I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. - Luke 10:19
Convince your enemy that he will gain very little by attacking you; this will diminish his enthusiasm. - Sun Tzu
Knowing the truth concerning the deep workings of the evil spirit helps the individual not only to overcome sins but to eliminate unnecessary afflictions as well. - Watchman Nee
Overcoming.
The word implies there are obstacles, hurdles … something in the way.
In Luke Chapter 10, we read one of the most significant stories in the gospels where obstacles to a life with God are overcome. Jesus commissions his friends to go out and do what He does: teach, heal, and deliver people from the oppressive work of the kingdom of darkness ... proclaim the Kingdom of God. It is a fantastic start to the disciples training and what will soon happen through the resurrection of Christ … He will give to his followers, his friends, his own power and authority … we must gonna need it!
I wish it were easier. I wish this fallen place wasn’t so hard. But instead of praying for "easier," we pray for strength, for wisdom, for overcoming. Maybe more than strength and wisdom we should pray for revelation; a deep seeing and understanding from God of how this all works. IF we have the power and authority of Christ to trample evil and stand against religious oppression and anything the kingdom of darkness uses or attempts to thwart us from experiencing the love and life of God, then why are so many friends of God suffering so badly? These are great questions, and they have deep Kingdom answers and implications.
When Jesus gave his allies his power, the war changed. Like the bow and arrow changed war, like gunpowder changed war, like hydrogen changed war, when Jesus armed his disciples with his power and authority it was to be used to advance the Kingdom by overcoming evil. Do you know how to wield it?
It was Watchman Nee who once wrote,
Overcoming sin, blessed though it surely is, is but the bare minimum of a believer's experience. There is nothing astonishing in it. Not to overcome sin is what ought to astonish us.
What is your normal? What have you overcome lately? It isn’t the act of sin in which we need overcome, it is the belief. We all have perspectives and attitudes, beliefs that have us turning to other things to somehow or in some way give us more Life or Love than Jesus can.
In Luke 10, the kingdom of darkness learned it can no longer steal, kill, and destroy the image bearers of God in the open. That would risk a friend of God coming along and exercising power and authority over them. So the war went underground; the enemy had little choice but to take a more covert approach. For centuries since Luke 10 and the Resurrection, the greatest weapon of our enemy has been, “We're not here.” Whispers of accusation, fear, even guilt and shame have become standard issue firearms in their arsenal. By the way, the enemy has touched all of us. No one is immune from their implanted false beliefs (lies), which have wounded us in places during our lives that leave our ability to trust fractured. The false message gets delivered loud and clear, "You are on your own."
Lies are powerful and covert ways to compromise the heart and soul. And we have the ability to overcome … we have weapons that must be used if we are ever going to take the ground in our lives and and see the lives of others rescued, redeemed and restored. Sin is not what you do, but starts with what you believe about yourself, God, how this works, who you are, and what you have to do to protect, promote, provide for yourself. We are up against a sinister enemy, and they are good at what they do. We don’t have to live as casualties or victims, but we will have to overcome.
For some next steps, I believe you may want to pick up a copy of The Heart of a Warrior here and learn how to overcome in the power, authority, love, and grace of Christ. For more on how this all works, you may want to go to our website and pick up a 2 Realms & 2 Kingdoms Map and explore more. Living naive and uniformed is not a good way to live. I can tell you, we are not "ill equipped." We have all we need to put our enemy in their place, the question is, Do you know how? Many would like to believe that Jesus is going to do it … that isn’t what the story tells us, He wants us to do it and so He gives us all we need to see it done.
Behold! I have given you authority and power to trample upon serpents and scorpions, and [physical and mental strength and ability] over all the power that the enemy [possesses]; and nothing shall in any way harm you. - Luke 10:19 (AMP)
The Daily Prayer - Paragraph 7
And now I bring the fullness of your work – your Cross, Resurrection, and Ascension – against Satan, against his kingdom, and against all his emissaries and all their work warring against me and my domain. Greater is he who is in me than he who is in the world.[38] Christ has given me authority to overcome all the power of the evil one and I claim that authority now over and against every enemy, and I banish them in the Name of Jesus Christ.[39] Holy Spirit, apply to me the fullness of the work of the Ascension of Jesus Christ for me. I receive it with thanks and give it total claim to my life.
An excerpt from The Daily Prayer Memory Verse Cards.
