You will tread upon the lion and cobra, the young lion and the serpent you will trample down. Psalm 91:13.
Every place on which the sole of your foot treads, I have given it to you, just as I spoke to Moses. Joshua 1:3.
Today your LORD (יהוה) God (אלהים) says:
You will never win against the devil’s attacks and you will continue to live with the things he has brought into your life if you do not understand the authority that Jesus has given to you and what I have very clearly told you to do with the devil and all he and his demons bring into your life. But few people exercise their authority, and just put up with what the devil has put on them and keep begging Me to fix the situation. But I have already fixed it in Jesus. Why are you putting up with living with what he has dumped in your life? Why are you living with the devil and his demons?
What did I tell you to do with the devil and all the forces of the enemy? I told you to TREAD ON THEM. “You will tread upon the lion and cobra, the young lion and the serpent you will trample down.” Psalm 91:13. I told you to cast him out and I told you to speak to the mountains he puts in your way. Mark 16:17, Mark 11:23. I told you to TALK TO THINGS and tell them what to do. I will not do that for you, but I will do it with you and back it up by My power. This was what the Israelites did not understand about going in to take the Promised Land. It is by your words you are acquitted and by your words you are condemned. Life and death are in the hand of your tongue. If you are willing and obey you will have the best of the land, if you rebel the sword will consume you. If you are not treading on the devil, casting him out, and speaking to the things he brings into your life to go then you are disobedient and you will cut your life short that way.
And that is today’s Life Lesson as we continue the series on what to do when Satan attacks: “Tread on the enemy.” How can you do that? I have put him under your feet. Ephesians 1:22. “Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you.” Luke 10:19. Do not just declare the second part of the Scripture, i.e., “nothing will injure you.” That is only true if you are doing the first part, taking the authority with which you have been clothed in Christ and treading on him.
Jesus crushed the devil’s head and now He tells you to tread on him. And, as I promised Joshua, “every place on which the sole of your foot treads, I have given it to you.” Joshua 1:3.
How do you tread? “Jesus summoned His twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.” Matthew 10:1. You cast the devil out. How? You speak to him—not with him, you command. Jesus showed you, “Jesus rebuked him, saying, ‘Be quiet, and come out of him!’ Throwing him into convulsions, the unclean spirit cried out with a loud voice and came out of him. They were all amazed, so that they debated among themselves, saying, ‘What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him.’” Mark 1:25-27. And another time, “He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, ‘You deaf and mute spirit, I command you, come out of him and do not enter him again. After crying out and throwing him into terrible convulsions, it came out.’” Mark 9:25-26. And in the wilderness, “Then Jesus said to him, “Go, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.’ Then the devil left Him.” Matthew 4:10.
And He told you to do the same, “These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My Name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” Mark 16:17-18.
And Jesus showed you how to deal with the sicknesses the devil brings. He addressed whatever symptoms or spirit of infirmity or lack the devil had brought, “Now Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked Him to help her. And standing over her, He rebuked the fever, and it left her; and she immediately got up and waited on them.” Luke 4:38-39.
And what does He tell you? “As I have done, so you must do.”
And He did not stop there, He spoke to storms, “Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it became perfectly calm.” Matthew 8:26. And He asked the disciples where their faith was that they had cowered in fear saying they would perish instead of standing up and rebuking it. Luke 8:25. And He spoke to trees, “He said to it, ‘May no one ever eat fruit from you again!’” Mark 11:14. And the next day, it was withered from the roots up. And He told you to do the same and called you of little faith when you do not. “And He said to them, ‘Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.’” Matthew 17:20. “And the Lord said, ‘If you had faith like a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and be planted in the sea’; and it would obey you.’” Luke 17:6.
If your faith is lacking in this area, it will not be anything you even attempt to do. How do you grow your faith? Faith comes by hearing and hearing My Word, and that is the only way you get faith and get full of faith, but hearing does not release it. Only speaking it out of your mouth releases faith. The spirit of faith is you believe in your heart and speak with your mouth. 2 Corinthians 4:13. The mouth speaks from the heart’s abundance. I know your faith by what you say and so does the devil.
If you do not understand your authority and what I tell you to do, you are going to fall into the habit of default faith, which is not true faith at all but feigned faith, that is, whenever Satan brings sickness, pain, financial hardship, jealousy, offense, anger, tormenting thoughts, or any other evil, unclean thing against you, your response is similar to Job, you blame Me for not stopping it for you, declare all the good works you are doing and your diligence in obeying My commands, and you constantly beg and whine at Me to heal you or to move your mountains and stop the storms that have risen up against you. THIS IS NOT WHAT I TOLD YOU TO DO and I cannot violate My Word. It is up to you how long you are going to put up with the devil’s tactics and live with them.
“Submit therefore to God. RESIST THE DEVIL and he will flee from you.” James 4:7. Do you see something there? You submit to My Word (I AM My Word, you cannot submit to Me except by making My Word top authority in your life—that is, in your mind and in your mouth), this has to be done with My Word, and YOU resist the devil. How do you resist a lie? You speak the truth. You resist by refusing to agree with the devil, not even the slightest bit in compromise, you do not give in, you hold fast to My Word, to My promise, to My Name.
The good news is that I already took the devil’s authority away for those who believe in Jesus, it is your part to enforce it. You do not have to win the authority, the healing or the prosperity, it is ALREADY WON AND DONE IN JESUS, I did that for you, you just have to enforce it by faith. And you do it by speaking, that is, by commanding the unclean spirits. They have to obey the voice of My Word, even in your mouth. Psalm 103:20.
You understand this in the natural when you see a policeman in his uniform or patrol car. If he commands you to stop, you will because you know the authority that is backing him is powerful. It is the government and the government has power to fine you, prosecute you, punish you, and imprison you. I have sealed you in Christ with the Holy Spirit and clothed you in Christ, and the devil recognizes your authority, but just like criminals do with policeman, if the police do not stop them, they will steal, kill, and destroy until the law is enforced. Until you enforce My Word you will put up with the devil’s tactics.
However, I take pleasure in your belief that I can heal you, that I am your healer and provider, and that you come to Me. So what do I do? Basically as I did to help Job out of his storm, I sent him an anointed teacher (Elihu) and I spoke with Him Myself. I give you the Holy Spirit to lead you and guide you to all truth and I send anointed teachers across your path. I did not leave you orphans, I have given you My written Word, My spoken Word in your spirit, the Blood of Jesus, and I give some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of believers for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until you all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. Ephesians 4:8-13.
So now, let Me begin to show you how to fight and win, not just once, but every time. And I will first introduce you to dominion authority, because far too many of you do not know what you had, abdicated in Adam, and regained in Christ. Paul prayed that you would get a revelation of it and know the power that is working in you.
Let us go back to the beginning when I created the heavens and the earth and all that is in them. I created them for you. I created all things for you richly to enjoy. “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained; what is man that You take thought of him, and the son of man that You care for him? Yet You have made him a little lower than God, and You crown him with glory and majesty! You make him to rule over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea, whatever passes through the paths of the seas. O LORD YHWH), our Lord (Adonai), how majestic is Your Name in all the earth!” Psalm 8:3-8. All things under your feet. That was the way I created you, the Highest Heaven is Mine but the earth I gave to the dominion of the children of men. Psalm 115:16. It is a shared and delegated authority. You share it with Me and I delegate it to you. Remember the allegory of the policeman, or better yet, as Jesus told it, the tenant famers to whom the Maser leased the vineyard.
Listen again to what I said in creating you. “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” Genesis 1:26. And then I delegated that authority to you. “God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them; and God said to them, ‘Be greatly fruitful and increase, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.’” Genesis 1:26-28.
The first man and woman enjoyed this authority exercising it with My instruction, input and help. They were to act like Me and get My kind of results. But they chose to violate and leave My authority to act on their own authority, but this did not work anymore than a policeman violating the laws he is to enforce tries to set up an independent authority using his own judgment of right and wrong. He would be stripped of his uniform of authority and would no longer be in the employ of the legitimate government but become an outlaw fighting against the authority he once received his power from. And this is the result you see in the Garden when they followed the lies of the devil. They lost their uniform of glory and their dominion authority and hid naked and in fear. The devil had become their chosen master and they were now fighting against their Maker with the enemy power. They had corrupted the seed from imperishable to perishable for the wages of sin is death.
I refused however to let go of My family that I had created for My goodness to overflow them. My vision was a family united, triumphant and true forever ruling and reigning with Me. And I knew how to get that back. I would be in Jesus reconciling the world to Myself. He was born of the imperishable seed of My Word planted in the womb of the virgin Mary by her faith in My Word, and He had an eternal life, and the life was in His pure eternal blood, to give to satisfy divine justice legally for the eternal life Adam had murdered for himself and all his descendants according to the flesh. And Jesus, as the second and last Adam, faced the devil, stripped him of the power he had taken by deceit and misrepresentation, and won back full authority in heaven and on earth.
“Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.” Hebrews 2:14-15. “Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.” Revelation 1:17-18. “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” Romans 8:1-4. And there is MUCH more I could show you along this line, but now I want to show you what all this has done for you.
I revealed much of this to My apostle Paul by the Spirit, so listen now to his insight into this which he prayed you would also receive by revelation. He prayed for you who believe in Jesus, “That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in those who believe in Jesus, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power into us who believe in accordance with the working of the strength of His might which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.” Ephesians 1:17-23.
First, consider this, I want you to know what is the SURPASSING GREATNESS of My power which I have put into you who believe in Jesus. It is resurrection power that raised Jesus from the depths of Hell after He completed IN FULL ,for all who ever lived or will live, the punishment due for your sins and brought Him up and seated Him at My right hand in the position of authority over the earth. He is far above the devil and his hierarchy of demons, every worldly power, and every name whatever it may be. “When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they.” Hebrews 1:4. I have put all things in subjection under his feet. And as head over all things I gave Him to the church, which is His body, containing all His fullness in the members of His body.
“To know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.” Ephesians 3:19-21.
I have given dominion authority over the earth and over the devil and every unclean demonic spirit to you in Christ. You may be thinking this does not show in your life but that is because you have not understood what I did for you in Christ besides forgiving all your sins and healing all your sicknesses and pains. There is more. There is the believer’s authority in Christ. And until you know how to exercise this, you will have to keep getting healed and delivered of the same things over and over again.
Understand that when I raised (the word “raised” in the Greek language in which it was originally written is “egeiró (ἐγείρω), to raise, to awaken) Christ from the dead I raised you TOGETHER WITH HIM (sunegeiró (συνεγείρω), which is sun (σύν), which means “with, together with (expresses association with)” and “egeiró” combined in one word) and seated you TOGETHER WITH HIM (sugkathizó (συγκαθίζωin): to make to sit together, to sit together (sun and kathizo combined)) in Heaven at My right hand with all things in subjection under His feet, and you as His body on earth, seated with Him in Heaven, have, TOGETHER WITH HIM, all things in subjection under your feet as well when you are acting IN HIM and under His authority. That is why the seven sons of Sceva, the Jewish high priest, had no authority to cast out the demon, they tried to use the Name of Jesus but they were not born again believers so they had no authority to do so, and the devil could see that. They were not sealed with the Holy Spirit or clothed in Christ. But if you are a believer, you are.
I think you will now understand My written Word on this: “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive TOGETHER with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up TOGETHER with Him, and seated us TOGETHER with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. Ephesians 2:1-10.
You are exercising your dominion authority again which I gave to Adam together with the second and last Adam, Jesus, who won it for you. He is the head and you are the body to reign in life through Him. Romans 5:17.
“Worthy are You to take the scroll and to break its seals; for You were slain and purchased for God with Your blood from every tribe and tongue and people and nation people and You have made them a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth.” Revelation 5:9-10.
“Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood— and He has made us a kingdom, priests to His God and Father—to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.” Revelation 1:5-6.
It is time you took hold of who you are in Christ and stood up against the devil and got all that he brings into your life, your family, your workplace, and your nation out.
Now let Me take you back to the shadow and type under the Old Covenant that came out from the Passover and the blood of the Lamb, the people I redeemed from slavery with an outstretched arm, to take them from slaves to ruling and reigning as a kingdom of priests, a holy nation, a people set apart, My special treasure, in a land flowing with milk and honey. I took them out of a nation aligned with the prince of darkness that was oppressing them to give them their own nation where I was to be their King. 1 Samuel 10:17-19.
I told them however, that there were enemies to them in the land that were evil and if they so much as permitted even a few of them to stay and dwell with them, they would lead them astray to other gods, to ways that were evil, and into sin and death and they would destroy their destiny and the good land I had prepared for them by making inroads into their lives if they were not severe with them and destroyed them all. I told Moses: “Every place on which the sole of your foot treads shall be yours; your border will be from the wilderness to Lebanon, and from the river, the river Euphrates, as far as the western sea.” Deuteronomy 11:24. And when Moses was about to die, he blessed Israel saying, “Blessed are you, O Israel; who is like you, a people saved by the LORD, who is the shield of your help and the sword of your majesty! So your enemies will cringe before you, and you will tread upon their high places.” Deuteronomy 33:29.
And when Joshua was ready to go in and take the land I had promised them, I told him the same, “Every place on which the sole of your foot treads, I have given it to you, just as I spoke to Moses. . . No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you.” Joshua 1:3-5. And then I told him how to do this: by standing on My Word and refusing to speak anything else or turn any other way.
And I taught him how to tread on evil forces as I am teaching you. Look at the type and shadow. When five evil kings and their armies attacked, I told Joshua I had delivered them into his hands and he and the Israelites fought but I entered in and fought with and for them. The kings fled into a cave and Joshua had it sealed until the battle was done with their armies. And then he had them brought out before him. And what did I have him do to teach all the men of Israel how you handle the devil and his demons? “When they brought these kings out to Joshua, Joshua called for all the men of Israel, and said to the chiefs of the men of war who had gone with him, ‘Come near, put your feet on the necks of these kings.’ So they came near and put their feet on their necks. Joshua then said to them, ‘Do not fear or be dismayed! Be strong and courageous, for thus the LORD will do to all your enemies with whom you fight.’” Joshua 10:24-25.
And that is the same chapter in the book of Joshua in which I taught him how to speak to things and elements as well. I had already taught Moses to speak to the rock for water and to call in quail and manna, but now I showed Joshua. He needed more time to finish the battle in the daylight, so he consulted Me on what to do. “Then Joshua spoke to the LORD in the day when the LORD delivered up the Amorites before the sons of Israel, and Joshua said in the sight of Israel, ‘O sun, stand still at Gibeon, and O moon in the valley of Aijalon.’ So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, until the nation avenged themselves of their enemies. Is it not written in the book of Jashar? And the sun stopped in the middle of the sky and did not hasten to go down for about a whole day. There was no day like that before it or after it, when the LORD listened to the voice of a man; for the LORD fought for Israel.” Joshua 10:12-14.
And that is the secret. You speak, I fight. “O give us help against the adversary, for deliverance by man is in vain. In and with God we shall do valiantly, and it is He who will tread down our adversaries.” Psalm 60:11-12; Psalm 108:12-13. It is My authority you are using in Christ Jesus in whom I have given it to you.
“They will be as mighty men, treading down the enemy in the mire of the streets in battle; and they will fight, for the LORD will be with them.” Zechariah 10:5.
“But for you who revere My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall. You will tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day which I am preparing,” says the LORD of hosts. Malachi 4:2-3.
Stop talking about things and talk to things. Stop talking about your pains and ills and speak to the pains and ills: “Be gone.” Curse cancer, growths, tumors at the root and cast them out never to return. I have redeemed you from the curse of the law, just read Deuteronomy 28 and you will know what to rebuke (the curses) and what to call in (the blessings). The sad thing is most people are doing the other way around in the conversations—they are calling in the curses and rebuking the blessings. Just listen next time one of your friends calls you when they are sick or are having a problem of any sort and you will understand what I am talking about, or just listen to yourself when you have a challenge.
Jesus put it this way, “Have faith in God and the faith of God. Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him. Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you. Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you your transgressions.” Mark11:22-25.
First, it must be by faith that you speak. You cannot have faith for something unless I said it. But I have said that you are healed, forgiven, loved, blessed, provided for, prosperous, delivered, redeemed, sanctified, righteous, and I could go on. Just read Psalm 103 and Ephesians 1 and so many other Scriptures to see what is yours already. And remember, all My magnificent promises are “YES” to you in Christ Jesus. My Spirit will help you in this. 1 Corinthians 2:10-16.
So if your faith is just not up to speaking, get more Word in your heart by reading, hearing, meditating upon, speaking, and studying My Word. Do as I told Joshua; it certainly turned his life into a resounding success. Joshua 1:8.
Next, speak to the mountain. This is whatever is in your way to the desired promise. It could be sickness, financial problems, mental or emotional problems, guilt and shame over past sins, addictions—whatever is from the devil. Cast him out and rebuke the unclean spirit. Speak to things to change, to move. Some things you need to cast out, such as sickness, and some things you need to call in such as finances and health. Tell your body what to do and bless it also. A person who controls what they say can bridle the whole body as well. James 3:2.
And then once you have cast out the evil, pray for the restoration of the damage it caused, for total restoration and renewal. I told you to ask Me for good things to pray about your desires, your dreams, your needs—for every good thing given and perfect gift comes down from above, from Me, from My throne of grace out of your heavenly account. I have blessed you in Christ with every spiritual blessing in Heaven, come with confidence to My throne of grace (that is prayer) and receive mercy and find grace just when you need it. I am present as your helper. Call on Me and I will answer you and tell you great and mighty things you do not know. Call in good things in prayer.
I tell you to ask Me for wisdom, to pray to Me for doors to open to the preaching of the gospel, for government leaders and those in authority, for all people to be saved and come to know the truth. “Your Kingdom come, Your Will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And permit us not to enter into temptation but deliver us from all evil.”
And whatever you pray for, believe already you have received it, for you know if you ask anything according to My Will I hear you and when I hear you what you have asked for is yours. 1 John 5:14-15. Ask according to My Word.
When you ask, let praise be on the tip of your tongue. Psalm 66:17 (“I cried out to him with my mouth, and praise was on my tongue.”) That is faith.
I love you. It is time for you to know your authority as a believer and to do the works Jesus did and greater as He commanded you. And do them TOGETHER WITH HIM. “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20. And never forget what I told you to do so no evil will befall you: TREAD ON THE DEVIL AND HIS DEMONS. Keep him underfoot, don’t let him out from under ever. “Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you. Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven.” Luke 10:19-20. And that is why it all works, when you believed I raised you up TOGETHER with Him and seated you TOGETHER with Him in Heaven in Him and everything is in subjection under His feet.
Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity
And passes over the rebellious act of the remnant of His possession?
He does not retain His anger forever,
Because He delights in unchanging love.
He will again have compassion on us;
He will tread our iniquities under foot.
Yes, You will cast all our sins
Into the depths of the sea.
Micah 7:18-19.