Greetings Life House Family,
I hope the portion of scripture we are going to be looking at will bring you encouragement.
It is Luke 10:17-20. To set the stage the 70 disciples have been sent out by Jesus and are now returning with joy. They have experienced power and are saying” even the demons are subject to us in Your name Lord” Jesus replies” I saw satan fall like lightening from heaven. Behold I give you the authority to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Never the less do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven”. In other translations it says “ to trample” on serpents. So we can say we are to tread and trample. Tread means to walk on and step over . Trample means to walk forcibly over, to crush. Serpents and scorpions are emblems of demonic powers. They represent symbols of opposition, that which opposes us. They will show up, but we are given clarity from The Lord that we have been given authority to deal with them.
I am also reminded of James 4:7 “submit to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you”. These verbs tread, trample, and resist remind us that we have to be actively opposing the works of the enemy by first submitting to God and then actively enforcing what Jesus won for us. When opposition shows up we forcibly step over it, crushing it and keep going. The enemies assignment is to hinder or stop our advancement in the Kingdom. What we don’t resist we passively give permission to stay. When Jesus visited his home town, he was met with opposition. He wasn’t able to flow there and was stopped by their unbelief. He walked through the crowd of opposition and they were not able to harm him. He ignored the opposition and kept going.
Now in the natural, we will feel the opposition, but we can’t give it our attention and answer the invitation to the enemy’s pity party. Feelings are there to bring color to our lives, but we can’t let them be in charge. As we submit to The Lord, He will show us what to embrace and what to resist. I want to emphasize that being active against the opposition keeps things in the right place. As we tread, trample, they can’t hurt us. Remember we have been given the keys of the Kingdom. We will not fear but will keep going. We reject passivity. When we are passive we can get hurt. We submit and stay submitted Colossians 2:15 Jesus, You disarmed principalities and powers and made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them. I love that you tell us to keep rejoicing in Your finished work and that our names are written in heaven and to concentrate on this.
Let us pray: Heavenly Father, thank You for Your great love for us! We stand in awe that you give us Your authority to walk in this life with the supply of everything we need to live in Your victory! May this portion of scripture become so real in our everyday lives. May we recognize the wiles of the enemy, and resist all his tactics quickly. May we follow Your lead in each situation. Thank you for Your grace to navigate the difficulties we encounter. We keep our eyes on You Jesus. Thank you that we live in this world, but are not of this world. We take our lead from You Holy Spirit. We will not be moved by what we see in the natural. Keep us focused on Your eternal perspective. We ask for all our loved ones to be drawn closer to You by Your Love. We ask You to restore the years the have been stolen. You are Redeemer, You buy back that which is stolen. You are Jehovah Rapha, The Lord our healer. We ask for healing, both physically and emotionally. We ask for all our life house family that are experiencing loss. May they know Your comfort in deep ways. Thank you Lord that You know what we need even before we ask. We bring every area of our hearts before You and trust you to answer our deepest needs. We love You Lord and rest in Your great love.
We pray this in Jesus Name.
Much love, Cheryl
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