And he departed...

Have you ever been in a service or been to a conference where you truly encountered Christ? When it was time to leave the moment or place where Christ touched, you didn’t want to let it go? Ever had that happen and before it all started you didn’t really want to go or didn’t know why you were going? As I was sitting in the Prayer Room for the final time in this trip I found myself in Mark 5:1-21. This is the story about a man who was possessed by demons and Christ cast them out. The man had been living among the tombs for quite sometime but chances are before he was possessed he was a resident of that region. This means he had family, friends, and ties to that place but his current condition has isolated him from those things. I want to focus on the before and after.

Verse 10 “And he kept begging Him urgently not to send them [himself and the other demons] away out of that region.”

Even in his current state he didn’t want to leave, even if that meant he had to keep the demons. So it’s safe to say he was strongly tied to this region. Then he has this encounter with Jesus where the demons are cast out and he is clothed and in his right mind. His life has just been forever changed. At this, he forgot about his ties to the region and desperately wanted to go with Jesus.

Verse 18 “And when He (Jesus) had stepped into the boat, the man who had been controlled by the unclean spirits kept begging Him that he might be with Him.”

Paul had similar feelings:

Philippians 1:21-24 “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body.”

Paul said it would be a whole lot better to be with Christ. I know in this instance, he is referring to literal death but its still that desire to go wherever Christ is.

Back to the text in Mark 5. As badly as the man wanted to go with Jesus, He refused to allow the man to go. He told him, instead, to go back to his family and friends and share what God had done for him. Jesus’ knew it would be more profitable if the man stayed and shared Christ with the people than to go along with Him. Paul saw this example, so as bad as he wanted to be with Christ he said, “it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body” It’s better that I stay here and spread the gospel, share what Christ has done.

I say all of that to share this…

My time here at IHOP has definitely been life changing, encountering Christ in a whole new way. It was at this place that I saw Him in a new way and it would be easy for me to desire to stay here. The atmosphere is CRAZY! All the things that God has revealed while here, the connections, etc. But I know it is more profitable if I go back to my friends and family and share what God has done. Too often when we have an encounter with God we want to remain in that place or moment but that’s not what the encounter was for. The encounter was to push us to action, to give us a sense of urgency to share it with others. It would be convenient to take on a bunker mentality where we store all this stuff up and try to just stay in that place but God wants us to GO! We have all been guilty of this at some time or another. So the next time you go to a conference or some place where you encounter God in a whole new way let that push you to want to go and share not stay there.

20 “And he departed and began to publicly proclaim in Decapolis [the region of the ten cities] how much Jesus had done for him, and all the people were astonished and marveled.”

To God Be ALL The Glory!!