Power and Authority to Set Captives Free

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This shocking dream reveals why many Christians do not share their faith in Jesus. God has given us power and authority through the Holy Spirit to share the Gospel!

Dream: July 12, 2018

I dreamed I was outdoors in a huge open space. It appeared to be an old junkyard. There were just a few trees along the edges of the property.

In this dream, I looked up and saw rows and rows of cages, like large dog crates, as far as you could see. The cages were on tables the height of my shoulders. I approached one of the cages to look inside and saw a newborn baby laying naked on its back. Looking around, I realized that there was a baby in every cage. They were all alive but none of them were crying. All of them lay very still with their little arms and legs in fetal position.

Just then, a man who seemed to be in charge of this place approached me casually, as if nothing was wrong. In the dream, I knew that this was not okay. But for some reason I was not outraged nor alarmed. I thought the man owned the babies so it didn’t cross my mind that I may have had the authority or power to do anything for them. I woke up at that time.

The Power Of The Gospel

The main purpose of this dream seemed pretty obvious but I asked God anyway. The Lord told me that the babies are God’s precious ones I see every day. They are bound by the devil but don’t know they can be set free by God and nurtured by His love. So they remain caged and spiritually lifeless, unable to grow in the grace of Jesus Christ.

We should be alarmed and even outraged at what the enemy is doing to people, but many of us are not! We feel powerless to help them because we have forgotten that the power resides in the Gospel of Jesus, not in our own abilities. All we have to do is fall in love with Jesus again and share His love with the same compassion and grace God has given us!

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes… Romans 1:16a NIV

We Hold The Keys To The Cages

We have the keys to salvation, deliverance, healing and freedom from every assault of the devil, but many of us doubt that we have the authority and power to use them.

I will give you the keys (authority) of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind [forbid, declare to be improper and unlawful] on earth will have [already] been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose [permit, declare lawful] on earth will have [already] been loosed in heaven.” Matthew 16:19 AMP

Uncaged

The law bound us up as sinners until we met Jesus. Our sentence was death– life without God and His wonderful love. But now, by faith, Jesus has set us free from the law of sin and death. Instead of a cage as our covering, Jesus has clothed us in Himself! We need to tell the Good News!

Nobody has to serve out their sentence of death, hell and the grave. Jesus served it for us when He died on the cross! The release form has been issued. It is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Messiah. We simply need to take the keys God has given us and unlock the cages!

When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the obligation to do right. And what was the result? You are now ashamed of the things you used to do, things that end in eternal doom. But now you are free from the power of sin and have become slaves of God. Now you do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:20-23 NLT

The Power Of The Holy Spirit

I have noticed when opportunities present themselves to share the love of Jesus, many excuses flood my mind. It’s a feeling of powerlessness. Those excuses are coming from the devil, the “guy” claiming to own the millions of caged babies.

…but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and Samaria, and as far as the remotest part of the earth.” Acts 1:8 NASB

But if we fall in love with Jesus again and understand the authority He has given us, He will fill us with compassion for His precious lost babies. We can experience the Lord’s power flowing from our lives to others.

Submit therefore to God. But resist the devil, and he will flee from you. James 4:7 NASB

The devil will have to retreat when we approach the cages with God’s keys to the Kingdom– the Good News of Jesus.

Authority In Christ

So, what are we afraid of? Why are we at a loss for words whenever we have perfect opportunities to tell others about the love of God? Maybe our culture has taught that we have no right to invade their “space”! Satan wants us to believe that we don’t have the authority, the ability, or the right to set people free, but we do!

And He said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 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 10:18-19 NKJV

So, let us pray for a fresh baptism of the Holy Spirit’s power to set the captives free!

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor. Isaiah 61:1-3 NIV

Prayer

Heavenly Father, teach us to use the authority and power You gave us for the sake of others. I pray that You will fill us with love for those You died to save. Give us the courage to express that love. Pour out a fresh anointing from Holy Spirit upon us for the sake of Your Kingdom and Your glory! In Jesus Name– Amen!

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