(Luke 10:1-4) Now after this the Lord appointed seventy others, and sent them in pairs ahead of Him to every city and place where He Himself was going to come. 2 And He was saying to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. 3 Go; behold, I send you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. 4 Carry no money belt, no bag, no shoes; and greet no one on the way..."
Jesus even told them what they should say, and their "peace" would actually guide them, which if it was not of the Holy Spirit, it certainly echoed the working and guidance of the Holy Spirit...
(Luke 10:5-12) “Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house.’ 6 If a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you. 7 Stay in that house, eating and drinking what they give you; for the laborer is worthy of his wages. Do not keep moving from house to house. 8 Whatever city you enter and they receive you, eat what is set before you; 9 and heal those in it who are sick, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ 10 But whatever city you enter and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say, 11 ‘Even the dust of your city which clings to our feet we wipe off in protest against you; yet be sure of this, that the kingdom of God has come near.’ 12 I say to you, it will be more tolerable in that day for Sodom than for that city..."
Jesus already knew that many towns and cities would reject Jesus and His followers, even though God was right there among them, giving them proof that if they would only "see" and accept Him - they would be living in a garden-of-Eden-like paradise...
(Luke 10:13-16) “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles had been performed in Tyre and Sidon which occurred in you, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. 14 But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the judgment than for you. 15 And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will be brought down to Hades!
16 “The one who listens to you listens to Me, and the one who rejects you rejects Me; and he who rejects Me rejects the One who sent Me.”
When the 70 returned, interestingly, the thing they were really exited about, is just a side-point...
(Luke 10:17) The seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.”
When Satan (Lucifer) fell, the power of Satan was broken. The fact that believers have authority over demons is proof of that. But we have to understand a few things - we only have authority over demons - because of Jesus' power, and because Jesus has given us the authority! It is all because of Jesus.
Most importantly, we should not get sidetracked over the fact that we have authority over the demons. We need to be excited that - because of Jesus - we have been saved from our sins!!!...
(Luke 10:18-20) And He said to them, “I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning. 19 Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you. 20 Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven.”
From this we see:
- Jesus watched Satan's fall (Luke 10:18)
- Satan's fall from God's grace was immediate, like lightning (Luke 10:18)
- Jesus has given believers the authority over the power of the enemy (Luke 10:19)
- believers have authority over the demons in Jesus' name (Luke 10:17)
- spirits are subject to us, which is only a side benefit (Luke 10:20)
Personal experience: it's interesting how people can get so caught up in the power of the supernatural, and then miss the point. For believers, even while we have this "side-benefit", if we are not doing something weird, crazy and misdirected, like going out to slay demons, we often completely forget to use our "benefit".
I'll explain. The other day, something was just off. And I didn't recognize it. I SHOULD HAVE BEEN praying immediately. But I wasn't. Instead, all day long, my husband and I just kept picking away at each other over every silly little thing. Even while we were in different rooms, doing different tasks. And the feelings of irritation just kept building.
When we both sat down for supper, we finally asked of each other, "Why are you so annoyed with me?!" "No! YOU are annoyed with me!"
It was then that I felt the "cloud" of oppression in the room. It seemed "thicker" at that point. Maybe because we were now in the same room. Maybe we each had a demon following us around that day??? I'm only speculating. But I motioned to the air, saying, "I feel a spirit of deception here! We should just ignore it and stop buying into it."
My husband exclaimed again, "But, no, you are just really irritating me." And I echoed that, "Exactly! And you have been really irritating me! It's a deception! I mean, we both know we like each other." lol. Well, as soon as we had voiced all of this, even without praying, the "cloud" went away and the rest of the evening was peaceful and lovely.
Today's takeaway: how quickly do we forget the power of prayer? Is it because sometimes we like the competition within conflict? And winning becomes our focus, in order to feed our fake feeling of self-empowerment?
- Jesus watched Satan's fall (Luke 10:18)
- Satan's fall from God's grace was immediate, like lightning (Luke 10:18)
- Jesus has given believers the authority over the power of the enemy (Luke 10:19)
- believers have authority over the demons in Jesus' name (Luke 10:17)
- spirits are subject to us, which is only a side benefit (Luke 10:20)
Personal experience: it's interesting how people can get so caught up in the power of the supernatural, and then miss the point. For believers, even while we have this "side-benefit", if we are not doing something weird, crazy and misdirected, like going out to slay demons, we often completely forget to use our "benefit".
I'll explain. The other day, something was just off. And I didn't recognize it. I SHOULD HAVE BEEN praying immediately. But I wasn't. Instead, all day long, my husband and I just kept picking away at each other over every silly little thing. Even while we were in different rooms, doing different tasks. And the feelings of irritation just kept building.
When we both sat down for supper, we finally asked of each other, "Why are you so annoyed with me?!" "No! YOU are annoyed with me!"
It was then that I felt the "cloud" of oppression in the room. It seemed "thicker" at that point. Maybe because we were now in the same room. Maybe we each had a demon following us around that day??? I'm only speculating. But I motioned to the air, saying, "I feel a spirit of deception here! We should just ignore it and stop buying into it."
My husband exclaimed again, "But, no, you are just really irritating me." And I echoed that, "Exactly! And you have been really irritating me! It's a deception! I mean, we both know we like each other." lol. Well, as soon as we had voiced all of this, even without praying, the "cloud" went away and the rest of the evening was peaceful and lovely.
Today's takeaway: how quickly do we forget the power of prayer? Is it because sometimes we like the competition within conflict? And winning becomes our focus, in order to feed our fake feeling of self-empowerment?
God's peace should be the thing that wins every time. When this happens, we all win!!!...
(Matthew 5:9) Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
(Romans 15:13) Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
(2 Thessalonians 3:16) Now may the Lord of peace Himself continually grant you peace in every circumstance. The Lord be with you all!
(1 Peter 3:8-12) To sum up, all of you be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted, and humble in spirit; 9 not returning evil for evil or insult for insult, but giving a blessing instead; for you were called for the very purpose that you might inherit a blessing. 10 For,
“The one who desires life, to love and see good days, Must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit.
11 “He must turn away from evil and do good; He must seek peace and pursue it.
12 “For the eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous, And His ears attend to their prayer, But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”
11 “He must turn away from evil and do good; He must seek peace and pursue it.
12 “For the eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous, And His ears attend to their prayer, But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”
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