Father God has given Christians power (dynamis) and authority (exousia) over the powers of darkness in our lives. This power comes from a partnership between Holy Spirit and any Christian who has received the baptism of the Holy Spirit as described in Acts 2. This righteous partnership is manifested as we surrender to God and agree to leave our old lives of sin. We are to leave the pig sty and live in the Palace.
Jesus laid down His life so we would have the ability to not just be free from the devil’s devices, but to help others gain that same freedom, as well. God’s promises are based on the purpose of salvation, what some have termed “plundering Hell and populating Heaven.”
In Isaiah 35:10, we discover that God desires to have us take our rightful place in His Kingdom. We must know that He does not want us to suffer from depression.
“They will enter Zion with singing;
everlasting joy will crown their heads.
Gladness and joy will overtake them,
and sorrow and sighing will flee away.”
There are five important points in these four lines we must take to heart:
1.) We are to enter the place where God has chosen to bless His people as we exit the devil’s kingdom and enter God’s Kingdom — “Zion.” The “Zion” of today equates to the Kingdom of Heaven, not so much the literal Jerusalem (aka Mount Zion) of antiquity.*
2.) God makes a statement, through His prophet Isaiah, that we will enter His presence with singing. It’s very difficult to sing at all when we’re down in the dumps and experiencing the yucks of powerlessness.
3.) Everlasting joy will be the royal crown of glory for all who remain faithful to God to the very end of their lives.
4.) Gladness (happiness) and joy will be so overcoming that it will overtake us! In other words, we’ll be be happy, knowing we are His as we faithfully walk out this spiritual journey with the One who loves us the most.
5.) This might seem like the very best promise — sorrow and sighing will flee away. Do you find yourself sighing a lot? Do you find yourself taking deep breaths and wishing you were somewhere else? Do you find yourself crying at the drop of a hat and feeling directionless? God is promising there will be a day when all that will cease. Hallelujah!
You might ask, “Okay, I get that we will experience these things in Heaven, but how is this ever going to manifest in MY life — now?”
““It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the Earth.””
Our hope is in the Lord and He desires to will and to act according to His good pleasure. We operate within kairos time, not merely chronos. Those are both Greek words. Kairos equates to God’s timing while chronos represents the world’s timing. We humans live in a microwave age, but God operates with a crock pot’s timing. Wouldn’t we all love it if God would just adhere to our schedules?
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Physical wellness and emotional vitality are the two things Satan robs from people with depression. Our job is to gain, and maintain, the personal power and authority over the enemy the Holy Spirit expresses in and through us. God wants us to be free from all the bondage of the devil and He blesses us with the power to defeat the works of the devil in our lives and the authority to do the works of Jesus in the world. The problem is we rarely ever see this sort of power demonstrated in our lives outside of revival or healing services, yet He has called each one of us to be the initiator and reach out to the world as a lifeguard at the beach. God honors the risk we encounter when we step out for Him in faith.
But how is someone with depression supposed to do that? I’m glad you asked.
If you have received the baptism of the Holy Spirit and have depression, you need to take back your power and authority. You have given up your power over the enemy. In other words, there was a moment in your life where you decided to quit doing what you were doing. There was a moment of failure or fear that came over you and you agreed to it's power over your life and by agreement, you gave that thing your power.
We cannot fulfill the Great Commission unless we use the power and authority of God to reveal His presence among us to unbelievers. We must use that power and take that authority over these evil spirits and deep, dark feelings in our own lives first. We are the initiators! It’s time to fight back!
Image by Holger Schué from Pixabay
When is the last time you prayed in the Spirit? When is the last time you got on your knees and cried out for God to forgive you for your sins and to help you forgive those who have hurt you and apologize to those you’ve hurt? When is the last time you reached out (initiated) a healing opportunity between you and someone you hurt?
Part of our purpose as Children of God is to get real with our fellow human beings — own up to what we’ve done, apologize, forgive, and make amends. If you are not doing these things, you can be certain the crushing “yuck” feelings are coming from roots of shame, bitterness, and frustration — hallmarks of depression. Roots of shame, bitterness, and frustration will choke out God’s blessings of joy, comfort, and peace.
“I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.”
‘Snakes’ and ‘scorpions’ symbolize the devil and his demons. Jesus, when He sent out His disciples two-by-two, He gave them the power and authority to overthrow the evil spirits that are causing everybody’s problems. He accomplished this by granting them, His messengers, the same authority He possesses. In other words, Jesus commissioned them to go and heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, and cast out demons. He did this as a man in right relationship with God, not just because people needed these things, but because He wanted to display His love for them.
“‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the LORD Almighty.”
His power is not made perfect in our weakness unless it is accompanied by humility. God isn’t asking us to do His will in our strengths and abilities. He can do things far better than we can. Moses tried saving the Hebrew slaves from Pharaoh’s oppression by his own abilities and we see what that accomplished.
Would you like it if you learned that there were people bullying your child?
How about taking their lunch money or making fun of them for being different? Of course those things would irritate any good parent. However, as parents, we can’t stand up for our kids forever or they won’t grow up. God is our Father and He wants us to learn to stand up for ourselves. There are times when a bully will not stop until he gets “hit in the mouth.” That’s sad, but true. Satan and his demons are bullies. There are times when we are going to have to fight for what we want because the devil opposes us.
God absolutely wants to demonstrate His power and authority in our lives. We must partner with Him so we can see His power made manifest in us through the authority we have gained by being a member of the Blood Covenant in Jesus Christ! There is power in prayer because our Father God wants to affect change where people are open to His love, grace, and power.
Prayer
Father God, I ask that You would empower me and reveal the authority You have given me through the Blood Covenant in Jesus. I want to take back my power over the enemy and use it in partnership with You to defeat depression and to live the life You made me to live. I command the enemy, Satan, to give me back everything he has stolen from me over the years and I want it back with a seven fold interest. My Lord, You have plans to prosper me and not to harm me and I am willing to start my relationship with You all over if necessary. Please take this opportunity, Lord, to reveal Yourself to me as I sit still and wait for you. I realize all things are in Your time and I choose today to submit to Your will even when nothing makes sense. Help me to be as faithful to You as You are faithful to me. Help me to live in the complete power and authority of Jesus for the rest of my days. In Jesus’ holy name I pray, amen!
*Note: Zionism and Zionists differ from the Biblical understanding of the spiritual manifestation of the same name. We need to use spiritual discernment with which to differentiate the people/places that share names, but not goals and ideologies.
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