Jesus is here!

Scripture - Luke 10:17-20 And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name. And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.

Observation: The seventy disciples had just returned from ministering in various cities, and they were ecstatic that evil spirits and sickness were subject to their words, through the name of Jesus Christ. Wouldn't you be excited? How cool would it be to see the works of Jesus Christ being done through the words that came out of your mouth! It is interesting how Jesus responded when they told him this. He said that he saw Satan falling like lightning from the sky. When the disciples were miles away ministering in other cities, as they cast out a demon or healed a sick person, Jesus saw the battles being won in the spiritual realm. This somewhat analogous to a son calling up his father who lives out of town to tell him about the great baseball game that his team won, and the father telling him that he knew because he saw it all on television.

Application: In our lives with God, we tend to think in one of two ways. Either we think that God is somewhere out there, and we are somewhere else and that he is not really involved. Or we tend to think that God is micro managing all of our affairs, and if we could just fully submit to him that he would work great miracles in our lives. This scripture shows something different. Yes, the disciples did the works in Jesus Name, but Jesus was right there in the spirit. He was watching, authorizing, and ensuring that things spoken in his name came to pass. Jesus is active in our ministry, but Jesus is not ministering for us. We are ministering for him!

Prayer: Thank your Jesus that you have given us your name. We rejoice that you have given us authority on earth. Thank you that you never leave us. Let us trust in you in a new and deeper way this day. Amen!