All by Himself

You lived among tombs, constantly plagued by the voices of demons in your head. Shackles on your feet, chains on your hands, they shunned you to this place. New cuts left by last night as you tried to numb the pain with stones as the spirits continued to oppress you. You’ve stop wondering if the blood will ever dry up, if the scars will ever heal. Voices constantly crying out of your body, you can’t stop them though you wish they would flee so badly. Everyone has long since abandoned you to this hell. They gave up on their prayers and sacrifices at the temple years ago on your behalf. The mountains have become your home, and now they will be your burial grounds. You live in constant darkness, not even knowing the concept of light anymore. You’ve forgotten your name. You’ve rejected Love.

You live in cycles, addictions, constantly plagued by voices of the past screaming in your head. Shackles on your heart, chains on your hand, you believe the lies that you will never be free from this. You numb your pain with men, with pills, with alcohol, night after night after night. The bruises left by the last one you didn’t please well enough are still there. They’ve turned into scars you won’t ever be able to heal.

You’ve stop caring if there’s a way out of this. You’ve stopped asking if there’s hope. Your desires have become your own hell, and they’ll become your own graveyard. Your children have become bitter, angry, confused, and withdrawn. Broken trust becomes the song that keeps on repeating in the deepest places of your heart. You live in constant darkness, refusing the concept of light in this place. You’ve forgotten freedom. You’ve rejected Love.

And then one day He came to your mountain. You saw Him step into your world, your darkness, your space. Something deep within you compelled you to fall at His feet and beg Him to leave. The voices within you shook with terror. They screamed in agony at His very presence. They knew exactly who He was. He asked them for their names. He wanted to know their names. “Legion!” they screeched as they begged him not to send them away. Not away from you.

His voice thundered through every part of your inner being. It felt like a dagger was ripping your guts out as He spoke the words you will never forget.

“Come out of the man you unclean spirit!”

And then, in that exact moment of time, it happened. God saved.

God saved you all by Himself.

One day He came into your neighborhood. You saw Him step into your world, your darkness, your space, your home. Even in your confusion, something deep within compelled you to ask Him to stay. But for so long it seemed that the demons were too strong, or maybe the faith was too weak. Everything screamed for the Power to flee this place. It took years of dead end alleys, dark dungeons, indestructible cycles for you to hit rock bottom. And then one day He reached down into your mess and spoke these words into being.

“Be clean!”

And then, in that exact moment of time, it happened. God saved.

God saved you all by Himself.

He took your bleeding, naked, weary body and He made it whole. He gave you clothes, He made you clean, He invited you to sit and talk with Him. He made you new. He gave you rest.

He took your cycles, your addictions, your pills, your men, your past, and He redeemed it. He pursued you like you always wanted to be pursued, He loved you with a ferocious force, He held you with an everlasting love, He made a commitment with you for eternity, He gave you healing. He made you new.

And it wasn’t too hard for Him. It didn’t make Him weary or exhausted or frustrated. They weren’t too far gone for Him. They weren’t too lost, too bitter, too wayward. He didn’t need to come up with a plan B.

He hung there, blood dripping down onto the hard, cold, rocks beneath. The cold breeze sent a chill through the air, as dark clouds loomed overhead.  He had been here hours. Pieces of flesh barely hanging on to his back and legs as the pain from the beatings seemed endless. The nails driven in by the soldiers had ripped apart the very hands that had once touched the sick, held the children, embraced the weak, accepted the hooker, sent the demons away. The taunting voices echoed louder in the darkness around him.

“THIS is what You wanted? THIS is what you’re about? You’re dying for THEM? Isn’t their unbelief crushing your spirit? Give it up! They won’t ever believe that THIS is enough! They won’t ever believe this will be good enough! You should come down while you still can.”

He took my broken, dirty, unbelieving heart and He made it new. He gave me life, He gave me breath, He gave me peace, He invited me into His kingdom, He gave me new clothes of righteousness and the hope of all glory. He gave me a purpose, He gave me a task, He made me a mouthpiece, He sent me to proclaim what He has done.

He took my sins. From all of the past, all of the now, all that is to come, and He paid for every last one with His blood.

His voice thundered into all of eternity with His last words, “IT IS FINISHED.”

And then, it that exact moment of time, it happened. He won for me.

He won for us all.

All by Himself.

"And as He was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him. And He (Jesus) did not permit him but said to him, 'Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you and how much he has had mercy on you.' And he (the demon possessed man) went away and began to proclaim how much Jesus had done for him." (Mark 5)