I Saw Satan Fall Like Lightning - Part Two

"The seventy-two returned with joy and said, "Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name." He replied, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven . I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven." Luke 10:17-20

In the first part of this blog I highlighted three area’s I felt like Jesus was addressing in this scripture; A reminder that Satan has FALLEN (i.e. no longer in power or in charge), becoming more aware of where our FOCUS is, on Satan, miracles or on God, and becoming more aware of where PRIDE sneaks in. Today I would like to hone in on the “where is our focus” part.

Idols of the heart

In the above Luke scripture I feel like, even though Jesus sent out the 72 to do miracles in His name, that certainly wasn’t what He wanted us to focus on. I really do believe that He has given us the power through the Holy Spirit to do amazing miracles but I am beginning to understand just how LOW on the priority list this is for God and that it should be at least that low for us too. And as I mentioned in the first part of this blog, he can even call us “evil doers” after doing miracles in his name!

I have come to believe, if we are not very careful, working for God, going to church, Bible studies, good works, becoming a missionary and even doing miracles can become IDOLS of the heart that take the place of God and our relationship with Him! It seems that we would rather do ANYTHING but BE with HIM and develop an intimate relationship with Him! And I am just as guilty as the next person… I spent most of my Christian walk doing that very thing!! I certainly “meant” well, thinking that all my “works” were doing SOMETHING for the Kingdom… But was it?? It certainly didn’t help my relationship with the Lord!

After I got the revelation about the Luke scripture I started to hear other scriptures that were along the same lines including this Matthew scripture I cited in the first part:

"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles? Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'  Matthew 7:21-23 (An interesting thing to me is that, apparently we can do miraculous signs and wonders, in the name of Jesus, and NOT know him!!?? Hmmmm…)

A Wicked and adulterous generation…

Here is one of those scriptures:

"Then some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law said to him, "Teacher, we want to see a miraculous sign from you. He answered, "A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a miraculous sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah." Matthew 12:38-39

When I heard that I was like, “What!?” A wicked and adulterous generation… ASKS for a miraculous sign!? Isn’t that what WE do?? DOH!! And this isn’t a “one off” statement. He says it a few times. 

Here are the other ones I found:

"The Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus and tested him by asking him to show them a sign from heaven. He replied, "When evening comes, you say, 'It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,' and in the morning, 'Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.' You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. A wicked and adulterous generation looks for a miraculous sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah." Jesus then left them and went away." Matthew 16:1-4 

"As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd called out, "Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you." He replied, "Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it." As the crowds increased, Jesus said, "This is a wicked generation. It asks for a miraculous sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah." Luke 11:27-29

"The Pharisees came and began to question Jesus. To test him, they asked him for a sign from heaven. He sighed deeply and said, "Why does this generation ask for a miraculous sign? I tell you the truth, no sign will be given to it." Mar 8:11-12

Temporal or Eternal?

I think this is another example for me that confirms that we REALLY don’t have a CLUE what Jesus means when He says things! Mostly because we are thinking “temporal” and He is always thinking “eternal”. What is valuable us is “detestable to God”! (“He said to them, "You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts. What is highly valued among men is detestable in God's sight.” Luke 16:15)

He knows our hearts better than WE do and He knows that, doing more than miracles, is required to turn the hearts of men towards him (“Even after Jesus had done all these miraculous signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him.” John 12:37)

And again, when we are so focused on Satan, casting him out, rebuking him and renouncing him, our focus is wrong because he is already defeated! Satan has NO power that God does not give to him… (“Jesus answered, "You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin." John 19:11)

“Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out.” John 12:31

“But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.” John 16:7-11

Big vs. Small

It is SO tempting to want to do miracles, big and small, because it is exciting and, if you are like me, the attention is pretty cool too! But if we look at Jesus’ example, He was all about doing things quietly, simply, and he did just the things that were in front of Him that day… He was interested in the people and ministering to their hearts in the ways that the Father told Him to and not to get attention. In fact he told several people NOT to tell anyone what He did for them (Matthew 8:4, Matthew 17:9). Our greatest ministry to others, and for Him, is in doing the small, simple things that make a difference to the unnoticed people around us… The janitor, the clerk, the checkout person, the server, the cleaning crew, the homeless person… Our love and kindness poured out on those people are the REAL miracles and what really counts in the “eternal” perspective because they came from the heart of LOVE! And it isn’t something that we consciously do but it is done from the outpouring of God’s love, the overflow, that naturally spills out when our focus is on HIM and our relationship with Him.

“Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' Matthew 25:37-39

In this scripture the “righteous” were “unaware” of the ministry they were doing for others because they had a “right relationship” with God and it was “as natural as breathing” for them (another Oswaldism).

Speaking of Oswald, here is an excerpt that goes along these lines:

September 6th Oswald: "...A river reaches places which its source never knows. And Jesus said that, if we have received His fullness, "rivers of living water" will flow out of us, reaching in blessing even "to the end of the earth" (Act_1:8) regardless of how small the visible effects of our lives may appear to be. We have nothing to do with the outflow ---  "This is the work of God, that you believe . . ." (Joh_6:29). God rarely allows a person to see how great a blessing he is to others."

I truly believe that when we DO know what a blessing we are to others, our PRIDE steps in and makes it all about “me”. Jesus knows our struggle with pride so keeping things easy and simple, focusing on HIM and trusting Him with the rest, is the BEST thing for us. I love this next story because it is a good example how we try to do things we really don’t understand:

"Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon- possessed. They would say, "In the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out." Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. One day the evil spirit answered them, "Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?" Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding.'" Acts 19:13-16

To heal or not to heal?

Many people feel like the Bible teaches that we should not be ill or sick and that God wants everyone to be healthy. I can certainly see why they would think that with some scriptures, but my personal belief and sticking to the “eternal” perspective, is that we ARE healed in the only way that truly counts which is “eternally”! We have been healed by the sacrifice of Jesus which re-established the connection to God and secured our eternity with Him… NOTHING else really matters after that. We are all dying from the moment we are born into this temporal world but we have our TRUE home and healing in eternity and that is really all that matters. Everyone that Jesus and the disciples healed, died…

Even the disciples, being given the power to heal so many, couldn’t heal everyone:  

"As you know, it was because of an illness that I first preached the gospel to you. Even though my illness was a trial to you, you did not treat me with contempt or scorn. Instead, you welcomed me as if I were an angel of God, as if I were Christ Jesus himself." Galatians 4:13 

"Stop drinking only water, and use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses." 1 Titus 5:23 

"Erastus stayed in Corinth, and I left Trophimus sick in Miletus."  2 Timothy 4:20 

"But I think it is necessary to send back to you Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow worker and fellow soldier, who is also your messenger, whom you sent to take care of my needs. For he longs for all of you and is distressed because you heard he was ill. Indeed he was ill, and almost died. But God had mercy on him, and not on him only but also on me, to spare me sorrow upon sorrow." Philippians 2:25-27

Here is another great excerpt from Oswald on this subject:

December 2 Oswald: "...It is a trap to presume that God wants to make us perfect specimens of what He can do --- God's purpose is to make us one with Himself. The emphasis of holiness movements tends to be that God is producing specimens of holiness to put in His museum. If you accept this concept of personal holiness, your life's determined purpose will not be for God, but for what you call the evidence of God in your life. How can we say, "It could never be God's will for me to be sick"? If it was God's will to bruise His own Son (Isa_53:10), why shouldn't He bruise you? What shines forth and reveals God in your life is not your relative consistency to an idea of what a saint should be, but your genuine, living relationship with Jesus Christ, and your unrestrained devotion to Him whether you are well or sick."

Summary

So to wrap this up, I have come to understand that ALL things are designed and orchestrated BY GOD for my GOOD and HIS Glory (sickness, difficulties, struggles and trials) and ALL my attention needs to be on HIM and not on the enemy of our souls whom HE has already defeated. Or on miracles, signs and wonders as they can become my focus and ignite my pride. When I seek HIM FIRST He will take care of everything else! (Matthew 6:33)

What am I looking at or focused on!? Again with the Luke scripture I am hearing Jesus saying “Are you more impressed with the authority I gave you, or are you focused on ME and what God has accomplished through me?” (Am I looking for the blessings of God or am I looking for GOD who has the blessings? Oswald).

We have such a huge tendency to get derailed from our goal of building intimacy with Jesus. We can so easily get distracted by “shiny things” at every turn, thinking we are doing the “right” thing or doing something “good” for God… Serving, feeding the homeless, healing, casting out demons… When all He really wants is for us to be with HIM. Love the Lord your God with ALL your heart… I believe that signs and wonders, miracles and healings can be one of the very things that distract us from doing what is “best” (The enemy of our faith is not sin, but the good that is not the best” Oswald). Yes, we do have the authority to cast out demons and to heal but I believe that is also a trap to derail us from what our real focus should be! (“…do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you…).

Where is my focus today? Is it on my Lord, or on things I can do for Him?

Thank you Lord for showing this to me and for helping me to keep my focus on YOU and You alone. I pray that we all get a greater revelation of this truth so we can truly marvel in Your amazing love for us and learn to keep our eyes on You and You alone!