Luke 8:27–29:

“As Jesus stepped ashore, a certain man from the town met Him who was possessed by demons. For a long time this man had worn no clothes and had not lived in a house, but among the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he cried out, fell down before Him, and shouted with a loud voice, ‘Leave me alone, Jesus, Son of the Most High God! I beg You, do not torment me!’ For Jesus had started commanding the evil spirit to come out of the man, for it had seized him many times. He was bound with chains and shackles and kept under guard, but he would break the restraints and be driven by the demon into deserted places.”

Remember, I am still talking about the value of repetition. We see here that Jesus “had started commanding” the demon to come out of the man. So we don’t see a one‑word command, and he leaves. In some deliverances, we see “with a word He cast out the spirits.” But this one is different. He had started commanding the evil spirit to come out of the man.

And He was not going to get tired, He was not going to give up, He was not going to leave, He was not going to stop until there was an end to the oppression this man was going through.

I am talking about the value of repetition. This was not a power struggle, not a competition, not an arm‑wrestling between Jesus and the devil. It is simply how the situation with this man was, and Jesus stayed with it.

Peter tells us, “Resist the devil and he will flee from you” (James 4:7). We see Jesus experiencing temptation from the devil once, twice, a third time (Matthew 4:1–11; Luke 4:1–13). Jesus says, “Go away, Satan!” and the devil departs “until a more opportune time.” When he comes back again, Jesus is meant to repeat the same posture and resist again.

Peter rebukes Jesus, saying He must not go to the cross, and Jesus says, “Get behind Me, Satan” (Matthew 16:21–23). He is consistent. He repeatedly resists the devil.

We do not see that repetition in the Garden of Eden. Once the appeal was made to Eve to eat the forbidden fruit, she ate it. But Peter writes: “Resist him, strong in your faith” (1 Peter 5:9). You are supposed to continually resist the enemy.

When Paul describes our engagement with unseen forces, he says, “Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world rulers of this darkness” (Ephesians 6:12). It is an ongoing struggle.

A lot of us don’t have the mental positioning to say, “This is an ongoing struggle. This is how it is going to be.” We are supposed to be resisting the enemy like Joseph—saying no to sin again and again; coming to God repeatedly in prayer; and, in this situation, standing our ground against demonic oppression.

Here we see that Jesus was casting out this demon and yet the demon is still speaking. “A whole Jesus” had started commanding, and the demon is still talking. That means you also have to repeatedly resist. You are supposed to stand your ground.

Paul wrote: “Stand firm therefore… and after you have done everything, to stand” (Ephesians 6:13–14). Stand. Resist the devil.

Again, repeating what Peter said: resist the devil, and he will flee from you (James 4:7). Resist. Stand your ground.

That means being aware of his operations and not falling for them one inch. Paul wrote that we are not ignorant of Satan’s schemes, so that he may not take advantage of us (2 Corinthians 2:11). He is not saying, “I will just snap my fingers and the devil will disappear.” He is saying, “We are going to be smart about it. We know he has schemes.” We do not want him to capture us in his schemes. We do not want to give him an inch, a foothold (Ephesians 4:27). We want to continually resist him, continually push forward, continually push against the pull of the enemy, however it is coming, in whatever shape it is coming.

God bless you. See you later.