God’s presence in our lives can change us.. Let’s look at Mark Chapter 5 to see how God can deliver us from our struggles and call us to a greater purpose. It is essential that we learn to share our personal stories of faith and transformation to inspire and encourage others. Learn to be intentional about sharing your faith! God’s greatest gift to us is his presence – let’s learn to lean into it.
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Show Notes:
Story: The demoniac from Mark 5
Jesus Saves You From (Delivers)
Legion of demons
Evil realm
Spiritual battle
Tools and weapons
Addictions and patterns of sin
Fullness vs emptiness
Jesus Saves You For (Purpose)
Ready to follow
Clear direction from Jesus
International steps
How to tell your story
Friends relatives Acquaintances neighbors coworkers
Jesus is greater than the darkness demons death despair and doubts
Takeaway-
Wrote a paragraph of your story
Pray about your purpose and next steps
Share your story
Special thanks to World Concern for sponsoring The Bonfire Podcast.
Transcription:
Jesse Bradley:
Welcome to the Bonfire. My name’s Jesse Bradley. Thanks so much for joining us. We appreciate everyone who’s put down a comment, a like subscribing, telling friends about this podcast. Here’s what we’re all about, God’s presence. There’s no greater gift. God’s presence changes our lives and we gather together to grow in our faith. We’re trying to figure out how to be on fire for God, how to overcome, how to walk by faith, how to together be inspired, learn from each other, learn from scripture, and also as we start, there’s always stories around the Bonfire. This season we’re looking at different stories, people who are inspiring because the fire’s not just taught, it’s also caught. And as we dive into these different stories, there might be a different setting or personality than yours, but it’s so relevant, it’s relatable, and God continues to speak through these stories to us today. God’s word is powerful and I encourage you as we talk through different stories, take time to read them and then share them with friends, process it together.
Today’s theme is important, and when we talk about God saving us, he saves us from, and also for we talk about God delivering us. He delivers us from things but also with a purpose. From and for it’s a both end. And when you think about being on fire for God, it’s really important to dive into the from, and the for. There’s a story in Mark Chapter 5, a demoniac. This story gets pretty intense. It’s a story I’ve turned to the last year and it just continues to speak to me and my prayer is that it really speaks to you today. We’re going to walk through from, and then for, both are significant and think through your own journey. Think through your own story, who God is, what He’s done in your life, who you are, what he’s calling you to do right now. And my prayer is that the spiritual temperature grows, it rises, there’s an ascension that happens in God’s presence. The power of the Holy Spirit taking over in our lives.
Mark Chapter 5, we have a demoniac. It’s a tragic situation. Jesus is going into a new region, the garrisons, and there’s a man there who’s been tormented. In fact, day and night, they tried to chain him. He breaks the chains. Then he cuts himself, he cries out, and everyone in the town knows what’s going on. Maybe you have someone in your neighborhood, your city, your community, everyone knows it’s not a good situation. No one’s really sure how to help, and Jesus shows up. Now this man comes to Jesus and this man is demon possessed. There’s a conversation. Sometimes Jesus will talk with people. Sometimes he had a conversation with the devil, he has a conversation with demons. We find out that there’s not just one demon. There’s many demons, a legion of demons inside this man, and it’s important as you read that to understand a little more about the spiritual battle, good versus evil, light versus darkness, God versus the devil.
What is happening? When you read the word demons, you might be skeptical and think, “Yeah, I don’t think demons exist.” Well, they do. They are fallen angels and demons want to steal, kill and destroy. That’s the enemy of our very souls. And demons are active throughout the world. They are these fallen angels who are trying to either work subtly so you don’t notice them as much. They masquerade as light. They appear to be friendly, but they’re actually destructive or they’re very bold. They possess people. They are also trying to intimidate, bring fear. Here’s the good news right away, you don’t need to live in fear and walk in fear because God’s power is greater than any demonic power. The one who’s in you is greater than the one who’s in the world, and perfect love drives out fear. You never have to fear in Jesus’ name and your security and position identity in Jesus, you don’t have to fear demons. You’ve been given authority and you’ve been given some tools and I want to unpack that in a minute because it’s very important in the spiritual battle.
Let’s continue with the story, then I’ll talk a little more practically how to handle the darkness in your life. In this story, Jesus drives out the legion of demons and the demons run into the pigs. If the demons can no longer steal, kill and destroy in this man’s life, now they’re going to go and with the pigs torment the pigs, the pigs run off the cliff and this story spreads around the town. Now the townspeople come to Jesus and they see that this man has now been restored and healed in his right mind. It’s an amazing work that God has done. No one else could help him. Now he’s delivered from the demons, but the townspeople don’t celebrate that.
Instead, they focus on the pigs. That the pigs ran over the cliff. And because of that, they say to Jesus, in fact, they plead with Jesus, “Please leave our region.” It’s one of the saddest verses in the Bible. They’re not recognizing Jesus’s greatness as authority, as benevolence. They’re not acknowledging the miracle. They’re not acknowledging the restoration and the healing. Instead, they focus on the pigs. A lot of people are more concerned about their possessions than they are about other people or even the prince of peace who’s shown up and when they say, “Jesus, leave our region.” It’s never good to say, “Jesus, leave my life. Jesus, leave part of my life. Jesus, leave me alone. Jesus, leave our nation.” That’s not good. Blessed is a nation who fears God.
In many ways, in my own country, in America, I feel like we’ve made the statement, Jesus, leave. You’re not wanted here. And that is not going to play out well for any nation or family or individual or church. The most important thing when you consider a church is the presence of God and closeness with Jesus. So do everything you can do to say Jesus, you’re welcome here. We want you here. We cherish you, we value you, and we embrace you in this place. Say that in your heart. Say that in your family, in your home. Make sure in your church, that’s the posture. That’s the prayer. Now, when you think about what just happened, you might feel like I can’t relate at all. I’ve never been possessed by a demon, who can be possessed by a demon. Well, people are influenced by demons in many ways. There’s like a spectrum. Possession is the most intense, but there’s also oppression. There’s also footholds and strongholds.
Now, I don’t believe that a born again Christian with the Holy Spirit in you can ever be possessed by a demon. But I do think the demons can oppress. They can inflict harm, and they want to create space in your life. Here’s some truths about the devil. The devil can’t make you sin. Does not have the power to make you sin, and no one can use the excuse, “The devil made me do it.” That’s a common excuse. No, we choose when temptation comes how we’re going to respond. You can use God’s word that is mighty in the spiritual battle like a sword. You can get distance from sin when there’s impurity, whether it’s on your phone or with another person, you’re tempted towards impurity. The Bible says, “Flee, get out of there. Drop the phone, get some distance.” Those are choices you can make. You are empowered by God to say no to temptation. He always gives you a way out.
And when it comes to the enemy, Ephesians Chapter 6 lays out that you have spiritual armor. This spiritual armor, remember the belt of truth, walk in truth. What does God say? And the devil wants to bring lies. That’s his native language. You have a shield of faith, a breastplate of righteousness, a helmet of salvation feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. You every day put on God’s spiritual armor in this spiritual battle. You see the spiritual battle rage. Things are less subtle than they were in America 10 years ago. Now, sin is more blatant. People boast about sin. Take pride in sin. The devil’s work, Satan worshipers. There’s all kinds of expressions of darkness. Tarot cards, horoscopes, superstition. There’s intense stuff.
Listen, I’ve been around a person who is possessed by a demon and there was a deliverance, and what happened? It was in a setting where many people were praying, many people were worshiping, many people were even commanding with authority for the demon to leave the person. And that battle is real. Maybe you’ve been around some situations that have been extremely dark. There’s been demonic manifestation in one form or another. And in those situations, what do you do? You pray, there’s repentance. You want to invite God’s presence, worship God, thank God, and you’ve even been given authority to drive out demons in Jesus’ name. All that is significant. It’s throughout the gospels. You can read more in depth on that topic. I just didn’t want to skimm past that in this story because this podcast is about equipping you, empowering you, informing you so that you can be all God’s designed you to be, and you can use all the tools that God’s given you.
And sometimes we’re in the mode of self-sufficiency, which is a lie. We think we can handle everything with technology, with our own strength, with our own just intellect. But actually the Bible’s very clear. Trust in the Lord, lean not on your own understanding and all your ways acknowledge him. He will direct your paths. The Bible’s clear that we need God’s help, his spirit, his word, God’s people around, prayer. Listen, praise is even powerful as it drives out darkness. When you enter into worship, God moves and as God’s honored, God dwells there. Jesus didn’t do many miracles in his hometown. Why? There’s a lack of faith. So there is a connection between our response to God and the amount of light that he brings.
Like a dimmer switch, we just want to say yes to turning up the light, more of the fire of God that overcomes the darkness, and that’s an important part of the story. As you look at the first half of this story, there’s a deliverance from. God delivers you from things. I’ve looked at my family history, there’s so much alcoholism. God has delivered me from that and a new trajectory for future generations in my family. God delivers you from secret sins. You might have some sins that people don’t know about, but God knows. He’s not surprised and you just keep going back to the same sins. You don’t have to in Jesus’ name. There’s a deliverance there. You don’t have to be bound or a slave to addiction. Sin wants to master you. It wants to master you. You’re either going to honor God or you’re going to honor sin. And if sin is the one you’re bowing down to, you can’t have two masters, either the savior or sin. So repent, turn from sin, turn to the savior.
Jesus will help you all the way through that process. It can be negative thought patterns where it’s lies and you’re beating yourself up constantly. Failure, you’re no good. It’s not going anywhere. That voice, it’s not from God. It could be an action. It could be sexual purity that you just keep going back to the same thing. It could be alcohol. It could be lies that you actually speak, and there’s so many ways that we can choose sin. Say yes to sin. Keep going back to the same sins. God wants to deliver us because God loves us more than we love ourselves, and he wants to teach us how to love him, not sin and break free from the bonds. The truth will set you free.
Jesus will set you free. He came to set captives free. You don’t have to be bound anymore. You’re more than a conqueror through Jesus. He gives you a new mind. He gives you a renewal of the mind. He strengthens your inner man and inner woman. He changes the trajectory of your life. He pulls you out of the pit, in the mud, in the muck, in the mire, and he delivers you from that ultimately through his death on a cross and his resurrection. Jesus delivers you from the penalty of sin. He gives you a pardon. You have forgiveness. You’re going to heaven. Just let that sink in. What God has delivered you from, he’s delivered you from an eternity apart from himself. He’s delivered you from all the loneliness because he will never leave you or forsake you. You are in his family forever. He delivers you from guilt and shame because he not only forgives your sin, but he takes away the guilt and the shame.
God delivers you from an identity that’s linked to your failure. Your failure and mistakes don’t define you, don’t give them too much power. There are so many things God delivers you from and it’s important at this part of the story just to stop and celebrate that. To think through your own journey in what God has delivered you from. And maybe he’s delivered you from some trials that you struggled and you had no money or there were health situations or there was a bad breakup or there was strife in your family, all the different things that we go through in life that God delivers us from is powerful. It’s a list that we’re going to be thanking God for eternity.
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Knowing what God’s delivered you from and is delivering you from right now because as you listen, you might be breaking free from some patterns, from some sin, from some secret stuff in Jesus’ name. So deliver you from is the first half of the story, and that creates the space in the room. Now, God saves you not only from, but he saves you for. We all need salvation from our sins, the forgiveness of sins and ultimately the penalty of sins. And he gives you salvation and deliverance from the power of sin in your life and in heaven, there’ll be deliverance from the presence of sin. All that is deliverance from. But what does he deliver you for? What’s the purpose he calls you into? God saves you from, and he saves you for a great purpose.
And as we go back to now, Mark Chapter 5 and the demoniac, and he’s in his right mind. He’s healed. The people in the city are telling Jesus to leave the region. The demoniac is so grateful and he says, “Jesus, what do you want me to do? Should I travel with you? I’m ready to go Jesus.” And what’s interesting is Jesus redirects him because Jesus is the Lord. He knows where to place us. He knows our next step, and when you surrender to him, he reveals more. And Jesus said, “Start with your family, your friends, and this area where you live, this community, the de Capitalis, the 10 cities.” Jesus is very intentional where he places us, what he wants us to do, and it’s very personal, specific. It’s timely. The demoniac hears a clear message from Jesus, “Tell the people who know you and the people where you live, work, learn and play, all the people around you. Tell them this story of what God has done in your life of God’s mercy, God’s grace, God’s healing. Tell them the story.”
Isn’t it interesting throughout scripture how much God and empowers and encourages us to tell our stories? You might be telling your story to a lot of people, but typically people are quiet about their story. They haven’t really shared it with that many people or they don’t think their story is that important or significant. Every person is significant. Every story is significant. There’s probably 100 things that God’s done in your life. Every single one of those is an important part of your story. When you think about telling your story, there are so many platforms. You can tell it when you get baptized. At our church, Grace Community Church in Auburn, we share our stories. Whenever there’s a baptism, it’s about a paragraph and sharing what God has done. So it’s not just, “Hey, here’s another baptism. The person gets dunked and then we all celebrate.”
But instead, this is why it’s not just generic. Here’s a story. This is the story of the person who’s getting baptized. Have you ever done that before? I encourage you to take away today. Write down your story in one paragraph. Just share the overall view of what God has done in your life. When you consider putting your story together, you might think about what was your life like before Jesus? And then how did you come to know Jesus? And what has Jesus done in your life since you followed him? You might’ve become a Christian at age 5, 15, 35. My grandparents are in their seventies and eighties when they put their trust in Jesus. Some of you have more life before Christ, some of you have less. That’s okay. And then talk about deciding to put your trust in Jesus and then how has God protected you? How has he provided for you? What has he done? What has he delivered you from in your journey?
And it’s not that the more sin you have, the better your story is. That’s not it, because God’s faithfulness is evident in everyone’s story. God’s goodness is evident in everyone’s story. God’s teaching all of us. We’re all learning. We’re growing together. God’s given everyone gifts. God’s using everyone in special ways. There’s so many components to your story. Don’t bury your story. Instead, offer it to God and say, “God, who do you want me to share it with?” It might be again on social media as a post. It might be as you’re sitting down with coffee with someone. It might be at a family gathering. It could be that you find people who can relate to you, like if you’ve made it through some health challenges, you’re going to find some people who are going through that.
If you had, let’s say, a family life that wasn’t that great, you’re going to find some people who can relate. Naturally, you’re going to connect with people who have similar experiences, but everyone can gain value. There is value that you bring when you share your story. And stories are disarming. Stories are personal. When you share your story, someone else is probably going to share theirs. Or you can just start by listening and asking them questions about their story, and then they’re going to ask you about yours. Sharing your journey with someone else, that’s often where God really moves in amazing ways. So don’t nullify, forget that, overlook that, belittle that, skip past that. In fact, that’s the very open door in the gateway in Mark Chapter 5 for this demoniac in his neighborhood.
See the people who know you well, they can see God working in your life, and the people who know who the demoniac used to be can see the difference. It’s undeniable. The people who know you the best, they know when you’re encouraged. They know when you’re inspired. They know when they see a change, and they might not know the why, so then you can share the why. They’re seeing the what. What has changed? You just have a different attitude. You have different energy. You have a different hope. You have a different perseverance. You have a different steadiness. You have a different peace. The world is chaos everywhere, but I just sense around you, you have peace and security. Where’s that coming from? And then you share the why. They’re noticing the what, but if you don’t talk about it, they’re just going to assume, “That’s just because you’re a great guy. You have it all figured out. You’ve mastered life. You can do it all on your own,” and you need to share your story.
Actually, God’s working in my life. He helps me every day. Without him I feel weak. Without him sometimes I’m directionless. Without him I feel lonely. But this is what God’s done. He’s delivered me from and He’s delivered me for. And God has already began a good work in you. He’s faithful to complete it. Run the race, fight the good fight, and your blessings are going to be linked to other people’s blessings. God blesses the demoniac so that his story can bless other people. God delivers the demoniac so that others who are bound can be set free. As you read this story, it’s clear Jesus is greater than despair, than darkness, than death, than the devil, than demons. You see, the devil’s a defeated foe. He right now hasn’t had a final defeat, but the clock’s ticking and he’s going to be thrown into the lake of fire.
We will finally have a new heaven and a new earth. No devil, no demons, no sin, no temptation. That’s what’s coming. So the clock is ticking right now, and the devil is desperate. The demon’s trying to drive people away from God everywhere. How do you know if demons are at work? They’re driving people away from God. They want to steal, kill and destroy your peace, your joy, your closeness with God, but defeated foes, the clock is ticking. See, when you praise God that something the devil can’t do, something the devil won’t do, and something the devil doesn’t want you to do.
When you trust God, when you draw close to God in scripture, when you’re praying to God, when you’re thanking God, when you’re glorifying God, when you’re leading people to God, when you’re serving people and make a difference in their life, and they see God through you, all of that is stuff the devil and the demons can’t do. They won’t do, and they don’t want you to do, so the battle’s on. Whether you like it or not, the battle is real every day. Light and darkness, good and evil. You in the spiritual battle, that’s not going away.
Instead of living in denial, get equipped. Read Ephesians Chapter 6. Start to put on the spiritual armor of God and don’t just celebrate what God’s delivered you from because here’s the picture, full, empty, full. For the demoniac, he was full of demons. Jesus drove them out, so he was empty of the demons, but then he filled his life and God filled his life with what? Healing, restoration, the Holy Spirit, God’s presence, Jesus, purpose, his story telling other people, seeing more lives changed. It’s really important you know God saves you from, and God saves you for.
It was full of junk and sin in some part of your life. God cleans house, drives it out and then fills you with the good things. A lot of people think emptiness is the goal. Just meditate and get to emptiness. No, emptiness is not the goal. Fullness is the goal. That our lives would be full of the right things and God is the one who can drive out the junk and then also add what we truly need. God gives you everything you need for life and godliness. So as you think about your story, what has God delivered you from? What has God delivered you for? In a paragraph, write that down.
And the demoniac stepped into a clear vision, a compelling purpose, Christ’s love moved him forward. And I’m going to ask you, what is God calling you to do? What does it look like where you live, work, learn or play? Are you willing to tell your story? Are you willing to take relationship risks? God’s going to give you courage. It’s going to bless many people, but it starts with a willingness. God’s going to feel you with this spirit.
As God fills you with this spirit, there’s a story in the book of Acts where it’s like, hey, if you drive out the darkness and you just have the house staying empty and you don’t fill it with God’s presence, there’s going to be more demons that return because you never went forward and you never filled it with the good things of God. But when you do have a house, your body, a tent, and God fills it with good things, then there’s going to be incredible impact. You’re going to abide with Jesus and you’re going to bear much fruit. So the good things that God’s calling you to, when you listen to Jesus, what would you say he’s calling you to do? For the demoniac, it was clear, the de Capitalis, 10 cities, share your story, start with family and then reach your community.
How about for you? What would you write it down right now? What is God called you to do? Who will you share your story with? You can think through FRANC as an acronym. Your friends, your relatives, acquaintances, neighbors, coworkers. This might sound intentional, but you can make lists, which friends, which relatives, which acquaintances, which neighbors and which coworkers, because there’s a lot of people, God’s placed in your life, and as you share about Jesus, you listen to their stories. You share about your story, that’s where God transforms lives. And it might sound intentional to make a list of those people and then pray, say, “God, who do you want me to share with?” It was very intentional the way Jesus led this demoniac who’s now healed and there’s nothing wrong with being intentional. Does God work in the spontaneous? 100%. Does God work in the unplanned? Absolutely.
But there’s also the very directed, specific intentional steps. Jesus listened to the Father every day and then he knew, “I can’t stay here. I’ve got to go to the next villages.” It was intentional. There were other times where it looks like there’s interruptions. The woman with an issue of blood comes to Jesus and he heals her. There’s man who come appear to interrupt, but Jesus works in both, the spontaneous, unplanned and the very intentional planned. And a lot of people who could really encourage and empower other people, don’t stop and pray and think about it intentionally. So they just go through life and they leave a lot of points on the field. The impact that you could have, you don’t want to end your life thinking, “Wow. I think that was about 30% of what could have been.”
For the demoniac, how much has God done in your life? When you think about how much God has done in your life, how much he’s provided for you, it’s too much to stay contained or quiet or complacent or just act like it’s no big deal. In fact, he delivers you from that for a purpose and don’t put any limits on what God wants to do. Whatever your gifts are, they might be more speaking or serving, but all of that, you’re a telling stories. We have a tech team and a video team and editing, and what are they doing? They’re telling stories like scripture, stories around the Bonfire stories. Why? Because stories, they fan the flame. The spiritual temperature changes. It’s not just taught, it’s caught. We’re inspired and our lives are changed. That’s what the Bonfire is about. That’s what Mark Chapter 5 is about. God saves you from God, saves you for. Embrace both today. Don’t settle for half. God wants to use you in amazing ways.
So again, the challenge today, write down the paragraph, what’s your story? And then make a list. Friends, relatives, acquaintances, neighbors, coworkers, take the relationship risk, pray about it. Start to listen to other people’s stories and share yours. Be faithful. Trust God with the results. That’s what happened in Mark Chapter 5. If God can use a demoniac with a legion of demons, God can use anyone who’s available to him today. I hope that’s encouraged you.
We want to keep growing in our faith together, journeying together at the Bonfire. If this has been a blessing in your life, if this has added value, here’s one thing we’d really appreciate. If you could like the podcast, rate it, make comment, subscribe, and tell some friends. The whole picture of a Bonfire is that God is the one who is love, light in a consuming fire, and the fire grows in our lives. The embers fade alone, but we come together and let’s continue to encourage each other. Be intentional with that. There’s no limits to what God can do, and God’s greatest gift is his presence. Thanks so much for taking time to join us today at the Bonfire.
