Day 58 "His name, His fame, our gain"

Day 58

Matthew 7:21-22 "Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, Have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name? "And then I will declare to them 'I never knew you; depart from me, you who practice lawlessness!'
The power of the name of Jesus transcends all borders, in both the physical and in the spiritual realms. People who have tapped in to this power are not always doing so with the proper motivation. Since the fall of man until the birth of Jesus demons had a free hand to do as they pleased upon this earth. Their only active enemies were those who served the God, I Am, our God. All the time they were doing so without the infilling of the Holy Spirit or the covering of the blood of Jesus, it was only that rare man who had direct communication with God who had the power. The demons were having virtually free reign (as God Himself allowed) and it showed. However once Jesus came on the scene everything changed, suddenly the power of His name alone became enough to cause the demonic realm to tremble at the very mention of it. On one of my many trips to the inner city I had my first of many experiences seeing this power manifested before my very eyes. As I was preaching from one of the stages in Golden Gate Park a man who was obviously demonized in one form or another approached the crowd with one thing on his mind; to disrupt the work of God". As he began getting louder and louder I felt compelled to point my hand at him and command that he be quiet in the name of Jesus, it was as if he had been hit with a bolt of lightning. As soon as I mentioned the name of Jesus the man hit the ground and was completely and totally unconscious until the very moment our event ended. Once the event was over he calmly rose to his feet and marched off down the street. It was immediately apparent to me that the power was in the name not me, and I have used that name for His glory many more times since. However, there are many out there who have recognized that power and have, and possibly still are using it for personal gain. Those who do such things are those whom Jesus is speaking of and they have their only reward, for they will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven. And even worse they will hear these words from the very one whose name they used, "I never knew you depart from Me", can you imagine the pain, the hurt, and the hopelessness that will fill their souls? Again, a tree will be "known by its fruit" when you see someone who espouses to be one thing in public and they are another in private, red flags should be going up everywhere! Flee from their very presence, and tell everyone else who is following them to leave, expose the works of unrighteousness and don't worry about hurting their feelings, believe me they aren't worried about yours. Besides that do you want the pain of the fall of others to be upon your shoulders? The works of darkness have been allowed to run rampant for long enough and anytime we can we should use the name of Jesus to reveal their deceit and glorify our King.
Daily Prayer: Father please give us the ability to see and the strength to stand up to those who wrongly use the name of Jesus to lead others astray, in Jesus name we pray. Amen.
"His name, His fame, our gain"
Pastor Gene Burroughs