authority | Revelations From The Road

We Have the Power!

June 27, 2020 by Bill Leave a Comment

“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.” (Luke 10:19 KJV)

The NIV uses the word, “authority” in place of “power” but the idea is the same; we, as Christians, have what it takes to protect ourselves and our people. But, we have to exercise that authority and use that power when we face the enemy. What good is it if we have the power but don’t use it? The disciples in the Upper Room received the Holy Spirit and Power and I want you to notice two things: Acts 2 says: “they were all together” (V.1), and “All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit” (V.4). They were “together” in the same place, with the same mind expecting something from God and they received it! We received the same Holy Spirit when we got saved. Go and read the entirety of Acts 2 and see the amazing things that happened to and through Peter and those who received the Spirit. And realize God has called us to do the same. “you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (v.8)

We see evil in our country now and the news media shows them having their way and law enforcement, who have the authority, are, many times, standing by and watching. I know they’re under extreme pressure because of the actions of a few bad officers and probably have orders from up the chain to stand down. I’m so thankful that we live in a place of relative peace and that our law enforcement are doing a great job. But we may think in other places, “Why don’t they put a stop to this carnage?” The solution may be coming and I hope it does.

However…as the verse above says, we have the power! We, as Christians, have the power and authority to do something about what’s going on. So why aren’t enough of us exercising that authority in the Spiritual realm? Maybe we are, maybe there is a remnant and God hears our prayers and is working on the solution. We cannot stop praying. God is in control!

The Spirit reminded me recently of the “valley of dry bones” in Ezekiel 37 and how Christians, who are not doing anything, are like those “dry bones”. Then God told the prophet to speak to the bones. When he did, “So I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army.” (v.10). A vast army! Could that be us? God, speak to your people to rise up and be that powerful army to make a difference in our world. But there’s some things we must do first. In 2 Chronicles 20, we read of how Jehoshaphat sought the Lord to learn what to do in the face of a powerful enemy coming against them. The people of Judah came together to seek help from the Lord; (v.4). God said,”Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you”, (v.17). Then, they marched out singing and praising God only to find the enemy armies were already defeated! (2Chronicles 20:1-30).

We have the power. So, let us come together, filled with the Holy Spirit, take up our positions in prayer, singing with praise and see the deliverance of the Lord! Are you with me?

Battle Plan!

April 26, 2019 by Bill 2 Comments

As we sang the praise song, “Surrounded”, in church recently this lyric gave me another Spiritual reminder of how we’re supposed to do things: “This is how I fight my battles.” When hearing this, I was reminded of something God showed me years ago relating to fighting our battles. I called it my Scripture Steps. As I got up in the morning and walked around my bed, I would make a declaration with several scriptures as I took my first steps:

“Greater is he that is in me, than he that is in the world.” (1 John 4:4)
“I submit to God and resist the devil” (James 4:7)
“I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:13)
“The joy of the Lord is my strength.” (Nehemiah 8:10)
“I am more than a conqueror” (Romans 8:37)
“I put on the whole armor of God,” (Ephesians 6:11)
“No weapon formed against me will prosper.” (Isaiah 54:17)
“I have the power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means harm me.” (Luke 10:19)
“God, thank You that You never leave me, and You are with me always” (Hebrews 13:5, Matthew 28:20)

By the time I got to the next room, my faith was strengthened, I had on the full armor of God and I was ready to face the day! The Word of God is how we fight our battles! It’s the same way Jesus fought in the wilderness when He told the devil three times, “It is written!” (Matthew 4).

What’s your battle plan? Do you have one? We ALL face temptations from the enemy every day and if we don’t have a battle plan, he’ll lead us astray and drag us down. The verses above work well for me, (when I use them…yes, sometimes I mess up. Can anyone identify?) So, my suggestion is to look up several verses that pertain to your problems or temptations, memorize them and declare them with authority to the devil when he comes around. That is our Battle Plan!

Visions of Resistance

October 11, 2018 by Bill Leave a Comment

Given October 2018

God speaks to His people in many ways. For me, I see something in nature, I receive an image from something I read, or God will show me something as I pray. But many times, I get a vision which is like a video that plays in my mind as a result of something I have read, seen or heard. This happened recently in church during our praise and worship time. The first vision was during the song, “Stand in Your Love” by Josh Baldwin and the vision came from the line, “My fear doesn’t stand a chance when I stand in Your love.” This is what I “saw”: A person was on a path in the country with grass on either side, (I live in the country), and standing there before him was a little demon in a grey/brown cloud which I knew to be fear. The cloud of fear was enlarging and coming closer to the person and, understandably, they were afraid. But it was their fear that was harassing them. Then, they heard a voice behind them, (Isaiah 30:21), and they turned and saw Jesus standing there with His arms open wide in a position of invitation. But most noticeable about Jesus was a bright aura of light surrounding Him and He was motioning the person to come stand in His light of love. Well, the person glanced back at the demon in the dark cloud of fear then turned and hurried back into God’s love and stood there with Him. The demon in his dirty cloud of fear realized he had no chance and departed. The person’s fear didn’t stand a chance when they went to stand in the love of God. What a great picture! If you’re being

harassed by your fear, turn and go stand in God’s love. He’s right there. Draw near to God and He’ll draw near to you, (James 4:8).

Then another praise song by UpperRoom, “Surrounded, Fight my Battles” had this lyric which brought on another vision: “It may look like I’m surrounded but I’m surrounded by You.” Again, I saw a person on a path in the country who was surrounded, a little more than an arm’s length away, by little demons. The person looked right, left and behind them and saw that they were surrounded by these evil creatures. But then, they raised up and looked over the heads of these small creatures and, behind them to the right, left and all around, were big, strong, armed angelic beings just standing there with intimidating looks on their faces. The frightful look on the person’s face transformed into a big smile as they nodded and motioned to the demons to look behind them. As they did, they realized THEY were surrounded and scattered in fear without a fight. Sometimes we may feel like we’re surrounded by the enemy but God is always nearby and will say, “Call unto me and I will answer you and show you great and might things which you don’t know about.” (Jeremiah 3:33).

This last vision also reminded me of the story in 2 Kings chapter 6 where Elisha and his servant Gehazi were surrounded at Dothan during the night by the King of Aram’s army. The servant went outside in the morning and was terrified at seeing this great army of the enemy surrounding them. He ran back inside and asked Elisha, “Oh no, what are we going to do?” To which Elisha calmly replied, “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” (Verse 16). Then Elisha prayed, “Lord, open his eyes so that he may see.” And when Gehazi went back outside, he then saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire surrounding the enemy! It can be the same with us when it may look like we’re surrounded by the enemy but actually we are surrounded by God and His mighty army.

“God, I pray that you continue to show us these wonderful, enlightening visions that can be shared with others for our comfort, peace and assurance. In Jesus’ name I pray AMEN!”

Fight Back!

September 29, 2018 by Bill Leave a Comment

Given September 2018

I know that many of us are facing difficulties. Habits, addictions, relationships, past sins, whatever it is, we feel the effects of the attack. And it is an attack of the enemy who wants to steal, kill and destroy us, (John 10:10).

This week, I got three “pictures” of what it means to fight back and I want to share them with you, hopefully, for your encouragement. The first one was from a praise song we sang at my church, Zion Family Ministries, “My fear doesn’t stand a chance when I stand in Your love.” (Stand in Your Love by Josh Baldwin). I saw my dark fear surrounding me which came from the devil but then, there was Jesus with the bright, shining aura of His love and I moved over into His love and stood there with Him. My dark fear dissipated. Move over beside Jesus.

Then another praise song, Living Hope by Bethany Wohrle, had this lyric, “Out of the silence, the roaring Lion declared, ‘The grave has no hold on me’!” This is what I saw: The devil standing outside Jesus’ tomb laughing because he thought he had won. But then, here comes Jesus, like a roaring lion, out of the grave and stomps the devil into the dirt! “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.” (Romans 16:20). Notice that? Under OUR feet. “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.” (Luke 10:19). You have the power…fight back!

And finally, James 4:7 – “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” Picture this: The devil is harassing you, you feel the weight of his attack as you face him. Then you turn around and see Jesus, He’s holding His arms out to you. You turn and walk over to Him and bow down, submitting to Him. He reaches out and touches you on the top of your head. As he does, power like a lightning bolt flashes all around you and enters you. Wow! Then, infused with the power of God, you turn and face the devil who sees this power all over you. As you take one step toward him in resistance, he, with a terrified look on his face, turns and runs away quickly!

You have the power! Fight back!

Submit and Resist – 2

May 27, 2018 by Bill Leave a Comment

Given May 16, 2018

We know the devil is always after God’s people to distract, deceive and destroy us. “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy;” (John 10:10). We have all encountered him in our lives, some of us more than others. He is looking for those who are vulnerable, “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8), which tells me Satan can’t influence everyone, only those who are not prepared, don’t have on the armor or aren’t with God. However James 4:7 says, “Submit to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you.”

So, I want you to picture this in your mind: The devil is confronting and challenging you with confidence. He thinks he’s found someone who is vulnerable and he’s ready to pounce. Now, God is there nearby in the shadows, (“I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Hebrews 13:5), if you’re a Christian, He’s always there. But, this time, since you’re trying to handle things on your own, (bad decision), you realize you can’t do it and are afraid. You come to your senses and call out to Jesus, “Lord, forgive me, I can’t do this!” By praying that, you are submitting to Him and He steps out of the shadows in all His glory! The devil sees this and knows he’s in trouble if he sticks around. He sees now that you are not someone he can bully and he runs away in defeat.

Jesus comes over to you, puts His arm around you and says, “Child, you shouldn’t be trying to do things on your own, it’s not going to work out for your good.” “Stick with Me and I’ll give you wisdom, direct your way and teach you how to win in this life.” “Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ,” (2 Corinthians 2:14). “You’ve got to give me control and I’ll handle most things but will give you some freedom as you learn and develop.” “Sometimes you won’t understand it or why it’s taking so long but you just have to trust Me and thank Me for it.” “Is it a deal?” To which you reply, “God, I submit, I give You full control and I thank You for the outcome.”

You may be in a battle, trial or test right now. I’ve found that when I’m feeling like I don’t know what to do or how to proceed, I just pray, “God, I don’t know what to do so I hand this all over to You and I thank you for whatever you decide.” “Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you;” (Psalm 55:22). So submit and reveal that power that is in you and watch the devil flee!