Tues.’s Devo - Power over Serpents and Scorpions

Read Luke 10:17-20 The seventy that Jesus sent out came back rejoicing about what God was able to do through them. What surprised them the most was that the demons had to obey them. Jesus told them that the result of what they did caused Satan to fall like lightning from heaven. We forget that Satan has access to the skies. He can come and go from heaven and even approach the throne as in Job 1. He is our accuser but Jesus is our justifier. When we defeat him here on earth, he is defeated up in heaven. Then Jesus gave them additional instruction about the power they now possessed. He told them they could tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing will be able to hurt them. Wow! That is the power we possess. If you look up the Greek for serpents you will find that the serpent is a picture of having sharp vision; sly and cunning; an awful malicious person - Satan. So we have power over powers that have more insight, and are more sly and more malicious than us. Scorpions are known as poisonous stingers but scorpion is also a word used to describe a whip with cut glass or rocks tied to the whip to tear. Jesus was scourged before he hung on the cross. These are the things they and we have power over if we exercise it. Power of life and death is in our tongues. We tread on serpents and scorpions by our declarations. We don’t fight people but the spirits controlling the people. Jesus brought it all into perspective when he told them that more important than having power over demons was the power of life that Jesus was about to die to give them. Because he died and was subject for a time to the power of the devil and the scorpion, we can have power over them and have our names written in his book in heaven. Jesus, thank you for what you did for us. We can never understand the pain and suffering you went through to take our sin, but we can only imagine and be forever grateful.