11 And God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, 12 so that even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were carried away to the sick, and their diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them. 13 Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.” 14 Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this. 15 But the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?” 16 And the man in whom was the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. 17 And this became known to all the residents of Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks. And fear fell upon them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was extolled. 18 Also many of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices. 19 And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver. 20 So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily.
21 Now after these events Paul resolved in the Spirit to pass through Macedonia and Achaia and go to Jerusalem, saying, “After I have been there, I must also see Rome.” 22 And having sent into Macedonia two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, he himself stayed in Asia for a while.
Acts 19:11-22
As we have reflected on throughout this Daring Faith in Action series, it is important to remember that our power is not our own but comes from the Lord. God was doing extraordinary miracles through the hands of Paul. We may not be able to perform the same kind of miracles Paul did, but we all have the power to change lives by sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ. When they are saved and experience God’s love and grace, they can also experience the miracle of life change from God.
Once again, today’s passage reminded me that we are not waging war against flesh and blood. But we are a chosen people, set apart by the Lord and equipped with the power of the Holy Spirit to fight in this spiritual warfare. The world may not recognize us, but each of us is being recognized in the spiritual realm because of our faith in Jesus. The name of Jesus Christ shatters the power of the devil, and it also breaks the power of sin and fear. This spiritual war is not something we can see with our eyes. Thus, it requires us to fight by faith, our daring faith. Though the world is dimming, the Holy Spirit has empowered everyone to live a life of daring faith in action in this darkening world, and the word of the Lord will continue to increase and prevail.
May the Lord bless us with strength and courage as we continue to fight for the cause of His kingdom and in the war that He already proclaimed victory.
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