Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.’” - Matthew 4:10
When negative thoughts come your way, you must not give them time to take root in your heart. This correlates with the wise saying that you can’t stop birds from flying over your head, but you can surely stop them from building a nest on your head.
We can’t stop the enemy from attacking our minds, but we can surely defend ourselves with the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God (Eph. 6:17). God’s Word is infallible, unshakable, and everlasting (Isa. 40:8, 1 Pet. 1:25).
Our Lord Jesus Himself showed us what to do when we are under attack by the devil. Three times He was tempted by Satan in the wilderness. Each time, His response was the same—He quoted the written Word of God. Against each attack, His response was to say, “It is written” (Matt. 4:1–11).
I know of believers who say, “God spoke to me and told me that He will do that for me.” I want to encourage you not to go by what you think the Lord said to you. You cannot fight the devil by saying, “God spoke to me,” apart from the written Word. Please understand that I am not at all against God speaking to you, but coming against the enemy and his attacks with “God spoke to me” is not what our Lord Jesus did.
My friend, if you want to combat the enemy’s attacks, stick to the pattern that our Lord Jesus showed us. In the first temptation, the devil challenged our Lord Jesus to prove His identity, saying, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread” (Matt. 4:3).
Don’t you think it is interesting that our Lord did not rely on what His Father had audibly spoken over Him at the River Jordan? A voice had come from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matt. 3:17).
Yet, the Lord did not point Satan to the spoken word of God. Over and over again, He declared, “It is written.” Now, if the Son of God used “it is written” to defeat the devil, how much more you and I need to.
When fear grips your heart or evil thoughts plague your mind, quote His written Word!
Acts 16:31 - So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.”
When God got you saved, He didn’t just have you in mind. He had your whole family in mind. That is why His Word says, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” Now, this does not mean that once you believe in Jesus, your family members are automatically saved. What it means is that you have opened a big door for God to move into your family’s life and to touch every member of your family!
So don’t worry about your unsaved parents or grandparents. God knows how to reach out to them. A relative of mine spoke only Cantonese, and could not go to church because she was very old and her legs were weak. But Jesus appeared to her in a vision and spoke to her in perfect Cantonese! She had never encountered Jesus, but knew that it was Him and understood what He said to her. After that, those who visited and spoke with her were amazed by her knowledge of Jesus.
Even up to the very last moment, God will reach out to your unsaved family members. This happened to my late maternal grandfather who used to make fun of me being a Christian. On his deathbed, he was gasping for air and in great discomfort. He couldn’t die peacefully. My mother, who was with him, told him, “Dad, just say, ‘God, forgive me.’ Call on Jesus.” My grandfather remained hardened and in great pain. But at the very last moment, he cried out, “Jesus, forgive me!”
You see, my grandfather had no time to pray the sinner’s prayer. But God says that “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Acts 2:21). Jesus will find every excuse to save a person. My mother saw the peace of God come upon my grandfather’s face after he had called out to Jesus, and he passed away peacefully.
My friend, God’s desire is for your entire household to be saved. Right now, your family may be giving you a hard time, but because you are a Christian, a big door has been opened for your Daddy God in heaven to touch them!
And the whole multitude sought to touch Him, for power went out from Him and healed them all. - Luke 6:19
Trembling at the thought of being seen and stoned by the crowds, the man with leprosy crouched beneath one of the many stone slabs dotting the slopes of the picturesque hills that framed the Sea of Galilee. He had come to see the man they called Jesus, Who he had heard was a healer.
People had talked about how Jesus healed—how everyone who had gone to Him for healing received their healing. He turned none away. Whatever their conditions—fevers, paralyses, deaf ears, or demonic oppression—He healed them all.
All. That little word gave him hope that perhaps even he might be made whole. By the time he reached the hills, a large multitude had gathered on the slopes to listen to Jesus teach. This poor diseased man couldn’t see Jesus from where he was hiding in fear, but because of the unique acoustics of the hills, he could hear every word that Jesus was speaking to the multitudes:
“And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you” (Matt. 6:28–30 NLT).
He listened attentively—the timbre of Jesus’ voice and every word He spoke carried an immeasurable depth of understanding and empathy for his everyday fears. Embers of hope that he had thought long dead suddenly flared to life, fanned by the authority of Jesus’ words. Whereas he had initially trembled from fear of being exposed, now he began trembling with a different emotion that made him listen even more fervently.
As the meaning of Jesus’ words sank in, the man with leprosy began to weep. For the first time in years, he wondered, Is this possible? That God wants to be a Father to me? A heavenly Father Who would clothe me much better than the lilies, which are better clothed than Solomon in all his glory, if I put my trust in Him? Is it possible that God is reaching out to me with kindness, acceptance, and love, and inviting me to taste and receive His goodness? After all the years of being rejected and living as an outcast, something deep within his heart broke at these new thoughts and brought on a fresh flood of tears.
Galvanized by the unmistakable compassion in Jesus’ voice that caused hope to race along every still-intact nerve in his body, the man crawled out of his makeshift shelter the moment Jesus finished speaking. All thoughts of staying hidden were gone. All he wanted to do was to go to Jesus and ask Him to take his disease away.
As he began to make his way to Jesus, there, coming down the hill, a man walking slightly ahead of a few others caught his eye. He realized it was Jesus, coming straight toward him.
Instead of having gone straight down to the crowds after preaching to them, the Lord had turned another way to go toward the lone, afflicted man, as if He already knew all about the man’s need and where he was. Unable to hold back his feelings, the man fell at Jesus’ feet and worshiped Him.
In a voice still choked with tears, he whispered, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” Without hesitation, Jesus reached out and touched him. “I am willing,” He said, with the same compassion and warmth the man had heard earlier in His voice. “Be cleansed” (Matt. 8:2–3).
As he felt the touch of Jesus’ warm hands, the man closed his eyes involuntarily and his body shuddered under that touch. It had been so long since he had felt the touch of another human being, let alone a warm and loving touch.
Then he opened his eyes to look at Jesus, and found Him smiling at him with love in His eyes. Sensing that something was different about his body, the man looked down at his hands, which a moment ago had been covered with open sores and had ended in stubs for fingers. His eyes beheld healthy hands with fingers fully formed and skin completely whole.
Like one in a dream, he began lifting the sleeves and hem of his robe and watched in amazement as the cloth rolled upward to reveal smooth, unblemished skin covering his arms, legs, and feet. He was cleansed! The power of Jesus had, in an instant, swallowed up his uncleanness.
He looked up into the face of the One Who had made him whole, overcome with gratitude. Even as he turned to go, the man knew he would never forget the compassion and encouragement he had seen in our Lord Jesus’ face, nor His warm and affirming touch.
He has not just healed and cleansed me, the elated man thought as he walked away in wonder. He has given me back my life!
For we walk by faith, not by sight. - 2 Corinthians 5:7
Some years ago, the wife of one of my key leaders was diagnosed with a cyst in her womb that the doctors said had to be removed by surgery. She was told they might even have to remove her whole womb. Of course, this couple was very affected by the news. I met with them to pray with them and to partake of the holy Communion.
Honestly, I didn’t feel any faith when I prayed for them. In fact, I felt quite helpless. But I heard the Lord telling me to rest. I heard Him telling me not to even try to use faith and to simply rest in His faith. So I simply said, “Growth, I curse you to your roots in Jesus’ name. Be plucked out by your roots and be thrown into the sea.” At the same time, I also prayed the Lord would cause her youth to be renewed like the eagle’s.
A few days later, she had a final scan before her surgery. And guess what? Her gynecologist said the whole growth had simply disappeared and that it was a miracle! But the Lord didn’t stop there. Her monthly period had actually stopped for some time, but soon after I prayed for her, it returned. The Lord had renewed her womb and her youth. Hallelujah!
I felt no faith when I prayed for her, but her healing was not dependent on what I felt about my faith. Don’t look at your own faith and think, I don’t have enough faith for the breakthrough I need. Faith is nothing more than looking to Jesus.
There were only two individuals in the Gospels whom Jesus described as having “great faith”: the centurion who believed Jesus only had to speak a word and his servant at home would be healed (Matt. 8:5–13) and the Syro-Phoenician woman to whom Jesus said, “O woman, great is your faith!” (Matt. 15:21–28).
And neither of them was conscious of their own faith.
Do you want to know what they were conscious of? They were conscious of Jesus. They saw Him as the One who was faithful and powerful. They had a great estimation of His grace and goodness. And as they saw Him in His grace, He saw them in their faith!
Don’t worry about whether or not you have enough faith. Just look to Jesus. Spend time in His presence. Watch or listen to sermons that are full of Jesus. When you touch Jesus, you touch faith because He is the author and finisher of faith (Heb. 12:2). The Bible declares He is faithful, and He will not allow you to go through more than what you can bear (1 Cor. 10:13). He will carry you through.
