and was drowned.
14 The men who had been taking care of the pigs ran away and spread the news in the town and among the farms. People went out to see what had happened,
15 and when they came to Jesus, they saw the man who used to have the mob of demons in him. He was sitting there, clothed and in his right mind; and they were all afraid.
- Bondage is the condition of being dominated by sin fleshly lusts, or demonic powers.
- Bondage refers to any situation contrary to God’s plan and purpose for man according to Genesis 1:27-28.
- It is anything that binds an individual in the torment of fear (Hebrews 2:15).
- Bondage of any kind has one purpose – to shame and disgrace.
- Bondage is usually not forced, as we see in the case of Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:1-19).
People usually become enslaved through the wrong choices they make in life.
Consequently, many live by choice under the control of demonic powers, hard drugs and other forms of addiction like money alcohol, sex and worldly pleasures, without any idea that they are in bondage.
That is why 2 Peter 2:19 NLT says
« They promise freedom, but they themselves are slaves of sin and corruption. For you are a slave to whatever controls you »
Furthermore, Romans 6:16 NLT says
« Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living »
No matter what you are passing through you can make a decision now that will change the course of your life forever.
All you need to do is reject sin and evil, then embrace God and righteousness.
There is nothing glorious about living in bondage.
- Physical bondage includes poverty, sickness, failure, a sinful lifestyle, and addictions.
- Spiritual bondage includes demonic possession, being remotely controlled or tied down, being under the influence and experiencing situations that are not observable or physically explicable, as seen in the case of the mad man of Gadara in our Bible reading today.
The good news is that Jesus came to this world for the purpose of restoring freedom to man in line with John 10:10 and Luke 4:18.
As you reject Satan and submit to Jesus today, He will make you whole and deliver you completely from all forms of bondage, in Jesus’ name.
Prayer focus – Father, please deliver me from everything blocking the manifestation of Your glory in my life, in Jesus name
Author – Bishop Enoch. A. Adeboye.
Edited by Naomie
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