Encountering Jesus

Have you encountered Jesus? If you have truly encountered Jesus and truly believed you will have an inward desire to tell someone if not everyone you encounter. How can you not, He changes everything about the lives of those who believe. An encounter with Jesus is life changing and leaves a person overwhelmed with emotion because of genuine truth and love. The Bible is full of stories of people who encountered Jesus and were never the same. There is one particular story of a demon-possessed man who lived in the country of the Gadarenes. This man walked around naked and lived in different caves. This man’s demon possession was so extreme and powerful that attempts were made to keep him under guard, bound with shackles and chains, but he would break them and flee to the wilderness unable to be contained due to the power of the demons inside of him. But all this would change when he encountered Jesus.

The day most likely started as any other for this man, until he encountered Jesus. His life was about to change. The demon inside of him immediately recognized Jesus and then cried out and fell down. Examine this response closely. The demons, not the man, recognized Jesus as the Son of the Most High God. The demons feared Jesus because they recognized Him from His eternal existence. They recognized Him as God in the flesh and they trembled. 

So what was the end result of this man’s encounter with Jesus? The demons departed, he returned to his right mind, and was sitting at the feet of Jesus. But it was this man’s belief that led to his faithfulness and eagerness to share Christ and discover his new purpose in life.

Jesus’ last words to this man were “…tell what great things God has done for you,” and what was his response? He obeyed Jesus and “…went his way and proclaimed throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him” (Luke 8:39).

Why not resolve this new year to proclaim the great things Jesus has done for you?