Jesus’ faith was like a wrecking ball. I had thought mine was at least like a sledgehammer, but I’ve recently decided it might only be as big as my wife’s picture hanging hammer. A slab of concrete will crumble with just one blow of a wrecking ball; several with the sledge; but a picture hanging hammer??? Oh my; that’s going to take some time.
How was it that Jesus could walk up to demon possessed person, and in one command make Satan come out? Or in the case of the centurion asking for his son who was suffering from seizures, how could He say, ‘I will go and heal him’? Not, ‘I will go and try to heal him’, but ‘I will go and heal him’. It’s a little different than how most of us today would approach it. We will try. We will ask and see if the Lord will do it for us and if not we move on. But really that doesn’t even constitute picking up the hammer.
Jesus knew something. Luke tells us in chapter 10 of his gospel that Jesus ‘saw Satan fall like lightening from heaven’. Satan was no match for Him, but . . . that was on Jesus’ turf. What about here? When Jesus came here, He was on Satan’s turf. Inevitably there would have to be a showdown. On the front end of Jesus beginning His ministry He went toe to toe for 40 days in the desert. And again, Jesus came out on top. Jesus showed him, ‘even here you will do what I tell you to do’.
I think each us must have a similar showdown. We must go toe to toe and not back down. Even if we just take into that showdown faith as small as a picture hanging hammer, we’re not to back down. That is what Jesus meant when He told the disciples ‘if you only have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can do the things I do’. ‘If you know that he has to leave and you don’t back down, you will win your battle.’
And so with my little hammer in hand, I stand for a young girl who has seizures. I command Satan to leave her alone – to quit troubling her. I’m not asking God to do it; He wants me to learn that I can do it. He wants me to know what He knows; that Satan has to leave.
In the story that this series stems from, where the disciples had been unable to heal the centurion’s son of his seizures, Jesus’ comment about faith was when the centurion told Him that he had men under him that did what they were told. That is the point Jesus was referring to when He said He had not seen such great faith in all of Israel. ‘I have not seen anyone that understands this – that they can command Satan and know that he has to obey’.
This is what Jesus knew. It is what He wants us to learn.
Hunger and Thirst 
What a great message, Mike. It really caused me to examine my own faith and see my weaknessess. I want to have unwavering faith. David was a man after God’s heart because he believed that God was enough for every battle he faced. One of my favorite verses is I Samuel 17:48 which says: “AS the Philistine (Giant) moved closer to attack him, David RAN QUICKLY toward the battle line to meet him.” Wow! How many of us run toward our problems and the giants in our life with such faith knowing without a doubt, as David did, that God is going to meet us there and make us victorious?
That reminds me of an almost 40 yr old story. I was at baseball practice playing short stop. There was a very hard hit ground ball hit right at me. Naturally I kind of flinched. My coach yelled jokingly, ‘Charge that ball’. I’ve never forgotten that. You are right. We do move a little slow sometimes. May we all be encouraged to run more quickly into battle . . . no kidding.
Mike,
You have no idea how God has used your message today. Your words in this article are exactly what I was dealing with today.
With my tiny garden shovel (as compared to your hammer), I too take my stand for my spouse and my marriage. Even through a tremendous trial and separation, I stand before God with the faith of a mustard seed, and hold true to my covenant marriage regardless of my spouses decisions. I pray that Satan will leave my spouse alone because I know that Satan is no match for God. God is always victorious in His battles.
I will add the little girl with seizures to my prayers. God has His hand on her.
Sorry to meet under an apparent bad circumstance, but I am glad you were encouraged by what I wrote and that you took the time to comment. And thanks for adding the girl with seizures to your praying. I will return the favor and add your situation to mine. With shovel and hammer in hand, we’ll both stand to fight.
I certainly understand the frustration of laying hands on sick people and then watching them die or commanding demons to leave and nothing happening. I hate it!
But I’m a stubborn guy so I’ll just keep on doing it. One of these days, heaven will decide to back my faith with power and then Hell will know who I am.
I’m not there yet, and like you, I may only have a picture hanging hammer, but let’s just keep chipping away.
I know you well enough to know that this topic is right up your ally. For me right now, it is a personal journey. It is kind of a culminating ‘wrestling out’ of all the wrestling out I’ve done over the past 6 years. All of that seems to have led to this. I don’t know exactly where it will all lead, but I sense He is leading me in it. I just follow the best I can. To borrow the words of Tom Petty, with the Lord’s help this time . . . ‘I won’t back down’.
By the way, we have been moving the past couple of weeks and I have been a little out of the blogging/facebook loop. I’ll get back to the online study. It’s made me realize in a way that all this is an online small group study. I have a few people in my group here. They each have a few in theirs. You have a few in yours. I like it. I like the dialogue. I don’t know how you keep up with all you keep up with though. I don’t have that capacity.
Thank you, Mike! Great post and position, and I get an even clearer picture of what you are conveying to us each time you write.
For everyone who is standing with Mike against Satan in your own situations and in this one, thank you. I’m the mom of the girl with seizures. 🙂
And Mike, the new medicine didn’t work out. The side affects kind of traumatized her for awhile, but she’s getting better.
Thanks so much for helping me to keep standing and telling him he has to leave.
God bless you and yours!
We have medicine that you can’t buy. I am encouraged to know that she is getting better. Maybe the Lord will let me have a bigger hammer. Until He does, I’ll chip away with the one I have.
Hi Mike – what a powerful message .. and one I needed to hear. Recently, I feel like God has been pressing on me who I am in Him and to BELIEVE IT with my life – meaning to LIVE IT. On the flip side, I feel the enemy pressing on me to feeding that self-doubt. How often I’ve given Satan the victory in the past.
Freedom comes when we understand who we are in Christ. Who we are as children of God. How much He truly loves us and to accept and abide in that love. God wants us free. He wants us to know the power He has given us as His children, as a part of Him.
It is amazing how we and this world beat ourselves down. I think it’s the plan of Satan to get us to think so little of ourselves – so we are left powerless. He knows who we are. He knows what we are capable of – we need to know.
It all comes down to our beliefs, doesn’t it? How important to be feasting on the pure bread to fill our minds and hearts with the truth so that we can truly know and believe.
Rachel
Your first paragraph nails it. I think John 10:10 sums up the entire Bible; it goes so incredibly deep. I have recently read the first part of a book you might enjoy called ‘The Devine Conspiracy’ by Dallas Willard. He is all about this.
By the way, I know I owe you a little dialogue on one of your latest posts. I’ll get back to it. Been short on time the last couple of weeks.
Mike,
What a wonderful illustration of our power over evil. Most often we hear that we have choices that we can make; however, that is more applicable when discussing shirt colors or ice cream flavors. Being told that we are impowered to scream out ‘Get thee behind me, Satan!’ let’s us all know that we have power over him if only we will exercise it.
Keep doing what you do with the wonderful gift God has given you. You are making a difference.
Blessings,
Ollie