DISENGAGE THE ENEMY
DISENGAGE THE ENEMY
“Go away! Why are you interfering with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One sent from God!”
Jesus cut him short. “Be quiet! Come out of the man,” he ordered. At that, the demon threw the man to the floor as the crowd watched; then it came out of him without hurting him further (Luke 4:34-35 NLT).
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ciTa0Mrfy0g]
Demons, or unclean spirits, were something that the Israelites recognized among themselves and lived with. They even were in the synagogues. Scripture tells us Jesus healed many of unclean spirits, so this indicates there were more than a few. We can glean, from Jesus’ interactions with demons, that He did not engage them in conversation. He did not question their motives, nor did He chat them up. With one exception (Luke 8:30), Jesus simply rebuked them and cast them out.
Church, we have become desensitized to evil today, failing to recognize when the enemy has infiltrated. This world has made it seem as though there is nothing to be worried about, depicting evil is normal, or even hell is not a real place. In movies, demons are often portrayed as the good guys. As followers of Christ, we have all authority given by Him to disengage the enemy. We have the power of His name to cast out demons and unclean spirits, but it requires discernment to recognize when they are there. When we see them, we must not engage them in conversation; we must command them to leave. There is a YouTube video of a woman who had a gun in her face, and what she did was speak to the demon behind the person and rebuked him, causing him to flee. We all have this power in us because we have Christ.
Let’s Pray: Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for the give of Your Son, Your Spirit and Your Presence. May we treasure these gifts, growing more in our knowledge of You and our understanding of Your heart. May we have discernment to know when unclean spirits are around and may we act in accordance to the authority Jesus Christ has given us. Father, may we not engage our enemy, but may we have strength and discernment to disengage him. We thank You and give You all praise, glory and honor. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Today’s Attitude of Worship: Resist the devil and he will flee from you (James 4:7b). Stay connected to Christ through prayer, praise and worship. Feed your spirit and not your flesh by reading God’s word, listening to praise and worship music, fellowship with other believers and through prayer.
Additional Scriptures: Matthew 10:1; Luke 6:17-19; Acts 8:6-8; Luke 9:1-3