Can a Christian Have A Demon?

Can a Christian Have a Demon?

To answer the question, No! A Christian (any Christian) has more than one demon. The early church knew it, and after preaching the gospel and having people converted, they would pray for their healing and they would cast demons out of them.

And as you go, preach, saying, the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely you have received, freely give. (Matthew  10:7-8)

We are spirit, soul and body. And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit, soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Thessalonians 5:23)

When we become born again, the spirit of God comes to dwell in our human spirit. Thus, our spirit is cleansed of all evil spirits that might have been there. This is why the born again experience. We feel renewed because the darkness in our spirit has departed and in its place the light of God has come in.

But our soul and body stay the same. We now can continue the process, in receiving in our soul and healing in our body. Some people stop at the born again experience of deliverance. Consider again the above Matthew scripture. The preaching of the Word comes first, and it brings the born again experience. But Jesus did not stop there. He said, besides that, to heal the sick, raise the dead and cast out devils. If the born again experience would have taken care of the diseases and the demons, he would not have said what he said.

Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David, my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil. But He answered not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she cries after us. But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Then came she and worshiped him, saying, Lord, help me. But he answered and said, it is not meet to take the children’s bread and cast it to the dogs. And she said, Truth, Lord, yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their master’s table. Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O, woman, great is thy faith: be unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour. (Matthew 15:21-28. See also Mark 7:24-30)

a) Here is a woman that clearly was not from the children of Israel. This is why the disciples did not want to minister to her and wanted her to leave.

b) Her daughter had a demon, and the woman was pleading for deliverance.

c) Jesus did not even want to talk to her. When He finally talked, he said he came only for the Jewish people.

d) When the woman insisted, he said the woman wanted “the children’s bread”.
In other words, deliverance, which is what she wanted, was only for the children of God.

e) The woman’s insistence and faith in Him qualified her to be counted as a child of God, so she received her child’s deliverance.

If deliverance then, is for the children of God, then deliverance has been provided by God because it is needed. Christians do have demons.

How Curses Affect Christians

How Curses Affect Christians

Christians are affected by curses. A curse brings a demon. When a demon cannot be cast out, many times it is because the demon entered with a curse, and the curse is the legal right that the demon has to remain in the person. Because of this, the curse needs to be broken so that the demon can be cast out. A curse is broken in the name of Jesus. He is the curse breaker.

Lately I have heard evangelists talking about breaking curses, but they do not mention that a demon has to be cast out. The only thing that is done by breaking a curse is this: taking the legal right away from a demon, so that you can cast the demon out. You see, the demon comes with the assignment of working whatever the curse entails.

For instance, if it is a curse of death, the demon is assigned to work toward killing the person, or putting the person in a situation of death. If it is a curse of barrenness, the demon comes to work in such a way that the person cannot conceive a child. So if you break the curse, but do not cast the demon out, the demon, although it does not have the right to be there, will continue to do the work it was assigned to do.

There are different kinds of curses: (1) Biblical curses; (2) Witchcraft curses; (3) Curses by people who are not witches; (4) Self-imposed curses.

The above kinds of curses can come upon us by our own sins, by witchcraft works placed upon us, by what people express about us or by what we say about ourselves. And all of those curses can be inherited also. We have inherited curses, and we add to those, and then we pass them along to our children.

Biblical curses: The Bible imposes curses when people sin. A lot of curses in the Bible are unto death. Take a look at Deuteronomy 28–it has many curses. These curses are there for those who do not obey God’s commandments. Jesus became a curse on the cross so that now those curses can be broken. But beware, we need to heed the commandments or the curses come back.

Witchcraft curses: Curses placed on us by witches, any kind of witchcraft. A lot of people are involved in witchcraft. And a lot of people go to witches for the solutions to their problems, and if you are the problem, you will be receiving a witchcraft curse.

Curses by people who are not witches: People can place curses just by what they say or express about other people. I call this kind of curses “spoken curses”. Of this kind the worst is what is called “Charismatic Witchcraft” or “Psychic Prayers”. These are the curses which come from ignorant Christians, who pray their will instead of the Father’s will. When a Christian prays a selfish prayer about another person, God does not hear that prayer but the devil does, and it gives the devil a legal right to send a demon to that person. Many Christians pray this kind of prayer, and God is not happy with that. Be careful how you pray!

Self-imposed curses: What you say about yourself may become a curse. If you say something negative about yourself, you are giving the devil permission to send you a demon. Be careful also what you speak on your children and your family.

Soul Ties

Soul Ties

A soul tie is like a bridge between a person and another person, or animal or object. It is more common between person and person. There are godly soul ties and evil soul ties. An example of a Godly soul tie is the relationship between David and Jonathan:

And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking unto Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. (1 Samuel 18:1)

We may have evil soul ties with parents, grandparents, husbands, wives, children, friends, lovers, teachers, etc. Generally, if we have had a sinful or bad relationship with someone, we have an evil soul tie with that person. Some soul ties are stronger than others. A soul tie allows demons to go from one person to another. Evil soul ties are very common and when deliverance is ministered, evil soul ties need to be broken in order to cast out demons. As with curses, evil soul ties are broken in the name of Jesus. He is the Curse Breaker and the Deliverer.

The demons that come from a soul tie with another person call themselves “the evil soul of x”. For instance, in you have an evil soul tie with John Doe, the demons that entered you because of that soul tie call themselves “the evil soul of John Doe”. In casting out the demons that came with that soul tie, we need to cast out the evil soul of John Doe, because that is what the demons call themselves.

A person might form a soul tie with someone who cut or perforates their skin, for instance. This is because the cutting of skin is prohibited in the Bible (Lev 19:28). The person did not do it, but allowed the other to do it. A soul tie is formed. Also, a person enters into a covenant, a pact, or swears for instance to be a friend forever and cuts skin to mix blood, there is an evil soul tie formed. Sometimes the person does not know the name of the one who pierced their ears. We can break the evil soul tie by saying, “I break the evil soul tie that Joan has with the person that perforated her ears, in the name of Jesus”. And then I cast out the evil soul of the person who perforated her ears, in the name of Jesus.

A person who has an inordinate feeling about an animal or an object, has an evil soul tie with that animal or object. The same procedure can be used to break the evil soul tie and cast the demons out.

Strongholds

Strongholds

Stronghold: A place having strong defenses, a fort, a fortified place, a place of security. (Webster’s Dictionary)

Or else, how can one enter into a strong man’s house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? And then he will spoil his house. (Matthew 12:29)

A stronghold is the strong man’s house. The stronghold and the strong man is about the same. In my experience, I have found out that a stronghold is formed when a person believes a lie from Satan.

I have a friend that was at an evangelistic meeting once, and she heard something from the evangelist that did not make her feel at peace. She asked the Lord, and He explained, “He has believed a lie”. Believing a lie from the devil is the greatest obstacle to receiving deliverance. Believing a lie is a stronghold, the demon that dwells in the stronghold is the strong man, safe and secure in his fortress. Who is the strong defense of this demon? The person who has believed the lie.

Once I ministered to a woman and she had lots of deliverance. From the beginning the flow of deliverance was strong and she was delivered from many demons. A few days later she called me and said that the demon she most wanted to leave did not leave. We met again and she told me the demon was shyness. I started ministering to her and nothing happened. This time there was not a flow of deliverance. She started telling me then how she was very shy since she was a little girl. She told me how very shy she was…how shy she had been…she was SO shy that….etc. I was getting irritated at how much she repeated that she was shy. Then the Lord told me, “Tell her that she is not shy. Tell her that I did not make her that way. Tell her that it is not her personality, that it is a demon”. When I started to tell this, I could see in her eyes that she had received a revelation, that now she knew something that she did not know before. The demon manifested immediately and told me “I’m not a demon, I am her personality.”

I could not get the demon to manifest before, but now he came out into the open. What was the difference? She stopped believing the lie of the demon, which was, “This is your personality, you are shy.” When she stopped believing the lie, the stronghold was torn down. The strong man did not have a fortress and lost his defense. After that, I could cast the demon out.

Another time, I could not convince someone that a certain personality trait was not Godly. She was proud of the personality trait that was in her family. She thought, along with the family, that it was a very good quality to have. This lady had just been having deliverance when this demon manifested. The demon would not come out and she defended it. I could not convince her, she preferred to believe the lie and so she did not get any more deliverance. I could not tear down this stronghold.

If you prefer to believe a lie from Satan, there will not be deliverance for you. The Lord will not deliver you. I can try and try, but nothing will happen, because Jesus is the deliverer. Ask the Lord to show you what lies you have believed and still believe. Once you know them, thank God for telling you and seek deliverance!

How To Keep Your Deliverance

How to Keep Your Deliverance

Think about it: your demons entered you and set up house pretty effortlessly, but it’s going to take effort on your part to keep them from returning and making you captive again. Here’s what you must do.

Lead a Holy Life.

This requires a change of paradigms, a change of lifestyle. You need to change what you think, you need to change what you believe, and you need to change what your preferences are.

Growth requires change. Growing in Christ requires that you take stock of your self, rid yourself of old ungodly habits, thoughts and actions, and replace these with the new things God is offering you. Throw away the old you and put on the new you. God wants you to grow to the stature of Christ, and to do this you need to achieve holiness.

You may need to rid yourself of old friendships that induce you to sin. You may need to change some habits. You may need to change your manner of expressing yourself. Let the Holy Spirit guide you in this transformation.

One example of changing old habits might be making a decision not to watch R-rated movies any longer, because of the graphic language and sexually explicit content. Do you think the Lord would consider watching R-rated movies a part of living a holy life? The Word says for us to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. I doubt that watching R-rated movies renews our minds in a godly manner. These are the kinds of subjects we have to take stock of and change.

But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy. (Peter 1:15-16)

That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. (Ephesians 4:22-24)

Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created him: (Colossians 3:9-10)

Read Your Bible.

Read your Bible every day–not only read it, but study it, absorb it, make it a part of your daily thoughts and your being. You will get to know God by studying His Word.

Pray.

Praying is not repeating the same things over and over, like “Our Father who art in Heaven”, etc. You would not talk to a friend this way. If you kept repeating yourself to a friend, he would not want to be around you any longer!

Prayer is conversing with God. Sometimes prayer is just being in the presence of God in a meditative attitude, but not saying anything. The goal of prayer is to have a relationship with Him that moves you closer to Him. You need to take the steps toward establishing this relationship.

Resist the devil.

You will know when a demon wants to come back in. Resist him. Speak to the demon and rebuke him in the name of Jesus. Demons will tempt you. You need to be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might to resist. By submitting to Him and obeying Him, you will be able to resist.

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. (James 4:7-8)

The need to keep your deliverance.

Upon receiving deliverance, you probably heard some demons give their names as they were expelled. If the minister asked the demons what their assignments were in your life, they might have said what it was that they pressured you to think, believe or do. Once you have this information, you have an advantage that you did not have before: now you know what areas of your life need strengthening. You know that you must be alert to resisting demonic attacks in those areas so that the demons cannot enter you again.

Do not take this information lightly. You need to study it, meditate on it, pray about it and make a determination not to let those demons enter you again.

I have ministered to people who did not believe that what the demon was compelling them to do was sinful. Sometimes the compulsion or the behavior does not appear to be a sin, but the demon knows his subject’s weaknesses and has an ulterior motive. If the person analyzed the facts, he or she would realize that the demon was manipulating a symptom and not the real disease of the person’s soul. So, the demon is cast out, and the person goes back to doing whatever it is that brought that demon to them in the first place. The demon comes back in.

In one case, I was with a lady the day after the deliverance from such a demon. A circumstance arose where she was tempted to do “the symptom”. She wanted to do it and I restrained her, asking her if she did not remember what the demon had said the previous day. She got frustrated and mad, but then continued to do what she wanted. Some time later, she needed deliverance again, and the same demons came out. Despite my advice and counseling, I had to minister to her again, expelling the same demons. The result is that she is not living a life of victory.

When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none. Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation. (Matthew 12:43-45)

When I was a new Christian, I read this scripture and could not understand it. Every time that I read it, I could not grasp the part about the house being “clean”. Why would the demon, an unclean spirit, come back to a “clean” house? One day, the Lord explained to me, “I was talking about a hotel room.”

There were hotels in Jesus’ times and even before. If you remember the Christmas story: “There was no room at the inn”. And hotels had the same procedures as they do today. Before admitting a new guest, they needed an empty room. And when the room was empty, they needed to clean and garnish it: clean sheets and towels, clean glasses, soap, etc. Then the room was ready to receive the guest.

When the demon comes out of a person (his house), it tries to come back. If the person has not changed and continues in sin, the house is ready to receive the guest. Then the situation might be worse than before. The “seven other spirits more wicked than himself” are explained thus:

And if ye will not yet for all this hearken unto me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins. (Leviticus 26:18)

And if ye walk contrary unto me, and will not hearken unto me; I will bring seven times more plagues upon you according to your sins. (Leviticus 26:21)

Then will I also walk contrary unto you, and will punish you yet seven times for your sins. (Leviticus 26:24)

Then I will walk contrary unto you also in fury; and I, even I, will chastise you seven times for your sins. (Leviticus 26:28)

Reasons for not Seeking Deliverance

Reasons for not Seeking Deliverance

In our ministry, we encounter all kinds of reasons that God’s people turn down or are unable to receive His gift of freedom. Some are as follows:

We don’t believe demons or curses are the cause of our problems.

Or if we believe they are the cause of our problems, the demons are not inside of us, therefore we believe there is nothing to cast out.

We don’t want to deal with painful memories, character weaknesses, or unconfessed sin.

In order to get our freedom, we have to deal with life’s traumas and areas in our lives that we may or may not know are hindrances to our forward movement in life. This takes some courage to come face-to-face with sad memories or character flaws. We have to allow God to reveal those things and deal with us, and it may require repentance and brokenness.

We don’t want to get outside of our comfort zone.

This is a continuation of #2. You’ve probably heard clichés like “no pain, no gain” or “nothing ventured, nothing gained”. Well, it’s true. If you don’t get outside your comfort zone, you will never grow. If a caterpillar stays inside its cocoon, it will never become a butterfly (and it will also die). So meditate on this. Courage and bravery is what wins battles, not sitting on the couch.

We are not teachable and won’t take correction.

Many times the reason we are in the predicaments we are in is because of pride. If we don’t receive a teaching or a word of knowledge from the Holy Spirit through a minister that may cause us to feel convicted, we won’t get our freedom. And if we receive the word but don’t apply it to our lives, we won’t get our freedom.

We have been taught wrong.

Because the church is in the Laoedicean age, the body has not been taught the truth about the spirit world. So religious spirits are invading Christians to create a stronghold of unbelief, and it’s very hard to make the paradigm shift from the knowledge of the carnal world to the understanding of the spiritual world.

We like our demons.

We might have certain well hidden sins that we are not ready to give up. Certain likes and desires or ingrained habits or thoughts that are not right in the site of God. Until we are ready to surrender to and trust completely in Jesus, we won’t get our freedom.

We are lazy or complacent.

Demons can keep us in that lukewarmness that Jesus spoke about in the book of Revelation – the type of Christian He is going to spew out of His mouth (Rev. 3:16). Don’t be that Christian!

This is just a partial list. Do you see yourself in any of these? If so, get into some serious prayer-conversations with God and ask Him to help you change your heart. Cry out to Him, He will hear you and help you.

Idols and Images

Idols and Images

This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. (Joshua 1:8)

Chapter 1: General Information

Of all the Ten Commandments, perhaps the one most neglected and ignored is the second one. This is very strange. All ten are vital and binding. However, if listed in the order of importance, number two might rank ahead of those which have to do with relationships with other human beings.

Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord they God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; (Exodus 20:4-5)

Thou shalt not make thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters beneath the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them: for I the Lord they God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me. (Deuteronomy 5:8-9)

It is significant that this is the only one of the Ten Commandments which specifically mentions that the sins of the fathers produce such serious consequences to children in succeeding generations. All sin carries curses from the sins of the fathers to be visited on the generations which follow. However, God calls special attention to this in connection with idolatry. (Remember that a generation is 40 years.)

The key words in the passage (all reference numbers are from Strong’s Concordance):

Graven: (#6459 Hebrew) carved
Image: (#6754 Hebrew) resemblance, representative figure
Visiting: (#6485 Hebrew) oversee, charge, bestow, avenge, commit, deliver, keep, lay up, have the oversight, punish, reckon

Shortly before Moses delivered the commandments to the people for the second time (Deuteronomy 5), he reminded them about the first time they were given. However, this time only the second commandment was emphasized.

And He declared unto you His covenant, which He commanded you to perform, even ten commandments; and He wrote them upon two tables of stone. And the Lord commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go over to possess it. Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves; for ye saw no manner of similitude on the day that the Lord spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire: Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female, The likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged fowl that flieth in the air, The likeness of any thing that creepeth on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth: And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the Lord thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven. But the Lord hath taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, even out of Egypt, to be unto Him a people of inheritance, as ye are this day. (Deuteronomy 4:13-20)

Clearly, the images referred to will include: (a) male or female human figures; (b) animals of any kind; and the (c) sun, moon, and stars.

Note the key word here is divided: (#2505 Hebrew) meaning to apportion, deal, distribute, give.

The Lord gave the sun, moon and stars to all the nations. However, while other “nations” have made images and worship them, His own people are strictly ordered to abstain from having any such things.

The commandment begins by stating they are not even to make them because of the temptation to worship such creations. There is recognition also of the very real danger that, with the passage of time after making or acquiring images, it is only too easy to slip into the worship or veneration of them. At first, it is only an image, but later it may well become an idol. This is the reason for the strict prohibition against having them at all.

Moses continues to sound the warning about this before he delivered the law to the children of God:

Take heed unto yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant of the LORD your God, which he made with you, and make you a graven image, or the likeness of any thing, which the LORD thy God hath forbidden thee. For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God. When thou shalt beget children, and children’s children, and ye shall have remained long in the land, and shall corrupt yourselves, and make a graven image, or the likeness of any thing, and shall do evil in the sight of the LORD thy God, to provoke him to anger: I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that ye shall soon utterly perish from off the land whereunto ye go over Jordan to possess it; ye shall not prolong your days upon it, but shall utterly be destroyed. (Deuteronomy 4:23-26)

Chapter 2: Image and Idols

An “image” is a representative figure, a resemblance. An “idol” is something which is worshipped. Note that the commandment specifically uses the word “image”. The scriptures use both words.

Ye shall make you no idols nor graven image, either rear you up a standing image, neither shall ye set up any image of stone in your land, to bow down unto it: for I am the Lord your God. (Leviticus 26:1)

According to this passage therefore, God allows for neither idols nor carved images. This verse definitely ratifies the commandment, making a distinction between an idol and an image. Even images which are not idolized are forbidden.

The key word is translated a standing image: (#4676 Hebrew) a memorial, column, stone, standing image or pillar. Standing images, as referred to here, are phallic symbols, representing the male sex organ. Phallic worship was common and still persists today in many parts of the world.

In the beginning these were merely stones or upright posts, but as time went by, they were shaped and carved. Eventually, they were fashioned into obelisks, pillars whose tops are shaped like a pyramid.

There is a much-celebrated obelisk in Washington, D.C. and another very famous one in front of St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican, along with many more. These obelisks also eventually evolved into towers.

Today, several pagan religions use towers in the form of minarets and pagodas. These are prominently featured in their architecture and religious symbolism. Standing images were usually located at the entry to a temple.

They found their way into the Christian churches in the form steeples. There is no real reason for the existence of these towers on churches. (Cf. The Two Babylons by Rev. Alexander Hislop; Babylon Mystery Religion by Ralph Woodrow.)

Two methods of producing images were identified in the scriptures; graven, which were carved or sculpted figures or stone or wood; and molten or cast images made of metal. The metal was melted and poured into a mold to cool and solidify. This method was used when Aaron made the golden calf. (Exodus 32)

Thou shalt make thee no molten gods. (Exodus 34:17)

Later, when Moses continued to give out the Law, he again emphasized the second commandment on idolatry:

Thou shalt not plant thee a grove of any trees near unto the alter of the Lord thy God, which thou shalt make thee. Neither shalt thou set thee up any image; which the Lord thy God hateth. (Deuteronomy 16:21-22)

The key word is grove: (#842 Hebrew) Ashera, Astarte, a grove, a Phoenician goddess.

Astarte (Diana, Aphrodite, Venus) was a pagan goddess of fertility, the moon and sexual love. It is said that “she makes towers in cities.” Her name, “Ash-tart” means exactly that. She was worshipped in groves and temple prostitutes served the worshippers there. These groves were groups of trees closely planted together or sometimes tree trunks or wooden poles erected in place of trees.

Chapter 3: Disposing of Images and Idols

In the following scriptures, the Lord tells His people what they must do concerning the idols belonging to the pagan nations they would encounter when conquering the Promised Land:

The shalt not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do after their works; but thou shalt utterly overthrow them, and quite break down their images. (Exodus 23:24)

But ye shall destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their groves. (Exodus 34:13)

Then ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their pictures, and destroy all their molten images, and quite pluck down all their high places: (Numbers 33:52)

The key words are pictures: (#4906 Hebrew) a figure carved on stone, the wall or any object; conceit; imagery; picture; high places: (#1116 Hebrew) an elevation; height; high place (an elevated altar).

But thus shall ye deal with them; ye shall destroy their altars, and break down their images, and cut down their groves, and burn their graven images with fire. (Deuteronomy 7:5)

The graven images of their gods shall ye burn with fire: thou shalt not desire the silver or gold that is on them, nor take it unto thee, lest thou be snared therein: for it is an abomination to the Lord thy God. Neither shalt thou bring an abomination into thine house, lest thou be a cursed thing like it: but thou shalt utterly detest it, and thou shalt utterly abhor it; for it is a cursed thing. (Deuteronomy 7:25-26)

It is very clear that selling or giving away any images as gifts are also forbidden. Whatever value they may have should not be desired, and the only way to dispose of them is to destroy them. We should have the same hatred for them that God has.

These things are also cursed by God Himself. To bring such a thing into our house brings the curse down upon us. Our hedge of protection from God becomes damaged, leaving a breach through which Satan can come in to attack. Truly, “to obey is better than sacrifice.” (I Samuel 15:22)

And ye shall overthrow their altars, and break their pillars, and burn their groves with fire; and he shall hew down the graven images of their gods, and destroy the names of them out of that place. (Deuteronomy 12:3)

And in all things that I have said unto you to be circumspect: and make no mention of the name of other gods, neither let it be heard out of thy mouth. (Exodus 23:13)

Chapter 4: Good and Evil Kings

The history of the kingdoms of Judah and Israel are recorded in I and II Kings and I and II Chronicles. The ruling kings are judged to be “good” or “evil” based solely on their adherence and obedience to, or their breaking of, the second commandment concerning images.

Solomon, son of David
And Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord, and went not fully after the Lord, as did David his father. Then did Solomon build an high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the hill that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon. (I Kings 11:6-7)

Jeroboam, King of Judah, son of Solomon
And Judah did evil in the sight of the Lord, and they provoked Him to jealousy with their sins which they had committed, above all that their fathers had done. For they also built them high places, and images, and groves, on every high hill, and under every green tree. (I Kings 14:22-23)

Hosea, King of Israel
And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, but not as the kings of Israel that were before him. And they set them up images and groves in every high hill, and under every green tree: They feared the LORD, and served their own gods, after the manner of the nations whom they carried away from thence. (II Kings 17:2, 10, 33)

Under Hosea, the people feared God, yet still clung to the pagan images. It is quite possible that we are doing a similar thing today. We must forsake our shallow obedience and move into a heartfelt and joyful observance of that which gladdens the heart of the Lord.

Hezekiah, King of Judah
And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that David his father did. He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan (which means a piece of brass). (II Kings 18:3-4)

Here is the case of something which had spiritual significance in the history of Israel. The brazen serpent should have reminded them of the peril of murmuring and complaining. It also spoke of judgment which God visited upon the disobedient.

However, as so often happens, a perversion developed and they began to worship the object rather than to remember the Lord. Remember this when people tell you that religious objects and mementos are only to remind them of spiritual truth or are “conversation pieces”. We are to worship the Lord “in spirit and in truth”. (John 4:24)

Remember that the Word of God judges the kings based solely on their obedience to the second commandment. Scripture describes the judgments of many kings. Read the accounts in the books of Kings and Chronicles. Also consider the following scriptures:

Isaiah chapters 10, 17, 21, 27, 30, 40, 41, 42, 44, 45, 48
Jeremiah: 8:19; 10:14; 50:2, 38; 51:47, 52, 17
Ezekiel: 6:4, 6; 8:3, 5; 7:20; 16:17; 21:21; 23:14; 30:13

Chapter 5: The Curse of Idols

The word pronounces a curse upon all who possess or have traffic with images and/or idols. Although God loves us, He will not abrogate His own Word just to accommodate our ignorance or disobedience.

This emphasizes the importance of careful study of the Bible. We need more than a superficial acquaintance with the facts. We need to know what the scriptures teach.

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. (Hosea 4:6)

Cursed be the man that maketh any graven or molten image, an abomination unto the Lord, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and putteth it in a secret place. And all the people shall answer and say Amen. (Deuteronomy 27:15)

And I will destroy your high places, and cut down your images, and cast your carcasses upon the carcasses of your idols, and my soul shall abhor you. (Leviticus 26:30)

As mentioned earlier, a curse such as this implies that our disobedience can break God’s protective hedge around us, leaving us open and vulnerable to demonic attack.

He that diggeth a pit shall fall into it; and whoso breaketh a hedge, a serpent shall bite him. (Ecclesiastes 10:8)

A Word About Dolls

For a real surprise, read what any good encyclopedia has to say about dolls and their origins. Our root word for doll is idol. These originated in witchcraft and to this day, dolls are still used in it.

Do you suppose that the little ones who crowded around Jesus were clutching cute little dolls? Absolutely not! The children of Judah and Israel did not possess any likenesses of humans or animals. No teddy bears, cabbage patch dolls or Mickey Mouse!

Notice that the encyclopedia records that all dolls found at archeological digs were from Egyptian, Greek and other pagan cultures. Never did Israel or Judah permit the possession of such things except in times of apostasy.

Chapter 6: Images or Idols?

There is no doubt some figures are idols. Everyone can recognize a Buddha and know that it is an idol. In museums there are figures of clay, wood, or metal on display. Signs inform you that these are gods of certain countries or some remove civilization.

“Idols are the inevitable symptom of incipient decay. Go at autumn into the woods, and see how the members of the fungus tribes are scattered plentifully throughout the unfrequented glades. Where the shade is deepest, and the soil most impregnated with the products of corruption, they love to pitch their tents. Similarly, whenever there has set in upon the spiritual life the autumn of decay, you will be sure to find a fungus growth of idols.” (From Great Men of the Bible, Vol. I, by F. B. Meyer, Zondervan Corp., Grand Rapids, MI and Marshall Morgan & Scott, 1 Bath St., London ECIV 9LB England, copyright 1981, p. 94.)

Ladies, beware! It may be that you are especially susceptible to becoming ensnared in this sort of thing. It was beloved Rachel who could not bear to leave the little household gods of her father behind and put them in the baggage. They had to be surrendered before there could be any victory or peace in the camp.

Because of the extremely strong conscience placed in the male by God, the man is held responsible for ferreting out and destroying idols. And woe to the females who oppose this when it is scripturally right! She may indeed prevail by anger, weeping and nagging and hang on to the idols, but the consequences to her and the children will be terrible indeed.

Jacob was forced to flee before the alien tribes because of the terrible action of his sons. However, another reason was that very likely he had given in to the pleadings of Rachel to take the gods with her. Knowing what was right, he did not insist on it and deferred to his wife. Thus, by pacifying his spouse, he antagonized God by the presence of idols.

When there is failure and defeat, look for some hidden idols! Men must take the lead in this and search them out. No matter how Rachel may object and protest, bring out the accursed things and destroy them.

Jacob buried those idols right away! Had he kept or carried them with him, there would always be the temptation to bring them forth again. There was a mighty work of God among the Ephesians following the destruction of their demonic garbage in the marketplace (Acts 19:19).

The question arises, “How about other images? Are they harmless or harmful?” Some, especially the ladies, may protest loudly. After all, they are so attractive! There are little geese with ribbons around their necks, adorable ceramic kittens, and expensive porcelain birds, owls, frogs, dolls, etc.

Surely, these could not possibly be classed as idols! After all, we have no altars for them. We neither pray to them nor make offerings to them. All we do is dust them once in a while. They are merely conversation pieces!

Today, all over this planet, there are countries and cultures which worship animals and other creatures of all kinds. They have images of animals which are regarded as sacred gods. For example, the Hindus worship bulls, cows, monkeys, snakes, and many other animals.

American Indians worship eagles, bears, wolves, deer, turtles, pelicans and more. Various tribes in Africa, Asia and Australia are also heavily committed to idolatry and the witchcraft peculiar to their particular demonic religion.

Man’s history through the centuries has been one of complete identification with idolatry. Since God has so very vehemently forbidden it, we should expect that Satan has made it a special object of his cunning to entrap mankind.

Idolatry always involves the worship and veneration of images. In Egypt, cats were gods. There were sacred animals such as baboons, bulls, crocodiles and jackals. This is typical of other civilizations which have existed through history. The first chapter of Romans traces the downward march of humanity into the deception and the depravity which idolatry inevitably fosters and produces.

It is entirely possible that just about every animal under the sun has been worshipped as a god or considered sacred at one time or another through history. And it may be, that if you have images of animals, you could be harboring pagan gods and idols in your home.

You would do well to read the old classic, The Two Babylons by Hislop. On page 102 is a picture of a saucy little goose. There is an ornament around his neck and a little cupid is riding it. Hislop identifies it not only as a Babylonian god, but also as the Egyptian Seb and the Indian brahmany goose. Today, those attractive little ceramic geese are sold for home decorations. They are everywhere, on cookie jars, kitchen towels, etc.

These and other similar images have been distributed by the hundreds of thousands across the country. Perhaps some of these objects have found their way into your home. Of course, this is blatant disregard of the scriptural injunction and prohibition against bringing cursed objects into your dwelling place.

The graven images of their gods shall ye burn with fire: thou shalt not desire the silver or gold that is on them, nor take it unto thee, lest thou be snared therin: for it is an abomination to the Lord thy God. Neither shalt thou bring an abomination into thine house, lest thou be a cursed thing like it: but thou shalt utterly detest it, and thou shalt utterly abhor it; for it is a cursed thing. (Deuteronomy 7:5-26)

If you want to have an animal, you might be better off with a real live one. There is no commandment against this unless you slide into inordinate affections and treat the creature as if it were a human being!

Chapter 7: My Personal Testimony

In July 1980, although I had been born again for three years, I knew I was not moving in the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Something kept telling me that although He was using others, God had nothing for me. Even as I flew to a deliverance workshop in Chicago, these thoughts kept nagging at me. Others would receive deliverance, but not me, I thought.

A few months before, I felt in my spirit that I had demons and needed to seek for deliverance. The church I attended did not teach deliverance, so there was no help there. I asked my more mature Christian friends about deliverance, and where I could go to receive it.

“You, have demons?” followed by laughter, was the answer every time. “Why would you think you have demons?” they would inquire. “What makes you think I don’t?” was my retort. Next, they would relate a series of reasons: “You go to church all the time…you are such a good Christian…you read your Bible and even have a prayer meeting at your house every Friday…people like you don’t have demons!”

A friend called me about a book she found written by Pastor Win Worley of Hegewisch Baptist Church. I ordered the book and with it came an invitation to a deliverance worship, which I decided to attend.

It is hard to describe the services of the meetings since they were unlike anything I had ever seen. Then, although it was hard to believe, it happened! Demons came pouring out of me, talking and loudly speaking their names. I was receiving deliverance, and the Lord was setting me free!

Satan had told me that I would not receive deliverance, but it was a lie. Demons manifested and left screaming, terrified of the anointing in that church. All over the sanctuary this was happening. It was fascinating to see the entire Hegewisch membership ministering deliverance to the visitors.

One of the young women of the church approached me and took authority over the evil spirits, commanding them to leave me. I heard myself speaking in what sounded like an Asian language. It was certainly not my prayer language. The worker said, “You have a Buddha in your house!”

Of course, she had to be wrong, I thought. I said, “No, I don’t have a Buddha in my house. I would never have bought a Buddha!” She looked at me solemnly and said, “The Lord is showing me a Buddha this big,” signaling with her hands, “ and it is made of white ceramic.”

I was astounded! I actually did have such a thing, but I had never noticed that it was a Buddha! Now, the demon which spoke in an Asian language balked and refused to come out because of a stupid statue!

As she continued ministering, she asked, “Do you have any American Indian blood?” I told her that of course I did not, for I only had French and Spanish heritage.

“Well,” she said, “then you must have something Indian in your house.” This time I really put my foot down. I was sure that I knew what was in my house. Never had I felt an impulse to buy Indian blankets or artifacts. I did come into contact with them quite frequently as an interior decorator, but I had never purchased any of these items.

When I told her this, the worker refused to argue but pursued ministry for about two hours. So many spirits were flooding out of me that I lost count of them. She did tell me that as soon as I got home I must smash the Buddha and rebuke it in the name of Jesus Christ before throwing it away.

In one thing I was right: I had not purchased this Buddha. It was given to me at a famous Japanese restaurant several years before. We had dinner there and I ordered a drink, which was served in a ceramic figure cup in the shape of a geisha. At the close of the meal, the waitress washed and packaged the souvenir cup for me to take home.

At home, I noticed that they had switched my bag with someone else’s, and I had this ugly old fat man. However, because it was a nice white ceramic, I decided to keep it as a vase for a flower arrangement.

The evening of the next day when I arrived home, I destroyed the image of the Buddha. I then remembered that as I would sit reading my Bible, often my eyes would be drawn to that image. Deep inside, something like a voice would say that this was an idol! However, when this happened, I would rationalize, “This is not an idol. I never saw this listed in any book as an idol…it’s probably just a figure of Japanese folklore…and that would make it an idol…but I was not worshipping it…I pray to God in that other room facing a blank wall…so everything is alright.”

I assumed these were my own thoughts, not realizing that the Holy Spirit was giving me a word of knowledge. It was a warning about having an idol in my house. My husband said that I went on a rampage because I did not stop with breaking the image of the Buddha.

I took down a Star Wars Darth Vader (Dark Invader) poster my son had on the door of his bedroom. Although I always hated it, I had ignored it for the sake of family peace. I had heard at the workshop that some demons manifested giving the name of Darth Vader!

There was no stopping me now. I took the poster to the backyard, placed it on the grass and it refused to ignite! I had to soak it in charcoal lighter fluid to make it burn.

I finished breaking, burning and rebuking everything I could locate which might have some occult or other demonic root. Late that night I sat with my daughter in the kitchen, explaining everything in detail. Starting at the beginning, I told her about the Buddha.

As I came to the question of the Indian blood, it hit me! I did have something Indian in the house after all, a contemporary full-length print of an American Indian. It was personally autographed serigraph by a very well-known native Indian artist.

After framing it, I had no place to hang it and had leaned it against the living room wall until I could find just the right spot for it. Sure enough, as I sat in my living room to read my Bible, my eyes would be drawn to gaze at the Indian. The thought would come to me, “Why do you have this Indian here?” I would think that it was because I could find no other spot for it. But the picture had remained there against the wall. Once again, it dawned on me that God had been trying to warn me about it.

I dashed from the kitchen table and took the picture from the frame. Now I knew that I had just the right spot for it. I tossed in the middle of my backyard lawn where the grass was about four inches high. The body of the Indian I soaked with charcoal lighter fluid.

He had a smiling profile and was wearing a feather headdress to his feet and was on a plain yellow background. After soaking the center part of the picture, I added more fluid. Pitching a lighted match on it caused flames to leap up.

After flaring up briefly, the fire died out. I approached again, armed with charcoal lighter fluid and matches. I look at the picture with amazement. It had not burned and was not even smoked. Even the match was just lying there with only the head burned and blackened.

Determined to burn the thing, I thought, half to myself and half to God, “Well, I guess I will have to try again!” But God flashed the answer to me: “The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds!” (II Corinthians 10:4) Quickly, I responded, “Ok, Lord! I won’t use the matches or the lighter!” This popped out before I could think.

I found myself wondering what to do next. Then I remembered the anointing and the power of God I had seen repeatedly demonstrated at the workshop. I simply commanded it to burn in the name of Jesus Christ. I waited, wondering anxiously when it would begin, for it was late. My daughter was in the house and watched from a window, but my husband had retired for the night.

The Indian lay there in the grass, still not burning. I decided I had waited a reasonable time and again I commanded it to burn. Still nothing happened. I tried to figure out why it was not burning.

I decided I had not used enough “authority”. I took a deep breath and tried to come up with all the authority I had. “I command you to burn, Indian, in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth!”

Surely, now I had it right, and again I waited. I could not believe it. Nothing was happening and I was frustrated. I prayed urgently. “Heavenly Father, You’re going to have to send your fire from Heaven. This stupid Indian just does not want to burn.”

I was standing several feet from the picture. Suddenly, the tiniest of flames started on the ground, right off the soil, under the upper left corner of the picture. I was excited as the flame got stronger and taller. The corner of the picture began to burn and fire spread along the upper edge, blackening the paper and turning it to ashes.

Next, it started to burn evenly down both sides of the head of the figure. As it continued its downward path, something strange was happening: the big feather headdress was turning to ashes, but the Indian’s head was being spared. I was amazed. The burning continued down the body of the Indian and included all the yellow background, the feathers and the hatchet in his hand, but still did not touch the Indian’s body.

When the fire finally reached the feet, it turned up on the inside of the figure’s legs and met at the point where the legs separated. When the fire died out, the Indian had been spared as if someone had cut him out with scissors.

It is hard to describe my feelings at this point. I knew I was witnessing something absolutely supernatural. There I was, in the middle of the night, alone with that weird Indian figure that would not burn.

If I had been operating in the flesh, I would have run to the house. Instead, I was angry with this Indian. Wondering if Satan was making fun of God’s fire, I became furious. Hatred and indignation toward Satan and that stupid Indian boiled up inside of me.

At that moment I could have faced any materialized principality and would have charged recklessly against it. I practically shouted at the piece of paper lying at my feet, “Indian, you are going to burn in the lake of fire that God has prepared for you, but you are going burn right now, too!”

At that very moment all the edges of the figure burst into smoldering flames which moved rapidly toward the center, turning it to ashes. I remained there for a while, deeply moved by what had happened. After fervently thanking God, I went inside to sleep.

Chapter 8: The Consequences

At least two main demons gained entrance into me because of the images (the Buddha and the Indian) I had in my home. There may have been others also who were cast out in the deliverances I had following my image housecleaning. These two demons manifested but refused to come out in my first deliverance session because I had not yet done the necessary housecleaning. What you do not know can and does hurt you.

Frankly, I still do not know what the Buddha was doing to me as a demonic entity. Certainly he did nothing to help me. Recently, I again submitted to deliverance (nine years later) and I asked the worker to check on the Buddha spirit just in case he was still there. He was there and had to be cast out.

The evil spirit that came with the Indian is another story. During my subsequent deliverances, this demon had not left me, although he no longer had any legal right to remain in me.

He had not been thrown out because it did not occur to me to tell the worker to check on him. We were fully occupied dealing with the other one. It was truly a painful experience when this latter spirit began to act up.

About four or five years after the burning of the picture, I developed a dull chronic pain in my right arm. It was concentrated in an area about the size of a quarter. Day by day this pain escalated until finally I had to avoid moving the arm backwards. Any attempt to reach my back to close zippers or button dresses produced severe pain.

I fought it in the Spirit, praying and laying hands on myself. Nothing brought relief. In a woman’s prayer meeting, a sister told me that she had a word that a pain was afflicting me. Several ladies laid hands on me. As they prayed, I had to bite my lip to avoid screaming. The pain intensified and I felt as if something was tearing my flesh.

Tears streamed down my face and I understood the pain was wholly demonic. I was so relieved when they finally stopped praying. They thought my tears were from joy. I did not have the heart to tell them what really happened, for they would not have understood. I knew deliverance was the only way I would ever obtain relief.

The following week, Pastor Worley came to minister at a church in Beaumont, Texas. After the service that evening, I was the first to run up to the front for deliverance. Pastor Worley sat facing me and took my hands in his. He said, “Let’s ask the Lord what demon this is,” and prayed briefly in tongues. He looked at me and said, “The Lord tells me you have a werewolf demon.” I urged him to get it out fast. In Jesus’ name He commanded the demon to manifest and go. The spirit’s reaction was immediate and violent.

The thing was terrified of the pastor and caused my body to jerk. He pulled back as far as possible from the Pastor. At the same time, I felt my lips pull back, baring my teeth, and fierce growls from deep inside me snarled out of my mouth.

I was behaving like a cornered wolf, but managed to keep my eyes looking into Worley’s eyes, since I knew how demons hate to look into a deliverance worker’s eyes. As I glanced around, I remember seeing amazement written on the faces of some of the group gathered there.

It was not long before the werewolf spirit left. He threw my head back and came out in a long, loud screeching howl. Several days later, the Lord showed me that the evil spirit came in through the picture of the American Indian.

The wolf is an Indian god and an idol. When holding their ceremonies in the Kiva, the high point comes when they slowly change and transform into the expression of the animal idol of their choice. The same demon which enters them had come into me; in my case it was the spirit of the wolf. (For more information about American Indian witchcraft, read The Witch That Switched by Irene A. Park.)

It is interesting to note that the Indian ceremony and what occurs is so very similar to the Cuban Santeria’s “Bembe” ceremony. In this ceremony there is the drum-based music, eating, drinking and dancing with the images (santos). The Santeria is based on African voodoo. (See The Caribbean Santeria, Demolishing the Hosts of Hell, by Win Worley.)

Dancing around the table, the participant eats of the food offered to the particular santo (saint) by which he/she desires to be possessed. When it happens, the person falls into a trance with convulsions. To be chosen as the “horse” and to be entered and possessed by the demon is considered to be a great honor.

In similar fashion, New Age persons involved in channeling are also receiving a demon and feel privileged to be a vehicle for the dark powers. Whether you call them “ascended masters” or demons, they are the same thing. To invite them in is to invite darkness and disaster!

Chapter 9: The New Testament on Idols

Although we live under a New Covenant today, by no means has all of the Old Covenant been bypassed. From what has happened to me and others there is abundant proof that the Second Commandment is alive and well and definitely for today. It was never abolished or abrogated. Jesus said:

Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:17-20)

They key word here is fulfill: (#4137 Greek) to replete or fill up (as a fishing net); to level up (as a hollow); to finish or complete (as a task); to be full or make full; to perfect; to supply (what is lacking).

Old and New Testaments heartily agree:

And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you. (II Corinthians 6:16-17)

Little children, keep yourselves from idols, Amen. (I John 5:21)

Note: This article only addresses the idolatry which is evidenced by actual physical idols and images. Other kinds of idolatry exists: money, success, fame, beauty, recreation, various possessions and many intangible things. These are equally obnoxious to God and open the doors for much demonic assault and invasion. Nevertheless, the message of God’s broken Second Commandment is very needful in our day of disobedience and powerlessness. Deliverance will help one to become free of all idolatry to follow the Lord.

Becoming familiar with “deliverance”

Becoming Familiar with “Deliverance”

The word deliver, according to Merriam-Webster, means to set free. The word rescue is a synonym, and it means “to free from confinement, danger, or evil”. Thus, the word deliverance, as used in Christian ministry, is the act of setting someone free from something or someone or some being that is causing harm. Jesus came to this world not only to save us from hell and death, but also to rescue us from evil on this earth. (Luke 11:4)

All throughout the Old Testament historical writings of all the battles that Israel had to fight, the word deliver is used over and over again – either the Lord was delivering Israel from an enemy, or He was delivering an enemy into Israel’s hand to slay or overcome it, or He was delivering Israel into the hands of the enemy because of their sin and rebelliousness. Deliverance is clearly a battle–it is a war against Satan, his demons and his kingdom. We are the warriors and Jesus is the leader of our army. Much of the Old Testament is a metaphor for the deliverance process.

There are almost 600 references to the word deliver or a derivative of that word in the Bible. If you don’t think the deliverance ministry is for today, think again. David’s Psalms are full of references of deliverance from enemies. Who is our enemy today? Satan. The Psalms also make many mentions of the Lord delivering our souls. The soul is probably the biggest area that deliverance ministers work in. The soul is defined as the mind, the will and the emotions.

Following are a few selected scriptures with some commentaries.

And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. (Genesis 45:7)

This scripture is Joseph talking to his brothers when there was famine in Egypt. The point here is that deliverance is about saving lives. If you don’t recognize your need for deliverance and subsequently submit to ministry to obtain it, your very life during your time on this earth is in jeopardy. This is not referring to just the end of your life, but of every facet of your life that is of any importance: marriage, children, prosperity, money, health-the list goes on and on. Submitting to prayers of deliverance, including the breaking of curses, can make a difference as to how you spend your time on this earth, and perhaps even how much time you have on this earth.

And Moses told his father in law all that the LORD had done unto Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel’s sake, and all the travail that had come upon them by the way, and how the LORD delivered them. And Jethro rejoiced for all the goodness which the LORD had done to Israel, whom he had delivered out of the hand of the Egyptians. And Jethro said, Blessed be the LORD, who hath delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of Pharaoh, who hath delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. (Exodus 18:8-10)

When we receive deliverance, we are to tell people of God’s great power and His work. We are also to rejoice and bless His name for his goodness and mercy toward us.

And Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel, saying, If ye do return unto the LORD with all your hearts, then put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among you, and prepare your hearts unto the LORD, and serve him only: and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines. (Samuel 7:3)

The Philistines are a metaphor for demons. Notice that the Lord says that IF we return to Him with all our hearts, forsake our other gods, prepare our hearts and serve the Lord only, and THEN He will deliver us.

And when the LORD saw that they humbled themselves, the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah, saying, They have humbled themselves; therefore I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance; and my wrath shall not be poured out upon Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak. (Chronicles 12:7)

The key word in this scripture is humbled. Deliverance is a humbling experience, and you must be humble in order to receive it. The word humble means “not proud or haughty: not arrogant or assertive; reflecting, expressing, or offered in a spirit of deference or submission”. There are plenty of scriptures that talk about how we should be humble. Jesus was humble.

Now therefore give not your daughters unto their sons, neither take their daughters unto your sons, nor seek their peace or their wealth for ever: that ye may be strong, and eat the good of the land, and leave it for an inheritance to your children for ever. And after all that is come upon us for our evil deeds, and for our great trespass, seeing that thou our God hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve, and hast given us such deliverance as this; Should we again break thy commandments, and join in affinity with the people of these abominations? wouldest not thou be angry with us till thou hadst consumed us, so that there should be no remnant nor escaping? (Ezra 9:12-14)

This is Ezra warning the children of Israel NOT to fall back into sin again after God delivered them out of captivity when they did not deserve it. These scriptures warn Christians who have received deliverance not to fall back into sin again. After Jesus delivered certain people of demons, He occasionally said, “Go, and sin no more” due to the fact that apparently, the demon entered the person due to his own sin.

Psalm 18 – various verses
I will love thee, O LORD, my strength. The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies. The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid. The sorrows of hell compassed me about: the snares of death prevented me. In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears. …. He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them which hated me: for they were too strong for me. (Demons) They prevented me in the day of my calamity: but the LORD was my stay. He brought me forth also into a large place; he delivered me, because he delighted in me.

The following verses show why the Lord delighted in him, and thus delivered him. The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me. For I have kept the ways of the LORD, and have not wickedly departed from my God. For all his judgments were before me, and I did not put away his statutes from me. I was also upright before him, and I kept myself from mine iniquity. Therefore hath the LORD recompensed me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his eyesight…. He teacheth my hands to war, so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms. (You see, God teaches us to war against the enemy)… I have pursued mine enemies, and overtaken them: neither did I turn again till they were consumed. I have wounded them that they were not able to rise: they are fallen under my feet. For thou hast girded me with strength unto the battle: thou hast subdued under me those that rose up against me. Thou hast also given me the necks of mine enemies; that I might destroy them that hate me. They cried, but there was none to save them: even unto the LORD, but he answered them not. Then did I beat them small as the dust before the wind: I did cast them out as the dirt in the streets. (Notice in these previous scriptures that we are to pursue our enemy and utterly destroy them – that is what we do in the deliverance ministry.)… He delivereth me from mine enemies: yea, thou liftest me up above those that rise up against me: thou hast delivered me from the violent man. Therefore will I give thanks unto thee, O LORD, among the heathen, and sing praises unto thy name. Great deliverance giveth he to his king (we are now kings and priests in Jesus – Rev. 1:6); and sheweth mercy to his anointed, to David, and to his seed for evermore.

Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink: let me be delivered from them that hate me, and out of the deep waters. (Psalm 69:14)

Do you ever feel that your life is stuck in quicksand, or that you’re drowning in deep water? You need deliverance!

He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night (aliens, incubus, succubus, nightmares, etc.); nor for the arrow that flieth by day; Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked. Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation; There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways (we always ask the Lord to send His angels to work for us when we minister). They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet. Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him. With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation. (Psalm 91)

Praise God for His deliverance!

An hypocrite with his mouth destroyeth his neighbour: but through knowledge shall the just be delivered. (Proverbs 11:9)

The key word here is knowledge. We must know what Satan is up to. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 2:11 that we should not be ignorant of Satan’s devices. Hosea 4:6 says that God’s people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Put all this together and you quickly realize how important knowledge about deliverance is.

He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool: but whoso walketh wisely, he shall be delivered. (Proverbs 28:2)

One thing that we pray for frequently at JTD is from the Isaiah 11:2: the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD. There are many scriptures where God counsels us to be wise, so therefore we pray for his wisdom for our ministry.

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. (Luke 4:17-19)

Jesus came “to preach deliverance to the captives”, and then He gave US the authority to tread on serpents and scorpions (Luke 10:19), a metaphor for demons. Put these scriptures together with these scriptures:

And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it. (Matthew 7:26-28)

In other words, if you know Jesus’ will–in this case, to preach, receive and minister deliverance– and do not do His will, you will be likened to a foolish person, and great will be your fall. Meditate on this.

Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father. (Galatians 1:4)

Deliverance is for today – “this present evil world”. Jesus came to deliver us from evil today, not when we die.

Ignore The Devil…At Your Own Risk

Ignore the Devil…at Your Own Risk

For many years I have run into Christians who tell me, “I don’t think about the devil…I only think about Jesus,” or “Don’t talk to me about the devil…talk to me about Jesus,” or, “I ignore the devil…he is not worth my time,” and many similar statements along that vein. The attitude of the Christians who have made such statements to me has been “holier than thou” or know-it-all.

The serpent was in the garden. Satan was cast down to the earth with all his demons before Adam was created, and now he is not only the prince of the power of the air  (Ephesians 2:2), but the god of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4).

Trying to ignore the devil and his demons is like living in a house full of serpents and scorpions crawling around on the floors and trying not to step on them. If the devil was not an innocuous personality, ignoring him might work. However, he is here to steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10). Even the Lord Jesus was tempted of the devil. But unlike most Christians, our Lord was fully aware that he was being tempted and by whom. And He knew how to deal with it.

Christians who ignore the devil are unable to recognize temptation when it comes or realize that the one behind the temptation is the devil. So they fall into the trap, reap the ensuing consequences and still don’t know what hit them when it’s over.

Satan is also behind many human diseases and infirmities that will not get healed unless the spiritual dimension is addressed and dealt with. Those who ignore the devil will have to live with ailments that are demonically caused.

The early Christians did not ignore the devil. Paul said that they were not ignorant of his devices (2 Corinthians 2:11). Paul also said that our battle was with the devil (Ephesians 6:12).

Since Paul was not ignorant of the devil, he not only thought about the devil, but also studied his “modus operandi”. All of us need to do that, but particularly the shepherds of the sheep, who many times tell the congregation to follow their lead in ignoring Satan.

History has shown that shepherds who have ignored the devil and opposed the deliverance ministry have fallen into the worst of temptations. They experienced dire consequences because they could not recognize the temptation or the devil behind it. These shepherds were easy prey with the end result being broken marriages and/or churches damaged or destroyed.

 

Do not ignore the devil!

 

Wherein in times past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience. (Ephesians 2:2)

In whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. (2 Corinthians 4:4)

The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. (John 10:10)

Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices. (2 Corinthians 2:11)

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. (Ephesians 6:12)


Addictions and Compulsions

Addictions and Compulsions

Human beings are composed of spirit, soul and body (I Thessalonians 5:23). Some scholars believe that soul and spirit are one and the same; however the word of God indicates otherwise. Mary, the mother of Jesus, in what is known as The Magnificat (Luke 1:46-47), states that she has a soul and a spirit.

When someone becomes a born-again Christian, his/her spirit is cleansed and filled with the Spirit of God. The soul, however, remains in the same state it was before conversion. So does the body, except in rare circumstances where the act of conversion brings a miracle healing.

The soul is comprised of the mind, the will and the emotions. While the Christian’s spirit cannot be touched by the enemy, the soul and the body can be and often are subject to the enemy’s attack. This is why the Lord Jesus Christ commanded the disciples to preach the Gospel, heal the sick and cast out demons. (Matthew 10:7-8)

The mind, will and emotions can be manipulated by the enemy. The control of the enemy in one of these three areas could be greater than in the other two areas. In the case of addictions and compulsions, the area more heavily manipulated is the will. The will has been surrendered to the enemy. The enemy dictates what the person is going to will.

When we hear the word addiction, we think mainly of drugs or alcohol, possibly gambling. However, people can have other addictions and compulsions, some that are clearly sinful and some not: eating, smoking, sex, pornography, self- stimulation, sports, music, etc. I knew a young woman once who was addicted to aspirin. She was an employee of mine, and she would go through a large bottle of aspirin in a week. Another employee was addicted to soft drinks, and drank about eight or more a day. A Christian woman I knew was addicted to shopping. A “sweet tooth” is nothing more than an addiction to sugar.

People addicted might not realize that they are addicted until they try to stop the addiction. Then they realize that they are not in charge of themselves. They cannot do what they want to do. The strongman that manipulates their will is the one in charge.

To be delivered from the addiction, the person needs to realize that there is an evil entity controlling their will, and they need to believe that Jesus Christ can set them free from that evil entity. The person needs to submit their will to Jesus Christ and have the resolve to walk away from the addiction. Next, the strongman must be cast out. Thus deliverance will be accomplished. However, the enemy will try to come back, but the person must resist. (James 4:7)

And the very god of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit, soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Thessalonians 5:23)

My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my savior. (Luke 1: 46, 47)

And as you go, preach, saying, the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely you have received, freely give. (Matthew 10: 7, 8)

Submit yourselves therefore to God; resist the devil, and he will flee from you. (James 4:7)