Look, I give you the authority to trample on serpents

... and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you (Luke 10:19). Jesus had sent out the seventy two by two to heal the sick (verse 9), and they had returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name” (verse 17). And verse this verse is what Jesus told them. Before we say more, there are two thing in context which we need to take note of. The first is the very next verse where He continues “Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.” The second is Jesus prayer in verse 21 “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes.”

In particular, in order to exercise this authority we need to be firmly established in the assurance of our salvation, and we need to be childlike in our faith. The “look” of verse 19 is about making sure we take note of what He is about to say. Notice that since all authority has already been given to Jesus (Matthew 28:18), it is His to give. And at the risk of being overly repetitive He gives it to those who know they are saved, and who walk in child like faith. Exercising authority over demos without being in Christ is dangerous, as the sons of Sceva found out to their harm (Acts 19:13-16). About being childlike we need, as heirs of the Kingdom, to truly believe that the authority is already ours. We don't need to earn it, indeed we cannot earn it. It is a gift, and a gift needs to be received.

There are admonitions to this effect “Believe that you have received it and you shall have it” (Mark 11:24). When we truly believe these things we can, as little children would, boast in their Daddy, and declare to the universe that the answer to our prayers are already answered. In particular we declare that “nothing from this caronavirus shall by any means harm us, and that this plague will not come near our dwellings (Psalm 91:10), neither near our families, nor our brothers and sister in the Lord, nor on any who are reading this post and declaring the victory.

Father, we need to humble our selves and become as little children, we need to pray, we need to seek Your face, and most of all we need to repent. We need to repent of our self sufficiency, of our disunity, of our prayerlessness and of not spending time with You. Only as we spend time with You in the secret place will be be being transformed from one degree of glory to another. Help us in all these things Lord, for we are weak. We can do nothing without You Father, and our eyes are on You in Jesus Name Amen

You do not know what manner of spirit you are of

James and John had wanted to call down fire from heaven on a Samaritan village because they had not received Jesus. And Jesus' response in the title continues “For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them” (Luke 9:52-56). The spirit of course, was one of condemnation and judgement, and this spirit is unfortunately, alive and well and living in the church. I recently saw a youtube video of a man shouting loudly in Time Square starting with the message that God is very angry with them. Such a message at this time, whether it says so explicitly or not, is proclaiming that the carnivorous is God's judgement. Don't get me wrong, God's judgement is coming, but in this age of grace He is holding back judgement because “He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).

No doubt this man meant well, but we need to understand that in this day of Grace, death and destruction are the tools of the enemy (John 10:10a). It's easy to misunderstand, because this is not the way it was under the Law. The children of Israel had chosen rules over relationship (Deuteronomy 18:16), in other words they had chosen to live under the Law. Under the Law it is strictly justice, and there were blessings and cursing, blessings for obedience, and curses for disobedience (Deuteronomy 11:26 - 28). But Jesus came to redeem those under the curse of the Law. It is interesting to me that one of the other verses that stood out to me in this morning's readings was “he who is hanged is accursed of God” (Deuteronomy 21:23). This immediately took me to “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us, for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree” (Galatians 3:13).

And while we are in Galatians 3, let us also read “Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor” (verse 24). In this chapter Paul chastises the Galatians for returning to operating out of the Law, and when we proclaim disasters as God's judgement, we too are returning to the Law. But we are not under Law, we are under the Grace that was purchased at such great expense by the Sacrificial death of Christ on the cross. Let us not make the blood of Jesus to no effect (verse 17). Let's be very clear, those preachers and prophets who are seeking to interpret disasters as God's Judgement are of the spirit of the Law, they are misrepresenting God in this age of Grace, and they likely do not realize what spirit they are of.

Father, it has grieved my heart in the past that, presumably well meaning, people have so misrepresented You in that they have proclaimed such things as Aids, as Your punishment on gays. You love gays Lord, and You love those who protoplasmic such things. And if it grieve me, I cannot imagine how much it grieves You. This does not mean we do not seek to speak the truth in love, but that is difficult both to do and to hear. So please give us Your wisdom, love, Grace and peace for these things Father, in Jesus Name Amen

There shall not be found among you anyone who ....

..... makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. (Deuteronomy 18:10, 11). The bit about children passing through fire is a referee to child sacrifice, to literally burning them alive as an offering to the god Molech (see 2 Kings 23:10). What all these practices have in common, is that they are putting trust in something that is not of the Lord. In other words it is idolatry, prostituting oneself to the spirit world (Leviticus 20:6). These things are an abomination to the Lord (18:12), and this is the principle we need to take from these verses. In other words, the list is not complete and, whether we want to acknowledge it or not, the list needs to include such things as ouija boards, white witches, spirit guides, horoscopes, tarot cards, signs of the zodiac, reiki etc., etc.

Scripture is not saying that there is not a reality behind these things. I mean “Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:14, see also 1 Samuel 28:7-19). But the Scripture admonishes us “Do not believe every spirit, but test them to see if they are of of God” (1 John 4:1). It's about acknowledging that Jesus is the Christ, that the God-man Christ Jesus has come in the flesh (1 John 2:23), and it's that what is being presented, is the pure gospel of salvation (Galatians 1:6-9). Concerning these things of the spirit realm, Paul talks about the “spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience” (Ephesians 2:1–2). Kris Vollotton comments on this verse that “in other words, before we knew Jesus, we were literally the puppets of demonic spirits.”

In the West we tend to believe that the spirit world is something of a fary tale or something harmless that can amuse us. Not so in Africa. Before I was a Christian I dabbled in the ouija board. It predicted the date of my father's death and it put the fear of God in me. C. S. Lewis contends that Satan has two major strategies, firstly to persuade us he does not exist, or secondly to fascinate us with his power. Either position is equally satisfying to him, since it suits his agenda well. So how are we to respond to all this? With ourselves we need to be ruthless in rooting out any and all of these things. With those who are caught up in such things, we need to be gentle and to show them love, not condemnation. Our approach needs to be that there are much better things than these.

Father I was so very aware this morning, as I spent time online with my brother, that Your presence eclipses everything that tries to capture our attention and our wills. Thank You Lord for this gift of time, and this time. Help us to redeem it Lord, for the days are evil. Hide me now Lord under Your wings and I will soar above the storm in Jesus Name Amen

And you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt

.... and you shall be careful to observe these statutes (Deuteronomy 16:12). There is a second command, or rather the first in order of appearance, to remember in verse 11. It is “that you may remember the day in which you came out of the land of Egypt all the days of your life.” This is accompanied by the command to eat “no bread with leaven in it” (verse 3). Israel was to remember the Passover, the Exodus, the time God deliver Israel out of physical silvery in Egypt. And again, the physical in the Old has spiritual application in the New Testament. Jesus tells us that “He who sins is the slave of sin” (John 8:34). The Passover celebrated the angel of death passing over those who had applied the blood of the passover lamb to the lintels of their houses. Communion, or the Lord's supper, is a sacrament of remembrance that celebrates the spiritual deliverance of God's people from the bondage of sin, through the blood of Jesus the sacrificial Lamb of God (John 1:29).

In the title verse, we are admonished to remember and be careful to observe His statutes. Statutes are ritual observance that are to be observed with the purpose of bringing something to remembrance. The New Testament analogy is encapsulated in Jesus' command on the night that He was betrayed, to “Do this in remembrance of me” (Luke 22:19). Paul comments saying this proclaims the Lord’s death till He comes (1 Corinthians 11:24). In the New Testament analogy the leaven of “bread without leaven,” is sin. Paul tells us “Let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth” (1 Corinthians 5:8). And we are to examine ourselves and only then eat (11:28). The point is that we are want to forget. And forgetting and acting accordingly, is in fact is the history of God's people down through the ages. So we need to do this regularly in remembrance of Him.

In some Churches the Lord's supper is called the Eucharist. It comes from the Greek word meaning giving of thanks. Paul (again) tells us “although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened” (Romans 1:21). He goes on to describe the onward and downward spiral to reprobation (backsliding). In other words not giving thanks and not glorifying God are the first steps of the slippery slope to destruction. And so it is easy to see where the godlessness of our culture started. But the recurring theme that comes out of the Prophetic at this time, is that God is shaking everything that can be shaken. In particular the emptiness and the lies of humanism are being shaken. I just heard of atheistic doctors in Italy who have turned to the Lord in this shaking. But it is not just unbelievers who need to turn to Him. It is believers, and we need to turn to Him with all of our hearts.

Father, it is interesting to me that the caronavirus is a respiratory disease, for it reminds me this morning that we are so, so dependent on You even for the breath that we breath. Help us to remember all that You have done for us, all the days of ours lives, in Jesus Name Amen

But I will hope continually

.... and will praise You yet more and more. The “but” of this quote from Psalm 71:14 indicates that the Psalmist is making the decision to continue to hope in spite of all that is going on. And in the midst of this time of great shaking of everything in our lives that can be shaken, it is important that we too hope continually. Faith and hope are inextricably linked but they are not the same. One aspect of the difference was emphasized for me this morning, in another part of this morning's readings. In the story of the woman with the issue of blood who was healed when she touched the hem of Jesus garment we read that it was her act of faith that healed her (Luke 8:48). Likewise in Hebrews 11 we read over and over that by faith such and such a thing was accomplished. Concerning hope on the other hand we read “For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance” (Romans 8:24, 25).

Our primary hope of course, which is a sure hope (Hebrews 6:19), is of our place in eternity, for “if in this life only we have hope we are of all men most miserable (1 Cor 15:9). But the “only” points to hear and now hope. One of my favourite verses in NKJV is “I would have lost heart, unless I had believed That I would see the goodness of the LORD In the land of the living” (Psalm 27:13). And part of what I am putting my hope in, is  the prophetic word that through Chuck Pierce who heard from the Lord that we would be tested with a plague like invasion until passover (the week after Easter). In any case there will be an end to this. And in the meantime I will praise Him yet more and more. In the words from a popular chorus “My weapon is a melody.” Praise is indeed part of the arsenal of our nightly weapons of this spiritual warfare.

As I am sure you are aware the world is in turmoil and those without Christ have no real hope. In this season, our hope and joy need to be contagious. And it will not be contagious if it is not real. Perhaps you are not there yet, but whether or not our 911 emergency response (Psalm 91:1) needs to be that we spend quality time in the secret place abiding under the shadow of the almighty, claiming His promises (i.e. Verse 10). Psalm 9:11 is also interesting it reads “Sing praises to the LORD, who dwells in Zion! Declare His deeds among the people.”

Lord, I thank You for the healing of my sister debilitating dizziness yesterday as several of us prayed for her. Thank You for her joy as she was then able to function in the work You are using her for at this time. And for this, and for many other benefits I praise and bless You again this morning, as I put my trust in You, for You are my hope. Help us to eagerly wait for it with perseverance  in Jesus Name Amen

in order that it may go well with you and your children after you forever

The first part of this verse reads “Observe and obey all these words which I command you, in order that ... (Deuteronomy 12:28). There are two promises here, “that it may go well with you,” and “that it will go well with your children forever.” In particular when we are careful to obey all the Words the Lord, there is provision and protection for ourselves, and for our children forever (Deuteronomy 5:9,10). So firstly for myself, well just as a child suffers the consequences of not heeding a parent's warning not to touch a hot stove, so we suffer the consequences of not walking in the Wisdom of the ancient Scriptures. Galatians 6:7 puts it this way we reap what we sow,  bad choices have have bad consequences. You see God is not some Scrooge in the sky leaning down from the balcony of heaven,  and when He sees us having fun, He yells down “Cut that out!” But the Scripture does talk about “the pleasures of sin for a season” (Hebrews 11:25).

Scripture then does not deny the pleasure of sin. Yes there is pleasure, but it is only for a season. Many of us had to learn that the hard way. Some never seem to learn! “Are we there yet mummy?” The law of sowing and reaping is not like the law of gravity. If you step off the roof, you suffer the consequences immediately. Sowing and reaping is like planting seeds, in that it takes a while for the plant to even sprout. There is also the law of diminishing returns. For example if we try for the same high as the first time, we have to take more. And then eventually we have to have our fix just to feel normal. But thinking of these things in the long term brings us to the second thing, the effect of these things on our children. Again many of us learned only afterwards that our poor choices have dire consequences on our children. Our children can make their own choices of course. The do not have to make the same mistakes we did, but it is the default! Children of alcoholics for example, are far more likely to become alcoholics than the general population. And it continues to their children and their children (Deuteronomy 5:9).

The picture I have of this is of ripples on a pond, that go on and on and on forever. What is interesting though, is that sometimes, if the consequences of our own sin will not bring us back to God, the consequences on our children will. The good news, is that there is one of the Bible's “buts” in the next verse “but showing mercy to thousands (of generations), to those who love Me and keep My commandments” (verse 10). “But” changes everything, both for ourselves and our children if (a) we love him with all of our heart, and (b) we turn to Him in repentance and obey His commandment.

Father, I so want it to go well with me, and with my children. Thank You for Your protection and Your provision. In particular, thank You for Your wonderful promises. Please help us to continue to to work through being diligent to humble ourselves, to pray, to seek Your face and to repent. In this way, we can be confidence that You will heal our land (2 Chronicles 7:14 again). Thank You Lord in Jesus Name Amen

He who has ears to hear, let him hear!

There were several verses that stood out to me in this morning's reading. These include the above from Luke 8:8. Another is “Therefore take heed how you hear. For whoever has, to him more will be given; and whoever does not have, even what he seems to have will be taken from him” (verse 18). The context of 8:8 is well known to those who are churched, it is the parable of the sower. The Word is sown into various soils (our various hearts). And the Word sprouts and grows, it withers, or is choked in our hearts, or it produces abundant fruit for the Kingdom (vv. 5-15). In other words, it is our heart response to the Word, that determines what kind of soil we are. And we have likely all been each of the varieties of soils, at various times. I know I have! And all this is related to how we hear.

Hearing and obedience are inextricably linked in Scripture (c.f Hebrews 3:15, 18). Luke 8:18, quoted above indicates that we are not standing still, we are either growing in wisdom and the knowledge of God, or we are moving back. There is no fence! Another of this morning's verses are Deuteronomy 10: 12,13 “What does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of the LORD.” What I sense the Lord is asking us this morning is are we willing to engage discipleship, in a long obedience in the same direction. I mean when this crisis has passed, will we continue to walk with Him, or will we go back to our old ways?

I can't seem to get away from the recurring theme of our need to humble ourselves, pray, seek His face and turn from our wicked ways (2 Chronicles 7:14). And what I an sensing the Lord is wanting this morning, is to ask Him if there be any wicked way in our deceitful hearts, to allow Him to use the anxieties of this time to do this, and then to ask Him to lead us in the His eternal ways (Psalm 139:22, 23). And part of what will determine what kind of soil we are is the measure of how we hear. Are we spending time with Him at this time (Psalm 48:10)? Are we binging on Netflix? Are we meditating on His Word (Psalm 1:2), or are we more interested in quantity rather than quality? The one who meditates day and night on His word will be like a tree planed by the waters sending down roots deep into the soil. For such a one when the heat comes again we will not cease from bearing fruit (Jeremiah 17:8). I am not saying it needs to be mine, but when you read a devotional, do you dig deeper, do you look up the Scripture? Actually I have to confess I prefer to get stuff for myself, and this is a major reason I write these posts.

Father, one of the ways You lead us, is to be passionate worshipers of You. This changes us Lord from glory to glory. We need Your help Father, I do, and we are asking You for it this morning Lord, in Jesus Name Amen