Family The Test of the Testimony

Family

The Test of the Testimony 

I wonder if the insane man Jesus drove the demons out of

Became insane because his family drove him there

Family is the toughest proving ground

Jesus told the man He cast the demons out of

"Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you."

It is not the amount of scriptures we can quote

Or, our preaching to others

The real proof is the testimony of what God has done for us

So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed.  

Don’t drive others insane

Let them be amazed by what God has done

The Test of the Testimony 

Family is the toughest proving ground.

Family will give you the greatest

encouragement and discouragement.

You can find the greatest

love and the greatest anger.

Family is the testing ground of your life.

Some families are better at

expressing love than others.

Some families are better expressing criticism.

But whatever you feel your family is good at,

your family is your proving ground.

I think we all wish family members

would overlook our weaknesses.

That every family member would only

have kind and encouraging things to say to us.

But family is that inescapable bond like it or not.

We all wanted to be accepted by family.

I know fathers who have been a total failure and

their children still want to be accepted by them.

Imagine you have a brother who is

so full of evil he has to be locked up. 

Imagine the embarrassment, shame and the effects

of your brother on your relationship with others.

Now imagine if that brother was you,

how could you ever overcome the shame?

This is the case of Mark 5.

A man was full of demons

and lived among the dead.

This man came out from

the tombs to meet Jesus.

Jesus casts out the demons

and his mind was restored.

 

This man wanted to follow Jesus

but Jesus says an amazing thing…

"Go home to your family and tell them how

much the Lord has done for you,

and how he has had mercy on you."

I cannot imagine what it must have been

like for the family to see him come home.

I am not sure he found a warm welcome.

How could they trust him?

Jesus’ instruction to the man was not to

tell the family how much he had changed.

Jesus said…

 “Tell them how much the Lord has done for you,

 and how he has had mercy on you."

This left an open door for the family to examine

the change and to know that the change

was not because he wanted a better place to sleep.

The change came because

of what the Lord had done.

The next verse we get the results…

So the man went away and began to tell in the

Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him.

And all the people were amazed.   

There is a very important value

we can learn from this story.

Our proving ground is not a place

where we blow our own trumpet.

Family and friends will see our strengths and

weaknesses and make judgments on what they see.

But when we declare God’s mercy and what

He has done for us, we unveil a life of humility.

We are not telling others how good or great we are.

We are not telling others what they should do or not do.

We are giving attention to the goodness

of God in our lives.

When we do, we reveal a heart of gratitude.

Testimonials are the strongest form of advertising.

If family and friends need to

see God is working in our life…

It is not the number of scriptures we share

but the change those closest to us see.

It was the mercy and work Jesus did in the

man’s life that gave him the security to go

back home where he was best known.

I have heard some say,

“my kids are driving me insane”.

Maybe it was this man’s family that drove him

insane and Jesus sent him back to family…

The toughest proving ground.    

Scripture Reading

Mark 5:18-20 NIV

18 As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. 19 Jesus did not let him, but said, "Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you."  20 So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed.