Daily Bread 3-23-17
Acts 19:13-17
13 Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits the name of Jesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth.
14 And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, which did so.
15 And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know, but who are ye?
16 And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of their house naked and wounded.
17 And this was known to all the Jews and Greeks also dwelling at Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.
ref. - Mk 9:38 - And John answered him, saying, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name, and he followed not us: and we forbad him, because he followeth not us.
Matt 8:29 - And, behold, they cried out, saying, what have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time?
Ac 16:17 - The same followed Paul and us, and cried, saying, These men are servants of the most high God, which shew unto us the way of salvation.
Ac 2:43 - And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles.
The power of the enemy is only overcome by the true power of Jesus Christ. As we read in this scripture, non believing men and men that did not possess the gift, were overtaken and beaten severely when they tried to use the name of Jesus to perform that which the gifted men of God could do. Just as the demon said, Jesus we know, and Paul we know, but who are you? The same will he say to those who try to imitate or duplicate the gifts of God. Today there are many very similar to the day in this scripture. There are many who seek to have the power but are not willing to surrender in a way that will allow them to attain the power. We all want the groceries but we don't want the bill. Well, in this instance, Christ paid the bill but we do need to believe and come to obedience in his word to be useful to him. We need more who will completely surrender to him and be content with what and who he made them. In the name of Jesus Christ there is the power to do anything good but only if we have that power within us. How do we get it? It was just explained, surrender. When we came to him we had only faith as a grain of mustard seed, we believed. Further down the way we were made knowledgeable to many things as was taught in the Holy scripture. Some things to do, some not to do, some ways to think, and pray, and worship, and give, and love...........all things that could take us to a place where he would see fit to give us a full understanding of his will. But, first we must trust and obey to a point where we can put him in complete control of our lives. No more faking it because we want it, no more demanding it because we were told to, no more trying to pay the bill with money that is not ours. No, it is time to surrender all to Christ and receive our portion of an inheritance that could and should lead us to make the devil flea just at the sound of our voices. Our goal should not to have many posessions or even gifts, our goal should be that we are fortunate enough and obedient to be in the place that God has made for us when the time comes for us to go. You want to defeat the devil? Strive to receive the power in Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit that can come only from God. Do this and you will not be defeated!!! Have a great day!!!