Yes, You Are Invincible!

It’s audio devo day!

What? You? Invincible? Yep, you heard that right! Jesus said that nothing could ever hurt you. What did He mean by that? Let’s explore this idea together, as we enter even further into His rest. Join me here:

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When you were a kid, did you enjoy watching Looney Tunes? They were the best! Do you remember how, over and over again, characters like Wile E. Coyote would survive huge explosions? The guy just couldn’t die! He would likewise fall off immensely high cliffs and hit bottom with no permanent damage done. Enormous boulders would fall on him, that would have lethally crushed any normal creature. But he would crawl out from underneath a moment later, a little dizzy, but shake it off and move on to the next bit of action as if nothing had happened. Any signs of being beat up by these incidents lasted for only seconds, and then he would be as good as new.

You know what? This imagery wonderfully illustrates our spiritual invincibility when we belong to Jesus. Yes, you heard that right. Spiritual invincibility. Does the idea seem a little audacious? Well good! Jesus Himself came up with it. He boldly claimed, “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 10:19, NKJV).

Nothing! Nothing shall hurt you! By any means whatsoever! Wow! Remember this verse? We talked about it last week in depth. Do you also remember how this verse is part of Luke’s parallel passage to the one we treasure in Matthew… the one where Jesus invites us to come unto Him and receive rest for our souls? (If not, make sure and check out last week’s episode 😊, as this one will make much more sense as a continuation of it).

We are going to return to that thought in a few minutes. First, though, let’s contemplate this. What did Jesus mean by saying that nothing would in any way hurt us? I don’t know about you, but I sure have felt some incredibly deep pain inflicted by some of the spiritual battles I have endured in my lifetime. It sure seems like some of them have “hurt” me pretty badly. So how could Jesus claim that? To address this question, let’s again consider that picture of Wile E. Coyote. We will recall that he was actually momentarily injured in each scene of the cartoon. But it was just that, so very momentary. This applies to us too. Holy Spirit reminds us, “Our suffering is light and temporary…” (2 Cor. 4:17, GW, emphasis mine).

I’ll give you an example from my own life. Less than two years ago, my little daughter Lily was in a coma and fighting for her life. That was exceedingly painful to me. I’m not going to lie and say that it wasn’t. When the doctors can’t give you any assurance that your child is going to remain alive, it is one of the most harrowing things you could go through.

However, that trial was temporary. Not only did we get through it, but Jesus my Healer took me through a thorough healing process about it afterwards. I can look back on those memories, and it’s amazing because they have lost their sting. They do not trigger me or cause me emotional upset. Jesus has healed me from that trauma in a profound, effective, and enduring way.

God is outside of time. When He looks at the timeline of my life, He sees that chapter with Lily from His eternal perspective. In a way, it looks like Wile E. Coyote’s experience to him. A boulder fell on me, but it couldn’t keep me down. I was “struck down but not destroyed” (2 Cor. 4:9, NKJV). So this is what Jesus meant when He said that nothing could by any means hurt you and me. No permanent damage can be done to us. Everything that we go through, yielded to our Lord, ultimately makes us stronger in Him. We press into His presence, and He whispers to our hearts,

“…You are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze… You are precious and honored in my sight… and I love you…” (Isa. 43:1-4, NIV).

What indescribable safety is ours when we belong to Him! With that in mind, let’s get back to that earlier thought. Today’s Scripture from Luke 10 ties directly into its parallel passage from Matthew 11 about coming to our Savior and receiving rest for our souls. There is one more essential thing I want you to get about Jesus’ words in both of these passages.

So far today, we have covered the part where Jesus said, “nothing shall by any means hurt you.” Now, what about the trampling snakes and scorpions part? Surprisingly, what we have been learning from our brothers Luke and Matthew about rest and revelation comes into play here. When you and I learn to enter into God’s rest, it’s in that place that His revelation flows to us. Part of this heart revelation is about how protected we are in Him. Snuggled into our Daddy’s bosom, He breathes into our spirit the truth that we are, indeed, truly and wholly safe in His arms. We are invincible.

From that place in His embrace, every day we get to know His heart better. Jesus reveals our Father to us in increasingly intimate ways (Luke 10:22). And this, my friend, is exactly the same place where we learn to trample on snakes and scorpions. As we learn how infinitely loving our Daddy God is, we also learn how infinitely powerful He is. Did you notice how Jesus addresses Him in these identical passages we have been studying? “I thank You Father, Lord of heaven and earth…” (v. 21). He first knows Him as “Father,” closely followed by “Lord of heaven and earth.”

Every day, you will be getting to know God better in these two ways, as you press into His intimacy circle. First and foremost, you will be getting to know Him as your Father, your fierce and tender Protector and Provider. At the same time, you will come to know Him as “Lord of heaven and earth…” as the One who rules supreme over the entire universe… and every huge and tiny matter therein. As the eyes of your heart take Him in, reigning over everything, you will grow in confidence for walking in His authority. When He says to you that you will trample spiritual snakes and scorpions, you believe Him. After all, with your own spiritual eyes, you are seeing the One who is greater than he that is in the world.

Notice something here. Jesus begins this teaching moment with the disciples with the observation: “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven” (v. 18). Do you see what He is doing with these words? He is inviting them… and therefore you and me… to receive His very own perspective. He is opening our eyes to see what He sees. He sees the enemy as a defeated, fallen foe. He sees His Daddy as Lord of heaven and earth.

As we press in each day to the place of rest in His bosom, we will see this too. We will deeply get it. As we come to Him morning after morning, He will continue to give us rest for our souls. Flowing from this lifestyle of soul rest and intimacy, every day we will more clearly see what He sees. Enveloped in His love, we will walk from victory to victory, from glory to glory, from triumph to triumph. The God of Peace will quickly crush Satan underneath our feet.

So snuggle in closer, invincible one, and listen one more time as He whispers to your heart:

“…You are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze… You are precious and honored in my sight… and I love you…” (Isa. 43:1-4, NIV).

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Do you think of yourself as spiritual invincible? Why or why not? In countries where believers are currently being imprisoned, tortured, and killed for the name of Jesus, do Jesus’s words “nothing will by any means hurt you” still apply?