Recognizing Jesus: Power Amidst Life's Struggles

www.confidenceingod.com 

In this episode of the Confidence in God podcast, host Julie McGhghy delves into the story of the man in the Gadarenes from Mark 5:1-20 to explore how individuals can recognize and worship Jesus despite life's challenges. Julie explains how deceptive thoughts from the enemy can be overcome through the power within us. She offers practical steps including worship music, scriptural guidance, and prayer to help listeners draw closer to God and resist negative influences. The episode underscores the importance of having confidence in God's promises and provides resources for strengthening faith and self-assurance.

00:00 Introduction and Purpose

00:50 Resource for Building Confidence in God

01:20 The Story of the Man in the Gadarenes

03:04 Recognizing and Worshiping Jesus Despite Struggles

04:02 The Deception of the Enemy

05:17 Overcoming Through God's Power

07:01 Practical Steps to Draw Close to God

Transcript

0:01

Hello and welcome to the Confidence in God podcast. I am your host, Julie McGhghy, and our goal today is to help you walk with confidence in God. I'm so excited to share with you a new perspective I recently learned about the power we have within us to recognize Jesus and worship him even when we may be struggling with the issues of this life. If you are a person who struggles with trusting people because of things that have happened in your past or with negative thinking or even destructive habits and addictions, you can find hope from the story of the man in the Gadarenes, as told in Mark five verses one through 20. So please stay with me for a few minutes to hear how you can overcome these things. Before we jump into the story, if you are a person who finds you lack confidence in God, have faith that he is all he says he is and will do all he says he will do, but not being confident he will do those things for or through you, then I have a wonderful resource. It's called Five Steps to Experience More Confidence in God. You can get instant access by going to confidenceingod.com or clicking the link in the show notes. As I sat in church one Sunday not long ago, listening to F Joe Ellis, a man I have come to have great respect for, I found myself encouraged by a small detail I have overlooked in the story about the man living in the country of the Gadarenes. Although I have walked with God for many years, I still sometimes struggle with negative thoughts and distrust due to painful experiences in my past. Today, I will summarize pieces of the story you can find in Mark chapter five, verses one through 20, and reveal to you a great deception many of us have come to believe is true. Jesus had finished a day of teaching the multitude by the seaside. When the evening had come, he instructed his disciples, those who he would later call apostles, to cross to the other side of the sea. Immediately upon arriving on the other side, in the country of the Gadarenes, Jesus met a man who had been living among the tombs and had many unclean spirits within him. This man is an example of how a person can submit to extreme wickedness. He had a legion of unclean spirits living within him. A legion is between 2000 and 3000. That's a huge number of unclean spirits inhabiting one man. Most of us know from the story that Jesus has the power to cast out demons. There's no deception in that. So where is that deception? Well, it's in verse six, which explains that while Jesus was still afar off, the man with the unclean spirit saw him and ran and worshiped him. These are the things I had never considered before. First, the man with the legion of unclean spirits recognized Jesus from afar off. No matter how much the man had submitted to the unclean spirits who inhabited him, he still recognized Jesus. The unclean spirits could not stop him from recognizing the Lord. Second, the man ran to Jesus and worshiped him even while still full of the Legion of Spirits. The man worshiped Jesus. He still had the legion of spirits inside him, but they could not stop him from worshiping Jesus. And here's the deception of our enemy. How often do we feel like we have no power over the things the enemy traps us in? I can't quit this habit or addiction. I can't quit thinking this way. My past is so painful, I cannot trust anyone anymore. It's all a lie of the enemy. The enemy and spirits could not keep the man in the Gadarenes from recognizing Jesus and from running to him and worshiping him. The enemy does not have the power he has convinced us that he has. The enemy cannot bind us to harmful ungodly habits and addictions. He cannot hold us in thinking we are not loved. We are not lovable. God does not love us. We are not trapped in depression, anxiety, disillusionment. We are not continued victims of our pasts. The enemy has no power to stop us from recognizing Jesus and worshiping him. If our enemy has deceived us, then what is the truth? First John, chapter four, verses three and four explains that if any spirit does not confess that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh, that spirit is not of God. But we, the children of God, have overcome every such spirit. We have done so because the spirit that is in us is greater than the spirits in this world. We have already overcome. We have overcome those spirits that do not confess Jesus Christ is Lord. We have overcome by the spirit that is within us because the Holy Spirit is greater than the spirits of this world. But what do we do when we crave the habit? Encounter the wrong, harmful thinking? Or shy away from trusting anyone? We just remember Jeremiah 17 verse nine, which tells us the heart is deceitful above all things. Also, first John, chapter three, verse 20 reminds us that if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart and knows all things. When we are struggling and feeling trapped by our habits, addictions, harmful thinking, our past, then remember that it is our hearts that are condemning us. It is our hearts that are being deceitful. God does not condemn us. God is greater than our hearts. James gives us practical ways to overcome. In James chapter four, verses seven and eight, he tells us when we submit ourselves to God and resist the devil, he will flee from us. It is during these battles with our flesh and the enemy that we must resist the enemy by submitting to God and drawing very close to him. As we resist him in this way, the enemy will flee. So how do you draw close to God, especially in those private alone times that we all experience. My first go-to is worship music. I put on worship music that will usher God's presence into my home and into my heart. If you don't know any worship music, but have access to a computer, do a search on worship music, you'll find a list of worship music likely on YouTube that you can put on and help you focus your mind and heart on God. After listening to worship music, I reach for God's word. If I don't know where to turn in God's word, I do a search, an internet search for the promises of God in scripture, or I search for God's overcoming power. Whatever you feel like you need to hear from God, do an internet search to find scriptures that address exactly what you are looking for, and then read and pray those scriptures. As the music and the scriptures lift your spirit, lose yourself in prayer. Praise God for all he has done, is doing and will do. Express your love for him. Pray in the spirit. Our enemy cannot continue to torment us when we draw close to God. When we worship and praise him, he cannot keep us bound to him. Consider the example of Paul and Silas in Acts 16, verses 25 and 26. They were thrust into the inner part of the prison with their feet secured in stocks. At midnight, they began praying and singing praises. What happened? A great earthquake shook the earth so that all the prison doors were opened and their feet were freed. As they drew close to God, they were freed from the bondage of their enemy. As we resist the enemy and draw close to God, the enemy will flee from us, and the struggle will be over. No matter how bound we are. The enemy does not have the power to stop us from recognizing Jesus and worshiping him. Just as Paul and Silas were freed from the bondage of their enemy, we can be freed. We've covered a lot in a short period of time. Let me quickly pull it all together in a summary. Each of us has the power within us to recognize Jesus and worship him even when we are struggling with the issues of this life. Even when Jesus seems far away, you can recognize him and run to him even if you have been tricked by the enemy into thinking you can't quit a particular habit or addiction, that you can't quit thinking painful things, or that your past is so painful, you can't trust anyone anymore, you still have the power within you to recognize Jesus, run to him and worship him. When we struggle with these things, draw close to God through worship, music, reading his word and praying. Doing these things will help you resist the enemy and he will flee. Pull this all together and you can be confident that God has given you the power to recognize him from afar off and to worship him. No matter what you are facing in life. Do you have other verses that help you draw close to God and resist the enemy? Let us know and feel free to share how you have been impacted by this new perspective on the story of the man in the Gadarenes. Now, as I mentioned earlier, if you are a person who finds you lack confidence in God, having faith that he is all he says he is and will do all he says he will do, but not being confident that he will do those things through you, then I have a wonderful resource. If you haven't done so already, go to confidenceingod.com or click the link in the show notes to access Five Steps to Experience More Confidence in God. That's it for today. Please take a second to subscribe to our show so you'll be notified when future episodes come out. Also, it would mean the world to us if you would rate or review our show. That way more people can find out about it. Until next time, let's be confident in this that he who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it.