When the Apostle Peter was put in prison, a group of Christians met to pray for his release. Later, when they were told that Peter was knocking at the door, they didn’t believe it. They were praying, but obviously not really expecting much to happen! Expect an answer! Jesus wants to show the world that He is alive and unlimited in His ability to answer prayer. “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours” (Mark 11:24).
Jesus took off His equality with God, so He could put on human flesh and walk on this earth demonstrating to us what God looked like in human flesh. He had no sin nature, so the devil had no ability to put anything on Him or do anything to Him until it was time for the cross. There, He took YOUR sin nature, and all the judgements that were against you because of it, and gave you His LIFE in exchange! Now you are cleansed, with the nature of Christ in you, and the devil has no more right to touch you than he did Jesus! This is how we walk in the earth as He did, and can do the works He said we can do! “… as he is so also are we in this world” 1 John 4:17.
The only way we can build our expectations upon something other than personal experiences is through exposing our hearts and minds to the “great and precious promises” of God, and believing them to be ours! (2 Peter 1:4)
The life of God within us equips us to face every enemy of doubt, fear, shortage, sickness, disease and ALL of the evils of darkness, with the same calmness, confidence and presence of mind that Jesus demonstrated in the earth. Whatever came against Him, He released the supernatural in the same instant that He faced it!
Sickness, disease and all types of infirmity are rebellious to the truth that your body is the temple of God. But those infirmities can be dealt with, because there is an authority higher than they are—the name of Jesus! Sickness is an enemy every bit as much as the devil is, and as a Christ-filled believer who is one spirit with Him, you have the absolute authority to not just cast it out, but to live in divine health!
Are you a beggar or are you a believer? Have you grasped that 2,000 years ago at the cross there was a change in eternity? When Jesus said “it is finished,” the old was over and gone, and the NEW was made alive and active! The penalties for sin—for your healing and your freedom from every kind of infirmity and oppression, was paid for and removed for eternity!
Maybe your teachers labeled or cursed you, or maybe your friends and family did. Joseph’s brothers cursed him, in fact they dropped him down a well to die! They wanted to get rid of him, but it didn’t matter what they thought, because God had another plan. Stay inspired and in faith, trusting that just as God had good plans in store for Joseph, He has good plans for your life as well!
Should you and I be afraid of the works of the devil? No! Why? Jesus understood that He came from His Father and had access to legions of angels. If Jesus had access to that angelic host around Him—that caused every demonic entity to flee—how much more do WE have victory through Jesus who defeated him?
When Jesus ascended back to the Father, the devil thought he could continue to oppress and discourage the disciples to get them to quit. He didn’t realize that Jesus would be sending the Holy Spirit to fill these same weak people with a heavenly power equal to the power Jesus had over him!
Jesus says to His followers, “I will work through you.” The disciples were looking to Him to be the one to do the works, but He was looking to them. It was hard for His disciples to understand that they would be His voice, His hands and His feet. Their eyes were on the future, but Jesus empowered them, AND US, for the present!
