authority to represent Him. Mark 16:17-18 tells us: “‘These signs will
follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they
will speak with new tongues: they will take up serpents; and if they
drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay
hands on the sick, and they will recover’” (NKJV).
Every believer has the ability to cast out devils. A
believer who does not cast out devils is like a person who carries
around a gift card but never uses it.
We come to Jesus in need of salvation and release from
the grips of the evil one and his lifestyle. Once we are released, a
sure sign of spiritual growth in Christ is the manifestation of the
signs of the believers mentioned above.
You cannot get around the ministry of casting out devils
if you want to walk in the full gospel. Unless you believe in
deliverance, you are not fulfilling the entire purpose of Christ for
your life as outlined in His Word.
Jesus came to set the captives free. He could have sat in
heaven and loosed fire on the devil’s head, but He came down as a man,
as an example to us that we can resist and attack demonic forces in
victory.
God gets no pleasure out of watching the devil attack and
destroy His children. Jesus hijacked the devil and gave us the keys.
Now He sits at the right hand of the Father and watches to see what we
will do with them.
The Strategy of the Kingdom
The traditional way of living out our Christianity is to
somehow just “make it” until Jesus comes back “in the sweet by and by.”
But God is raising up an apostolic generation with a different spirit.
This generation has the spiritual balance to dig up the
wells of their forefathers and draw from their inheritance. But they
will not follow the traditions of men that were designed to keep people
out of the promised land.
Know who you are in Christ Jesus and who He is in you!
Who you are in Him qualifies you for heaven; who He is in you
authorizes you to do greater works than He did in the earth. The
strategy of God’s kingdom is this: God’s will coming to Earth.
Jesus told Peter: “‘I will give you the keys of the
kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in
heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in
heaven’”(Matt. 16:18-19).
You are the devil’s worst nightmare! Once you grasp the
revelation that you were born to terrorize darkness, you will stop
running from situations that are designed to take you out of the will
of God.
Pray that God will give you a burden for setting people
free. Once your heart becomes heavy from seeing the devil hold captive
the people with whom you have daily contact, you will have a hunger to
see souls not only delivered from sin but also set free from the
demonic control of Satan and his evil spirits.
God has given us a revelation of the believer’s authority over hell. Binding and loosing is a high level of spiritual warfare.
In binding, we confront the enemy and forbid him to
operate. When we loose, we cause a breakthrough in the spirit realm. We
pave the way through warfare prayer, and the will of God is released
(see Matt. 6:10).
You make a spiritual connection when you engage the enemy
in prayer. You actually come into agreement with heaven (see Matt.
18:19). Then the keys are given to us to shut up demonic activity, and
breakthrough happens!
How you pray has a lot to do with how effective you are
on Earth. James told his church that they did not have what they were
praying for because they were not praying the right prayers. “You ask
and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on
your pleasures” (James 4:3).
If we are not praying prayers that are the will of God,
then we are praying prayers out of our own flesh. Fleshly prayers do
not move the heart of God. They are futile.
But a kingdom-minded person has an apostolic attitude and
is not drawn to carnality. He or she is drawn instead to that which
causes the kingdom of God to come.
Maintain Your Deliverance
In order to be effective deliverance workers,
intercessors or ministers, we need to “practice what we preach.” Paul
made this point in 1 Corinthians 9:26-27: “I don’t know about you, but
I’m running hard for the finish line. I’m giving it everything I’ve
got. No sloppy living for me!
“I’m staying alert and in top condition. I’m not going to
get caught napping, telling everyone else all about it and then missing
out myself” (The Message). It is easy for most believers to recognize
Satan as evil, but it seems to be difficult for some to see their flesh
as evil.
However, it is the season for the saints of God to get
their houses in order. Accept the fact that your flesh has a mind of
its own (see Rom. 8:5-8). It must be sternly dealt with, or it will run
the house.
Getting deliverance is one thing; sustaining it is another. There are several spiritual keys to maintaining your deliverance.
Key No. 1: Remain connected. First Peter 5:8 warns
us that our adversary is seeking whom he may devour. One of his primary
targets is a believer who does not have the proper spiritual connection
or covering in two areas:
• Leadership. God gave gifts (the fivefold ministry) to
the church for the maturity of the saints (see Eph. 2:20). Individual
believers need to be touched by each of the fivefold ministries of the
church—including the apostolic and prophetic ministries.
• Fellowship. God warns us not to forsake the assembling
of ourselves together (see Heb. 10:24-25). Those who allow themselves
to be separated from the flock will be devoured by the lion.
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