Bind the strong man

Bind the strong man (A divided kingdom, Mark 3:23-27, Matthew 12:24-30)
You know what thieves like? They like and easy target. They want to show up at your home when they know no one is there so they can easily plunder everything you have with no resistance. They do not want to break into your house when they know you are home with a loaded 357 magnum on the nightstand because their chance of success is reduced drastically if they must struggle to plunder your home. In the parable of the divided kingdom, Jesus tells those question Him that no one can enter a strong man’s house unless he first deals with the strong man by binding him. After being accused on working for satan, Jesus uses this analogy to tell them that what he was doing was binding the strong man (satan) so He could plunder what He had possession of. Essentially, He was saying that by casting out this demon spirit, I am clearing the way for me to work on this individual’s heart and give Him eternal freedom. Once the satanic influence (strong man) has been removed Jesus was free to deal with the heart of the individual with no conflict or battle.
The analogy I used in the beginning may not have been a good analogy, but I want you to understand that strong holds and demonic spiritual influences must be dealt with before the Holy Spirit can move in your life. Jesus refers to the demonic spirit as the strongman in control of the individual but in doing so He magnifies His own power and authority with the ease in which he disposed of the strongman. He simple spoke and the spirits had no choice but to obey what He said. Knowing that there is a strongman (demonic world) that seeks to control us it is very important that we are aware of anything or anyone that we allow to have influence over our lives. We do not want to give the enemy strong holds over our lives that gives them authority and power over us, we want to make sure that they remain bound and in captivity in our lives. This allows the Holy Spirit to freely work within our lives and gives God supreme authority over our hearts and behaviors. So today let us encourage you to examine your lives and actively remove things you have given influence that you should not have; friendships, tv shows/movies, websites, occult practices, etc. You may think they are harmless when demonic forces are using them to get a stronghold and bind you to an eternity separated from God in Hell.