Under Your Feet by Larry Ollison

Under Your Feet

"Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you" (Luke 10:19).
When I walk through my house late at night, I usually don't turn on the lights. I have dim walking lights scattered throughout the house that put out enough light to guide me on the stairs and the hallways. One night while walking on the lower level, I stepped on something that felt like a needle between my toes. I immediately reached over and turned on the overhead lights just in time to see a scorpion scurrying away from my foot.

I immediately said in a quiet voice, "I rebuke you scorpion in the name of Jesus Christ. No weapon formed against me shall prosper. My foot will not swell up. I will not experience pain. I command the poison to be null and void and I thank You, Jesus, that there will be no harmful effects from this scorpion sting. I have been given authority to trample upon scorpions. I have been delivered."

I saw the scorpion next to the baseboard at the edge of the wall and calmly crushed it with a nearby newspaper and continued on my journey down the hall to my office. I googled "scorpions" and found a picture of the one that had stung me. Even though it was listed as dangerous and sometimes deadly, there was no fear.

About an hour later I told my wife, Loretta, what had happened and showed her the scorpion sting on my foot. There was a small red spot that looked like a needle [ PROFANITY] between my toes. But other than that, there was nothing. I never experienced a moment of pain, swelling, or discomfort.

We know that in the Bible serpents and scorpions are symbolic names for demonic spirits that attempt to destroy our lives. Jesus said in John 10:10 that the agenda of the enemy is to steal, kill, and to destroy.

Although God is omnipresent by way of His Holy Spirit, the devil is not. God can be listening to the prayers of a million Christians around the world at the same time and giving each of them His undivided attention. How can this be? God is the Creator and has that ability. Satan, on the other hand, is created. He can only be at one place at a time. When the Bible tells us that Satan entered into Judas, at that moment, Satan was nowhere else in the universe. (John 13:27.) He was restricted. He is not omnipresent.

Because Satan is restricted in his movement and can only be at one place at a time, he must enlist the aid of his fallen angels. These demonic spirits perform his work. Again the desire of the prince of demons is to steal, kill, and destroy. There is a spiritual assignment against every Christian on this earth. If you are a Christian and don't believe that spiritual warfare is taking place, you are naive. You are a target.

For this reason, you must believe and receive the words of Jesus. You must not only know that Jesus paid the price to give you authority over the enemy, but you must take and act on that authority.

Over the centuries, there have been those who handle poisonous snakes and scorpions in order to somehow prove their spirituality. This is total foolishness. However, we cannot allow the foolishness of some to cause us to back away from the reality of the authority we have been given.

The enemy attacks in the spiritual and it manifests in the physical. Sickness and disease is a spiritual attack, but it destroys physically. How much authority do we have? According to Jesus, we've been given authority over all the power of the enemy.

The word authority in this verse in Luke comes from the Greek word exousia and the word power comes from the word dynamis. Quite literally it means we have been given the authority (the permission or liberty to do as we please) over the power (all the ability and might) of the enemy. Then Jesus goes on to say that when we exercise this authority, nothing shall by any means harm us.

So the next time you are walking through life and you feel the sting of a demonic attack, have no fear. Seize the authority you've been given, put it into effect through your words and actions, and the enemy will submit. Your position is the seat of authority, and his position is under your feet! (Rom. 16:20.)