I Will Praise Him / Margaret J. Harris
When I saw the cleansing fountainSpeak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Mark 5:1-20:
Open wide for all my sin,
I obeyed the Spirit’s wooing,
When He said, “Wilt thou be clean?”
Though the way seems straight and narrow,
All I claimed was swept away;
My ambitions, plans and wishes,
At my feet in ashes lay.
Then God’s fire upon the altar
Of my heart was set aflame;
I shall never cease to praise Him
Glory, glory to His Name!
Blessèd be the Name of Jesus!
I’m so glad He took me in;
He’s forgiven my transgressions,
He has cleansed my heart from sin.
I will praise Him! I will praise Him!
Praise the Lamb for sinners slain;
Give Him glory, all ye people,
For His blood can wash away each stain.
Glory, glory to the Father!
Glory, glory to the Son!
Glory, glory to the Spirit!
Glory to the Three in One!
The Healing of a Demon-possessed Man
1 They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes. 2 When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an evil spirit came from the tombs to meet him. 3 This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him any more, not even with a chain. 4 For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him. 5 Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones.
6 When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him. 7 He shouted at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Swear to God that you won’t torture me!” 8 For Jesus had said to him, “Come out of this man, you evil spirit!”
9 Then Jesus asked him, “What is your name?”
“My name is Legion,” he replied, “for we are many.” 10 And he begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of the area.
11 A large herd of pigs was feeding on the nearby hillside. 12 The demons begged Jesus, “Send us among the pigs; allow us to go into them.” 13 He gave them permission, and the evil spirits came out and went into the pigs. The herd, about two thousand in number, rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned.
14 Those tending the pigs ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, and the people went out to see what had happened. 15 When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. 16 Those who had seen it told the people what had happened to the demon-possessed man—and told about the pigs as well. 17 Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their region.
18 As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. 19 Jesus did not let him, but said, “Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” 20 So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed.
My Understanding: When I woke up this morning, the chorus to this hymn, “I Will Praise Him,” was going through my mind:
I will praise Him! I will praise Him!
Praise the Lamb for sinners slain;
Give Him glory, all ye people,
For His blood can wash away each stain.
Then, when I got to the part of this passage of scripture in my reading where Jesus instructed the man who had been delivered from this legion of demons to go home to his family and to tell them how much the Lord had done for him, and how he had mercy on him, and then I read how the man went away and began to tell “in the Decapolis” (a group of ten cities on the eastern frontier of the Roman Empire) how much Jesus had done for him, I realized that this section of scripture, combined with the song, was to be the focus of what the Lord wanted to teach me this morning.
Today, in the United States of America, is a national holiday called “Thanksgiving.” I have heard differing stories as to why we celebrate this holiday in the U.S.A., from it having to do with the early pilgrims who came over to America and the celebration of the first harvest (what I had always thought to be true) to it being a declared holiday by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863 where he asked the nation to give thanks for the union (just heard this one for the first time recently). In our family, it has always just been a day where we gather together as a family to eat a meal together, to enjoy the fellowship of one another, to play games, talk, etc. And, we are always thankful to the Lord for the food he provides and for our family times together when we can enjoy one another.
Yet, this morning, I sensed the Lord encouraging me to go to my family and tell them how much the Lord has done for me and how he has had mercy on me. As well, I believe he was encouraging me personally to praise HIM today; to praise the Lamb for sinners slain and to give HIM all the glory, for His blood can wash away each stain. I believe the Lord is saying to me today that all thanksgiving should go to him, not to the union and not to the pilgrims, but to the Lord Jesus Christ for dying on the cross for our sins so that we could have life and so that we could be free from sin and from the power of and the bondage to and the burden of sin and the control of sin over our lives. And, we are to give him ALL the glory!
This man was told to go home to his family. The scripture said that the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. I was not familiar with “the Decapolis”, so I looked it up:
The Roman government wanted Roman culture to flourish in the farthest reaches of the empire, which at the time included eastern Palestine. So they encouraged the growth of these ten cities, allowing them some political autonomy within the protective sphere of Rome. Each city functioned as a polis or city-state, with jurisdiction over an area of the surrounding countryside. Each city also minted its own coins. Many coins from Decapolis cities identify their city as "autonomous," "free," "sovereign," or "sacred," terms that imply some sort of self-governing status.
The Romans strongly left their cultural stamp on all of the cities. Each one was eventually rebuilt with a Roman-style grid of streets based around a central cardo and/or decumanus. The Romans sponsored and built numerous temples and other public buildings. The imperial cult, the worship of the Roman emperor, was a very common practice throughout the Decapolis and was one of the features that linked the different cities. A small open-air temple or facade, called a Kalybe, was unique to the region.
The cities may also have enjoyed strong commercial ties, fostered by a network of new Roman roads. This has led to their common identification today as a "federation" or "league." The Decapolis was probably never an official political or economic union; most likely it signified the collection of city-states that enjoyed special autonomy during early Roman rule. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decapolis#The_Roman_Decapolis
When I read about the Decapolis, I could not help but see some definite parallels between this Roman Empire and the United States of America. Yet, I also saw this:
Daniel 7:19-21:
“Then I wanted to know the true meaning of the fourth beast, which was different from all the others and most terrifying, with its iron teeth and bronze claws—the beast that crushed and devoured its victims and trampled underfoot whatever was left. I also wanted to know about the ten horns on its head and about the other horn that came up, before which three of them fell—the horn that looked more imposing than the others and that had eyes and a mouth that spoke boastfully. As I watched, this horn was waging war against the saints and defeating them…”
Revelation 13:1-8:
And the dragon stood on the shore of the sea.
The Beast out of the Sea
And I saw a beast coming out of the sea. He had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on his horns, and on each head a blasphemous name. 2 The beast I saw resembled a leopard, but had feet like those of a bear and a mouth like that of a lion. The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority. 3 One of the heads of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed. The whole world was astonished and followed the beast. 4 Men worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast, and they also worshiped the beast and asked, “Who is like the beast? Who can make war against him?”
5 The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise his authority for forty-two months. 6 He opened his mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander his name and his dwelling place and those who live in heaven. 7 He was given power to make war against the saints and to conquer them. And he was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation. 8 All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world.
Much is being discussed these days concerning a New World Order. Phrases such as “international community”, “union,” “cooperation,” etc. are frequenting speeches given by our president and other world political leaders. Many believe that what is spoken of here in Daniel and in Revelation is a revival of this old Roman Empire, and I see that, too. And, I believe it is happening right now in our day, and the Lord is saying today to each one of us to go to our families, not just our immediate family members, but to the people we know in our towns, in our nation, etc. and tell them what Jesus has done for us because the time is short and the time of this rising of the beast of Revelation and this revival of this “Decapolis” is upon us and many, many people need to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ. If we don’t tell them, who will?
We need to tell everyone we know what Jesus has done for us in saving us and in having mercy on us and in healing and delivering us from the bondage to and control of sin over our lives. And, we need to praise the Lamb for sinners slain and to give HIM ALL the glory!
As I was writing this, the Lord brought this song into my mind, as well, and it does express my testimony of my relationship with Jesus Christ, as well. My prayer would be that everyone I know would come to know Jesus in this way.
The Longer I Serve Him / William J. Gaither
Since I started for the Kingdom,
Since my life He controls,
Since I gave my heart to Jesus,
The longer I serve Him,
The sweeter He grows.
Ev'ry need He is supplying,
Plenteous grace He bestows;
Ev'ry day my way gets brighter,
The longer I serve Him,
The sweeter He grows.
Chorus
The longer I serve Him, the sweeter He grows,
The more that I love Him, more love He bestows;
Each day is like heaven, my heart overflows,
The longer I serve Him, the sweeter He grows.
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