Halloween is springing up everywhere…in stores, neighborhood decorations, people wearing costumes early, and, of course, all over the internet. When I was a kid, it was just about my favorite holiday and according to some researchers, it is America’s favorite holiday next to Christmas. I guess the draw was the idea that I could put on a costume and move unknown from door to door scoring candy.  There was also the scare factor of some houses going all out to make the environment creepy and then coming to the door in creepy character.  Of course, television rolled out all the scary movies associated with Halloween and so we all eagerly jumped in to participate.  I no longer participate.

Twenty plus years of helping people deal with demons and spiritual attack have informed me that there are very real forces in the spiritual realm looking for open doors and access to the lives and even bodies of people…even God’s people. The enemy is called the “accuser of the brethren” (Rev. 12:10) iand we see several instances in scripture were Satan is standing in the courts of heaven bringing accusations against God’s people.  He is constantly searching for a “legal right” to afflict those he is accusing.

When ministering deliverance, we first look for the “open doors” that have given Satan and his demonic representatives a right to afflict the person to whom we are ministering. Those open doors can be unrepented sin, unforgiveness, occult involvement, and sometimes generational curses that have opened a door.  Those must be removed before the spirit can be expelled.  Here is the thing…we often create an open door without even realizing we have done so.  

When I was a kid, Ouija boards became the rage at parties.  They were passed off as fun and games and if you had a spooky experience that was a bonus.  We had no intention of coming under the power of Satan but because we were actually connecting with the occult, an open door was created for Satan.  If you cross a boundary unaware and enter into enemy territory, you are still in danger, even if you did not intend to cross that line.  When I was young and even when I was older, I was quite unaware of the spiritual realm.  Of course, I saw all the horror shows but they tended to convince me that supernatural events and things that go bump in the night were imaginary and existed only in fiction.  The rational part of me rejected their reality so I was careless with things that might connect me to the demonic realm.

In his letter to the church at Corinth, Paul was writing to believers who once offered sacrifices and participated in special days dedicated to their pagan gods.  After becoming believers, they still had friends, relatives, and business associates who would invite them to participate in their celebrations.  However, Paul declared, “but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to be participants with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord’s table and the table of demons” (1 Cor. 10:20-21).  Even if they were only pretending to honor the false god by their presence, their participation still aligned them with Satan because they were willingly sitting at the table of demons.  

According to many Satanists and former Satanists, Halloween is the highest day of the year witches, warlocks, and those who participate in the occult.  They prepare for it, celebrate it, and offer blood sacrifices on Halloween.  The day called Halloween was begun by Celts centuries ago as a day that spirits wandered the earth.  The Catholic church coopted the day and called it All Hallows Eve when the saints were to be celebrated.  However, it belonged to Satan first and the traditions of costumes, jack-o-lanterns, and so forth have continued.

My view now is that when we participate in Halloween rituals, we are sitting at the table of demons whether we understand that or intend that or not.  We risk crossing a boundary into enemy territory which gives the enemy the right to afflict or torment us.  We may think it is harmless fun, but many believe tarot cards, Ouija boards, and psychic readings are harmless fun as well.  But each of those leads us into enemy territory where demonic spirits are waiting to lay claim to us.

I’m not saying that participating in Halloween is the unforgivable sin, but I am saying it may well put you and your children at spiritual risk.  Anything that honors Satan, intended or unintended, invites demons. I have talked to and heard the testimony of numerous men and women who were once high-ranking Satanists, but have now come to Jesus.  Without exception, they all say any participation is Halloween creates an open door for the enemy to attack you, torment you, or oppress you and your children.  They are totally baffled by any Christian who would take part in Halloween.

I realize this seems foolish and “hyper-spiritual” to those who do not take the spirit realm seriously.  It all seems like harmless fun.  But Satan appears as an angel of light (2 Cor. 11:14) and traps are always baited with the things that seem delicious and harmless.  I don’t intend this to be a judgment on those who participate, but a CAUTION for every believer to consider.  I encourage you to think about and pray about it before jumping in this year, because participating could well be hazardous to your spiritual health. 

One of Satan’s great tools to handicap God’s people is the tool of condemnation. In fact, there are spirits of accusation and condemnation that are attached to many of God’s people with the sole assignment of making them feel unacceptable to God.

I have known faithful believers who knew the Word but never felt fully forgiven nor acceptable to the Father. In fact, they could read through such affirming books as Ephesians and Philippians and still walk away with a crippling sense of condemnation. Something in them filtered out every positive promise and every affirming word about their identity.  Even if they understood what they were reading, they believed those promises and affirmations were for other believers, but not for them.

Condemnation seems to carry the message that not only have you done some things that are wrong, but you are defective, you are rejected, you are not enough.  Of course, the good news of Jesus is that, by his death, he has taken away our defectiveness, taken away rejection, and he has made us enough in the eyes of God.  

The writer of Hebrews declares, “For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being madeholy” (Heb. 10:14).  Notice the fact that you have been made perfect in the eyes of God by that sacrifice.  The verb is past tense.  It is not something we can earn or strive for or beg for.  The blood of Christ has already given us a standing of perfection in heaven while we are yet imperfect.   

So, does God then simply ignore the sin in our lives, the failures, the imperfections.  In one sense, the answer is “Yes.”  He ignores it in the sense that he does not hold those things against us or even see us as being defined by those things.  We may define ourselves by those things but God does not. We are defined by who we are in Christ and those weaknesses and failures (past and present) no longer have any condemnation attached to them.

In addition, although those things bring no rejection or condemnation from God, he is faithfully working to make us holy.  This is the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit.  He isn’t doing this in order to make us acceptable, but simply to make us everything we can be in Jesus.

Satan’s ploy is to get us to focus on every past sin, every imperfection, and every failure.  The old axiom is, “We become what we behold.”  What we focus on defines us and we typically live up or down to the view we have of ourselves.  God’s strategy is to get us to focus on who we are in Christ…children of God loved and forgiven; citizens of heaven walking in power and authority, representatives of Christ on the earth with a destiny established by God; the forgiven, the cleansed, the perfected, saints of God on this earth with an unimaginable inheritance waiting for us in heaven.

As we consistently focus on those realities, we become them – those realities define us. Knowing that, Satan continually whispers condemnation in our ears, speaks it through the broken people in our lives, and keeps us in a constant state of self-rejection and insecurity.  

As a result, we never feel the love of God, never have faith that he will answer our prayers, and never step into significant roles in the kingdom that God has ordained.  As long as we are bound up by condemnation, Satan wins.

But Paul put condemnation to rest in his letter to the Romans.  He said, “So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me.What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!  So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin. Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death” (Rom. 7:21-8:2, emphasis added). 

Notice, Paul still struggles with sin and often does what he doesn’t want to do and feels the frustration of living out that reality.  However, he stands on the truth that the blood of Christ covers those failures and weaknesses in the courts of heaven.  He boldly declares to us, to himself, and to Satan there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ.  That must be our answer to every condemning thought that trickles across our minds.  

Some of those thoughts are our own. In that case we need a renewed mind where God’s truth replaces our habitual thoughts that do not line-up with his thoughts.  We must constantly say what God says about us in Christ. Some of those thoughts are from broken people.  Maybe we need to distance ourselves from them, if possible. 

Some or most of those thoughts are from Satan. Because you are a child of God with power and authority, you need to call Satan out when those thoughts immerge in your mind.  Call him a liar, renounce the lie he has spoken to you, and then command him to be silent and depart. James tells us, “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (Ja. 4:7).  We submit to his truth about us by giving his Word more authority than our feelings or thoughts. We them must actively resist the devil by declaring God’s truth and exercising the authority you have in Jesus.  Command Satan’s demonic representative – the spirit of condemnation to leave and he will.  

If you struggle with condemnation, stay in the Word, submit your mind to God’s truth, and constantly say only what God has said about you.  Jesus himself told us we will know the truth and the truth will set us free (Jn. 8:32).  When the enemy comes, pull out the Word of God which is the sword of the Spirit and contend for God’s truth about you!

My wife and I were attending some funerals in the Texas panhandle this past weekend, which is about the only time our extended families get together these days.  I was visiting with my favorite aunt when my great-grandfather on my mother’s side came up.  Decades ago, he was chief of police in Amarillo and I knew very little about him other than that.  My aunt shared that he was very active in the community, as you would expect, and an active member of the Masonic Lodge or Freemasons.  My great-grandmother was also very active in Eastern Star, the feminine counterpart to Freemasonry.

I had actually suspected that he might have been a Freemason because of his position in the community and the high percentage of community leaders and businessmen that were members in those days.  My aunt confirmed that.  

I have been amazed at how many men and women who attend our Free Indeed classes have fathers, grandfathers, and great-grandfathers who were Freemasons.  More than a sociological quirk, this fact has serious spiritual ramifications.

The “Masonic Lodge” or Freemasonry has been shrouded in secrecy for centuries.  In fact, the very first oath a fledgling Freemason will take is an oath of secrecy about the lodge.  For some, that might seem like fun and games as if pledging a college fraternity.  But these oaths are blood oaths meaning that they swear an oath that to reveal the secrets of the lodge will cause their life to be forfeited. Of course, we want to believe that no one would take that oath seriously. However, some on the lodge are very serious and the spiritual entities behind the lodge take it seriously as well. 

As you probably know, Freemasons ascend in rank from a first-degree Mason to a thirty-second or thirty-third degree Mason.  As they ascend, they are introduced to the “deeper” secrets of the Lodge.  Although Freemasonry is often presented as a Christian men’s organization, as individuals climb the ranks, they discover it is not.  This “secret society” has no qualms about keeping this truth hidden from the rank-and-file members because those members have not yet “earned the right” to know the truth. Most members see it as a men’s social service organization and fraternity.

Although members of the lodge have sworn to keep the secrets of the lodge, many who have risen through the ranks have finally left because they could no longer reconcile the doctrines of Freemasonry with their faith. These men have exposed these secrets at risk to their own lives. At the highest levels of Freemasonry, Jesus is considered a great teacher but not the Son of God.  Other religions are given equal weight in the lodge and, actually, Lucifer is considered the true light bearer rather than Jesus.  Some would even consider the Lodge a source of salvation.  Although this sounds “over the top,” it is well documented both in books and in interviews. 

The average Freemason would deny these realities because they are hidden to those who have not yet earned the right to know them.  These oaths and the secrecy of the Lodge make this a rich playground for the enemy.  Those who have spoken out declare that Jabulon and Baphomet are the ruling spirits over Freemasonry.  These are high level demonic spirits.  Even though the average Freemason would have no knowledge of this, when you take an oath of allegiance to the organization, you also take an oath of allegiance to those who rule over that organization. 

If you are a descendant of a Freemason, then you may fall under a generational curse of those who swore allegiance, knowingly or unknowingly, to demonic spirits who represent Satan. Your ancestor, in my case my great-grandfather, entered into a covenant with the devil.  Exodus 20 declares that the sins of the father’s will be passed down to the third and fourth generation of their children.  This generational curse is an open door to the enemy and gives him a legal right to afflict, torment, and oppress you and your family.  For those bloodlines of former Freemasons…especially this who climbed up the ladder of degrees, there are often real struggles and patterns of loss, financial failure, fear, depression, undiagnosable illness, infertility, and so forth.  

Much of the time, these ongoing issues have spiritual roots in curses passed down through generations.  In order, to get freedom from those curses, an individual must renounce Freemasonry, repent on behalf of their bloodlines and sever themselves from any covenants made by their ancestor.  This is real and this is serious.  So…I am providing a renunciation declaration that I would encourage you to declare verbally in order to sever yourself and your children from the bondage that comes through Freemasonry.  In addition, the Mormon church has its roots in Freemasonry as well and many of the secrets of the Mormon Temple are directly tied to Freemasonry.  Those ties may need to be renounced if you or an ancestor have been part of the Mormon church.


Freemasonry Renunciation Prayer

The following prayer is for those who have had family members that have been active members in a Masonic Lodge or the Mormon church…especially parents, grandparents, or great grandparent, and for those who were personally involved in either of those organizations.  There is a strong historical connection between Freemasonry and Mormonism so we address both.

Father God, creator of heaven and earth.  I come to you in the name of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior. I come wrapped in his righteousness. I come seeking forgiveness and cleansing from my sins and all generational sins committed against you and others made in your image. I honor my earthly father and mother and all of my ancestors of flesh and blood, but I utterly turn away from and renounce their sins.  I repent of those sins as well for myself and on behalf of my bloodline.

I forgive my ancestors for any effects of their sins on me.  I renounce Satan and all the works of Satan and renounce every spiritual power of darkness affecting me or my family.

In the name of Jesus, I renounce and forsake all involvement in Freemasonry or Mormonism by my ancestors and myself. In the name of Jesus, by his unmatched authority, by his blood, and by the sword of the Spirit, I renounce and sever myself from any and every soul tie that has bound me to Freemasonry or the Mormon church or individuals that represent those organizations.  

In the name of Jesus, I renounce Jabulon, Baphomet, death, infirmity, witchcraft, the Spirit of Antichrist, and the curse of the Luciferian doctrine. I renounce the idolatry, blasphemy, secrecy and deception of Freemasonry and Mormonism at every level. I specifically renounce the love of position and power, the love of money, and the pride which would have led my ancestors into Masonry or Mormonism. 

I renounce all rituals, agreements, covenants, promises, vows, declarations and any connection made to Freemasonry or the Mormon Temple. I ask forgiveness for entering into those covenants on behalf of myself and my bloodline and submit them to the blood of Jesus to cleanse me from their effects.

I renounce all the fears which held them or me in Freemasonry and Mormonism, especially the fear of death, fear of men, and the fear of trusting others. I renounce all these things in Jesus name.

I renounce every position and title held in the lodge or Mormon church by any of my ancestors.  I also renounce every form of manipulation, deception, and secrecy practiced in Free Masonry or Mormonism and, by the sword of the Spirit, sever myself from the effects of those things on me and my descendants.

I renounce any attachment to Freemasonry or Mormonism in any way and willingly cleanse my home and possessions of anything connected to these organizations – books, jewelry, aprons, pictures, or any symbol or token. 

In the name of Jesus and by the sword of the Spirit, I now repent of any connection with Freemasonry and Mormonism on behalf of my bloodline and sever myself from any covenants, dedications, soul ties, or effects that have come to me through bloodlines.   In the name of Jesus, by his blood and the power of his resurrection I renounce all curses and blessings attached to Freemasonry and Mormonism I may have agreed to.  I also cancel all curses and demonic assignments against me or my family based on any connections with Freemasonry or the Mormon church. 

I plead the cleansing blood of Jesus over any defilement that has come to me through these bloodlines and now declare myself free from any curses or other effects of Freemasonry or Mormonism … in Jesus’ name. Amen

I now renounce the spirit of death and the spirit of infirmity in the name of Jesus and command you to leave me immediately and never return. I cancel your assignment and declare you have no power or authority here because I submit all that I have and all that I am to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.  In the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of God and the Holy One of Israel, I command you to leave me now, leave this region, and never return.  In Jesus’ name.  



Blessings in Him….

There have been a number of iterations of The Invisible Man going all the way back to the book written by H.G. Wells.  In it’s latest form, it was a 2020 movie about a deranged scientist who staged his own suicide but actually was able to make himself invisible.  While in that form, he stalked and terrorized his ex-girlfriend.  Of course, the police thought she was a mental case when she tried to persuade them to believe she was being stalked by a man no one could see.

Many have thought of the power he or she would have it they could move about unseen by the rest of the world…spying on whomever they wished, stealing with no evidence on surveillance cameras, murder without being detected, or simply playing jokes on their friends or the bully who tormented them in the seventh grade. 

This invisible being could move and act without consequence.  However, if anyone ever believed such a thing was happening, they could find ways to detect his presence and even capture him.  His power was in being unseen and unbelieved in.

In many ways, that is Satan’s power.  He moves unseen.  Many people, including followers of Jesus, really don’t believe he is a reality in their life.  He tempts, he torments, he oppresses, he destroys marriages, he facilitates addictions, he prompts financial failures, he robs people of their health, he starts wars, promotes human trafficking, and so one without detection … because no one is looking for him.

Churches that give little thought and no teaching to spiritual warfare leave their members victims of an invisible enemy who stalks them to kill, steal, and destroy.  Because these churches tend to dismiss the supernatural moves of God and the reality of demons, they remain silent about them other than referencing them as being historical oddities from “Bible times” that no longer operate.  Their silence conveys to their members that these enemies do not exist or, at least, have no influence on Christians, so they are attacked year after year unaware of the source and unable to resist.

Regarding spiritual warfare, some churches are like the doctors of a few hundred years ago who were unaware of the existence of bacteria and viruses.  These unseen enemies of health went undetected and, therefore, untreated for centuries and thousands died.  Once they were detected under a microscope, treatments were developed to defeat them. 

Just about every church agrees that we are clearly in the last days.  Israel’s rebirth as nation in 1948 unmistakably started the end-times countdown.   It is clear for those who see the indicators, that Satan is pulling out all the stops as his time is beginning to grow short. According to a recent Harvard study, about 1.5 million people in the U.S. identify as practicing witches. The ones who are very serious about their craft, won’t acknowledge their involvement so we know there are considerably more. Then there are millions who participate in new age activities, horoscopes, psychic readings, violent crime, sexual deviance, the abortion industry and more.  All of these individuals have come under the influence of demonic spirits because they have unknowingly partnered with Satan in these final days.

Here is my encouragement for this season.  Every believer should be schooled in the basics of spiritual warfare. Every church should find a biblically solid resource for training.  We have offered Free Indeed at our church for 20 years which not only enables those attending to secure freedom and healing, but teaches them to recognize the strategies of the enemy and minister freedom to others as well. There are other good churches as well who do the same. 

Many churches who believe in spiritual warfare only have a few people who minister deliverance.  They can only minister to a few and these churches rarely train their congregations for this ministry.  Because we committed to this years ago, we have dozens and dozens of experienced and capable people who can lead others to healing and freedom and do so. 

It is not enough for believers to get their own freedom from demonic oppression, but they must be able to disciple others in these spiritual battles.  Otherwise, we are like those who have received our salvation in response to the gospel, but never lead another person to that same hope.  Encourage your church leaders to seriously consider the implications of silence in this area.  If they are not open to that, find training for yourself in other places.  We can help you find that training.  

Satan is ramping up.  He is the great deceiver and in these last days spiritual deception will be rampant.  It will cost some their salvation. The church in America is crippled by compromise with the culture and by numerous members who find no release from addictions and no victory over anxiety and depression.  Of course, not everything is demonic but much more is than we think.  

Churches that will not equip their members in this arena may have to answer for that dereliction of duty.  Many pastors don’t teach about spiritual warfare because they have no theology for it or training in it.  They should get trained and then pass that training on to their church.  I really believe there is an urgency in this.  We must take Paul at his word when he said our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realm (Eph.6:12).

We will be glad to help any church or any individuals who want to be equipped for these final days and the last assaults of the enemy.  If you like, you can email me at tom.vermillion@midcities.org.

Blessings.

I want to remind us all of a truth we probably already know but often forget or, at least, don’t remain mindful of.  That truth is the enemy is always searching to find a legal basis in the spiritual realm to afflict, torment, or oppress God’s people.  He already has a legal right to do those things to the people who are citizens of the kingdom of darkness.  But he seeks to find a basis for attacks against God’s people. 

In Revelation 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).  Notice that Satan accuses (present tense) us before God without ceasing.  This verse and many others reference a courtroom scene where a prosecutor keeps constantly coming before the king with accusations that would allow him to arrest or punish the one he is accusing.  

If there is no cause for grievance, then the accuser is dismissed.  However, if cause is found, the judge, being just, must allow the accuser to have some access to the accused.  If you recall, Satan brought charges against Job and God, as the judge, set limits on the torment that the accuser could dispense.  In Zechariah, we find the enemy bringing charges against the High Priest. “Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right side to accuse him. The Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, Satan! The Lord, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire?” (Zech. 3:1-2). Jesus alluded to the same process when he said, ““Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers” (Lk. 21:31-32).

There are things in our lives that will not cost us our salvation but will grant the enemy some access to us because of laws established in the spiritual realm. All the way back in Deuteronomy 28, God established a system of blessings and curses.  If Israel was careful to keep God’s commandments, blessings would be poured out on them.  If, however, Israel ignored God’s commands…curses would be released over the nation.  I think the best way to understand that dynamic is that the disobedience of Israel would eventually give Satan a legal right to enforce a curse on the nation and bring torment and oppression. God would lift his hand of protection and let Satan have his way. The good news is that repentance and fruits of repentance brought forgiveness and once again closed the door on Satan. 

Persistent and unrepented disobedience will eventually give the enemy access to you and your family.  We tend to think that believers are not going to have that issue or open door in their lives.  But the one I see most often is unforgiveness toward someone who deeply hurt us or betrayed us.  Somehow the enemy convinces us that our grievance is the exception that permits unforgiveness…even for decades.  When we give in to his persuasion, Satan  eventually will gain access to us through that sin of unforgiveness.  Then there are past sins that we blamed others for or simply moved on and left those in our past.  Satan, however, is a great researcher and may find those past unrepented sins to use against us.

Another open door is the “sins of our fathers” that have not been dealt with and that give the enemy a right to afflict the children to the third and fourth generation (Ex. 20:5). It seems strange to us that we could be liable for the sins of our ancestors, but we are.  When we are aware of their sins, we need to repent on behalf of our bloodline and renounce the sins, pleading the blood of Jesus over those sins. We are not imparting salvation to our past relatives, but we are taking away Satan’s legal right to afflict us because of those sins.

Thirdly, spoken curses can give the enemy access…especially if spoken by ourselves or someone who had spiritual authority over us…a parent, a husband, or some religious leader.  Bad health, failing relationships, financial failure, etc. can be set in motion by their words…I wish you had never been born; You will never amount to anything; You’re such a loser; No one will ever love you; I wish you were dead; etc. If you are aware of words like that being spoken, then renounce them in the name of Jesus and cancel them by the power of his name after repenting of coming into agreement with those words.

All of these can create open doors for the enemy by giving him a legal right to afflict us.  You must perform an inventory of your life, your relationships, your family, and your words on a regular basis…confessing, repenting and renouncing the sins or words that have given Satan a right to attack you.  We may go through this process once, but then lay it aside forgetting that Satan is still researching, watching, and waiting for something he can take before the judge.  A regular Spiritual Spring Cleaning every six months would be a very good practice to keep the devil out of your house and out of your life.  If you have never taken that inventory or haven’t in a while, let me encourage you to do so right away!

Knowing who you are in Christ is more than half the battle of overcoming the world and the attacks and temptations of the enemy.  We subconsciously act out of who we think we are.   “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he” (Prov. 23:7, KJV). These “core beliefs” about ourselves go deep.  They have been with us so long they project what we believe to be reality, although they are lies from the enemy.  If we think we are unworthy of love, defective, and incompetent, due to early experiences of rejection or abandonment, an expectation of rejection and disappointment will flavor our life and affect every decisions. If we have been told we are better than other people and more deserving, we will approach life with arrogance and an expectation of entitlement.  I have met a few of those individuals, but most of us are in the other category.

If we were rejected, criticized, neglected or abandoned as children, then we had no father or had a father who was wounded and broken himself. He had no vision for loving, encouraging or  shaping a child into a healthy, confident individual. As we “learned” we were of little significance to our father, we also became convinced that fathers are angry, indifferent, distant, and rarely keep promises. Many of us have been afflicted by an orphan spirit that whispers we are still on our own and cannot trust other people to provide, protect, or care for us.  If we do experience care and comfort from someone, our core beliefs generate an expectation that the care and comfort we are receiving will still be withdrawn or taken away some day. 

The trap is our tendancy to take the template we have of our earthly father and project it onto our heavenly Father.  When we do so, we find ourselves serving a God that we view as angry, unreliable, rejecting, critical, and so forth.  In our hearts, we fear his love is conditional and we cannot meet his conditions. The good news that the blood of Christ washes away our sin doesn’t seem to penetrate our core beliefs, so we continue to anticipate rejection even by God. We may serve him out of fear or duty, but not out of love.  We pray with little faith and anticipate disappointment in our relationship with him.  We also take our view of ourselves as defective and unworthy of love into the relationship and Satan continually whispers that a holy, perfect God will not love us because of our failure to measure up to his standards. 

But the Biblical view is God is love.  He has always known our weaknesses and our failings but has pursued us none the less. The Psalmist declares, “The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sinsdeserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; 

as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. 

As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him; 

for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust” (Ps. 103:8-14).

Our view of God must match the revelation of who God is.  He is holy and just, but also kind and compassionate.  He is the perfect Father who loves unconditionally but who also disciplines us when we need it as an expression of love. As a father, he has loved us before we loved him.  He knows we are weak and that we will stumble.  Yet he called us to be his sons and daughters in his foreknowledge, when he already knew of our sins, our selfishness, our “mess-ups,” and even our moments of rebellion before we were ever created.  He has pursued us, forgiven us, ben patient, and has been working to mature and guide us since the day we were born. 

We are his adopted children who are co-heirs with Christ, made righteous by his blood, sealed by his Holy Spirit, and loved more than we can know.  We will not be perfect and he does not demand that.  We, like children, will fall short on many occasions bur he will never leave us nor forsake us.  Like any father, he will provide what we need and forgive us on many occasions.  

What he wants from us is faith that he is good, merciful, loving and kind.  He is not an earthly father who gets up in a different mood each day or who catalogues our failings so he can remind us daily of how disappointed he is in us.  He is the God who remembers our sins no more.  He is a father who is preparing an unimaginable place for us and who will come and take us to be where he is.  We are his beloved children.  We are royalty in the household of God – kings and priests.  He sings over us and longs for us to be in his presence.  He is more than willing to answer prayers that will bless us in the long run and will rejoice when we return…even after being prodigals.  He wants the best for us and wants us to trust his forgiveness and mercy when we fail. We are his children.  

A primary key to victory over the enemy is spending intentional time meditating on God as your loving father and you as his child.  Satan spends a great deal of time trying to convince us that we must be perfect in order to be loved and blessed by God and that God is like earthly fathers who sometimes keep promises and sometimes don’t. He whispers God is constantly disappointed with us, often angry, and when angry stops caring for us. When we listen to those lies we no longer trust in his provision, his protection, and his favor.  We feel like insecure orphans who must control the world around us and forage for ourselves.  We live with anxiety and distrust and never fully experience abundant life.

Paul prayed that God would give the Ephesians a “spirit of wisdom and revelation that they might know him better and that he would open the eyes of their heart so that they might know the riches of his glorious inheritance in his people and the power he is willing to wield on their behalf (Eph. 1:17-19).  We actually need a revelation of who our Father is and who we are to plant that truth in our hearts. I would encourage you to pray that same prayer every day.  Knowing who God is and who you are as his son or daughter at a heart levelchanges everything. 

They traveled from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea, to go around Edom. But the people grew impatient on the way; they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the desert? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!” Then the Lord sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died. The people came to Moses and said, “We sinned when we spoke against the Lord and against you. Pray that the Lord will take the snakes away from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.  Numbers 21:4-7

This text regarding the wilderness wanderings of the Israelites is well known and, to many. it seems excessively harsh.  After all, we all complain from time to time.  In 1 Corinthians 10, Paul pens a warning to the church and reminds them of the sins of Israel that cost them lives and the first generation’s entrance into the promised land. He reminds them that some of the Hebrews died as a result of idolatry, sexual immorality, and complaining (grumbling) about their circumstances.  Perhaps, we can understand the seriousness of idolatry and sexual immorality, but why would complaining stir up the wrath of God?

Remember, the tongue has the power of life and death (Prov. 18:21).  Our words matter because they have spiritual implications.  One of the most subtle, but effective strategies of the enemy is to prompt us to speak words that invite destruction.  The complaining of the Jews was not a one-time event that stirred up God’s anger.  They often complained about their circumstances in the desert, grumbling that they would have been better off in Egypt as slaves.  

The complaining constituted an accusation against God. The first recorded temptation was an accusation against God.  Satan’s subtle questions to Eve in the Garden of Eden planted seeds of belief that God wasn’t all loving, all kind, and generous after all, but withheld the best things because he did not want Adam and Eve to achieve their full potential…to be like God.
When Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, they came in to agreement with Satan and accepted his accusation against God in their hearts.

Israel had cried out for centuries against their enslavement in Egypt.  God heard their cries and delivered them with plagues against Pharoah, led them through the Red Sea, and revealed himself to them at Sinai. He provided manna and water in the desert and led them to the land he had promised them through Abraham. The journey from Mt. Sinai to Canaan was actually only a few weeks.  That is all the time they had to live off manna and water, but their unbelief that God would give them victory over their enemies bought them forty years of wandering in the wilderness and forty years of manna

Their incessant complaints about their circumstances were actually accusations against God…his goodness, his provision, his protection, and his generosity. You can hear the accusations of Satan in their words.  It is not enough to believe that Gods exists.  Demons believe that. Faith believes that God is good.  He is faithful.  He is mindful of our circumstances, wants what is best for us, and is always working in that direction.

When we complain, we are subtly accusing God of not caring for us, not providing what we need, not meeting our deepest wants, being unjust in allowing our circumstances, or of not being involved in our iives at all. Our complaints shape our view of God and undermine out faith. Our complaints bring us into agreement with Satan.  That agreement invites him into our home and our families. 

This prohibition of complaining does not mean I cannot acknowledge hard circumstances or suffering in my life.  The Psalms are full of laments and cries for deliverance from persecution, but the prayers were based on the belief that God did care about their circumstance and because he was loving, merciful and faithful, the answers to their cries were in the pipeline headed their way.  

Paul suffered a great deal for his faith and yet he wrote, “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength: (Phil. 4:11-13). 

Paul’s contentment rested in his belief that God was always mindful of his circumstances and was working in them to bring about good. Sometimes he was perfecting something in Paul’s spirit and character. At other times he was using Paul’s circumstances to reach others, such as the Roman guards who stood by him day and night with whom he shared the gospel.  

The art of contentment is a great weapon in spiritual warfare as we focus on what we do have rather that what we don’t have.  Thank offerings were part of the Temple sacrificial system where men and women offered a sacrifice as an expression of thanksgiving to God.  Our thanksgiving, even in hard circumstances, keeps the enemy at bay and prevents us from coming into agreement with Satan about the character of our God.  

A life of thanksgiving keeps us positive and expectant. We don’t have to thank God for our suffering but we can thank him for his grace to sustain us in that season and the promise that joy comes in the morning.  We can thank him that he has solutions to our crisis and that he will bring good out of every circumstance.  We can thank him that he cares for us and has compassion for what we are going through.  We can thank him that he loves us enough to die for us.We need to be cautious about our complaints.  We must be sure that we are not, in some passive-aggressive way, accusing God of not caring or keeping his promises.

Our salvation lies in a conviction that God is good all the time, not just sometimes.  Feel free to honestly present your pain and your fears to God, but do so because you believe God cares and can help rather than as an accusation against his love for you.  Satan loves to inch into your view of God, so don’t give him an inch.  Follow Paul’s counsel: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:6t-7).

Over and over, scripture testifies to the power of the spoken word.  In the beginning, God spoke the universe into existence.  The spoken words of Jesus healed the sick, raised the dead, and drove stubborn demons out of men and women.  In the Book of Jeremiah, we are told, “Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, ‘Now, I have put my words in your mouth. See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant’” (Jer. 1:9-10).  As Jeremiah openly declared the word of the Lord over nations and kings, spiritual forces were set in motion to raise up kings and depose them, establish nations and destroy them.  Proverbs affirms, “The tongue has the power of life and death” (Prov. 18:21).  We could go on and on quoting scriptures that declare we have the power to bless and to curse through the proclamation of our words.  In short…our spoken words matter.  They have power.  They make a difference.

In the Book of Revelation, we are told, “For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of theirtestimony” (Rev. 12:10-11).  Speaking of the saints, we are told they overcame the enemy, by the sacrificial blood of Jesus and by the words they spoke.  The words we speak, our testimony, is an essential part of winning the battle against Satan.  What we speak informs both the world and the spiritual realm where we stand and established God’s truth over circumstances. 

Our first testimony, of course, is that we believe Jesus is the Son of God who died for our sins and was raised to life on the third day. Our continuing testimony is to declare publicly what we know to be true…not only about Jesus but about God, his sovereignty, his righteous standards and his judgments.  We are to testify to God’s word and truth as we resist the things that push back against God’s will in this world.  When we speak life, truth, and victory over people and circumstances, our words set spiritual forces in motion to accomplish what we have declared.  The Word of God is the sword of the Spirit and when we speak his word, that word becomes a weapon in the spiritual realm.

But here is the rub. We live in a culture that no longer believes in absolute truth. It no longer believes that a divine standard of right and wrong exists by which nations and people will be judged. We often hear the phrase, “personal truth,” which means that every man does what he wants without reference to any other standard. Judges 21:25 speaks of a time when Israel had no king and “every man did that which was right in his own eyes.”  That was not a season of God’s favor. 

From that perspective, truth changes with the times, with the culture, with our emotions, and with circumstances. Many claim they are “evolving,” which means their view of truth keeps shifting with the tide. To give into that premise, undermines the very foundations of law, ethics, and faith.  How can law deliver justice when there is no sure definition of what is just?  How can faith stand against assaults if we are unsure of the ground on which we stand? 

Part of the angst of our younger generations is that they don’t know where to stand or what to believe. They have nothing certain on which to base their lives and decisions. Their compass has no true north. Men may no longer be men and women may no longer be women. The definition of marriage which has stood for thousands of years has now become a fluid word with no certain meaning. Morality is relative and shifts with public opinion. So, when we vote for a president, character doesn’t matter anymore because no one can define it. “Personal truth” allows politicians and news services to manufacture their version of “the truth” at will and dispense it as if it were as certain as 2+2=4. 

In our generation, it almost seems quaint, naïve, and unenlightened to even discuss the notion of absolute right and wrong or actual moral standards for a society. But once you cut yourself loose from the moorings of a God in heaven who establishes truth, right and wrong, sin and righteousness, and who will judge the world on the basis of those standards, good will certainly be called evil and evil will be declared good.

The church used to be viewed as the conscience of the nation.  Sin was called out in the pulpits and people were called to repentance…even national leaders or the nation itself were subject to admonition. In those days, the church testified to the word of God, the standards of God, right and wrong, sin and righteousness.  Children were taught those standards in school and the Ten Commandments hung on the walls of every courthouse.  But through the decades, the testimony of the church faded and so did the testimony of many individual believers.  We were called haters and intolerant because we said what God had said.  In many cases, we buckled to pressure and compromised our faith in order to be acceptable to the world.  Our testimony became a whisper. 

But the saints of Revelation overcame the enemy, not only by the blood of the Lamb but by the word of their testimony.  If we are to overcome in this age, we must give testimony as well. God is giving us a window in America in which believers must speak up again and testify to the reality of Jesus as well as the truth and demands of God’s word.  Whether in school board meetings, city council chambers, private conversations, church assemblies, or to our children at home, we must speak out and say what God has said about all things.  This is an essential part of spiritual warfare.  

So much hangs on our willingness to speak out for God.  Our words set spiritual forces in motion.  Our words correct the distorted world view of those around us and our words reinforce our own faith and certainty that the Word of God is true.  Let’s pray and ask God to give us boldness to testify in whatever circumstance we find ourselves. Certainly, we must do so in love and out of concern, not in self-righteousness.  But as we do, we too will overcome the enemy and encourage others to do the same.

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.