Today’s Verse: I am exercising my authority over the enemy.
(Luke 10:19)
In Context: Luke
10:17-20 The Return of the Seventy
(The seventy are ones
Jesus appointed to go out 2 by 2 ahead of Him into every city and place He
Himself was about to come.)
The seventy returned
with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us through Your name.
He said to them, “I saw Satan as lightning fall from heaven. Look, I give you authority to trample on
serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy. And nothing
shall by any means hurt you. Nevertheless do not rejoice that the spirits are
subject to you, but rather rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
What this means to me in regards to my current personal challenge
of renewing my mind daily…well, it means I have the power to choose what I will
accept into my spirit and what I will deny.
It means I have power over my small world, particularly with God in
it. We all make choices each day, each
minute really. We can choose to take
responsibility for our actions or blame others.
We can choose to seek out the silver lining or wallow in self-pity. We can choose to make the most of the day or
allow it to make mince meat of us, from our attitude to our stress level. We can choose to speak words of life to others
or we can choose to focus on complaining and tearing others down.
We do have choices, and God gives us the power and guidance
to make the right ones. Even if you do
not believe in a higher power such as God, you still have a choice. I often have the opportunity to talk to
children about choices and to give them choices. It’s important they know they DO have a
choice in how they react and how they decide to feel about a situation. Some children will blame others. Some will
claim they didn’t have a choice, so we explore those concepts, and usually
discover together that they did have a choice after all. None of the choices
may have been what they wanted to do, but they did have a choice, particularly one
that may have resulted in a more positive conclusion.
As I consider the topic of renewing our minds, I believe
this is one of the best ways to do it, by teaching our young ones how to keep
their minds sharp and on the right track. By talking to others about ways to
renew their focus and make better choices, we will begin to consider this more fully
ourselves, thinking a little more deeply before speaking. That said, I’m very
humbled and happy to be able to play their part in children’s lives through my
work with them each day. What a blessing! No better way to renew the mind and
exercise your authority over the enemy (whatever or whoever that enemy may be
for you at the time) than to train up others in how to do it!
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