Sometimes, we become so familiar with great stories from the Bible and their most prominent themes that we fail to go back and discover important truths and principles that were also embedded in the story. One of the great stories is the account of Elijah’s showdown with Ahab and the prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel. As background to the story, Ahab was one of the most wicked kings in the history of Israel. He was married to Jezebel who earned her own reputation for exceptional wickedness. They both led Israel into years of worshipping Baal, Asherah, and Molech. The text in 1 Kings 16 says that Ahab did more to anger the Lord than all the wicked kings before him combined.

During his reign, Elijah was sent by the Lord to confront Ahab about his sins, time after time. However, Ahab, often prodded on by Jezebel, would not repent. As a part of his judgment on Israel, God had Elijah declare that there would be neither rain nor dew again except at Elijah’s word (1 Kings 17:1). The drought would last for three and a half years and would devastate an agriculturally based nation like Israel. Ahab clearly believed Elijah to be a true prophet, but rather than repenting, simply hated Elijah. It is possible that he did not kill Elijah because if he were dead, he could not command the rain to come again.

In 1 Kings 18, the great showdown occurs. Elijah confronts Ahab and tells him to summon all the people of Israel along with the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah to Mt. Carmel. When they arrived, Elijah challenged the people of Israel to quit wavering between God and the Baals and to decide who they would worship. He proposed that an altar be built and that the prophets of Baal would cut up a bull, place it on the altar, and then pray for their god to send down fire to consume the offering. Elijah would do the same and the god that sent down fire would be the true God. Of course, the prophets of Baal called on their god all day and nothing happened. Elijah taunted them until late afternoon. Then he built an altar of stone, put wood on it, put a sacrificial bull on the altar and then dug a trench around the entire altar. He then had the people poor water on the sacrifice, the wood, and the bull until water filled the trench.

At the time of the evening sacrifice, Elijah called on God to send fire upon the altar The text says, “Then the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench. When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, “The Lord—he is God! The Lord—he is God!” Then Elijah commanded them, “Seize the prophets of Baal. Don’t let anyone get away!” They seized them, and Elijah had them brought down to the Kishon Valley and slaughtered there. (1 Kings 18:38-40).

Immediately after that, Elijah prayed and declared that rain was coming, and rain returned to the nation. This had to be a spiritual highpoint for Elijah as well as a tremendous vindication that he was a true prophet serving the one true God. You would have thought that his faith would never be stronger, the presence of God never more clear, and the fruit of his labors never more visible than at that point. However, we are told that upon hearing the news about the slaughter of her prophets, Jezebel sent Elijah a message saying that by that time tomorrow he would be a dead man. We would have expected our hero to declare that she would be the one who would be dead the next day and that he, with God’s help, would do to her what he had done to her false prophets.

But the text says, “Elijah was afraid and ran for his life.” We are also told that he ran into the wildnerness, set down by a broom bush and asked God to kill him. He then went on to declare that he was the only man of faith left in all of Israel and totally alone. Why the great reversal after such a spiritual and political victory the day before?

I believe he was simply exhausted after the victory on Mt. Carmel. Spiritual highpoints and spiritual victories can be exhausting. If you have ever engaged in three to fours hours of intense intercessory prayer you know how tiring spiritual warfare can be. If you have ever engaged in deliverance for three to four hours you know that, even after the victory, you are totally spent. After the fire and after the rain, Elijah must have believed that Ahab and Jezebel would hide in their palace fearing for their own lives. But, in anger and lusting for vengeance, Jezebel decided to come after him. Elijah had no more strength. He didn’t have one more prayer left in him and the enemy came after him.

Satan will always come after us when we are vulnerable…especially, when we are exhausted and weary from life, sickness, the death of a loved one, financial strain, or even from a great spiritual victory. We need to expect it. We need to pray against it before it comes. When we are exhausted we lose spiritual perspective. Elijah told God he was the only faithful one left in Israel. God corrected him by saying he had 7000 in Israel, in addition to Elijah, who had not bowed the knee to Baal. Elijah felt alone, even abandoned. Yet angels ministered to him in the desert and God met with him on Mt. Horeb. In his exhaustion, he could see none of that.

Rest is critical for our spiritual lives. In the gospel of Mark, after the apostles returned from preaching, healing and casting out demons, Jesus said, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest” (Mk.6:31). I talk to so many faithful believers who are heavily involved in life and ministry that are exhausted. Many of us feel as if resting is unspiritual and that faith will simply sustain us in our frantic pace. We try to pour in every activity of our culture, work 50 hours a week and then be involved heavily in ministry. In our culture, rest has to be a discipline. We have to plan it, do it, and believe that God is not pleased when we neglect times of rest and renewal because the enemy will take advantage when we ar fatigued. We lose persecutive. We lose the joy of ministry. We are body, soul, and spirit and whatever is affecting one part affects the whole.

Let me encourage you to schedule your rest…every day, every week, and yearly. Put it on your calendar and your daytimer. The Sabbath may no longer be a command, but the principle of regular rest is still one of God’s spiritual principles. When we ignore regular rest and renewal, we violate God’s will for our lives. We need to learn to say no to constant business as much as we need to say no to sin. Evaluate your pace. You may be doing great things for God and experiencing success after success, but the Elijah Syndrome will visit you if you do not rest. Rest and renewal may look a little different for each of us, but find it, treasure it, prioritize it for you and your family. You may want to encourage your pastors to do the same. Life is a marathon not a sprint. If we try to sprint the entire way, we will not finish the race.

Blessing and rest in Him

Why do some things seem to tumble into place as soon as we pray and others take months, decades, or even years?  Is it our intensity in prayer, our faith for God to move mountains, or our personal intimacy with the Father that makes the difference? At times, each of those elements may be a factor.  But often, the same person praying with the same intensity, the same faith, and the same intimacy finds that some prayers are answered quickly while others take time – sometimes a great deal of time.

Dutch Sheets, in his book Intercessory Prayer (a must read for every believer), suggests one possibility for this discrepancy in answered prayers.  He believes that prayer actually releases spiritual power into situations and that some situations simply take more power and, thus, more time to accomplish. The reason it might taker more power or an accumulation of power is because of demonic opposition. I could object immediately to that thought since God has all power and authority and could remove all demonic opposition with a word. However, God has determined to rule the earth through his people and often waits on his people to act or pray before he moves. He has given us authority on the earth and waits for us to exercise that authority for his purposes. James tells us that we “have not because we ask not.” In other words, God is willing and even wants to do many things that won’t be done until we ask.

It also appears that continued prayer is often required to keep the resources of heaven flowing into the situation we are praying for whether that is the influence of the Spirit on the hearts of people or the movement of angels on our behalf. In Daniel 9 and 10, we see the prophet asking God for an interpretation of a disturbing dream that had come to him. After praying for twenty one days, an angel appeared with the interpretation. He told Daniel that he had been released to come on the first day of his prayer but had been opposed by a demonic prince for those twenty one days. He battled that prince unti the angel Michael came to take up the battle for him. I sense that if Daniel had only prayed once and had not continued to pray, reinforcements might not have been sent and he might not have received his answer.

In some ways, prayer is the simplest of things and in other ways it is quite complex. I don’t think there is just one answer to all our questions about prayer, but strongholds do exist in the spiritual realm like walled cities. Remember that Jesus promised the gates of hell would not prevail against his people. From that perspective, hell is not assaulting us, but we are assaulting hell. Our prayers, declarations, and commands lay siege to these strongholds. Depending on the strength and number of the demons opposing God’s will, it will take more time and power to bring down the walls.   This is warfare. Strongholds rarely fall with just one volley. I find it helpful to think of prayers as spiritual catapults by which we continue to hurl stones at the wall of an enemy stronghold in a person’s life, in generations of a family, or in a community.

As we press in and pray, we are assaulting the wall and must continue to bombard the enemy’s stronghold until the wall cracks, then crumbles, and then collapses, sending the enemy scattering into the night. We don’t always know how high or thick the wall is or how long it has been in place when we begin to pray.  We don’t know how skilled and experienced those are who guard the walls for the enemy. So we pray until we experience breakthrough.

Prayer is a weapon. We are responsible to track down the enemy and launch the attack.   As we direct our faith toward a situation and begin to pray, the Holy Spirit releases power into the situation that our heart and prayers are focused on. When we continue to pray, we release the power of heaven into that situation with persistent faith and the wall must eventually fall. When it does, we will see the kingdom established in that place and the enemy in wild retreat.  Undoubtedly, many things related to prayer are still a mystery.  However,  we do know that the one in us is greater than the one that is behind the wall.  We do know that the same power that overcame hell and raised Jesus from the grave is at work within us.

So, in those moments when you are weary and wonder if you should continue to pray because you have seen no change – pray again.  Perhaps, the wall is already beginning to crack and crumble.  Perhaps, the next volley will see its collapse and hearts will be opened, bodies healed, and cities transformed.   In Christ, we have the enemy surrounded. Victory is not always immediate, but it is assured. Just keep launching your prayers in the faith that we are more than conquerors in Jesus Christ…in every circumstance.  Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and never give up (Lk.18:1).

Blessings today in Him.

Most of us are familiar with Paul’s declaration in Ephesians 6 that “… 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. Therefore, put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand (Eph. 6:12-13).

I believe we are about to experience a very ugly season in America with the 2024 election cycle coming up. There will, of course, be the politization of every event between now and the election to bolster someones platform for the election. Guns will be front and center. Wokeness or anti-wokeness will continue to be a selling point for each party. Abortion rights will again be put on the front burner along with parental rights versus school boards. The problem is not that these positions will be talked about, but rather that they won’t be talked about. They will simply declare their position as the moral position while calling anyone who disagrees with them a bigot, racist, or hater…thus dividing the nation even more.

Our first impulse will probably be to join in the dispute, at least on an emotional level, to judge and condemn one side or the other. It will seem fair game to call out political leaders and label them with some demeaning or derogatory term since they will be doing that to one another. The problem is when we do that Satan wins. Remember Paul’s declaration that our fight is much more against spiritual entities than human. It is the demonic realm that is pushing hatred, division, and violence and influencing those who participate. If we get caught up in the game, everyone loses.

It is not that we should be silent about political platforms. We need to speak the truth, but in love. Scripture declares over and over that we are to respond to curses with blessings. We are to overcome evil with good. We are to love our enemies when they would do us harm. We are to treat others with respect when they have no respect for us. So do we just let evil have its way?

No. We are to fight against evil, but how do we fight? First of all, we must fight against it in our own hearts by not getting drawn into the hatred, the name calling, and the political bigotry that Satan is pedaling. Secondly, we pray. In Ephesians 6, after speaking about spiritual warfare, Paul calls the believers to pray. Pray for the gospel. Pray for the nation. Pray for truth to come out and corruption to be exposed. Pray for leaders. When asked, share God’s perspective on political issues. but keep to the issue. Vote. Encourage other believers to vote. Vote according to God’s word which defines right and wrong rather than our flesh that tends to side with culture. Ask God to unseat the demonic principalities that are having their way in our nation right now. Be proactive in raising your children up in the nurture and the admonition of the Lord. If you don’t actively evangelize your children with God’s truth, the enemy will evangelize them through the cultural influence of media and education.

We cannot be passive in this coming season. The church needs to pray more and teach more on issues that believers will be voting on and influencing others to vote on. We need to know clearly what God says about these things. Finally, we need to stand on biblical truths. As we do, we will be called haters, homophobes, transphobes, racists, and everything else. We need to brace ourselves and respond with love and good works…even doing good to our enemies.

Paul said that we must “put on the armor of God so that when the day of evil comes, we can stand.” He didn’t say, “If it comes,” but “when it comes.” That day may come in the next 18-24 months as the rhetoric ramps up for elections and politician are looking for groups to blame and accuse for every failing of this nation. If Satan is behind the craziness in our country right now, and scripture says he is…then those he influences will be coming after Christians because we are the only real threat to his kingdom on earth. We should not be surprised and we should decide now how we will respond when the day of evil comes our way.

Blessings in Him…..tom

Jonathan Cahn’s most recent book, The Return of the Gods, is an interesting read and, I think, one I would recommend for your consideration. The book rests on a parable Jesus told in the Gospel of Matthew.

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. That is how it will be with this wicked generation (Matthew 12:43-45).

The gist of this parable is that a man was demonized by an evil spirit and the spirit was cast out. After a season, the spirit returned to see if it could regain entrance to the man. Because the man had not filled the vacancy in his soul with the Holy Spirit and the things of God, the unclean spirit moved in again with seven other spirits more wicked than before. The man was then worse off at the end than he had been in the beginning.

The interesting twist in the parable is that Jesus concludes the condition of the man in the parable actually describes the condition of the generation that was about to reject Jesus. Chan’s conclusion is that evil spirits can possess or demonize not only individuals but entire nations or cultures. That seems to be confirmed by scripture when all of Israel, as well as other nations, would worship the same idols (evil spirits) for generations. In the ancient world, idols were worshipped in every home, under every spreading tree, and in temples, large and small, throughout the known world. Scripture says that behind each of these idols is a demonic spirit drawing worship away from God and unto itself. Behind each idol is a demon whose ultimate goal is to kill, steal and destroy a person or a nation. Any study of ancient history clearly reveals that entire cultures – religion, politics, art, architecture, and science were organized around the pagan beliefs, rituals, and sacrifices related to these demonic spirits.

The cultural norms in these ancient nations included gross sexual immorality promoted even by state religions. These were the fertility gods (Baal and Ashteroth) whose temples were funded by temple prostitutes (male and female) and public taxes, along with parades displaying public and rampant homosexuality, transsexuality and public orgies (Ashteroth or Ishtar) . In addition, the norms included child sacrifice to Molech or his equivalent, witchcraft, sorcery, violence, political corruption, and more. By the 3rd and 4th centuries, the gospel had pushed these practices out of western civilizations and with them the ancient gods were driven out or greatly weakened as well.

Now fast forward. The thing that kept these demonic principalities at bay for 2000 years was Christianity – its value for life, its concern for the poor and the vulnerable, and its righteousness. I’m not saying that western Europe and America were fully holy nations, but there was enough of God’s standards woven into the culture that these demonic principalities had little comparative power over the nations.

However, in the 1960’s, the “sexual revolution” took place in the west and in America. Sex outside of marriage had once been shameful or even illegal, but in the last 40 years of the 20th century, it became not only tolerated but celebrated. At the same time, prayer was removed from public schools, the Ten Commandments were removed from the public square, marriage and sexuality was redefined, and 60 million children were sacrificed in the back rooms of abortion clinics so that men and women would not be inconvenienced by the burden of raising a child. In the last half of the 20th century and the first two decades of the 21st century, those things that were once called evil have now been declared good and those things that were considered good are denigrated as evil.

Cahn’s point is that when a culture has once been free from the demonic, but then pushes God out of society, the demons come back and bring many others with them that are even more wicked than before. The culture then becomes possessed and paganize once again. Demonic spirits begin to rule and direct the culture. In that context, Christianity can expect to be persecuted, witchcraft will flourish, sexuality and sexual morality will be turned on its head, and life will be devalued. The unborn, the elderly, and the infirm will be discarded as a drag on society as they were in pagan cultures before the gospel. Those things that replaced God will become idols with a demon behind each one and the nation will become a target of God’s judgment as was true in ancient Israel. In the 21st century, public idols may or may not be erected in the public square but science. government, sex, power, media, and pop culture will become cultural god’s that dictate truth rather than the revelation of God.

America has been called post-Christian. What it is becoming is simply a high-tech pagan nation that will be possessed or repossessed by demons. That is why we see things in our culture, in our schools, in politics, and in the media push an ungodly agenda and push it on children who cannot reason their way through the values being sold to them. That is why, even now we keep shaking our heads in unbelief at what we see and hear every day on the news and the accelerating demise of Christian culture in America..

Cahn makes a case that the dark trinity of Baal, Molech, and Ashtoreth (Ishtar) have returned to America and have reestablished their principalities in the heavenly realms. As Paul 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). Since this is true, America will not be saved by politicians, technology, or science because this is a spiritual battle. It must be won by the church through prayer, the power of the Holy Spirit, and the re-evangelization of America. The gospel that drove these spirits from nations in the first place and is the only thing that can do so again.

I think Cahn’s book is a worthwhile read, even if you don’t agree with everything in it. We have seen the results of the demonization of a nation in Nazi Germany, North Korea, Iran, Stalinist Russia, The Cultural Revolution of China, and even in America. We cannot win this war for our nation and our children with the weapons of the world, but only with divine weapons (2 Cor. 10:4-5). First of all, we need to be convinced that we are in a war and, secondly, that it is a spiritual war which can only be won when we give no quarter to the enemy. We must speak out in the public square, push back against ungodly cultural trends, and share the gospel with a pagan nation again. We must pray and we must embrace the power of the Holy Spirit in our churches and the truth that there is no other name by which men can be saved but Jesus. We cannot outsource our prayer and evangelism to a few pastors but this must become the business of every member of the bride of Christ. Lord…make is all warriors in the kingdom of heaven.

Blessings in Him who has all authority in heaven and on earth.

In the latter years of King David, we are told that “the anger of the Lord burned against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying,”Go and take a census of Israel and Judah” (2 Sam. 24:1). As the account is laid out, David commanded Joab to go throughout Israel and Judah and count all the fighting men. Joab immediately objected, but David insisted.

The issue seems to have been that counting the fighting men was either motivated by pride or was a sign the King was trusting in the strength of his army rather than in the God of Israel. Either way, even Joab was offended by the idea and he was not a particularly spiritual man. Whatever the issue, it opened up David and, consequently, Israel to the attacks of Satan.

When the census had been completed, the text says that David was conscience stricken and asked forgiveness from the Lord (2 Sam. 24:10). However, things were already set in motion. The Lord sent Gad the prophet to David saying that David was to choose one of three punishments for Israel: three years of famine, three months of fleeing before their enemies, or three days of plague. David chose plague because it was totally in the hands of God, rather than choosing war and placing the nation in the hands of some human enemy. Before the plague ended, seventy thousand Israelites died over a three day period. Three are several spiritual principles that we should draw from this story.

1. A rebellious nation, at some point, will bring judgment on itself. God is patient and long suffering, but even that has limits. God is full of grace and love but he is also holy and righteous. He is very clear through scripture, that his love and grace abound toward those who love him and keep his commandments, but discipline and judgment will eventually come on those who rebel. He warns, he pleads, he sends partial judgments, but when the people insist by their continued rebellion, he will release the fullness of his judgment. Like any loving parent, he does not desire to punish his children, but he will do so when necessary for their sake.

2. Sometimes, God punishes a nation through its leaders. If you have ever wondered how in the world certain men were elected to high office when they were obviously unfit by lack of capacity or character, you might consider the sovereignty of God in the matter. We often blame political leaders for the woes of our nation, but the nation may well be the problem more than its leaders…especially when the nation elects its leaders. Poor leaders make bad decisions that cost those they lead…sometimes in disastrous proportions. During the Bill Clinton presidency, some raised the question as to whether character really mattered in a president as long as the was a shrewd politician. The biblical response would be absolutely. Scripture declares that thrones are established (maintained, secured) through righteousness (Pr. 16:12). Unrighteousness will undermine the throne and the government and people it represents.

In 1 Chronicles 21:1, when the same incident is reported, we are told that “Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel.” Here we have an account where God doesn’t cause a man to sin because God cannot be tempted nor does he tempt anyone (Ja. 1:13), but because of Israel’s rebellion, Satan procured a legal right to attack the nation through its king. In this case, Satan prompted the sin, but God determined the judgment. The “2 Samuel version” that says. “God incited David,” simply recognizes the ultimate sovereignty of God…that God allowed Satan to incite David. God allowed it because he is a just God and Satan brought the charge of rebellion against Israel. In doing so, God’s justice demanded that Satan be given the right to bring judgment on the nation.

3. Trust in God, not in men. When God told David to choose the judgment for the nation, David gave a wise response. He simply said, ” Let us fall into the hands of the Lord, for his mercy is great, but do not let me fall into human hands” (2 Samuel 24:14). It is always better to trust God than to put your fate in the hands of men. God will bring judgment and discipline, but it is always measured and its purpose it to turn us or a nation back to him so that he can bless again.

It is a bad idea to try to avoid God’s discipline. When I was a kid, my parents would warn me. “Tell the truth. You may get in trouble, but it won’t be as bad as the trouble you’ll be in if we find you are lying to us.” In the Old Testament, God scolded Israel on several occasions because they tried to avoid his discipline and the second round of discipline was much harder than if they had simply submitted to the punishment God had directed toward them initially.

4. It is not a sacrifice, if if costs us nothing. As this story unfolds, seventy thousand Israelites die from a plague in a period of three days. As David was crying out for God’s mercy on behalf of the people, he was enabled to see the angel of the Lord standing over Jerusalem with a drawn sword that was releasing the plague. In a moment of mercy, God relented and called off the angel and the judgment before it took its full measure.

As God relented, David was instructed to offer a sacrifice on behalf of the people. He was instructed to build an altar on the threshing floor of a man called Araunah the Jebusite. David asked to purchase the threshing floor, wood, and oxen for the sacrifice. Araunah offered to give it to David for free, but David concluded, “No, I insist on paying for it. I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.” David paid full price, offered the sacrifice on behalf of the people, and the plague was stopped.

In the days of David, people had not forsaken the temple or the sacrifices. However, after “worship” and offering their obligatory sacrifices, they lived as they wanted to and their hearts were far from God. We can go through the motions of worship and sacrifice and yet not be doing those things as a sign of our love and surrender to God. In the days of David and there after, Israel often would sacrifice the sheep and cattle they didn’t want – the lame, the blind, the blemished.

Sometimes we only give God the leftovers instead of the first fruits or the best of what we have. We only serve when it is convenient, we only give when we have already bought everything we want. We only show up to encourage our spiritual family when we don’t get a “better offer.” We may be surprised to discover that those are not acceptable sacrifices because they were only tokens and cost us very little or nothing at all. God gave his best. We honor that sacrifice by giving our best.

When a nation who once knew and honored God begins to offer only lip service to God or says all the right things but then lives like the devil, judgment is on the way…not because God is unkind but because he is holy and just. The flaws may be noticed first in the leaders, because media may place them under the microscope, but the leaders may simply be a reflection of the heart of the majority of men and women in that nation and God has given the people what they wanted.

There may well be a core of God’s people who hate what the culture is doing, but judgment may still come and they will be effected. Remember Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego? They were righteous men who loved the Lord, but were still deported to Babylon and separated from their homes and families. God was with them, but they still underwent severe trials because their nation as a whole, had abandoned God.

Politics will not save us. Only re-evangelizing America will do so, so that righteous people will elect righteous leaders. God desires to bless, but he is also holy. Only revival in America, in the church and the nation, will keep Satan from retaining a legal right to devastate this nation through its own leaders and foreign enemies. Even now, many American leaders are sponsoring laws that promote and protect the very things for which God has destroyed nations. Pray for the nation by praying for the church to once again preach the gospel in America with boldness and righteousness…a sacrifice that will cost us something.

In my last blog, I discussed the reality of curses. Curses are a very biblical topic and play a significant role from Genesis to Revelation. The very first curse is established in Genesis 3:14-19 after Adam and Eve sinned. They are a critical part of God’s first covenant with Israel and reveal how he deals with men and nations. Many are spelled out in detail in Deuteronomy 28-30. If you have never read that section you should. In those chapters, God promises abundant blessings if Israel will follow him and abundant curses if they rebel. These curses were established to be spiritual consequences that function as a restraint against sin. From the very beginning, God established the law of sowing and reaping. Paul succinctly summarizes it in Galatians 6:7-8. He writes that a man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh will reap destruction (curses). Whoever sows to please the Spirit will reap life.

When we act in ways that violate God’s law and do so without confession or repentance, we open ourselves up to a curse. If our fathers sinned against God without repentance, those sins can also be used by Satan as legal grounds to afflict us (Ex. 20:5). That is the nature of generational sin and generational curses. If Satan discovers a cause against us – our sin, the sins of our fathers, to the sins of those are in ca covenant with – he can bring an accusation before the Father, and the Father will have to grant him permission to enforce a curse against us.

Satan is constantly looking for something in our lives or bloodline that gives him a legal right to establish and maintain a curse. With that in view, a curse can be defined as a supernatural assignment of the demonic against a person, family, place, organization, or nation that constantly brings about negative outcomes over a sustained period of time. God’s heart is to bless. Satan’s heart is to establish curses that steal, kill and destroy. God’s desire is that we never open ourselves up to the enemy, but justice in the spiritual realm allows Satan to afflict us if he can find a cause.

There are many believers today who are being oppressed or tormented by demonic spirits that have taken an assignment against them based on something that has given them a legal right to do so. Many times, deliverance ministries rush to cast out a demon only to find that it remains or leaves and then returns…because that unclean spirit still has legal grounds to oppress and torment. An essential step in casting out a demon or in breaking a curse is to take away the legal right of the enemy to be present. When that has been accomplished, then we can effectively command the spirit to leave and forbid it to return.

So, what are common open doors for curses in the lives of believers? The Bible lists many….

Idolatry or involvement in false religions. Idolatry is anything we bow down to in place of God. It can be an idol in the traditional sense, but can also be addictions, materialism, power, popularity, a sinful relationship, etc. Many of us have ancestors that did worship false gods, offer human sacrifices, bow down to idols, etc. and that idolatry can be a source of generational curses. (Dt. 5:8-10)

Dishonoring parents. (Dt. 27:16) This sin carried the death penalty under the Old Covenant. Under the New Covenant it can still give the devil a right to torment us.

Injustice and violence, including abortion that was not medically mandated.

Sexual immorality which includes pornography, sex outside the marriage covenant, homosexuality, molestation, incest, etc.

Robbing God of tithes and offerings. (Mal.3:8-9)

Anti-semitism or hatred of Jews. (Gen. 12:3) Individuals of German descent may be affected with generational curses due to the holocaust, etc.

Ignoring the poor. (Pr. 28:27)

Turning our heart away from God, which constitutes unbelief. (Jer.17:5)

Refusing to honor God. (Mal.2:2)

Unforgiveness towards others. (Matt.6:14-15)

Judging others with an attitude of condemnation and self-righteousness. (Matt.7:1-2).

Rebellion. Some sin is from from ignorance, some from weakness. Rebellion knows what God requires and chooses to reject it.

Occult involvement includes witchcraft, psychic readings, astrology, Ouija boards, white magic, black magic, Freemasonry, etc. If parents or grandparents dabbled in those things, their involvement may open the door to a generational curse.

Pride and arrogance. Pride is always an open door for the enemy because God humbles the proud.

There are other causes for curses as well, but these are the most apparent in scripture. We all sin, so are we all going to be cursed? Not necessarily. Sin becomes an open door when it is not quickly dealt with through confession and repentance. If we continue in a sin, fail to forgive, maintain a judgmental attitude toward others, rationalize our rebellion against God’s law, etc. we definitely become prime real estate for a curse. If, however, we quickly acknowledge those attitudes and behaviors as sin and bring those issues before the Lord to be submitted to the blood of Christ, the enemy will have no case against us.

If we are honest with ourselves, we can typically recognize the sin and issues in our own lives. We should deal with those quickly. Of course, we can be blind to some, so we need to ask the Holy Spirit to show us any sin in our lives that we do not recognize. You might even ask believers who know you well to share any thoughts they have about what they see. Some of the more challenging issues that can open the door to curses for us, are the sins of the fathers. Few of us know what our grandparents or great grandparents were involved in, and yet their sins need to be submitted to the blood of Christ as well.

In my next blog, I will talk about how we can determine whether a curse is operating in our lives or family and how to nullify generational curses that we may b e unaware of.

It’s been a while since I wrote about curses on this blog, but I think it is time to do so again. As a technological and “science-based” culture, most people give no credibility to the notion of curses. The idea of curses is typically relegated to fiction and fairy tales. However, it is a very biblical topic and a continuing reality unless you dismiss the reality of a spiritual realm. But even those who believe in a spiritual realm give little thought to curses.

In the church, I frequently see individuals and families who have suffered and failed and experienced loss to an unusual degree for extended periods of time…even for generations…without recognizing that a curse may be operating in their lives for family line. It is also human nature to forget that we collide with a highly active spiritual realm on a daily basis. Part of that realm is working on our behalf. Another part is working tirelessly to undermine our lives and the destiny God has for us as his children.

When the enemy has pushed back against our dreams, our families, our success, our health, or our destiny long enough, we may slip into a mindset that our inability to make headway or experience breakthrough is simply life on planet earth. Once we take on that worldview, we stop fighting and the enemy wins. He is then able to steal our future. As believers, we cannot forget Paul’s admonition to the church in Ephesus…

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 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. (Ephesians. 6:10-12)

For those who believe we should have no concern about Satan because he is defeated and Jesus protects us, this word from Paul dispels that notion. Certainly, he that is in us is greater than he that is in the world. Certainly Satan has been judged. But we are still involved in an ongoing war to enforce the victory Christ has won and we have a significant role to play in those battles. Otherwise, Paul would have had no reason to issue this warning and directive. Remember that when God brought the Hebrews out of Egypt to the land of Canaan, he did not suddenly eradicate the enemy tribes within the promised land. Instead, he required Israel to fight. The promise was that he would go before them and assure the victory, but they still had to face the enemy and take the land.

The word translated “schemes,” in the passage above, (methodeia) means a logical, systematic and deceptive strategy. The one who is orchestrating this strategy against you is the devil (diabolos), which means slanderer or accuser. The book of Revelation tells us that he (Satan) accuses the brothers and sisters day and night before our God (Rev. 12:10).

How are his accusations and his schemes connected? Through his accusations, Satan is seeking a legal right to afflict or oppress the children of God. The throne of God is established on righteousness and justice (Ps.89:14), which means that the kingdom of heaven operates on a system of divine law that even God submits to because he is submitting to himself and the laws he has established in his own righteousness.

The book of Job is instructive. It opens with Satan coming into the presence of God with accusations against Job. Picture a court room. Satan’s comes in as the accuser, the prosecuting attorney. His complaint was that God had placed a hedge of protection around Job so that Satan could not touch him. His strategy was to bring an accusation against Job, so that the charge would give him a legal right to torment the man. Apparently, the charge was that Job only worshipped God because of the blessings he received rather than because God was worthy of worship regardless of whether life was pleasant or a nightmare. The charge would stand until it was answered in the courts of heaven.

The charge gave Satan the right to change an environment of blessing into a cursed environment in which Job lost children, possessions, and finally his health. In the end, Job relinquished his pride and his sense of self-righteousness and declared God worthy of worship regardless of circumstances. When Job came to that place in his mind and heart, God was able to justify him and dismiss the accusation that Satan had levied against the man. After that, God was free to bless Job again…even more than he had in the beginning. It is always God’s heart to bless his people, but if an accusation stands in the courts of heaven, justice requires that he gives the enemy some access to the one accused.

Satan uses the same strategy against us. He brings accusation against each of us in the courts of heaven. If he can find a legal cause to enforce a curse against us, he will. For some of us, he doesn’t have to look very far. Secret sin, unconfessed sin, unforgiveness, arrogance, gossip, etc. can all give Satan access to us. Solomon said, “Like a fluttering sparrow or a darting swallow, an undeserved curse does not come to rest (Pr. 26:2). Satan is constantly looking for a something in our lives on which a curse can come to rest. When he finds something, he can oppress and afflict us until the charge is dismissed. That ongoing affliction and oppression is the manifestation of curse that has landed in our lives.

Often, our part in the battle is to discover the issue that is giving the devil the legal right to hinder God’s destiny for our lives or the lives of those we love or care for. Sometimes the cause rests in us…our thoughts, our actions, or our carnal nature. Sometimes it rests in our bloodlines…the sins of the fathers that are passed down to the children to the third and fourth generations. If Satan can find a cause, he can bring the accusation before the Father and if it stands, he may gain legal access to us and our families, our business, our church, and even our community. We can command the enemy to cease his attack and take his hands off, but if he still has a legal right to afflict someone, our commands may go unheeded or the demons we have dismissed will return soon and take up their assignment once more.

I love deliverance, but our task before deliverance should be to determine the issue that is giving the enemy a legal right to afflict us or the one to whom we are ministering, and then to take the issue before the Lord so that he may submit it to the blood of Christ. Once the accusation is dismissed, we can command the enemy to leave and to never return. There are several steps we may need to take in order to have the accusation dismissed and the legal right of the enemy taken away. We will discuss those in next week’s blog.

The prophet Isaiah spoke of the coming Messiah when he said, “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners” (Isa.61:1).

As we have just celebrated our national day of independence from British oppression under King George, I want to reflect on the theme of freedom in scripture. The passage from Isaiah above declares that Jesus would have a three point mission when he lived among us. First of all, he would preach good news (the gospel) to the poor. The gospel is a message of freedom from the tyranny of Satan who holds all men in bondage until they respond to the gospel and accept the ransom that Jesus paid for each of us on the cross. In a sense, the gospel gives us positional freedom in Christ. By his blood, we are given a legal standing in heaven that declares we are justified as our sins are forgiven and the record of them in heaven is wiped clean. That is definitely good news and takes away the legal right of Satan to to afflict us and oppress us at his discretion.

However, there is more. Even though we have a legal standing in heaven of righteousness, there is still our fallen nature (the natural man) and our brokenness that must be dealt with. That belongs to the rest of Isaiah 61:1 where the word declares that Jesus will heal broken hearts and set both captives and prisoners free. Nearly every human alive comes to Jesus with a broken heart…obviously some more than others. A broken heart unattended will always limit our ability to be all that Jesus wants us to be.

A broken heart speaks of shattered emotions: shame, rejection, self-condemnation, and even self-hatred. Many of us come to Jesus with the belief that no one can love us because we are unworthy of love. We believe intellectually that God loves us because the Bible says he does, but deep in the hearts of many believers there is still a place that doubts that anyone can love them…not even God.

Even after we are saved, Satan preys on that doubt and reinforces it. A major part of the Holy Spirit’s mission is to give us a revelation of God’s love in our hearts that removes the doubt and silences the accuser. Some receive that revelation in their heart at the moment of salvation. For others, it seems that a process is required. However we receive that assurance, it is still part of Messiah’s mission to heal our broken hearts and restore our identity so that we know we are children of God.

The passage then announces that Messiah (Jesus) is committed to setting both captives and prisoners free. Captives are those who have been victimized by others and experience bondage to shame, fear. and hopelessness. Those are the abused, molested, violated, and abandoned of this world. It is those who were innocent, but traumatized by other broken or evil people in this world. Prisoners are those who are in bondage because of their actions like a those in jail. Sometimes we are in a bad place because of our own decisions. The good news is that Jesus is willing to set both free from their bondage and their brokenness.

That freedom can come in many ways. Sometime accepting the truth of God’s word sets us free from lies that have kept us in bondage. Jesus said, “You will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” Satan’s primary weapon is the lie. Jesus called him the Father of Lies and his strategies always distort the truth about God, the truth about us, and the truth about him. Choosing to give God’s word more authority in our lives than the lies of the enemy or our old beliefs based on those lies is a key to freedom.


Sometimes, freedom only comes through direct confrontation with the enemy. A major element of Jesus’ ministry was delivering people from demonic affliction and oppression. He has given his followers power and authority to do the same. Even though we have been redeemed, we may come into the kingdom with demons already assigned to us by the enemy. Although their legal right to afflict us may have been taken away, sometimes they still must be evicted by the authority and power of Jesus.

What I want to emphasize today is that God is interested in our freedom. That is not a freedom to do as we please, independent of Him, but a freedom from sin, brokenness, and the oppression of the enemy whose only desire is to kill, steal and destroy. It is a freedom to become all that God has destined for us and to find the joy and fulfillment of knowing who we are and walking in that destiny.

All men desire freedom. That is want prompted the American revolution. It is why Ukranians are fighting Russian aggression as you read this. That desire for freedom is an inherent part of being made in God’s image. Satan tries to persuade us that God’s commands are restrictive, oppressive, and totalitarian. Instead, they are the very instructions that will free us from our prisons if we will follow them. God has designed us and crafted us for a unique destiny that, once discovered, can make our lives extraordinary.

The challenge is to embrace the truth that surrendering to God’s will and God’s ways is not oppression, but the open door to a freedom we all desire. Our independence is not independence from God but from the one whose will is to destroy us. Scripture declares that “where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom,” and “If the Son sets you free, you are free indeed.” My hope is that we will all recognize the true freedom that Jesus offers and celebrate it each day. Blessings in Him.

When you are involved in spiritual warfare, it is critical that you have realistic expectations to avoid discouragement and even deception by the enemy. As believers discover the power of the Holy Spirit and the name of Jesus, they may anticipate immediate deliverance or emotional healing as they pray over others. They may expect instantaneous healings as presented in the gospels or for spirits to exit immediately at the name of Jesus. They may expect one fifteen minute prayer session to heal every emotional scar in a human soul and every problem to disappear over night because we have declared a thing or commanded a thing. Sometimes, it does happen that way and sometimes it doesn’t. As you enter into the realm of healing and deliverance, it is best to be prepared for things to take a little longer than you hoped for.

I love the gospel accounts of Jesus encountering demonic spirits. They often come trembling before him, begging not to be sent into the abyss. When Jesus commanded a spirit to depart, that spirit left almost instantaneously…except for Legion, who hung on trying to broker a better deal with Jesus for his troop of unclean spirits inhabiting the Gadarene demoniac. When Jesus commanded, demons exited immediately or almost immediately. Occasionally there were severe manifestations of a spirit as it exited, but we can say the standard was quick and almost immediate departure.

That does happen in our ministry as well. But, more often, it takes a little longer and more than one command. It is not unusual for deliverance to take five minutes, ten minutes, an hour or even longer. It is not unusual to cast out several spirits, but to have to come back later for others. Although Jesus functioned as a man, he functioned as a sinless man who was also the Son of God. The spirits he encountered knew that he was the Son of God, the Messiah, and the Holy one of Israel. Let’s face it, his personal presence had to be much more intimidating to the enemy than a representative. We definitely minister in his name, represent him, and serve as those given power and authority over the enemy, but we may not have exactly the same spiritual gravitas that Jesus had.

I have seen several negative consequences of unrealistic expectations for deliverance. Some believe that as soon as you command a spirit to leave, it must leave and, therefore, stop too soon in the deliverance process without real evidence that a spirit has left. This view does not recognize that some spirits are more powerful than others and can hold on longer. Sometimes, there is still something giving the spirit a legal right to remain so that “open door” has to be discovered and closed. Some strongholds have been there for generations and may take more time to tear down. Just declaring that a spirit has left because we told it to go does not always make it so. If we say it must be gone and the one we are ministering to feels no difference, he or she can be confused or discouraged because they sense that nothing has actually happened.

Demons usually adopt one of two strategies when eviction is in the air. Often the spirit manifests in ways designed to intimidate the person being ministered to or to intimidate the one ministering. It is not unusual for a spirit to growl, hiss, and sneer at those ministering freedom. It is not unusual for a spirit to declare that he is more powerful than we are and that the “host” belongs to him and he will never leave. Intimidation is simply an effort to discourage everyone involved or to convince them that they are powerless over this demon and to give up. Unclean spirits manifest in such ways when they are threatened and on the verge of losing their assignment. Instead of being intimidated, we need to be encouraged because the spirit is on the run when it manifests strongly.

A second strategy is for demons to step back into the shadows, so to speak, and be silent. We may be tempted to assume that a spirit has left because manifestations have ceased, but unless you or the host are very confident that something has left, you may want to continue a while and even command the spirit to manifest if it is still present.

Another reality is that sometimes freedom and emotional healing come in stages and not all at once. Often a person finds a significant level of freedom or peace, but knows a few things remain to be done later. Sometimes, they have a season of freedom and peace but then experience some return of torment, depression, fear etc. a few months later. It possible that an open door in the spirit realm has allowed spirits to gain access again but it may simply be that some spirits that have kept a low profile for a while that feel safe to begin their torment again after a few months have passed.

This is warfare. Battles are not always won in a single day or by a single volley. We learned in Vietnam that enemy soldiers may hide in tunnels during a powerful assault by the opposing army, but emerge later to fight again once the attacking army has moved on. In warfare, we discover that some fortresses are more resistant than others. Some enemy troops are more skilled and determined than others. Even though victory is assured, battles may be brief or may be prolonged. We also know that if may take different strategies to win different battles and so we may need to wait on a strategy from the Spirit in order to set someone free. That strategy may come in the midst of deliverance or as you sleep after not achieving the victory you wanted earlier in the day.

Quick and immediate is our desire when we pray for healing or engage in deliverance. Sometimes that happens, but at other times we need to know that a prolonged battle or multiple skirmishes will be required. When that happens, know it is normal. Persistence and faith are often required to win the battle. Every command, every scripture quoted in the face of the enemy, and every rebuke weakens the enemy. In due time, the walls behind which the enemy hides will crumble and collapse and then the enemy will flee in all directions. Don’t assume deliverance too soon and don’t give up because he that is in us is greater than he that is in the world. Be blessed.

We are unquestionably living in the last days.  The renewal of Israel as a nation in 1948 started the countdown of the final days of the last days which actually began at the resurrection and ascension of Jesus when Joel 2 was fulfilled.  On the day or Pentecost as described in Acts 2, the Holy Spirit was put on display in Jerusalem.  The sound of a mighty wind, the appearance of tongues of fire, the gift of tongues, and the sudden boldness of those first followers of Jesus demonstrated that God had once again begun something new.  

The public display was explained by Peter in Acts 2:17 as a “last days” fulfillment of the prophecy of Joel who spoke about God’s Spirit being poured out on all people.  Notice that Peter identified that time frame as the beginning of the “last days” which could also be called the “age of the church.”  Peter preached in the beginning of the last days while we are certainly living toward the culmination of the last days.

Whether we are two years, five years, or fifty years from the return of Christ I am not certain, but I am certain that as that time draws closer, the activity of Satan is becoming more intense. Over the past five years, I have been amazed at the number of believers we have encountered  who were being afflicted by demons and who had begun to recognize demonic activity and oppression in their own lives as spiritual warfare, even though they have had no church background to prepare them to understand that experience.  Those who think Satan cannot afflict the saved or that those coming out of the world can’t bring demonic spirits with them into the church are misinformed. 

When you look through the pages of the gospels, you can see how active Satan was at the first appearance of Jesus.  He is no less active now as he senses the second appearance of Jesus drawing near.  Because of that, it is essential that every follower of Jesus be equipped to battle the forces of darkness with the divine weapons that Paul spoke about in 2 Corinthians 10:3-6 and the armor of God he described in Ephesians 6:10-18.  Remember, Paul said that the real battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms (Eph.6:12).

The question for us is how do we effectively fight forces in the spiritual realm? The answer is found in scripture.  How did Jesus, the twelve, the seventy, and the early church fight against the kingdom of darkness.  There were a number of weapons they used against demons and the strongholds of Satan, but they all had one foundational experience that set them apart from those who were not equipped.  The foundational experience was an anointing of power and authority that set them above and ahead of all demonic forces in the heavenly realms.

Ever since the Pentecost experience described in Acts 2, that anointing has come through the “baptism of the Holy Spirit.”  In recent decades there has been a great deal of disagreement and misunderstanding about the nature of Holy Spirit baptism.  That disagreement has stretched from positions that deny any present-day miraculous work of the Spirit to positions that are simply unbiblical and weird.  Because this issue of power and authority is so important in the life of the believer, I have decided to do a series on Holy Spirit baptism in which I try to make it biblical, understandable, and desirable.  This serves as the introduction to that series which will begin next week with The Promise of Power.