| His Authority and His Power Revealed In Me “Then He (Jesus) called His Twelve Disciples together, and gave them power and authority over all devils (demons) and to cure diseases. And He sent them to preach the Kingdom of God, and to heal the sick.” Luke 9:1-2 In Luke 9:1-2 Jesus sends the twelve disciples on a training mission. They were sent to proclaim the gospel, heal the sick, and deal victoriously with the opposition. The opposition consists of all the demons that stand against the will of Christ. All of this was to be done based upon and flowing out of the power and authority He gave them. We can see in verse six of chapter nine that the disciples successfully proclaimed the gospel, healed the sick, and dealt victoriously with evil. In Luke 10:1 Christ now sends out the seventy. He sent out thirty-six groups of two on a mission to proclaim the gospel, heal the sick, and deal victoriously with the opposition (vs. 9-11). Be careful to catch this next line: The power and authority of Jesus Christ is conveyed through the position of a disciple. The meaning of the word disciple is one who follows, one who is a pupil of, one who studies after. When we as authentic believers of God Jesus Christ are subject to His Lordship and are in submission to His authority and power, we are then in our rightful position of disciple. His power and authority is revealed in us as we pursue Him and seek to better understand His word and His will and obey it, as we are lead by God The Holy Spirit. Our identity in Christ as not only His spiritual children, but also His disciples is one of spiritual power and authority: His power and His authority manifested in us for His glory. And just as the twelve were successful, and the seventy were successful, we also will be successful in proclaiming the gospel, healing the sick, and dealing victoriously with the opposition. There will be much fruit. This power and authority cannot be exercised apart from Christ. It is not physical, or natural, or political. As John 15:5 puts it, Christ speaking, “I am the Vine, you are the branches: he who abides in Me, and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit: for without Me you can do nothing.” If we are to be honest we must at least consider the idea that there just seems to be too much “doing nothing” in the church today. It all sounds good and looks good, and maybe even feels good, but where is the manifestation of victory in our lives over evil. The world is affecting the Church instead of the opposite. We are continually conformed to the world. We don’t live by faith, we live by what we see and what we are told. Our priorities are almost anything but God. How is this possible? We are warned in verses 18-20 of Luke 10 to not lose focus by becoming prideful. We are encouraged to remember that while the enemy is subject to us as authentic disciples of Jesus Christ, we are called to do His will and nothing less or more. Our joy comes from Christ. We are to rejoice at the “cause” and not the “effect”. We should rejoice because of Jesus, not what He does through us. To maintain the manifestation of our victory we must be on Christ’s agenda with a focus on His solutions and not a demon agenda with a focus on the problem. The enemy has succeeded it he can get us to pay attention to him and what he is doing instead of fixing our eyes on Jesus and paying attention to what He has done, is doing, and has promised to do. His Authority and His Power Revealed In Me For The World To See. His fruit is unmistakable and undeniable. May our God arise and His enemies be scattered!!! Visit our website at www.HOWICP.org for more spiritual encouragement to help you reach your full spiritual potential. |
