Playing Offense

 

 

19 I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. 20 However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven."

Sometimes I feel like I am lost at sea.  If circumstances go well that day, it is a good one.   If circumstances do not go well, it is a bad day. And  then I remember verses like this one.  I am reminded that I have authority.  I HAVE  AUTHORITY!!! I am not at the mercy of the world and what it throws at me, I am empowered by God to be on the offensive in my life, not just on the defensive all the time.  I can speak to situations, and see them change!  I can rebuke the enemy of my soul and require him to unhand me and my situation.  So can you!  Do you feel your inner man (or woman)  rising up with courage and boldness?  That is  what happens when we recognize who we are in Christ.

Jesus gave the early disciples, and later all believers, the power to go out in His Name and heal the sick, preach the gospel, and tangle with- and  defeat- dark forces.  The disciples, like us, were just human.  When they realized that it actually "worked", they were like kids with a new toy.  Woo hoo! Look what we can do in the Name of Jesus! Although that attitude is understandable, and not necessarily wrong, we can never forget that it is not about us.  It is about Him and His kingdom.  Rather than focusing on the power and authority that we have, we should, instead, focus on the fact that we are gloriously saved.  That help us remember our utter dependence on Him.  That truth causes us to recognize that there is nothing good in us that He has not provided.  He is so good to us!

Sometimes when we are given  a little authority, we have the tendency to let it go to our heads.  If we  are not careful we begin to feel like invincible big-shots.  Beware!  That kind of thinking can result in an our downfall, "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble."b  (James 4:6, NIV)

 

What are you facing in your life that you need to activate authority over?  Is the enemy attacking your finances?  Your marriage?  Your kids?  If you are a born-again child of God, you have the power and the right to command the devil to release your finances, your marriage, your kids and anything else that concerns you.  Do not live beneath your privilege.  Activate your faith today to be an  overcomer rather than a victim.

 

Thank you, Lord, for granting authority and power to us in Your Name.  Help me to have revelation of that authority and to use it in balance and in keeping with Your purpose for my life.  In Jesus' Name.   Amen.