In last week’s blog, we discussed the indicators that a house cleansing might be in order.  This week I want to share a simplified approach to performing a house cleansing that has always been effective for us.  This process is essentially the same as deliverance for individuals and involves aligning ourselves with Christ, renouncing the enemy and his works, declaring authority over the enemy and, then, exercising that authority. 

Alignment:

If you are not a believer, the devil has access to you at all times because you have not yet been delivered from the dominion (authority) of darkness (see Col.1:13).  Your only way out is to sincerely make Jesus your Lord and Savior. If you are a believer, Jesus has taken away Satan’s legal right to oppress you or afflict you.  However, you or those you are connected to or those who lived in your house or on your property before you arrived, may give that right back to him. 

Satan may gain access to you or your home through areas of your life that are not aligned with Satan and give him a legal right to afflict you.   If you are walking in unrepented sin, unforgiveness, or unbelief, those sins may open the door to the enemy.  If others who lived in your home or apartment before you committed gross sin in the house, abuse, violence, or witchcraft, there may be a demonic assignment on the house or property.  Be sure you have confessed and repented of any personal sin before you start the cleansing.

Jesus taught us to pray “and deliver us from the evil one” (Mt.6:13).  It’s always good to begin with a prayer of protection from the schemes, the influence, and the attack of the enemy when you are confronting darkness. After that, the first step of alignment is to have the one(s) with authority in the home make a verbal declaration of his or her faith in Jesus as the Son of God and his or her allegiance to Jesus as Lord and Savior followed by a verbal renunciation of Satan and all of his works. If married, the husband and wife can say these things together.  You might begin by making a verbal declaration like this:  Heavenly Father, I declare my faith in and allegiance to Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior and willingly place everything I am and everything I have under his authority and lordship.  In the name of Jesus, I renounce Satan and all the works of Satan and repent of any and all sin in my own life.

In addition to personal repentance, we ask the owner, renter, or head of the household (both husband and wife should do this together) to verbally place the house, contents of the house, and the property under the Lordship of Jesus and to dedicate all of that to his purposes.  In doing so, you transfer dominion of the house and any part of the house from the enemy to Jesus. Joshua declared, “If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Josh. 24:15).

You should verbally declare something like…In the name of Jesus, we dedicate and consecrate this home, its contents, this property and our family to the service and Lordship of Jesus Christ who has all authority in heaven and on earth.  And in the name of Jesus, we renounce and nullify any claim that the enemy has had on this house, this family, any contents in this house, or on this property.  In doing so, we declare that Satan has no right and no place in this home, in this family, or on this property and is declared a trespasser.

Lastly, we look through the home to identify any objects that may be giving the enemy a place in the home such as souvenirs from overseas; books, dvd’s, or music that glorify sin, violence or death; occult items related to witchcraft such as Ouija boards, tarot cards, horoscopes, books on witchcraft, items related to Freemasonry, or representations of false gods; pornography or other items that, by their presence, provide an open window for Satan rather than honoring God. These items should be removed and destroyed if possible.

We also ask the Holy Spirit to highlight any other objects or areas that need to be removed or given special attention in the house such as places where sin has occurred – beds where adultery was practiced, tables on which occult activities took place, etc.  We then ask those in authority to verbally renounce any sins that those objects clearly represent – pornography, idolatry, magic, false religions, fortune telling, adultery, sexual abuse, etc.  Say something like: In the name of Jesus, we renounce and repent of (name the sin) and ask forgiveness for its presence in this house and for our involvement in (name the sin).   When that has been done, then the owners of the house and the house itself have been aligned with Christ.

Exercising Authority:

All those who believe in Jesus and have his Spirit within them have been given authority to deal with the demonic.  Because of that, we then lead the owner(s) of the house or those who have authority in the house to command all unclean spirits to leave the house and property and to never return. Of course, all this is done in the name and authority of Jesus.  If the people in the house have experienced fear, anger, sexual issues, or have seen or felt spirits, we name or describe those spirits specifically as well as commanding all unclean spirits, in general, to leave. 

Note:  It is obviously best if both spouses are present and involved, but at times that is not possible or one spouse may not be a believer or believe in spiritual warfare. Whoever is a believer should go ahead with the process knowing that an unbelieving spouse or a spouse that is mired in sin may be an open door to the enemy which may inhibit the cleansing or make it necessary to do it again or on a regular basis. 

You may command something like:

In the name of Jesus, who has all authority in heaven and on earth, I command you, spirit of fear (or any other spirit you know by the fruit it has born in your house or simply by calling them demonic or uncleans spirits) to leave this house and this property and this area immediately.  You have no right here and no place here.  You are trespassing on property that has been dedicated and consecrated to the Lord Jesus Christ.  In his name I command you leave immediately and never return and I command you to do so without hurting or harassing anyone in this house.

Once those with authority have made their declarations and have commanded the spirits to leave, we agree with them.  “Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them” (Mt.18:19-20). We agree by moving throughout the house commanding spirits in each room and garage to leave and never return while always being sensitive to the Holy Spirit for direction in what we are doing or declaring.  

As we move through the house, we smear a drop of anointing oil (olive oil) above each door and window (like blood over the Hebrew doors on the first Passover) as a way of consecrating that space to the Lord or marking that house as belonging to God. We often do that around the perimeter of the property (fence lines, etc.) and on outbuildings as well.   In the same way, oil was poured on priests to dedicate and consecrate them and their service to the Lord.  Those needing healing and deliverance were anointed also with oil in the New Testament. There is nothing magical about the oil, but I believe it symbolizes the Spirit and as the Spirit marks us as those belonging to Christ, the oil also marks homes and items in the homes as those dedicated to and belonging to the Lord.  

Having anointed the house and having commanded all unclean spirits to leave and never return, we ask the Lord to place angels around the house to prevent the enemy from returning.  We bless the family living in the house, encourage them once again to get rid of any objects that may be giving the enemy access to their house and we leave.  We have rarely had to return except where individuals held on to objects that should have been taken out or destroyed. When questionable people have been in your house, we recommend at least commanding any unclean spirits to leave your house and property and never return as soon as those individuals leave.   If demonic activity continues, then you should pray and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal what is giving those spirits a continuing right to afflict you.  When that is revealed, take care of it and then again command all spirits to leave.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Indicators You Need a House Cleansing

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.  James 5:13-16

The promises for healing are numerous in scripture, both in the Old and New Testaments.  As God established his covenant with Israel, he promised, “There the Lord made a decree and a law for them, and there he tested them. He said, “If you listen carefully to the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, who heals you” (Exodus 15:25-26.)  David wrote, “Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits— who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases.” (Ps. 103:2-3). 

In the Old Testament we see the healings of Hezekiah and Naaman.  Job is healed after Satan’s assault on his health.   Elijah restores life to a dead boy. Several women who were unable to have children were healed and given children. We are told in Psalm 107:20 regarding those who were suffering affliction, “He sent out his word and healed them; he rescued them from the grave.” There are numerous other instances and promises that health would be the condition of those who loved God and kept his commandments.  Even when sickness came because of rebellion, health was restored when those individuals repented.  In several Messianic prophecies, God pointed to a Messiah who would bring healing to his people.

In the New Testament one of the marks of the Messiah and the Kingdom of God was the innumerable people that Jesus healed.   Not only did he heal, but he gave power and authority to his followers to do so.  (Mt. 10:1; Lk. 9:1; 10:8, 18-`19; Mk. 16:16-18.) The Holy Spirit gave gifts of healing to the church (1 Cor. 12:9).  We are also told that by the wounds of Jesus we are healed (1 Pet. 2:24). From a natural reading of the New Testament, it seems that healing was the rule and not the exception. When someone wasn’t healed, the church searched for a reason. .  It is clear that God’s heart and will for his people is health. Jesus said if we have seen him, we have seen the Father. Jesus healed out of love and compassion.  So does the Father.

Then we come to James and the passage at the beginning of this blog.  If anyone is in trouble he should pray.  If anyone is happy they should sing.  These are responses of the individual to God.  But when it comes to healing, we are instructed to call others to pray over us. In this case, we are instructed to call the elders or the spiritually mature to pray over us. He doesn’t say keep it to yourself and plead with God.

I think there are several lessons we might garner from this text.  One is that God desires interdependence among his people.  Paul uses the analogy of the body and different parts of the body with different functions in reference to the church.  We aren’t the same as the others and we can’t get along without the other parts.  We might live, but we will not be all we could be.  In the same way, he gives different spiritual gifts to the church. Where I have a weakness, I need someone else’s gift to operate in my life through that person and vice-versa. We need one another and God often answers our prayers and meets our needs through his people.  I am blessed by others and they are blessed by me.

We must note that James instructs us to call on others, especially when we are sick.  He also directs elders to anoint us and pray over us and declares the prayer of faith will raise up the sick person.  This does not always promise immediate healing, but that healing will come. Notice the faith in this passage is the faith of those who are praying, not necessarily the one who is being prayed for.  He goes on to say, if he has sinned, he will be forgiven and healed.  Sometimes illness comes to us because of unconfessed and unrepented sin.  That is not the only source of sickness, but it can be and someone needs to be there to hear a confession and pray for forgiveness.  James tells us. “Confess your sins one to another and pray for one another that you may be healed” (Ja. 5:16).  The word translated as sin can also mean failure, fault or error.  The corollary of that verse is that if you don’t confess and have others pray for you, you won’t be healed. 

The value of involving others is the power of multiplied prayers.  Jesus declared, “I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them” (Mt. 18:19-20). In addition, when you have shared a spiritual struggle with others, they can continue to support you as you overcome that issue in your life.  Confessing sins or weaknesses is humbling, but it is the humble whom God raises up.


God has designed the body of Christ so that we need one another. We are not made to function spiritually as Lone Rangers isolated from the body claiming that we need only God,  because it is through the body that many of our  prayers will be answered and many of our needs will be met.

This doesn’t mean we never pray for our own healing, but that our prayer will be more effective when coupled with others.  And, if sin is the root of the illness, I definitely need others involved. There are also times I need to borrow faith from another believer.  If I am very sick that may be especially true.  So, when you are sick, involve other believers. Call on someone…an elder, a believer with healing gifts, or simply a brother or sister with faith.  James suggests that God has made healing a team sport, and not just an individual enterprise…so don’t try to go it alone.  Be blessed and be healed.

Many things that believers have been praying for in America are unfolding.. The new administration brings in a pro-life environment and is pushing back on the indoctrination of our children from the LGBTQ influencers in America. The sovereignty of our nation and, thus, our religious freedom, is also being bolstered.  People are talking about their faith more openly than they have in decades.  Revival is breaking out on college campuses and, for now, we can be encouraged.

However, we would be naïve to believe that Satan is going to lay down and let this agenda unfold without significant opposition.  America has such influence globally that the enemy cannot afford for the turn-around in culture here, to spread to other nations.  Corruption is being uncovered at the highest levels through the efforts of DOGE to see where the money has gone.  Much of it has gone to those committed to a demonic agenda in America…whether they were aware of the source of their agenda or not. 

There are four things that we must engage In to keep this moment in history from being a very brief window of opportunity that closes with the next election cycle.  

1. Prayer is going to be more essential than ever.  We must pray for our leaders asking God to protect them, give them favor with the people, success with their policies, and wisdom and courage for governing.  We must also pray that the corruption that has been hidden in darkness will be brought into the light … on both sides of the aisle.

2. We must pray and act for the re-evangelization of America.  God is moving in amazing ways right now.  Unprecedented revival is breaking out on college campuses around America.  Students by the thousands have been giving their lives to the Lord over the past two years…the first notable outpouring being the Asbury Revival in February of 2023.  If America is to recover from its departure from God, the conscience of America must be renewed as a whole.  That will only happen if huge numbers of people turn to Jesus for the first time or return to him again. 

3. We must pray against demonic strongholds and principalities ruling over the nation. In his book, The Return of the Gods, Jonathan Cahn makes the case that when we began to push God out of our schools, courtrooms, and government buildings in the 1960’s, the enemy rushed in to fill the spiritual vacuum we chose to create.   In Daniel 10, we discover that demonic princes have assignments over nations to influence entire countries to serve Satan rather than God.  

In ancient Israel, Baal, Molech and Ishtar were consistently the false god’s Israel pursued.  Baal was the god of fertility and prosperity. He was the first substitute for the true and living God. Molech influenced people to offer their children in the fire to be granted blessings for their material prosperity.  Ishtar (Ashteroth) was the goddess of sexual immorality and perversion including her boast to turn men into women and women into men.  Certainly, we have seen the effects of these principalities establishing themselves over America. We must pray and ask God to dismantle and destroy these principalities and drive them from America once again.  Remember, our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against spiritual forces of darkness (Eph. 6:12). The irrationality of political policies and social movements over the past few years and the speed with which they took hold are explained only by demonic influence.

4. We must be willing to confess Jesus by speaking up for godliness in America at every level…through ballot boxes, at school board meetings, with our neighbors, and at the work place.  We need to do so with love and respect, but we must speak up.  Our careful silence, over the past decade or so, left America with the impression that the miniscule number of those pushing for super-liberal agendas were actually in the majority. Through our silence, we allowed them to label believers as haters and bigots and homophobes.  Since few spoke up, many Americans believed that conservatives were those things.  Now people are speaking up and America is changing her mind, but that must continue in every setting…again with love and respect.

The mid-term elections coming up in two years will be as critical as this recent election because if conservatives lose their majorities in the House and Senate, all this momentum in America will grind to a halt.  So pray for leaders at every level.   Share Jesus with those around you.  Pray against demonic strongholds in America.  And speak up for Jesus and biblical values.  This is not the time to coast, but to step on the accelerator as we try to take back this nation for the Kingdom of God.

One of the favorite verses of many believers is found in the Book of James where he says, “Resist the devil and he will flee from you” (James 4:7). James was the biological half-brother of Jesus.  The gospels reveal that none of his siblings, including James, believed Jesus was the Messiah until their older brother was raised from the dead.  Let’s face it, it might be hard for any of us to see one of our siblings as the Savior of the world after rolling in the mud with him as children.  I would be interested to know how much time Jesus spent with his family during the forty days he walked on the earth after his resurrection.  James became the leader of the Church in Jerusalem and was eventually martyred for his faith. That suggests Jesus may have spent some significant time with him and, perhaps, one of the things they talked about was the confrontation between Jesus and Satan in the wilderness after he was baptized by John.  That may have painted a clear picture for James of what it meant to resist the devil. 

Sometimes, when we think about resisting the devi, we think of strong believers commanding the devil or his demons to leave after afflicting an individual for years.  Maybe we picure Jesus commanding Legion to leave the Gerasene who had been so demonized that he lived among the tombs and broke chains when the people in the region tried to restrain him.  However, James doesn’t seem to be talking about a moment when someone else resists the devil for you, but a moment when you resist him.

The word translated “resist” means to stand against, outweigh, oppose or be hostile toward something or someone.  It has the feeling of not just enduring but active opposition.  In the wilderness temptation, Jesus opposed Satan with the Word of God, which is the sword of the Spirit. He actively declared God’s truth over each of Satan’s half-truths and lies.  Satan came at him three times and then departed.  In his public ministry, Jesus commanded evil spirits to leave and they did so…sometimes immediately and sometimes after a bit of resistance, but they left. On numerous occasions, they manifested genuine fear in the presence of Jesus.   We too can resist Satan with the Word of God and the authority of Jesus.

The essential key to resisting Satan however, is stated in the verse just before the one we have been discussing.  There James declares, “God opposes the proud, but shows favor to the humble.  Submit yourselves, then, to God.  Resist the devil and he will flee from you” (Ja. 4:6-7).  What we need to understand is that the first step to successfully opposing Satan is submission to the Father.  The power and authority if Christ must flow through us as we engage in any spiritual warfare.  We fight in his authority not our own.  We wield his sword of truth not our own philosophies. 

The very first battle for conquest of the promised land was Jericho.  In this famous story, God directed Israel to march around the city in silence day after day which made no strategic sense at all.  Then on the final day, after marching around the city seven times in silence, the priests blew the rams horns and the people shouted. The walls of Jericho collapsed.  Israel rushed in and totally defeated the enemy.

In the very next battle, Israel had only a small city. named Ai, to defeat.  But sin had infiltrated Israel through a man named Achan.  All of Jericho had been dedicated to God.  Israel was to take nothing from that city for themselves. But Achan had taken gold and fine clothing for himself and hidden it in his tent. As the army of Israel confidently attacked Ai, they were routed and thirty-six Israelites were killed.  Joshua was stunned that the small city had won the day after they had totally defeated the great city of Jericho. God then revealed that sin among the Israelites had cost them the victory.  

Where sin and rebellion are present, God restricts the power and authority that he would otherwise provide. We are not the source of power and authority, but are only conduits for the power and authority of Jesus.  Unrepented sin creates a crimp in the flow of the Spirit like a crimp in a water hose.  Even though there is a great volume of water at the source, only a trickle is available at the end. 

When we resist Satan with the full flow of God’s power and authority available to us, then he flees.  When our lives and hearts are submitted to God, his presence and power are not restricted.  Satan knows he cannot stand against that. James goes on to say, “Come near to God and he will cone near to you.  Wash your hands you sinners and purify your hearts you doubleminded…humble yourselves before the Lord and he will lift you up” (Ja. 4:8-10).

The first step to prevail in spiritual warfare is to align our hearts, our minds, and our actions with the Lord. The Word of God is powerful and the authority of the believer can overcome the enemy, but only when we are submitted to Jesus. Before the battle, Paul instructs us to put on the armor of God which includes truth (the Word of God), righteousness, readiness, faith, salvation, and the sword of the Spirit (Eph. 6:13-17). We are arming ourselves with God, but only if we are a good for him.  Remember, “The wicked man flees though no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion” (Prov. 28:1). Before the righteous, Satan flees.

But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. James 1:22

The Book of James is one of the most straight forward letters in the New Testament.  Instead of focusing on theological discussions, he deals mostly with what we do as evidence of what we believe.  In other words, he challenges us to look at our actions more than our words to truly discover what is in our hearts.

Revelation 12 give us an important insight into the work of Satan. We are told, “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down” (Rev. 12:10).  John is referencing Satan and reveals that the devil is constantly appearing before God in the courts of heaven with accusations against us…against you and me. We see a similar scene in the opening verses of the Book of Job where Satan is accusing Job of worshipping God only because God blessed him so richly.  Satan complained that God had prevented him from getting at Job and bringing pain and loss into his life.  The accuser argued that if God would lift his hand of protection and allow Satan to torment the man, Job would curse God instead of worshipping him.

When looking at these verses and others throughout scripture, we discover that Satan is constantly going before God with accusations against us.  He is persistent in his attempt to find a legal right to afflict us…some unrepented sin, some generational curse, or some spoken word that opens the door for his attacks.

James warns us of the ultimate deception through which Satan may gain access to many believers. He warns us to avoid the trap of being hearers of the Word only, without being doers of the Word. It is easy to feel spiritual and mature when we are constantly involved in Bible study, theological discussions, perpetual sermon podcasts, and so forth. We can carry on spiritual conversations, disect scripture, and talk about all the amazing things God is doing in the world, without allowing the Word of God to actually transform us.

In my years as a believer, I have witnessed men who taught the Bible with zeal and who could quote most of it, act in very unloving ways.  Some were abusive husbands and fathers. Some were spiritually arrogant and quick to judge others as less than themselves.  Some were child molesters. Others pursued secret addictions while quickly condemning others for their weaknesses.  

Because we talk about something, it is easy to believe we have done something about it.  Anyone who has done much counseling has experienced clients who come every week to their sessions and fully engage in long discussions about what they should be doing or could be doing, but then leave and never apply any of what they learned to their lives.  They show up, they talk, but they don’t change.  They feel great that they are going to counseling as if that were the goal rather than life change.  

We can do that in church or in our small groups as well.  We can read the Word, hear the Word, and discuss the Word, but never get around to doing what it calls us to do.  That is the great deception.  We feel we are good with God because we hang around God’s people, listen to sermon and attend conferences.   But our true goal is gaining religious information rather than spiritual transformation. Transformation takes a commitment to actually do what we are called to do…forgiver others, humble ourselves, confess our sins, care for the poor, seek justice for the weak, and so forth. 

When Satan goes before the Lord and accuses us of hypocrisy, God will have to grant him some legal right to afflict us because the charge is true.  The sin of appearing to be righteous while our hearts are full judgment, hatred, pride, lust, indifference to the needs of others, and so forth is the very condition about which Jesus rebuked the Pharisees…clean on the outside but full of decay on the inside.  The great deception is found in our contentment to know all the right things without letting those “right things” get hold of us and change us. The deception is feeling good with God and secure because we listen great sermons and great teachings.  James, however, says there is another necessary step.  We must do what we know, not just know what we know.  

I had a wise man come to me one day after a Bible class.  He said,” I don’t want you to teach me one more new thing from the Bible.  I want you to teach me how to do what I already know. I think that man would have made James, the brother of Jesus, smile. 

Every believer’s birthright in the Kingdom of God is freedom and healing – both physical and emotional. Scripture emphatically declares that Jesus came to heal the brokenhearted and to set captives free from every form of bondage (Isa.61). It also declares that by the stripes or wounds of Jesus, we are healed. If that is true then …

• Why are so many Christians still in bondage to anger, addictions, depression, and relational brokenness?
• Why do destructive behaviors still devastate Christian families from generation to generation?
• Why do so many Christian marriages end in divorce even after dozens of sessions with Christian counselors and therapists?
• Why do so many Christians experience minimal life transformation after coming to Christ?
• Why do so few Christians experience God’s supernatural healing?

If you are a follower of Jesus Christ, you possess a birthright of healing and freedom that too many Christians have yet to experience.  Many believers are unaware that healing and freedom are blood-bought promises that come to us through the cross.  My first twenty-five years as a Christian, I was taught the powerful and supernatural works of God were true, but were limited to the first century.  Once Jesus was confirmed to be the Son of God by his miracles and once the apostles were confirmed to be God’s anointed for writing most of the New Testament and establishing the first century church, the miracles were no longer needed and faded away.

After that era of miraculous validation,  we were told God began to work only through natural means and every believer was then left to receive direction from God only through the written Word, to live a moral life with some ambiguous help from God, and to face hardships like any other human.  The only real difference between believers and unbelievers was  faith that when the struggle was over, you would be rewarded with peace and blessings in heaven. 

Interestingly, we are told that scripture teaches us how to live.  We are to pattern our lives after men and women in scripture so that we might live the same life of faith as they did.  And yet, from Genesis to Revelation, there is an emphasis on the mighty works of God and his miraculous intervention for his people.  Genesis points us to numerous miracles.  Exodus reveals the miracles that brought Israel out of Egypt and sustained them in the wilderness.  Joshua begins with the walls of Jericho collapsing and the conquest of Canaan as God intervened over and over again for the armies of Israel. Judges is filled with God’s miraculous touch on ordinary men and women whom God raised up to lead the nation.  The prophets are filled with miracles and then the New Testament records all the works and miracles of Jesus as well as the twelve and many others.  So from Genesis to Revelation, God calls on his people to trust him for miracles…but suddenly, when we have received a Better Covenant through Christ, God goes out of the miracle business and the Holy Spirit no longer works through supernatural gifts.

There is something wrong with that view.  The argument that God no longer heals and delivers supernaturally is based on the absence of such miracles. ” We don’t see them anymore so God must not do them anymore.”  In scripture, when God’s people did not see miracles,  it was because they were either given over to idolatry or had no faith for miracles.  If we have no faith, then we are not asking for miracles and, therefore, will certainly not see them.  If we are given over to idolatry, we are looking for other sources to meet our needs rather than the supernatural hand of God.  Therefore, we also will see no miracles.  

Any natural reading of the New Testament with its emphasis on miracles and spiritual gifts, would never lead a person to believe that God was going to pull the plug on miracles and supernatural functions of the Holy Spirit.  You have to approach the scriptures wanting to prove that premise rather than finding in its the scriptures as a clear doctrine. If God were going to make such a radical shift in the way he irelated to his people. surely he would have been as clear about that shift as he was about the shift from the Covenant of Law to the Covenant of Grace. Yet you have to search for scriptures that might suggest God isn’t serving up miracles anymore and then interpret them to say much more than they actually say in context.

Too many of us have accepted the idea that the power we see on every page of the New Testament faded away centuries ago.  Yet Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever.  The Spirit in us is the same Spirit that brooded over the face of the waters in Genesis, that empowered the prophets, that rested on Jesus, and that raised him from the dead. .  He has not changed and He is a Spirit of power. Jesus did not die on the cross so that we could merely manage crippling and destructive issues in our lives, but so that each of us could be set free from bondage and brokenness. The promise is this: “So if the Son sets you free, then you will be free indeed” (John 8:36).  Don’t settle or live with a sense of resignation in the face of pain and brokenness. Go after everything Jesus paid for.

When God began to deliver Israel from Egypt with a series of plagues, there were a few of the plagues that Israel had to deal with as well as the Egyptians. But then God began to exempt Israel from the plagues in order to demonstrate that his relationship with Israel was unique. We are in a unique and covenant relationship with the Father and he wishes to demonstrate that difference through our healing and our freedom that come through the power of the Spirit and the supernatural works of God. Any theology that denies that truth, is keeping us from the very things Jesus died to provide.Someone once said, “A gospel without power is no gospel at all.” I agree with that. Don’t settle. Go after everything he has provided because the wonderful works of God bring glory to him.

I rarely walk on the weird side of spiritual warfare.  Weirdness tends to discredit the realities of the spiritual realm and our fight against unseen enemies. However,  I am going to cautiously put out to sea a little ways into some speculation because the devil is up to something and I feel like the Holy Spirit is highlighting these things for a reason.

Years ago, the Twilight Zone aired an episode entitled, “To Serve Man.”  The story was about aliens making their presence known on earth.  Imagine an impressive space craft landing on the White House lawn with emissaries from a planet in another galaxy descending the steps and declaring they have come in peace.  They declared they had come to share their knowledge and abundance with earth and to eliminate disease and war.  The earth, of course, was once again on the verge of destroying itself so, out of a sense of desperation, these alien emissaries were given the chance to demonstrate their good will.

In short order, they ended food shortages around the globe.  They provided cures for a huge number of devastating diseases.  They provided keys to eliminating natural disasters.  In short, they became the savior of mankind.  The world clamored for more.  In the process, there were skeptics who doubted their altruistic motives, but they brought so much good, who could doubt them.  Eventually, more ships came and they started taking men and women to their home planet for ten-year excursions.  One of the skeptics had secretly stolen a book from one of their ships and was trying to translate their difficult language.  The first breakthrough was the title, which read “To Serve Man.”  Those aware of the attempt to decipher the book were encouraged because that is why these aliens said they had come.  In the closing scene, the skeptic who was translating the book was feverishly trying to stop a friend from going on the interplanetary voyage to the aliens’ home planet.  He had finally broken the code and to his horror discovered that is was actually a cookbook and those leaving this planet were doomed to be feasted on when they arrive on this other world.  The scripture occurs to me that Satan appears as an angel of light.

The reason I’m bringing this up is because we are about to be inundated with news about alien visitors. Congressional hearings are opening the doors on secret files containing reams of reports about UFO’s going back to the “Roswell coverup” decades ago.  Notice, however, that the language has changed.  Now we are talking about non-human entities and interdimensional visitors.  When chased, these current UFO’s seem to disappear through some portal that closes. Non-human and interdimensional actually describe the demonic.  I have seen two reports on alien abductees.  Both reports claim no spirit-filled Christians have ever been abducted and those who were threatened sent the “travelers’ scurrying at the name of Jesus.  When aliens are revealed and interviewed on CNN, beware. They too may be interested in “serving man” and what power they would have to bring about a one world government and to endorse the “anti-Christ.”  Of course, AI can play a huge role in this as well as it becomes more and more difficult to discern the genuine from the computer generated.  

I know, this sounds like conspiracy theory gone wild, but if these kind of events begin to unfold, please be prayerful and discerning.  Only Jesus is the Savior of the World and his one world government will not be established until after he returns…and it won’t be on a flying saucer.  I won’t venture into these realms again unless compelled to do so, but sometimes we need to keep a closer eye on the enemy.  This possibility is not gospel so simply consider it and do with it as you will.