I am part of a church that recognizes the reality of the spiritual realm…both angelic and demonic.  We talk about it, pray about it, and exercise spiritual gifts that touch the unseen realm.  Because of that, I often forget that a large portion of the American and western European church still gives little thought to the reality of the spiritual realm or spiritual warfare. These churches do seem to be comfortable with the idea of angels … especially, guardian angels watching over our children.  However, I wonder how many actually believe in the constant activity of angels or just think of angels in vague ways as a nice sentiment or a comforting thought with little reality behind the notion…kind of like Santa Claus?

In his book, Deliverance from Evil Spirits. Francis MacNutt wrote a chapter entitled, “Do Demons Really Exist?”  Let me quote a little from that chapter.  “Two hundred years ago few Christians questioned whether Satan and the demonic realm were real. Then there would have been no need to write a chapter like this. Even as recently as 1972, Pope Paul VI, reaffirming the age-old understanding of scripture (and human experience) wrote:  ‘It is contrary to the teaching of the Bible or the Church to refuse to recognize the existence of such a reality…or to explain it as a pseudo-reality, a conceptual and fanciful personification of the unknown causes of our misfortunes…’” The Pope would not have written that unless many were trying to write off the teachings of scripture about the kingdom of darkness as mythology and quaint stories told to explain why bad things happen in this world.

MacNutt goes on to say, “As we read through the Gospels, we cannot help but be struck by the extraordinary numbers of references to Jesus confronting Satan and the whole realm of demons. A major theme in the New Testament is the clash between the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Satan. The climax of human history, in fact, occurs when God, in Jesus, overpowers Satan and frees the human race from Satan’s dominion. Nor do I propose that the ministry of deliverance is simply one minor ministry among many that need to be resurrected in today’s Church, but that Jesus’ ministry of deliverance is central to an understanding of the gospel. ‘The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work’ (1 Jn.3:8).”

Paul clearly states that our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against spiritual forces of evil (Eph.6).  He then discusses the necessity of implementing divine weapons in 2 Corinthians 10 because our enemy must be faced in the spiritual realm with spiritual weapons if we are to overcome him.  Currently, the activity of the demonic is raging in America because our national leaders have opened the door for him by declaring evil things got be good and good things to be evil. Many believers are being hammered and are unaware of the source of that oppression and torment,

Charismatic churches are exploding in third world countries because they bring the power of God into the battle against the demonic forces these people recognize and deal with through witch doctors and shamans. It is in the west that Satan has become invisible.  I didn’t say inactive, but invisible. He is invisible because our material, technological culture denies his existence. Many of us have a world view that simply filters out any recognition of his reality or activity. We see the same symptoms in people that were diagnosed as demonic affliction in the Bible, but diagnose them as psychiatric or physiological conditions that can hopefully be managed with medications.  Most Christian counselors will recommend medications for emotional torment but would never suggest deliverance.  The Biblical model demands that we seriously consider both forms of healing when ministering to the illness, torment, and bondage of people.

During the Civil War in America, we are told that more men died from infections than from actual gunshot wounds. The enemy was unseen bacteria. There was little understanding of the cause of infection and the care of wounds, so bacteria thrived and infections went untreated.  What was unseen and unrecognized caused thousands of deaths and amputations.  In the west, Satan seems to operate unseen and unrecognized because we have placed the demonic realm in the category of fiction or superstition.   Satan, then, has free reign to do as he wants as long as he can masquerade as mental illness or some rare physiological condition that is yet to respond to treatment. All the drugs in the world will not expel a demon and so mental health facilities cannot keep up with demand.  I know that Covid is a real thing but I also believe there are spiritual dimensions to Covid that have made the reality much more destructive than it has to be…especially spirits of fear, suicide, depression, distrust, isolation, and so forth.

I am not saying that all depression, suicidal thoughts, gender confusion, rage, violence, and so forth is demonic. But some of it or much of it is or is magnified by demonic spirits.  When Paul said that our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against spiritual entities and forces of evil, he wasn’t speaking metaphorically.

The western world has enthroned science and “reason” above revelation.  Many Christians have done the same and are even embarrassed to talk about things like demons and supernatural healing as if those are vestiges of some ignorant superstition that used to infect the church.  Many Christians often exhaust all natural healing possibilities before even beginning to pray for healing because they believe more in science than the promises of God.  However, Satan is very real and is still very active. I can’t list all the people we have ministered to over the past twenty years or so that were set free by Jesus in a few minutes while their therapists and medications had only been able to take the edge off their pain, fear, depression, or despair for years. They were delivered because someone believed the Bible and that biblical realities don’t go away as technology advances.

Doctors can help a great deal when the issue is rooted in the natural realm and I am very thankful for the grace if medicine.   But Jesus is the only physician that can provide a cure when the issue is rooted in the spiritual realm.  Wise people will consider both realms when someone needs help and discern where the root lies.  In many cases, both realms will need to be engaged, because all of us are both physical and spiritual and are touched by both realms.  To deny the demonic realm because it makes us uncomfortable or because it doesn’t fit the cultural view of reality is like a person who refuses to get a checkup for cancer because they are afraid of what they might find. In both cases, early diagnosis and treatment is the best approach.  Both cancer and Satan produce devastating results when they go unnoticed and untreated.

The gospel of Jesus Christ will never meet its full potential in the lives of God’s people until his church universally accepts biblical realities and goes to war with an unseen, but very real enemy.  The victory is already ours, but it still must be enforced because demons tend to be non-compliant types who won’t get out just because an eviction notice came in the mail.

Is there ever a time when a person is clearly demonized but deliverance is not in order?  We all want to help.  We all want people to experience the goodness of Jesus. We all want to push back the borders of the dark kingdom.  But is deliverance always in the best interest of the person? There is probably a part of each of us that initially says, “Of course!”  But Jesus shared a story that raisesa caution flag in this area.

After being accused of casting out demons by the power of Satan and then being asked for a miraculous sign, Jesus said, “When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first” (Mt.12:43-45). He then compared the nation of Israel to that man.

A lot of believers find this story disconcerting. Without understanding the issues, it creates fear about deliverance and the enemy coming back in force.  The issue for the man in the story was not that he had been demonized and set free.  The problem was that the demonic spirit left a vacancy that was not immediately filled by a new tenant. The new tenant should have been the Holy Spirit, so that when the demon returned, he would have found a “no vacancy” sign.  Any demon that is cast out is likely to return in an attempt to reclaim his territory.  If the same demon that was cast out doesn’t return, another will come along.

There is an old adage related to spiritual warfare that says,” The first battle is getting free; the second battle is staying free.”  The key is in understanding what gave that spirit a place in that person’s life in the first place.  Demons set up a habitation in men and women because something has given them a legal right and an open door to do so.

The danger in just ministering deliverance to someone is that the individual may have a wide open door in the spiritual realm that will allow that demon or others to quickly return.  Before deliverance, some discipleship is usually in order and, for none believers, an introduction to Jesus.  We need to remember that the demonized individual has probably coexisted and functioned with the demon for years, so a few more days or weeks won’t be the end of things. (A person tormented by a spirit of suicide might be the exception if they seem unstable.)

There are three main entry points for demons: persistent, unrepented sin in the past or present, generational sins and curses, and trauma.  If a person has lived a life of sin in the past or has been involved in the occult, demons may have set up residence then and, even if the person has repented and come to Jesus, there may still be a demon or two to deal with. The door may be closed to new residents, but the old residents may still be renting out a room.

If a person is currently in a sinful relationship or hiding secret sins such as an addiction, the door is open.  If the person is divisive, angry, a chronic gossip, or has refused to forgive someone, etc. then there is currently a wide open door. If they do not acknowledge their sins and repent, the door will stay open, the demon will return and, perhaps, bring others, so that the person may be worse off in the end than in the beginning.

Sins of the fathers as well as curses coming down to the children to the third and forth generation may also constitute open doors that need to be closed before deliverance.  A great deal of demonic oppression comes down through bloodlines. Curses established by the words or actions of ancestors carry demonic assignments.   Until the sins that established the curse are renounced and the curse is broken, those demons will have a legal right to continue to afflict the person. Occult involvement, violence, and sexual sins of the fathers seem to be primary doors for demons to establish a stronghold in families.

Demons also seem to find entrance into the mind and emotions of individuals who have experienced trauma. Prayers for healing and the touch of Jesus to mend broken hearts is often in order, as well, before deliverance.

The warning related to the words of Jesus is not to rush in and create spiritual vacuums that may be refilled by the enemy because they remain vacant.  Spending some time discovering the broken places in an individual, past life styles, ungodly relationships from the past or present, generational sins, family patterns that suggest a curse, and, especially, unforgiveness is time well spent. In addition, exploring whether or not the person you are ministering to is actually saved is always a good idea. Many demonized people go to church and identify as Christians, but have never actually surrendered to the Lordship of Jesus.  Until they do, they have no defense against the enemy. Dealing with sin, curses, and trauma closes the door so the enemy can’t return. Asking Jesus to fill that person with his Spirit takes care of the vacancy.

If a person is not willing or is not ready to repent of sins, exit an ungodly relationship, forgive someone who hurt him or her, or is not ready to make Jesus their Lord, deliverance might make things worse rather than better and you may want to pass on setting them free – at least for the time being.  The same is true for physical healing.  The same things can get in the way of physical healing that get in the way of deliverance, so visiting about those issues and aligning the person with Jesus may increase the number of people who actually get healed when you pray and the number that maintain their healing.  Spirits of infirmity are behind many physical illnesses so deliverance may also be needed before physical healing can be accomplished.

So…to parody Hamlet…To deliver or not to deliver…that is the question. Take your time, pray about it, and visit with the individual.  Ask pertinent questions.  If you free a person and the demon returns, they will assume that deliverance doesn’t work or isn’t even a real thing. It may even be difficult to cast out a demon when that spirit’s legal right to afflict the person still stands. If they cannot get free or experience nothing as you minister deliverance, then they may not be open to deliverance again. Just know that it is not always in the best interest of a person to minister deliverance until some basic discipleship and discovery occurs first.

I was browsing through the third chapter of John again this week.  It’s is one of those chapters that, no matter how many times you have studied it, you always know it contains so much more than you understand.  But one thing was evident to me as I read the words of Jesus again as he spoke to Nicodemus.  We should never underestimate the role of the Holy Spirit in the life of a believer and in the Kingdom of God.  When you say it, it sounds trite – as if everyone knows that.  My experience, however, is that most believers don’t know that because they treat the Spirit as a minor player in the Godhead.  He gets an honorable mention on Sundays as one who, perhaps, played a significant role 2000 years ago but since then has been rather tame.

Nothing could be further from the truth.  I am reminded of that when Jesus cuts to the chase with Nicodemus.  Nic was a Pharisee as well as a member of the Sanhedrin.  But to his credit he was a truth seeker, although he still cared a great deal about his position and what other members of the  “good old boys” club thought of him.  He came at night so that he would not be seen with this “questionable” Rabbi. He represented another group within the Pharisees or the ruling council who were not quite ready to condemn Jesus because Nicodemus said, “We know you are a teacher who has come from God…” He came with a list of questions representing this little group.

We must speculate on where he was going with his questions because Jesus sidetracked his dialogue and began to speak about his own agenda.  However,  I feel confident that Nic was going to ask a series of questions about the Messiah and about the nature of miracles and so forth. That would have been an amazing discussion to hear and a spiritual discussion at that.  However, Jesus knew it would have been a futile discussion because this brilliant theologian and descendant of Abraham would not get it.

Jesus simply said. “No one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” Clearly, for Nicodemus, that must have seemed like a hard left turn that, perhaps, was leading to nowhere.  What an enigmatic statement that seemed to just come out of left field.  Nic tried to track with Jesus a bit and so protested that a man could not be born again when he is old. Then Jesus added to the confusion by saying that no one could even enter the kingdom unless he was born not only of water but of the Spirit. Here was a man who all his life had been taught that knowledge of the Torah, love for the word of God, and good works would gain him entrance into the kingdom. Jesus simply said that entrance was not based on anything we could do but solely on the basis of what the Spirit would do.

When Jesus said that a man could not see the kingdom,  he meant that a man could not understand, perceive, or experience the kingdom without being born again.  An equally valid translation would be that he could not see the kingdom unless he was “born from above.”  That birth from above was by the Holy Spirit.  In the same way that Jesus was born by the Holy Spirit coming on Mary, we can only be born again by the Holy Spirit coming on us and we cannot see, perceive, understand, or experience the kingdom without the work of the Holy Spirit. If our initial realization of the kingdom comes only by the ministry of the Holy Spirit, then all other experiences and insight into the kingdom can come only by the Spirit as well.

If we place limits on the Spirit, we place limits on our understanding and experience of the kingdom.  In an effort to make God understandable, we miss out on understanding.  In our efforts to keep the Holy Spirit and spiritual gifts from being abused, we abuse our own experiences with God.  In order to enter the kingdom, we must be born from above.  In other words, it is not just an intellectual exercise of acknowledging who Jesus is, but God has to do something to us. A new creation (2 Cor.5:17) means that suddenly, we are different and distinctive from the rest of creation. I believe that someday science will be able to measure a shift in brain function, DNA, or genetics that occurs the moment someone is born again.

I do not believe that being born again, being born from above, or being born of the Spirit is simply a metaphor for us as we somehow take on a new philosophy of life. When the Spirit comes power is imparted.  Radical transformation is initiated. Positions shift in the heavenlies as we are seated with Christ. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead is rumbling around in us waiting to get out.  All of that begins with the Spirit of God and continues with him until the Spirit himself raises us from the dead. The Spirit is immeasurable power and wisdom and can only be capped or quenched by us.

In too many places, the church still quenches the Spirit in the name of doing everything “decently and in order.”  In my Bible, when the Holy Spirit showed up, fire erupted, people spoke in tongues, people went out and preached in the streets, buildings shook, everyone had a revelation or a tongue or a prophecy, people got healed, and demons got cast out. Some even dropped dead in church for lying to the Spirit.  All that doesn’t seem to fit our definition of  “decently and in order.” Many of our churches could benefit from a little disorder orchestrated by the Spirit.

We have even elevated intellect over spiritual gifts and spirituality.  If you don’t think so, check out the classifieds in a Christian journal where churches are looking for staff members and pastors. The qualifications are rarely based on spiritual gifts, spiritual maturity, intimacy with Jesus, or how many people a person has led to the Lord.  They are most often based on degrees earned in an accredited university or business experience in the corporate world. Jesus himself nor his apostles should even bother to apply. They would not meet the qualifications.

Although the Spirit points us to Jesus, Jesus points us to the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit is God along with the Father and the Son.  We should pursue Him with as much passion as we do the other members of the Trinity.  If we fail to do so, we may enter the kingdom as a newborn, but we will remain in that same condition for years to come.  Our problem is not that we don’t know enough scripture, but that we haven’t experienced God enough.  That experience comes through the Holy Spirit.  Maybe we should make a real effort to get to know him.

Deliverance and Discipleship

As he approached his departure to the Father’s right hand, Jesus gave a directive to his followers.  He declared that he had been given all authority in heaven and on earth.  As a result, he had the right to command those who follow him to go into all the world and make disciples of both people and nations.

Ultimately, all that we do should be an identifiable element of making disciples.  Spiritual warfare is the element that produces freedom from spiritual bondage so that those who have been set free can make progress in their walk with Jesus. Deliverance or healing is not a stand alone event but part of our effort to disciple a person.  It is extremely important to realize that if the other elements of discipleship are not established in the life of the believer (faith, identity, prayer, repentance, time with the Lord, and so forth), those who receive healing and deliverance will quickly lose what they have received. Jesus warned, “When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first (Lk.11:24-26).

The man was set free from a demon but the vacancy was not filled with the things of God that are the elements of discipleship. Since a spiritual vacuum remained, the unclean spirit was able to return along with others. The man was then worse off than before he experienced deliverance. Because of that, we must be concerned with fully “discipling” those to whom we minister healing and deliverance.

That process is referenced in John 21 as Jesus asked Peter to affirm his love for him three times – the number of times Peter had denied him.  As Peter professed his love, Jesus charged him to care for the flock of the Chief Shepherd as evidence of that love. He responded to Peter’s responses by saying, “Feed my lambs…Lead my sheep…Feed my sheep.”  In a recent trip to Israel on a study tour, our guide explained that shepherds in Israel will rise early when new lambs have been born to carry them, speak to them, and examine the lamb the for weaknesses that will need attention as the lamb develops.  The shepherd bonds to the lamb, imprints his voice on the lamb, and becomes acquainted with the weaknesses of the little one for whom he will be responsible.  He then will lead the flock into places of protection and nurture and will make sure that they receive their “daily bread” of fresh grass and water. That is the process of discipleship and we are to see to it that those we bring to the Lord or set free in the Lord will receive the care and feeding they need with some special attention given to their weaknesses.

The process takes time.  It will be inconvenient.  It will even be frustrating.  But it is the life of a shepherd and that is what it means to make disciples. “Drive by” deliverance and “on the spot”  healing can be dangerous if we don’t disciple the individual or connect him or her to those who will continue to help that person grow in the Lord. As we continue to press into the realm of spiritual warfare, we must always remember it is not an end in itself but a step in the call to make disciples.

For those who minister in the arena of deliverance, there is always something new to learn. There is nothing more frustrating than to know a spirit is tormenting a person, but at the end of the day you also know you have not been able to drive out that spirit.  Sometimes there is still something that continues to give that spirit a legal right to remain.  It might be a secret sin that has not been confessed or repented of. It might be a generational curse that has not yet been dealt with. It might simply be that the person does not truly want to give up a sin, a sinful relationship, or the company of a spirit that is posing as a friend or protector.  However, there are times when the individual truly wants to be free, has confessed every conceivable sin, and you are confident you have nullified every curse and yet the person does not get freedom.

When that occurs, we need to be open to learning more from those who have more experience or those who have had different experiences and, thus, have discovered some things through trial and error or through revelation that we have not learned. I don’t think we should be open to every approach that comes down the road because some are simply weird and seem to be more from the flesh than from the Spirit.   But we should be open to those approaches that seem to resonate with our spirit and that do not violate biblical principles.  The truth is that sometimes we have to try a new approach before we know whether it is effective or not.  If it is effective, keep it in your tool box and if it is not, discard it.

There is one approach that we discovered from Francis MacNutt in the past year or so that has been helpful in the realm of occult spirits or spirits of witchcraft that you may find helpful if you find yourself being frustrated  when you come up against some of these nasty critters. This comes from MacNutt’s book entitled Deliverance from Evil Spirits  – A Practical  Manual.  What we have found helpful is thinking about the added dimension of a person being dedicated to Satan or some demonic spirit rather than just being afflicted because they dabbled with horoscopes, Ouija boards, or fortune tellers.  Since we have begun considering that possibility, we have discovered that a number of people have had parents or grandparents who intentionally or unintentionally dedicated their families to spirits or organizations who have occult underpinnings.

In many cases, the parents or grandparents thought they were providing protection or blessings through spirits that they did not recognize as evil.  In many cultures, there is a real mix of folk magic, cultural beliefs,  and the veneration of ancestral spirits with Christianity so that those who practice “white magic” or who call on ancestral spirits for protection think it is all good. Those who were brought up in false religions (especially eastern religions)  also had parents who prayed for their children in the name of false gods (demonic spirits) and dedicated their families to those spirits thinking that they were benevolent gods.   It seems that some who have gone deep into Free Masonry may also have dedicated their families to occult spirits attached to that organization by simply dedicating their families to the organization by word or desire. We have also ministered to individuals who personally dedicated themselves to Satan or entered into a contract for one reason or another.  These “dedications” may add an extra dimension to deliverance.

Let me simply quote MacNutt for your consideration because we have found this helpful and you might as well.  Ask the Holy Spirit about it first and then try it for effectiveness if the Spirit gives you a green light.

“Most people, even those in deliverance ministry, have not heard of seals; yet they are a major reason we get stuck in difficult cases. Like many satanic elements, it is a parody of our being sealed by the Holy Spirit in holy baptism. In ancient times an imprint of the owner’s seal was put onto belongings so they could not be broken into…Christian tradition holds that baptism impresses on you a spiritual seal that symbolizes dedication to God and protection by God from evil.  Similarly, a person can be sealed for Satan, signifying that he is dedicated and belongs to Satan in some way and he is protected and cannot be freed until the seal is broken. It may seem strange, but this seal is a spiritual reality, like a spiritual shield, that covers and protects an evil spirits in a person until it is broken.”

If a person has dedicated himself or entered into an agreement with Satan himself, he or she should do the following. To break these seals, a person should openly declare his faith in Jesus Christ again as Lord and Savior and renounce Satan and all the works of Satan.  He should renounce all the spiritual forces that set themselves against God, and all sinful desires that draw him away from God. MacNutt insists that this should be done three times and then the person also needs to specifically renounce any dedication or contract he or she made with the devil or a demonic spirit three times. Having done that, the seal can be broken that has ben protecting these occult spirits.  You may simply say, ‘In the name of Jesus Christ, by his power and his authority, I break and remove every seal of Satan and set you free by the sword of the Holy Spirit.” Having done that, you can go back to commanding those spirits to leave.  It seems that

if someone else dedicated a person to Satan, he or she should do the same thing but probably only needs to do it once rather than three times.

I wanted to share this with those who minister deliverance because I had not run across this insight in other books on deliverance and we have found it helpful and effective in our ministry. Again, pray about it and test it.  Hopefully, it will help you break the power of Satan in the life of someone who have been unable to find freedom before.

There are seasons of life that overwhelm us. These are the seasons of life in which we can see no apparent solution to what is assaulting us. These are the seasons in which one crisis after another seems to wash over us and we sense that our trouble is more than the experience of living in a fallen world.  We know in our spirit that Satan has his crosshairs on us or our family and is unrelenting in his attacks.   In those seasons it can seem that all that we are doing in prayer and standing on the word doesn’t seem to be winning the day but only keeping our heads barely above the water. Those are the days that I need a revelation of God that is more than him sitting serenely on his throne in heaven.  I need a powerful and passionate rescuer.

I love Psalm 18, because David gives me the picture I need in those seasons.  David understood those seasons more than most.  Although David had been anointed by Samuel to be king over Israel, there were many days for David when the prophecy seemed nebulous at best. For years, Saul was unrelenting in his attempts to find and kill David. There were moments when weariness settled in and David doubted that the prophecy he had received would ever come to pass.  In1Samuel we are told, “But David thought to himself, ‘One of these days I will be destroyed by the hand of Saul. The best I can do is escape to the land of the Philistines’” (1 Sam.27:1).  Saul hunted David for years.  David and his men were always out numbered, always on the run. They weren’t living in the palace but in caves and wilderness strongholds. At one point, even David’s own men turned on him.  But in all of that, David discovered that God did know and God did care about him.

David wrote, “In my distress I called to the Lord; I cried to my God for help. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came before him, into his ears. The earth trembled and quaked, and the foundations of the mountains shook; they trembled because he was angry. Smoke rose from his nostrils; consuming fire came from his mouth, burning coals blazed out of it. He parted the heavens and came down; dark clouds were under his feet. He mounted the cherubim and flew; he soared on the wings of the wind. He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him— the dark rain clouds of the sky. Out of the brightness of his presence clouds advanced, with hailstones and bolts of lightning.

The Lordthundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded. He shot his arrows and scattered the enemies, great bolts of lightning and routed them. The valleys of the sea were exposed and the foundations of the earth laid bare at your rebuke, O Lord, at the blast of breath from your nostrils. He reached down from on high and took hold of me; he drew me out of deep waters. He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from my foes, who were too strong for me” (Ps.18:6-17).

This is the picture of a Father who hears the cry of a beloved child who is being assaulted by the enemy.  As a parent, if your children were playing in the front yard and you suddenly heard them cry out in fear and saw someone attacking them, you would rise up in anger and tear the door off its hinges as you plunged into the front yard with all the power and wrath you could muster against anyone or anything hurting your children.  You would be breathing fire and hurling lightening bolts if you could. Psalm 18 is a picture of our heavenly Father doing just that.  Some days I need that picture and I need my God to be that Father for me.  On a day when you feel totally overwhelmed by circumstances, it’s okay to ask God to be that Father for you as well.

I think a fair question is why did God wait to ultimately deliver David from Saul when he could have taken Saul out at any time.  I’m sure David wondered that as well. Saul had been picked to be king because he looked “kingly” or “presidential” if you will. He had been installed as king without training and without testing. When an untested heart is given power, the result is usually disastrous.  Proverbs tells us that the earth trembles when a slave becomes king (Pr.30:22). That sounds like a great story, but if a man has not been taught how to use power, he can use it for great harm in the same way that so many lottery winners who had never had wealth were destroyed by the wealth they had always desired.

The years of waiting for deliverance, fighting battles, crying out to God, leading men in hard circumstances, etc. tested and developed David’s heart so that when his prophecy came to pass, he was able to steward the promise in an effective way. I have found that the seasons that have been overwhelming to me were preparing me for something to come.  God’s grace was always sufficient if I had faith that he was there and watching and if I held on to him.  I encourage you to hold on as well.  In those moments, David’s picture of a loving father, rising to rescue his child has been helpful to me.  Maybe it will be helpful for you as well if you are in one of those seasons now.

Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed from that moment. Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?” He replied, “Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you (Jn.17:18-20).

I don’t know about you, but this verse bothers me.  Jesus seems to be saying that the smallest amount of faith can move mountains and if we are not moving mountains then our faith is truly microscopic. Rarely do I feel that I am moving mountains, so a bit of condemnation creeps up when I look at this scripture as the standard.  The question then becomes whether or not I am understanding this passage correctly.

Without letting myself off the hook for microscopic faith, there is another way to understand this passage.  The word that is translated “little faith” typically means a small amount or lack, but it can also be translated as “a short amount of time” or as “brief.” In the context, Jesus may have been telling his disciples that they didn’t sustain their faith long enough.  When the demon didn’t come out right away, they quit.  Persistence or perseverance is part of faith.  In an instant society, we want it now and are prone to give up if something doesn’t happen quickly. I think we can fall prey to that mindset when it comes to prayer, commanding a demon, or declaring healing. Sometimes, in order to move a mountain, we must persist or endure. The mountain may be moved a shovel full at a time instead of all at once.

James highlights this truth when he says, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything” (Ja. 1:2-4). Sometimes we think that spiritual maturity and great faith always produce the overnight miracles of healing, provision, breakthrough, and so for. Yet James is clear that the quality of endurance is part of spiritual maturity.

In his letter to the church at Philippi, Paul exhorts them to “contend for the faith” against ongoing opposition.  That text has the flavor of contending, wrestling, and engaging in conflict.

In his “sermon on the mount,” Jesus taught us, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened” (Mt.7:7-8). The verbs in this passage are “present progressive.”  They could be translated as keep asking, keep knocking, and keep seeking.  After you have kept on, your prayers will be answered.

Our faith then is not always measured by the immediate miracle.  Sometimes it is measured by a belief that God is hearing my prayers and storing them up until the movement when they will be answered in a powerful way. Persistence can be the measure of my faith. Even in the context of deliverance, such as the one in which the disciples of Jesus could not cast out the spirit, we may need to go after that spirit more than once, believing that the power and authority that God has given us weakens the devil’s stronghold each time we command and each time we declare the word of God over it. At some point, when we have persevered, the walls of that stronghold will crack and the enemy will flee. We may think that the walls of Jericho came down all at once, but they came down after seven days of establishing authority in the spiritual realm by marching around the city.

Often, the enemy wins by just holding on long enough for us to give up. In those moments, our faith was sufficient in one sense but too brief for the stronghold to fall. We did not endure. Paul’s life and ministry was defined by endurance. He described it with the following words.  “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed” (2 Cor.4:8-9). Basically, he said that they kept getting knocked down, but always got up and pressed ahead.  Their faith was in the final victory if they kept going.

Whatever you have been asking for, keep contending. Our faith is enough if it is not too brief.

One of the most intriguing accounts in the gospels is the account of the Gadarene demoniac. The story appears in Matthew 8, Mark 4, and Luke 8. Any account that shows up three times in the gospels should be given a closer look.

You know the story. The apostles and Jesus got into their small boat to cross the sea of Galilee at night. The area is subject to sudden storms and so during the crossing a severe squall came up, waves were washing over the boat, and the disciples were terrified. Jesus was asleep, they woke him, and he rebuked the storm. The wind and waves ceased immediately and they were astonished that Jesus could command even the storm. As if that weren’t “weird” enough, as soon as they arrived at their destination, a man who lived in a shoreline cemetery and was tormented by demons ran to Jesus. This was a man who was naked, scarred by him cutting himself with stones, dirty, manic, and who had displayed supernatural strength when townspeople had tried to bind him. He ran to Jesus and the demons within the man cried out for mercy. The commanding spirit identified himself as Legion because there were so many demons afflicting the man. They asked Jesus to allow them to enter into a nearby herd of swine. As they left the man and entered the pigs, the entire herd rushed down an embankment into the lake and were drowned.

The Gospel of Mark then states, “Those tending the pigs ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, and the people went out to see what had happened. When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. Those who had seen it told the people what had happened to the demon-possessed man—and told about the pigs as well. Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their region. As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. Jesus did not let him, but said, “Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed” (Mark 5:14-21)

Notice that the “possessed” man was now dressed and in his right mind. The supernatural flavor of all that had happened frightened the people who lived nearby. The supernatural quieting of the storm on Galilee the night before had the same affect on the twelve. Now the people asked Jesus to leave their region. Predictably, the man who had just been set free from terrible torment did not want to be separated from the one who had freed him.

If I had been that man, I would have been terrified that those same spirits who had made my life a living hell would return and take possession again once Jesus was out of sight. Jesus, however, told the man that he could not go with him but should simply go and tell people what God had done for him. A close friend recently pointed out that the story raises several questions. First of all, Matthew records that there were two demon-possessed men who were living in the tombs who ran to Jesus, but the gospels quickly focus on only one. Why? What happened to the second man? Secondly, what prevented the man from being “repossessed” after Jesus left? He did not have the Spirit of God living in him because the Spirit had not yet been given. He apparently was not part of a great “spirit-filled” synagogue where he was prayed over and discipled. He, in fact, knew very little about the man who had just set him free.

What we do know about this man is that he immediately became a Christ-follower and was obedient to Christ. Jesus told him to go and tell his family what God had done for him. Mark tells us, “So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed” (Mk.5:20-21). We have to speculate, but perhaps the second man left as soon as he was delivered to go back to the life he had known before his demonization. The other stayed close to the one who had set him free. His heart was turned to Jesus because of what Jesus had just done for him.

As his heart was turned to Jesus, he was willing to do what Jesus asked him to do. In this case, it was to go and tell others. Jesus said, If you love me you will keep my commandments” (Jn.14:15). Those who love Jesus are known and remembered in heaven. He was remembered in three gospels while the other man simply disappeared. Love and obedience also garner heaven’s protection and provision. I believe that is why the man was not lost again to the enemy. We can’t be sure about his friend.

There is a maxim among those who minister in spiritual warfare. “The first battle is to get free. The second battle is to stay free.” The Gadarene demonstrates that the second battle is won by loving Jesus and walking in obedience. A life of love and obedience provides no open doors for the enemy. We have delivered hundreds of people from demons. Those who draw close to Jesus afterward with a heart to obey, stay free. Those who drift back to old lifestyles and sinful relationships, find themselves worse off than in the beginning. Some of them, like the second man, have simply disappeared from the life of the church. Jesus give a stern warning in Matthew 12 when he said that if a man is freed from a demon, and does not fill the vacancy with the Spirit of God and the things of God, that spirit will return and bring others with him. Then the man will be worse of than before. I think the two Gadarenes may be an illustration of that truth.

In our own lives and ministries, we need to be very aware of that principle and keep ourselves close to Jesus, in love with him, and obedient. We must also warn those to whom we minister, of the spiritual risks involved if they receive healing or freedom from Jesus and then go their own way. The fruit of the Gadarene’s obedience is that when Jesus returned to the area, after first being asked to leave, multitudes were waiting to hear him. Sometimes, we don’t need a sermon of even a great deal of theology, we simply needs to share our own story to bring others to Jesus.

The shooting in Sutherland Springs has once again ignited the debate over how to prevent such tragedies from occurring again. There are those who want tighter gun control or even confiscation of all firearms. There are those who blame a shortage of mental health facilities. Others are pointing the finger to failed communications between the military and law enforcement or to the negative impact of our president. Ultimately, you cannot legislate morality or pass enough laws to prevent someone bent on destruction from taking lives. It can be done with guns, rental trucks, explosives, poisons, biological weapons, knives, arson, and agricultural supplies.

The apostle Paul was familiar with the violence of men. In his day there had been any number of mini-revolutions quelled without mercy by the unflinching sword of Rome. There were political terrorists who murdered dignitaries in the shadows. There was the brutality of dictatorships that beat, murdered, and imprisoned men for no just cause. There was bigotry, discrimination, and slavery on a scale that dwarfed the American expression of that injustice in the early years of the republic. Paul had seen the roads of Rome lined with the victims of crucifixion and impalement on stakes and had seen corruption raised to an art form by government officials.

In the midst of that, he did not cry out for more laws, more medications, more government intervention, or more mental health hospitals. Ultimately, he pointed to another realm that had to be dealt with before the violence and brutality of planet earth could be diminished. He declared, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Eph.6:12).

His point here and in other scriptures is that the horror we see in this world is a symptom of a deeper cause. The cause is sin and brokenness enflamed and animated by the demonic realm and the fallen nature of man. Ultimately, three things have to happen to prevent tragedies like Las Vegas and Sutherland Springs. The gospel must be shared with millions not hundreds, broken hearts must be healed, and those in bondage to sin, mental illness, bitterness, addictions, and demonic spirits must be set free.

Only Jesus can do that and he will do it only though his church. I’m not naïve enough to believe that every person on earth can be saved and healed and that all violence will be eliminated this side of the return of Jesus. I know that will not happen because scripture tells us that not all men will be saved. On the other hand, the prophets do speak of a day when nations will stream to the church for wisdom and answers to the world’s most perplexing problems. I also know that the kingdom of God is meant to expand across the globe and as that kingdom is planted in the hearts of individuals they will change, which in turn will change families, which in turn will change communities, which in turn will change nations. We have been given an assignment to make disciples of all nations (not just a few people in each nation) , therefore, it can be done.

As we grieve over these tragedies that are becoming common place and as the world looks for answers, the church needs to find a voice and creative, empowered ways to touch, love, heal, and change the very individuals who might otherwise take a gun to church or a concert. We should know better than to look to government for answers. We should know better than to attempt to fight evil with the weapons of the world. We should begin to look to Christ for individual, community, national, and global answers for war, poverty, mental illness and violence.

When the church looks to the world for solutions rather than the world looking to the church, then we have failed to recognize who we are, whose we are, and the power and brilliance that resides in each of us through the Holy Spirit. I’m not yet sure what those solutions are, but I am sure that our God knows exactly how to establish large patches of heaven on earth that will grow and influence more and more territory like leaven in a lump of bread.

Not only does he know what to do, but he has already commanded us to do it and the resources for the mission are already stored in heaven waiting to be used. Let’s think bigger and more strategically. Huge corporations that influence the globe like Microsoft, Apple, and Facebook didn’t become richer than most nations by force or legislation, but by identifying the needs and desires of the world and offering solutions. How much more should the people of God be doing so? It’s time to expand our vision of the church, to leave our buildings, and to take our place in the world as the appointed dispensers of the grace and glory of God and his solutions to the world’s most overwhelming problems.

Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life. Philippians 2:14-16

I recently visited with a young woman who grew up in church, loves the Lord, hosts a small group Bible study in her home, but continues to struggle with overwhelming feelings of fear and condemnation. She lamented that the churches in her area were “powerless to help people like her.” In many ways she had no more freedom in her life than the unsaved men and women in her community.

If we are honest, many believers today are saved but remain in bondage to sin, addiction, shame, fear, and a host of other hindrances to their walk. The truth is that other than church attendance, a very large number of believers feel and act just like the people they work with or go to school with who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them. Divorce rates in the church rival divorce rates in the culture at large. Christian teens seem to have little power over the cultural pressure to drink, experiment with drugs, or to be sexually active. A significant number of believers live on antidepressants, tolerate marriages dominated by anger and rage, live with bitterness toward people in their past, and are crippled by an overpowering sense of unworthiness and rejection.

I’m not scolding these believers for not being “the Christians they should be” because I have struggled with many of those issues as well. These believers are desperately looking for freedom, but in many cases have not been shown by their churches how to access the freedom and healing that Jesus promises.

A gospel that only gets us to a place of forgiveness but does not radically free us and change us so that we stand out in contrast to our culture is not the gospel that Jesus preached. Paul pointed to this truth in the text from Philippians quoted above.   Stars stand out in stark contrast to the darkness like the sun’s brilliant corona as it shines around a total eclipse. Jesus himself declared that his followers were to be the light of the world. Those who wear the name of Christ should stand out in the crowd by their sheer “differentness.”

Jesus spoke of being “born again” not as figurative language for trying harder or simply starting over with a clean sheet, but as a reality where something real and essential has been altered in everyone who comes to him. Scripture tells us that before Jesus came into our lives we were dead in our trespasses and sins and living under the dominion of darkness. We were in bondage to sin whether we knew it or not. Satan literally owned us. But in Christ, all things become new. Jesus declared that he came to heal broken hearts and set captives free. Those promises are for this world not just the world to come. After all, the same power that raised Jesus from the grave operates within us. The Spirit of God who has constant access to the mind of God lives within us and is willing to download the knowledge and creativity of heaven to those who ask for it. Because we have “the mind of Christ,” we should be the smartest, most creative, most resourceful, and most optimistic people on the planet in very noticeable ways.

When the Holy Spirit takes up residence within us, an incredible potential for radical change is released. The door to our prison cell is unlocked and opened wide. The question is whether we will walk through that door into a radically new life or voluntarily stay in our familiar environment. Many Christians stay because they are unaware of the open door because it is only perceived by faith. They are also unaware of the destiny and power Christ offers them to set them free and transform their lives.

Satan’s first goal is to keep us from coming to Christ. His second goal is to make us ineffective. One of the enemy’s most effective strategies is to convince a believer that he is the same person he always was and will always be even after coming to Christ. Satan peddles the lie that the only difference between the saved and unsaved person is that the saved has his or her sins forgiven. Otherwises, we are still as powerless and broken as the unsaved around us. If he can’t keep us from accepting Jesus, the next best thing is to convince us that we will only experience the power, healing, and blessings of heaven after our funeral. Until then, we will simply struggle and do the best we can while our life plays out like a sad country song. That is not what Jesus has in mind on the cross. That is not the abundant life.

After coming to Christ, the essential difference between those with the Spirit of Christ living in them and those without the Spirit should soon become apparent, not as a reflection of our efforts but as a reflection of the power of God working in us. The fact that so many believers blend in perfectly with the world around them reveals that something is amiss. Speaking of Jesus, John tells us, “In him was life and that life was the light of men” (John 1:4). There was a measure and quality of life in Jesus that was unmistakable. It stood out and drew men to him. With Christ in us, we should exude the same life. That life comes through the power that heals and sets men free (Isa.61:1-4) and the power that transforms us into the image of Christ. A powerless gospel will not take us there.

Paul gave a stern warning to the church at Galatia regarding the gospel of Jesus Christ. He declared, “I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.  But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed” (Gal.1:6-8). Paul was concerned about a gospel that included salvation by works but an incomplete gospel also borders on being another gospel. To teach forgiveness only, without the transforming power of the Holy Spirit, leaves believers vulnerable to the oppression and affliction of the enemy.

Whenever Jesus and his followers preached the gospel, they immediately healed the sick, cast our demons, cleanse lepers, and raised the dead on more than one occasion. That power was not just a demonstration that they were speaking for God, but it was also necessary for those accepting Christ to be released to meet their full potential in Him. Much of the church is reclaiming the power of the Holy Spirit but that realization has not yet made it to the majority of churches or believers in America. My hope is that a time will soon come in which no one will have to say that the churches in his or her area seem powerless to help, “for the kingdom of God does not consist in words but in power” (1 Cor. 4:20). I also hope that you will be a clear voice in the Kingdom of God for all that Jesus purchased on the cross for all those who follow him.