Thanks to the internet, an acquaintance of mine found pornography when he was 11 years old and he eventually found himself addicted to it. Over the course of many, many years, he was more able to get ahold of his compulsion, but he would still have days where he couldn’t get his mind off it, even if he abstained from viewing it.
Recently I preached a series on inner healing and wrapped it up on the topic of demons, which my friend listened to on the 1208PODCAST. I received a message a few weeks later from him after he tried some of the deliverance tactics I suggested. Just as Jesus commanded Legion to give him his name, my friend commanded any demons in him to tell him their names. He then took note of the name that came to mind and googled it, finding that it was connected to an Irish goddess of war frenzy. He also took note that this goddess was one of three such goddesses.
This especially got his attention. In college, when he was especially controlled by his compulsion, he had a dream of three very sensuous women who tried to seduce him, but he resisted them. When they approached him, they were revealed to be viscous demons. Seeing the connection between his dream and the name, he took authority over the demon in the name of Jesus and kicked it out. The compulsion and persistent sense of temptation has been fairly absent since that moment over a month ago. And while he knows he has to keep his guard up in case it tries to come back (as Jesus himself said), he is stronger to fight without the compulsion weighing on him.
The Gerasene demoniac was full of compulsions and afflictions. He was a naked man that lived in a graveyard. His voice could be heard screaming from the mountains. He cut himself with sharp rocks. People tried to chain him down, but he’d just break the chains. He was deeply afflicted, but Jesus was greater than his affliction. A Legion of demons fell on their face before Jesus, pleading that he not torment them. They knew who was in charge. And after they left, the afflicted man was free of compulsion and described as, “In his right mind.” May Jesus do the same for us as we yield ourselves to him.
*This devotional was created out of the themes of Luke 8:26-39 found in today’s reading at CommonPrayer.net.
Jamin Bradley 