It will not be news to most of you that Satan and his minions are real. The armor we have been issued by our awesome God is quite adequate and He is serious about our donning it. Every day. This has been a week of rediscovery that the war we are fighting 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 6:12. A batallion of scripture-saturated Christians was gathered by God this week to do battle and learn that 1) the focus of Satan’s plan is to freeze Christians in guilt, shame and blame so they will be blocked from bearing fruit that remains; 2) Satan does not want any believer to be freed from fear; 3) Satan wants Christians to believe that Satan has no power over them whatsoever. Don’t you believe it! You bet he does. This battallion of seasoned warriors heard the battle cry and came together when summoned to free a beautiful saint from demonic forces WITH NAMES that screamed, threatened, moaned, groaned, shouted and would not let go. We were not afraid for we all know that “Greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world.” We are all exhausted, but because of the privilege of watching the power of God and His Word and prayer in action, we are exhilarated. We were reminded of three Absolute phrases that Satan hates: The Word of God; the Blood of Christ; the Lord Jesus Christ. Think now. Why wouldn’t just the word “Jesus” send him into spasms? Why would “The Word of God” send him into a rage? Why would the “Blood of Christ” cause him to scream?
Reinforced in our understanding of Satan’s strategy is this: If the evil one and his minions can keep an adult stuck in childhood fear from mind and bodily assaults by adults (even Christian adults) he renders them fruitless because they cannot believe that they are unconditionally loved by God and are worth, to Him, every drop of His Son’s blood. LOVE FREES; FEAR BINDS. These childhood experiences must be admitted, faced full-on with scripture and prayer, sometimes requiring a team of doctrinally sound believers who come against demonic forces hidden for decades in the bodies and minds of unsuspecting, normal-appearing believers. Fear-bound Christians will not bear fruit that remains, but will often be busy in ministries. The closer we come to the sounding of the Trumpet, the more Satan is tightening his grip on believers. At one point, I asked one who would not let go if he was holding on because he did not want any more people to come to know Christ as Lord and Savior. He screamed in a gutteral voice: “NO. I DON’T WANT ANY MORE PEOPLE TO BELIEVE...” and then he shut up because he would not utter the NAME ABOVE ALL NAMES.
In this God-ordained batallion this week were Bible teachers, pastors, church staff, a seminary professor and homemakers, all part of institutions known for solid, non-charismatic doctrine. He even sent reinforcements from a nearby city who thought they were coming for an overnight, restful time on our mountain. None of us will hang out our shingle as exorists; we will not join Benny Hinn, TNN or any sensationalists who market something so sacred that we are in awe of our God (In fact, we broke several times to sing “Our God is an awesome God”), we will not write any books on how to smoke out demons from their hiding places. We would all just like to rest and “...study to show ourselves approved by God, workmen that need not be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth!”
I mean it. Do not question me. I don’t even understand what we have all just experienced. I know this. Any “boxes” we may have placed around our Mighty God have had the slats kicked out of their sides.
Love, Jo