Saturday Open Heavens Devotional - Treading On Serpents

MEMORISE: 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. Luke 10:19.

READ: Luke 10:17-20.
17.And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name. 18.And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. 19.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. 20.Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.

MESSAGE
Holiness makes you a weapon that God can use. As long as sin dwells in you, it makes you loathsome to God and unsuitable for His use. Hence, 2 Timothy 2:21 says: "If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work." If you truly want God to use you to heal the sick, raise the dead and perform signs and wonders, then you must run far away from sin and live a life of holiness unto God. It is important to note here that if you lay your hands on the sick, nothing will happen unless Jesus the Healer lays His hands on yours. So, it is not your hands doing the healing, but His. If your hands are stained with sin or with blood, Jesus will not lay His hands on yours. How clean are your hands?
Moreover, holiness empowers you to fight on God's side against the devil and his demons. Imagine the same fellow who was a slave of sin and a prisoner to the devil, now confronting him face to face and facing the forces of evil in battle. This is just great! God in Isaiah 41:14-15 said: "Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the LORD, and thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. Behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth: thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and shalt make the hills as chaff." Holiness empowers God's people to fearlessly confront any satanic agent and to paralyse his or her powers. By holiness, you become strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. It clothes you in God's armour and protects you from the missiles of the enemy (Ephesians 6:14). Holiness makes you stand tall in the midst of opposing forces (John 14:30-31), and positions you in Christ so that satanic forces are all kept under your feet (Ephesians 1:20-23). Sin puts the sinner under Satan; this is why he can tread on them at will (Romans 6:16). Holiness reverses that order and places the believer above the devil. No wonder Jesus in Luke 10:19 says: "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."
Anytime you dare demons when sin is in your life, you can be sure you will suffer some injuries; but if you are living holy, you can trample them under foot.

KEY POINT: A person's lifestyle determines his or her position in the spirit realm. While sin puts you under the devil, holiness puts you above him.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: DEUTERONOMY 29:1-31:13 AND COLOSSIANS 2:16-3:17.