"Now
it came to pass on a certain day, that he went into a ship with his disciples:
and he said unto them, Let us go over unto the other side of the lake. And they
launched forth." (Luke 8:22)
In our illustration we have come
to "...the other side of the lake," from the "place of
parables" to the "place of demonstration." We have spoken to
storms and now it is time to set captives free who are bound with the
"Legion of Religion!" We are living in a Certain Day with a certain
destiny to be fulfilled!
"And
when he went forth to land, there met him out of the city a certain man, which
had devils long time, and ware no clothes, neither abode in any house, but in
the tombs." (Luke 8:27)
First we notice that this is a
CERTAIN man... he has a certain destiny, even though he is not currently living
out his ultimate destiny. Allow me to paint a spiritual picture for a moment. I
believe that this certain man speaks of multitudes who have a certain call of
God upon their lives, but are currently bound with religion. Notice that the
verse states that he had DEVILS for a long time. This thought might possibly
offend some people, but I believe that the oldest and worst "devil" I
can think of is a "religious" devil! They are invited guests that are
hard to cast out!
Religion is About Performance
We can see this
"religious" devil in the Garden of Eden. Remember what tree Adam and
Eve ended up eating from? Religion is all about right and wrong, all about
performance. Friend, it has never been about right and wrong, it has always
been about life and death! They ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and
Evil... the tree of right and wrong... the tree of religion! And what was the
result? It killed them; "But of the tree of the knowledge of
good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest
thereof thou shalt surely die." (Genesis 2:17) In one form or another, religion has been killing
people for millennia!
We are heading into the Christmas
season right now. This can be a very religious season for many in the church,
as so much of it is based in traditions of men. Many of these traditions have
pagan origins... even the date of December 25th is erroneous, as Jesus was most
likely born somewhere around the Feast of Tabernacles.
I realize that there are many
differing views on the subject, and I do respect other's convictions. For me
personally, rather than toss the whole thing out, I would rather sieze every
opportunity to speak of Christ! Men have made the Christmas season religious,
but in reality, the birth of Christ is a season of the supernatural!
Christmas Belongs to the Supernatural
The entire account of the birth
of Christ is filled with supernatural experiences. Zacharias has an angelic
visitation and is struck dumb. Mary has an angelic visitation and a
supernatural conception. Joseph has an angelic visitation in a dream, and is
given a word of knowledge. As a fetus, John jumped in the womb when the reason
for his existence (Jesus) entered the room. Elizabeth and Mary prophesied
concerning Christ. Zacharias was healed of dumbness and prophesied. The Magi
were lead from the East by a star... just to name off a few supernatural
experiences around the birth of Christ.
My point is this... Christmas
does NOT belong to religion. Christmas belongs to the supernatural! And what
better time to set captives free who are bound with the "Legion of
Religion" than the Christmas season?
Remember, this religious devils'
name was LEGION. I believe that Legion speaks of the "pack mentality"
where people behave in a certain way only because others are behaving in that
certain way. We can see it manifesting in the Garden with Adam. He probably
wouldn't have eaten of the wrong tree if Eve had not eaten first. Religion is
filled with the "pack mentality" where individuality is usually
suppressed. After all, we behave THIS certain way at our church, because others
behave THIS certain way, and we have always behaved THIS certain way, and
always will.
(To be continued...)
Keep moving forward!
Doug Fortune
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