In Luke 4:18 Jesus stood in the synagogue and read a verse that’s found in Isaiah 61:1.

He said the Spirit of the Lord God was upon Him anointing Him to…

• Preach the gospel to the meek
• Heal the brokenhearted
• Proclaim deliverance to the captives
• Open the prison to them that are bound
• Recover the sight to the blind
• Set at liberty those that are bruised

I relate so much to this list. I have felt brokenhearted, held captive, bound in prison, blind, and bruised. Even within religion.

Have you?

Scripture tells us there is salvation in no other name under heaven but Jesus Christ by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12).

Part of “salvation” here means the deliverance from the persistent pestering and harassing of enemies.

And part of “saved” means to be saved from the evils which obstruct the reception of Messianic deliverance.

Wow – there are evils who set out to block and hinder the reception of the Messiah’s deliverance.

There’s an unseen world of principalities, powers, and dominions at war in this world. There are spirits who weigh down, bind up, tempt, deceive, and blind.

But there is deliverance in the finished work of Jesus Christ as we are released from the bondage and imprisonment of that which once bound us.

I looked up “deliver” in scripture, and in Christ we have deliverance from temptations, from evil, from every evil work, from this present evil world, and from death!

My encouragement to the brethren is we have been delivered! We are seated with Christ, and have full access to His power and authority! We *reign* in life through Him!

There is no evil or temptation that we must still be imprisoned by. We can walk in full freedom. We don’t have to fight in our own power, but can sit in the finished work of Jesus Christ and stand in the place of victory that He has already won.

From there we too can heal the brokenhearted, proclaim deliverance to the captives, open the prison to them that are bound, recover the sight to the blind, and set at liberty those that are bruised. He is calling us to reign in this life through Him!

For too long I walked as a weak vessel – carrying the name of Christ while still walking in deception, being held captive to lies, and bound in sin. I lacked the power of His Name.

But I now see the full deliverance of Jesus Christ and the place of victory I now stand under His finished work.

He’s giving me eyes to see the hope of His calling, the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and the exceeding greatness of His power to us who believe. According to the working of His mighty power.

Deliverance! Such a beautiful word!