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Written by Mark Brazee

"And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven" (Matt. 16:19).

Many times wrong thinking opens the door to the devil in Christians' lives. They may assume God allows sickness to come. But in reality, it's not God who does it—it's they themselves. They don't use the authority Jesus gave them in His name.

In Matthew 16:19, Jesus was talking to Peter just after Peter had received the revelation that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. In another translation, Jesus says to Peter, "And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: whatever you forbid on earth, Heaven shall forbid, and whatever you allow on earth, Heaven shall allow" (v. 19 RIEU).

You see, Jesus has all authority. But as the Head of the Church, He has given us the same authority He has.

Think about it this way: I have a pocketknife, but you can't use it. Why? Simply because I have it. As long as I have it, I can use it, and you can't. But if I give it to you, you can use it.

It's the same way with authority. God says His authority has been given to you. Therefore, you resist the devil, and he'll flee from you. You use the name of Jesus. You stand steadfast in the faith. You neither give place to the devil.

Jesus said, "Whatever you forbid on earth, heaven will forbid. Whatever you allow on earth, heaven will allow. You make the decision, and We'll back you up."

Authority is like a traffic policeman. He doesn't have the physical power to stop a car. But when he holds up his hand, the authority of the city that hired him stands behind him and says, "When you hold up your hand to stop traffic, we'll back you up."

So use your authority in Christ to shut the door to the devil. As you do, all of heaven will stand behind you to make sure God's promise of healing comes to pass in your life!

Confession:
Jesus said that what I allow, He will
allow and what I forbid, He will forbid.
I refuse to allow sickness, and I forbid it
to stay in my body. My body must come in line
with the Word of God in Jesus' name!

Source: 365 Days of Healing by Mark Brazee
Excerpt permission granted by Harrison House Publishers