This week in Luke 10:17–24, we studied how the disciples of Jesus were overjoyed that Satan and demons obeyed their authority. Jesus told them that even better was the fact that their names were recorded in heaven as part of the redeemed elect. Both truths are worthy of rejoicing in as Jesus did.
Similarly, I recently had the great honor of meeting with a young woman who is a wife and a mom of small children. She came to salvation later in life, having grown up in a very non-Christian home. She loves Jesus and serves him faithfully. But she was suffering from ongoing demonic attacks. She would see and hear horrible things that would rob her of joy and crush her spirit. As she has learned of her identity in Christ and authority over Satan and demons because of her position in Christ, she has simply been praying offensively against attack, keeping a journal of lies she’s believed to refute with the truth of Scripture, and commanding evil away from her in Jesus’ name. It’s like a cloud has been lifted. She reports:
"It is finished" has never been such a comfort. That Christ has crushed Satan, sin, and death on the cross means nothing for those who don’t know him. For those who do, it means freedom.
I do not rejoice in the power that Christ has given me over the enemy; I rejoice in the power of Jesus Christ and his love for me.
I am overwhelmed that he would choose me. He saw the direction my life was heading and He changed it. In his grace, mercy, and love, he took me off a path of self-destruction and ultimate death and has given me a life of freedom in him.
I have experienced Christ’s power and victory over the enemy in my life. I was hearing and, in my sin, believing lies that were daily holding me down and tiring me out. “The truth will set you free” (John 8:32). Christ Jesus is the Truth, the only Truth, and I am so stoked to share it with boldness.
I feel so blessed and undeserved to be known by Christ that I have a renewed joyous burden to share the gospel. I have always felt led by the Spirit, but most recently I have tasted what it is to be controlled by the Spirit.
To proclaim Christ boldly and let the Holy Spirit do the work of revealing the mystery that is the gospel. I feel free to share the story of Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection that paid for my sins and to be more concerned with the other person’s salvation than what they might think of me. Christ’s victory on the cross gives me confidence in Him to expect change in the lives of those around me by the power of the same Holy Spirit that changed my life.
There is no reason apart from Jesus that I should be changed. I get to share Christ with people in a broken world.
Even if this world is sad and hard for us, as Christians our eternity is with Christ, in Heaven, where all the tears will be wiped away. Christ has given me a gift that I can never repay and in response I want share it with others, that they might taste freedom in Christ Jesus.
