“Go home to your family and announce to them all that the Lord in His pity has done for you.” Then the man went off and began to proclaim in the Decapolis what Jesus had done for him and all were amazed. // Mark 5:19-20
There was a memorial service on a Friday morning in March. As we entered the hall and took off our winter jackets, the song Amazing Grace was just coming to a close. A friend and I sat down, prayed, and then opened a program to preview the upcoming eulogists and speakers.
Nothing could have prepared us for who was to come next.
The sound of high heels began to click on the linoleum floors, and a small, yet mighty, woman made her way to the podium. Her confident presence was palpable even as she adjusted the podium stand. She then took to the microphone and began to testify to the power of God.
This woman proceeded to share her conversion story, reliving the moment she was ‘saved in a grocery store.’ As she told her story, she powerfully reminded all those gathered that no one is beyond the saving power of God and that He desires to raise His people from the graves of sin. She courageously preached this word of faith to a community of people who knew the tombs she used to dwell among (see Mark 5:3) before that moment in the grocery store. This disciple of Christ was boldly proclaiming and courageously witnessing to the God Who “makes all things new” (Revelations 21:5) to those who knew who she once was. She stood in her reclaimed identity as a beloved daughter of God, and she spoke as one who knew the mission Jesus had given her to testify to what He had done for her.
Listening to this woman speak, I could sense she lived in the power of the Spirit, the Power that pulls apart chains and smashes the shackles of sin and death in our lives. In the Gospel of Mark 5:4, we see a contrast between the physical chains which restrained the man under the possession of Legion, but he broke out of, and the chains of sin which Christ freed him from. What chains of sin are holding you back from God? Bring them to Him today.
Jesus, You are our Savior and our Redeemer. Give us the grace to never forget what You have done for us. Strengthen us, so that we may testify to Your Resurrection in our lives. Make us witnesses of Your Saving Power. Make us new.
Listen to today's audio devotion.
Senite Sahlezghi is a consecrated virgin for the Archdiocese of Denver. Native to Colorado, she is a first generation Eritrean American, is a Licensed Professional Counselor with a master’s in Counseling Psychology, and serves as the School Counselor for St. John Paul the Great Catholic High School. Grateful to be in a place surrounded by mountains and live music, the greatest privilege of her life remains being called to be Christ’s bride.
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