One of the most touching stories in the New Testament is the life-changing encounter that a woman, held in demonic bondage for years, had as she encountered Jesus the Redeemer of all things, and was set free from years of mental illness…years of confused thinking…years of depression.
Just recently I heard a powerful message, spoken by Cora Jakes Coleman, daughter of TD Jakes. It stirred my heart and I found myself delving into the Word to review the story and to know if the Lord wanted to say anything personal to me, regarding this portion of scripture. After all, as we read the Word, we read it with the eyes of faith, expecting the Lord to touch us in meaningful ways…emotionally, spiritually or physically.
Two days ago, as I returned home from running errands, I heard the sound of a shrill, demanding kind of alarm going off. When I unlocked my door I realized that the alarm was coming from a fire alarm on the second floor of my house and was going off for no apparent reason. Nothing had been disturbed. Nothing was on the verge of exploding in fire. Everything appeared to be in the same order in which I had left it. So, why the alarm? I decided it was just a fluke, or possibly the battery needed to be replaced.
Then a friend of mine brought my attention to an article recently published in Charisma magazine. The title was, “Do You Hear the Alarm?” The author was speaking about a storm coming. I am not an alarmist by nature. Yet, with the increased sound of hate speech and violence in the world, it is impossible to not realize we are living in times that are revealing greater darkness. The need for light, brilliant light is being sought out in an ever-increasing way. People are looking for hope, for encouragement, and for the firm foundation that truth brings.
