{"id":35098,"date":"2023-03-01T03:30:09","date_gmt":"2023-03-01T11:30:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/?p=35098"},"modified":"2023-02-27T09:45:39","modified_gmt":"2023-02-27T17:45:39","slug":"march-1-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/2023\/03\/01\/march-1-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"March 1, 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div><\/div><\/div>

But God<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\u201cWhy are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; for I shall yet praise Him, the help of my countenance and my God.”<\/em> Psalm 43:5<\/p>\n

There are times when nothing else will do but God alone. In the story of the demon possessed man in Mark 5, man could not deliver him, man could not tame him, nor could man restrain him.\u00a0The best that man could do utterly failed. He was demonized. He was demented. He was a disaster shunned by the community and in torment. There was no hope for him but God.<\/p>\n

Until that day when in the distance he saw a Man getting out of a boat and his imprisoned spirit just knew.\u00a0Here is my only hope and salvation.\u00a0He ran to meet Him. He knelt down at His feet. As the demons cried out, he fixed his eyes in expectation of deliverance. And deliverance happened at every level of his being.<\/p>\n

He was no longer naked, but clothed. He was no longer the wild man of the tombs, but was fully at peace. He was no longer insane with unbearable afflictions, but was in his right mind.<\/p>\n

“Give us help from trouble, for the help of man is useless.”<\/em> Psalm 108:12<\/p>\n

I have experienced such moments when there was no other answer but God. Man did his best, but it fell far short. Money didn’t help, medicine didn’t help, friends and family could not help. I was defeated and helpless and overcome. Darkness surrounded me and there was only God. The glorious part was there was only God! He was there. He met me in the midnight silence. He saw my tears. He heard my cries. He delivered me.<\/p>\n

The rest of the story tells of how Jesus was rejected by the people of this community. They preferred pigs over the power of an amazing God. They missed the wonder and the miracle of His love. Jesus told the man He had delivered to “Go home to your own people and report to them how much the Lord has done for you and how He has had mercy on you” <\/em>(Mark 5:19 CSB). Where Jesus could not go, He sent one who could declare Him. The man simply told his story. The people knew him before and now they could not deny that he was a different man.\u00a0Where they had failed, they now saw the wonder of God at work in their neighbor.<\/p>\n

Our only true hope is in God alone. What has He done in your life? What mercies have met you? Tell your story!<\/p>\n

Father, thank You that when we could not, You could \u2013 and did! Amen.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>

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