We're continuing to look at exposing the devil for who he really is because many people make him out to be bigger than he is. We're in a spiritual battle and the enemy is a factor, but you’re set up to be victorious against him. You're bigger than him!

Luke 10:19 The Passion Translation (TPT)
19 Now you understand that I have imparted to you all my authority to trample over his kingdom. You will trample upon every demon before you and overcome every power Satan possesses. Absolutely nothing will be able to harm you as you walk in this authority.

Jesus has imparted to us all the authority we need to trample over the devil's kingdom. We can trample upon every demon before us and overcome every power of Satan that he possesses. The last part of that verse says, absolutely nothing will be able to harm us as we walk in this authority. Nothing that the enemy throws our way should be able to harm us. Nothing. Why? Because we're walking in the authority of Jesus! That's powerful. We need to realize who we are. We need to come to realize who the enemy is. That he's really nothing.

I remember going to Sunday school classes growing up and in one more traditional church that I use to attend, I remember the Sunday school teacher talking to us about how if the enemy's attacking you do not address him directly because you have to respect him and you've got to be scared of him because he is powerful and you don't need to tell him to get out in Jesus' name, you need to respect him and you need to kind of say to him, the Lord rebuke you. I've heard other people speak about how they were taught to respect the devil saying something like, “Hello Mister Devil and you are please would you leave...” James 4:7 says, submit yourselves to God, resist the devil and he will flee from. The word resist means to actively fight against and so, if you're not actively fighting against the devil, you're not resisting him and he will just destroy you.

Now, I don't want to put fear in you and I don't want you to feel scared or anything because the point is that the only power that he has over you is the power of deception. He cannot physically just control you without your permission, but if he can deceive you into thinking that he can, then he will. John 8:44, Jesus refers to the devil as the father of lies. Deception is his only weapon against you and nothing else, not even sickness because that's been dealt with at the cross. If he can deceive you into thinking that sickness is one of his weapons against you, then it will be. But the truth is that he's just a liar and you should not be giving into his lies. Yeah. Ephesians 6:12 speaks about how we've got the armor of God. It's not our armor, it's God's armor and we should wear the full armor of God to be able to stand against the wiles or the schemes of the devil. And that's showing us that it's a scheme of the devil. It's a mind game. He's trying to get you to believe his lies and to fall for his deception. And if you do, then you're in bondage. Then you will experience things negatively in the physical, then it's not just going to be a spiritual thing, but it's going to start to manifest in the physical. Whether that's through sickness or some kind of bondage. Jesus said that you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. You're in bondage because of the truth that you don't know.

You're in bondage, and you're suffering because of what you don't know. Hosea 4:6 says, my people perish for lack of knowledge. We've got to come to know the truth, walk in the truth so that we can experience the freedom that Jesus has for us. Over in Luke 8:26-37, you can read about how Jesus comes into contact with a, a demon possessed man. This guy comes and falls at Jesus's feet and screams, “what are you doing here?” Jesus commands the demons to come out of him and they shout “please, don't torture us…”Then Jesus asks them their name and they say, “mob” (TPT) or legion (KJV).

When it's talking about a legion or mob, it's talking about as many as up to 6,800 soldiers. So this man had 6,800 demons inside of him. Jesus casts them out. Then the herd of pigs they go into had enough sense to committed suicide rather than live with demons. But the point is, is that these, this man had 6,800 demons inside of him. You cannot fit 6,800 grapes inside of you. I heard Ed Elliott say that once and I love it: nobody can fit 6,800 grapes inside of them. So, imagine how small demons must be to be able to have 6,800 demons inside of you. That must be pretty small.

You've got more authority over the devil, then he has over an ant on this earth. I'll say that again. You've got more authority over the devil than he has over an ant. You need to come to realize that the devil is really, really small. He has been defeated. Jesus defeated him at the cross. That’s de-feeted; he doesn't have a foot to stand on. You know what that means? That means he's a pushover. He's just standing on limbs, and if you just give him a nudge, he'll fall over because he doesn't have a foundation. He's a wall without foundations. Stop seeing the devil as your problem. Realize that when you come to know the truth about who you are in Christ, you've got no excuse but to live in victory and reign and rule in this life.