Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
John 8:31-32
The following was taken from Messianic Rabbi Jonathan Cahn’s June 2017 newsletter. I thought it was excellent and a blessing for us to remember once again that Jesus loves us and strongly desires for us to remove all darkness from our lives so we can live free in His will.
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Spring is the time of Passover, the season in which the children of Israel left Egypt for the Promised Land. Note that they didn’t just inherit the Promised Land. They didn’t just one day decide to enter in and set up houses. Others had occupied before them. Therefore, for the Israelites to inherit the land, they had to fight. They had to drive out those who were there before.
This gives a key to our spiritual lives. You, too, have been called to inherit the Kingdom. But the Kingdom of God isn’t just inherited – it’s battled for. The enemy has strongholds. Sin has strongholds. So in order to take ground in the Lord, it is not enough to believe for it – you have to fight for it. If you want to grow in the Lord, you have to fight a spiritual fight. You have to dispossess the strongholds that sin has maintained.
One of the powers that Messiah gave to His disciples is that which is called in Greek, “ek-ballo.” Ek-ballo means the power to cast out. It’s a crucial power. It’s not only the power of casting out demons from the possessed – but also the power to cast out any darkness that has occupied or gained a foothold in your own life.
You have the power now in Messiah to cast out fear, to cast out bitterness, to cast out lust, unforgiveness, depression, and any other dark thing that has replaced the Kingdom. Many believers make the mistake of accepting these things in their lives. They make truces with them and they live the rest of their lives compromised. That’s the same mistake many of the Israelites made when they didn’t drive out all the inhabitants from the land. They ended up living a compromised, hindered, and paralyzed life in God, without seeing the victory. Don’t make that same mistake.
God has called you to inherit the land, but you have to fight for it. And the way you fight is you drive it out. Light will always drive out darkness. Good will drive out evil. And the Presence of God will always drive out sin. So exercise your power of “ek-ballo,” the power to cast out – starting with your own life – for God has given you the power to cast out so you can enter into the land and life of blessing.
May God equip you and strengthen you as you cast out and enter into the life of blessing that He has for you.
Your brother and fellow minister in the Great Commission,
Jonathan
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God bless,
Mark