“POWER OVER ALL DEVILS” – LUKE 9:1
I walked into a small phone store, and a man waiting to get
served was staring at me. I walked away and stood on the opposite side of the
store, also waiting to be served. When I looked over at the man, he was staring
at me more intently, and his face changed shape, with his neck jutting out and
oddly connected to the bottom of his chin. He looked kind of like a chameleon.
I could see the evil in his expression. I looked at the demon directly and told
it (in a whisper because the whole store didn’t need to know what was going
on), but I told it: “Keep away from me in the name of Jesus Christ, and shut
up.” His face changed back to something more normal and non-threatening, and
then he got called up to the service desk, and when I looked at him again, I
knew he was no longer a threat to me. The authority we have in the name of
Jesus Christ is a powerful weapon.
Luke 9:1 tells us: “Jesus
called his twelve disciples together, and gave them power [dunamis] and
authority over all devils.” The word, dynamite, comes from the same root as the
Greek word, dunamis. The power in the name of Jesus is like dynamite!
Philippians 2:10 explains “that at the name of Jesus every knee
should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth.” No devil can cut across
the powerful use of name of Jesus Christ.
But we can forget to use our weapons if we don’t recognize an
attack.
That’s why God tells us in Second Corinthians 2:11: “Lest
Satan should get an advantage of us: for we
are not ignorant of his devices.” In other words, we
need to know something about the devil’s ways of doing things. If we don’t know,
we can become easier targets for his evil ways. In the spiritual realm,
ignorance is NOT bliss!
So, I let the Lord reveal to me evidence of the dark side, so
I learn. The devil is not happy with that, but too bad; it’s God’s will for me
right now, and I know that I belong to Him. Because Jesus paid for me, I am his
and have the victory. The authority and the power belong to us, not the devil!
Don’t worry about me or anyone else who is researching the
enemy, his kingdom, or his devices. We know that magnifying God and keeping our
eyes on Him is primary and priority in this kind of study.
God can fully deliver us from the evil around us. Jesus
gave his original disciples and us a prayer and a promise in Matthew 6:13a: “And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.” Knowing God delivers us from all
evil, we can then look at what He says about it.
In Matthew 6:13a, “evil” is the Greek word “poneros.” It
means “the active form of evil, in thoughts, speech, and actions. It is used
when the Bible talks about the deeds of devil spirits and is used when talking
about Satan as being “the malignant one.” We know what a malignant cell is. It
is a normal cell that has been perverted into something else, something that
grows, migrates, and destroys. “Poneros” are evil actions that are “harmful,
lewd, and malicious.” But we pray in the manner Jesus instructed: “Pray to thy
Father...deliver us from evil”
(Matt. 6: 6,13), and He does it.
Another word used in the New Testament for evil is “kakos.”
“Kakos” means that a person or thing is
“bad in character, morally, by way of thinking, bad company, bad desires, and
all kinds of evil just for the sake of evil itself.”
“Kakos” is used in Titus 1:12, talking about when people accept
demons into themselves that have the nature of wild, vicious, biting beasts, venomous
snakes or reptiles, or other predatory animal spirits.
“Kakos” is also used in James 3:8, talking about a person’s
tongue being a restless evil wanting to harm and injure. It’s vicious.
There are many things to learn about the ways of the devil.
The Lord doesn’t want us to be ignorant, and He gives us great insight and
wisdom in this field. But best of all, He has given us His dynamite! - the power and authority in the name of Jesus
Christ to win every time!
Here are some important verses that point out our authority
and power in Christ. Let’s take the time to look some of them up this week.
I am a new creature in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17).
I triumph in Christ ((2 Cor. 2:14).
I have boldness and access in Christ (Eph. 3:12).
I have victory through Christ (1 Cor. 15:57).
I reign in life by Christ (Rom. 5:17).
I have the mind of Christ (1 Cor. 2:16).
Christ is my life (Col. 3:4).
Love, Carolyn
Read other stories of victories and learning how to live in
Christ.
