Years ago as a young mom, I stood in my living room one day, overwhelmed by fear and anxiety. Lyme disease raged in my body. Neurological symptoms surged in my face, head, and down my arms. Bill collectors called every day about our medical debt; we were in over our head. I thought the whole battle might swallow me whole.
There, in that moment, the Lord’s voice thundered in my soul, “Susie, are you a believer simply because you’ve secured your eternity? Or do you actually believe this stuff? When are you going to shift your weight off your fears and on to my promises? Fear and faith are opposing forces. You have to turn your back on one to behold the other. I’ve given you authority. Now’s your time to take authority.” That was a game-changing moment for me.
The disciples marveled that the demons obeyed them. Jesus wanted them to walk in their authority but with humility. The devil’s pride and lust for power were his downfall. Jesus said, “Don’t marvel that the demons obey you. Marvel that your name is written in the Book of Life.” Take authority. Marvel that He saved you.
God is on a rescue mission. We could never jump high enough or perform well enough to save ourselves, so Love came down to rescue us. He made a way where there was otherwise no way to secure our eternity, no way to begin the miracle work of inner transformation within us. If you are in Christ, Christ is in you!
God is profoundly committed to us. We’re prone to wander. He is utterly faithful to His promises; we tend to forget those promises. His mercies are new every morning and His compassions never fail. We’re the ones who turn on ourselves. God sees the big picture while noticing every nuance of our story. Our gaze either drops to our feet and we forget about faith, or we stare off into an imaginary world where the enemy reigns and God has seemingly forgotten us because we’ve forgotten all about love. Yet in it all, Jesus beckons us to follow Him and, in the process, we become more like Him.
Jesus came to destroy the work of the devil. When we’re perfected in love, fear no longer has the last say in our lives. When we remember who we are, the enemy doesn’t get away with as much as he used to. The whole arc of Scripture is God’s love letter to the ones He created. Everything He does, He does for love. Everything He asks of us is for our good and for His glory. I want everything He has for me. Don’t you?
God wants us to prevail—to prove we’re more powerful than our enemy. He wants us to overcome every battle with increasing courage and strength. I’ve learned that whenever I ask for more from God, He asks for more from me.
As you align your life—every part of it—with His Word and His ways, you will find freedom, wholeness, and redemption you never dreamed possible.
