This week we want to answer the question, ”How do demons gain access to God’s people?”  After all, we are saved and the Holy Spirit lives in us.  In the first chapter of Job, a somewhat disturbing scene is revealed from the heavenlies.  Satan comes before God after “roaming throughout the earth going back and forth” (Job 1:7).  Satan seems to have been diligently searching for something.  God brings up his servant Job as a model of righteousness and Satan immediately begins to accuse him.  We should not be surprised.  Satan actually means “adversary” and his other primary title, the devil, means the “accuser” or “slanderer.”

We also see that scene played out in the book of Revelation.  Speaking of the devil, we are told, “For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down” (Rev. 12:10).  In the gospel of Luke, Jesus speaking to Peter said, “Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail” (Lk.22:31). We see the same scene in Zechariah 3:1 where Satan is standing before the Lord accusing Joshua the high priest.

These texts present us with a court room scene in which Satan brings accusations against God’s people. He is the adversary or prosecuting attorney who brings accusations in order to gain a legal right to afflict God’s people.  He searches the earth to do so. God, being a just God, must allow him some access if there is a legitimate accusation.   It seems that God does set limits on that access, but Satan procures some access all the same. 

The legitimate question arises of how Satan can find cause against us when our sins have been forgiven and covered by the blood of Christ.  One of the nuances of scripture that is often overlooked is that our sins can be forgiven in heaven while we still face consequences in this life.  

King David is an example of this principle.  After David’s adultery with Bathsheba and after setting her husband Uriah up to be killed in battle, Nathan the prophet confronted David with his sin.  The text says, “Why did you despise the word of the Lord by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own…Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’ “This is what the Lord says: ‘Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity upon you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will lie with your wives in broad daylight. You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.’ Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” Nathan replied, “The Lord has taken away your sin. You are not going to die. But because by doing this you have made the enemies of the Lord show utter contempt, the son born to you will die” (2 Sam. 12:19-14). 

Not only did the child die, but David’s son Absalom attempted to take the throne from his Father, had sex with is father’s concubines on the palace roof, and was killed in battle.  Even though David’s sins were forgiven and his relationship with the Lord restored, there were still the consequences of his actions to be faced.  God walked with David through the consequences of his sin, but he still had to endure them.  Paul restates the principle when he says, “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 are God’s great teachers. When I disciplined my children, I was not angry (usually) and my love had not diminished, but I knew negative consequences were needed to turn them from dangerous or destructive behaviors later.

God is a father.  In Deuteronomy 28, he clearly states that if Israel was careful to keep his commandments, then abundant blessings would follow. In parenting terms, he was reinforcing positive behaviors. They would be blessed in the city and in the country.  Their children would be healthy.  Their crops would flourish.  The rains would come at just the right times.  They would have peace on their borders, etc. But, if they were not careful to keep his commandments, abundant curses would come on them.  In parenting terms, he was extinguishing destructive behaviors with war, drought, disease, famine, miscarriages, etc.  These consequences were designed to turn them back to God so he could forgive their sin and bless them again like the prodigal returning to his father.

In addition, the Lord also said that rebellion and idolatry committed by parents would be visited upon their children to the third and fourth generations (Ex. 20:5). In other words, the unrepented sins of parents would have consequences for their children, grandchildren, and so on.   These are generational curses.  Demons assigned to family lines can be passed on to the next generation so that a child may have a demon assigned to him/her from birth.

When Satan is accusing us before God, he is looking for unrepented sin in our own lives as well as sins in our bloodlines that have not been confessed and renounced.  When he finds those sins, he asks for a legal right to enforce a curse that has been assigned to the sin.  Demonization can be a consequence of sin that has not been dealt with.  In my experience, the sins that lead in this area for believers are unforgiveness, judging others, dabbling in witchcraft, unbelief, sexual sins, abortion, materialism, prejudice, compromise with the culture, etc.   These are sin curses.  When sin goes unrepented, because of his righteousness, God may have to lift his hand of protection and give Satan some level off access.  It may lead to demonization.  In any area of our live where we come into agreement with Satan, we give him authority in our lives. 

A second source of demonization can come through word curses…authoritative words that direct demons to afflict or oppress another individual, an organization, or a nation. The reality of this threat is borne out in Numbers 22 when Balaam (I think a prophet gone bad) is hired to declare a curse over Israel. God takes the curse seriously enough to be being willing to kill Balaam to prevent him from declaring the curse.  Satan can prompt someone to speak a curse over another or even over himself.  If he can gain legal access, he can enforce the curse. Curses can be formalized statements made by witches or warlocks, which is far more prevalent today than you might think. But, they can also be informal statements that express harmful outcomes over another person. These are especially potent if someone speaking a curse has spiritual authority over the target…parents over children, husbands over wives, spiritual leaders over those who follow, etc.  Their authority gives Satan authority to enforce the curse. 

It is true that Solomon declared, “Like a fluttering sparrow or a darting swallow, an undeserved curse does not come to rest” (Prov. 26:2).  But Satan is in the business of finding something that can make the curse “deserved.” During Stalin’s reign of terror in Russia, his chief of police famously said, “Show me the man and I will show you the crime.”  In other words, everyone has something if you look hard enough.

Often these curses are spoken in anger or fear or frustration, but they are spoken all the same.  They may be something like, “I wish you were dead!  I wish you had never been born! You will never amount to anything!  No one will ever love you!  I hope you suffer like I have!  You’re  going to end up in prison just like your father! Etc.  We often speak things like that over ourselves.  These statements can function as curses that Satan is glad to enforce.

James spends a great deal of time talking about the tongue and the call on believers to speak life (blessings) over people and situations and not death (curses).  “The tongue has the power of life and death” (Prov. 18:21).  Curses are a real thing and demonization of an individual can occur as a result of spoken words.  It’s important to remember that demonization does not cost us our salvation.  It simply hinders our destiny and our ability to become more like Jesus. 

Demonization occurs when a demon(s) gets a permanent assignment on a person.  He may simply attack through people and circumstances from the outside, but most often the unclean spirit attempts to take up residence within the person and a stronghold is established. That stronghold wages war in our thought life so that our thoughts and our feelings are heavily influenced by the enemy.  That influence is designed to move our hearts further and further from God, to undermine our success, and damage our relationships.  They can even mimic diseases in our lives so that we battle sickness and debilitating conditions for years.  They come to us through unrepented sin in our own life, sins in our family line that have not been dealt with and through word curses spoken over us by others or ourselves.  I will also add that some can find entrance through trauma we have endured  – violence, abuse, molestation, rape, etc.

Next Week – Indicators of demonization and how to break free!

Last week, we discussed the prevalence of deliverance or “casting out demons” in the gospels.  Not only did Jesus minister deliverance to many, he also gave power and authority to others to do the same. Luke reported, “When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick” (Lk.9:1-2). Then Jesus sent out others.  “After this the Lord appointed seventy–two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go…The seventy-two returned with joy and said, ‘Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.’ He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven’“ (Lk. 10:1, 17-20).  Mark tells us, “He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well” (Mark 16: 15-18). 

So, deliverance became one of the marks of the New Testament church.  It was ministered by many or even most believers rather than just by Jesus and his apostles. There were two motivations for this deliverance.  One was simply the compassion of Christ and his followers who encountered people in torment.  Out of compassion, they set them free.   Secondly, there was a need to demonstrate the power of Christ over the enemy. In a world of pagan gods, there was no need to convince people of the spiritual realm or the existence of gods. What they wanted to know was whose god was the most powerful. Deliverance demonstrated that Jesus had power and authority over every demon that stood behind the idols they worshipped.  Many people on earth still live in cultures where “gods” abound and they ask the same question.  Deliverance in the name of Jesus answers that question.

However, you might ask if such a demonstration is even needed in a modern, technological world where science is seen as our ultimate savior. The answer is “Yes.” Regardless of bowing the knee to science in America and the west, millions still seek after spiritual experiences outside the Christian faith.  Some pursue New Age enlightenment while others are seeking power in witch’s covens and satanic cults.  Many adopt eastern religions and Eastern practices for healing and meditation that have spiritual components.  Others seek to know the unknown through psychics, mediums, and tarot card readings.  Even Christians dabble in these things looking for something they have not yet found in Christ because the church has not taught them how to hear from God and operate in the power of the Holy Spirit. They seek these experiences because science and sometimes their church is not adequate to answer their personal need or crisis. 

According to scripture, whenever we seek contact in the spiritual realm, outside the covering of Jesus, we invite demonic involvement.  Many who dabble in the occult end up demonized so that part of their life is out of their control and under the control of the enemy.  Many did so before coming to Jesus and bring demonic spirits into the kingdom with them.  They also need to know that Jesus has absolute power over the enemy.

Several years ago, I met a woman who was a Satanic ritual abuse survivor.  At five years old, she was subjected to an incredibly traumatic satanic ritual in the basement of a building that looked like a church.  She knew about Jesus because she had been to Sunday school with her grandmother on many occasions and so in terror she cried out to Jesus.  But that day she was not rescued. After hours of abuse, she was released to go home to her mother with a threat of death if she ever told anyone what had happened to her.  As a teen, she lived a life of drug abuse and promiscuity. As an adult, she battled severe depression and suicidal thoughts.  She still believed in Jesus and even served in her church.  But she also lived a life of fear, believing that Satan was more powerful than God since he had not rescued her rescue that day.  When her depressive episodes became extreme and more frequent, I suggested deliverance to her.  She wanted no part of that because she was terrified of what the demons might do to her or her family. 

Finally, she came to a point of total desperation. She agreed to deliverance.  After an hour or so she had been set free from multiple spirits in the name of Jesus.  This “power encounter” demonstrated the authority of Jesus over the demonic and allowed her to trust God to protect her. That demonstration of power changed her life. I have also talked to and seen interviews with former witches and satanists who had come to Christ because their spells and incantations could not touch true followers of Jesus.  They felt powerless against the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. So they abandoned the weaker “god” to serve the greater God.  Even today, people need to see and experience the power of Jesus to set them free.  Our idols today may not be made of silver and gold but we have them all the same and behind our idols of power, wealth, fame, and sex, lie demons waiting to take their place in the lives of those who seek these things.

That may be true for satanists and drug addicts and for those who seek dark things, but what about Christians?  Can they be afflicted by demons since they belong to Jesus and the Holy Spirit lives in them?  Many say Christians can’t be demon possessed and so it is a topic of little relevance for the church.  I agree that Christians can’t be possessed because possession implies ownership.  We have been purchased by the blood of Christ, so he possesses us.  But demonization is not possession.  It is oppression, affliction, and even torment but not possession. Most people oppressed or tormented by demons function well in most parts of their lives.  They work, they have families, they go to church, and even lead churches. They seem normal and even happy to those who don’t know their inner life.

But there is a slice of their life they can’t control and that nothing seems to make better.  Counseling, more prayer, more Bible reading, and even medications only seem to make these struggles manageable…but it takes lots of energy and they often succumb to depression, anxiety, fits of rage, pornography, suicidal thoughts, unbelief, persistent feelings of rejection or shame, etc.  When they try to resist their shameful or compulsive thoughts, those thoughts press in even harder.  That is where a demon or demons are operating and injecting thoughts that stir up these harmful emotions. They typically enter through places of emotional brokenness or trauma and then amplify those things.  These are the strongholds” Paul talks about in 2 Corinthians 10.  Their goal is to keep believers from fulfilling their destiny in Christ. They hinder, limit, derail, and undermine relationships, success, emotional health and even physical health.  Often these “conditions” have been part of us since childhood so we think they are normal and just our lot in life. These spirits often work in very subtle ways so that no one thinks to look outside the natural realm for solutions.  But spiritual oppressors need spiritual weapons to overcome them.

Scripture does not directly state that believers can be demonized.  Neither does it say they cannot.  However, Paul issues a number of warnings about the enemy’s ability to derail our faith and our destiny and each of those warnings is directed at believers.  See Eph. 6:10-12; 2 Cor. 10:2-5; Rom. 6:15-16; 1 Cor. 10:18-22; Eph. 4:26-27, etc.)  If demons can’t afflict us, then the warnings would be unwarranted. In addition, we have cast out hundreds of demons over the past 20 years and nearly all of those who were delivered were church going believers who had one element in their life that was out of control.  We need churches todays who minister deliverance in healthy and biblical ways because Satan is still active on planet earth and is even more active now as he senses the end is near.

Next Week…What gives demons access to God’s people and how do we remove that access?

Lately, I’ve been feeling led to write a multi-part series on deliverance (casting out demons).  Some believers are very familiar with the theology and practical application of deliverance.  However, the majority of believers in America grew up in church environments where deliverance was never talked about, spiritual warfare only got an honorable mention, and demons were considered essentially fictional in our technological age.  Others may have grown up in churches that believed in deliverance, but they never were trained to minister deliverance or even given a biblical basis for this biblical theme. Still others question whether it is something that is even relevant in the contemporary church or whether Christians could ever be subject to demonic control.  Considering all the differing views and experiences in the American church, I want to present a clear and biblical case for deliverance. I think the topic is not only relevant but essential to the church being all it can be in this season of spiritual warfare.  So…I want to address some questions and some practical considerations for this subject in a multi-part blog over the next few weeks.

As many of you know, I became a follower of Jesus in my college years.  I came into the kingdom through the influence of cessationist churches. What that means is the church I was part of and was discipled by did not believe the Holy Spirit still works in the same way he did in the first century.  They believe that the Holy Spirit still takes up residence in every believe and works to bear his fruit – love, joy, peace, etc. –  but, he no longer imparts supernatural, spiritual gifts to his people – healing, prophecy, tongues, miracles, spiritual discernment, etc. 

Their view is that God no longer intervenes in his people’s lives in supernatural ways but works only through the natural order of things.  In these churches, believers pray for God to influence the surgeon to do his best in some way, but would not pray for direct healing in a person’s body.  They would pray for chemo to be effective, but would never command cancer to leave a person’s body. They believe all the miracles in scripture did happen, but God no longer operates in those ways.  In their view, New Testament miracles were allowed in the first century as evidence that Jesus was the Son of God and that his apostles wrote the New Testament under the inspiration of the Spirit.  Once enough miracles were recorded, those should be sufficient for belief and continuing miracles are not required.  This view, of course does not explain all the miracles in the Old Testament or why believers other than the apostles and those who wrote the New Testament, such as Stephen and Philip, also performed great signs and wonders. It would also not explain why supernatural gifts were given to ordinary members of the church as Paul discussed in 1 Corinthians 12-14. None of these were the Son of God nor did they write any part of the New Testament.

As an adjunct to the cessationist view, they tend to downplay the supernatural all together.  They really don’t talk about demons as a reality in the 21^st century.  If someone reported an angelic visitation, they would be highly skeptical. They believe that God only speaks to his people through the written word and no longer speaks to them directly, so that rules out prophecy and words of knowledge, and so forth.  Those are the things I was taught when I first became a Christian.  God might heal someone directly in response to prayer on very rare occasions, but no one possessed the gift of healing. Miraculous healings were given no credibility.  Prophecy was seen as a deception by the enemy and tongues were simply emotionalism unleashed. Deliverance was simply theater.  These are churches full of great people who love the Lord, but their theological lens keeps them from accessing the power of the Holy Spirit in many circumstances where it is needed.

For most of my ministry years, I was the staff member to whom most people came for counseling. My God-given temperament was wired for counseling and I had a degree in sociology which leaned in that direction.  I went to as many workshops on counseling as possible and did graduate work in that field, but still felt inadequate.  Even Christian counseling conferences taught secular approaches to counseling.  They might add a prayer or some scripture reading to their approach, but they never dipped into the spiritual realm and its influence on us.  I brought my best counseling skills to the table but saw very little dramatic life change in my church.  People did their best to live a moral life and manage their addictions, compulsions, depression, anger, shame, etc. and most made some progress…at least for a while. But many defaulted back to their previous state after a few months or as soon as they found themselves in a crisis or under stress,

I assumed the relapses were because of my inadequate counseling, which I’m sure contributed.  But there was something else that was lacking.  When I read through the New Testament, it seemed that dramatic life change was the expectation not the exception.  Afterall, we are new creations in Christ and are to be transformed by the renewing of our minds (Rom. 12:2). Paul wrote to the church in Corinth, “Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Cor. 6:9-12).

Paul speaks of an expectation of change, of putting those lifestyles behind them relatively soon after coming to Jesus, rather than struggling for years to get free from their conditions.  There is no indication that their transformation required professional counseling, the newest drug therapies, or years of twelve-step programs.  I’m not saying those things can’t be helpful. They can. But they tend to help us manage issues rather than getting complete victory over those issues. 

I finally realized what we were lacking was power.  What we were lacking was the ability to deal with not only addictions on a physiological and emotional level, but with spiritual bondage that kept God’s people stuck in the same struggles for years.  According to the gospels, the thing that kept people stuck in torment and bondage, was demonic affliction.

In Isaiah 61, the prophet foretold that Messiah would come to preach good news to the poor, heal broken hearts, and set captives free. When Jesus began his public ministry, he preached good news to the poor, healed broken hearts, and set captives free.  The freedom part came through deliverance which, according to the gospels, was considered a form of healing. In essence, Jesus and his followers preached the good news of the kingdom and then demonstrated it though the power of the Spirit.  That was the New Testament approach to evangelism…not just for Jesus but also for the twelve, the seventy he sent out, and all the other believers empowered by the Spirit.

When God drew me into the ministry of emotional healing and deliverance, I began to see people set free from the things that had kept them in bondage for years.  They were set free in hours or weeks, not decades.  Although I anticipated they would default back to their old conditions after a few weeks or months, they did not. People who had been subject to fear, depression, suicidal thoughts, pornography, shame, even homosexuality for years, were set free and transformed. 

Without the power of the Spirit and the ministry of deliverance, these men and women would still be in bondage to those things that had robbed them of joy and fruitfulness for decades.  Is every issue caused by demonic affliction?  Of course not.  But much more is than we realize.  Paul emphatically stated that our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly or spiritual realms ((Eph. 6:12).  He also declared that we cannot wage war as the world wages war but we must fight with divine weapons (2 Cor. 10:4).  Those divine weapons are embodied by the supernatural gifts of the Spirit.

In the gospel of John, Jesus clearly stated, “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father” (Jn. 14:11-12). What had he been doing?  He had been preaching, healing, and casting out demons.  His statement carries an expectation that those who have faith In Jesus will continue his ministry as he had been doing it. It did not seem to give that expectation and shelf-life of a few decades but spoke to those who have faith until he returns.

To fail to do so, is to depart from the New Testament pattern of ministry for the church.  It weakens our ability to evangelize and often leaves our own people in bondage.  I have visited with several people who had gotten involved in witches covens.  They had left the covens because the coven was “going too far.”  I asked them what had prompted them to get involved in witchcraft.  They said their lives had been in turmoil and they had gone to the church for help, but the church could not help them because it had no power.  Witchcraft offered power so they gave themselves to that.  Paul said the kingdom is not a matter of talk, but of power (1 Cor. 4:20).  We owe the world power to overcome the enemy. Deliverance is a primary manifestation of God’s power and his kingdom on this earth.  It is essential to the life of the church.

More next week….

They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death (Rev. 12:11)

In Revelation 12, John spoke of those whose names were written in the book of life. He spoke of the devil, who accuses the brethren both day and night before our God, finally having been cast down. Speaking of the believers around the throne of heaven, he declared they overcame this accuser by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony.

The Greek word translated as “testimony” is “martyria.”  In this context, it is translated as “testimony,” but in other texts it is translated as “witness.”  Our word martyr is usually associated with those who have died for their faith like Stephen in Acts 6-7.  They did not die because they lived quiet lives of peace and good deeds.  They died because they testified about the truth revealed in God’s word and about righteousness and judgment.  They also declared that Jesus is the Son of God who died for our sins, was raised on the third day, and ascended to heaven where he now sits at the right hand of the Father as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. 

“Testimony” is defined as the verbal (or written) evidence of a witness (usually an eyewitness) that something is true. Speaking to his disciples, Jesus said, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8).  The word witnesses in this text is also “martyria.” 

Shortly after Jesus ascended, Peter was speaking to the disciples in Jerusalem about another man taking the place of Judas as an apostle.  He said, “Therefore, it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from John’s baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection” (Acts 1:21-22). Notice the emphasis on this man being one who personally saw and heard everything from the time Jesus was baptized by John to the resurrection.  The strongest witness is an eyewitness. In Luke’s gospel. He assures us that what he wrote came from eyewitnesses (Luke 1:2).

So how does our testimony enable us to overcome Satan, the accuser of the brethren?  First of all, our personal testimony legally aligns us with Jesus.  When we speak God’s truth and God’s truth about Jesus, we align ourselves with God in the spiritual realm.  Satan is constantly accusing us of missing the mark, rebelling against God, unbelief, and agreeing with Satan.  He takes his accusations into the courts of heaven, seeking a legal right to attack us.  We know we still sin, even as believers, but as we continue to acknowledge Jesus in our lives and declare who he is, his blood continually covers our sin. 

John announced, “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin” (1 Jn. 1:7). Walking in the light does not mean perfection, but that we are still continuing to seek Jesus, even when we stumble from time to time.  It means our heart is still turned towards him. The word purifies in this passage is a present tense verb which denotes continuous action.  As we seek Jesus, even imperfectly, his blood continually washes away our sins.  Our testimony affirms that we are still seeking Jesus and following him.

Our testimony enables Jesus to intercede for us whenever Satan launches his accusations. Jesus said, “Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven” (Mt. 10:32) and John tells us our goal is not to sin, but if any believer does sin, we have an advocate with the father – Jesus Christ the righteous one “ (1 Jn. 2:1). An advocate is one who speaks on our behalf.  Our testimony, then, that Jesus is Lord and Savior, is a powerful weapon in the spiritual realm that disarms the accuser because it enables Jesus to speak on our behalf in the courts of heaven.

Our testimony, however, also requires a personal witness to the truth of who Jesus is.  What is our eyewitness testimony?  What is our personal evidence that what scripture says about Jesus is true?  Not only should we declare what scripture says about Jesus, but we should also be able to share our personal experiences that demonstrate the truth of what scripture declares.

In other words, how have I personally experienced the resurrection, the love of God, the life changing power of Jesus, the freedom I have experienced in Christ, healings I have received, powerfully answered prayers, unexpected provision, prophetic words coming true, the hand of God in my life, supernatural moments of protection, etc.  If you think about scripture, it is filled with stories of God’s provision, protection, and deliverance. The stories are testimonies of how God’s people experienced him and knew he was the true and living God who fulfills every promise.

In addition, our testimonies increase our own faith in God and his son Jesus and contribute to the faith of others.  Paul told the church at Rome, “That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved” (Rom. 10:9-10). God has designed us so that the more we speak something, the more deeply that truth is written on our hearts.  Not only is it a declaration to men and to the spiritual realm about what we believe and where we stand with Jesus, but it is a declaration to own hearts. 

Personal testimony is essential to a renewed mind.  Our memories, beliefs, emotions, attitudes, perspectives, etc. are stored up in neural pathways in our brains.  These pathways, when stimulated by people, events, and other experiences in our lives, produce our “automatic response” to what is going on.  When the word of God and our experiences with God dominate our neural pathways, then faith, forgiveness, compassion, etc. are our first response to our circumstances.  That is a renewed mind and one of the most powerful ways to establish these neural pathways that possess our first thoughts and feelings is speaking the belief, the truth, the insight, or the experience verbally, as well as writing it and sharing it with others.

In other words, the more we express who God is and our personal experiences with him, the more that truth becomes part of us and Satan’s lies have a diminishing effect. We should give more thought to our testimonies that affirm what scripture says about God is true and that Jesus is alive and at work within us. To do so keeps us aligned with Jesus, enables him to acknowledge us before the Father so his blood can be continually applied to our sin, and deepens our own faith.  It also contributes to the faith of others since what God did for one, he will do for another. And, perhaps, most importantly, our testimonies glorify God which is ultimately the highest calling of man. 

Giving consistent thought to our own testimony about the reality of Jesus helps us see his hand in our lives in all the obvious and not so obvious ways.  I once led a small group in which our opening question was always, “How did you experience God in your life this week?  When we first started, half the group could not identify God’s activity in their lives.  Within weeks, however, they began to notice the hand of God in both big and little ways.  Their faith grew, their joy grew, and their testimony grew.  Remember, we overcome Satan by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of our testimony. Keep your testimony fresh and share it.