{"id":11575,"date":"2020-09-23T20:00:36","date_gmt":"2020-09-24T03:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/luke_11_1-13-copy\/"},"modified":"2020-09-20T20:03:44","modified_gmt":"2020-09-21T03:03:44","slug":"luke_11_14-26","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/luke_11_14-26\/","title":{"rendered":"Time to Go On the Offensive"},"content":{"rendered":"

Luke 11:14-26\u00a0Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/p>\n

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Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Luke 11:14-26.\u00a0\u00a0Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Luke 11:14-20 (NIV)\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>
\n14\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Jesus was driving out a demon that was mute. When the demon left, the man who had been mute spoke, and the crowd was amazed.
\n15\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0But some of them said, “By Beelzebub, the prince of demons, he is driving out demons.”
\n16\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Others tested him by asking for a sign from heaven.
\n17\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them: “Any kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and a house divided against itself will fall.
\n18\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0If Satan is divided against himself, how can his kingdom stand? I say this because you claim that I drive out demons by Beelzebub.
\n19\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Now if I drive out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your followers drive them out? So then, they will be your judges.
\n20\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come to you.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 14-20:\u00a0\u00a0Jesus\u2019 critics argued that because \u201cordinary\u201d evil spirits listened to Jesus\u2019 commands, Jesus must be controlled and empowered by an even greater evil spirit.\u00a0\u00a0Jesus counters this by saying that Satan\u2019s kingdom would not have such power and influence in this world if Satan\u2019s kingdom was divided.\u00a0\u00a0Rather, when Jesus drives out demons, it\u2019s the kingdom of God advancing against Satan\u2019s kingdom.<\/p>\n

Another lesson we can learn from this is the power of unity.\u00a0\u00a0When people (or even spirits in this case) are united, they become a strong force that is very difficult to stop.\u00a0\u00a0On the other hand, a group that is divided will be easily defeated.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Pray that your church family, your own family and any other team that you serve on and care about would be united in Christ and thus be an unstoppable force.<\/p>\n

Luke 11:21-22 (NIV)\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>
\n21\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are safe.
\n22\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0But when someone stronger attacks and overpowers him, he takes away the armor in which the man trusted and divides up the spoils.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 21-22:\u00a0\u00a0Here Jesus compares Satan to a strong man guarding his house and keeping his possessions safe, whereas Jesus is that \u201csomeone stronger\u201d who comes to attack and overpower Satan and take away his possessions.\u00a0\u00a0Notice that it is Jesus on the offensive against the kingdom of darkness.\u00a0\u00a0Stop thinking that it\u2019s always Satan who is on the attack attacking.\u00a0\u00a0We were made to attack Satan\u2019s kingdom.\u00a0\u00a0That\u2019s why in Matthew 16:18 Jesus says, \u201cI will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.\u201d<\/p>\n

How do we attack the kingdom of darkness?\u00a0\u00a0When we worship Jesus, when we grow more like Him, when we serve God with our talents, when we lead others to Jesus and when we love our spiritual family, we are, whether we know it or not, advancing God\u2019s kingdom and taking over enemy territory.<\/p>\n

Luke 11:23 (NIV)\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>
\n23\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me, scatters.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 23:\u00a0\u00a0You can\u2019t be neutral when it comes to Jesus.\u00a0\u00a0Either you are with Jesus or you are against him.\u00a0\u00a0Either God is using you to advance His mission on earth or you are getting in the way.\u00a0\u00a0At the end of your life when you meet God face to face, God will ask you, \u201cWhat did you do with my Son Jesus?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0If your answer is, \u201cNothing\u201d or \u201cI don\u2019t know\u201d, that will count as an \u201cI am against Jesus\u201d and the results would be fatal.\u00a0\u00a0So say yes to Jesus today.<\/p>\n

Luke 11:24-26 (NIV)<\/em><\/strong>
\n24\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’
\n25\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order.
\n26\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first.”\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 24-26:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Whenever we face spiritual warfare or trouble from evil spirits, in addition to resisting evil spirits in Jesus\u2019 name and telling them to leave, we need to ask the Holy Spirit to fill us once again.\u00a0\u00a0Ask the Holy Spirit to take over whatever territory the kingdom of darkness used to occupy.\u00a0\u00a0Not only do we need to be emptied of strongholds and footholds that the enemy has set up in our lives.\u00a0\u00a0We also need to be filled with God\u2019s Holy Spirit.<\/p>\n

Lord Jesus, You are the general of Your army called the church.\u00a0\u00a0You are leading Your army not just to defend what already belongs to God\u2019s kingdom, but to take over and occupy enemy territory.\u00a0\u00a0Please fill me with Your Holy Spirit and use me to advance Your kingdom today.\u00a0\u00a0In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Luke 11:14-26.\u00a0\u00a0Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Luke 11:14-20 (NIV)\u00a0
\n14\u00a0\u00a0Jesus was driving out a demon that was mute. When the demon left, the man who had been mute spoke, and the crowd was amazed.\u00a0
\n15\u00a0\u00a0But some of them said, “By Beelzebub, the prince of demons, he is driving out demons.”\u00a0
\n16\u00a0\u00a0Others tested him by asking for a sign from heaven.\u00a0
\n17\u00a0\u00a0Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them: “Any kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and a house divided against itself will fall.\u00a0
\n18\u00a0\u00a0If Satan is divided against himself, how can his kingdom stand? I say this because you claim that I drive out demons by Beelzebub.\u00a0
\n19\u00a0\u00a0Now if I drive out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your followers drive them out? So then, they will be your judges.\u00a0
\n20\u00a0\u00a0But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come to you.<\/p>\n

On verses 14-20:\u00a0\u00a0Jesus\u2019 critics argued that because \u201cordinary\u201d evil spirits listened to Jesus\u2019 commands, Jesus must be controlled and empowered by an even greater evil spirit.\u00a0\u00a0Jesus counters this by saying that Satan\u2019s kingdom would not have such power and influence in this world if Satan\u2019s kingdom was divided.\u00a0\u00a0Rather, when Jesus drives out demons, it\u2019s the kingdom of God advancing against Satan\u2019s kingdom.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11577,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11575","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11575","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11575"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11575\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11576,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11575\/revisions\/11576"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11577"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11575"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11575"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11575"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}