By Ramesh C.Reddy
Pittsburgh Standard

Tuesday, Jan 06, 2009

SCRIPTURE:
“As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. Jesus did not let him, but said, "Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you." (Mark 5:18-19, NIV)

Observations:
I asked myself what were the actions of Jesus?

Interpretations:
I asked myself why Jesus was in the process of getting into the boat?
Jesus had just healed the demon-possessed man and was in the company of crowds that came to see Him. They were afraid of Jesus and pleaded with Jesus to leave after the man was healed and the demons were sent into the pigs.  Jesus could have stayed but He decided to get into the boat to leave because Jesus will not force himself into the lives of people who do not want Him.

I asked myself the significance of why Jesus did not let the man who was healed to go with Him?
The demon-possessed man was just healed. Even though the people of the region wanted Jesus to leave because they were afraid of Jesus, the man was not afraid of Jesus. Instead, he begged to go with Jesus. The man wanted to do the right thing by going with Jesus. But, Jesus had other plans for the man and would not let him come with Jesus which is evident by point 3.

Jesus wanted the man to reach his family first and let them see how much the Lord has done for him and how merciful He has been to him. The people of the town already rejected Jesus so Jesus decided to leave but asked the man to become His spokesman and witness especially to the man's own family.

This showed me Jesus' love not only to the demon-possessed man who was healed but for his entire family. Jesus wanted the man's family to know how much the Lord has done for him and the mercy he has for him.

It is very interesting that Jesus did not say, 'Go tell your family, how much I have done for you' but instead says, '"Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you." (Mark 5:19, NIV)

Here Jesus is emphasizing His Lordship and letting the man know that He is not only His Savior who saved him from his bondage but also His Lord whom he wanted to follow. Jesus cared so much for the man and his family that Jesus wanted the man to be restored to the man's family too.

The man's family could have been going through a lot of shame and agony knowing their loved one was demon-possessed and almost dead to them. Now, Jesus came along to that region and healed him, restored him, and wanted him to be restored to his family but most of all wanted his family to know the mercy and grace of the Lord and be restored to Him.

Implications:
I saw important implications for my own life. When the Lord Jesus touched my life and saved me, I wanted to go and tell everyone about Jesus but Jesus reminded me that witnessing should start at home so I decided to become a witness at home too.

My brothers and dad knew that Jesus healed me of my asthma from the terrible condition I was in. THANK YOU JESUS FOR DELIVERING ME! IT WAS SO BAD THAT I THOUGHT I WOULD DIE BUT YOU DELIVERED ME WHEN I GAVE MY LIFE TO YOU!

Eventually, by my witness and especially my mom's witness, my brothers came to know Jesus as their Lord and Personal Savior. Through the years after my mom's witnessing and letting my beloved dad, who is with the Lord Jesus right now, know about the Lord's grace and mercy through reading His Word and our actions, my dad came to know Jesus as His Lord and Personal Savior.

I need to put the emphasis on reaching out to relatives, etc who do not know Jesus and letting them know how much the Lord Jesus has done for us and His mercy. The tendency can be to reach all the others before we try to reach our own loved ones but I need to reach relatives and at the same time not ignore reaching the masses.

Witnessing and ministry starts at home. Jesus wanted it that way and I should follow. I know my mom witnesses to our relatives as much as possible about the love of Jesus Christ and His mercies especially right now after we have faced the tragedy of losing our dad. But we are thankful he is not in pain and with our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen!

I ask you now dear friend, when will you target your family this NEW YEAR of 2009?
Dear friend, a target is something we set to aim for. Jesus has given us all a target based on His interaction with the demon-possessed man who has been healed. Jesus wanted the man to go tell his family how much the Lord has done for him and how merciful he has been to him. Jesus wants us to do the same and target our family to let them know about how much Jesus has done for us and His mercy upon us through His providential care, for He is Jehovah Jireh, our Provider.

Wanting to target our families for the Lord should never be out of guilt. If we want to target our families for the Lord and do the targeting because we don't want to make Jesus sad if we don't, we will base it on 'doing the right thing alone'.

Doing the right thing is important but the action of targeting our families for the Lord Jesus becomes that much more potent if we go 'beyond doing the right thing'

Imagine that you are targeting your family for the Lord because 'it is the right thing to do' but now add to that BEING CONSUMED BY LOVE for the Lord because you have experienced God's love in an amazing way.

Now, when we think about the grace of the Lord Jesus and how much He loves us and the sin He has delivered us from and the areas He will continue to deliver us from, we become so in LOVE with Jesus that we desire and want to do what He wants us to do because of our LOVE for Jesus.  We want to do things for those we love even if it is inconvenient for us because LOVE FOR CHRIST consumes us. Everything becomes almost secondary.

The demon-possessed man who was healed of his demonic possession would have had much more reason to fall in love with Jesus than the people who were just concerned about the pigs and materialism.

Why?

Because He experienced in Jesus' words, "and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you."

When we realize if it were not for the love of the Father, who lavished His mercy and grace upon us because of His agape love, we will come to the realization that we are nothing without Him. We will realize others are nothing without the Lord Jesus.

Now our love for the Lord will prompt us to share Jesus' love excitingly. We can only share and give what we have experienced ourselves. So when we truly experience Christ's love, we cannot but share it with others for it will overflow from our own lives.

So, come experience Christ's love in your own life through His Word for what He has already done for you on the cross and will do for you. Jesus is not just about saving you so you can be with Him in Heaven. Jesus came for more than your Salvation. Jesus came to have a loving-relationship with you and me, to have a loving-relationship with our loved ones, and for us to have a loving relationship with one another.

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. "I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd." (John 10:10:16, NIV)

Understanding why Jesus came and what He came to do will make it exciting to target our families and share the Gospel with them. It won't be based on 'doing the right thing alone so I will not feel guilty' but 'yeah, I am going to tell my family about Jesus because what I experienced in Christ for Christ is using me as His vessel to share with them so they can too experience His love and what He can do for them.'

"We love because He first loved us!"

"How great is the love the Father lavished upon us that we should be called dear children" (1 John 3:1, NIV)

Friend, if you know Jesus as your Lord and Personal Savior, the time is now to let your family know about Jesus' intervention in your life as the demon-possessed man was sent to tell his family.

You can tell all, Redeemer's grace expect today, because you are experiencing it in your own life. You have to experience Christ's love in your life before you can genuinely share with others.

The telling does not always have to be by your words but it can be by your actions too that they see a difference in your life and will be curious and amazed. But telling has a powerful effect if it is also lived out by our actions.

Jesus emphasized here that EVANGELISM begins at home within our own family. That is exciting and amazing to know. Once we tell our family about Jesus then we can move on and tell others about how much Jesus has done for us and how merciful He has been to us.

Don't you think the man who was healed would be excited to tell his family what Jesus did for them?

Of course, He will be. What you have experienced from Christ, share with your family so they can know what Jesus has done for you. Care for your family. Pray for your family. When they see a difference in your life, they will attribute the change to Jesus' intervention and will eventually come to seek Jesus because remember Jesus came to seek and save the lost. The seeking began with Jesus. So when our families seek Jesus, they will find Jesus as the song goes,  'Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I was once lost but now am found!'

Jesus died for you and me friend so that you and I can have new life in Christ when we take His cleansing blood to wash away our sin and yield to Him. When Jesus said, 'It is finished', Jesus accomplished the reason why He came, to restore the fallen and the broken and make them whole. Jesus wants to be our Lord and Savior making us whole from the fractured lives we have lived because of giving sin its power to rule us. It is time to let go and let God rule over your lives with His love. It is time to see Jesus as a friend who will never leave you nor forsake you!

 Jesus came back on the third day to save all those who come to Him and receive His free gift of grace. Jesus will not abandon us or leave us as orphans in the storm. So you can come to Jesus.

When we do not know Jesus as our Lord and Personal Savior, we are like the demon-possessed man because we are trapped in our own sin and shortcomings. But when we run to Jesus, Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith will fix that for us as we fix our eyes on Jesus. He will work in us and through us equipping us, enabling us, and empowering us so now we can share with others how merciful and gracious the Lord Jesus has been to us.

Yes, friend Jesus loves you so much and wants you to tell others about His love for you and them. Jesus does not want our families to be trapped in their own sin and shortcomings but offers His grace and mercy so let us target our families with His grace and mercy.

May you be so excited to target your family with how much the Lord has done for you and the mercy He has shown you that you will become a witnessing agent for your families being guided by the Holy Spirit. Amen!

Listen to the background song, “Gotta Tell Somebody!”

"Tell All, Redeemer's Grace Expect Today! (T.A.R.G.E.T)"/"When will you T.A.R.G.E.T your family?"

Prayer:
Dear Jesus, I love you so much. Help me to show my love to you in tangible ways. Thank you so much for healing the demon-possessed man and spending time with him after you healed him. As you were getting ready to leave, the man wanted to go with you but you had other wonderful plans for him. You cared for his family so much that you wanted him to go and tell his family what wonderful things you Oh Lord had done for him and how merciful you Oh Lord had been towards him. Thank you so much Jesus for your love and mercy. Thank you that you care for our families even when they reject you. You keep putting on our hearts to reach our families. Lord, we cannot tell others about you without your supernatural help. Help us Oh Lord for we gotta tell somebody what you have done for us. Thank you so much Jesus you want to do things with us, you want us to do things with you, and you want us to do things for you. Wow! That is so amazing that you want us to do things for you and want to do things with us! Thank you Jesus! I am so honored and help me not to disappoint you. I thank you Jesus! Thank you for your grace and mercy! Thank you for forgiving us all our sin and saving us as we come to you. Thank you for your healing power in our own lives. Thank you for being part of our life! Thank you for being our Lord and Personal Savior! Thank you that you have heard my prayer and answered me! In Your Name I Pray Jesus! Amen!

Prayer:
Dear Lord Jesus, thank you so much that we are never out of your love. No matter what is tormenting us, you are there for us. When there are days we cannot get through and loneliness has gotten the best of us because we are isolated in our torment and sin, you are still there. Just as the demon-possessed man saw you, ran to you, and fell before you for healing, we can come to you too. Thank you Jesus! You made yourself available to the man with the evil spirit. Thank you Jesus for making yourself available to us now when we call your Name for we are never out of your love and never out of your reach. You Oh Lord know what we have done; you know what we will do. You know what Satan will do to entice us and torment us. We come to you Lord and ask you for your healing presence in our lives. Take any addiction and torment that people face and fill them with your power to live for you. We know you can do it Jesus. Only you have the power to deliver us from any torment and find peace in you. Thank you so much Jesus. We come to you now Jesus and ask you to forgive us of all our sin. Deliver us Oh Lord and cleanse us with your cleansing blood. We believe in you Jesus; we believe you are the Son of God, we believe that you died and rose again; we believe you are here right now standing in our presence with the power to heal now and the grace to forgive. Help us Oh Lord as we turn this song “I Believe” into a prayer to you Oh Lord. Thank you so much for coming into our heart and making our heart your home as we ask you in. Take us in Oh Lord and be our Lord and Personal Savior as you lead us and guide us. Help us to help others as you help us! Thank you so much Jesus you are in our heart making our heart your home. Thank you for living in us. Thank you for being our Lord and Personal Savior! Thank you Jesus you have heard our prayers and answered us! In Your Name I Pray Jesus! Amen!