PSALM 100

A Psalm for Thanksgiving.

Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth. Serve the Lord with gladness; Come before Him with joyful singing. Know that the Lord Himself is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Enter His gates with thanksgiving  and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him, bless His name. For the Lord is good; His loving kindness is everlasting and His faithfulness to all generations.

Americans celebrated Thanksgiving yesterday. My guess is that few really took time away from cooking, early Black Friday shopping, and football to truly give thanks to the Lord for His blessings. This psalm of David reminds us of the power and the promptings for giving thanks. It is written in the context of the tabernacle since the temple had not yet been built in the days of David and may be instructive to us as believers who should make every day a day of thanksgiving.

The tabernacle, and later the temple, was a place where God could dwell among his people without his presence devastating them. Both God and his people knew that he did not dwell in tents or buildings made by man but somehow a part of his presence rested in the Holy of Holies so that representatives of the people could come before him for direction, provision, and spiritual cleansing.

A key verse in Psalm 100 declares that we should enter His gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise. This language symbolizes the act of drawing close to the Father. It symbolizes entering the gate of the tabernacle and moving into the courts or open places of the tabernacle as they progressed toward the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies. Of course, only the high priest could enter that room but the people could move into the courts where they could praise the Lord and seek his blessings.

Notice that “thanksgiving” gained entrance into courts where sacrifices, praise, and prayer could be offered. A thankful heart adjusts our mind so that we can come before the Lord with a perspective that opens the gates of heaven to us. David invites us, as God’s people, to shout joyfully, serve with gladness, and sing with joy before Him. That doesn’t happen unless we recognized the goodness of God and the blessings of God in our lives.

It is the recognition of God’s goodness and presence in our lives that creates a heart of thanksgiving, which then produces joy and gladness. It is the recognition that God is our shepherd and that we are his people that sets our compass toward him. As our shepherd he is committed to protect us, care for us, lead us, and provide for us. We need to constantly sense those things in our lives as expressions of his love for us so that thanksgiving and joy mark our lives.

That is not to say that we never struggle, never experience loss, never wither under the attacks of the enemy, or never wonder where our shepherd is on occasion. We live in enemy territory, we wander away from the flock at times, and we long for a peace and sense of security that will not be fully ours until we are home with Him. And yet, in the midst of these struggles God’s grace and expressions of love are still there if we look for them. In the 23^rd Psalm, David declared that God prepared a table for him in the midst of his enemies. David knew hardship, betrayal, loss, and the constant threat of death – yet he still saw the hand of God caring for him in the midst of all that. He still saw expressions of God’s love and faithfulness while hiding out in caves rather than sitting in a palace.

It is in those moments that we need a heart of thanksgiving more than ever. Thanksgiving opens the door to a closer walk with God and a heavenly perspective that produces more faith and even peace in the chaos of life on a fallen planet. Several years ago, I heard Bill Johnson say that we need to focus on what God has done for us rather than what he has not yet done for us. That thought has really stuck with me and is, I believe, the key to thanksgiving which is the very thing that keeps our hearts navigating toward God. So…if all the celebrations got in the way yesterday, today is just as good a day for some serious thanksgiving. Be blessed and notice your blessings even in the dark moments of life.

Enough about curses. In this last segment on words, let’s move on to the empowering and encouraging aspect of our words. God has placed us on this planet and called us into his kingdom to rule on his behalf. In order to do that, he has given us authority and authority is expressed through words.

Jesus came as a man. His most used self-descriptor in the gospels was Son of Man. One of the reasons he came as a man was to demonstrate the life that each of us can have as we walk in fellowship with the Father. What Jesus did, we can do. Jesus lived a life as a representative of the Father expressing his authority and directing the power of heaven through his words.

Through words he commanded men to be healed, demons to depart, the dead to come forth, storms to cease, lepers to be cleansed, blind eyes to see, and lame men to leap. His words released the power of heaven into situations on earth. His words were powerful because he was declaring the Father’s will over individuals and circumstances. Jesus said, “For I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it” (Jn.12:49). Remember God’s word to Isaiah. “So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it” (Isa.55:11). When God’s word goes forth it will accomplish his purposes whether from the lips of the Father, his Son, or those who represent him – his sons and daughter’s on the earth.

If it is a specific word and a fresh word from the Lord it is powerful. If it is a declaration, a prayer, or a command that expresses his will as revealed in scripture it is also powerful. Our words release God to fulfill his intentions on the earth. We do not control God but God, in his own sovereignty, has determined to rule in partnership with his people and, in many cases, he waits on us to declare his word over circumstances he wishes to change before he acts. Most of us understand that concept when it comes to healing or deliverance or provision. But what about the process of shaping the lives of people?

God’s word is compared to a seed in numerous places in the scripture. It goes forth carrying an innate power to produce life. In the right environment it will grow and bear abundant fruit. Many prophetic words are words that God is broadcasting with the potential to produce what has been declared if they are accompanied by faith and obedience. Sometimes the faith is in the one who receives the word. Sometimes the faith is in the one who declares the word.

Speaking life over people is simply declaring God’s will and God’s truth over a person. Like watering a seed, we are calling out the potential for good and greatness that God has placed in every person. We are calling out their destiny in Christ. Our words, because we have authority, impart power to that potential. When we encourage one another, build up one another, or bless one another we are imparting power to the potential God has placed in each of his children. When we call out gifts, faith, leadership, salvation, success, or godliness in others we are releasing the work of the Spirit in those individuals to produce what we are calling out. That is speaking life over others (or ourselves) rather than death. That is blessing rather than cursing. We are doing more than expressing sentiment; we are releasing the power of heaven because we represent heaven. This is especially true as we declare life and destiny over children.

So…measure your words. Be intentional. Be life-giving. Words matter because they have power. Recognize the power God has placed in your mouth and use it to administer God’s grace in every life and every situation – including your own and be blessed!

Words Matter (Part 5) – More About Curses

Biblically, there are two sources of curses. One is the result of persistent and unrepented sin on the part of a person, a family, or a nation. The other source is a spoken curse established by our own words or the words of another. If you read through Deuteronomy 28, you will see that God established certain consequences for obedience and disobedience to the covenant he established with his people. Obedience brought an array of blessings while disobedience triggered an array of curses. Those curses manifested in the form of crop failures, financial woes, oppression by others, health issues, problems with pregnancies, drought, defeat, mental illnesses, and so forth. God also established a principle that the children would experience the punishment of their Father’s sins to the third and fourth generation (see Ex. 20:5).

These consequences are called curses and some of those curses may be attached to families for generations. I do not believe that God is the source of these evils since by nature he is good and he is light and in him is no darkness at all (1 Jn. 1:5). Since Adam turned his dominion, planet earth, over to Satan, God’s people have lived behind enemy lines. Satan is always poised to kill, steal, and destroy anything or anyone that God loves. There are times when our persistent sins, our rebellion, and our pride force God to lift his hand of protection that has restrained Satan because our actions have given Satan a legal right to come after us. We experience Satan’s attacks as curses. Paul expressed that reality in his letter to the Galatians. “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.         The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life” (Gal.6:7-8). Consequences operate in the spiritual realm as well as in the natural realm. God warns us and even pleads with us not to open ourselves up to curses. The biblical pattern for breaking these sin curses is to acknowledge our sin or the sins of our Fathers, repent of our sins, renounce the sins that have brought the curse, and then to nullify those curses in the name of Jesus who became a curse for us that we might be blessed. There is an entire chapter on curses and vows in my book Born to Be Free if you want more detail on that.

In addition to sin curses are word curses. In a sense, the words of man have creative power. God spoke the universe into existence with words. Man is made in his image and although that image has been diminished by sin, remnants of his nature are still reflected in all men. Our words can create by setting forces in motion that establish the very things we spoke. We pray and we declare God’s word over situations and people with faith that he will establish what we prayed or declared when our words express his will. That is true because God has given his people authority. But Satan can also give authority to those who walk with him. In my last blog, I mentioned Balaam who had the capacity to inflict curses on others. We are told in Joshua 13:22 that Balaam practiced sorcery or divination. In other words, he called on demonic powers to enforce his curses.

We have no need to fear curses. The bible tells, “Like a fluttering sparrow or a darting swallow, an undeserved curse does not come to rest” (Prov.26:2). In other words, curses spoken by others don’t have the power to affect us if we walk with the Father and keep our hearts and words aligned with Him. However, most of us have seasons where our walk is more of a stagger and in those seasons we may be open to a curse spoken by others. Since we have authority, our own words may act as curses when we pronounce judgments and negative outcomes over ourselves. If we have opened ourselves up then repentance, renouncing the sin or the words, and the blood and authority of Christ is sufficient to nullify any curses. Each time Israel fell under a season of cursing because of disobedience, repentance and renouncing broke the curses and opened up a season of God’s blessings again. As our hearts turn to the Father, he is able to place his hand of protection and blessing over us again.

What we need to remember, however, is that we can be aligned with God in 90% of our lives but if we have reserved 10% for the flesh, secret addictions, unforgiveness, etc. that 10% makes us vulnerable to curses spoken by others. Our own words always have authority to establish curses. Again…I don’t believe that a single utterance will open us up to a curse but if we persist in sin or negative words we may find ourselves being oppressed and afflicted by the enemy. Words matter and so we want to speak only as Jesus would speak and always speak life over others and ourselves. Be blessed!

With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. James 3:10

When we speak of cursing today we usually think of swearing or cussing or simply saying hateful things to someone with whom we are angry. In our minds we limit the damage to hurt feelings or broken relationships. The Bible views curses as much more serious because they have a spiritual dimension to them.

In Numbers 22, we find an interesting account. Israel had moved into the region of Moab. Balak, the king of Moab, felt threatened by their presence. He went to a man named Balaam and declared, “Now come and put a curse on these people, because they are too powerful for me. Perhaps then I will be able to defeat them and drive them out of the country. For I know that those you bless are blessed, and those you curse are cursed” (Num.22:6) But God said to Balaam, “Do not go with them. You must not put a curse on those people, because they are blessed” (Num.22:12).

Balak had seen the power of Balaam’s words over people and situations. Those over whom he spoke blessings seemed to be blessed and those over whom he had spoken curses seemed to be cursed. The interesting thing is that God took him seriously and instructed him to speak a curse over those whom God had blessed. How do we make sense of that in our world?

It is not that words have power in themselves but they have authority to set things in motion in the spiritual realm. A curse releases forces in the spiritual realm to come against a man, a family, or a nation to work for negative outcomes in the natural realm. Before you write that notion off, think of a curse as a kind of prayer. We pray to God and ask him to set forces in motion to bring blessings and positive outcomes to ourselves, our families, and people we care about. We pray for health, provision, protection, direction and all kinds of things and expect God to mobilize his angels or to work through his Spirit to create positive outcomes for those we bless.

A curse is a kind of a prayer than mobilizes forces in the spiritual realm to hinder blessings and bring about negative outcomes in the life of the individual over which it has been spoken and Satan is very eager to take the curse as his authority to come against those who have been cursed. Satan is always poised to kill, steal and destroy and he is simply looking for the legal right to do so. A curse may give him that right.

If you are reading this blog, you probably already believe in the God-given authority of believers to command, declare, and pray for kingdom outcomes in lives, situations and nations. If our words have authority, how much more should we guard our words so that we do not release a curse over others either purposely or carelessly. We should always speak blessings because our words can set demonic forces in motion to enforce any curse we speak over others. As I have already said in this series, we may not take our words seriously but the spiritual realm does.

Our words don’t have to be formal curses. They can simply be expressions of ill will or judgments over others: Your worthless! You’ll never amount to anything! I wish you were dead! You’re going to end up in prison just like your worthless father! Etc. We can even speak curse over ourselves in the same tone. I don’t believe every careless word is enforced as a curse by demons but I do believe that if we say it often enough or with enough venom, the demonic realm may answer. I also know that there are man and women today who do pronounce formal curses over God’s work and God’s people. Maybe someone has even spoken a curse over you or your family even in past generations. I will discuss that in our next blog. Until then, be a constant source of blessing even toward your enemies (see Luke 6:27-28).

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Ephesians 4:29-31

If we were to take a survey at any church and ask the members what they considered to be “unwholesome talk” they would most likely identify unwholesome as coarse or sexual language. In his statement to the church at Ephesus, however, the apostle Paul seems to include a much wider range of spoken things than that. From the scripture above, we might conclude that Paul thought of unwholesome talk as anything that tore down or diminished a person rather than building him or her up.

That view seems to be confirmed by the list of things Paul commands us to jettison from our lives…bitterness, rage, anger, brawling and slander, and every form of malice. Malice means to hold ill-will or spitefulness toward another person. So, things we might blurt out in anger or words we might share over coffee that slandered another person’s reputation or character (gossip) would fall under the umbrella of unwholesome words. Put-downs, constant criticism, or sarcasm would also find their way into this category of words that tear down rather than building up.

The gist of the command is that we should be a people whose words constantly build up the people around us and that call out the best in them. To do less grieves the Holy Spirit who lives within us. Unwholesome words grieve the Spirit because they are contrary to his character and his nature. In a world of hurt, our words should always be a source of healing. The wise man said, “Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing” (Prov. 12:18). James said it this way, “With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring?” (Ja.3:9-11). Salt water kills living plants and humans while fresh water brings life. Our words should impart life because our God is a God of life.

Words matter because they have the power to build up or tear down. The heart of God is to build up and the to call out the destiny and greatness he has placed inside every human being. Whatever your emotional or relational struggles are in life they usually relate to early experiences of rejection, constant criticism, abuse, or fear. Most of that came in the form of words. Words can wound or words can heal. God calls on us to be encouragers, healers, comforters, and those who build up the people that the world has torn down. Anything short of that falls in the category of unwholesome and honestly constitutes sin. David declared, “I have resolved that my mouth will not sin” (Ps. 17:3). We should resolve the same.

If you want to change the world around you or even want to change yourself, you may want to start with your own words. Examine your words. In one sense, our heart determines our words but in another sense our words affect our hearts. It is a two-way street. The things we speak consistently eventually are written on our hearts. Speak as God would have you speak and you will become more like God in your heart. Speak life not death; encouragement rather than criticism; greatness rather than failure; and words that always build up rather than tearing down. Your words have impact for good or for evil. You choose the fruit that your words produce.

(Thoughts on blessing and cursing in Friday’s blog.)

Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit. You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned. (Matt. 12:33-37)

The last verse in this section of scripture is very sobering. The thought that I might have to give an accounting on Judgment Day for every careless word I have ever spoken should get my attention. Even if I have not given much thought to my words, apparently heaven has. The context of these words is a rebuke by Jesus toward the Pharisees who have just attributed his authority to cast out demons to some alliance with Beelzebub. Jesus then equates their assertions to blasphemy of the Spirit which, I believe, is synonymous with unbelief in the face of a clear work of God.

Jesus goes on to the reveal the significance of these words spoken by the Pharisees which were obviously not well thought out. In this context, Jesus gives us one very significant reason that our words matter so much. Our words, especially our careless words, reveal what is truly in our hearts. We often deny that truth by blurting out something or making some sarcastic or cutting remark and then declaring that we didn’t really mean what we said. I hear that frequently from couples whose marriages are crumbling under the weight of anger and mistrust in the relationship. They often share with me the brutal remarks with which they wounded one another in the heat of their fighting and then say that they were just angry and didn’t really mean what they had said. The one who received the wound, however, is not so quick to dismiss the words that were spoken. The truth is that their words reveal something that is in their heart about their spouse and until that something is changed, the marriage will not truly heal.

In our hearts reside out deepest beliefs. We have a set of beliefs that rest neatly in our mind and in our intellect but those are often our “acceptable” or our “aspirational” beliefs. Those are the beliefs or attitudes we would like to have or believe we should have. Those are the beliefs or attitudes that we show to others and acknowledge as our own. Our actual beliefs are hidden in our hearts. Those show up when we are tempted, angry, afraid, or offended. They show up in our actions that have not been calculated and our careless words that pop out of our mouths in stressful moments or in moments of temptation.

Sometimes, even we wonder where those words or thoughts came from and are surprised by what we just said. David was aware that deep within our hearts we sometimes harbor thoughts or beliefs that are contrary to the mind and heart of God and reflect a part of us that we don’t want to recognize. He prayed, “Search me O God and know my heart. Try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting” (Ps.139:23-24, ESV).

Our words matter because they can reveal the truest thoughts and attitudes of our hearts – even the ones we carefully hide from others who would disapprove or that we deny when confronted about them. My words will acquit us or condemn me because they reveal my heart which then reveals the “true me”. The good news for every believer is that even our hearts are covered by the grace of God and the blood of Christ. That grace reaches even the hidden sin in our hearts and we can take comfort in that.

However, the wisest path is to pay attention to our careless words, our impetuous words, and our angry words because they do reveal the unattractive reality of our fallen nature. We should pay attention and take responsibility for those words and the part of us that is not yet fully submitted to Jesus. We can then acknowledge that part of us, repent of the attitudes or beliefs our words reflect, and submit them to the cross so that the Holy Spirit can then begin to change our heart at the deepest level.

Our careless words, then, can be our allies in discovering what still needs to be aligned with the heart and mind of Christ. They can be our allies in discovering footholds or even strongholds of the enemy. Denying that spontaneous words or actions reflect who we “really are” leaves an unlocked door through which the enemy can enter when we least expect it. The wise man and the spiritual man will acknowledge that some parts of his heart are not yet submitted to Jesus and as he discovers each part, he will gladly lay them at the foot of the cross. That is a key to real transformation in the kingdom of God.

In one sense, God judges his people every day. He judges us not in the sense of condemnation but in the sense of evaluation and then goes to work changing those things that are not aligned with the mind and heart of Jesus. The transforming work of God is much easier and effective when we cooperate. It is easier when we willingly bend to his will rather than resisting. When we resist or deny that we need to change, more pressure must be applied even to the point of breaking. From personal experience I would say it is better to bend that to be broken. Carless words can alert us t the need to bend or can alert God to the need for more pressure. Our choice!  More about “words” on Wednesday.

But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned. Matthew 12:36-37

I want to start a series on “our words” because they have far more impact than we imagine and the spiritual realm takes our words much more seriously than we do. To begin the series I have listed a few verses about our words that you may want to reflect on over the weekend for some devotional time before I start commenting on them. The words of Jesus quoted above are quite sobering so I hope you (we) will take these verses to heart.

 Though you probe my heart and examine me at night, though you test me, you will find nothing; I have resolved that my mouth will not sin. Psalm 17:3

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. Psalm 19:14

Whoever of you loves life and desires to see many good days, keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking lies. Psalm 34:12-13

Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing. Proverbs 12:18

The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit. Proverbs 18:21

When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise. Proverbs 10:19

Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few. Ecc.5:2

 But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. Matthew 15:18

The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks. Luke 6:45

Let no unwholesome talk come out of your mouth but only that which is good for building up the other person according to their needs. Ephesians 4:29

Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark.   The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness.  Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. James 3:5-10

We just concluded a season of what we call Free Indeed at our church in Midland, Texas. Free Indeed consists of eight weeks of study and small group interaction related to finding healing and freedom in Christ. We conclude the eight weeks with a weekend (Freedom Weekend) of inner healing and deliverance. This past weekend we had 60-65 in attendance and when the weekend had concluded about 95% reported that they had received significant healing or deliverance over the weekend. Some of these were new to the faith while others had been believers for decades.

One of our new leadership couples is from South Africa. After experiencing their first Freedom Weekend, I asked them about their observations since they would have seen what we do with fresh, non-American eyes. Both of them were very surprised at the amount of brokenness and bondage (demonization) among so many Christians. What they saw was our typical weekend comprised of people who love the Lord, attend church regularly, and who serve in the church. By the way, a number of participants also come from mainline churches in our area where they attend regularly and serve.

Our South African friends have a legitimate question. Why are there so many broken and demonized believers? I believe it is because the church in America has majored in getting people saved but not sanctified. We have been great at getting people to pray “the sinner’s prayer” but we have not taught them how to wage spiritual war and how to be transformed by the Spirit of Christ.

Over the years, even believing families have accumulated a lot of spiritual baggage that has been passed down from generation to generation. Those who have come to us from the world have typically been abused, molested, involved in sexual sin, and in occult practices – all of which give the enemy an open door into their lives. Very few of these have been taught how to deal with their past, their shame, their secret bondage, or the parts of their lives that are out of control. They have been taught to attend church, give, and serve in the children’s ministry but they have not been taught how to drive the enemy out of the promised land of a transformed life. Many pastors don’t even know how to drive the enemy out of their own lives or marriages so they certainly can’t teach their congregations how to wage war with divine weapons.

As I mentioned earlier, we have a number of believers from other churches who attend Free Indeed – a significant number being pastors, former pastors, or family member of pastors from other churches. They consistently report that they have never received teaching or heard a sermon on the basics of spiritual warfare. In their churches, the demonic realm goes unnoticed and uncommented on so that their people are poorly armed against the assaults and schemes of the enemy. The idea of believers walking in real authority is vague at best. The lack is not intentional. We simply pass on what others have passed on to us. But when you look at the American church something is missing. The lives of many, many Christians don’t stand out all that much when compared to the lives and families of unbelievers. That is evidence of a people who are saved but not sanctified.

Jesus and his followers preached the good news of the kingdom of God and then demonstrated its power through healing, deliverance, raising the dead, and radically changed lives. We should be doing the same. My hope is that more and more believers will soon discover the power of Jesus Christ to not only save them from an eternal hell but also from a hell on earth that many believers experience daily believing that nothing more is available to them until after the funeral. Not so. Jesus is so ready and able to heal and set free now and has done so for many. May we assist him in doing the same for many more.

I consistently encounter Christians who assume that demons cannot afflict believers because we belong to Jesus and have the Holy Spirit living within us. They usually say something to the effect that they don’t believe Christians can be “demon-possessed.” I agree with them. I also don’t believe that Christians can be “possessed” by Satan. “Possession” implies ownership and we are certainly owned and possessed by Jesus Christ who purchased us with his blood.

However, possession and affliction (oppression) are two different things. The only character we see in the gospels that comes close to possession is the man who lived among the tombs who had “Legion” camped out inside of him. Even that man would have been more accurately described as “demonized” rather than possessed and there are many levels of demonization. Mary Magdalene had seven demons cast out of her. Others in the gospels seemed to be afflicted by single spirits.

While we all agree that believers cannot be possessed by demons, many would argue that no demon can attach himself or take up residence within a believer because light (the Holy Spirit) cannot tolerate darkness (the demonic) and so would not allow any demonic presence to abide in the believer. I remember one woman who had witnessed a number of believers experience deliverance at a weekend where we were ministering to the church. She was amazed that so many non-Christians had been in church that weekend seeking deliverance.

Let me say a couple of things about demons taking up residence with believers and, thus, sharing a space with the Holy Spirit. First of all, we need to understand than demonization is not a salvation issue but a sanctification issue. People come to Jesus all the time with tons of sin and baggage in their life that is just as offensive to the Spirit as a demon. We believe that upon their confession of faith they are saved and the Spirit takes up residence within them while sin still remains. Then, the Spirit begins the process of conviction and transformation that will uproot the sin in a believer’s life over time. In the meantime, many immature believers are still struggling with addictions, crazy theology, and sinful behaviors including sexual sin, abuse, lying, etc. The Spirit hates all of those things and yet coexists with them inside the believer. Even mature believers can fall into deep sin and addictions but the Holy Spirit does not abandon them. How different is that from some demonic spirit who has found a foothold within a believer because of free will choices made by that believer or someone who has had authority over that believer?

Remember Paul’s admonition to the church at Ephesus to be angry without sinning. He then warns them not to let the sun go down on that anger, otherwise their refusal to deal with that anger through the cross might well give satan a foothold in their life. The word translated “foothold” carries the idea of a sanctuary for worshipping false gods. When Christians persist in sin without repentance, they can give the enemy a place in their life – a legal right to establish a foothold which can then become a stronghold. The Holy Spirit will not revoke our free will or the consequences of our free will. Just as he remains in the midst of our offensive sins he will remain in the presence of a demon we have chosen so as not to abandon us to the enemy.

The demon does not possess us; he has just carved out a place for himself from which to operate in our lives like a terrorist cell in a city. The terrorists don’t own the city but they will harass, torment, and oppress the city as long as they can. If you have ever had squirrels gain access to your attic, you know that they don’t own or possess your house but they can create havoc there and torment you in the middle of the night with the sounds of chewing and small feet running across your ceiling.

Demons afflict and oppress many believers because they have not been taught how to recognize their presence or how to deal with them. When we should be exercising the authority of Christ to regain the freedom that is ours in Jesus, we send believers off to secular counselors and therapists who will not or cannot touch the spiritual realities that are keeping their clients in bondage. My belief is that the church has a great deal of demonic oppression in it because we have let the enemy go unchallenged for generations. (More about that on Wednesday)

In many churches, demons are relegated to the first century and poorly done Hollywood presentations. If many believers think about them at all, they would imagine them to be in third world countries where idols and temples to false gods abound or where people gather in secret rituals to call up the powers of darkness. In general, they give no thought to demons actively afflicting Christians or operating in high-tech nations where the spiritual realm is only depicted in entertainment forms. But let me assure you that demons are real and very active in America – even in conservative West Texas. And let me assure you that they afflict and oppress many Christians who are unaware of their presence or who may sense their presence but do not know what to do about it.

Today, I’m going to begin a short series on the topic in hope that this may alert some believers to the reality and encourage them to become better equipped in the realm of spiritual warfare. Let me say upfront that I am not encouraging an obsession with the demonic. We are to fix our eyes on Jesus not the enemy and He that is in us is certainly greater than he that is in the world. On the other hand, Paul tells us that we should be aware of Satan’s schemes (2 Cor. 2:11), that our struggles are not against flesh and blood but against spiritual powers and authorities and that we should put on the armor of God so that we can stand against the schemes of the devil (Eph.6:11-12). So…let’s begin.

Demonic spirits are a given in scripture. There is no clear explanation of their origins although there are several theories which all seem to be less than satisfying at some point. Like roaches, it’s not as important to know their origins as to know that they are in your house and to know how to deal with them once they have been discovered.

There is not a great deal of discussion in the Old Testament about demons but it is clear that they existed and operated primarily through false religions and idol worship.  

They shall no more sacrifice their sacrifices to goat-demons, after whom they whore. This shall be a statute forever for them throughout their generations. (Lev.17:7, ESV)

They sacrificed to demons, which are not God—gods they had not known, gods that recently appeared, gods your fathers did not fear. (Dt.32:17)

They worshiped their idols, which became a snare to them. They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons. (Ps.106:36-37)

The law clearly prohibited worship to false God’s and connected that worship to demonic spirits. It is not surprising that demons entice men to worship them since that is a quality of Satan as well. There are plenty of people in America who worship false God’s and offer their sacrifices of time, money, and even their families to them. There are also those in America who participate in satanic rituals, voodoo, white magic, black magic, and other occult practices. All of these summon demons and honor those demons to whom they pray. High-tech America is not exempt from idolatry and false religions including Wicca and numerous other organizations. Involvement in the occult – mediums, tarot cards, astrology, etc. – also invites the presence of demonic spirits.

As you transition from the Old Testament to the gospels, you see a much greater awareness of the demonic. Numerous individuals bring family and friends to Jesus and his followers with a clear sense that those people were being tormented by demons. The response was not to convince them that their friends suffered from some form of mental illness but was to simply drive out the demon with the authority of the Lord backing them up. Jesus and his followers were quite convinced of the reality of demons and even declared that deliverance from demons was evidence that the kingdom had come (see Luke 11:20).

Certainly, not everything is demonic. We live in a fallen world with a fallen nature subject to disease, physiological and psychological conditions, and trauma. That would be enough to deal with but a great deal of what torments people today is also demonic – even among believers. More about that in Monday’s blog.