Daily Walk Through the New Testament
April 17

Read Matthew 12:22-45

The bookends of today’s reading help us understand Satan and his demons. In Matthew 12:29, Jesus asked how one can enter a house inhabited by Satan without first binding him. This is the picture of salvation, deliverance, and freedom. Each believer is the dwelling place, or house, of God and should have undivided loyalty to Jesus. If we are double-minded, having divided loyalties, we’ll be unstable(James 1:8).
The reading concludes with the teaching on what happens when unclean spirits, or demons, go out and come back. They’re able to return with more unclean spirits if the person is clean but empty — not full of God’s Spirit to reject them. We need to ask Jesus not only to clean us but also to fill us with His Spirit.
Pray for protection from the attacks of our very real Enemy. Stay loyal to Jesus, fill up with the Word and the Spirit, and you will resist the Enemy and be strong in the Lord.