1. Behold--Has it dawned on you that Jesus did not start EVERY sentence with "behold." It is obvious that He would like for us to pay a LOT of attention to what comes after "behold."
2. I give unto you--Guess what give means in the Greek. It means to give. (I know that's deep but let it sink in.) Jesus is doing the "giving" here. Would He "give" something that we couldn't or He wouldn't expect us to use? Certainly not. If I bought you a brand new car, would you still insist on walking everywhere you wanted to go. I hope not. If I could give you a new car, I would expect you to use it to enhance your life with. Even though you know the rest of this verse, please take some time to meditate on this very idea. Jesus NEVER gave us anything that He expected us to put on a shelf or stuff way back in the closet. He gave us something He intended for us to use to make our lives more enjoyable and easier.
3. power--Greek word-exousia. It literally means--the power of choice, the liberty of doing as one pleases, the power of authority and of right.
Let me interrupt this fine liturgical address for a parenthetical comment.
The power of choice is something He gave US. THAT'S ME AND YOU.
If you will, read Luke 10:18 where Jesus commented that He beheld
satan fall as lightning from heaven.
Is it just me, or does the idea strike you that between us and satan,
we are the ONLY ones given a choice?
Read it as many times as you like. It will say the same thing every time.
SATAN HAS NO CHOICE!!!!!!!!!!!
Jesus TOOK ALL choice away from him and gave us the authority, or
the right to make a choice about satan.
Let's go a little farther with this. WE have the privilege of choice, satan doesn't. We are at liberty to make our choice any time, any place and any way we WANT to. God GAVE us the right of choice and satan heard Him say it and cannot contradict any part of the statement. Satan HAS to be obedient because God and all the power of heaven stands in defense of HIS Holy Word.
4. to tread--Greek--pateo. It means to trample and crush with the feet. However, let us realize that to trample or crush anything with our feet, it is necessary to get close to and actually make contact with it.
Of course, we have all heard the Word of God preached from this verse of scripture that it refers to stomping on the devil and his works. Here's a few things you might not have thought about before. It would be great if we could pick the day and the hour when we got a group of prayer warriors together and went out "devil-stomping." You know. Go out and actually see if we could find a devil some where and if not then go back home and shout and sing for a while.
Yeah, right. Like that's ever going to happen. The truth is, satan always seems to be underfoot more than these aggravating cats around my house. He never comes walking up to you face-to-face in your strongest hour. Rather, he lies in wait until you are at a weak point and plans a sneak attack. Then, we get scared and start rebuking him and yelling "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus."
Sometimes satan does leave. But, what about the times when he doesn't? What do we do then? You and I both know that there are times when we walk through the "valley of the shadow of death" for weeks and sometimes for years. Relief seems like it will never come and we don't have any idea how much longer we can hold on. King David, when he talked about the "valley" also said that he would fear no evil because God was with him.
That's what we need to understand. Even in the middle of the valley and the serpent is trying to swirl around your ankles, you DON'T HAVE TO BE AFRAID OF SATAN IF YOU DON'T WANT TO BE. Jesus said two times in John 14--Don't let your heart be troubled. Jesus' heart was troubled the night before He was crucified but He prayed it under control BEFORE He was arrested. He submitted Himself to the merciless hands of the religious stinkers of His day. He submitted to beatings, scourging, being nailed to the cross and hanging there for six hours in torment. BUT, He was not afraid of what was happening to Him at those moments. He realized that God's kingdom was coming and His will was being done at EVERY turn of events. He believed it even when it brought pain and suffering. From the prophecies He had memorized of God's promised resurrection, He knew that what He was going through was NOT God's designated end for His life (Jer 29:11).
Ladies and gentlemen, that's what's called treading on serpents and scorpions. Yes, bad stuff happens to good people but it doesn't mean we HAVE to be afraid in these moments. We have a choice to walk through our valley WITHOUT fear, and with a song of worship in our hearts and a word of praise on our lips. James 4:7 reminds us that when we CHOOSE to submit ourselves to God......satan has NO alternative but to run in terror.
It's our right, our privilege and our choice. Let's lift up a shout of victory to the Lord our God and watch our enemy flee.
Great, but we don’t always recognize when we are NOT submitting to God cause we forget, like the sub-animals we are, compared to the ‘blinders-off’ spiritual realm, as in dark kingdom, who mostly know more about us then we know about ourselves, easy for them to trip us up---that’s why its called a “Holy-War!!!…This is when the trouble begins.)
ReplyDeleteAnyhow, this is so-far the best info I’ve come across on the internet on searching out Luke 10:19)
Amen!!!
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