Inevitably, when we minister deliverance to men and women who are severely tormented, we find that those individuals have a vague sense of who they are in Christ. They know the biblical answers – they are forgiven, redeemed, sons and daughters of God, priests in the Kingdom, appointed, anointed and so forth.  

But when we get down to it, they know those things in their head but not in their hearts. Satan has filled them with doubts about their salvation, their worthiness, their competency, their standing in the eyes of God, and so forth.  They struggle with forgiving themselves for past failures and believe they are disqualified from the blessings of God.  Through the lies of the enemy, they slip into a mindset that they may be saved, but God can’t use them in any significant way because they are not spiritual giants full of the Spirit of God.

When Satan whispers those lies and we come into agreement with him, he gains access to us and demons are given a permanent assignment against us.  Of course, his first goal is to keep us from accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior. Failing that, however, he gets busy convincing us that we are disqualified from experiencing the blessings of God or serving him in significant ways.  His goal is to keep us from fulfilling our destiny in Christ. 

From him we get a constant drum beat of how inadequate we are, how unacceptable we are, and how disappointed our Heavenly Father is in us.  Demons whisper that refrain over and over and prompt the toxic people in our lives to tell us the same things.  After a few years, we view ourselves through that same lens and find ourselves in bondage to the false identity Satan has projected on us. 

Moses illustrates the principle. When drawn to the burning bush on the slopes of Sinai, his only response to the call of God was his insistence that he was not the right man, he was inadequate, no one would listen to him, and that God had knocked on the wrong door (Ex. 4).  Even as God assured him that he would go with him, Moses balked.  He did so because he saw himself as a failed leader, a corrupt man, and a fugitive who must hide his true identity at all costs. When called to serve, he simply anticipated failure and disaster. He was so unbelieving that God’s anger finally burned against him.  

The key was that Moses was judging himself by his history rather than by the future God was offering.  Throughout their dialogue, Moses kept insisting on his inadequacy while God was insisting that he would make Moses adequate. Our struggle is the same.  We evaluate ourselves by our past and our present view of ourselves as not being adequate rather than evaluating ourselves on the basis of who God declares we are and the adequacy of Christ within us.

When we face down Satan, our foundational weapon against him is a view of ourselves that matches God’s view of us. We can only face the enemy when we know and believe who we are in Christ.  I have heard preachers declare that the only difference between us and the wretched sinner on the side of the road is that we are forgiven.  I assume that is an effort to keep us from some form of spiritual pride.  But most of us aren’t afflicted with spiritual pride, but with a view of ourselves much lower than God has made us.  

In fact, we are very different from the wretched sinner on the side of the road.  We are not only saved but are new creations in Christ.  We are adopted sons and daughters of the King, grafted into Israel, filled with the Holy Spirit and the same power that raised Jesus from the dead.  We are gifted, appointed, anointed and called to walk in the authority of the king of Kings and Lord of Lords. We are citizens of heaven and duly authorized representatives of Christ on the earth. We have instant access to God’s throne room in heaven. We are empowered to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy.  We are seated with Christ in the heavenly realms with a destiny written in God’s book in heaven.  We are more than conquerors…and even more.

We must reflect on what God says about us and never agree with anything that does not match God’s description of who we are in Christ.  We must meditate on who we are, memorize what God says about us, and speak about it with one another.  We must pray for a daily revelation of who we are in Jesus and then we can face down the enemy at every turn.  The days are coming when we will absolutely have to know who we are and whose we are.  If we doubt that, we will crumble under the pressure of criticism, slander and accusation aimed at us by an unbelieving culture hostile to the truth of Jesus.  Be intentional.  Work on knowing who you are and getting it in your heart. It is a necessity for the future. 

Indicators You Need a House Cleansing

We frequently do “house cleansings” for believers in our church and our city.  I’m not talking about a service day on which we go to some needy person’s home to deep clean, organize, and haul away junk (we also do that from time to time). But what I am talking about is clearing the house of demonic spirits that are attached or assigned to that location to oppress or afflict the people living there.  In a sense, it is deliverance for a location rather than a person.  The demonic spirits are not in or attached to the residents, but have an assignment against anyone who is living in that location.

In scripture we have several indicators that demonic spirits are assigned to locations. In Daniel 10, we are told that a demonic prince, the Prince of Persia, resisted the angel God had sent in response to Daniel’s prayer.  He was assigned to a nation. In the gospels, the demon named Legion (for we are many), who was afflicting the man of the Geresenes, plead with Jesus not to drive them out of the region (Mark5).  The region must have been a geographical assignment. There are many other examples but we can be assured that some spirits do have ties to geographical locations. 

Those spirits can be attached to a location where sin has been prevalent such as when pornography, adultery, or molestation in a home has occurred.  They often exist where some form of witchcraft has taken place…Ouija boards, tarot cards, psychic readings, or more formalized forms of witchcraft. When there has been conflict, violence, or abuse spirits seem to be established in those locations. Where suicide or murder has taken place, a spirit of death often remains.  Sometimes the spirit is attached to the house, sometimes to the property where something took place before a house was even built there.  It also seems that individuals who are involved in witchcraft, false religions, or unrepented sin can “shed” demons when they have been in someone’s home – friends, relatives, service workers, etc.  The person leaves but a demon stays.  

Demons can also take up residence when objects in the house invite them…idols (sometimes used for décor), books about witchcraft, souvenirs from overseas that have spirits attached to them, movies or television shows about the supernatural, pornography, tokens of false religions, new age items, and so forth.  The residents may come and go but the spirits remain.  Apartments are especially susceptible to such attachments. 

There are tried and true ways to rid the house of these spirits through the authority of Jesus Christ, but when is a house cleansing indicated in the first place?  Let me list a few of the most common indicators that demonic spirits are operating in your house, a business location, or even in your church and that you need to take action.

1.  You sense a heavy or “dark’ atmosphere in part of your home where you feel sad, depressed, or hopeless when you are in a certain room or section of the house.
2. You and your family frequently feel agitated or angry for no apparent reason when you are home and don’t experience that anger when you are away from your home.  There is irrational conflict and even violence that seems unexplained or unsolvable.
3. You or family members see shadows that are out of place…sometimes with a vague human form.
4. You experience sleep disturbance, feel the presence of something around you, or have tormenting dreams.
5. You feel fear in certain parts of your home.
6. Your children are afraid of something in their room or playroom. They tell you they see scary things or scary people or have frequent nightmares.
7. You hear unexplained sounds in the house…voices at night, cabinet doors opening by themselves, footsteps in the house when no one is there, electronics coming on by themselves, etc.
8. You see inanimate objects move by themselves.
9. You experience frequent illness or fatigue that defy diagnosis or treatment.
10. Demons actually manifest in the house in physical form.

To many, these indicators sound like the quintessential haunted house.  But these are demonic spirits that are subject to the authority if Jesus Christ and those who walk in His authority.  Satan has his greatest success we he operates without detection.  When we live unaware of the spiritual realm and his schemes against us, he oppresses and torments freely. Certainly, not everything is demonic. But when these indicators persist or when several become apparent, you should seriously consider a house cleansing.  Satan comes to kill, steal and destroy. He wants to rob the peace and blessings that a home should provide for a family.  

If you go on line, you will find any number of articles on house cleansings from New Age practitioners.  They will describe essentially the same indicators but will prescribe sage, music, crystals, bells, and meditation.  When facing the demonic, the blood of Christ and his authority over the enemy is all you need.  Next week, I will write a brief blog on how to cleanse a house when needed.  May the Lord bless you and keep you. 

I’m reading back through Exodus again and this passage caught my attention.  “See, I am sending an angelahead of you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared. Pay attention to him and listen to what he says. Do not rebel against him; he will not forgive your rebellion, since my Name is in him. If you listen carefully to what he says and do all that I say, I will be an enemy to your enemies and will oppose those who oppose you. My angel will go ahead of you and bring you into the land of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites and Jebusites, and I will wipe them out. Do not bow down before their gods or worship them or follow their practices. You must demolish them and break their sacred stones to pieces. Worship the Lord your God, and his blessing will be on your food and water. I will take away sickness from among you, and none will miscarry or be barren in your land. I will give you a full life span. I will send my terror ahead of you and throw into confusion every nation you encounter. I will make all your enemies turn their backs and run. I will send the hornet ahead of you to drive the Hivites, Canaanites and Hittites out of your way. But I will not drive them out in a single year, because the land would become desolate and the wild animals too numerous for you. Little by little I will drive them out before you, until you have increased enough to take possession of the land (Ex. 23:20-30).

I think we can draw some significant lessons from this passage regarding our destiny in Christ.  Scripture is clear that “everyday ordained for us was written in God’s book before one of them came to pass (Ps. 139:16). In other words, God established a plan for our lives before we were ever born.  He has prepared things in advance that he invites us to be part of (Eph. 2:10). When we walk in our destiny we are fulfilled and fruitful.  Of course, we can say “no” to the things God has planned for us just like human children can reject good things their father has prepared or provided for them as their inheritance.

The land of Canaan was promised to Abraham and his descendants.  To possess the land was Israel’s destiny. In this passage, God revealed that he had provided an angel to go before them – to guide them and protect them as they stepped into their God-ordained promise.  However, possessing the land or the promise was not automatic.  God warned them there were things they wound encounter that could and would derail them if they were not careful and committed.  First, they had to pay attention to the leading of the Lord. We are directed to be Spirit led.  If we choose to go our own way and then expect God to bless what we have chosen, it will limit our participation in all the things he has prepared for us.  What we choose might be good.  Bur what God had for us would have been great.  It is not always easy to discern the will of the Lord. but God will honor the heart that seeks to know and pursue his will.  If we miss it, he will redirect us.  

Our first step in fulfilling our destiny, then, is to be willing to seek what he has planned for us above our own desires.  God warned the Israelites not to rebel against his instruction but to listen carefully to what he said.  The more responsive we are to the word of God and the more submitted we are to his will, the easier the journey will be.  God told Israel if they would be careful to follow his ways, he would go before them, he would put fear in the hearts of their enemies, and he would oppose those who opposed them.  As Paul said, “If God is for us, who cans stand against us. 

He then warned them of their greatest temptation and that would be the false gods of the people who inhabited Canaan.  As they moved into the land and faced opposition, the temptation would be to make peace with those tribes and to compromise in order to be accepted by them rather than being at war with them.  We have to acknowledge that the false gods of this world appeal to our flesh and our flesh will prompt us to want what others have.  We will be tempted to taste just a little and to participate just a bit, but when we do, the enemy will gain a foothold in our lives that may well become a stronghold.  God said to make no peace and no compromise, but to seek only him and his provision for fulfillment.

Whenever possible, God’s people were not just to isolate themselves and avoid the enemy, but to actively oppose false worship and the demonic spirits behind each idol and each sacred stone. As the saying goes, “All that is needed for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.”  So…God instructs his people to demolish the false religions and to break or pulverize their sacred stones. He goes on to say, if we worship the Lord and follow him only, we will find our destiny and experience his abundant blessings.  He says he will put his blessing on our food and water.  He will remove sickness from us and miscarriages and barrenness will be a thing of the past. He also promises a full life span.  In essence, he is promising the same abundant life that Jesus promises when we serve him with all our hearts. 

Interestingly, we also see that God is strategic in bringing us into our destiny and the promises he has for us.  To Israel, he promised that he would drive the enemy tribes out…but no all at once.  If they were driven out immediately, Israel would not be able to steward the land well.  Wild animals would take over and vineyards would be choked with weeds before Israel could care for what God had given them.  We often want our destiny now and our promises immediately. But God is wise and only gives us what we can manage well.  As we grow and mature, he will give us more.  Jesus said, “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much” (Lk.16:10).  If you want more opportunity, more responsibility, more creativity more prophetic gifting…be very faithful with what you have now and God will give the increase…if you are seeking the destiny he has established for you.  

All of us are guilty of going after what we want and then asking God to bless it.  He may do so, because he is a gracious God.  But the greatest fulfillment and the greatest productivity that will have an has eternal impact is found on the road he destined for us before the world was created.  Let me encourage you to seek that road and let him lead you there.