This Week's Story
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Lately we've been travelling with Jesus. Life with him is never ordinary.
This Week’s Story relives American history and the Bible through brief inspiring stories presented on mp3 audio recordings and text for reading.
Rioting Waves and Demons
The sun was shining and water was lapping onto the beach. I love this lake. I used to work here as a fisherman with my brother and two other buddies. Lately we’ve been travelling with Jesus. Life with him is never ordinary, but this lake also has its surprises. Of course they don’t rival the ones I have with Jesus.
Today he told a group of us disciples, “Let’s cross the Lake of Gennesaret.”
Crossing the lake is not a few oar strokes. It’s work! The lake is thirteen miles long and a little over eight miles wide. What amazes me is how deep this lake gets. Imagine 141 feet down. Add a storm and you are in the middle of nowhere with raging waves.
We were leisurely crossing the lake when wind began whipping through the hills nearby and down onto us. Waves were dumping water into our boat. Could we survive? Jesus had laid down for a nap. Somehow he still was asleep. We shouted at him, “Don’t you care that we are going to drown?”
He sat up and looked around at us. We were staggering into each
other as the boat was twisting wildly. He asked, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still not have faith in me?” He stood and commanded the waves and winds, “Quiet down.”
The air became calm. Water shimmered again in the sun and soon our boat was gliding across the lake.
We were shocked, and stuttered, “Whoo-oo is thi-this man that even w-inds and w-aves obey him?”
As we reached the shore, a naked man ran to Jesus. His body was covered with black and blue marks, and bloody gashes. Without hesitating Jesus said, “Come out of this man, you evil spirit.”
The man fell to the ground and screamed horribly. He began shrieking, “Why are you bothering me, Jesus, son of the most-high God? Please don’t torture me.”
Jesus asked, “What is your name?”
“Legion, because there are many of us inside this man. Don’t sent us to the Bottomless Pit. Please let us go into the herd of pigs.” A large herd was feeding in the distance.
“You may do so,” Jesus agreed. The herd of 2,000 pigs tumbled down a nearby steep hillside into the lake. All drowned. The men who had tended the pigs, fled to the nearby town and began telling everyone there what had happened. People rushed to the lakeside to see what was happening. The man who had been possessed with demons was sitting there. He was dressed and behaving in a normal manner. The townspeople were terrified! They pleaded with Jesus, “Go away and leave us alone.”
We were told that the man had been living in a cemetery. There he would cry in rage. When he was placed in shackles and chains, he would break the shackles and snap the chains. No one was strong enough to control him. Now he asked Jesus, “May I go with you?”
“No,” Jesus told him. “Go home to your friends and tell them what wonderful things God has done for you.”
The man began to visit the Ten Towns in that area and tell people the great things Jesus had done for him. The news travelled inside and outside of Israel. As we continued travelling with Jesus, we marveled at the power Jesus had over supernatural forces and nature.
This is Barbara Steiner with two stories that are recorded in Matthew, Mark, and Luke of the Bible. Please enjoy thisweeksstory.com.
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