Luke 10:19 Revisited

Luke 10:19--Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.


     The Greek word for 'power' in this mandate (to choose a popular word) from The Lord of Lords, Jesus Christ, means the 'power of choice.'  It does not mean the dynamite power that dunamis means.  Jesus was saying in His mandate that you had a choice to walk on and trample serpents and scorpions.


     A couple of blogs ago, I wrote about the two greatest commandments, to love God with all of your being and to love your neighbor as yourself.  Love is, itself, part of your 'power of choice.'  We make choices every day of our lives whether we love somebody or not.  The divorce courts are filled with people who exercised the power of their choice to hate the one that they had previously chosen to love.  Point made.


     In Ephesians, chapter six, Paul describes the armor of the children of God.  He declares that we must use the shield of faith to quench the fiery darts of the enemy.  Satan's main goal is to make someone say or do something that would bring hatred, jealousy and strife.  That's what Paul meant when he called them fiery darts.  They are intended to get us to burn with anger or hurt.  The bite of a serpent or scorpion would feel like a fiery dart, also. 

     When someone slings a 'fiery dart' at us, we have the option of  walking in hatred or walking in love.  For most of us, the desire to retaliate is definitely stronger than the desire to love.  What helps us is when we understand that the REAL attack came at us from satan for the stand we take against him.  The offender was only the vessel he used.  

     With that in mind, our desire should be to get back at satan and not the vessel he used.  The way we do that is by turning away from anger and hurt and walking in love toward the vessel.  I can tell you from first hand experience that it is not an easy task.  My desire to retaliate is just as great as any one's.  However, when I saw the truth of Jesus' mandate of walking in love, I realized that it was tied to the mandate for choosing to tread  on serpents and scorpions.  Satan would love nothing better than to get our faith all twisted by forcing us to walk in hatred and anger.  When we refuse to give in to hate, THAT'S when we begin to trample serpents and scorpions under our feet.


     Can I say it like this--I love my love walk.  When I choose to walk in love to those who have offended  me, I realize that satan NO LONGER can exercise control over me.  Now that's a real GOTCHA.  No more yo-yo--up, down, up, down.  When opportunities for anger and jealousy come at me, I view it as a ready-made chance to hit satan with God's knock out punch, His love.  I am now quick to tell old slew foot that God loves me more than to let me go through his evil plans.  I remind him that God loves me more than to leave me a slave to his evil designs.


     God hit me with this analogy last week.  I want to pass it on to you.  As I was meditating along these lines, I realized that Jesus ran to the cross and not away from it.    God brought Jesus' actions to me with this statement.  JESUS FLAUNTED GOD'S LOVE FOR HIMSELF AT THE DEVIL BY ENDURING THE CROSS.  In essence, He was saying to the devil, "Give me your best shot, it can't destroy My Father's plan for me."


     Walk in love-------trample some scorpions.