Given Authority

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

GIVEN AUTHORITY

Luke 9:1-6

9:1 When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, 2 and he sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. 3 He told them: "Take nothing for the journey — no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra tunic. 4 Whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave that town. 5 If people do not welcome you, shake the dust off your feet when you leave their town, as a testimony against them."  6 So they set out and went from village to village, preaching the gospel and healing people everywhere.

NIV

We know this was strictly a command given to the twelve and it is not meant for us to learn a lesson from, except all scripture is profitable for correcting, rebuking, teaching, and training us in righteousness so we will be fully equipped for every good work. Could we then think that Jesus has also given us power and authority to drive out demons and cure diseases? Certainly, we should be speaking about the kingdom of God, and we know that if any among us is sick they should call the elders to anoint them and pray over them, and the prayer of faith, which again, faith is the issue, will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. In addition, if that person has sinned, their sin will be forgiven. The key is that it must be a prayer of faith, then it is the Lord who will raise up that person, or heal them, but we have that power and authority to pray in faith believing for that healing. That is the same power the twelve had, not to heal people themselves, but the power to pray in faith, in the name of Jesus. As far as driving out demons, we should approach this with great care, and plenty of faith in Jesus. Many years ago while I was spending much time at the Teen Challenge Center in Chicago, I and my mentor Paul, who was the director of the center, had a young man come wanting to enter the program, but when we came into the waiting room, we could tell he was possessed by a demon, and we prayed over him, casting that demon out, and it did leave and that young man was changed forever, a different person. I know we have that authority, and we should be open to the inspiration of the Spirit when and wherever we are supposed to preach the good news about the kingdom of God, heal the sick, drive out demons, and learn to depend on Jesus for all we need to do all we are supposed to do. Now, there are times when there will be people who, if what we have to say about the kingdom of God is not welcomed and they reject that good news, then we should shake the dust off our feet, and leave them alone. However, the point here is that we should be living with the authority Jesus gave us.