He was cutting himself with stones

[Ebn Barbara]

It was a special trip, if one can say, that the Lord did with His disciples to the country of the Gadarenes.. they were exposed to a great windstorm, the boat was filling with water, and the disciples felt they were going to perish..
And the Lord all knowing.. knew exactly what He was going to do in that country, actually He went there for this purpose..
So what happened in that country?
“Then they came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gadarenes. And when He had come out of the boat, immediately there met Him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, who had his dwelling among the tombs… And always, night and day, he was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying out and cutting himself with stones. When he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and worshipped Him. And he cried out with a loud voice and said, ‘What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore You by God that You do not torment me.’ For He said to him, ‘Come out of the man, unclean spirit!’… Then the unclean spirits went out and entered the swine… So those who fed the swine fled, and they told it in the city and in the country. And they went out to see what it was that had happened. Then they came to Jesus, and saw the one who had been demon-possessed and had the legion, sitting and clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid… Then they began to plead with Him to depart from their region. And when He got into the boat, he who had been demon-possessed begged Him that he might be with Him. However, Jesus did not permit him, but He said to him, ‘Go home to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He has had compassion on you.’ And he departed and began to proclaim in Decapolis all that Jesus had done for him; and all marveled.” (Mark 5:1-20).

This was a clear work of evil spirits in the life of this person which made him:

Crazy..

He doesn’t live in his house but in the tombs..

He was naked..

And he was cutting himself with stones..

There are many people around us who are in the same situation as this man, even if it is not in the literal meaning of the word.. but before we study more deeply those persons, and our role in helping them.. let us ask ourselves:
Do similar cases exist among us believers?
Can evil spirits do that to us?
And what is the solution?

Of course there are similar cases among us.. this is what all of us hear and see and go through.. even if it is not a continuous state; all of us went through and will go through similar periods; their intensity and length will vary from person to person..



For how many times do we find ourselves as if not living in houses, which represent comfort and stability, and find ourselves naked.. How many times do we feel in the depth of our heart that we are living near the tombs and what they represent.. And how many times because of bondages, sins and psychological tiredness and struggles.. do we cut ourselves with stones. This is our main subject for this meditation.

Where are you today regarding those words?
Are you chained with a difficult bondage, a bad habit (smoking, gluttony in eating, lying…), a repetitive sin, uncleanness, adultery, addiction to porno movies, anger, treating others with violence, fear and anxiety and so on and so forth of similar things?
Because of these bondages you are cutting yourself, and your personality became twisted.. you are wounded with deep wounds, and you are groaning on the inside due to those struggles..
And your situation became similar to that of the writer of the psalm 13 who said:
“How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me? How long shall I take counsel in my soul, Having sorrow in my heart daily? How long will my enemy be exalted over me? Consider and hear me, O Lord my God; Enlighten my eyes, Lest my enemy say, ‘I have prevailed against him’; Lest those who trouble me rejoice when I am moved.”
Do not be afraid for the Lord will never leave you like that.. and this is what we’re going to meditate on together..

Now, can evil spirits attack us and do this to us?
Of course they can attack us.. for the apostle Peter said:
“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” (1 Peter 5:8).
And the apostle Paul said:
“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6:12).
For our enemy is revengeful toward us, he wants to hurt us constantly, and he will never lose an opportunity when he can..
And my objective today, is to bring to your attention that very difficult things, a lot of bondages, and a lot of psychological struggles, are caused by evil spirits, and if we do not pay attention to that we might suffer a lot..

Now what is the solution?
First I want you to know today, that without any doubt, the Lord cares a lot about you personally, and this story that we mentioned proves it..
The Lord came personally to this man, who was insane, naked, only lived in the tombs, and was cutting himself.. the boat of the Lord and the disciples were exposed to a great windstorm, and all the scholars of the word agree that the devil was behind this, to stop them from getting to this man.. but the Lord continued His trip and reached to him, and when He had delivered him and made sure of his safety, the word says that he was: sitting and clothed and he was not cutting himself anymore, the Lord then left this country and went back, this is certified by the word..

And He is saying to you today:
“No matter how difficult is your situation, and no matter how long and hard it was, I see you, I feel with you, and I am ready to do a lot more than you are asking or thinking, I am ready to come to you personally.. defying all opposing winds to come to you, to deliver you from your chains, to take care of your wounds, to heal your personality, and to take from your hands the stone with which you are cutting yourself.. only trust me”.
You might say to me: yes.. I do cut myself.. and my personality is so much wounded, from so many things.. I’ve tried everything, and I’ve asked the Lord, but things are not changing, or you may say to me, it became more complicated.. so what do I do?
The answer is simple.. and because of that many do not accept it.. the answer is:
Just believe!!!

The father of the boy who was convulsed by the devil, and who came to the disciples, who were not able to do anything for him, said to the Lord:
“If You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” (Mark 9:22-23).
May be you don’t have the courage to say those words out loud to the Lord, but you are repeating them everyday inside of you..
I want you today to listen to the Lord’s answer under the anointing of the Holy Spirit..
The Lord answered him saying:
“If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” (Mark 9:22-23).
All things.. all things.. all things are possible beloved, to him who believes in the Lord, His love and power..

A big number of scholars of the Holy Bible say that Bartimaeus the blind cried out to the Lord with the cry of a person who was certain that if the Lord didn’t hear him this time and healed him he would stay blind all his life..
And the word mentioned that when many tried to make him quiet he cried out all the more..
And Jesus stopped and healed him (Mark 10:46-52).
How wonderful is this expression: Jesus stopped..
The cry of the blind man who needed light, and who relied on an inner belief.. made the Lord stop, and honor this belief and open the eyes of this blind man.. and you can today cry out to the Lord from all your being.. and do not allow anyone or anything to stop you, but cry out all the more..

And try to meditate with me on this situation:
If this were your last chance to be granted your wish today from the Lord, and after that there would not be any other chance.. how loud would your cry, perseverance and faith be?
Examine this and cry to the Lord.. and be sure that the One who delivered the man of the country of the Gadarenes, and who healed the son of that other man, and who opened the eyes of the blind Bartimaeus, will heal you, deliver you, open your eyes, and will remove from your hands the stones with which you were cutting yourself, because He is the same yesterday, today and forever.. and He loves you with an eternal and unconditional love, and He came today for you personally to grant you all you are asking for from Him.. so don’t delay to cry out to Him..

And now another story that the Lord told personally, and that was written in His word for us:
“… A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion. So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.’” (Luke 10:30-35).

The man of the country of the Gadarenes was making himself naked and cutting himself.. while the man of Jerusalem was made naked by the thieves and was wounded by them..
But the result is one: you are wounded.. and you are as half dead.. you live and breathe but inside you there is death..
And may be everyone has left you.. they didn’t care about your wounds, just like the priest and the Levite did..
Never mind.. because the Lord cares, and you can do like king Hezekiah did when he was told he was going to die..
He turned his face toward the wall.. he turned his face from all the opposing and discouraging circumstances.. and he prayed to the Lord and he wept greatly, and the Lord heard him, and granted him his request, and this is what He said to him:
“I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; surely I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the Lord. And I will add to your days fifteen years. I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria” (2 Kings 20:5-6).
Are you not encouraged by these words?
Only trust the Lord, and you will have all that you need..

When the Lord delivered the man from the country of the Gadarenes, this man asked the Lord to be with Him, but the Lord didn’t allow him rather He said to him: Go home to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He has had compassion on you. And he departed and began to proclaim in Decapolis all that Jesus had done for him; and all marveled..

Beloved: just as we mentioned in the beginning of this meditation, people around us are suffering what the man of the country of the Gadarenes suffered.. and are suffering what the boy and his father suffered.. and they are suffering what Bartimaeus suffered.. and they need us.. and for this reason we should not stay in bondages, paralyzed, and incapable of helping them..

This is the devil’s main objective, to make us stumble in our struggles, to stop us from helping people and saving them from his kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light.. but the Lord wants to change this completely.. He wants us first of all to be healthy, healed, free, enjoying all that He has prepared for us.. and He wants us to be a blessing and a help for many.. so let us trust Him.. and respond to His word for us today, so we can experience His just, pleasing and perfect plan for each one of us..

Finally, I leave these words with you, and I ask you to read them in a spirit of prayer, to experience its results in your life:
“You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; You have put off my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness” (Psalm 30:11).

“Precious in the sight of the Lord Is the death of His saints. O Lord, truly I am Your servant; I am Your servant, the son of Your maidservant; You have loosed my bonds.” (Psalm 116:15-16).

“Draw near to my soul, and redeem it; Deliver me because of my enemies.” (Psalm 69:18).

“You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies” (Psalm 23:5).