Tues.’s Devo - Deliverance

Read: Deuteronomy 11:1-12:32; Luke 8:22-39; Psalm 70:1-5; Proverbs 12:4 Moses addressed the people who had lived through the time of the exodus from Egypt. He reminded them that their children had not seen the great plagues of Egypt that the Lord brought and how he parted the Red Sea for them. They hadn’t experienced how the Lord cared for them in the wilderness and what God did to Dathan and Abiram when they rebelled against him and Moses. God had opened up the ground and swallowed them alive. They had seen all this with their own eyes and they had no excuse but to follow the Lord and fear him. The land God was giving their children was not like the land of Egypt where they had to irrigate to water their crops. God watered this land from heaven with rain and gave them seasons. If they obeyed the Lord, he would give them the proper seasons at the right time so that their crops would prosper and grow. They would have lush pastureland for their cattle. If they did not obey the Lord, he would shut up the heavens so the rain would not fall and their crops would not prosper. It was their job to teach all these things to their children so they would obey the Lord and walk in his ways. God would drive out the nations ahead of them and give them the land. God was giving them a choice between blessings and curses. They were not to worship the gods of the people living in the land now. When they took possession of the land they were to meet in the valley between Mt. Ebal and Mt. Gerizim and pronounce the curses on Mt. Ebal and the blessings on Mt.Gerizim. It was to remind them to walk with the Lord and obey his commands. They were to set up one place where they would meet to worship the Lord. they would celebrate and sacrifice their offerings there. They could butcher and eat their sacrificial animals in any town they wanted. The only stipulation was that they were never to eat the blood of the animal; they were to pour it out on the ground. They were to share their food with the Levites and care for them. When they came into their land they were not to inquire about how the heathen worshipped their gods or want to participate with them because their worship was detestable to the Lord. They burned their sons and daughters as sacrifices to their gods. In Luke, Jesus took his disciples to cross the Sea of Galilee. On the ride, Jesus fell asleep in the bottom of the boat. A storm arose that he disciples were afraid for their lives so they woke Jesus up. He spoke to the waves and rebuke them. They were calm and the disciples were in awe. They arrived on the shore of the Gadarene’s and were met by the town demoniac. He housed the principality of the region which is why the storm arose. He was trying to keep Jesus from coming there. He was homeless and naked living in the tombs outside the town. The demons in him begged to not be cast into he bottomless pit so Jesus sent them into a herd of swine. They pigs ran off the cliff and drown in the water below. The herdsmen of the pigs ran back to town reporting what they saw. The people came out and saw the demoniac acting sane and were afraid. They begged Jesus to go away from them. The delivered man begged to go with Jesus but Jesus told him to go back and be a witness for him in his hometown. The man did and the next time Jesus showed up, the town was eager to receive him. It is comical that the people of the town were more afraid of Jesus who brought peace and deliverance than they were of a crazy man who was full of demonic power. It just proves that people are afraid of the unknown. They are more comfortable with their own disfunction than with freedom from it. Lord, help us to make the transition from disfunction to function. Help us to know the difference. We choose life and blessings.