Warfare for Your Destiny

One day, Jesus decided to cross the sea of Galilee to the Gerasenes region around the area of the Decapolis. He said to his deciples, "Let's cross over to the other side".. and so they did... while they were in the boat, Jesus found a comfy cushion and laid his head to rest. Meanwhile, a furious squall came upon the boat. There came a fierce raging torrent. The disciples, who, mind you, were experienced fishermen shook in fear.. they thought they were going to die! They knew plenty of storms but they never met a storm like this. Shaken with fear, they went into the boat and woke the Master up... "How could the Master sleep at a time like this?" they must have thought. Jesus got up, rebuked the wind and the waves and everything went back to normal... what about the disciples? Jesus rebuked them for having so little faith... starngely, these disciples whom He knew so well were terrified! Terrified? But they walked with Jesus, didnt they? Haven't they seen Him drive out evil spirits before? Or heal the sick? Or do the other cool stuff? They didn't think this was cool... they think this was really dead scary!

Then they got to the other side... and over there was a man (matthew records two)who was nuts... he was demon possessed, living among the tombs and with a such violent reputation that no one passed where he was... The townfolk were probably nice enough to try to chain him so that he wouln't hurt himself or others that happened to pass along the way but each time, he tore through the fetters.. no one could restrain him... imagine that for an uncle! Ok.. anyway.. Jesus comes into the picture and the demons are terrified.. they fall down before Him asking Him not to cast them into the Abyss.. instead, the demons begged Him to allow them to posses a herd of piggies that were gathered nearby... and Jesus allowed them and they went into the pigs which then rushed over the steep bank into the lake and drowned...

That's not the end of the story.. the word spread around and people gathered... they saw the demon-possessed man with Jesus and in his right mind.. and guess wad... they were afraid! Now that's really interesting cos when the man was still possessed, they were bold enuf to try to chain him and restrain him... now that he was ok, they were frightened! So anyway, they asked Jesus to leave their region cos of their fear but before leaving, Jesus comissioned that man to go and tell his family of what God has done for him... but the man told more than his family.. he told the entire region...

So what does this all mean?

Jesus was on a mission... it was more than just to cut down the cholesterol intake of an entire Gentile region. You see, in the Bible, this was a very unusual mission. Jesus said that He was sent to the lost sheep of Israel. He primarily ministered to Jews and if a Gentile came to Him, they were the exception- He didn't usually go to them. But here, we see Jesus take His entourage of Twelve (who thought they were gonna drown), brave the storm and go all the way accross the sea of Galilee to deliver the man from demon possession! It's like taking thirteen people to pray for a single guy during an altar call! He didn't do anything else there! After the event, the townsfolk asked Him to leave so he crossed the sea again. But He went on a special mission outside of Israel to specifically minister to a Gentile... so what He did must have been really special and really important.. and that the demon possessed man whom He liberated must have had some kind of significant role in God's plan for Jesus to go out of His way for that very purpose.

Now this mission was dangerous and the company was met with fierce opposition. The storm wasn't natural- it was supernatural, engineered by the spirits of the day who wanted to abort the mission (cos it was so important)! That's why the disciples never encountered anything like it! But didn't Jesus already say "let's go to the other side"? What does that mean? It means that Jesus already knew they were gonna get to the other side! all that was needed for the disciples to do was to trust in Him and His Word! Beloved, does a storm stand between you and your destiny? perhaps it's the biggest storm you have faced in your life. Perhaps it's of supernatural proportions and it will only take a supernatural God to see you through it. Perhaps there's a lot of warfare that stands between you and your destiny, between now and the prophetic words that have been released over your life. But take heart, know what He has said, and know the God who said it! And rest in that! When God says it will be, it will be. When God says you're gonna get to the other side, you will, even if right now you don't see it!

Then you'll go.. "Who is this..." You'll be afraid. The terror of the holiness and awesome greatness of God will hit you, once you know who's with you in the vessel.. Maybe you've walked with Jesus.. but you haven't seen anything yet.. There's yet a time for Him to show you that you don't really know Him that well after all.. and when you see another aspect of his nature, you'll stand in fear and awe!

The man at Gerasenes... his destiny was so important to God that he would even send Jesus to go all the way to a gentile region to liberate him... and his destiny was so important to Satan that those in the boat were to be met with such strong spiritual opposition, that even the threat of death loomed over their heads. yes, your destiny is important to Satan! Why? Cos he wants the worship that hould rightfully belong to God for himself.. He wants your giftings, your talents, your destiny and spheres of authority so he can use you as a counter-apostle for the kingdom of darkness and through you, he wants to spread such darkness and hatred for God. But God knows why He made you. He marked you out before you were born. He sees the potantial in you! Satan sees that too and that's why he's all out to stop it. But guess who's more powerful? ;)

Then the power enconter comes and Jesus wins hands down without even doing much.. the demons were literally begging Him.. now i wonder what the disciples were thinking... "Why did you have to put us through that ^$$#^*& storm??" "What are we doing here anyway? You single-handedly defeated the entire legion of them... and two thousand pigs too!" "You didn't really need our help now did You?" But Jesus showed them a lesson on faith. And He showed them that the destiny of that one man was worth more than all their comfort.. it was worth all the spiritual warfare they faced.. Cos the Master had a plan for him...

When the man was dressed and in his right mind, he wanted to go with Jesus, become Jesus' disciple... But Jesus had other plans. He commissioned him to be his first Gentile evangelist... normally when Jesus performed a private miracle, He would tell his patient not to go around telling other people... but this time, He commissioned the man to tell his family what God had done.. and guess wad.. the precious man did more than that- he told his story all over the Decapolis (which means the Ten Cities)...

I believe that the reason why people were afraid of Jesus was because they were not used to seeing light. Let's say someone lives in darkness his whole life.. and then suddenly gets out into the open and experiences light for the first time, he'll take some time to adjust! Maybe at first he may want to close his eyes or even go back in darkness! And the Gerasenes people were probably not used to Jesus' ministry... They were not used to seeing the real thing, real power.. they were more used to seeing demonic counterfeit... so He needed a forerunner.. like an advertising agent.. The perfect job for the man he set free! Later, Jesus was to return to the Decapolis to do some healing and to feed the 4000... i believe that the testimony of this man prepared them for Jesus' future ministry.

So where are you in your walk with the Lord? Are you experiencing warfare for your destiny? Look to Jesus.. He turned the man from a helpless demoniac living in tombs to a free, sane man.. and more than that, the first evangelist to the Gentile people! He was kept hidden for a time until God the Father decrees from heaven for him to be set free and comissioned with a mandate for the Kingdom. Jesus then proceeded to execute the Father's will in accordance to the divine command. Overnight, the destiny is unlocked and the man becomes healed, saved, set free... In the book of Zechariah, it tells us that God will remove the iniquity of the land on one day. Though it refers primarily to Jesus' death on the cross, i believe it also is a prophetic decree of reversal when God overturns the situations we face and launch us into the good works He has prepares for us, and which He has prepared us for!

God bless! :)