MATTHEW 16:19  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. 

 

     I've heard lots of sermons preached and many teachings taught throughout the years regarding many areas of the Bible.  One thing I have never heard from any pulpit or preacher is about binding an loosing in the Bible and how it relates to us, the Body of Christ... So, I will attempt to tell you about my first encounter with the teaching on Binding and Loosing.

 

     Sandy and I are reading the Bible through once again this year and several years ago as I was reading in Matthew it was evident in verse 18:18 that we are given power to bind an loose things here on the earth...  What, exactly, does that mean?  I had kind of a "foggy" idea of how that might work, but until our thoughts are put into action, we don't full comprehend the results that we will encounter.  If we speak to something... to anything (Mark 11:23-24) believing it to be done, it will happen...  So, if we command something to "stop" (bind it), it must stop.... and likewise, we can "unstop" (loose) things as well.

 

     One spring day, as I was working in a store in Wilkesboro, N.C., it was my lunchtime.  As was my habit, I took my lunch to the old Ford van that I was driving and parked under the shade of a tree to eat and do some Bible reading.  Much to my annoyance, a big pesky fly kept flying into the van and I would shew it away... after several attempts to get rid of that thing... eventually it flew in and landed on the dashboard, just out of reach... aggravated, and without even thinking about it, I looked directly at that fly, pointed my finger toward it and said "I bind you, in the Name of Jesus"...  To my amazement, it just froze in place!  I was kinda stunned and began to grin.....  I caught a glimpse of myself grinning in the mirror, and got tickled when the Lord spoke to me and said..."It's just that easy".  I thought "Wow, Lord, how cool is that!"  ....So I just proceeded to eat my lunch with that fly just staring at me..  and it reminded me of Psalm 23:5, where the Word says, "Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies...."  So, I finished lunch, read my Bible and it was time to return to work.....  The fly had not moved for over 40 minutes.  I started the van, put it into gear, and the fly still had not moved...  Then, I took the back of my hand and waved it toward that fly and simply said "go!".. and off it flew, out of the window...

    That was my first experience with the power of God's Word regarding "Binding and Loosing".  I would come to draw on the experience in the years to follow.... but with bigger pests than I encountered that day....  We often fail to realize the power of God who lives within us!