12 Miracles Web

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12 Miracles ofSpiritual Growth


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12

of SpiritualGrowth

West Chester, Pennsylvania


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by he Swedenborg Founda ion. All righ s reserved.No par o his publica ion may be reproduced or ransmited in any

orm or by any means, elec ronic or mechanical, including pho ocopying,recording, or any in orma ion s orage or re rieval sys em, wi hou

prior permission rom he publisher.

Library o Congress Ca aloging-in-Publica ion Da aRogers, E. Ken .

welve miracles o spiri ual grow h : a pa h o healing rom he Gospels

/ E. Ken Rogers.p. cm.

- - - - (alk. paper). Jesus Chris Miracles.

. Bible. N. . GospelsCri icism, in erpre a ion, e c.. Spiri ual healing. I. i le.

. . . dc

Edi ed by Morgan Beard

Design and ypeseting by Kachergis Book Design

Te scrip ure quo a ions con ained herein are rom he New RevisedS andard Version Bible, copyrigh by he Division o Chris ian

Educa ion o he Na ional Council o he Churches o Chris in he USA,and are used by permission. All righ s reserved.

Prin ed in he Uni ed S a es o America

Swedenborg Founda ion Press Nor h Church S ree Wes Ches er, PA

www.swedenborg.com


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o Shovha, wi h whom Igra e ully share he road o

growing and healing.

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Many hanks o Morgan Beard or her exper pos -submission edi ing o his book and o Valerie Rogers

or her pre-submission edi ing. I would also like ohank my paren s, Ned and Val Rogers, or heir early-

s age edi ing, as well as my wi e, Shovha, and children Alisha, Amri a, Avia, Chandra, Evan, Ganesh, Nick,Pasang, Puja, Rajendra, San osh, Sharmila, and Suni a,

or assis ance wi h more recen edi ing o my li e.


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In roduc ion ix

Healing rom Feelings o Unwor hiness Mathew :

Healing rom Lack o Forgiveness Mark :

Healing rom Spiri ual Slavery Mark :

Healing rom Inner War are Mark :

Healing rom Los Innocence Mark :

Healing rom Doub Mark :

Healing rom Fai h-Arrogance Luke :


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Healing rom Lack o Joy Luke :

Healing rom Fear Mathew : ; Mark : ;Luke : ; John :

Healing rom Spiri ual Apa hy John :

Healing rom Blame-Blindness John :

Resurrec ion rom Spiri ual Dea h John :

Appendix: Medi a ion

Abou he Cover Pho o


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All the miracles the Lord himself performed when he was in the worldsymbolized the future state of the church. For instance, the eyes of the blindand ears of the deaf were opened, the tongues of the mute were loosened,the lame walked, and the maimed and leprous were healed. is meant thatthe kinds of people symbolized by the blind, deaf, mute, lame, maimed,and leprous would receive the Gospel and be healed spiritually, throughthe Lords coming into the world. ,

I s ar ed wri ing his book afer having looked deeply a a ew o Jesuss healings. I ound ha he more I delved in o hese accoun s,

he more meaning ul and personally herapeu ic hey became. I dis-covered ha Jesus could heal me o spiri ual problems oday jus asmiraculously as he healed he physical problems o men and women

wo housand years ago. Several imes I el he Lord reaching ouhrough he ex and hrough housands o years, ouching my hearand healing me. I saw ha Jesus knows me, and all o us, in an in-

ima e way. He knows abou our ears, upse s, s ruggles, and hang-ups, and he answers us wi h he u mos compassion. I el s rongly

ha he healing I was receiving would be applicable and use ul oo hers as well. I had o share wha I had been given.

As he i le implies, welve Miracles o Spiri ual Grow hexploreshe cura ive spiri ual and psychological message con ained in welve


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o Jesuss healing miracles. I believe ha his book is highly relevano any Chris ian seeking a deeper, more meaning ul rela ionship

wi h Jesus. I will also appeal o he hough ul spiri ual seeker

searching or spiri ual solu ions o psychological problems.I have many non-Chris ian loved ones, and as his book drewnear publica ion, I experienced some repida ion les I aliena e hem by he boldness o ai h I pro ess. So or hem and or hose o herreaders o whom ai h in Jesus as he mani es a ion o Divine Loveis a oreign or even off-puting idea, I wish o s a e he ollowing. I believe in Jesus because I have ound his belie o increase my desireand abili y o love o hers. Fai h is ofen cri icized as divisive. I be-lieve, no o separa e mysel rom nonbelievers, bu o be uni ed wi hall people, regardless o ai h, as my bro hers and sis ers. I here isany hing o my ai h ha hinders my abili y o have empa hy wi h, rela e o, or serve o hers, han I rejec i as an erroneous aspec o ai h

I also eel a measure o oolishness in believing he an iscien ics ories hrough which he li e o Jesus is expressed he virgin bir h,

he healing miracles, he resurrec ion, and even he idea ha a man isGod. Never heless, i belie in such s ories is able o make me a beterperson a more loving husband, a gen ler a her, a more rus wor-

hy riend hen I am willing o subordina e logic and he desire orrespec abili y o he goals o love. I is, in he end, exhilara ing andlibera ing o have my li e and, indeed, reali y dened no by in ellec , bu by love. And ul ima ely, in my mind, ha which increases love is

he deni ion o logical. I some hing has a rue and good effec in

my li e, hen ha hing, even i i appears anci ul, mus be rue angood. Ive only ever ound one hing as rue and good as Jesus, and

ha is love i sel ; and or me, here is no difference be ween he wo Jesus explains o me how o love and Jesus inspires me o love beyond he borders o wha I could o herwise have hoped or. Finally, Jesus grounds me. I marvel a people who love o hers well and sim-ply wi hou ai h. I do no believe I am capable o his. Were I no

able o poin o Jesus as he source o love, Id ake credi and any loveexpressed would become adul era ed wi h sel -aggrandizemen .


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Who is Jesus, and wha does ai h in Jesus mean? Because his book is ounded on s ories abou Jesus, hese are impor an ques-

ions o answer. Wha is behind he words I believe in Jesus? o

believe in some hing or someone, we mus know heir undamen-al message and quali y. Jesus wice expresses his message verbally:Tis is my commandmen , ha you love one ano her as I haveloved you. No one has grea er love han his, o lay down ones li e

or ones riends (John : ). He also s a es in he verses haollow ha hose who ruly believe will live according o his com-

mandmen s o love. In my mind, here ore, o believe in Jesus is odedica e ones li e o he effor o loving and serving o hers. Jesusdidn jus preach his message, he lived i ou in every hing he did.

Heaven, Jesus says, is wi hin. I is a spiri ual s a e o mind. Loveis he only source o las ing peace and rue joy. I will use he wordlove requen ly hroughou his book, and since ha word has somany diverging implica ions, i seems bes o dene he meaning Iin end o communica e. Love is he essen ial na ure o God, which we experience in several ways. When we are inspired by a hear -

el desire o bless o hers, o render hem happy and improve heir well-being, and when we eel genuine gra i ude or he exis enceo o hers, ha is one mani es a ion o Divine Love. I would equa e

his wi h he Holy Spiri ; i is Gods work and anima ion wi hin us.So when I say ha love ishe heavenly s a e o mind, ha is wha Imean.

Te ac ivi ies ha arise rom ha s a e o mindhe hings we

do rom a hear el desire o improve li e on ear h and bless o h-ers are a second mani es a ion o Divine Love. Only Divine Lovecan anima e us o such seless ac ivi y.

A hird mani es a ion o Divine Love is Jesushis li e, his words,and his ac ions. Gods love or he human race became incarna ed asa Savior. Jesus is God and God is Love all ha Jesus ever said or didis he revela ion o Divine Love. For his reason, I some imes re er

o God as Divine Love or simply Love. I do so when I mean o em-phasize he immedia e presence o God as love wi hin human lives as


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opposed o in ellec ual knowledge and hough abou God, which byna ure dis ance us rom he experience o Gods immedia e presence.

Love is wha makes us ruly human. In he absence o love, we are

merely animals, biological machines. Bu love orms us in o spiri ual beings, ranscending our sel -serving, animal ins inc s. Love is morehuman han we are. Tus Divine Love, or God, is wha is ruly hu-man and so au hors our humani y. As our crea or, Divine Love isno only human, bu love is also divine. Were here no such hing aslove, here could be no joy. Wi hou joy here is no consciousness. Wi hou consciousness, here is no reali y. Tus Divine Love whomani es ed as Jesusis he source o all joy, all consciousness, andall reali y. Because Divine Love is he source o consciousness, i isalso he source o all in elligence. Tere ore Divine Love is in el-ligence i sel . Love is God, living and in elligen , bo h ully humanand ully divine.

Love is heaven. Fai h in Jesus delivers us in o heaven because Jesus inspires seless love, some hing ha he sel logically cannoachieve on i s own. I is impossible or he sel o ranscend i selSome repea he idea ha Jesus died or our sins. I believe ha hedied or our sins in he sense ha he loves us even when our selsh-ness ries o block love rom dwelling wi hin us. In o her words, oursins atemp o kill Gods love, bu Divine Love is willing o keeploving us anyway. And indeed ha endless, s ead as mercy is oursalva ion. Fai h is saving because i is he necessary bridge ha al-lows us o aspire o a li e in accordance wi h he will o Divine Love.

Since such in elligen , human Divine Love exis s, i only makessense ha such a being would wish o con ac us. Ironically, in heslow and hal ing developmen o my ai h, he miracles o Jesus werepreviously unin eres ing o me. I didn wan o base my ai h on a belie in miracles. Ra her, I rs accep ed Jesus as my personal God because o he value I ound wi hin his message. Nobodys messageis so clearly rue and goodlove one ano her . He spoke he message

I was willing o believe. I concur wi h wha guards once said o him:Never has anyone spoken like his (John : ). Because I could


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believe in his message, I decided o believe in him. And so when hesaid, Be ore Abraham was, I am (John : ), I unders ood ha heone who delivered his pro ound message was saying ha he was

also God.Ta was many years ago. Since hen, my ai h has slowly busurely increased and lled ou . Wha was a rs a simple in ellec ualdecision o believe in he man who spoke abou love developed in oan increasing rus o he hear . My abili y o eel Gods love andpresence in li e around me has s eadily grown hrough he years. When God is el all around, i is much easier o le go o ear and

he selshness i breeds. By rela ing o my Savior, I become a beterperson. He heals me and lifs me up. Since o ranscend he sel bymeans o he sel is an impossibili y, o be able o, litle by litle, ran-scend normal, na ural, selsh ins inc s is he miracle o Jesuss love. While a rs I ound he writen accoun s o Jesuss miracles lessmeaning ul, when parallel miracles began o occur in my own li e, I was as ounded and my ai h was amplied. Jesus himsel says, Be-lieve he works ha you may know and unders and ha he Fa her isin me, and I am in he Fa her ( John : ). I see and apprecia e he works ha he brings or h in my li e.

Apar rom in ensive s udy o he New and Old es amen s, heideas in his book were also inuenced by a number o o her impor-

an ac ors. Unders anding he Word o God as a parable or analogyo our personal spiri ual developmen in our walk wi h he Lord isa concep horoughly developed by he eigh een h-cen ury mys ic

and heologian Emanuel Swedenborg, whose works I have read ex-ensively. Similarly, o her underlying heological ideas wi hin his

book, such as he singular personhood o God whose mani es a ionis Jesus and he inseparable na ure o ai h and love, are hemes haSwedenborg discusses.

Te value o working wi h o hers in groups or spiri ual and psy-chological purposes is some hing I have experienced rs hand in a

varie y o con ex s. I have had he privilege o gain he wisdom and blessing o all manner o individuals hrough Chris ian Bible s ud-


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ies, prayer groups, recovery groups, spiri ual grow h groups, andpsycho-spiri ual camp group encoun ers or many years. Tere is nodoub ha hese posi ive and some imes li e-changing experiences

pro oundly inuenced he orma o he prac ice espoused wi hinhis book. Tough I wro e his book be ore my educa ion in men alheal h counseling, I have since edi ed in a ew ideas gained rom haexperience.

Tis book assembled i sel piecemeal, chap er by chap er, as Icame o see a message wi hin each healing miracle. I chose he heal-ings o medi a e and wri e abou randomly, wi hou any par icularorder in mind. Afer reading each healing accoun , I would spend

ime in prayer and medi a ion. I also used Bible dic ionaries ando her re erence books o learn more abou cus oms, his orical de-

ails, and he uses o various i ems men ioned. I usedS rongs Con-cordance o learn he meaning o names and words. Some imes hepersonal, spiri ual message o he healing came quickly, some imesslowly.

I chose o wri e abou hose healings ha included he mosamoun o in orma ion. Some imes he Gospels ell us ha all who

ouched him were healed. Tis is good news, bu i lacks de ail andso does no lend i sel o in-dep h explora ion. However, o her ac-coun s o Jesuss healings provide rich de ail and so pain a pic urein o which we can en er wi h our imagina ions. Tese s ories are likepor als hrough which we can mee he living God. When I had ex-haus ed he accoun s ha I el called o wri e abou , i urned ou

ha I had welve healings. Afer comple ing he rough draf o each miracle, I wondered

abou he bes order or he chap ers. Ini ially, I considered divid-ing he miracles in o ca egories, bu I ound ha hey didn lend

hemselves nea ly o such divisions. I was s ar led o discover ha by ordering hem in sequence as hey occur in he ex o he New

es amen , hey ormed a con inuous progression o meaning and

healing each s ory building upon he previous. Te progressionculmina es in he raising o Lazarus (John ), which on a personal,


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spiri ual level also drew upon and bound oge her all he messageso he previous healing accoun s. I had some imes wondered whysuch an impor an miracle as he raising o Lazarus was no re-

corded in all our o he Gospels. Perhaps he answer is ha he ourGospels aken oge her spell ou he s ory o our spiri ual evolu ionin a con inuous manner. Ta special miracle in our lives, represen -ed by he resurrec ion o Lazarus, only comes afer we have raveled

hrough he many o her s ages o our journey.Each healing deals wi h a problem we ace in our walk wi h Jesus.

Te healings deal wi h he problems in he order ha we encoun erhem. I doesn make sense o ne- une our ai h when we don

have any ai h in he rs place. Ordering he chap ers according ohe sequence in which hey occur in he Bible made more sense and

provided more progressive con inui y rom one o he nex han anyorder I was able o devise on my own.

O course, many o hese s ories can be ound in more han oneGospel. In choosing which accoun o use, I rs read each Gospels version o he healing and hen chose he one ha seemed ulles wi h de ail. In one case, he s ory o Malchuss ear, I included heaccoun rom all our Gospels, because each one adds an impor anpiece o he s ory.

Tis is he order in which hey occur bo h in he New es amenand in his book.

. Canaani es Daugh er / Mathew : / Healing romeelings o unwor hiness

. Paraly ic / Mark : / Healing rom un orgiveness. Legion / Mark : / Libera ion rom addic ion

. Flow o Blood / Mark : / Release rom inner war are . Jairuss Daugh er / Mark : / Res ora ion o innocence . Mans Son wi h Epilepsy / Mark : / Healing rom doub . Cen urions Servan / Luke : / Healing rom ai h-

arrogance . en Lepers / Luke : / Healing rom lack o joy


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. Malchuss Ear / Mathew : ; Mark : ;Luke : ; John : / Healing rom ear. Man by Be hesda / John : / Healing rom spiri ual apa hy

. Blind Man / John : / Healing rom blame-blindness . Lazarus / John : / Resurrec ion rom spiri ual dea hin o spiri ual li e

Each chap er ends wi h sugges ed exercises. A leas one o heseexercises will be a medi a ion. Medi a ion is no as s range or in-

imida ing as many imagine. In conjunc ion wi h my reading o he Word, I have ound medi a ion o be perhaps he mos pro ound

agen in advancing he dep h and meaning o my rela ionship wi hhe Lord and hus also my rela ionship wi h o hers. Medi a ion sim-ply means ha you rs relax body and mind and hen ocus exclu-sively on a cer ain men al ac ivi y. In hese cases, he men al ac ivi yis o live hrough he miracles wi h as much imagina ive de ail aspossible. Te appendix a he end o his book explains a ew ways oen er in o a medi a ive s a e o mind rom which one can embark on

he specic medi a ions sugges ed a he end o each chap er. Apar rom he medi a ions, will be a lis o leaves, rui , angroup discussion ques ions. Te book o Revela ion alks o he

ree o Li e whose leaves heal he na ions and whose rui eed us. Jus as leaves ca ch he ligh o he sun, so our hough s are able oca ch he ligh o Gods ideas. And jus as a ree uses he energy oligh o grow, so we can use rue ideas rom God o grow s rong andheal hy. A he end o each chap er, under he heading leaves, are alis o spiri ual ideas con ained in he healing o ha chap er, which will heal us and cause us o grow.

A he end o each chap er, under he heading rui , is a lis oac ions we are encouraged o ake, based on he lessons rom hapar icular healing. When Jesus walked he ear h, he said, My oodis o do he will o God. So, oo, we are spiri ually ed when we rainour ac ions on o Gods will, which is o say, he ac ions o love. Jusas he body craves ood and is made con en ed when ood is ea en,


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so our spiri is only lled when we ake loving and healing ac ion.Deep inside our spiri s, we all long o eel uni ed o o hers and oknow ha our lives have a poin . Tere is no hing ha can sa is y

ha need o her han love-based ac ivi ies. Doing Gods will ruly ishe rui , he ood, ha eeds our spiri .One o he underlying ene s o he book is ha our spiri ual

wounds and weaknesses are ac ually blessings in disguise. Te Lordo Love uses our weaknesses as an impor an arena o reveal himsel .For each o our weaknesses, he has s reng h. For each o our spiri-

ual illnesses, he has he cure. For a hardened hear , he has mercy.Our liabili ies orce us o nd he Lord o Love in a angible and

po en way and all upon him or healing. Our weaknesses drive uso humili y and cause us o look ever deeper or Jesus wi hin his

Word. Need or his help mo iva es us o knock, search, and ask. Ihave ound ha , jus as he promises, he opens, he reveals, and hegives.

Our rail y drives us o orm meaning ul rela ionships wi h o h-ers. Coming ace o ace wi h our spiri ual inrmi ies and illnessesserves o reduce he arrogance and he spiri o cri icism ha in-hibi posi ive connec ions among us. Personal weaknesses each us

o love and rela e o people. As we come o see our own woundsand spiri ual inadequacies, we are empowered o see o hers in heir weaknesses wi hou he eye o judgmen or a sense o superiori y. We may even be able o offer a helping hand. We are all simply Godschildren and we are all in need o our heavenly Fa her. We are sheep

o he old, and whe her we have wandered away or no , we equallyare in need o he guidance o our rue Shepherd.

My s udy o hese welve healing miracles has convinced me

ha Divine Love wan s us o par icipa e in and enjoy ellowship

wi h one ano her. In he Gospels, he Lord o Love ells us ha hedwells in he leas o his bro hers and sis ers, which is o say, all o


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us. He dwells where wo or hree are ga hered oge her. I each in-dividual has a unique rela ionship wi h God, hen many individuals will clearly provide a uller pic ure o he ace and hands o Divine

Love. Bu he union o many is no simply a mater o addi ion, jusas he union o cells and organs o he body is no merely a mater oaddi ion. Some hing wondrous and more alive han our own selvesis crea ed in communi y. I have ound ha several o hese healingsrequire communica ion wi h o hers o be effec ive. o his end, he book is designed o be used as guide or weekly spiri ual grow hgroups ( hough i can also be used by individuals).

Some hing inside o us resis s sharing our deepes hough s andeelings wi h o hers. We don wan o make ourselves vulnerable.

We don wan o admi o o hers our rail y and imper ec ion. I possible ha we resis communi y ou o a sense o pride. Bu , as we will discuss la er, ha very pride is a spiri ual weakness. I we are se-rious abou our spiri ual progress, in my opinion, i will behoove us

o riumph over pride and allow ourselves o experience he Lordshealing in ellowship wi h o her people. Ano her inhibi ion we may

eel is ear ear ha o hers will judge and rejec us. We ear ha iour pre ense is le down, we will be socially unaccep able. However,in my experience he opposi e has mos ofen proven rue. When we are hones wi h o hers abou our rue selves, including our spiri-

ual inrmi ies, o hers apprecia e i . Tey eel as i we have hon-ored hem wi h our rus and hones y. Tey ofen respond in kind. A power ul ellowship is developed. Tis is especially rue when a

group o people have in en ionally ga hered or he express purposeo suppor ing one ano her in spiri ual developmen , as would be hecase or hose who mee oge her o work hrough his book.

No all readers will be able o access a group due o inrmi y ordis ance rom o her in eres ed par ies. Such individuals may wish ocrea e online groups wi h riends, or hey may con ac a spiri uallyorien ed organiza ion such as a church or, i i applies, a welve-s ep

group o help hem se up or join an online group. Al erna ively,such a person may wish o work wi h a selec ed riend via phone


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on our ee . In ac , he more we are mo iva ed by love, he morelikely we are o nd ourselves in challenging si ua ions in he hopeso somehow helping. I we aren mo iva ed, we won ven ure in o

he murky, muddy areas o li e. Remembering his can help us o re-rain rom judging one ano her as we go abou sharing and lis eningin he group seting.

Afer a member shares, I encourage him or her o ask he o h-ers or heir responses. Group members can hen respond wi h heir

eelings, hough s, experiences, and even advice abou wha has been shared. I akes a level o humili y o receive advice rom o h-ers, bu humili y is good. Te abili y o learn rom one ano her is anexcellen s ep in spiri ual progress. Advice is somewha shunned in American cul ure, bu i is a vi al and valuable par o many cul ureselsewhere around he globe. We bare our spiri ual ee no simply

o air hem, bu o have hem cleansed by he wa erhe ideas oo hers. I we are going o lower our pride enough o share our weak-nesses and shor comings wi h o hers, we migh as well be willing oremain humble enough o lis en o wha o hers have o say.

I canno emphasize enough he impor ance o lis ening wi h o-cused, nonjudgmen al empa hy, and when we respond o o hers wi ha parallel experience or offer a sugges ion, ha we do so no rom as ance o , I know wha is bes or you, bu ra her, Heres some hing

ha crosses my mind and I hope i may be o service o you. When Jesus washed he ee o his disciples, he humbled himsel o hem.So should we remain humble as lis eners.

One nal hough abou spiri ual oo washing be ore movingon: sandal-clad ee may ge dus ier and muddier, bu hey are lessprone han sneaker-clad ee o ungal in ec ion and s ench. Te im-plica ion is ha i we remain open and hones abou our spiri ualchallenges on a weekly or even daily basis, our problems have less

ime o es er and breed. I is heal hier o be communica ive abouour roubles and oibles han o ry o keep hem shoed up. Even u-

ally, he shoe is going o have o come off. Tus I recommend haeach member o he group agree o a sharing par nership wi h one


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o her member o he group. I sugges ha he sharing par ners agreeo con ac one ano her once every day o discuss progress and prob-

lems o he pas wen y- our hours.

A sugges ed group orma is as ollows: . Social ime (perhaps wi h snacks, ea, coffee). . Opening prayer: All holding hands in a circle, afer a momen

o silence, each member speaks a shor prayer in urn. Al erna-ively, one member can be elec ed o speak an opening

prayer. . Discussion o chap er and personal applica ion hroughou he

week, using he discussion ques ions provided i so desired. . Closing prayer.

A group may wan o choose a acili a or/leader o serve or maypre er a more organic and egali arian s yle. Ei her is ne.

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Many o he lessons prescribed in his book are challenging andrequire work; some imes pain ul work. Bu he rewardsinner peace,increased sense o love or o hers, a more angible sense o Gods pres-ence in our lives and all around us, hope, libera ion rom des ruc ivehabi s and hough s, increased joy, an empowermen o effec posi ivechanges in our lives, an increase in awarenessare well wor h i .

I is likely ha no everyone will connec wi h his book. Noeveryone who encoun ered Jesus wo housand years ago neededa miracle. In ac , as ar as we know, none o he welve apos lesrequired any healing rom him. Likewise, no everyone who ap-proaches Jesus oday necessarily needs a lo o spiri ual and psycho-logical healing. On he o her hand, or hose o us who do, his bookmay be impor an .

Jesus is real. Trough he s ories describing how he healed peo-ple o heir physical inrmi ies wo housand years ago, he can heal

us o spiri ual and psychological ailmen s oday. God is presen andpower ul yes erday, oday, and omorrow he same.

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I is my earnes hope ha his book migh help you and o herso more ully know and eel he amazing grace and love o our God,

Jesus Chris . I is my joy ul oppor uni y o share some o he ways

ha he Lord God Jesus Chris has ouched my li e wi h his gen leguidance and power ul healing. Tis book is he realiza ion o hreehopes o mine: o proclaim he mercy and joy o he Lord; o helpo hers nd healing; and o ransla e my rela ionship wi h he Lord oLove in o a meaning ul service o love o as many o hers as possible.

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. . . even the dogs eat the crumbs . . .

Mathew : Jesus lef ha place and wen away o he dis ric o yre and

Sidon. Jus hen a Canaani e woman rom ha region came ouand s ar ed shou ing, Have mercy on me, Lord, Son o David;my daugh er is ormen ed by a demon.

Bu he did no answer her a all. And his disciples came andurged him, saying, Send her away, or she keeps shou ing afer us.

He answered, I was sen only o he los sheep o he houseo Israel.Bu she came and knel be ore him, saying, Lord, help me.

He answered, I is no air o ake he childrens ood and hrowi o he dogs.

She said, Yes, Lord, ye even he dogs ea he crumbs ha allrom heir mas ers able.

Ten Jesus answered her, Woman, grea is your ai h! Le i bedone or you as you wish. And her daugh er was healed ins an ly.


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ime and again I have discovered ha using a medi a ive imagi-na ion o empa hize wi h he charac ers o he Bible is a power ulkey o unlocking Gods messages hidden wi hin. Te meaning o

his s ory unveiled i sel o me while I was medi a ing on i . Aferarriving a a medi a ive s a e o mind, I began imagining mysel inhe place o he Canaani e woman. God desires ha we develop em-

pa hy, so i is litle wonder ha searching Gods Word wi h he lenso empa hy will yield much rui . Le s imagine he si ua ion o hpoor mo her.

S ar wi h he ac ha she is a womana woman in a cul urecomple ely domina ed by men. In ha cul ure, women were consid-ered litle more han proper y, servan s or men. Te primary pur-pose o marriage was no companionship, bu o produce children.Te second mos impor an reason or marriage was o increase

amily weal h and s a us. A woman was no viewed so much as a hu-man being in her own righ , bu as a ool or achieving hese ends.

I was per ec ly accep able or a displeased husband o divorcehis wi e (Mat. : ). Tere was no concep o commi men on

he par o a husband. Te ac ha a man could or any reason di- vorce his wi e wi h no hing more han a signa ure illumina es henega ive cul ural ati ude oward women. Again we see ha a wi es value was measured by her capaci y o please and serve her husbandra her han by her inheren value as a daugh er o God.

Fur her revealing he prevailing deroga ory ati ude held oward women in ancien Jewish socie y is he ac ha scholars and each-

ers simply didn in erac wi h women in public. His disciples wereshocked when hey ound Jesus engaged in conversa ion wi h heSamari an woman by he well (John : ). Teir upse was in par because she was a non-Jew and in par because she was a woman.

Tus, he Canaani e in he s ory o our presen considera ionsurely believed hersel a second-class ci izen a bes , simply becauseshe was a woman. She probably valued hersel no as a daugh er o

God, bu as a servan o men, he same men who belitled her.Compounding his womans sense o insignicance and unwor-


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hiness was he ac ha she was no a Jew. She was rom Canaan,a gen ile na ion despised by he Jews. She was no o he chosen. As she approached his Jewish man, Jesus, she el in imida ed be-

cause she was o he wrong gender, wrong cul ure, wrong na ion,and wrong religion. As i all o his wasn enough, here is litle doub ha she con-

sidered hersel awed and sin ul. In ancien cul ures people believedha de ec s and de ormi ies in offspring were he resul o he sinulness o he paren s. A demon-possessed child would have likely

brough shame o he woman. She may have received silen , conde-scending disdain rom her neighbors or possibly ou righ blame andcruel y.

Looking a all o hese ac s, we begin o unders and how his woman mus have el abou hersel . She undoub edly consideredhersel o be o litle or no value. Tese general eelings o unwor-

hiness were only compounded by he ini ial responses she receivedrom he disciples and hen Jesus himsel . Firs , she was ignored.

Ten she was old o go away. She heard he disciples ask Jesus oshoo her off. And hen came Jesuss own s inging words, I was senonly o he los sheep o he house o Israel.

Amazingly, she s ill didn give up. Ra her, she worshipped himand begged again. Bu even his ac o devo ion only served o elici

he nal atack agains her sense o wor h when Jesus answered her wi h hese searing words, I is no air o ake he childrens oodand hrow i o he dogs.

Imagine how you would eel i , when you approached your pas-or or help, his response was ha he didn have ime or desire o

help dogs? How would you reac ? Mos o us wouldn deal oo well wi h such words. I a his poin he woman had become en-raged and lef Jesus in sel -righ eous deance, we would unders and. We would see jus ica ion i she had given Jesus a piece o her mindand reprimanded him or being so rude. Would we have done o h-

erwise?Bu his woman, amazingly, did no such hing. Te vi al ques-


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ion or us o ask ourselves is wha made his woman so s rong. How was she able o rise above he s ing o rs he disciples responses oher, and hen Jesuss responses? From where did she nd he digni y

and s reng h o calmly keep pushing or her cause?Te answer is her passiona e love or her daugh er. Te hope anddesire or her daugh ers libera ion rom severe inner ormen was sopower ul ha all o her concerns were as no hing in comparison. Tepo en ial barriers o ear, sense o inadequacy, indigna ion, and ragedid no dis rac her rom her sole concern. Tis wonder ul womanis inspiring in ha she re used o le any hing ake precedence overher love or her daugh er, no even her pride.

And rom ha love she spoke, Yes, Lord, ye even he dogs eahe crumbs ha all rom heir mas ers able. We canno help bueel deep compassion or his woman. And nally Jesus respondso he woman in a new way: Woman, grea is your ai h! Le i be

done or you as you wish. And her daugh er was healed ins an ly.Now how does he woman eel? Surely she el unimaginably

ela ed. She mus have wep pro usely as she rocked her now-sanedaugh er wi hin her arms. She mus have el a dep h o gra i ude o which no words can do jus ice. And Jesuss message mus have rung

hrough her mind over and over again: Woman, grea is your ai h!Le i be done or you as you wish.

Jesus didn jus heal her daugh er, he healed her. In his nal words o her, he obli era ed a li e ime o eelings o wor hlessnessHe showed her ha she was power ulha she was impor an . He

showed her ha i washerdesire andher ai h ha enabled he heal-ing. And he showed her all o his in a way ha would never allowher o again sink in o he same quagmire o shame and eelings ounwor hiness. From ha momen onward, every ime she saw herhealed daugh er, she would wi ness he living evidence ha she wasa wor hwhile human being. She would remember ha i was her

ai h and persis ence ha had acili a ed he healing o her daugh e

Her healed daugh er was proo o he ru h o Jesuss encouragingand empowering message o her.


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her s ruggle and push even agains himsel , God. And in he end,he showed her ha her ai h and love were so power ul ha she, like Jacob, could wres le wi h bo h man and God and overcome.

Because o his, he didn need oell her ha she was wor hyor power ul; he had proved i o her. She knew i in her hear andhere was no denying i . She wasn a weak and pi i ul recipien ohe crumbs o mercy rom he Healer. On he con rary, she was he

s rong mo her who wres ed a blessing ou o Jesus by her power ullove and enacious ai h. I was her s reng h, ai h, persis ence, andul ima ely love ha led o he healing o her daugh er. And he only way Jesus could have achieved his healing or bo h he daugh erand he mo her was in he miraculous and paradoxical way he didi . Wha looked on he sur ace like cruel y was an ac o deep loveprovoking he woman o asser hersel .

Simul aneously, Jesus also ini ia ed he healing o socie y bypublicly valida ing he wor h o a woman and o a gen ile. He sowed

he seeds o change, he rui o which s ill grows oday hrough-ou he world. Jesuss healing is or allhe daugh er, he woman,socie y, and us oday. Tis s ory is precisely writen o exorcise ourminds, oday, o he same demon ha bodily possessed he litle girl

hen. Jesuss healings ranscend ime.By means o his s ory, we oo can access Jesuss healing. Jesus

wan s o cas ou o our lives he demon o eeling wor hless andunwor hy o Gods love. We migh call his he dog demon. I we

eel sel -loa hing, wor hless, depressed, or he like, we can know ha

his demon has possessed us.Te messages ha arise rom a eeling o sel -loa hing are very

convincing. Our hough s ell us ha we are wor hless, and we wholehear edly agree wi h his dismal assessmen . Sel -ha red cap-

ures us, i s vic ims, in such a way ha we canno see any reali you side o ha sel -ha red. I is here ore impossible o escape selha red wi hou ex ernal in erven ion. We need Gods help.

When we eel ourselves o be no hing bu a litle s ree dog, wearen able o come o God. I some imes wonder how many people


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who drif away rom God do so because hey subconsciously eel unwor hy o Gods presence, ha is, unwor hy o love. Bu God is or

he people, all o us, sain s and sinners alike. We don eel wor hy o

Gods ime and aten ion and so do no approach himand as a re-sul , we can be healed. Because we don approach God, we are un-able o con ac Gods ru h, which is ha he loves us ully and desires

ha we eel loved and wor hy o be alive. So when we suffer rom asense o wor hlessness, we are rapped in a cycle ha seems hopeless.

Jesus wan s o cas his alse no ion ou o us. Tis s ory is hemeans by which he does i . Firs , jus as Jesus orced he woman opush hard or her healing, so Jesus orcesus o push hard or ourhealing. Te meaning o his s ory is no easy o come by. Jus ounders and he message o his healing, we had o delve deep andpush hard. Afer reading Jesuss harsh words oward he woman, i would be easy seemingly jus iable or us o leave off ai h in dis-appoin men and upse . Bu jus as he womans persis ence led oa grea reward, so our persis ence in seeking Jesuss love wi hin hiss ory leads o a grea reward in our lives.

By persevering hrough he sur ace o he inner message o hiss ory, we suddenly see he as ounding dep h o Jesuss love. His loveis wiser and deeper han well ever know. I doesn mater how unwor hy we eel; Jesuss love reaches ou o everybody. Jus knowing

his wins hal he batle or us. Bu merely seeing he love o God wi hin he s ory isn enoughhere is more. Afer having pushed

hrough he difficul ies o unders anding his s ory, we mus again

enaciously push hrough he difficul ies wi hin our own spiri s. When we are possessed by eelings o unwor hiness, we are wise

o ollow he ways o his woman. We need o be persis en in oureffor o access Jesus. Like he Canaani e woman, we mus desirehealing so erven ly ha we are willing o s ruggle wi h God. TeLord ells us in one parable ha some imes i will seem as i he is anuncaring and unjus judge, bu ha i we are persis en , even such a

judge will yield o our desire or jus ice (Luke : ). We should also no ice heway in which he woman was persis-


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en . She wasn belligeren or rude abou i . Even afer Jesuss ap-paren disregard or her problem, he ex shows us ha she wor-shipped him. Only in a worship ul, hope ul approach o Jesus do we

access he healing revealed in his s ory.Las ly, we should remember he womans mo iva ion. She suc-ceeded in winning he healing rom Jesus because he passiona elove she el or her daugh er empowered her. Spiri ual healing andgrow h are inheren ly based in love. I we hink abou i ra ionally, wecome o see ha a sense o wor hlessness hinders our abili y o giveand receive love. I makes us morose and rapped wi hin ourselves.Tis s a e o mind affec s hose around us nega ively. Our sense o wor hlessness causes us o medica e our emo ions wi h bad habi sand addic ions. Tese, in urn, hur hose around us. When we are

ired o hur ing hose around us, love will lead us o Jesuss healing.I we are ired o he way our sel -deprecia ion inhibi s our abili y

o love and connec wi h o hers, i we are saddened by he way oursel -ha red affec s o hers nega ively, hen we will be empowered o

enaciously pe i ion God or healing un il we receive wha we wan .Love will drive us o ake God o cour , his own cour , and quo e back o him his own words. We migh pray in his way:Dear Lord Jesus, You made me. You know every hing abou me and I admi o you ha I eel wor hless. I have ried my bes and ailed. I did no ask o be born like his.I need help! You have promised o help hose who come o you. You havepromised o be a ai h ul God. I am knocking on your door. I am seeking

or you o be real in my li e. I am asking you or help! I can do his on myown. I don know wha else o do bu beg you or help. You mus help me.By your very words, you are obliged o help me!

Bu here is ano her angle wi hin his s ory. We read ha he dis-ciples were dismissive oward her. Unlike Jesus, hey did no healher daugh er. I is likely ha hey could no have healed her even i

hey had ried. And unlike Jesus, hey were condescending owardher because hey believed hemselves o be more impor an and wor hy han a Canaani e woman. We see he disciples propensi y


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or a sense o sel -impor ance in he repea ed argumen s be weenhe disciples abou who would be he grea es among hem.

Teres a par o us ha , like he disciples, eels sel -righ eous

and condescending oward o hers. Tis is ofen rue even when weloa he ourselves and deem ourselves unwor hy o li e. In ac , I haveno iced ha he wo appear o be yoked oge her. Te more I judgeo hers, he more I judge mysel . Te more I judge mysel , he moreprone I am o judge o hers. Te wo, sel -depreca ion and disdain

or o hers, are in rinsically uni ed. I is as Jesus said, Do no judge,so ha you may no be judged (Mat. : ). Te wo ati udes o wor hlessness and smugness are bound oge her in he alse no iono hierarchy.

Feelings o wor hlessness can only arise when we believe in ahierarchy o humans. Bu hierarchies don apply o a persons inher-en value. I is mani es ly clear ha our God, Jesus, loves all peopleequally. We are all his children. We are all wor hy o his love. Jesusdoes no play avori es or wi hhold his inni e love rom anyone orany reason. Tink o he prodigal son. When we know ha here isno hierarchy, ha we are all equally made in Gods image and like-ness, hen we know ha we are nei her less wor hy nor more wor hyo Gods love, healing, and li e.

So par o he healing Jesus is offering us in his s ory is con-ained wi hin he ru h ha all human beings are equally Gods be-

loved children Jew and gen ile, man and woman, heal hy and ill,disciple and non-disciple. Tis ru h no only heals us o eeling like

a litle dog, i also empowers us o love o her people wi hou reser- va ion.

Te woman was suffering under a socie y based in hierarchy.Males, Jews, and heal hy specimens were a he op o he heap.Non-Jewish women wi h sick daugh ers were a he botom. Jesusproved o her ha he socie al hierarchical belie s were o ally alseMany o us suffer under a differen in ernal hierarchy. We may be-

lieve ha people who are success ul are more valuable, which, when we hink abou i , means more wor hy o li e and Gods love.


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Or maybe we believe ha people o a cer ain ai h or cul ure area he op o Gods lis . We may believe ha people who are emo-

ionally and spiri ually s rong are beter han hose who are weak.

When our consciousness is ordered in a hierarchical way, we sufferhe pligh o his woman. We a some level eel unwor hy o even o being alive. We eel like a litle dog. And his diseased ati ude is juslike he demon ha possessed he litle girl.

Tis miracle has shown us how o le Jesus heal us o a cons i u-ional sense o wor hlessness. Tis is he rs de ailed accoun o a

healing in he New es amen , and his is also he rs miracle hamus ake place in our lives as we progress along he lines o spiri ualgrow h and healing. Shatering he delusion ha we are unwor hy oGod is ground zero or our spiri ual journey. Breaking he delusion

ha humans exis in a hierarchy o value is essen ial or his o occur.Un il he no ion ha we are unwor hy o God and li e is dispelled, we can move orward. We need o be able o approach God i wein end o receive his help wi h our problems.

Te ru h is ha we are all Gods children. We are all his beloved. We are wor hy o a rich, joy ul li e based upon rue union wi h himand o hers around us. We are all wor hy o Gods love and wor hyo li e!

I well recall he momen he cons an sel -disparaging sel - alkha plagued me or years was drama ically silenced. Ta experience

opened up in o wo weeks o he mos po en spiri ual sense o awak-ening I have ever had. I pray ha i you oo suffer rom a litle dog

spiri , you migh be healed so ha you can accep yoursel and awak-en o he palpable presence o Divine Love permea ing all o li e.

. Afer en ering in o a medi a ive s a e o mind (see appendix),search or and ocus on any eelings o unwor hiness. Afer some

ime, imagine yoursel as he Canaani e woman wi h he demon-possessed daugh er. Imagine your daugh er as vividly as possible.


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Firs , see yoursel holding her as a iny, normal in an ; hen as a hap-py oddler. Build your eelings o love or her o be as power ul aspossible. Now see her as seven-year-old looking wi h love in o your

eyes and running up o you or your embrace. Hold her wi h yourlove. Now see her a age welve. She curses and hrashes. She mu i-la es hersel . Feel he dep h o sorrow ha your wondrous daugh erhas been seized by a demon. Ge in ouch wi h he emo ions haow hrough he s ory he ender love or your daugh er; hesense o despera ion; he moun ing de ermina ion.

Now relive his s ory as vividly and ully as possible rom heperspec ive o he Canaani e woman. See he dus y roads and hepress o people. Hear he noises; eel he hea and bumping crowd. Wha smells do you encoun er? Make i real. You bring your daugh-

er oward Jesus. His ollowers ell you o go away. You cry ou ormercy, bu Jesus ignores you, and he disciples ell Jesus o make you go away. You hear Jesus say, I was sen only o he los sheep oIsrael. Bu you bow down and worship Jesus and say, Please helpme! You hear Jesus say, I is no air o ake he childrens ood and

hrow i o he dogs. You reply, Yes Lord, bu even he dogs eahe crumbs ha all rom heir mas ers able. You suddenly eel a

change wi hin your spiri you eel Jesuss presence wi hin and youhear him conrming his eeling. Woman, grea is your ai h! Le i be done or you as you wish.

You look a your daugh er and she is clearly healed. She is smil-ing and laughing even as ears are owing down her ace. Your ears

ow oo as you embrace her. She is back wi h you, res ored o herormer sel .

. Again afer en ering in o a medi a ive s a e o mind, ocus onhe singular ru h ha he Lord loves you and all people inni ely

and per ec ly.

. You are loved inni ely by he Lord. You are crea ed o beloved and so love.


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. Some imes love masks i sel o accommoda e and bes serveus in our curren s a e.

. Tere is no hierarchy o human value. All o us are equally

loved and impor an .

. As a way o iden i ying and exposing he dog demon, wri edown all he sel -belitling messages ha are repea ed or s ored up in-side o your mind. Wri e down all he reasons you don like yoursel . . Wri e down all he ways ha his sel -ha red affec s hosearound you. . Come o a decision ha or heir sakes and or yours, you wanhealing and are willing o do wha ever i akes o ex rac i rom God . Make a lis o he ways in which you have hough o human beings as exis ing along a hierarchy o value (e.g., people who sin areless valuable han hose who do no ; people who are accomplishedare beter han hose who are no accomplished).

. Troughou he week, no ice all he imes you begin hink-ing in erms o one o hese alse hierarchies and hen replace hese

hough s wi h he ac ha all humans are equally valuable and wor-hy o he love.

. Repea his or a similar prayer daily or as needed:Lord, I am suffering rom a demon ha makes me eel unwor-

hy o love, unwor hy o li e, unwor hy o you and your healing.I canno overcome his demon by mysel . I am your child. Youhave promised o no leave us as orphans. I am sick and need yourhealing. You have promised o give o hose who ask. I am asking,Lord, ha you heal me o his alse eeling ha I am wor hless. Ipray or my own sake, bu I also pray or he sake o hose aroundme who are nega ively affec ed by my sense o wor hlessness.Lord, show me you love me. Le me eel your love or me. Tank you, Lord Jesus.

. Con ac your phone par ner midweek and alk abou how he

process o his healing is going.


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. Has any hing remarkable happened o you his week; did he

Lord ouch you his week in a special way concerning or no con-

cerning he message o his miracle? . Have you ever had an experience where you el insul ed or belitled by someone o a higher s a us? How did you respond?How do you see ha si ua ion now? . Wha was your experience o he medi a ions? How did i eel when Jesus urned you away? How did i eel when you persis edand your daugh er was healed?

. Wha was your experience o he exercises? Did you nd anyo hem par icularly help ul or meaning ul? I so, why? . I any value was gained rom his miracle, how can we incor-pora e i and sus ain i in our daily lives? . How can we suppor one ano her in rela ion o his miracle?


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Son o Man has au hori y on ear h o orgive sinshe said ohe paraly icI say o you, s and up, ake your ma and go o

your home. And he s ood up, and immedia ely ook he ma and wen

ou be ore all o hem; so ha hey were all amazed and gloriedGod, saying, We have never seen any hing like his!

\

In most cases of paralysis he brain is in good condi ion and hasmessages o send he body, and he body is also , able o execu e

he commands o he brain. Te problem arises because o a ailure

in communica ion be ween he head and he body due o nervedamage in he neck. People who believe in Jesus as Lord ofen re ero hemselves as he body o Chris and unders and Jesus o be he

head o ha body. In his miracle we see he same problem replica edin a rac al-like manner on hree levels o reali y. Jus as communi-ca ion be ween he paraly ics brain and body was blocked, so com-munica ion be ween Chris and he man as a member o he body

o Chris was physically blocked by he pressing hrong, which hecould no ge hrough. Tese are he rs wo parallel replica ions ohe same problem. Te hird way communica ion ailure is expressed

wi hin his miracle is by he un orgiving spiri o he Pharisees. Tealse belie ha sins canno be orgiven blocks us rom sensing Gods

communica ions wi h us. Un il we arrive a a s a e o orgiveness, weare severed rom eeling Gods presence in our lives. Tis miracle is Jesuss way o healing us o his orm o spiri ual paralysis.

Who can orgive sins bu God alone? I would seem ha heseare he words o a callous, uncaring hear , and ye many o us havea similar voice sounding in our own consciousness. We wan people

o pay or heir misdeeds in ullespecially hose whose ac ionsharmed us personally . Someone aggrava es us. We men ally review

he in erac ion over and over, en orcing our righ ness and he o herpar ys wrongness. Maybe we even imagine revenge scenarios or u-

ure argumen s in which we really cu he o her down o size. Every


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ime we hold a grudge like his, we can know ha he Pharisees oour hear are hard a work. In holding a grudge, we are cu off romcommunica ion wi h God. Our condemning ati ude and Gods or-

giving love are mu ually exclusive.Some imes his un orgiving voice arge s o her people. Bu jus asofen, i is ourselves we re use o orgive. We did some hing we knew was wrong. We hur someone or we be rayed our own sense o whais righ . We are dismayed or maybe even horried, and we choose no

o orgive ourselves. Frequen ly, we don even know how o orgiveourselves. We are paralyzed.

On he na ural level ha is, i you read he words li erally his is a s ory abou healing rom paralysis and abou orgiveness. Inhe in ernal, spiri ual level, hese wo issues are one and he same.

Guil causes paralysis o he spiri . o receive Gods orgiveness is o be healed and released in o reedom again. Tis miracle is Chris s way o dissipa ing our guil and res oring us in o a meaning ul rela-

ionship wi h him.In his chap er we learn o le Jesus heal us rom paralyzing guil .

We learn o le he Lord orgive and love us, despi e our pas aul s.Tis and he previous healing are similar, bu here is an impor andifference. In he rs s ory, Jesus heals us o cons i u ional sel -loa hing. Tese nega ive eelings and opinions we have abou our-selves are based no on our deeds, bu on a undamen al alse belie

ha a our core we are wor hless and unwor hy o li e. In his seconds ory, Jesus is offering us healing and reedom rom he crippling

guil ha arises rom genuine and specic misdeeds and sins.I would like o dis inguish be ween heal hy guil and pa hologi-

cal guil . Ive heard some people say all guil is bad. I don espousehis belie . Guil is he spiri ual equivalen o pain. Nei her eels

good, bu bo h are necessary. Jus as physical pain serves o prevenus rom hur ing our own bodies, so guil is he spiri ual pain weneed o preven us rom hur ing he communal body we call soci-

e y. Sociopa hs are charac erized by a comple e lack o guil . Guil isan emo ion ha keeps us on rack and keeps socie y oge her. Wha


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is no good, however, is paralyzing guil . Guil becomes cripplingand pa hological when we ail o process and move beyond guil inappropria e ways. Tis pa hological guil is ac ually an un orgiving

spiri ha is direc ed oward sel . Tis is he kind o guil ha is unheal hy and rom which his miracle heals us. When we hold a grudge agains ourselves, we are s uck in an im-

possible si ua ion. We mercilessly require o ourselves ha which we canno givea new pas . We simply canno erase he reali y ha we have made mis akes. So long as we re use o orgive ourselvesand grow beyond he pas , he Pharisaical aspec o our mind whipsand hrashes us relen lessly. I we could see our spiri ual reali y, we would see ha in ernally we are precisely like he paralyzed man.Our guil immobilizes us. We canno grow. We canno rejoice. Wecanno bless o hers. Te reason is ha we have los communica ion wi h ha which causes us o grow, rejoice, and blesshe Lord oLove.

Guil s un s our rela ionship wi h God and o hers. We becomexa ed on our inadequacy and aul . Our abili y o share Gods joy wi h o hers is annihila ed because we have no joy o share. We be-come morose and even suicidal. Te spiri ual acul ies needed o

ouch and affec o hers or good are, as i were, paralyzed and use-less. Tis kind o sel -condemna ion severely compromises our abil-i y o love and apprecia e o hers.

Te un orgiving Pharisees were considered he au hori ies onGod. Wha hey said was aken as rue and was o be obeyed. Simi-

larly, we ofen imagine ha God wan s us o soak in guil and sel -condemna ion. We are lis ening o our in ernal Pharisees, mis aking

hem o be he spokesmen o God. So i is impor an or us o seeha sel -condemna ion and paralyzing guil are no Gods willonhe con rary, hese ati udes and eelings s ie Gods abili y o workhrough us. Jus he realiza ion ha excessive guil hampers our abil-

i y o par icipa e in Gods plan o love helps begin he healing pro-

cess. Our desire o be close o God and o serve him requires ha wemove beyond guil .


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In his biblical accoun , he men couldn reach Jesus excep byhe roo because o he crowd. Te crowd consis ed mos ly o peo-

ple who loved Jesus and wan ed o hear him. We can hink o he

crowd o eager lis eners as an in ernal aspec o our own beinghepar o us ha is eager o know God and do wha is righ . Jus ashe crowd o believers preven ed he man rom reaching Jesus, so

our desire o love and serve God ofen blocks our abili y o receivehis orgiveness and healing. Feelings o guil arise only in con ex o

he desire o do wha is righ , o love o hers and o serve God. I wedidn in some way love God and o her people, we would no expe-rience guil . So guil , even hough no in i sel heal hy, is ac ually agood sign. I we are paralyzed by guil , we can ake hear .

We canno simply say, OK, I know God orgives me! Im nogoing o eel guil y anymore! and be cleansed o guil . I i were haeasy, i wouldn ac ually be guil . O ourselves, we have no morepower o vanquish guil han he paraly ic had o ge up and walk be ore encoun ering Jesus. Bu he man and his riends did have

ai h, we read. We read ha Chris orgave he man his sins afer hav-ing seen his ai h and ha o his riends.

Do we have ai h in Jesus? Who is Jesus? Jesuss nal command-men sums up his en ire message: Tis is my commandmen , ha you love one ano her as I have loved you. No one has grea er love

han his, o lay down ones li e or ones riends (John : )Tus when we ask ourselves i we believe in Jesus, we are really ask-ing ourselves i we believe in Divine Love. Do we believe ha Divine

Love is real? Do we believe ha Divine Love is wha makes us rulyhuman and so is he essence o our rue humani y? Being he essenceo our rue humani y, do we recognize ha Divine Love, here ore, ismore alive and more human han we are as individuals? Tus do weadmi ha Divine Love is he au hor o our humani y and is divine?Do we believe ha by ollowing he dic a es o Divine Love we willcome o know rue peace and joy in a word, heaven? Seeing ha

Love is more human, more real, and more alive han we are, can we believe ha Love is a sen ien being who seeks o communica e wi h


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us? And in seeking o communica e wi h us, can we believe ha hisLord o Love ook on a body so as o break hrough a communica-

ion blockage ha had begun o paralyze he human race? o believe

in Jesus is o believe ha we are loved and also ha our salva ion liesin learning how o love. Tis is he mo iva ion we need o move beyond pa hological guil . Like he paralyzed man and his riends, weneed o make ai h in he Lord o Love our op priori y.

Love is no a s a ic en i y. o have ai h in he Lord o Love iso ake ac ion. And i we ake he ac ions o love in rela ion o ou

guil y conscience, we will nd ourselves propelled oward Jesus andeven ually healed.

Te man in he s ory was carried by our riends. We can hinko hese our riends as our ac ivi ies ha are dic a ed by love in con ex o guil . I we love someone and we have hur hem, we will wan o do hese our hings. And even i we don love hem, bu believe in Love as an ideal, we will s ill wan o do hem. I call hem

he our As:

. Admi . Apologize . Amend . AbsolveTese our ai h ul and ai h-lled riends will carry us o healing.

. Admit our Wrongs

Firs o all, we need o admi o our mis akes and sins. Un il weace our wrongs and ully acknowledge our aul , he communica-ion lines be ween God and ourselves will remain blocked by our

denial. We canno experience he Lords orgiveness or deeds wedon admi o doing. Some imes we are so ashamed o our sins ha we have difficul y admiting hem even o ourselves. So i is doublyimpor an o ge down on our knees, and ell God he exac na ureo our wrongdoing. I helps res ore our rela ionship no only wi hGod, bu wi h ourselves as well.


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Ofen imes, admiting our aul s o God wi hin our hough sor prayers is no a meaning ul experience. Tis is especially rue i we have been dwelling on our misdeeds. So where do we mee God

more really and ully han wi hin our hough s? Jesus ells us: he lives wi hin o hers. He also adds ha where wo or hree are ga hered o-ge her in his name, here he is in he mids o hem. I is bes o con-

ess o he person we harmed, unless o do so will cause more harm.Some imes we have sinned agains people wi hou heir awareness.In hese cases, we mus care ully consider he value o a con ession.Te goal o mending our wrongs is o s op hur ing o hers and s ar blessing hem. On occasion, ra her han a con ession, i may be wiser

o engage in loving ac ions ha s em rom a change o hear . When admiting our wrongs o he harmed person is no possi-

ble or would only make maters worse, we can choose a hird par y. Jus as mul i udes o people con essed heir sins o John he Bap isand so cleared he way or Jesuss minis ry in heir lives, so we odaycan open he door or Jesuss minis ry in our lives by con essing oursins in he presence o a rus wor hy, God- earing human being whohas our bes in eres in mind. We may wish o con ess bo h o hepeople we harmed and also o a hird par y.

Fear o elling he ru h even o one who will be suppor ive is as rong indica ion ha we are s ill judging ourselves. I is rom his verysel -condemna ion ha we are rying o heal. We le Jesus begin heprocess o healing by ac ing no as sel -condemna ion would haveus keeping silen bu in opposi ion o wha sel -condemna ion

dic a es: we ell he ru h. We mus be very care ul in deciding whom o en rus wi h our

con ession. We mus choose a person who will no be ray our rus . We are looking or someone who will unders and ha we are ry-ing o become beter people o God and who will be suppor ive andeager o help us in his challenging adven ure. A prayer or accoun -abili y par ner will do. A spouse or a rus ed pas or or o her religious

leader can be a good choice. I you are reading his book in he con-ex o a group and eel a sense o rus , i may be he group as a whol


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or an individual member o he group. I we are in recovery, a welve-s ep sponsor is also an excellen choice o serve he role o John heBap is in our journey oward he Lords healing. Wi h whomever we

choose o con ess, i may be wise o comple e he ac o con ession wi h a bap ism ceremony marking an end o he old li e and he be-ginning o a new. Such a ceremony can be very power ul.

We con ess our sins no o humilia e ourselves, bu o ge hon-es and le resh air in o our spiri . I we have chosen wisely, he re-cipien o our con ession will hear us wi hou judgmen or disdain. Wha we expec ed o be hideously unpleasan urns ou o be liber-a ing and vivi ying. We begin o eel ingling in our spiri ual limbs; we eel as i we may soon walk again.

. Apologize Afer we admi our wrongs, we hen express our regre in he

orm o an apology. We apologize no o ge in o he o her par ysgood graces, bu o express our rue remorse and in en ion o im-prove. Te response is none o our business. Many imes, an apol-ogy will be me wi h orgiveness. Occasionally we will be rejec ed wi h hos ili y or coldness. Te Lord o Love, however, is always or-giving us and cons an ly yearning or our re urn jus as he a her yearned or his prodigal son in Jesuss parable. Even when our apol-ogy is no accep ed by he o her par y, we can know ha we havedone our bes and ha we are orgiven by God.

. Amend our wrongsUnless con ession and apology are accompanied by he hard

work o making amends, litle good is likely accomplished. Wi houaking s eps o righ our wrongs, he rs wo s eps ofen amoun o

a selsh atemp o eel beter. Ac ions o res ore wha we damagedprove ha we have he o her par ys bes in eres in mind. We aremaking sacrices or he sake o o hers. Tis proves o ourselves, o

o hers, and o God ha we genuinely regre our misdeeds and areseeking a new way o li e. Te difficul ac ions o making amends


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allow us o rus ha our mo iva ion is sincerely o bless hose wevhur and re rain rom doing any more harm.

I we have s olen, we compensa e or he s olen goods we over-

compensa e i we can. Overcompensa ion in such cases is ac ually noovercompensa ion, bu a way o making up or he spiri ual wrong wehave commited; a way o showing our sincere desire o make good. I we have lied, we explain he ru h. I we have been cold oward some-one, we may wan o complemen our verbal amends wi h a gif or byspending ime wi h ha individual. In shor , we should expand our verbal apology wi h sincere ac s o generosi y and love. An ac ion olove lls ou and makes he verbal apology real.

We may be paralyzed by guil over one specic inciden . Ocourse we need o make amends concerning ha par icular wrong-doing, bu we should no s op here. Once weve begun clearingou he close o our souls, why s op when i is only hal clean? Wemigh as well correc every hing we can rom our pas . Te more wrongs we make righ , he more healed and closer o Jesus we willgrow. Our lives will ll wi h ligh , love, and peace. Once we have el

he joy o making wrongs righ , we likely will be lled wi h a spiri-ual urge o keep clearing ou our skele ons un il here are none lef.

. Absolve AllTe our h and nal riend ha carries us o Jesuss healing is o

orgive all people and rid ourselves o all resen men s. Pa hologicalguil and resen men are wo aces o he same coin: an un orgiving

spiri . We can rid ourselves o sel -condemna ion while clinging oa judgmen al spiri . Our goal is o pi ch he coin o judgmen ou oour lives comple ely. In he Lords prayer we reci e, Forgive us our

respasses, as we also orgive hose who respass agains us. Jesusonce old a parable abou a man whose mas er orgave him an enor-mous deb (Mat. : ). Te orgiven man immedia ely wenou and hrew a ellow servan in o prison over a rela ively iny deb .

Hearing abou his inciden , he mas er became enraged and impris-oned he man who had been orgiven. God never imprisons or or-


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ures us, bu an un orgiving spiri wi hin us will lead us s raigh in oan imprisoned and or ured s a e o mind. Ta is he message o

he parable. Te orgiveness we migh have received rom he Lord

canno be accessed by a hear ha is smoldering wi h resen men .Te resen men severs he nerve ha would o herwise communi-ca e love and orgiveness rom he Lord o us as he body o Chris .Tus, o judge o hers invariably resul s in sel -condemna ion. Dono judge, so ha you may no be judged. For wi h he judgmen you make you will be judged, and he measure you give will be hemeasure you ge (Mat. : ). Tis s a emen o Jesus is li eral.Only when we offer orgiveness do we discover ha we are orgiven.

o ur her explain his concep , we can hink o orgiveness asa spiri ual orce rom God ha is grea er han personali y and so

ranscends us. I we accep his spiri o orgiveness in o our lives, ianima es us in rela ion o all peopleincluding ourselvesregard-less o personhood. Likewise, a judgmen al spiri is a des ruc ivespiri ual orce grea er han ourselves, and i oo opera es regardlesso person. I we invi e i in agains o hers, i builds a home in ourhear and even ually atacks us oo.

Te process o leting go o resen men s requires ha we orgive.o orgive, we have o admi ha weve been hur . Some imes we

may pre end ha we haven really been injured. Oh, Im no mad.Ta didn hur me. We deceive ourselves ha we are ough and beyond geting upse . Or we may say o ourselves, Te pas is hepas , why dwell on i ? In bo h cases, we may be denying ha inside

we are hur ing. When on he cross, Jesus didn say, Im ougherhan his, so Im no going o le i ge o me! On he con rary, he

called ou in agony, My God, my God, why have you orsaken me?In admiting his pain and his ear ha even God had abandonedhim, he prayed or he orgiveness o hose who so hur him. Tisis an ex reme example, bu i serves o make a poin : we can ruly

orgive unless we admi ha we have been hur in he rs place.

We need o spend ime considering our hur eelings. o helpus do his, we make a lis o all he issues over which we are hur ing


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inside. I can be very libera ing o do his. Many imes, when I amupse , I have no idea wha s really wrong. I can x he upse andresen men be ore I know over wha issue Im upse . Te process o

wri ing seems o help me iden i y he even s ha caused he eelings. We need no deny our eelings, even i hey are irra ional. Wemay hink, Oh, I shouldn be angry abou such a small hing. Ge -

ing angry isn he problem. Holding he anger and ac ing on i arehe problems.

Afer we lis our hur eelings, we hen lis he people and ins i-u ions agains whom we hold a grudge or who rigger eelings o

pain. Finally, we s ar praying or a orgiving spiri in rela ion o eachone. We also pray or he well-being o each person and ins i u ion. When we pray or he well-being o o hers, our resen men s have noroom wi hin our spiri s. We keep praying daily un il he icy resen -men s haw and he ho pain o he pas cools. I we are earnes , God will always heal us rom pas pain and rom resen men s. Prayer ora orgiving spiri is a prayer ha God is very eager o answer. I allelse ails, we can even do a deed o kindness o he person we resen .

Ano her use ul ool in overcoming resen men is o rememberour own aul s in general, and also in rela ion o he specic person we resen . When we remember our own weaknesses and need orGods mercy, i is much easier or us o nd orgiveness or he weak-nesses and aul s o o hers. Finally, recalling ha hose who harmo hers are ac ing rom heir own pain and delusion is very effec ivein producing a gen ler ati ude oward o hers. People who are hur -

ing and damaged end o hur o hers.Te paraly ic could no mee Jesus wi hou he aid o his riends.

Likewise, we can simply will away he eelings o overwhelm-ing guil , bu we can ake hese our s eps: ) Admi our wrongs;

) Apologize; ) Amend our wrongs; ) Absolve all who haveharmed us. All o hese s eps orce us o improve our rela ionships wi h o hers. Jus as he paraly ics our riends lifed him up above

he pressing crowd, hese ac ions lif us up above he pa hologicalguil . Tey give us a heigh ened, ranscenden perspec ive on our


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previous mindse o sel -condemna ion. Ul ima ely, like he ourriends, hese ac ions deliver us o he Lords healing and orgive-

ness. Whenever we eel guil cropping up in our hear s, we can em-

ploy he our As. When I was a child, I was ormen ed by pa hological guil be-cause I had on one occasion deceived and belitled a peer. In re -rospec , I see he hur I had caused was no nearly so severe as myin ernal punishmen . Never heless, I obsessed abou my mis ake ev-ery day or years. Tis guil ain ed my abili y o rela e wi h o hers, wi h God, and wi h mysel . Tis is no way o live. I was paralyzed wi h guil . I needed orgiveness. And all o us, when in he grip ocrippling guil , are in despera e need o Jesuss healing mercy.

Several years afer he inciden , I wa chedFla liners, a lm aboua group o med s uden s who induced near-dea h experiences uponone ano her in order o explore he aferli e. Te main heme andmessage o he lm was ha unamended wrongdoing makes or anunpleasan aferli e (as well as curren li e on ear h). Making amends was he only way o clear he way o happiness and peace.

Te movie had a pro ound impac on me. I resolved o makeamends o he peer whom I had hur . Te peer couldn even recall

he even . Never heless, I clearly remember he palpable sensa iono relie . I was as i a massive load had lifed off my shoulders he very momen I made he amends. I was an amazing experience olibera ion. I el alive and ree in a way I hadn known or years. I was happy again.

Te Lord is he source o all orgiveness. Even hough i seemsas i our ac ions pave he way or relie o guil , he our As are al

he na ural resul o puting our ai h in he Lord o Love. Tus i is Jesus who is mo iva ing us o ake hese ac ions. He allows us o or-give, and he allows us o be orgiven. Jesus old he scribes ha heSon o Man has power o orgive. In one sense, we are all sons anddaugh ers o man. Ta s exac ly wha we are. So here, Jesus is elling

us ha orgiving each o her is cer ainly an ac ivi y in which we bo hcan and should engage.


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Here, as in he previous miracle, we see ha Jesuss healing is effec-ive on many planes o reali y simul aneously. He healed he man o

physical paralysis. Simul aneously, he also began o heal socie y o he

alse, paralyzing no ion ha we can or shouldn orgive people. And,o course, wi hin his miraculous accoun , Jesus reaches ou hroughime and space o heal us, oo. He shows us how o nd his orgive-

ness. He shows us how o orgive o hers and so be relieved o he bur-den o resen men . He rees us rom spiri ual paralysis.

Afer en ering in o a medi a ive s a e, urn your aten ion in- ward. Ge in ouch wi h eelings o unresolved guil and wrongdo-ing. Now imagine yoursel as paralyzed. You see a crowd ga heringand realize ha he Lord is in he mids o he people. You yearn

o mee him. You believe ha he can save you. You eel he agony,irony, and rus ra ion o being paralyzed. Your riend is by your sideand you beg him o help you mee he Lord. He calls hree o hers who are s anding nearby and hey begin o carry you on a makeshifs re cher. Unable o pene ra e he hrong, hey carry you o he backo he house. One o your riends slings you over his shoulder as heo her hree climb up a ladder o he op o he house. Tey reachdown and you are hois ed o he op o he house. Your hear be-gins o bea as er as you an icipa e ha you are ac ually going oencoun er he one who can heal you. Your riends begin removing

he erracota iles and make a hole in he roo . On your bed, youcanno see below as you are lowered in o he room. Ten suddenly you are ace- o- ace wi h he Lord o Love. You know ins an ly ha you will walk again. You hear him say, Son, your sins are orgiven. You hear hese words, bu you also hear a voice inside pro es ing heidea ha you can be orgiven or he hings you have done o harmo hers. You hen hear he Lord speak again, Why do you raise such

ques ions in your hear ? Which is easier, o say, Your sins are or-given, or o say, S and up and ake your ma and walk? Bu so ha


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. Con ac your phone par ner midweek and discuss he experi-ence o his healing. I you are no working wi h a group, hen youmigh discuss your experience wi h a rus ed riend or amily mem-

ber, or wri e abou i in a personal journal.

. Wha was your experience o he medi a ion? . Wha was your experience o admiting your wrongs? . Wha was your experience o apologizing and making amends? . Wha was your experience o absolving all resen men s? . Do you nd i hard o orgive o hers? Yoursel ? Which is harder

or you? . How can we suppor one ano her in con inuing he healingoffered by his miracle?


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3

Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!

Mark :Tey came o he o her side o he sea, o he coun ry o he

Gerasenes. And when he had s epped ou o he boa , immedi-a ely a man ou o he ombs wi h an unclean spiri me him. Helived among he ombs; and no one could res rain him any more,even wi h a chain; or he had ofen been res rained wi h shacklesand chains, bu he chains he wrenched apar , and he shackleshe broke in pieces; and no one had he s reng h o subdue him.Nigh and day among he ombs and on he moun ains he wasalways howling and bruising himsel wi h s ones.

When he saw Jesus rom a dis ance, he ran and bowed down be ore him; and he shou ed a he op o his voice, Wha have you o do wi h me, Jesus, Son o he Mos High God? I adjure you by God, do no ormen me! For he had said o him, Comeou o he man, you unclean spiri !

Ten Jesus asked him, Wha is your name?He replied, My name is Legion; or we are many. He begged

him earnes ly no o send hem ou o he coun ry. Now here onhe hillside a grea herd o swine was eeding; and he unclean


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spiri s begged him, Send us in o he swine; le us en er hem. Sohe gave hem permission. And he unclean spiri s came ou anden ered he swine; and he herd, numbering abou wo housand,rushed down he s eep bank in o he sea, and were drowned in

he sea.Te swineherds ran off and old i in he ci y and in he coun-

ry. Ten people came o see wha i was ha had happened.Tey came o Jesus and saw he demoniac siting here, clo hedand in his righ mind, he very man who had had he legion; and

hey were a raid. Tose who had seen wha had happened o hedemoniac and o he swine repor ed i . Ten hey began o beg Jesus o leave heir neighborhood.

As he was geting in o he boa , he man who had been pos-sessed by demons begged him ha he migh be wi h him. Bu Jesus re used, and said o him, Go home o your riends, and ell

hem how much he Lord has done or you, and wha mercy hehas shown you. And he wen away and began o proclaim in heDecapolis how much Jesus had done or him; and everyone wasamazed.

\

So intense was the misery his demon-possessed man enduredon a daily basis ha i may be difficul or us o a hom his plighHe was orced o share his mind wi h a hoard o devils so power-

ul ha hey could use his body o snap away chains and shackles.Tere were so many o hese demons ha hey were able o con rola herd o swine numbering over wo housand. And he ac ha

hey ins an ly and easily overpowered ha s ronges and mos ba-

sic ins inc o sel -preserva ion wi hin he pigs again shows he awe-some s reng h o hese spiri s. Litle wonder he mans personal will was bound and rendered impo en by he presence o Legion dwell-ing wi hin him. Agains his own will and beter judgmen , he mansliced and gouged himsel wi h rocks, day and nigh . Tis man wasenslaved o an evil orce; a pawn o heir des ruc ive whims.

Ye , aking an hones look a ourselves, many o us come o re-

alize ha our personal in ernal si ua ion is no dras ically differenrom his mans. Tere could be no beter depic ion o addic ion


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han he man possessed by Legion. Te ollowing chap er will dealspecically wi h addic ion and how we can allow Jesus o heal us oaddic ion. Tough some readers may no consider hemselves ad-

dic ed o any hing, I believe his chap er can be use ul o all. Tereare many hidden and sub le orms o addic ion. We can becomedriven by obsession and compulsion in jus abou any area o li e.

Te original La inaddic us, rom which he word addic ion isderived, means one who has been given up or made over as servan

o his credi or. We can here ore hink o a vic im o addic ion ashaving been made servile in rela ion o an ex ernal orce, jus as heman in he s ory was given over o Legion. While addic ion is radi-

ionally a word reserved or he habi ual abuse o a subs ance suchas alcohol or drugs, he meaning o he word has more recen ly ex-panded o include habi ual des ruc ive ac ivi ies driven by obsessive

hough s and overpowering desires. Addic ion o sex, gambling,and ood are commonly accep ed concep s hese days.

For he purpose o his book, I would like o ur her broaden hedeni ion o addic ion o include any patern o hough or behavior

ha we have difficul y elimina ing rom our lives, and ha is de ri-men al o well-being bo h our own and ha o hose around us.Habi ual cri icizing, verbal cruel y, an insa iable desire or successa any cos , pessimism, ma erialism, arrogance, slo h, lus or power,and he like can all be considered addic ions in he con ex o hischap er. Te key elemen o addic ion is ha our will is given overand enslaved o an ex ernal orce. Tis servi ude is ofen so sub le

ha we ail o dis inguish our will rom ha o he ex ernal orce.For example, i we are in he habi o making sarcas ic remarks,

we likely sense his o be our rue sel , our own will. Somewherealong he way, we wi nessed or were he recipien o sarcasm. Welearned o be sarcas ic and i became a habi . Once such a habi becomes en renched in o our reper oire o behaviors, we come o view he behavior as an aspec o our rue personali y. We may even

come o ake deligh in he habi . However, having been made in heimage and likeness o God, our rues and inmos soul and will can-


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As his chap er and he ollowing wo will show, i is by our imper-ec ion ha we come o know he Lords per ec ion; by our spiri ual

illness, his healing; by our disquie and pain, his peace and joy; by our

selshness, his seless love. Some readers may suffer or have suffered amore obvious orm o addic ion. Some may suffer a more sub le ormo possessionpessimism, or example. I we have ac ively chosen o walk wi h God, ha walk will orce us o ace some o hese inner demons. And while he level o des ruc ion and chaos in our lives may be differen , he poin is ha we all equally need God o overcome hepossession o our will. Finding our par icular weaknesses o will canhelp awaken wi hin us a rue longing or his salva ion.

When rapped in addic ion, sub le or bla an , here is a par o usha wan s ou we wan o be healed. We don wan o ea ha sec-

ond piece o pie. We don wan o snipe a our children or spouse wi h snide commen s. We don wan o work over ime every day,leaving us wi h no amily ime. We don wan o be depressed. We don wan o prowl he In erne or porn, or place ha be , ordrink ha sco ch. Bu hese good impulses o escape he addic ionare dwar ed by he power o he possessing orces, jus as he mansown personali y and will were rendered impo en by he presence oLegion. Trough his s ory, Jesus, he Lord o Love, reaches ou olibera e us rom hose powers ha enslave us in des ruc ive habi s.

Te spiri s caused he man o abuse himsel wi h s ones even ashe moaned and cried ou in agony. Likewise, we moan wi h anguishas we wa ch ourselves sink ur her in o sel -des ruc ive behavior.

For example, he adul erer ha es himsel or chea ing on his wi e.He sees his amily alling apar . He sees his kids drifing away. Heha es he eelings o emp iness and disconnec ion ha arise rom hisdishones y and be rayal. And ye o his horror, he nds himsel re-pea ing he same sins over and over. Te bulimic ha es her habi andhersel because o i . Shes no sure which she ha es more. All sheknows is ha she is uterly ashamed o her behavior and wan s o be

rid o i a any cos . She even con empla es suicide as an escape romher ormen ed li e. Bu despi e her bes effor s, she can s op gorg-


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ing and purging. Nor can he anorexic person nd he will o ea .Te man possessed by Legion lived among he ombs. Tis ac

is men ioned no less han hree imes wi hin he rs our sen ences.

When enslaved by orces ou side o our rue will, i is as i we aredead. We have no reedom and no joy. We have no percep ion olove or warm h. Looking a our own lives, we ail o see any purposeor meaning or our exis ence. Li e i sel appears absen o any value.In addic ion we live among he ombs o our own spiri ual dea h.

Jus as nobody could con rol or bind he demon-possessed man,nobody can con rol or cure an addic . Te ear ul pleas o amilymembers have no effec . Friends ry o reason i ou o him. Bosses

ry o warn him, and hey ofen re him. Psychologis s ry o explaini ou o him. Psychia ris s ry o medica e i ou o him. Tese e

or s avail no las ing resul s. Te addic is like he man who snappedchains and shackles as i hey were s ring.

Bu he Lord o Love has he power we need o change. In heollowing paragraphs, I will look a he s eps Jesus used o libera ehe man rom he evil power o Legion. We can apply he message

o his s ory o any orm o addic ion or possession under which wemay be suffering. As he man was cured o Legion, so we shall becured o our personal demons.

When in he ollowing descrip ion I employ he word addic-ion, I invi e readers o unders and any nega ive habi ha plagues

or roubles hem.

. Empty of PowerTe very rs hing we are shown by his s ory is ha when

rapped in addic ion, we have as much power over our addic ion ashe man had over Legionnone a all. We can no more overcome

our addic ion by our own s reng h o will han he man possessed by Legion was able o cas he demons ou o his body and mind byhis own power. No amoun o desire o do wha is righ and good

can ex rac us rom he grip o our personal Legion. I is vi al werealize ha when we are held by addic ion, our very will has been


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hijacked. Te rs s ep oward reedom is o admi ha we are pow-erless over he orce o he addic ion.

Te word emp y describes he si ua ion o our spiri s in rela-

ion o addic ion. We have become emp y hrough exhaus ion. Tegas ank is dry. Weve spen all our energy and have no hope lef.Bu he meaning goes deeper. We are also emp y in a more unda-men al way. All power belongs o God. He is he Poter and we heclay. We are mere vessels, emp y o any s reng h or power. Bu as anemp y vessel, we can receive, re ain, and exercise Gods power. Wemigh even say ha he undamen al quali y ha makes us human is

ha in and o ourselves we are emp y. We are branches ha mus beatached o he vine. Being made in he image and likeness o God,our soul is o Love. Bu his is Gods power wi hin us, and no ourown. Being emp y allows us o receive Gods li e and love wi hin us.

. Misery Jus as impor an as admiting powerlessness is coming o realize

he ull ex en o he damage in our lives and he lives o hose aroundus caused by addic ion. In he accoun , he mans li e was ruly a liv-ing hell. I was worse han dea h. He cu himsel and lived amongcorpses. He moaned in anguish. He lived alone wi h no amily or

riends. When we are possessed by addic ion, our lives are likewisea living hell. We damage ourselves and live amids our own spiri ualdea h and decay. Even when in he presence o o hers, we are isola ed

rom hem. We canno make meaning ul connec ions. O her people

may ear o be close o us. We hur hose who draw near and ry ohelp. We rus ra e hem. We make heir effor s seem as wor hless as

he chains and shackles used in he atemp o con rol he possessedman. Un il we see how lonely and dead our lives are because o headdic ive possessing orces, we are probably no ready or healing.

Even i we suffer lesser addic ions such as a cri icizing spiri , orone o pessimism, or sel -obsession, or despera ion or aten ion, or

obsession wi h work, or cons an anger, we s ill nd ourselves inmisery. Tese sub le and seemingly sligh orms o possession lead


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us o severe iso

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