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November 10, 2026

 

And they sailed to the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. 27 And when He had come out onto the land, He was met by a certain man from the city who was possessed with demons; and who had not put on any clothing for a long time, and was not living in a house, but in the tombs. 28 And seeing Jesus, he cried out and fell before Him, and said in a loud voice, “What do I have to do with You, Jesus, Son of the most High God? I beg You, do not torment me.” For He had been commanding the unclean spirit to come out of the man.  For it had seized him many times; and he was bound with chains and shackles and kept under guard; and yet he would burst his fetters and be driven by the demon into the desert. 30 And Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” And  he said, “Legion”; for many demons had entered him. 31 And they were entreating Him not to command them to depart into the abyss. 32 Now there was a herd of many swine feeding there on the mountain, and the demons entreated Him to permit them to enter the swine. And He gave them permission. 33 And the demons came out from the man and entered the swine; and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake, and were drowned. 34 And when the herdsmen saw what had happened, they ran away and reported it in the city and out in the country.  35 And the people went out to see what had happened; and they came to Jesus, and found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting down at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind; and they became frightened. 36 And those who had seen it reported to them how the man who was demon-possessed had been made well. 37 And all the people of the country of the Gerasenes and the surrounding district asked Him to depart from them for they were gripped with great fear; and He got into a boat, and returned. 38 But the man from whom the demons and gone out was begging Him that he might accompany Him; but He sent him away, saying, 39 “Return to your house and describe what great things God has done for you.’ And he went away proclaiming throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him. 

Luke 8:26-39


 

THE STATE OF OUR HEART

 

It’s story time, boys and girls, so get your coffee and settle in because this will be a humdinger for sure!

When I was 12, my parents purchased a farm near Salem, MO, to retire. My dad was in the military for 25 years. Well, the farm was a really good deal because it had belonged to an aged couple and had been let go maintenance-wise.

We had a lot of work to do, starting with the hay fields. We had to start on the fields before the house or the barns because the hay seed needed to be planted in March if we were going to have any hay to cut that summer and fall for our cattle. The house and barns could wait until the crop was planted.

Only one problem: the fields were overgrown with weeds, small oaks, cedar trees, and multiflora rose bushes. It was very rocky soil and had no calcium or nitrogen. The field we needed to plant our seed in was not ready.

So, what did we do? We went to work preparing the soil to receive the seed we intended to plant (fescue mixed with lespedeza, for you farmers reading).

We used tractors and hand tools and elbow grease to prepare that soil for seed. God uses life experiences and trials and storms and sleepless nights to prepare our hearts for His Word.

The analogy holds. Soil does not prepare itself for planting; that is the job of the farmer (God). In a way, the soil of our fields was “dead soil,” the same way we find our hearts before God goes to work on us.

Ephesians 2:1-2 says it this way:

“For you were dead in your trespasses and sins, 2 in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.”

Does this sound familiar? Does it sound like the demon-possessed man from Luke 8? Does it sound like your heart before He prepared it for His Word? Does it sound like your heart in its hardened and unprepared state?

Preparing soil is not easy work (though God CAN do it in an instant if He wants to).

We first cut all of the weeds with a bush hog behind our tractor. Then we came in and pulled up all of the scrub oaks and cedar and wild rose bushes by the roots and burned them. Then we went to work on the rocks…thousands of rocks, thrown into the bed of a dump trailer to be hauled up and separated for use on the house.

Only then could we put down nutrients for the soil that would soak in when it rained. Then we were ready to disc and plant the seed.

God does the same thing with us. He cuts, and He pulls, and He removes all of the obstructions to the seed He soon will plant.

And it hurts, doesn’t it? Because all of those obstructions are the sin which so easily entangles us (see Hebrews 12:1-3).

Jesus did the hard work! The painful work of preparing our hearts for the truth, so that when the seed was sown, it WOULD be received, implanted, and yield the crop that was intended when He started the process.

Ephesians 2:10:

“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

If you are feeling Jesus working on your heart, Christian or not, that means He has plans for you, and His plans will come to fruition.

Do not resist the Farmer’s hand as He prepares you for His purposes. It is what you were made for before the foundation of the world.

Tomorrow, we will look at how God promises to change us!

He loves you so much forever!


 

Quite simply, Dave Griffith loves getting to know Jesus better by studying His Word daily and is passionate about teaching his siblings in Christ how to study His Word as well. He is passionately in love and like with his helpmate, Jackie; and is most fulfilled when he is hanging with his 10 kids (3 of his, 2 of Jackie’s, 3 are married, 2 more spiritually adopted) and 9 grandkids. He is a small group leader and a men’s group leader. He is a serial entrepreneur owning or having owned numerous businesses. He also enjoys naps!