Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand? And if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your people drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. But if it is by the Spirit of God that I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. “Or again, how can anyone enter a strong man’s house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can plunder his house.” (Matthew 12:25-29)
“When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation.” (Matthew 12:43-45)
Spiritual healing begins when you rely entirely on the covenant of God, that is, Christ. Only when you live by faith in Christ alone will the forces of darkness finally collapse in your life. Only when you are filled with the Holy Spirit will you be able to overcome your weaknesses, the world, and your enemy, the devil.
Only when prayer becomes your life will you be able to experience the presence of God in all circumstances. Only when you live a life of witness for Christ will you finally discover your reason for living.
When this happens, the devil cannot touch you with the problems of your heart and mind. God has already turned all of your scars, failures, and troubles of the past into a blessing. They have become God’s ordained opportunity to heal you and save lives through you. They will become the reason for singing and thanksgiving.
God desires to heal our spirits, hearts, and minds as well as our lives as a whole. But the biggest obstacle to living a life of faith is idols—our own thoughts, philosophy, convictions, religion, and legalism, including all forms of physical idols.
Unseen to our eyes, these idols occupy our hearts and minds and dictate our speech and actions. Unable to escape from the reality of the idols, many believers experience a vicious cycle of spiritual instability in life.
Therefore, we must first escape from our religious environment. For Nicodemus, religion was the greatest obstacle to his coming to eternal life. Completely blinded by his religious achievements and pious life, he could not understand why spiritual rebirth was necessary (Jn 3:1-12).
Many people are also caught in legalism. The law is God’s Word, but legalism is an idol. Giving tithes, for instance, is God’s Word, but giving tithes religiously, trying to earn God’s favor, is legalism. Legalism is detestable to God and becomes like a heavyweight to Him (Isa 1:13-14).
Also, many believers place compassionate attitudes, all forms of godliness, and religious zeal before the gospel. Some follow the principle of positive thinking, and some even follow pessimism. All of these create a toxic spiritual environment.
We also need healing in our environment, filled with idols—anything we make, statues or pictures of anything up in the sky or anything on the earth, or anything down in the water (Ex 20:4-5).
We must stop clinging to what we used to believe—”hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ” (Col 2:8).
We should also stop placing church authority over the gospel and the Word. No organizations are above the authority of Scripture. We must always choose the gospel over a practice of piety, the power of the gospel over a form of godliness (2 Tim 3:5).
Listen to what Jesus says in Today’s Word. It is Satan who causes division and all kinds of conflicts (Mt 12:25-29). He uses all forms of idols, his primary instruments of destruction. He knows very well that idolatry leaves people’s lives dry and empty. He aims to intensify the life of idolatry to make the final condition of people worse than the first (Mt 12:43-45).
This is why we need to rely only on Christ, only the spirit of God, and only the kingdom of God. Do not leave your heart, mind, and life dry and empty. Fill them with the Word of God. Never stop enjoying the good news that Jesus is the Christ, the ultimate answer to all of your problems.
Prayer. Father, I thank You for healing my life filled with idols by the power of Your Spirit. May Your kingdom come to my life today. Drive out all the demons trying to devour my life. And fill my spirit, heart, and mind with Your Word. In the mighty name of Jesus, Amen.