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.

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)


Religious Spirits

Religious Spirits

When I was a little girl, my non-Christian (yet moral) parents sent me to a private Episcopalian school for my education, and I graduated from there. The Episcopal church was my first taste of God, and I learned quite a bit, Episcopalian-style. I was required to go to a 30-minute chapel service every day that was very structured: stand up, sing, sit down, kneel, stand up, recite the Apostle’s creed, repeat prayers, etc. I did this every weekday, minus summers, nearly all my childhood up until I was 18 years old. I learned to have a very intellectual relationship with God, who was far, far away. I learned to past tests about my knowledge of the Bible, but I really didn’t hide the Word in my heart. (Psalm 119:11)

When I was a teenager, my mother became a born-again Christian and started taking me to Pentecostal, spirit-filled churches that welcomed the spontaneity of the Holy Spirit. I struggled horribly with this. I was unnerved. I thought my mother had lost her mind. I thought the things that went on in these churches were scary and not Godly because this is not what I had been taught through the Episcopalian church. I tried to understand and eventually got some understanding, but I was still bound to most of the religious doctrines I had been taught.

Later, I went to a Baptist college and started dating a Baptist and was seeped in the Baptist doctrines, taking tests again on my Bible knowledge to pass college classes. Even later I married a Methodist and went to the Methodist church.

I was a mess of doctrines and teachings and confusion. Deep inside of me I had a feeling that the Holy Spirit-directed kind of churches, no matter how bizarre to me, hit the mark more closely than anything else. Yet, I could not, no matter how I tried, raise my hands up to God comfortably as is the custom in the churches we were visiting, (see Nehemiah 8:6; Psalm 28:2, 63:4, 134:2, 141:2; Lamentations 3:41; I Timothy 2:8). I could not speak in other tongues, I certainly would never allow myself to be “slain in the Spirit”!

I was torn between two worlds. I would try going to the denominational churches and I would leave unsatisfied. I would be bored with the teaching. I would not feel the presence of God in those types of churches (sorry, no offense). Yet when I went to the charismatic churches, I was uncomfortable there too. I felt like a fish out of water. In my mind, I knew that Jesus said in Mark 16:

17 And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; 18 they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.

I knew what happened to the believers when the Holy Spirit came upon them in Acts 2:

4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

I knew the writings of Paul about the gifts of the Spirit in I Corinthians 12:

1 Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant: 2 You know that you were Gentiles, carried away to these dumb idols, however you were led. 3 Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit. 4 There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. 6 And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. 7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: 8 for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, 10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.

But all these scriptures were never taught to me at my school. I couldn’t reconcile the scriptures with my well-entrenched religious paradigms. I struggled with this until my mid 30s.

In my mid to late 30s, events started happening in my life that caused me to start waking up out of my spirit of stupor (Romans 11:8) to start seeking God more earnestly. As I started reading my Bible (for the first time not just to pass a test), I found this very telling scripture, where Jesus quoted Isaiah in both Matthew and Mark (so this is mentioned three times in the Bible – pay attention!)

8 These people draw near to Me with their mouth, And honor Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me. 9 And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.

Jesus says the commandments of men, the doctrines of men are useless in worshipping Him and having intimacy with Him. So, had I been taught wrongly? Yes!

Because of all the well-meaning teachings of the schools I went to, I had developed strongholds in my mind of the way God and “religion” should be. I had put God in this neat little package and any deviance from that was unacceptable. (See our Paradigms article.) I even remember this very Jezebellic voice in my head telling me when my mother had become a Christian, “What does SHE know? YOU have been going to church ALL your life!” I remember being split about this – on one hand, I thought, “That’s right!” On the other hand, I thought, “She’s my mother and a good one – what do I know?!?” At the time, I did not know that was a demon trying to sow discord between me and my mother.

The religious strongholds I had created had allowed demons to enter me who would not let me have my freedom in the Lord. They would not let me worship God with all my heart and all my soul and all my strength. It was a huge internal battle I faced for many years, until the stronghold started weakening through seeking and study and prayer and understanding.

One day I was reading my Bible and I came across this scripture in Matthew 6:

7 And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words. 8 “Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him. 9 In this manner, therefore, pray: (What is known as The Lord’s prayer follows).

I felt impressed that the vain repetitions (such as reciting the Lord’s prayer, as I did day after day at Episcopalian chapel) may cause religious spirits to enter you. Because Jesus said, “Do NOT use vain repetitions,” and when you do something that Jesus said NOT to do, the demons have a legal right to enter you. You see, the Lord’s Prayer became a vain repetition to me. I could say it backward, forward, sideways because I had said it without meaning day after day for a decade. I could say it while thinking about something else. It didn’t mean anything to me any more. And, Jesus gave what we call “The Lord’s prayer” as a model. He said to pray “in this manner”, not “these exact words over and over again”.

When I finally understood with my mind, I could have the religious spirits cast out of me. And then what freedom came to me! I had tremendous joy! I could go to a spirit-filled church, raise my hands, sing at the top of my lungs, dance if I wanted to and just generally be a fool for God! One of my favorite scriptures, from someone who had no religiosity was from II Samuel 6:

21 So David said to Michal, It was before the LORD, who chose me instead of your father and all his house, to appoint me ruler over the people of the LORD, over Israel. Therefore I will play music before the LORD. 22 And I will be even more undignified than this, and will be humble in my own sight.

So, are you having trouble achieving the level of intimacy that you want with God? Do you want to hear His voice but can’t? Do you want to move in the supernatural (God’s world) but feel that something is holding you back? Maybe you need to deal with religious spirits and strongholds.

Warning signs that you might have a religious spirit (not an exhaustive list):

  • You drop names of all the TV evangelists like they’re your personal friends.
  • You’re jealous of someone else’s spiritual gifts.
  • You cop a holier than thou attitude.
  • You find yourself being critical of the Christian things that your Christian friends say or do.
  • You ask everyone to pray for you about the slightest little distresses.
  • You feel compelled to tell everyone about your latest mission trip.
  • Your mind is closed to any new teachings/revelations about the God/Jesus/The Holy Spirit/The Kingdom of Heaven, etc.
  • You preach the gospel to people who you know are already saved, baptized and filled with the Spirit.
  • You question and argue over any testimony or any revelation another Christian had.
  • You say “I have to pray about that” without really meaning it, and for any inconsequential thing, such as a friend inviting you to lunch.
  • You have thoughts or you say things like these:
    – “I’ve heard ALL the teachings.”
    – “I know what my Bible says better than anyone.”
    – “You can’t tell me something I don’t already know.”
    – “I went to Bible College.”
    – “I never missed a Sunday school class all my years growing up.”
    – “I watch Christian television 24/7.”
    – “I’m special. My parents (grandparents, etc.) were missionaries.”
    – “I’m one of the ‘chosen’” (if you’re Jewish).