Daughter, You Are Free by Latta-Claire

Imagine yourself for years cutting yourself with sharp stones that tore off your flesh and left your arms covered in blood. Your arms are bleeding continually and you are continually living in excruciating pain. Night and day you cry in agony and there is no relief. You are able to wrench off the physical chains and brake the shackles into pieces, but you are still tormented within, and you contine to cut yourself and have blood all over you. You live by yourself with no one around. No community, no hope, no relief.

UNTIL ONE DAY.

You see a boat in the distance and it is coming closer to you. You see a man in the boat and for some reason you are drawn to Him. You run to the boat and as this man steps out, immediately you fall before him and say, “What do you have to do with me, Jesus Son of the Most High God?” Jesus speaks and says, “Come out you unclean spirit!”

Imagine yourself being FREE from the pain. Imagine yourself no longer having bloody arms. Imagine yourself no longer weeping and in agony day in and day out. IMAGINE THIS.

What I just had you imagine, REALLY HAPPENED. In Mark 5:1-20 Jesus Heals a Man with a Demon. This man was able to tear off all of his physical chains, but Satan still possessed him and made him cut himself and caused him to live in agony and pain for years. This man lived among tombs and the mountains for years living in PAIN AND TURMOIL. BUT ONE DAY. ONE ENCOUNTER WITH JESUS. AND HIS LIFE CHANGED FOREVER.

How many of us can relate with this man? How many of us think we have the chains off, but in reality we still walk around in pain? We still walk in bondage that severely affects our everyday lives, and we do not see any light at the end of the tunnel.

We think we have been set free from bondage, yet our lives keep leading to destruction.

We wrench the chains apart (Mark 5:4) but still we live our lives out of a place of hurt, bitterness, and this leads to destruction.

Friends, the enemy can trick you into perceiving you are free, when really you are not. The man in this story might have had the power and strength to break the chains, BUT NOTHING COMPARES TO HAVING JESUS BREAK THE CHAINS. When we in our own efforts try to break the chains, IT DOES NOT WORK. We see this in scripture when the man after breaking the chains off himself, night and day STILL cut himself and CONTINUED to cry out in agony (Mark 5:5).

BUT IT DOES NOT HAVE TO END HERE, and it did not end here for this man! Jesus said to the man, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” Jesus then went on to ask the demon what his name was and the demon was SO fearful of Jesus’ power that he begged Jesus to send him into the pigs. AND JESUS DID. THIS ALONG WITH SO MANY OTHER STORIES IS WILD. IMAGINE SEEING THIS IN PERSON. Mark 5:13 says, He gave them permission, and the impure spirits came out and went into the pigs. The herd, about two thousand in number, rushed down the steep bank into the lake and drowned.” What really gets me is later in this story in verse 15 it says that the man was CLOTHED and in his RIGHT MIND. When Jesus saves us, heals us, delivers us, frees us, HE RESTORES US, CLOTHES US, AND RENEWS OUR MINDS. He not only delivered the man from the demons but he CLOTHED him and RENEWED HIS MIND. God wants to leave us BETTER than He found us!

God wants to do this for you too!

Personally, I recently was delivered from emotional bondage. I thought I had taken the emotional bondage off myself pretty well. But in all honesty I was miserable. Surviving each day instead of THRIVING. But God wants to take the bondage off. When we try to take it off in our own strength, we end up like the man in the story. Still hurting ourselves and we remain in turmoil.

SO WHAT DO YOU DO? WHAT ARE THE NEXT STEPS?

Firstly, I encourage you to read this passage in Mark 5, it is so powerful. Also, realize that our own efforts to save ourselves, WILL NEVER WORK OUT WELL. If we want true healing, freedom, and deliverance from our bondage and pain we have to take it to Jesus and STOP PICKING IT BACK UP. STOP WANDERING THE TOMBS AND THE MOUNTAINS. STOP HURTING YOURSELF AND LIVING IN PAIN.

Take it to Jesus.

We also have a great deal of surrendering we have to do in this. We have to admit that our strength alone cannot save or heal or deliver us from our bondange. Only the power of God can do that. When we step into this we start to feel relief from our pain and begin to walk in peace and joy.

We do not have to walk in pain and turmoil. Jesus has died for you and rose again so that you could live a life of peace.

He is saying to you today,

Daughter, YOU ARE FREE.

• Latta Claire