Possessed

Written by cycleguy on March 7th, 2013

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According to the online dictionary, possessed has three definitions:

  1. Owning or mastering something.   He possessed great wealth.
  2. Controlled by or as if by a spirit or other force; obsessed.  That person is possessed by a demon.
  3. Calm; collected.  He remained possessed during the trial.

For the purpose of this post (and the message Sunday), I am using the second:  “controlled by or as if by a spirit or other force.”  My theme over the next two months is dealing with the change in people as a result of contact with Jesus.  I like the following quote:

When we sin and mess up our lives, we find that God doesn’t go off and leave us-He enters into our trouble and saves us.  Quote by Eugene Peterson used in Messy Spirituality by Mike Yaconelli

Many of us live, or know people who live messy lives.  Lives filled with divorce, death, drugs, drinking, an addiction of some kind.  Really messy, messy lives.   Some wrote us off.  Some are still writing us off.  Some have written others off as “incorrigible.”  “He/she will never change.”

Good thing nobody told Jesus that about Mary Magdalene.  We aren’t given a whole lot of background information about her except what Mark 16:9 tells us: “Now when he rose early  on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons.”   Whoa!  Back the truck up!! Seven demons???  Like I said, good thing they didn’t tell Jesus MM was beyond saving.   Truth be known: I may not have been possessed by seven demons (I wasn’t); I may not have done some dastardly deed worthy of imprisonment; I may not have driven drunk and almost taken someone’s life; I may not have snorted something up my nose; but I am still no better off than MM.  I have my own sin that needs taken care of.

MM became an avid follower of Jesus (and don’t believe those cockeyed stories different media want to present about their relationship).  But her coup de grace is found in John 20: 11-18.  Imagine the honor given her by being the first to see Jesus alive.  They had come to the tomb and it was empty.  The angel had appeared to the Mary’s; Peter and John had already made their appearance.  They had all left…except MM.  It was then Jesus rewarded her patience and devotion with His appearance.

We will not see the risen Lord as MM did.  But He does come to us in our brokenness.  No one can take that away from MM.  No one can take that away from us.  Enjoy your weekend. Enjoy your worship.  Enjoy knowing you matter to Jesus no matter what.

Thanks to Dan for the banner.

 

24 Comments so far ↓

  1. Daniel says:

    Great reminder here. I too have read about MM and theories that she was the wife of Jesus. Interesting how folks have great powers at reading between the lines of the bible to uncover the hidden truths.

  2. So grateful that He comes to us when we need Him most!

  3. What’s interesting is that some people take Dan Brown’s fiction based on the theory of Jesus and MM as fact and choose to believe that happened. Uggh.
    I find it interesting that some of the most compassionate, tender moments of Jesus’ life involved women.

    • cycleguy says:

      That was one of the things I was referring to Larry. It is fiction people!! There is not doubt in my mind the Scriptures paint Jesus as compassionate toward women.

  4. Susan says:

    I will pray for the service on Sunday. Liz Curtis Higgs wrote a book about MM and her transformation. Awesome what Jesus can and does do.

  5. Eileen says:

    What a BEAUTIFUL reminder, Bill. I love it.

  6. I’m thankful for all the dramatic conversion stories that we hear, because they remind us that God can work wonders in anyone’s life. I’m thankful for the wise saints in my church who can tell stories of their past that involved criminal acts and a lifestyle that made my jaw drop when first hearing it.

    • cycleguy says:

      I love hearing those stories also Loren. IN fact, one of the ladies who is an alcoholic is sharing part of her testimony Sunday.

  7. Mike says:

    I’m with you, I’m sooooo glad that God did not write me off because of my past. I was hitch hiking around the country in the early to mid 70’s living a very un-Christian life. I’m grateful that God nor my family wrote me off. Jesus did say that the doctor doesn’t come to the healthy, but to the sick.

    • cycleguy says:

      While i didn’t wander the country hitchhiking, I too am glad God didn’t write me off. That would make an interesting story to hear Mike.

  8. floyd says:

    It’s good to be reminded of the fact that God is in the redemption business. Imagine that love? Desperately weak fleshed souls only having to acknowledge our weakness and His love and sacrifice? It’s amazing that His unfathomable love set the bar so low for us… It’s mind boggling…

    Our job is to love like He does, including not casting stones… like He didn’t…

  9. Dan Erickson says:

    We are all broken. Sin is sin and we’re all guilty. Personally, I’ve dealt with “hearing voices” when I was younger. Was I possessed? I don’t think so, but if I was, I believe it was part of the plan and God was and is in control.

  10. Jan says:

    Love this.

  11. Debbie says:

    What a powerful post. Thank you for the encouragement that no one can take away Jesus from us. God bless you and yours!

  12. It breaks my heart when people suggest Jesus had an untoward relationship with MM. It proves that we find it so hard to believe that anyone could be good. Jesus himself says that no one is good, but God! We are so blessed that our good God has so much mercy on us.