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.

All The World’s a Stage

All The World’s a Stage

Shakespeare said, “All the world’s as stage” in his play, “As You Like It”. Well, perhaps he had more insight into the reality of this statement than we may have ever given him credit for.

I was listening to a teaching about the time that Jesus walked upon the Sea of Galilee in the middle of a huge storm in which the disciples thought they were going to die. The scriptures say that “He would have passed by them” had they not called to Him for help. I thought, wow, was He just out for a casual stroll and didn’t notice the disciples needed help desperately? He was cool as a cucumber, which made me ponder the situation.

All of the sudden, the Lord gave me one of those capsule forms of the Word of Knowledge where in an instant you have some explosive insight into something scriptural. I pictured Jesus calmly walking upon this raging sea toward the boat that was about to be capsized with the totally-soaked disciples frantically bailing water, trying to keep the sail from ripping, hanging on for dear life and screaming out to Jesus in a sheer terror. Freeze frame.

What the Lord showed me was why He was so calm. He showed me the relationship between the spiritual and the physical world – it’s like a play or the theater. I had a vision of Jesus on the stormy see with the stormy sky all around, except that behind him the scene morphed into what looked like the backstage of a theater with cast and crew running frantically around to make sure the play keeps moving and things get ready for the next act.

I felt like the parable I was seeing was that the stage represents the physical world. It is what the audience sees (we’re the audience) – that’s all they can see – what’s before their eyes. Back stage is the spiritual world – what the audience can’t see, that is creating what is going on onstage – and what’s going on back stage is more real than what is happening on the stage. What is happening on the stage is secondary, almost unreal – it’s fake – a play is just pretend.

The disciples were the audience and they were very caught up in the play. They saw Jesus and this tremendous storm. Jesus represented the actor on the stage, in control of the audience, and the stage hands were creating the storm with their special effects to frighten the audience and convince them that the storm is deadly. But Jesus remained perfectly calm about the storm because He knew what was causing the storm, He knew it was just part of the play, and that everything was under control – His control. And, He also knew what was going on back stage: hundreds of people running around, getting ready for the next scene, applying makeup, moving lights, getting props ready, sound technicians, special effects personnel, etc. The stage hands are the metaphor for spirits: demons and angels.

I said earlier that what was going on back stage was more real than what was happening onstage. That’s because the spirit world is more real than the physical world. The physical world was created FROM the spirit world, not the other way around. In this particular story in Scripture, this storm was caused by demon spirits who didn’t want Jesus and the disciples to cross the Sea of Galilee to go to the land of Gad. Because when He arrived there, the people were excited to see Him and brought everyone who needed healing to Him, and the scriptures say He healed everyone. The demons didn’t want that to happen, thus the cause of the storm.

So to summarize, the audience, the disciples, couldn’t see back stage-they couldn’t see the spiritual world that Jesus could. But Jesus was trying to teach them something in the short time He was with them. In this case, He was trying to make them understand the power of God that would soon be theirs to command once He died on the cross, resurrected and ascended into Heaven to sit at the right hand of the Father. They would soon have the power to change the next act as He did when He calmed the storm. “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.” (John 14:12)

As Christians, we have the power to change the next act. We have the power to command the stagehands (we can ask the Lord to send angels to work for us, we can command demons to depart in Jesus’ name, and we can speak to the mountain and cast it into the sea). Therefore, those who believe the Word fully, trust the Lord completely, do not fear as the Lord commanded, and are doers of the Word have the power to take authority over the spiritual realm and make it manifest in the physical realm. We have to remember that the storms are there only to attempt to scare us and crumble our faith. They are nothing as long as we keep our mind on Jesus.

You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You. (Isaiah 26:3)

About Pastoral Madness

About Pastoral Madness

It is in the news. Pastors and evangelists who keep asking for money but live lavishly. They have, and they want more. Excessive spending on luxuries for their ministries and personal lives. Not a clear-cut line where the expenses for ministries end and personal expenses begin. So much so that a Congressional investigation has started, and those investigated claim separation of church and state as a shelter to continue their financial operations. Although high-profile ministers have come to the attention of officials, there are many more ministries that operate similarly but on a lesser scale.

More news: Ministers who divorce and continue ministering, with the approval of the congregation.

Not long after a lavish, spectacular wedding of a high-profile ministerial couple, the pastor-husband beats his evangelist-wife publicly. He is arrested, and after legal proceedings, comes back to the pulpit and receives a standing ovation from his congregation. Not only is there Pastoral Madness, but there also seems to be “congregation madness”!

Another high-profile couple co-pastoring a church divorces. The woman continues appearing on her TV program, and is offered a nice position with another ministry. The man does not miss a beat pastoring his church.

Not very old news: A highly influential, mega-church pastor is accused of homosexual activity by his homosexual partner, who also exposed the pastor’s alleged drug use. A few months after he stepped down from the pulpit, he wanted his “followers” to provide financial support for him and his wife to go college to obtain a certain degree.

Old news: A famous pastor is caught with a prostitute. This judgmental pastor was judging others while visiting prostitutes. His sexual escapade makes the news, he repents on national TV with tears streaming down his face, and later, he is caught with the prostitute again. He is still pastoring.

Old news, about the same time as above: A married couple with a large ministry and a very much watched TV program cry and moan for more money constantly or the program is going to fold. A financial mess is uncovered. An investigation uncovering excessive spending hits the news, where it became a joke that their dogs have air-conditioned dog houses. Jail time for him. Divorce. The woman marries the pastor’s best friend. He is out of jail and has started a ministry again, with a television show.

More stories like these are happening across the country in smaller, less famous churches and ministries. These stories rarely get in print, but there are many. What is happening to the churches?

 

Pastoral Madness!

 

I am one of those persons whom pastors like to call church-hoppers. But here is the catch: because I am in the deliverance ministry, many pastors don’t want me in their church. I have been kicked out of some churches. From others, God led me out, but not soon enough–I wanted to leave, but He would not let me go until He showed me something that He wanted me to learn.

I learned about Pastoral Madness in a very small church, rather financially poor. I had visited the church, and I did not like it–it looked dirty, and the children were not disciplined. God made me go to that church anyway. As I started observing some anomalies, I wanted to leave. The Lord said “No.” This was repeated several times, as I was seeing more and more things that disturbed me. I finally became disgusted with the pastor and desperately wanted to leave.

One day, the pastor’s face came to my mind, like a vision. This happened a few times thereafter. I did not want his face on my mind. Because of my experience in the deliverance ministry, I discerned a demon giving me that vision, so I called a friend for deliverance.

As soon as she told the demon to manifest, it did. She asked his name and he did not want to give it. She asked how he entered and he said “through her pastor”. She asked the name of the demon’s boss and he said “Pastoral Madness”. I was delivered of that demon and the vision did not return.

Now if you think this is far out and I don’t have scriptural backing, read this:

And it came to pass also on another sabbath, that he entered into the synagogue and taught: and there was a man whose right hand was withered. And the scribes and Pharisees watched him, whether he would heal on the sabbath day; that they might find an accusation against him. But he knew their thoughts, and said to the man which had the withered hand, Rise up, and stand forth in the midst. And he arose and stood forth. Then said Jesus unto them, I will ask you one thing; Is it lawful on the sabbath days to do good, or to do evil? to save life, or to destroy it? And looking round about upon them all, he said unto the man, Stretch forth thy hand. And he did so: and his hand was restored whole as the other. And they were filled with madness; and communed one with another what they might do to Jesus. (Luke 6:6-11)

10 But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous are they, selfwilled, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities. 11 Whereas angels, which are greater in power and might, bring not railing accusation against them before the Lord. 12 But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption; 13 And shall receive the reward of unrighteousness, as they that count it pleasure to riot in the day time. Spots they are and blemishes, sporting themselves with their own deceivings while they feast with you; 14 Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: an heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children: 15 Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; 16 But was rebuked for his iniquity: the dumb ass speaking with man’s voice forbad the madness of the prophet. 17 These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever. 18 For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error. 19 While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage. 20 For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. 21 For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. 22 But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire. (2 Peter 2:10-22)

The first scripture refers to the Pharisees. They were accurate in all matters referring to the law; however, their thoughts were about murdering Jesus. Jesus knew it, and asked them if it was lawful to save life or to destroy it. They, the “ecclesiastical” group, were filled with madness.

The second scripture refers to a prophet filled with madness. In both scriptures, it shows that men who were spiritual leaders were filled with madness. In the first case, because of spiritual jealousy and a desire for power. In the second case, because of greed.

What the Lord showed me.

I came back home wondering about that Pastoral Madness demon. I felt I was released to leave the church. Then the Lord explained to me that Pastoral Madness is the demon that corrupts religious leaders, and he does it this way:

1- The demon starts by building the pastor’s ego. The demon speaks to the pastor’s mind telling him he is an important person now.

2- Next, he tells the pastor that he is one of God’s favorites, that he is special. The pastor starts feeling that he is superior to the congregation. This is the teaching of the Nicolaitians: clergy and laity. (Revelation 2:15)

3- The demon picks people from the congregation to start idolizing the pastor. In their eyes, the pastor can’t do any wrong. They laugh at all the pastor’s jokes, and applaud for any little thing the pastor says or does from the pulpit. This keeps building up the pastor’s ego.

4- The demon tells the pastor he deserves more salary, a luxury car, a bigger building, a TV program. The congregation starts feeling the pressure to give more and more money.

5- The demon tells the pastor that he is special, anointed, chosen, elected, and that in this exalted status he can do some things that are prohibited to other people, but not to him, of course. The demons tells him that he is so pleasing to God that he can get away with anything.

6- The pastor starts demanding more giving from the congregation. He might imply or even say outright that those who withhold their money will be cursed. By this time he is also thinking that his wife has not kept up with him, that she does not look the part, perhaps he made a mistake in marrying her, and this is not the woman that God had for him.

7- The pastor starts feeling he needs bodyguards, who not only keep him safe outside, but also keep members of the congregation away from him when he leaves the pulpit.

8- Due to his TV program, the pastor starts to become known, and he starts to be invited to speak in out-of-town places. Coach travel is no longer acceptable, only first-class will do. Later he feels he deserves to rent a private airplane, then buy his own airplane.

9- He now feels he needs a new wife, because his first wife is not a match for him. After all, he is not the same person that he was before. Now he is important, famous and rich. He has a chauffeur, a pilot and bodyguards. He needs a trophy wife.

I hesitated to write this next part, but this has been in the media lately: because a divorce does not look good for their careers, some pastors murder their wives, making it look as a suicide. In their madness, they believe murder is a better solution than divorce. About 15 or 20 years ago, there was a case in Dallas about a pastor who wanted to be bishop. He had been having an affair with a beautiful prophetess, the daughter of a bishop. He planned the murder of his wife, and created his alibi by using his car phone to leave messages on his home answering machine where he gave the time of each call, creating the illusion that there’s no way he could have murdered his wife as he was calling from his car phone at the time of the murder. However, the phone records showed that when he was leaving messages saying what time it was, it was not the correct time. He was the primary suspect, and there was a lengthy trial. Because of lack of evidence, he was freed. He moved to California and found a job at a church there. This is how far Pastoral Madness can go.

Pastoral Madness may be in a pastor from the beginning of his calling. I have ministered to poor and humble pastors in Mexico, and I have cast out Pastoral Madness from them. I was surprised, because I really did not expect them to have it. But greed, adultery and desire for fame and recognition can work their way into a soul no matter the financial status of man.

In my experience, the majority of spiritual leaders reject the deliverance ministry. They explain their position with cliches such as “we are Christ-minded, not devil-minded”, ignoring the fact that a large part of Jesus’ ministry was deliverance. Because of their rejection of this ministry and the erroneous belief that “Christians don’t have demons”, they succumb to the wiles of the devil, because they have not been trained to recognize the devil’s traps, much less combat them. Thus, instead of being overcomers, they become losers in the warfare. It becomes the case of the blind leading the blind.

The Game of Life

The Game of Life

This is the story of a woman gambler who lost the game of life. I am going to call her Consuela. We were both from Cuba. Consuela invited her Cuban friends to come over once a week to play cards.

One day, Consuela had an accident with a leg injury, leaving her unable to drive, so she invited me, my mother, and another lady named Martha to play cards at her house.

Consuela knew I was a Spirit-filled Christian. The other ladies were Catholic, and Consuela explained to me that her husband was an atheist and did not let her practice Catholicism or anything else.

One day at her house, I asked her if she would let me pray for her legs. She agreed, and I asked her to sit straight up in her chair so I could lift her legs and see if they were the same length. The legs were obviously different lengths, in the amount of an inch or so. My mother and Martha were around us watching closely, and they saw the difference.

I prayed for her legs, and there was a sudden movement as both legs became the same length. Consuela said excitedly that she could feel a pull in one of her legs. Her eyes were like saucers, I guess from trying to decide whether to believe the miracle or not. Martha, on the other hand, started walking in circles with her hands in her face, crying “Oh, my God!!” non-stop. My mother bit her lip, and I could see her mind going at full speed looking for an explanation that was logical and earthly, and not finding any, she went back to her chair and sat in silence.

The whole group of card-playing ladies really never fully accepted me because I was “a holy roller”. I had written a booklet especially for them which I titled, “A Letter To My Catholic Friends”. It was intended to explain why I was not a Catholic. I had it printed and gave one booklet to each lady. My supernatural testimony was there, which was enough for someone to ask some questions, but it elicited only one comment from one lady who did not agree with me on one minor point.

About two years later Consuela invited a new friend to her house and threw a party so she could introduce her new friend to us.

Not long after that, I went to Consuela’s house with a relative of mine who had not been there. Consuela wanted to show her the house (I went along for the tour) and she opened a cabinet door where there was a hidden altar. She promptly shut the door, but I can’t believe she had forgotten that the altar was there. It was almost like she wanted me to see it.

I knew what this altar was. It was a Santeria altar, Santeria being a specific form of witchcraft from Cuba. I acted as if I did not see it and did not question her about it.

She already had experienced the power of the Lord Jesus Christ and the miracle on her leg done in His name, and she never mentioned it or asked any questions about it. I realized that the new friend was inducing her into Santeria.

Consuela had always been an avid card player. She was the one who insisted on playing for money. Although she was very affluent, she would get angry if she did not win.

At our table, she was the best player, and I came in a close second. But I played primarily so I could bring my mother, as this was her only weekly outing and she enjoyed it. Secondly, because I enjoyed solving any kind of puzzles like card games. And thirdly, because of the fellowship.

I did not mind if I lost, but I tried to play the best I could. This was a dumb card game, the kind that children play. It was nothing like poker or bridge–just a step up from Old Maid.

We had played the same card game every week, and by now I knew the average time it took to win a game. One day, Consuela started to win games faster than normal. I found it strange and started observing her. When it was her turn, she would pick a card from the pile in expectation. And sure enough, it was the card she needed. I would watch her lay her cards down with an expression of triumph in her face.

I got a funny feeling, like there was something abnormal happening. Just then, the Holy Spirit told me, “witchcraft!” Very low, and shielding my face with the cards in my hand, I said, “I break the power of this witchcraft, in the name of Jesus.”

Things started to change. I watched her. The cards she was picking were not as she expected. At the beginning she showed unbelief, as if there was something wrong. Then she got angry.

I can’t remember who won that game. I went home and forgot all about it.

The next time we played, she started winning right away. She would lay her cards down when the rest of us were barely starting. Then I remembered what happened the week before, and again I commanded the power of witchcraft to be broken in the name of the Lord Jesus.

This time, Consuela knew it was not a coincidence. She started looking around the table, and she zeroed in on me. She knew I had done it, got very angry, and did not want to play with me again. She formed a new table with other ladies and left me and my mother out.

I wonder about those poor ladies losing every game they played, not knowing what was really happening.

Consuela had made a pact with the devil to satisfy her desire to win. A pact with the devil, selling her soul for four dollars a game. And that, after witnessing the power of God in her own body.

Recently I saw her at a restaurant with a young lady. When she looked at me, I saw fear in her face. She left the restaurant as fast as she could after finishing her meal.

I hope something happens that causes her to repent and bring Jesus into her life. If that does not happen, I wish her a very, very long life.