Fear No Fear

(All scripture from the NET, netbible.org, all rights reserved)

Jesus called the twelve and began to send them out two by two. He gave them authority over the unclean spirits.
Mark 6:7 (emphasis added)

Unclean spirits and evil spirits are the same thing. They’re interchangeable terms. The Greek words are made up of akathartos (ak-ath’-ar-tos) meaning unclean or a wrong mix or impure or evil and pneuma (pnyoo’-mah) meaning breath or spirit. Impure breath (maybe words spoken against them?) and spirits. Unclean spirits. Evil spirits. They are different than demons. Demons in the Greek are daimonion (dahee-mon’-ee-on) meaning an evil-spirit, demon or a heathen deity (like in Matthew 7:22). It is also different from the rarer daimón (dah’-ee-mown) meaning an evil-spirit, demon, or fallen angel (like in Matthew 8:31). Jesus here is giving authority over unclean spirits. But later when they are shown to be doing as Jesus asked they were casting out demons (daimón). Jesus gave blanket authority for ALL the kinds of unclean, evil, or demonic spirits. Why? Because He holds it.

“Now Jesus came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, as was his custom.He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and the regaining of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to tell them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled even as you heard it being read.”” (Luke 4:16-21). Free those who are oppressed. This is from Isaiah 58:6 where it says “No, this is the kind of fast I want: I want you to remove the sinful chains, to tear away the ropes of the burdensome yoke, to set free the oppressed, and to break every burdensome yoke.” This oppression can be more than simply political or economic oppression. This oppression is also a deeper reality of oppression by sin. In fact, there is no limitation or prevarication or hair splitting put on ANY of this. Jesus provides freedom from ALL types of oppression.

Jesus is able to do this because His Name has been exalted. Jesus has been given ALL authority. “Then Jesus came up and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matthew 28:18). Jesus had authority from the Father in His ministry on earth as well. “For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whomever he wishes. Furthermore, the Father does not judge anyone, but has assigned all judgment to the Son, so that all people will honor the Son just as they honor the Father. The one who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him” (John 5:21-23). After Jesus became our sacrifice, suffered, died, and was raised to life again, the Father raised Jesus’ Name to the position of absolute authority. “He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross! As a result God highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow—in heaven and on earth and under the earth—and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:8-11).

Jesus beats ALL oppression. Demonic. Mental. Physical. Emotional. Spiritual. Worldly. If it is a form of oppression, Jesus’ ministry will set you free from it. Instantly and 100% because that is ALWAYS Adonai’s best (Matthew 8:3; Mark 5:29). No withdrawals. No struggling with addiction symptoms. Instant and complete deliverance with zero chance of relapse (without wilful going back by choice). It happened with our salvation from sin – arguably the most powerful form of oppression. He can do it with ALL of the rest of oppression. And Jesus enables us to do the exact same because He lets us use His authority to let the Spirit work through us.

“Then the seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name!” So he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Look, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions and on the full force of the enemy, and nothing will hurt you” (Luke 10:17-19). “You are from God, little children, and have conquered them because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world” (1 John 4:4). “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the farthest parts of the earth” (Acts 1:8). “He gave himself for us to set us free from every kind of lawlessness and to purify for himself a people who are truly his, who are eager to do good. So communicate these things with the sort of exhortation or rebuke that carries full authority. Don’t let anyone look down on you” (Titus 2:14-15). “So submit to God. But resist the devil and he will flee from you” (James 4:7). “Every scripture is inspired by God and useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the person dedicated to God may be capable and equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

Since we have the authority to use His Name according to the Will of the Father (1 John 5:14-15), we have the same authority that Jesus did. The Father, through Ruach HaKodesh, can do through us the same things He did through Jesus. In Messiah Jesus we ARE the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21). We are the SAME as Jesus in the Father’s eyes. There is ZERO reason why the Father can’t do through us what He did through Jesus. It was the Father doing it for Jesus and the Father who will do it for us (John 14:10-12). Why would we WANT to accept anything less? It seems silly to choose bondage over freedom. Fear over faith. Strife over peace. Yet we do. But we don’t HAVE to. We can choose to let the Father operate through us EXACTLY like He did through Jesus.

Now, I am NOT saying that there are demons under everything waiting to pounce on us. Jesus healed several people from blindness, but ONLY the one in Matthew 12:22 was demon-possessed. Thing is though, the world pumps up demons and evil spirits. It always has and it is ramping up. Severely. From comedies to dramas to horror genres. From television to private channels to feature films to books. From live action to stop motion to animation to comics and graphic novels. More and more lately. All types of people watch them. Even Christians have expressed appreciation for them. But they glorify demons. They portray them as super powerful entities that must be resisted and defeated and often cannot be without magic, a talisman of some kind, a sympathetic deity, an alien artifact, a demonic weapon, the breaking of a curse/shutting of a door, defeat of a familiar spirit/companion/entity, or good ‘ol fashioned brute force. Because of this media, we are programming ourselves to fear them and think of them as powerful forces we cannot HOPE to take on. It could not be farther from the truth. They are worms. Pitiful, small, and powerless unless we give them power by our decision to worship them. To interact with them as if they had power to broker or the ability to hang onto a soul.

Jesus defeated them all. Fighting with them is as simple and basic as us pointing them to Jesus and letting Jesus do the thing. Jesus ALWAYS does the thing. It is what He does. He does it because all the POWER that accomplishes these things was released through the sacrifice, death, and resurrection of Jesus. That was the vehicle by which Jesus became the Spotless Lamb (1 Peter 1:19), the Redeemer (Galatians 3:13), the Overcomer (John 16:33), and the Conqueror (Revelation 19:11–16). He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords (1 Timothy 6:15; Revelation 17:14). THAT is what we come against demons, fallen angels, evil spirits, and unclean spirits with: JESUS.

These things don’t need to be slayed. Jesus swats them aside to the place they are destined to inhabit. The place made for those who rebel. The place prepared from the moment of the first rebel, the devil: ““Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire that has been prepared for the devil and his angels!” (Matthew 25:41). That’s where they’re going. It is ALREADY determined. They are not power houses and strongholds from Jesus’ point of view. They’re minor nuisances. Let Jesus do it. We get to stand on the Word with the Name backing us up. Let Jesus do it. All oppression and oppressors can be broken FOREVER in a MOMENT. Jesus already DID IT. All we need to do is TRUST HIM and APPROPRIATE what HE says we can. Kick oppression right out of your life. You DO NOT have to stay in bondage. Jesus says so!

Daily Affirmation Jesus IS Messiah: Isaiah 8:14

“He will become a sanctuary, but a stone that makes a person trip and a rock that makes one stumble—to the two houses of Israel. He will become a trap and a snare to the residents of Jerusalem.” The Messiah would be a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence. The Jews were waiting for a regal and victorious Messiah, who would restore their kingdom and lift from them the yokes of foreign rulership. The notion of a suffering and humiliated Messiah was one they rejected and it was a stumbling block for them. The Pharisees were always asking for a sign (Matthew 12:38-42,Mark 8:12) to prove that this servant was the royal, military, and commanding Messiah they looked for. “So you who believe see his value, but for those who do not believe, the stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone, and a stumbling-stone and a rock to trip over. They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do” (1 Peter 2:7-8). “For Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks ask for wisdom, but we preach about a crucified Christ, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles” (1 Corinthians 1:22-23). Jesus as the suffering servant was a stumbling block for the Jews. The peace and enlightenment that the Greek philosophers sought was rejected when it was found in Jesus and proclaimed by the church. Ironically, Jesus physical humanity as a Jew and heir to the throne of David eventually became a stumbling stone for the church. There are places where when Jesus’ Jewishness is mentioned, the church gets offended and denies it. When His place as rightful heir to the kingship of Israel is brought up, they get offended and again deny. They have latched onto a Caucasian Jesus who existed only on the canvas of Renaissance painters. No matter how you look at it, Jesus IS a stumbling block and He IS a rock of offence. That isn’t even counting the world who get SO offended when you bring Jesus up. Jesus IS the Messiah!

Your Daily Confession of Jesus/Yeshua’s Identity:

Yeshua is the Christ, the Son of the living God.

Matthew 16:16b