Jesus said "'Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!"

[Susan Unger]

From my blog ~ http://http://enjoygrace-susanu.blog...u-unclean.html

They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes. And when he had stepped out of the boat, immediately a man out of the tombs with an unclean spirit met him. He lived among the tombs; and no one could restrain him any more, even with a chain; for he had often been restrained with shackles and chains, but the chains he wrenched apart, and the shackles he broke in pieces; and no one had the strength to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always howling and bruising himself with stones. When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and bowed down before him; and he shouted at the top of his voice, 'What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.' For he had said to him, 'Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!' Then Jesus asked him, 'What is your name?' He replied, 'My name is Legion; for we are many.' He begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country. Now there on the hillside a great herd of swine was feeding; and the unclean spirits begged him, 'Send us into the swine; let us enter them.' So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out and entered the swine; and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea, and were drowned in the sea. The swineherds ran off and told it in the city and in the country. Then people came to see what it was that had happened. They came to Jesus and saw the demoniac sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, the very man who had had the legion; and they were afraid. Those who had seen what had happened to the demoniac and to the swine reported it. Then they began to beg Jesus to leave their neighborhood. As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed by demons begged him that he might be with him. But Jesus refused, and said to him, 'Go home to your friends, and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and what mercy he has shown you.' And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him; and everyone was amazed. Mark 5:1 - 20 NRSV

Though maybe not as dramatically as with this poor soul who could only live amonst the tombstones, there are many of us who carry with us a similar, albeit smaller burdens that prevent one from living life to the fullest. One can be saved but if old wounds are never exposed to Jesus for his complete healing, these wounds will fester and eventually control us, thereby affecting ourselves and affecting others around us. Since one in this state can survive in society, or have the inner strength to deal with wounds, most often people don't realize that truly living in abundance [John 10:10] means giving to God ALL of our wounds even the little ones that don't seem that big of a problem. But eventually, a time will come when is old and infirm and can't control the anger and pain caused years ago and out it comes...only to affect the innocent. Plus by the time it is often too late to deal with it properly.

A friend who worked at a nursing home told a story of an elderly woman who would walk the walls constantly fightly with her father. Said father had died years ago but the two never worked things out so this lady in her dementia continued the fight. We are all like this. Imagine holding a basketball under water. As long as one's arms are strong one can keep the ball underwater. But when the arms weaken or the body gets sick, up comes the basketball and it hits us in the face. This is what happens when we don't resolve long lasting issues - we'll be ok until something happens and we no longer have the strength to stuff the pain.

Ask God today, everyday and if need be every second of the day to heal you of these wounds. Everyday give God your pain, wounds and anger. Over time, you'll notice a differnce for the better.

[Bob Carabbio]

Except, of course, that you can't "Heal" a case of "demonization", and you can't "Cast out" a "Sickness".

No question that we can nurse festering emotional wounds, and refuse to let God have 'em ("Tearing up the I.O.U." as it were) effectively crippling ourselves mentally, and emotionally.

But "Legion" wasn't an example of that - he was Demonized by spiritual entities to the point that he was unable to deal with the issue, and his ONLY possibility for normalcy was the ministry of deliverance, where the demonic entities were expelled from him.

And by the way - why was an Israelite village raising pigs???

[Susan Unger]

Except, of course, that you can't "Heal" a case of "demonization", and you can't "Cast out" a "Sickness".

No question that we can nurse festering emotional wounds, and refuse to let God have 'em ("Tearing up the I.O.U." as it were) effectively crippling ourselves mentally, and emotionally.

But "Legion" wasn't an example of that - he was Demonized by spiritual entities to the point that he was unable to deal with the issue, and his ONLY possibility for normalcy was the ministry of deliverance, where the demonic entities were expelled from him.

And by the way - why was an Israelite village raising pigs???

The connection I was making was that the little festering wounds that we don't give to God can become tools to oppress in the hands of the enemy. Most would say that they aren't in the case of the demoniac, but not realize that by not letting God heal little wounds they can still have spiritual problems.