I thought I was through with this article last week, but the LORD was obviously not. He reminded me that another reason why Christians lack power is because they are not known in the spirit realm. Tough they have been Christians for ages, they still haven’t succeeded in making a name for themselves. Do you remember the sons of Sceva? These seven young men thought they could cast out demons by adjuring them "by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims". Bad thinking! One evil spirit told them: “Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?” before leaping on them and giving them a memorable trashing, tearing their clothes apart (Ac 19:13-16).
Like them, many Christians are regularly beaten by life situations that they attempt to tackle. The evil spirits, princes, and powers ruling over their children, spouse, family, neighbourhood, nation, enterprise etc. have so molested them when they tried to resist them, that they no longer dare raise their little finger. Yes, they know Jesus heals and delivers, but they just no longer believe He can/wants to do it through them.
“Paul I recognise, but who are you?” These young men were not known in the realm of the spirit. We all probably know someone whose presence is equivalent to their absence. Whether they are there or not, there is no difference because they make no tangible/visible impact on their environment/entourage.
In one of her recent posts, my pastor writes how she asked her children why they were describing one their schoolmates as ‘average’. Her son explained that he had been with this guy in the same school for over six years and during that period, the guy sat by him me in the class a few times and yet, over 5 times, he found himself saying: “Hello, I am A., and you? Are you new here?” The pastor told him that maybe the problem was not the guy’s ‘averageness’, but rather his tendency to forget his year mates too quickly. To which his sister objected saying that one had to be forgettable to be forgotten!
Do you carry weight in the spirit realm or are you just average? Do angels and demons notice your presence or they have long since forgotten about you?
- Abraham was known in the spirit realm. Angels would regularly do spiritual transactions with him and the heavens would not hide even the imminence of Sodom’s doom to him (Gen 18).
- Jacob was also well known. He wrestled with ‘GOD’, with spiritual powers, and was a victor (Gen 32:24ff).
- Daniel and his friends were also known in the spirit realm. Angels made sure they were not harmed by the fire and the lions. When a prince of darkness tried to stop GOD’s blessings to reach Daniel, a chief angel was sent to unlock the situation (Dan 3:25, 6:22 & 10:12-13).
- Jesus was known in the spirit realm. He just had to show up somewhere for demons to start begging (Mk 1:24 & 5:7).
- Stephen was known: Jesus Himself stood up in the heavens to welcome him (Ac 7:55).
- Peter was also known in those circles: angels would lead him out of prisons (Ac 12).
- Not to mention Paul who had already visited the third heaven (2Cor 12)!
Studying their lives can help us understand how to make a name for ourselves in the spirit realm; how we can speak to any mountain or demonic situation in our life without hearing them say back to us: “Who are you to talk to me like that?” The whole Creation eagerly awaits for the revealing of the sons and daughters of GOD, i.e. : people who will show forth the divinity and subdue all things.
However, it is worth not losing sight of the fact that the ultimate goal of the Christian life is not power and authority, but salvation which is, spending eternity in GOD’s blessed presence. Thus, when the 70 disciples came back excited that even demons were subject to them, Jesus asked them not to rejoice for such trivialities, but to rejoice that their names were written in heaven (Lk 10:17-20). This was the real thing.
Have a great week and God bless you!
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