By Ramesh C.Reddy
Pittsburgh Standard

September 11, 2008

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SCRIPTURE:
“Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an evil spirit cried out, "What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are--the Holy One of God!" "Be quiet!" said Jesus sternly. "Come out of him!" The evil spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek. The people were all so amazed that they asked each other, "What is this? A new teaching--and with authority! He even gives orders to evil spirits and they obey him." News about him spread quickly over the whole region of Galilee.” (Mark 1:23-28, NIV)

Observations:
I asked myself who are involved in verses 23-28:

1. Man
2. Evil spirit
3. Jesus of Nazareth
4. People

Observations/Interpretations:
I asked myself what function do each play?

Point 1: Man

I asked myself why it’s significant that ‘a man in their synagogue’ is mentioned.

Reading about it really touched me because what came to my mind is that the synagogue was not just populated with people whose lives were going well. This man may have belonged to their synagogue and yet we learn that he was far from well. He was dealing with an evil spirit or demons in his life that were in control of him.

I am reminded that the man only questions Jesus after Jesus teaches with authority in the synagogue and the people are amazed. It is possible that the man was dealing with this captivity for a long time but kept attending the synagogue but for the first time, he saw a way out. He did not give up.

Point 2: Evil Spirit

The man cried out but the evil spirits seem to be doing the talking. There is a battle within the man. An evil spirit possesses the man and talks to Jesus through the man regarding 3 things:

I asked myself what is significant about these two questions!
I found it very significant that an evil spirit in the man felt that Jesus was interfering in the man’s life. The evil spirit wanted to destroy the man but now felt opposition and names the opposition to be Jesus of Nazareth. The evil spirit does not seem to be speaking just on his behalf but on the behalf of all his demons and seems to be claiming that the man belongs to them. This is evident by the phrases ‘with us’ and ‘destroy us’.

I asked myself what is significant of the declarative statement ‘I know who you are—the Holy One of God!’

This is such a powerful statement that the evil spirit makes after mentioning the name of Jesus because the evil spirit is admitting to Jesus being ‘the Holy One of God’. Let us remember that Jesus was tempted in the wilderness by Satan who sends out his evil spirits to do his dirty work but Jesus overcame the temptations of Satan by focusing on God and the Scriptures.

By admitting Jesus to be the ‘Holy One of God’, I get the feeling the evil spirit was telling Jesus not to bother with the man in their synagogue who is not holy. The evil spirit wants the man to be left to them. Yet, Jesus does not ignore the man’s plight. Knowing it is an evil spirit that is controlling the man and making him captive, Jesus intervenes after the teaching.

Point 3: Jesus of Nazareth

I asked myself what Jesus does?

1. Jesus commands the evil spirit sternly to ‘Be Quiet’!
2. Jesus commands the evil spirit sternly to ‘Come out of him’!

I asked myself the significance of these commands!

First, Jesus quiets the evil spirits from revealing more about Jesus. It is interesting how much the evil spirits seemed to know about Jesus. Now, Jesus performs a miracle by removing the evil spirit from the man by commanding it to come out of him. The evil spirit had to obey Jesus and came out of the man with hesitation. This is evidenced by the verse, ‘The evil spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek.’

Whatever the man was facing, Jesus healed him. This man was someone in their synagogue who was possessed and Jesus intervened. This causes a reaction among others in their synagogue which is evidenced by point 4.

Point 4: People

I asked myself what happened after the healing took place!

1. The people were all so amazed.
2. They asked each other, “What is this? A new teaching—and with authority!”
3. They announced that Jesus even gives orders to evil spirits and they obey him.
4. They spread the news about him over the whole region of Galilee.

What stuck out to me from these statements is the phrase ‘He even gives orders’. This tells me that they recognized the awesome teaching with authority that Jesus had given before performing the healing. Now they know that Jesus can even heal people possessed with evil spirits.

Implications:

I saw important implications for my own life here. Just because someone is at church or coming to fellowships, etc I should not assume that everything is ok in their lives. I should be involved in their lives to see if they are troubled and need help. I need to make myself available to others who may want to talk and need help. Jesus calls us to be His Ambassadors and His servants to carry out His work here on earth. Not all are given the same gifts but when we are exhibiting FAITH: faithful, available, involved, teachable, and humble having a heart to reach out with the love of Christ, He will use us in mighty ways for His Kingdom.

At one time,  it took me 33 days in a row to finish reading through the Bible as I spent a lot of time after and before work. One of the verses that stood out for me was in Acts 20:24 which has become my signature verse too!

I ask you now dear friend, what captivity are you facing today in life?
Dear friend, today being Sept 11, 08 there are a lot of people facing captivity to pain, suffering, regrets, etc because of what happened that day. Some face the bottle to overcome the pain, suffering, regrets, etc or face other venues to overcome. But I want you to know Jesus knows the pain you are going through and the captivity you are in regardless of what that captivity is.

I can speak from experience because my beloved dad who was married to my mom for 37 years went to be with the Lord recently. The death of my dad here on earth is still very painful to us especially my mom who was married to my dad for 37 years. All four of us his children and my mom face feelings of captivity  to regrets, pain, and suffering at time.

Yet through it all Jesus has given us His Word, comforted us, and strengthened us. We can empathize with the families of the 9-11 victims who lost their loved ones. He will not abandon anyone who turns to Him.

I do not know what captivity you are facing but Jesus Christ knows. If you are held captive to pornography, unforgiving spirit, perfectionism, idolism, bitter spirit, offensive spirit, addictions whatever they maybe, etc, you will never have to face it alone.

The captivities we face are here to destroy us and to bring our hopes and dreams down. We do not have to allow them to take control of our lives. Yes, friend whatever you face or you know someone is facing, there is hope and the hope is in Jesus.

Come daily with your captivities and lay it at the foot of the cross and allow Jesus' blood to cleanse you of all your sin and depend on Him to deliver you. He will in His timing just as the demon-possessed man was delivered.

I do not assume anymore that if someone comes to church regularly that everything is okay in their lives and they are walking and growing strong in the Lord. This can be far from the truth. Many of them can be facing silent bondage that only the Master’s Hand can heal. But the Master uses His servants’ lots of time to bring His healing. At times the healing of Jesus comes directly.

Captivities can come in many shapes and forms. They do not just have to be demon possession but they can be a bitter spirit, an offensive spirit, an unforgiving spirit, living in the past, having trouble to move on because of things that have happened, loss of hope and dreams, guilt, etc.

If we dwell in them, they will control us but the Good News is that Jesus wants to reach you where you are friend. Yes, He does! Allow Him to come and work in your life. Allow Him to be the Lord of your life.

Don’t give up but keep holding on! If you know someone who seems to be in captivity to something, what they need is your understanding and love. This does not mean the action is condoned but allowing the person to share with you and working with the person to get help.

There are couple of awesome churches I know that have done that very well. I want to invite each and every one of you to Oakland International Fellowship which meets on N. Dithridge Street in Oakland close to the University of Pittsburgh. It is part of Pittsburgh Chinese Church-Oakland.

I could not be writing this to you if the Lord Jesus did not deliver me from different types of captivities that gave me so much pain. Some pain does not go away overnight but the Lord Jesus in His love, grace, and mercy has given me the strength to endure through it all.

When the pain resurfaces, I take it to the Lord in prayer. A particular situation in my life, that couple of my close church cell group members know, is what prompted me to read through the Word in 33 days. I pray our Lord gives each of you His strength to overcome what you face.

That experience was not as painful as losing my dad but He is with the Lord in heaven.

Whatever you are dealing with, allow Jesus to heal you and believe He will. He loves you friend. He will give you the strength and endurance to deal with these captivities. Yes, He will! His Blood was shed for you and can heal you where you are. Yes, He can! Don’t give up! Jesus wants to be the Lord of your past, the Lord of your present, and the Lord of your future. As Jesus works in your life, you can be the one to bring light into someone’s life with the Light of Jesus.

The people were amazed with Jesus not only because of His teaching but because He personally got involved in people’s lives and brought healing to them. The news of what Jesus did started spreading across Galilee. If churches and individuals do that, the news will spread that something is happening there. It is not for our glory but for the glory of Christ.

Friend, the entire human race is held captive to the bondage of sin as Satan pulls the strings. It does not matter whether we are a church attendee or not. Sin holds all of us in captivity and separates us from God and having a relationship with Him. This is what happened to the man who was demon-possessed. He was held as a prisoner but Jesus rescued Him.

Friend, whatever captivity we are facing Jesus is here to rescue us. Jesus will address the root cause in all of our lives is the sin that captivates. Sin can come in many forms but still is sin. Know that Jesus loves you so much that Jesus went to the cross to die for your sins to rescue you and ransom you from its deadly destruction. Jesus shed His precious cleansing blood for you to set you free from any bondage. Jesus was buried and came back to life to save you.

His blood becomes the antidote for us to wash us and wipe our slates clean from the sin that captivates. So come and receive Christ in your life and His forgiveness. Even when you mess up, take it to Jesus always in prayer remembering the example of the man in the synagogue. He was bold enough to be in the synagogue among other believers even if he was facing captivity.

You can do that too! Don't feel you have to have everything together to come to Christ. If you wait for that day, it will never happen because none of us can be good enough ever to receive the grace of Christ. The grace of Christ is given to us while we are yet sinners. That is exciting to know.

Turn your captivity over to the Lord no matter what it is and rest in Him. Your regrets, shame, pain, suffering, and everything else let Jesus have it my friend and allow Him to work in you. He will friend, yes He will.

I know I have to work on overcoming an offensive spirit, bitter spirit, and unforgiving spirit many times and can only do it by the awesome power of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ as I yield my life to Him daily. It is a daily surrender and focusing on Christ! You can do it to friend.

"Let Him have all your worries and cares for He is always thinking about you and watching everything that concerns you!" (1 Peter 5:7, TLB)

May you know the Lord that can heal you and will heal you as you wait upon Him! May you know the strength He gives you as you depend on Him to endure through the captivity that you are facing! Amen!

“Christ's Awesome Power Truly Invokes Valid Inspiration To You!"(C.A.P.T.I.V.I.T.Y)/"What captivity are you facing today in life?"

Prayer:
Dear Lord Jesus, I want to thank you so much for the healing you performed in the man’s life. Even though you are Holy and the man was far from holy, you intervened in his life and healed him. You cared for Him in his weakness. You do that for us too. Thank you Jesus so much for what you have done and what you still do in our lives. I pray now for all those who are in captivity to different things in their life. Sometimes they feel they cannot go on and just want to give up but you Oh Lord are a God who heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. You meet us where we are and we ask you for your healing in people’s lives that need your amazing love. Help us be the vessels you want us to be to carry out your work in this broken world. May our actions bring your Light into people’s dark and aching souls! Please be the Lord of their past, present, and future. Help us to be instruments of love and heal us in our own lives please Jesus. We want you to be lifted higher and higher. Help us to be sensitive to those around us and reach them with your love Jesus. Thank you so much Jesus for your help. Thank you for your healing power, for hearing and answering us! In Your Name I Pray Jesus! Amen!

"May my spoken words and unspoken thoughts be pleasing even to you, O Lord my Rock and my Redeemer." (Psalm 19:14)

If you would like to invite Jesus Christ into your heart and make Him a daily part of your life, you can this very moment. You will never be alone. You can claim God's promises for you in the Bible and see them come true, before your eyes, in His wonderful timing. You don't have to wait for a special time to come to the Lord. You can come right now as you pray the prayer below, meaning it in your heart.

Prayer:
God I am a sinner. I am invaded by this deadliest virus. Many times I feel so guilty and yucky inside. I need forgiveness. I am so sorry for my sins. I have not obeyed you with my whole heart! I have gone my own way and done my own things. I still struggle with sin. I need you Jesus in my life so I can receive forgiveness and a new beginning. In the process, I can forgive others as you help me to. Thank you so much Jesus. I accept the antidote you have sent me. I believe Jesus you died for me and your cleansing blood will cleanse me from all my sins. You came back to life to save me. Thank you God I am set free, free from the bondage of sin. Hear my cry Oh Lord. I accept you Jesus into my heart. I make you my Lord and Personal Savior of my life. Thank you Father God for giving me Salvation. Thank you Jesus for coming into my heart and making my heart your home. Thank you for living in me Jesus and I will live for you and serve you the rest of the days of my life. Thank you for being my Lord and personal Savior! I can live a life of peace with you on my side. Thank you that you have heard my prayer and answered me! In your Name I Pray Jesus! AMEN!