Access the Power?

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God gave Paul the power to work great miracles.

People even took handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched Paul's body, and they carried them to everyone who was sick. All of the sick people were healed, and the evil spirits went out.

Some Jewish men started going around trying to force out evil spirits by using the name of the Lord Jesus. They said to the spirits, “Come out in the name of that same Jesus that Paul preaches about!”

Seven sons of a high priest named Sceva were doing this, when an evil spirit said to them, “I know Jesus! And I have heard about Paul. But who are you?”

Then the man with the evil spirit jumped on them and beat them up. They ran out of the house, naked and bruised.

When the Jews and Gentiles in Ephesus heard about this, they were so frightened that they praised the name of the Lord Jesus.  Many who were followers now started telling everyone about the evil things they had been doing.  Some who had been practicing witchcraft even brought their books and burned them in public. These books were worth about 50,000 silver coins.

So the Lord's message spread and became even more powerful.

Acts 19:11-20

Seven sons of a high priest named Sceva were obviously fascinated by the power available to those who cast out demons in the name of Jesus. They made one critical mistake. They tried to access the power of Jesus without letting Him be the Lord of their lives first. If this were a movie scene there would be laughter as the seven men ran out of the house naked and bruised.

Saying the right things, having the right formula and even doing the correct deeds means nothing unless you have turned your heart to Jesus first and let Him be your Lord! Then the power is available!

Two goals of Satan are these: First, convince you to attempt to access the power of Jesus Christ without belonging to Him. When you come against Satan in your own human power you will end up like Sceva's sons. Or if you already belong to Jesus, Satan wants to convince you that there is no power.

If you are a follower of Jesus Christ, how have you been waging war against Satan? Have you been coming at the Enemy with all the power you have as a human being, or have you been standing against him in the Name of Jesus? Until you do that, there will be no victory, and when you do that Satan will not win the battle!