A Demoniac's Testimony

Wednesday, October 8, 2025

The men who tended them ran off and reported it in the town and the countryside, and people went to see what had happened. Mark 5:14

A Demoniac's Testimony

This verse in Mark comes from a story of a man who was possessed by many demons. Jesus and his disciples met him as they crossed the sea of Galilee one day to the area of Decapolis, a group of ten Gentile cities with a pagan worldview. They were not interested in Jesus and his disciples, or how he could change their lives.  

Jesus and the disciples met the demoniac as they got to the shore. It must have been a terrifying sight. The Bible tells us he was living among the dead, in the tombs. He most likely had ripped all his clothes off and he was dragging chains that he had torn apart with his bare hands. They had tried to chain him up but he broke the chains. He was roaming about, crying out, in what probably sounded like a wild animal. Seeing a human in that shape can be a terrifying thing to behold.

Jesus called the demons out of him and into a herd of pigs, which then ran off of a cliff into the ocean and drown. The herdsmen ran to town and told everyone there what had happened. So they followed him back to where Jesus and the disciples were and saw the man that they had known as demon possessed dressed and in his right mind. The people were afraid and asked Jesus to leave. They believed that the demons should have more power than Jesus, so they did not know what to think. They were okay with the demon possessed man, but not with Jesus. They were afraid of how Jesus would change their lives. 

After Jesus healed him, he wanted to leave with Jesus. It is understandable he didn’t want to stay where he had lived in such oppression by Satan. There were probably no good memories for him from this place at all. He had been outcast, chained up, tormented by demons and probably by people as well – maybe even family that loved him. It makes sense he wanted to go to a new place and start a new life in Jesus. But sometimes Jesus asks us to stay. He sometimes asks us to stay where we were once tormented by sin and bad influences. He sometimes asks us to stay where our reputation is not that of a follower of Jesus. He sometimes asks us to stay in places we would rather forget.

Why would he do that? Why would Jesus tell that poor man that he had to stay where he had lived the most painful life? The answer is simple - he was sent to advance the Kingdom of God. Jesus sent him off to tell them that the Kingdom of Heaven had come.  Those people there knew the worst of this man. Some of them had seen how he was changed by Jesus, and they were afraid and rejected Jesus, asking him to leave. But they knew this man, and they would listen to him, at least out of curiosity of what had happened.  This man could be a light among these Gentile cities in a way that Jesus could not.

At that time, his life and the change that Jesus had made in him would influence those people more than Jesus himself staying with them and trying to tell them about the Kingdom of God. They knew who this man once was, and they saw how he was after he was changed. They would listen to him, ask questions, and he would have a great influence in that area for the Kingdom of God. He was sent by Jesus to be the Kingdom of God to an area full of people who didn’t know Jesus. But many of them would want to know him after witnessing and hearing about this man’s transformation. 

Sometimes we have to stay in Decapolis when all we want is to go somewhere else. Being the Kingdom of God means that we will be uncomfortable at times, and we will be inconvenienced at times. Part of being the Kingdom of God to a lost and dying world means sacrifice.  Being surrendered to Christ means going where he tells us to go, or staying where he wants us to stay, to let as many people know as we can that the Kingdom of Heaven has come!  

King Jesus

 Tuesday, October 7, 2025

I have become its servant, according to God’s commission that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. God wanted to make known among the Gentiles the glorious wealth of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. We proclaim him, warning and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ. I labor for this, striving with his strength that works powerfully in me. Colossians 1:25-29

King Jesus

In Colossae there were false teachers challenging the nature and authority of Jesus. Paul was an apostle sent to deliver a very important message to the church there to beware of the false teachers and to make sure they remembered who Jesus truly is. He understood that, as God's servant, he had been given a responsibility, a stewardship, to "make the word of God fully known" v25.

Paul said he was called to reveal the "mystery hidden for ages and generations." This mystery was the good news that the promised Christ, the Messiah, had finally come! The Kingdom of God had come. 

Earlier in this chapter Paul says a lot about who Jesus is by looking at what He has done. 

He was the firstborn of all creation, he created all things and reconciled all things. He has always existed, before time, and is a part of the trinity - God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He has the highest honor overall. He is the heir of God the Father. He died for us and rose again. His reconciliation redeemed us, making us holy, blameless, and justified. He exchanged our sin for righteousness so we could have eternal life. Others need to know this part - that no matter how bad they think they are, or how much they have messed up, He is waiting to take it from them and wipe it all away.  

Jesus is…

For everything was created by him, in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities — all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and by him all things hold together. Colossians 1:16-17

Creator - as a part of the Godhead. v.16 The whole of creation is His work - all of it. All things were created through Him and for Him - they were created by Him. In Him all things hold together - He created all things, and He sustains all things, preserves all things. He made it all and it is only in Him that it is all held together and still working. He was before all things because He is eternal. 

Head (Lord) of the Church - He is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. v. 18 This refers to Jesus’ role as source of the church, like we refer to the head of a river. The starting point - the beginning. Ask-Receive

Savior - through His death.  v.21-23 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.

Jesus died for one reason and that was our need to be reconciled to God. Our sins were the nails that held Him on the cross. Our desire for salvation should be to be made clean, so we can be presented holy and blameless before God, not just so we don’t burn in hell. 

Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. v.24-27

Paul says that all he did was his share on behalf of His body (which is the church). Our part is to reveal the mystery and tell the story of Jesus and His glory. As the Kingdom of God we are God's royal representatives in our world today, and the Holy Spirit in us wants to proclaim this great message of victory — the message that Jesus, our King, our salvation, has come!

How will you steward the Kingdom of God in your life? 

Your Kingdom Come

Monday, October 6, 2025

Your Kingdom Come… Matthew 6:10a

We are currently in a series on The Lord’s Prayer, titled “Pray Like This.” The Lord’s prayer is a model Jesus gave us to help us pray in the right way – a way that will help us live and look more and more like him every day. Our key truth for this series is, “To pray like Jesus prayed is to see like Jesus saw, trust like Jesus trusted, and live like Jesus lived.”

As we have said, every line of the Lord’s Prayer teaches us something. “Your Kingdom Come,” teaches us that as followers of Jesus we should be praying for his Kingdom to come right now and that we bring the Kingdom of God to all those around us through our lives. The Kingdom of God is the already, but not yet, reign or rule of God over all of life. God’s Kingdom is eternal and is past, present, and future. 

Jesus is the King – Every kingdom must have a ruler, and God has declared Jesus as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He is over all kings and rulers, powers, dominions, principalities, or governments. He alone will reign supreme as King and Lord of all the earth.

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For everything was created by him, in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities — all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and by him all things hold together. 1:15-17

Jesus is supreme over all creation. Everything is held together by him. He is the king of God’s Kingdom and the king of our hearts, as we were created to know him. 

While he was on earth Jesus proclaimed the Kingdom of God and we are to keep proclaiming the Kingdom of God until he fulfills the Kingdom on earth with his return. 

The Kingdom of God has come because Jesus has come. God’s presence coming down from heaven to earth through Jesus is his Kingdom come.  

The Kingdom of God will come when Jesus returns, and the Kingdom of God will be fulfilled. He will return to those who belong to him. 

What does the Kingdom of God look like, and how does it inform how we should pray? 

The kingdom of God looks like you and me living our lives in such a way that everyone around us knows that the King is in the house – Jesus is in our hearts. If we have Jesus in our hearts, we will live our lives in a different way. We will reflect his glory with our whole lives – in the things we do and say and the way we treat others. Pastor Jim has said that as followers we are to learn to live and love like Jesus and that is exactly what the Kingdom of God looks like – his followers living like he lived and loving others the way he loves them. 

As followers of Jesus, we should be praying for the Kingdom of God. We should be praying for the Kingdom of God at work today in the world. We should pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ serving all over the world so that everyone can know the Gospel. We should pray for our own service in the Kingdom of God – that our lives will be a testimony to those around us, and that we will have eyes to see those around us who need the Gospel and always be ready to show them the Kingdom of God and share the Good News. Your kingdom come is the desire of Jesus’ followers to see God’s Kingdom broaden and become known throughout the world in the here and now. That happens with you and me. That happens in our everyday lives – the way we live and love others. That happens with the body of Christ working with the Kingdom here on earth.

Praying “Your Kingdom come,” means asking the heavenly Father to help us in our own lives to be faithful, obedient, authentic, and effective followers. 

Have you acknowledged him as your King, repented, and followed him?

If so, are you being the Kingdom of God in your life to those around you? 

Pray Like This... “Your Kingdom Come..."

Pray Like This...
“Your Kingdom Come..."
Matthew 6:9-13 (CSB)

 

- Prayer - “Prayer is a personal conversation with a holy and loving God that reorients our reality and makes all things possible.”

- Key Truth - “To pray like Jesus prayed is to see like Jesus saw, trust like Jesus trusted, and live like Jesus lived.”

- Kingdom of God:  The already, but not yet, reign or rule of God over all of life.

Main Question: What does the Kingdom of God look like, and how does it inform how we should pray? 

 

1.        Jesus is the King. 

2.        The Kingdom of God has come.

3.    The Kingdom of God will come.

 

After the Message: 

Participate in the NSBC 70 days of prayer. Download the NSBC App and turn on notifications to receive daily prayer prompts. 

Out Of The Darkness

 Friday, October 3, 2925

But you are a chosen race, A royal priesthood, a holy nation,m A PEOPLE FOR God's OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;  1 Peter 2:9

Darkness – the absence of light.  Darkness can mean so many things.  Sometimes it is a feeling or a mood.  Sometimes it is a shade.  Sometimes it is the night outside.  Sometimes it just simply means the lights are off.  Often darkness is associated with fear, evil, scary things.  The darkness frightens us for many reasons, one of the biggest being that you simply cannot see – you don’t know what is there or what to expect.  When you don’t know what is there or what to expect you may begin to completely make it up, not even realizing that is what you are doing.  We can hear a sound in the dark and make up a thousand terrifying things that it could be only to finally turn on the light and see that it was nothing scary at all.  I did that as a kid, and I confess I have done it a time or two as an adult.  

Under the cover of darkness, you can hide a lot of stuff.  That is why so much corruption happens at night.  It is harder to see.  During the daytime, the bright light of the sun exposes things that are hidden at night. It is the same way with our sin. We can hide our sin in the dark places of our heart but hiding it does not make it go away.  We can hide our problems in the dark recesses of our lives, but they are still there.  They don’t get solved by keeping them a secret.  The light of God exposes all these things in our lives – sins, secrets, etc…  We can hide nothing from Him.  

Into His Marvelous Light…Sun. I love the sun for so many reasons. The sun is warm; it is a beautiful color and makes the world sparkle in its light.  A sun-shiny day is so much better than a dreary day, and everything is so much clearer in the bright light of day.  You can see everything that was hidden in the dark of the night.  When you go to the dentist what does he do? He turns on a bright light so he can see to fix the problem.  The same is true with a doctor.  They need to be able to see everything clearly or they can’t help us.  

Light exposes things. Light exposes truth.  All the sin and secrets that we hide away are exposed by the light of God - His marvelous light.  The weight and burden of all the sin secrets we harbor are not really hidden at all.  They may be hidden from the world, but they have never been hidden to our Heavenly Father. We are really just hiding them from ourselves.  When we allow them to be exposed in his marvelous light, we find grace and mercy too. He loves us and does not want us to hide from Him.  He wants us to give it all to Him – strengths, weaknesses, sin, attitudes, wrong feelings, etc…  His love is unconditional and all-encompassing.  He knows everything already and He still calls us His sons and daughters, a royal priesthood, chosen by God.  

Have you ever felt a burden lifted when you had a problem you were worried about and you were keeping it to yourself or when you needed to confess to someone and ask forgiveness?  There is nothing like the relief that comes when the cat is finally out of the bag and you are not straining under the burden of darkness.  Leave the darkness and go to the light.  Allow the burden to be lifted from you by the one who cares more about you than any human being.  Taste the freedom and declare His excellencies!  

 For everyone who does evil hates the Light and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.  But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, sothat his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.  John 3:20-21

A Living Prayer

Thursday, October 2, 2025

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  Philippians 4:6

A Living Prayer

Prayer is conversation with God. It is our time of fellowship with God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. It is an open line of communication with our Heavenly Father. No appointment necessary. We have instant access to the creator of the universe. An audience with the King. 

Although we have all been taught to pray like we are talking to our best friend, and that is what we should do, we still need to remember and acknowledge the honor His holiness. When Jesus modeled prayer for us in Matthew chapter 6, He started with Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name….  To be hallowed is to be holy, separate, and sanctified. When we start our prayers by acknowleding that He is holy and set apart, we are asking that He listen and act in His soverignty and holiness in response to our prayers, and He will. We have to be willing to surrender to His soverignty and accept the answer He gives. We can trust that in His love for us, He will make the very best decisions in our lives. 

Prayer acknowledges God’s presence in our lives and opens the door for fellowship with Him. A lot of times we approace prayer like it is a one-way street, instead of a conversation between two people. It is our opportunity to speak to God intimately, but it is also His time to speak to us intimately. When we pray, it is important for us to have open hearts and open minds. 

Worship should also be a part of our prayer time – worshipping God’s glory and thanking Him for all He has done. We can get in the habit of thinking that there is nothing good in our lives, especially when we are in the middle of a trial. The hard can consume the good if we are not intentional about finding the things we need to be thankful for. They are there. God has been faithful and good and He deserves for us to remember that always. 

In I Thessalonians 5:16-18, Paul tells us to Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.  When we have true faith in God, it changes how we do everything. This advice from Paul is a living prayer – a way we can keep our hearts and minds focused on God always, and in everything we do.

Rejoice always… Rejoice always because of salvation. Rejoice always because of God’s promises. Rejoice always because He is our strength. Rejoice always because He works all things for our good. We rejoice always because of what He has done, is doing, and will continue to do, no matter what is happening around us. Rejoice always because one day…we will see Him face to face. 

Pray without ceasing… We can keep the line of communication between us and God open all the time and about everything. He cares about it all – big and small.  

Give thanks in all circumstances… Good and bad, as hard as it sounds, we are to give thanks for everything. It may not feel like something we should be thankful for, but God uses everything in our lives for His glory – and that is something to be thankful for. 

For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you…He always, always, always has our best interest at heart. This attitude and rule of living is how we should conduct ourselves day to day. 

He is faithful, trustworthy, and true. He loves us and loves it when we give Him our attention and praise. He also loves it when we lay our burdens down before Him. It gives Him pleasure to carry our burdens and trade our anxiety, fear, and worry with peace. Open those lines of communication, the God of all creation wants to speak with you. 

Is This Ship Going Down?

Wednesday, October 1, 2025

On that day, when evening had come, he told them, “Let’s cross over to the other side of the sea.” So they left the crowd and took him along since he was in the boat. And other boats were with him. A great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking over the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. He was in the stern, sleeping on the cushion. So they woke him up and said to him, “Teacher! Don’t you care that we’re going to die?” He got up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Silence! Be still!” The wind ceased, and there was a great calm. Then he said to them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?” And they were terrified and asked one another, “Who then is this? Even the wind and the sea obey him!” Mark 4:35-41

Is This Ship Going Down?

Jesus was exhausted. He had been speaking to crowds and now he and the disciples were headed to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. He was teaching from a boat to give some space between him and the crowd and also for good acoustics. He most likely did not go back to the shore but instead told the disciples “Let’s cross over to the other side of the sea.” So they set out and Jesus, being tired as he was, took a power nap in the stern of the boat. 

As they were crossing over, a sudden storm arose. The wind was crazy, and the water was coming over the side of the boat. But Jesus stayed asleep through it all. The disciples were afraid, and they called out to him “Teacher! Don’t you care that we’re going to die?” The storm did not wake Jesus up. The water sloshing over the side of the boat did not wake Jesus us. The disciples arguing did not wake Jesus up. Jesus woke up when he heard the voices of his children calling out to him in distress. 

He immediately got up and rebuked the wind and the waves. This was not a calm response. This was a forceful show of his power in a new way. This miracle of nature was not as subtle as turning the water to wine and feeding the 5000. The disciples were stunned and questioned who this was that even the wind and waves obeyed him. 

The disciples not only had a promise from Jesus that they would make it to the other side, but they also had God himself in the boat with them – at the stern – the place from which a boat is steered.  What could give them more faith? They did not completely understand who Jesus was even though he had told them. They were still learning and when they saw the wind and waves obey him, they were terrified.

We have God with us in our lives every step of the way and we do the same thing the disciples did. So many times, we are sinking our own boat, dumping water into the boat instead of bailing it out. Circumstances pound away at our lives and water is spilling over the sides, sinking the ship, or so it appears. But Jesus is in the boat, in the stern, in full control. We still struggle with our unbelief as they did. All  we have to do is surrender to him, trust him, and find peace knowing that he is in control and we are not.

Are you sinking your own boat by refusing to surrender control to an omnipotent and faithful God?  

Like the disciples, do you need help with your unbelief?