I’ve been on vacation for the past week, but I’m back now. I hope you missed me!

Thoughts of Luke 11:14-23

Okay, you’re going about your business, bringing wholeness to broken people. You cast out a demon that kept a man from speaking, and when he then spoke, the people were divided. Some marveled, some doubted your source, some demanded more of you. You saw into their hearts, their motives and addressed what you found there.

These responses reflect the whole of my heart. Sometimes I marvel at your amazing acts of kindness and mercy; sometimes I minimize your power, overlooking it or discounting it, not recognizing the acts of God in the ordinary; sometimes I take for granted the goodness you’ve shown me and expect more from you than the generosity you’ve already shared with me.

You speak to me of my need to be one with you, I cannot sit on the fence; I’m either all in or all out. Ah, I confess my doubt about my ability to unite my heart with yours, I know myself so well. My intentions are good, but my old self, my “demon,” with its habits and demands is a strong man, who guards his residence very well.

You speak to me of the power in the mere finger of God. How all the good and healing and wonders I’ve experienced because of my trust in your name, are but a finger-full of the power you can and want to exercise over the “demon” that keeps me from speaking; how you are a stronger man than the one who resides in my heart.

I declare my desire to be with you, not against you; to gather the pieces of my heart and offer them to you. Increase my marvel, decrease my doubts and my demands. Thank you and amen.