Part 1: The battle and the victory
If you knew that a thief was planning to break into your home, what would you do? Would you go to bed and turn out your lights? Surely not. You would wait up with your lights on. If you lived in the USA, you would probably have a shotgun resting on your knees.
In this study, I will address spiritual warfare. It would be good if you have prepared yourself by reading “Supernatural reality” on my blog.
Many believe that evil spirits are only existing in more primitive countries. That’s where we hear about demon possession and black magic. The truth is that the devil and his fallen angels are alive and well everywhere on this planet. People play with the occult, not knowing that by opening the door to the occult, you enter a place where the door might slam shut behind you. Even Christians do not take precautions against evil and seem to be ready to attack hell with a squirt gun. This is a foolish thing to do. Yes, Jesus has won over the wicked one, but He is much stronger than us. Even if a Christian can not be possessed, he can be greatly influenced by evil forces.
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THE REALITY OF SPIRITUAL WARFARE
We are as Christans at different places in our Christian lives and our individual development. Your true belief is revealed by what you do under pressure. Most of us, under time of pressure, will not consider the possibility that a spiritual battle may be under way in our lives.
But we are often in a fierce battle with the enemy of our souls. Spiritual warfare ia a biblical reality. The question is not whether we wrestle demonic spirits, but who’s on top? Do the spirits have us pinned?
Demonic forces are attacking families left and right, especially Christians. The problem is that we as a whole do not take our enemy serious enough. We have the resources for victory, but we don’t recognize his attacks or try to resist him. The apostle Paul warned the Corinthian churc about Satan’s devices (2 Corinthians 2:11), but the church of today is woefully ignorant of the way our enemy works.
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A daily battle
When I talk about spiritual warfare, some think of possessed people, poltergeists, huntings and things that go bump in the night. This is also part of it, but for the average Christian, it is the battle of every day when we battle against “all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life” (1 John 2:16). Many have let themselves be trapped in bondage to sin so that the enemy has an enormous influence on their lives. Because we often don’t know how Satan works, we have to pay an enormous price for this neglect and ignorance. Spiritual warfare is indeed real, and we are all in a battle.
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Giving ground to the devil
When demonic powers fight i.e. a young Christian man, and that man does not make a stand against sin, he gives more and more ground to the devil. He is more easily tempted by the wicked one, and if that young Christian man is married, that can easily break his marriage. Often, that couple will need Christian counseling to overcome this threat. Many couples have found themselves in this situation.
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WELCOME TO THE WAR
It was several years ago that I met people that were involved in serious spiritual warfare. I have also met possessed people. Unfurtunately, the first ones I met, I was unable to help that much. Please note that there are Christian counselors who are able to help in these situations. There are several books that are written on the subject of spiritual warfare, and many pastors might be able to help. Please try to get help from someone who has knowledge about spiritual warfare, either from life experience or other aquired knowledge.
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A doubter
Many people will tell you that if you are a Christian, demons can not possess you. This is true, but that does not mean that evil spirits can not influence you. I found it strange when a person came to my house after being attacked by demons for about 15 years. That was in itself not strange, but the man claimed to be a Christian, and I could find nothing wrong with his testimony. I listened attentively to the man for three hours as he told me how he had been attacked by demons.
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Becoming a believer
After studying this topic for some time, I know that Christians can be deceived by evil spirits and then put into bondage. Many people are not outwardly wicked, but something seems to be out of whack. Even missionaries can be influenced in this manner. Often iniquities are passed on generationally, and that gives the enemy an advantage in bringing destructive attacks on the family (Exodus 20:5). People undergoing demon attacks can often lose their sanity, often become hospitalized in psychiatric hospitals, or, in severe cases, even die.
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UNDERSTANDING THE BATTLE
Any person, any Christian, a missionary or a pastor, can be open to satanic influences. Christians of all ages and from all walks of life have been thrown in the ditch spiritually by demon attacks because they did not understand the vital truths about our enemy, our identity and our armour.
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Our enemy
1. The enemy is strong.
“Your adersary, the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour”
1 Peter 5:8
Satan hates you and has a terrible plan for your life. Unlike the good news og God’s love, Satan’s plan is to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10).
First, he wants to steal the eternal significance of your life. He wants you to get so wrapped up in your problems and circumstances that you never reach out to others. That way, you are no threat to him at all. Satan wants to steal the fruit of the Spirit in your life.
Second, he disires to kill you. But he can’t do that without Gods’s permission, so he’ll tell you to do it for him. Many people think of suicide, because it’s the only way out that they can see.
Third, the enemy seeks to destroy our relionships. Churches and pastors are being shredded by the enemy’s work in tearing apart relationships.
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Our identity
2. Our spiritual identity as children of God gives us the authority and power to repel enemy attacks.
We are to be “more than conquerorsthrough Him that loved us” (Romans 8:37). Later on we’ll see who we are in Christ, primarily from the book of Ephesians.
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Our armour
3. God gives us a mighty armour to resist the enemy’sattacks
We need to “put on the whole armour of God” (Ephesians 6:11) to resist Satan successfully.
Not only is every child of God a target for Satan’s attacks, but I have also found that the armour of God is sufficient for every person’s battle. The armour, consisting of truth, righteousness and much more (Ephesians 6:10-18), is the only way to resist Satan’s attacks. And it is, thank God, the effective way.
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WAGING SUCCESSFUL WARFARE
The good news is that not all believers fall prey to these attacks. There are believers, young and old, all around the world who have been trained and equipped from Scripture to deal successfully with this area of the Christian life. And many of these believers are helping other believers who have fallen victim to the enemy and are being held in various degrees of bondage.
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Being aware
It is my hope that this study will be a help to you on several levels.
First, I want you to be aware of the spiritual battle going on around you and equip you to wage it successfully.
Every believeSatan’s schemes. But if you don’t know the source of the thoughts and temptations that you encounter daily, you can be tripped up and eventually wiped ut. What would happen if you thought that every single wrong thought which enters your mind originated from you? What if you believed that because it was your thought, you had to welcome it, entertain it, and act on it? You say “That’s ridiculous! I know that I don’t have to accept and act out every thought that enters my head.” You are right, but that’s exactly what the enemy has convinced some Christians to believe and to do, and it’s destroying them.
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Being equipped
Second, I want to help you equip yourselfto fight the good fight, to stand in the victory that God has provided.
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Helping others
Third, I want to help you deal with someone else who is coming under demon attack.
The methods and Scriptures I use here – which, by the way, is a week-long process – are neither mysterious or magical. Thousands of pastors, missionaries, and lay people have been trained to recognize the signs of demonic involvement and lead someone to freedom in Christ.
God has equipped every believer with every spiritual weapon necessary to fight a winning battle.
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Part 2: Giving and gaining spiritual ground
As I start on Part 2 of this study, let me first address an important question. I have already given the answer to it, but what do YOU believe? Can a Christian become possessed by the devil or demons? The answer to this question will greatly determine how you approach the issue of spiritual warfare. Before this question can be given a propper answer, we need to define or explain a few things.
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DEFINING TERMS
The issue of the Christian and demonic activity is a hot potatoe. We can not ignore the question or run away from it. And as this is a question that polarizes the churches, it is a tragedy that there are no absolute biblical way to answer it.
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Possession
That may sound strange, but the New Testament does not directly answer the question if a Christian can be demon possessed or not. This is because the New Testament doesn’t really address the question of demon possession, as we think of it, in relation to the Christian.
In fact, the very term, demon possession, is part of the problem. It is used in most English Bibles today to translate a single Greek word – and it may not be a good translation at all. Tim Warner writes:
The use of the word “possession” to translate the expressions used in the Greek New Testament to indicate the relationship between demons and people is unfortunate, if not unwarranted. We obtained our English word “demon” by transliterating the Greek word “daimon“. We should have done the same with the Greek word “daimonizomai” – a vern form of the same Greek root. It would then come into English as “demonize” and we could then speak of the degree to which a person could be demonized rather than being limited to the either-or potions imposed by the possessed – not possessed view.
Spiritual possession clearly implies ownership and would seem to indicate the control of one’s eternal destiny. It would be impossible to be owned and controlled by Satan and have a saving relationship with Christ at the same time.
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A continuum
We know that Christ has bought us with a price, and I really can’t see Him selling us to the devil. However, the work of Satan in a Christian’s life is not a stark either/or choice of no influence or full possession. It is better represented by a continuum, raging from mere suggestion of waht can be called a dominating and destructive influence. Neil Anderson says:
The fact that a Christian can be influenced to one degree or another by the “god of this world” is a New Testament given. If not, then why are we instructed to put on the armour of God and stand firm (Ephesians 6:10), to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:15), and to resist the devil (James 4:7)? And what if we don’t put on the armour of God, stand firm, assume responsibility for what think; and what if we fail to resist the devil? Then what? We are easy prey for the enemy of our souls.
Look again at 1 Peter 5:8. What does it mean to be devoured by Satan? Why does God warn me of that if it’s not a possibility? The word “devour” means “to gobble down quickly“. Satan not only wants to eat your lunch, he wants to eat you! Satan is able to do tremendous damage to the body of Christ because so many refuse to recognize his influence.
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Influence
The key word that has been usded up to this point, at least for believers, is influnce. When it comes to Christians, evil spirits are only spirits of influence. They can be firmly held in Satan’s grasp, under his control, blinded in their hearts and minds and utterly dead to spiritual truth until quickened by the Holy Spirit. They are members of his kingdom of darkness (Ephesians 2:2).
But, like I have said a few times allready, Christians are allready “possessed” (owned) by the Holy Spirit, so demonic possession in the way of ownership is not an issue. Rather, the issue is the influence the evil one can exert on us. “In discussing demonic spiritual warfare on a personal level,” Scott Moreauexplains, “one general principle must be noted at the onset: demons can only influence believers to the extent that we allow then to do so.” Moreau, assistant professor of missions and intercultural studies at Wheaton Graduate School, adds: “The act of giving or allowing Satan to take any amount of control in our life is refered to as ‘giving ground’.”
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GIVING GROUND TO THE ENEMY
Moreau is refering to Paul’swarning in Ephesians 4:27. After cautioning us not to let our anger simmer over night, Paul says “Neither give place to the devil.” The word translated “place” here is the Greek word “topos“. This word might look familiar to you in it’s root form. The English word “topography” comes from topos, and it refers to the ground or a specific spot or location.
So giving ground to Satan in our lives is giving him ground, a “foothold” according to the NIV, an “opportunity” according to the NASB and RSV, a “chance” according to TEV. On the other side, one commentator describes Paul’s admonition as allowing the devil “no leeway… no room to move”.
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Building strongholds
All of these translations, and there are others, add up to a very graphic description of the way that Satancan gain access into a believer’s life.
It is likely that any sinful activity can be exploited by the devil and turned into a means of control over a believer’s life. Therefore, Christians need to resist. Believers either resist the influence of the evil one who works through the flesh and the world, or they surrender control of their livesto the power of darkness. Giving into those temptations does not just confirm the weakness of the flesh, it opens up the lives of believers to the control of the devil and his powers. We need to recognize the supernatural nature of temptation and be prepared to face it.
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Satan’s pawns?
Notice that we as believers can give ground toSatan. He can’t take it without our cooperation and permission. All he can do is influence us: plant evil thoughts, make suggestions, place temptation in our path.
I want to keep coming back to this idea of influnence because it’s so important to waging successful spiritual warfare. No Christian is a helpless pawn of Satan! That’s why we don’t ever want to become fixated on the enemy and his power. Our focus should be on Christ (Hebrews 12:1-2).
Knowing how the enemy operates and becoming obsessed with him are two very different things. Most evangelicals err on the side of knowing far too little, not too much. My greatest problem is not Satan, but myself. If I desire to hold on to sin, I give the enemy the ground he needs to launch his destructive attacks against me. If I cherish sin in my life, Satan will seek to exploit it. Since I must serve someone (see Joshua 24:15), the fact is that any area of my life I don’t yield to the Holy Spirit’s control, Satan will control.
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Legal jurisdiction
It is helpful to think of “ground” as legal jurisdiction. When I give ground to Satan, I am giving him legal permission to attack me. The enrmy wants this ground so he can build strongholds on it. If atan gets a firm enough foothold in a person’s life, he can turn an act of sin into a regular practice of sin, and from there it degenerates into a habit which leads that person downward into bondage, where he “shall be holden with the cords of his sins” (Proverbs 5:22).
This downward spiral is fairly easy to discern in any form of bondage that has a physical component. For instance, most alchoholics didn’t start by announcing “I plan to ruin my life and my family by drinking as much alcohol as I can hold every day from here on out”. No, it begins with a drink, then two, then a couple to get the person goingin the morning and a couple more to help him unwind after a hard day. The slide downward can be traced from the initial act to a regular practice to a habit of bondage.
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Additction or sin?
By the way, I don’t like the word “addiction“. Addiction is a secular consept, and I don’t like it because it suggeste that I am a powerless victim of my problem. God calls it sin, the world calls it “bad genes“.
We’ve got to chose which way we believe. If it’s sin, there’s hope. If I’m just born this way, or if I’m a helpless victim of some powerful force or substance, then my situation is hopeless. As far as I’m concerned, the only “bad genes” you get are in your local clothes shop.
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Nurturing sin
I am not saying that every time we sin, we give Satan a hugee chunk of ground which he can build a towering stronghold. Can you imagine what kind of mess we would be in if every sin we comitted led to a satanic stronghold? Instead, we give ground when we refuse to let go of our sin, to confess it, and turn from it. I think that’s very clear from Ephesians 4:26-27. It is not nesessarily one moment of anger that gives Satan a foothold, but anger stored up, nurtured, and allowed to turn to bitterness and other horrible things the apostle goes on to describe in the closing verses of Ephesians 4.
In other words, giving ground and allowing Satan to build a stronghold on that ground are different issues. Giving ground is the enemy’s entry point in our lives. Strongholds are belief systems that take more time and involvement to build. You have to listen and believe a whole lot of lies before Satan can get this kind of stranglehold on your life.
Giving ground is like giving Satan the land and the “building permit” , the permission he needs to erect his stronghold.
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Believing lies
The deception aspect of this is important to understand, because the very definition of a stronghold makes it clear that satanic strongholds ares built on a foundation of lies. The very “bricks” or foundation of a stronghold are lies. We know that Satan “is a liar, and the father of it” (John 8:44). Satan knows that if he can get our eyes off of Christ and on to our circumstances and problems, we’ll soon be tripped up.
Lies can only trip us up if we believe them, of course. But once we believe Satan’s lies, they become the truth for us.
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A BIBLICAL PROCESS
Now that I have used terms like “giving ground”, “strongholds”, and “towers of truth”, let me show you where we are going with all this. I will present five biblical steps to freedom in Christ. These steps will be helpful to you both in leading someone else to freedom, and in equiping you and your family to wage successful spiritual warfare. Many people have discovered that because these principles are from the Word of God, the principles are effectivefor more than those who are in deep bondage to some habit or secret sin. They are also part of the “spiritual weapons” God has given all of us, weapons which are mighty through Him for the “pulling down of strongholds” (2 Corinthians 10:4).
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STEPS TO FREEDOM IN CHRIST
In case I don’t say it often enough; Satan is a defeated for! He was rendered powerless at the cross of Jesus Christ. The enemy has no power over God’s children except that power we permit him to have. Keep those thoughts in mind as we look at ways Satan can bring us under bondage and what it takes to defeat him.
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1. Genuine repentance
The first step in bringing someone to genuine freedom in Christ is this: There must be genuine repentance of sin. Conviction of sin is the Holy Spirit’s work! Only He can put the finger on sin and bring the “godly sorrow that worketh repentance” (2 Corinthians 7:10).
Turning from sin includes confession and cleansing by the blood of Christ (1 John 1:9, 1 Peter 1:18-19), and a committment to letting go of the sin. This has to be the first step, because without true repentance nothing of any lasting value will happen. I have met several people who are not willing to let go of their sin, and because of that is beyond help.
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2. Taking back ground
Step two in coming to freedom yourself or helping someone else find freedom is taking back ground that has been yielded to the enemy. How do I take back ground that has been surrendered to the enemy? By an open decleration to God that what I did was wrong. This means verbally announcing that in the Lord’s name and power, I am asking Him to take back any ground I have yielded to Satan. I announce to the forces of evil that here and now, I renounce Satan’s works and ways in my life, that I want nothing to do with them anymore. There are Christians who have let Satan push them around and keep them in bondage their whole lives without ever once resisting him.
Remember that “ground” is a legal jurisdiction. It is like givingthe enemy the key to my house. When I yield ground, I am giving the enemy permission to attack me with destructive thoughts and temptations. Looking at it from another angle, I have strayed into his jurisdiction, his territory, and that gives him a claim I must renounce.
Once all ground has been taken back from the enemy (his legal right to attack me), this is the time to command the enemy in the name and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ to leave and go where Jesus sends him.
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3. Tearing down strongholds
The third step in gettimng free of the enemy is tearing down strongholds. Remember, a stronghoSatan builds in your heart and mind. God wants us to tear down these structures, as we have seen (2 Corinthians 10:4). Unlike fortresses made by stone and brick, these strongholds can’t be destroyed by the weapons of the flesh.
What undermines and destroys a lie? The truth! Jesus said it is truth that sets us free (John 8:32), but it is only when truth is believed and acted upon that does the job.
Another reason we need to identify and tear down strongholds is because Satan is a deceiver (Revelation 12:9). That’s one of his major attacks we have to deal with. A deception is when your mind and emotions believe something that isn’t true. Deception may be 90% truth and only 10% lie, but the power of a deception is broken only when we recognize that it is a lie.
Satan is not only a liar and deceiver. He is also “the accuser of the brethren” (Revelation 12:10). This is his other tactic. He will accuse God to me, me to God, and even me to me. He will intrude his thoughts into my mind, and then accuse me for having them.
Our belief systems are shaped by a number of significant forces: family, society, our peers, education, television, and even music we listen to. That is why we as believers have to renew our minds (Romans 12:2) by thinking God’d thoughts. One way we do this is by dwelling on those things that are honest, true, pure, lovely, and of “good report” (Phillippians 4:8). More about this later.
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4. Building towers of truth
When you tear down a satanic stronghold, use the bricks to build towers of truth. This is the fourth step to freedom.
A tower of truth is just what it implies: reprogramming your mind with the truth about yourself, about God, and about Satan and his ways. Then, when the enemy comes with his intruding thoughts – lies, deceptions, and accusations – you can flee to the tower.
Of course, God’s Word is the ultimate source of the truth we need to replace Satan’s strongholds of lies. In the Psalms, King David several times used this idea of a tower to which we can flee (see Psalms 18:1-3).
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5. Taking thoughts captive
For this fifth and final step, we go back to 2 Corinthians 10, a critical passage that teaches us that the mind is the battleground between God and Satan in spiritual warfare.
Verse 5 instructs us to take every thought captive “to the obedience of Christ“. We are to bring our thoughts in line with what Ha desires ans what pleases Him.
Do you know what wrong thoughts look like? That is, would you recognize a wrong thought when you had one? You’d be surprised how many Christians don’t. Or perhaps I should say, you’d be surprised how many Christians think horrible, vile, and even blasphemous thoughts Satan torments them with are actually their thoughts. What can you conclude about yourself if you believe these thoughts are coming from you? You would conclude “I must be a terrible, rotten person. No child of God would think like this. God can’t love me when I have such wicked thoughts.”
Many people struggle with intruding thoughts, often coming so fast they can’t turn off the flow. I ask these people: “Are these terrible thoughts coming from God?”
The inevitable answer is “No, no way!” But they cannot discern whether the thoughts are coming from them or from the enemy. Trying to deal with thoughts when they’re coming fast is exhausting. It’s like a kid in a batting cage trying to hit one houndred balls coming at him evey minute. He’s defenceless.
But Matthew 16:13-23 shows us that our thoughts can come from one of three sources: ourselves, God or Satan. In verse 16, God put His thoughts into Peter’s mind so that Peter spoke out the very mind of God when he confessed Jesus as the Son of God.
The interesting thing is that if Jesus hadn’t told Peter this thought was from God, Peter wouldn’t have known where it came from. He would have assumed it was his thought. But then, in verse 22, Peter rebuked Jesus for talking about the cross. Jesus immediately informed Peter that this thought was from the devil.
Don’t let the enemy set the agenda. When the enemy sends an intruding thought, say “I give no concent to that”, and move on. By the way, God hasn’t left it up to us to decide what kinds of thoughts to shun and what kinds to embrace. Letting our minds dwell on the things described in Phillippians 4:8 will help us discern when the enemy is attackin us with his intruding thoughts.
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Part 3: Messing around in darkness
Nothing can throw an entire family into total distress faster than a teenage son or daughter having serious problems. If you have (or had) teenagers or know someone rearing teenagers, you know excactly what I’m talking about. In the area of the occult, our teens are falling into this trap of the enemy in record numbers. That is one reason it is critical that we understand the power and temptation of the occult.
It’s not exclusively a youth problem, however. Large numbers of adults are flocking to the new kinds of spirituality being offered up today. When you hear a Hollywood celebrity gushing with excitement about the “revival” ofinterest in the spirit world, you can probably hold your applause. Most of it is demonic.
In addressing a group of teens one night on the topic about being wholly committed to Christ, there was a young man who started weeping quietly. When asked what was wrong, he answered nothing. This was obviously not the case, because a a young teen would not let girls see him cry. Finally he admitted that hat he had been deeply involved in Dungeons & Dragons. He said “I didn’t just play Dungeons & Dragons, I was a dungeon master. But last year I destroyed all my books and got rid of my computer disc. Something still isn’t right though.
He confessed his involvement and asked God to take back the ground he had yielded to Satan through this demonic game that involves the use of power and diabolical planning. Whilst praying against the enemy, this young man’s chair was thrown bacwards, his head was thrown back, his eyes rolled back in his head, and he began making gurgling noises. When the enemy was commanded to leave in the name and authority of Christ, everything stopped immediately. The heavyness was gone from his spirit, and he went home free in Christ.
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“HARMLESS” BEGINNINGS
The dangerous thing about occult activity is that it often begins in a seemingly harmless way. It starts with someone messing around. Most teens don’t say “Let us open up to all kinds of weird experinces and satanic influence so we can have horrible nightmares and compulsive thoughts about suicide”. True enough, there are some who deliberately turn thmselves over to Satan, but they are a very small minority.
One way it often starts are with a sleepover party when kids get bored and someone says “Hey, want to have some fun? Let’s go and get the Ouija-board. It’s really neat! You can ask it all kinds of questions, and it answers you”. This sounds pretty harmless to a teenager, so he or she messes around. I also know of cases where adults remember Oija-board predictions made years earlier and live in great fear of their fulfillment.
The first thing we need to do when someone is having demonic problems is to deal with is that person’s possible occult involvement. Most Christians recognize that the occult is real. God’s Word specifically forbids contact with evil spirits and those who practice what we today would call occult activities (see Leviticus 19:31).
There are two main problems that believers can have with occult activities. First, a Christian may have “blind spots” about the occult, often something from his or her past before they became Christians. Secondly, many Christians, especially young people, are being influenced by music and different kinds of games and other entertainment that has to do with the occult. We will look closer at this later.
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REASONS FOR OCCULT INVOLVEMENT
There are basically four reasons why people get involved with the occult:
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Power
One young man was experincing trouble in his life came to get counselling. However, when he learned that he had to give up his occult practices, he was unwilling to do so. The reason he gave was that he would have to give up his “power” and become like “everybody. else”. This is the first reason that people are drawn into occult practices. They want power over their own lives and the lives of others.
Once there was a man who practiced “water witching” or “water divining”. He was usin welding rods to find plastic water pipes underground. That happens to be on our checklist of occult activities, but he got reallt upset when he heard that.
“I don’t see anything wrong with it,” he said. “I can find pipes five feet underground. I just walk, and the riods go down.”
It just happens that I have a friend who is an engineer. He commnted “That is scientifically impossible. Water is not magnetic, and neither are plastic pipes.”
I challenge anyone reading this to go out and try to find water in this way. It is not the water. It is not the rods. It is the man who does the divining. He has a special power.
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Guidance
A second reason for occult involvement is guidance. This is so popular today that you can look in almost any magazine or newspaper and find a telephone number to a psycich hot-line, pay a few pounds, and have your future told. It’s a modern-day application of very ancient practices (Deuteronomy 18.9-14).
Many people have played with a Oija-board and have had frightening or eerie experiences. One was a student who was encouraged by his parents to get counselling. He had begun to exhibit signs of deep depression. When his parents asked him what was wrong, he told them that all he could think about was comitting suicide. For example, he would think of driving his car off a cliff, hitting another car head-on, or run into an embankment. He was unable to get these thoughts to stop.
Coming for counselling, this man began to shake violently and sweat profusely. He was unable to say what was wrong. Wen questioned about it, he said that his suicidal thoughts had started about three months earlier when he had been playing with a Oija-board with a friend. The message he ha got from the board was allways the same, he was going to die that year.
He confessed that his seeking of guidance through this Oija-board was a sin, and he asked God to take back the ground that he had yielded to Satan. In it’s place he had a deeper inner peace. This was a number of years ago, and he has not had a recurrence of this problem.
Some people use Oija-boards for guidance. Millions of others use horoscopes to tell them what to do.
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Healing
Healing is the third reason for occult involvement. We often hear of psychic healers. People all over the world ask for physical healing through occult means.
One mother was told to bring the saliva of her family members on carefully marked slides so that a determination could be made of the vitamins and minerals each family member needed. The woman doing the evaluation asked the mother if she would like to see how it was done. The mother said yes, and went to the back of the store to see how it was done. One of the slides was put under a pendulum, and which immediately swung and pointed to the vitamins that particular familymember needed. The mother made a hasty exit through the door.
That process was demonic. The power that moved the pendulum was not from the scientific world, but from the spirit world. These things take all kinds of forms. I have even been told of a machine that reads a person’s “aura”, the light given off by a person. Based on that reading, a diagnosis is made and the needed medicine is sent to the sick person via radiowaves. If the sick person dies, the machine will know because the aura disappears.
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Protection
The fourth and final reason that people are drawn to the occult is protection. Many people who are messing with the occult believe that the pirits can protect them from harm. There are many eye-opening experiences that can be shared from the Native Americans, and I hope to share some more further along in this study.
The story of the great Indian warrior Geronimo is a fascinating study of otherworldly power. Geronimo was not a chief, but a medicine man. Geronimo belived that his potion made it impossible for him to die from the white soliers’ bullets. Geronimo would charge dead-on into the battle, which freaked out the soldiers fighting him. It was said that Geronimo was shot six times in battle, but he did not die of a bullet. But remember: The issue in occult activities is not that these things work. The issue is; who is making it work?
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THE DANGER OF OCCULT PRACTICES
There is no denying that Satan has power. We can thank God that the enemy’s power is limited and that God is firmly in control. But Satan and his forces have powers nevertheless, and when someone gives himself over to Satan, his power can be meanifested in that person’s life.
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The danger of false spiritualities
A key danger in messing with the occult is that another spiritual power will invade one’s life.
One time, a Dr. Samuelson was telling a true story from his experiences. He always prayed before leaving for the hospital that the Lord would give him wisdom and discernment as he was treating his patiens. One day, the doctor was getting ready to see a woman who had been brought to emergency because she was totally out of touch with reality. As he walked into the room silently praying for wisdom, the woman suddenly sat up, looked straight at him, and said “Stop praying for me!”
That really scared him. How did she know he was praying? She was in such a bad shape that he had to commit her to the pschiatric ward of the hospital.
This woman was probably involved in occult activities. Dr. Samuelson checked up with the psychiatrist for a follow-up report. The psychiatrist – a non-believer – told him she was the worst case he had seen in his ten years as head of the department. The psychiatrist’s assessment was that this woman had trvelled into another dimention and was trapped there by other beings.
This happened on Wednesday, but on Friday she was fine and they released her. When the psychiatrist asked what had happened, she told him that she was a New Age channeler who had been taken over by the spirit she was channeling. When the spirit left her, she returned to “normal”.
The ground Satan gains in a person’s life is not always taken back without a fght. The problem with occult activity is that once you’ve been involved, you can’t just put these things out of your mind. This is why many believers who were heavily into the occult befor they became Christians still struggle, even years after conversion, with the memories and associations of their former lfe.
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The danger of wrong music
I know that many of you will give a heavy sigh at reading this heading and mumble “Here we go again!” The question of what is good or exceptable music will be asked again and again, and it’s easy to cause an argument. I suppose that at the end we need to read Philippians 4:8 where it reads “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoeverthings are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever thingsare of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” Can we honestly say the same thing about the music we listen to?
This is what a young man said who used to be a satanist, a worshipper of Satan, for most of his early years. He was in several covens as a teenager, and they used music to call evil spirits to manifest themselves and empower the worshipers to unspeakable evil. He got saved, but still suffered from the effects of music.
“I am asking God to bring healing from my involvement in satanism and the horrors of those early years in my life. Whenever I hear rock music, whether it’s supposedly Christian or not, my reaction is extreme. I can’t handle it. I don’t care what the words say; as soon as I hear the beat, it takes me back to those services where we called the enemy to empower us to do great evil.”
This young man needed counselling to be able to take his first steps in freedom. The point of his story is that he was influnced for years after he got saved because of the music and his past worship of Satan.
No matter what stand you have on music, you must admit that we are affected by the music we listen to. Supermarkeds play easy listening music because they know it makes us in a good mood and take our time as we walk through the isles. Classical music mostly makes us relaxed. Heavy rock gets us depressed, and so called New Age music make our minds float away on big clouds. And when er hear a song, it may be stuck in our minds for our lives.
One missionary kid said: “Regardless what anyone says, these songs stay with a person for the rest of their lives. I havent listened to ‘666’ in over 5 years, or even seen the record, yet I can still sing half of the songs if I want to. It’s a great trick Satan uses to get my mind off God.”
We know that spirits respond to music. David drove the evil spirit from Saul by playing for him (1 Samuel 16:23). Over the years I have seen how music effects different kinds of people. The use of music in ocult spirit worship is worldwide, and the music used is very simular in it’s beat. Much could be said under this topic, but I will conclude by saying that music is one of the tools that the enemy uses to lure people into the occult, and the effects of this usually stays with them long after their conversion to Christ.
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The danger of fantasy
We have already seen that fantasy games is another open door into the occult – and many Christian people have entered in there! Some years ago, Dungeons & Dragons were very popular with kids. Today, Dungeons & Dragons and other occult simulation games are available as computer games and virtual reality. Colours, depth, HD resolution and full motion video action draw young viewers deeply into the game, leaving strong images that approach reality.
When speaking to a group of young people one time, warning them about the game, a thirteen year old burst out: “I don’t see anything wrong with it. I play it well, and it’s my favourite game. You shouldn’t be saying those things.”
Well, any game that requires you to rape, kill, put curses on people, and quote from the satanic bible isn’t good for any of us to play. I am not saying that every time someone listen to a rock song or play a fantasy game he will be fighting demons. What I am saying is that all of these things open the door to Satan’s influence and give him a tremendous amount of ground on which to build his strongholds.
What many Christian young people consider to be harmless music or games can be powerful tools in the hands of the enemy.
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The danger of occult objects
Before we consider how to break occult bondage, let’s consider a very different way a person can give ground to the enemy in these areas and not even be aware of it: Assosiation with occult objects.
One missionary that had been two years in Taiwan suddenly appeared to have nervous breakdown. He was suffering from debilitating (destructive) fear, insomnia, depression, and a restless spirit. He saw many different counselors and psychologists before he finally got a councelor who was trained in spiritual warfare. He explained that his problems seemed to have started when he travelled around from one idolatrous temple to another, taking pictures.
“I wanted to see firsthand the ways and works of the enemy. This was a very foolish thinh to do , as I unknowingly opened myself up to demonic attack. I assumed that as a tourist , I would be unharmed. The Lord has used the book “The Adversary” by Mark Bubeck, to confirm my suspicions. All of my symptoms were listed as having possible demonic origin.”
Once he realized what was happening, this missionary and his brother prayed and asked God to set him free. He was liberated instantly and began his long road to recovery.
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The danger of curiosity
In this former story, curiosity almost killed the missionary, let alone the cat. We are not to be curious about the things of evil. King David said he would not even take the names of false gods on his lips (Psalm 16:4).
God told the Israel to burn the images of false gods and not take any of the things from pagan lands into their houses, lest they become a curse (Deuteronomy 7:25-26). It’ a very dangerous thingto be an observer of occult thingsor participate in any way in occult practices. But if you go as a rescuer, like missionary Amy Carmichael who went intopagan temples in India to rescue young girls from temple prostitution, you will have God’s protection.
Thuis is why I strongly caution Christians to be careful of what they do and where they go, and what they bring into their homes. One Christian counselor got acall from a teenage son that was a big fan of Stephen King. This boy had a lot of Stephen King books in his house, some his, others from the library.
The parents were not aware of the contentsof the books until their son began having terror attacks. They burned the books he owned, hoping this would stop the attacks. But when they did that, strange things began happening around the house – much as they might happen in a Stephen King novel or movie! Appliances would turn off and on by themselves. They heard knocking on doors when no one was there, and things moved by themselves.
Needless to say, the family was being terrorized by these frightening things. Who wouldn’t be? The boy’s curiosity about evil and the occult had opened him to demonic influence. He was counseled that as a Christian, he had to renounce his involvement in the occult by reading such sinister stories. He did so, and there has been no report of any further problems since.
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The danger of family involvment
I will talk more about the subject of ancestral spirits and the passing on of the iniquities of the father “unto the third and fourth generation” (Numbers 14:18) later. This phenomnon is especially powerful when it comes to the occult. It was clearly seen amongst the Native Americans where a medicine man would discern which one of his children the spirits would have selected to inherit his powers. Everyone in the tribe would know who had these powers.
Some people, it could be twins or anyone else, have the power to communicate telepatically. This could be a strong link between two people. Also the “gift” of fortune-telling and divining, as well as healing and other occult powers, can be passed on from one generation to the next.
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RENOUNCING THE HIDDEN THINGS OF DARKNESS
It should be obvious now that anyone who enters the world of the occult is on Satan’s territory, his ground. If we give ground to Satan when we sin, imagine the hold he has on these who give themselves to occult practices at whatever level.
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1. Renounce Satan’s hold
The steps to freedom for people trapped in the occult are similar to those we use to help those with other problems. The first thing to do is to renounce Satan’s hold ontheir lives. It has to start there if they want to break free.
Point them to to that wonderful passage in Revelation 12 where the people of God overcome Satan by “the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death” (verse 11). What a mavelous picture! Those people testified that they would rather die than compromise with the forces of evil.
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2. Declare your intent
It is vital that the person who renounces the enemy’s work in him or her life. Otherwise, how can we help someone who isn’t sure he wants to take back the ground he’s given to Satan? If you are involved with activitires, or objects, or people that are demonic, you need to declare aloud to Satan your intent to serve Jesus. Make this declaration of intent: “Satan, I don’t want anything more to do with your ways or works in my life. I want to be totally committed to the Lord Jesus Christ!”
For many people with occult problems, this may be the first time they have ever stood against evil. My experience is that when a person does this, he can come under tremendous attack. It’s as if Satan says “So, you want to fight, eh?” When people sincerely repent and renounce the work of Satan in their lives, they initially feel better, but many areas may still need to be worked with.
By the way, the people trapped in occultism aren’t the only ones who need to renounce Satan’s influence. All of us as believers are called to say no to Satan each day and be obedient to Christ. I am not talking about anything extreme here, just a daily committment not to yield to the enemy’s ways or works, but to be faithful to the Lord.
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THREE IMPORTANT REMINDERS
Allow me to make three observations in closing Part 3 of this study:
First, when a person makes a clean break with the occult, he or she usually has som occult paraphernalia (equipment, books, drugs etc.) that should be gotten rid of. If you have such items, destroy these occult materials yourself. I never do it for anybody. The word is: “You bought it, you burn it!”
Second, remember that God never tells us to put away something and then just leave ourselves empty (Matthew 12:43-45). Whenever we remove something, we are to replace it with something. People trapped in the occult need to have that evil influence replaced by the truth of God’s Word.
Third, anyone who has ever had deep occult involvement will tell you: getting into the occult is relatively easy. Getting out, on the other hand, is very traumatic. But it is essential for spiritual health. The result will be freedom and wholeness. None of God’s people has any business messing in this dangerous world. Instead, we can renounce it and find inner peace as a result of obedience to God’s Word.
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Part 4: Looking backward – unforgiveness and bitterness
I am unaware of any survey being conducted to measure the number of Bible-believing Christians who have had experiences with the occult. I hope that the percentage of people in evangelical churches that has had problems with the occult is small.
Maybe you don’t have problems with the occult. Maybe you have tried Oija-board and other things without suffering attacks from the enemy. Good for you! You might be immune in that area, because the enemy doesn’t waste his “fiery darts”.
Jim Logan, whilst working with the Sioux Indians, asked if what we see in western movies with Indians firing huge volleys of arrows at the wagon trains was authentic, one Indian answered: “Are you kidding? Have you ever made an arrow by hand? Every time a Sioux warrior let an arrow fly, he expected to hear an ouch. Every arrow counted.”
So if the occult is no great problem for you, I say Praise the Lord! But the enemy knows where each of us is vulnerable, and that’s the spot he’s aiming for. I will now deal with areas that are major problems for many believers; areas of which God’s people, including parents and children, are giving tremendous ground to the enemy to attack them. The first of these is the area of bitterness and unforgiveness.
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A STORY OF FORGIVENESS
If I had to sum up the message of the Scriptures in one word. it would be forgiveness. The Bible is the story of how God forgives. It begins in Genesis and continues throughout Revelation. Along the way we see God reaching out to people to forgive them.
If forgiveness is one of the central themes of the Bible – perhaps the central theme – where do you suppose the enemy might attack you and me as God’s children? Through unforgiveness. How can I go and tell other men and womenthe good news that they can be forgivenby God when I am harbouring unforgiveness in my own heart? In fact, when unforgiveness and bitterness rule my heart, I am moving backward in my relationships with people and with God, and I am opening myself up to Satan’s attacks.
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Forgiving others
How did Jesus Himself teach us how to pray? One of Hisrequests in His model prayer was “Forgive our debts, as we forgive our debtors” (Matthew 6:12). That is a heavy-duty request, isn’t it? Jesus isn’t talking about forgiveness in regard to salvation here, but the kind of forgivenesswe are to extend to others precisely because we are forgiven people. This is forgiveness that keeps us in proper fellowship with Him.
Hebrews 12:15 speaks powerfully to the dangers of allowing a “root of bitterness” to grow in our hearts. The picture of a plant growing from it’s roots is a pervect illustration of what the writer is saying. If the root is bitter, what can the plant produce but bitterness? You can’t plant an apple tree and expect figs. Notice how wide-ranging the effects of bitterness are. “Many” will be defiled if bitterness is allowed to grow in the hearts of God’s people.
But Christians don’t like to admit they are bitter. What do Christians say? “I’ve been hurt”, or “I have resentments”. I’m not denying the fact that we can be hurt by others. But resentment are bitterness in the crib, just waiting to grow up into full-fledged bitterness. We need to call it by its worst name and see it for what it is.
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Getting it all out
A preacher had a dandelion on his desk. It was a great teaching tool. When he asked people what kind of flower it was, the reply was usually “That’s not a flower, it’s a weed!”
“You are right,” the preacher would reply. “It’s a weed. If I wanted to get rid of the dandelion, how would I do it? By pulling off the petals and throwing them away?”
“No,” the answer would be.
“Could I just mow over them with the lawn mower? Would that take care of my problem?” the preacher would ask.
“No,” would the answer come back.
“Right again,” the preacher stated. “There’s only one way to get rid of a dandelion. Pull it up, roots and all.”
Most people would agree with that preacher. And that is also what we must do to clear bitterness from our lves. We must recognize it is a weed – a sin – and pull it all out. Suppose your doctors gives you the bad news that you have cancer and need surgery. You have the operation, and as you’re coming out of the anesthetic, the doctor walks into the room. What is the first thing you want to know? “Did you get it all?”
“We got most of it.” Is that very comforting? If we don’t get it, roots and all, it will grow up and many will be affected and defiled by it. It’s not just a secret thing wen I harbour wrong feelings in my heart
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Suffering and bitterness
The apostle Peter in his first epistle teaches us much about bitterness that can come from suffering. 1 Peter is a treatise on how to respond to suffering. Clearly Peter has no room for the false gospel that if you become a Christian, everything is going to be wonderful.
That preaching is false. Christians and non-Chritians go through the same life experiences – with one big difference. God’s people don’t have to go though their suffering alone. When Jesus died on the cross, the darkness surrounded Him and He cried out in agony. Jesus went through His darkness all alone so that I don’t have to go through my darness all alone.
But we all suffer. In fact, 1 Peter 4:19 says suffering is God’s will for His people. This is a verse you won’t see hanging on too many decorative wall plaques. But I say this: If our Christianity doesn’t work in suffering, we don’t have much to offer anyone.
All of this is relevant to the big issue of bitterness and unforgiveness because these feelings are usually triggered when we are called to suffer, especially when we have been wrongfully treated by others. In fact, Peter concludes chapter 4 with a discussion of how to respond to suffering that comes when someone treats you unfairly for your devotion to Christ. (See 4:15-19; note also 2:19-24.)
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GETTING RID OF BITTERNESS
Removing bitterness from our lives requires three steps. Each one is vital. A person must take all three steps or the process doesn’t work. Remember, Satan will not let go easily of any ground I have yielded to him through btterness or some other sin.
“For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully.
For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God.
For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:
Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth:
Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously:”
(1 Peter 2:19-23)
Jesus is our example here. Sometimes we suffer unjustly. Other times we reap the consequenes of bad decitions. Our words and actions are improper; we say things we ought not to say, and we do things that we ought not to do. But Jesus never said or did anything wrong. His suffering was wholly unjust. But rather that retaliating and becoming bitter hwen He suffered, He “comitted Himself to Him that judgeth righteously“. Jesus knew that His Father would always do what was right. So He was able to say to God “I commit this to You because I know You will do what is right“. Here is the first step in ridding ourselves of bitterness:
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1. Identify and release
Step one in getting rid of bitterness is to identify those who have hurt you and be willing to release them to God so He can can deal with them (Romans 12:19). Peter says that when we do wrong and bear the suffering for it, there’s no praise in that. But if a person whose conscience is clear before God suffers for something he didn’t do and commits it to the Lord, He can be honoured through it.
There are many examples of people who have been wronged without it being their fault. Once, a baseball player in USA was sent down from the Major League to the Minor league simply because he was a Christian and the coach didn’t like him. That is not fair, I hear you say. True, but if it happened to you, would you allow it to cause bitterness in your heart?
This first step is so important, because we’ll see a little later that Jesus Himself said bitterness gives ground to the enemy. Learning how to deal with bitterness is also vital because suffering isn’t an option for us. It is our calling as Christians to suffe (1 Peter 2:21a).
But if you can’t trust God when things are bad, you open yourself up to bitterness. Dealing with those who have hurt or wronged you is God’s job, not yours (Romans 12:19). When you try to take that responsibility upon yourself, you free God of any responsibility to act on yourn behalf.
“Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;
That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.“
(1 Peter 4:1-2)
How do we arm ourselves with the same mind as Christ in suffering? By not retaliating but committing it to Go. This is a real struggle for many of the people who seek counseling. The issue is, can we really trust God when we suffer? I can tell you, this has been a struggle for many, myself included.
Bitterness is making God accountable to me. It is also an insult to His sovereignty. In effect, you are saying: “God, I don’t like what You are doing, and I want You to know it. You didn’t ask for my permission or check with me aheah of time, and I’m angry!”
In the last part of the verse 1, Peter also says that suffering is part of God’s purifying process to help us get rid of sin. Sometimes we pray “Lord, I want to be godly“, then we shove away all the tools by which He wants to purify us. Often when a tough time comes, the first thing we say is “Why me?” (see verse 12).
When I think of fiery trials, I think of the prophet Daniel’s three friends (Daniel 3). When they were thrown into the furnace, what burned? Just the ropes that bound them! That’s all! God wants to burn the ropes that have us in bondage.
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2. Forgive from the heart
Step two in getting rid of bitterness is found in Matthew 18:21-22:
“Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?
Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.“
If I am going to be free of bitterness, I must be willing to forgive people from the heart. When Peter asked at what point he could stop forgiving someone, Jesus answered by calling for unlimited forgiveness.
Every time a person hurts me, I must forgive. Most of us have heard Jesus’ word so often we miss the significance of what He’s saying. Imagine what unlimited forgiveness means, for example, to a wife who has an abusive husband. Is there a point at which she can stop forgiving him? She may have to seperate herself from him for her own protection, but she still can – and should – forgive him.
Notice that after Jesus’ call for endless forgiveness in Matthew 18, He told a story (verses 23-34) about forgiveness. The numbers in the story are staggering: this servant owed the king about 10 million pounds, but was forgiven. A second servant owed the first servant a few pounds in comparison, but the forgiven servant refused to forgive him. As a result, he was turned over to the “tormentors” by the king (verse 34). Jesus didn’t want us to miss the application of this amazing story of unforgiveness, so He gave it to us Himself (verse 35). If we hold resentments and unforgiveness in our hearts against anyone, the same thing will happen to us. We will give the nemy ground to torment us.
We also find this same idea in the church age. In 1 Corinthians 5:1-5, Paul writes about a sin in the church that was so bad it was offensive even to the local unbelievers. What was this man’s judgement? To be delivered unto Satan (verse 5).
But the man at Corinth repented, and the church didn’t know what to do (2 Corinthians 2:1-11). “Forgive him,” Paul says (verse 7), and then adds his own forgiveness (verse 10). Do this, he says, “lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices” (verse 11). Bitterness ans a refusal to forgive others are Satan’s devices that open a person to demonic attacks and damage the body of Christ, and Paul knew that.
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3. Live with the consequences
The third and final step in releasing bitterness is a willingness to live with the ongoing consequences of the offender’s actions. This is the most difficult step of all if it applies. Yes, it is essensial if we are going to escape the consequences of a bitter spirit and honour God by obeying Him. The key to be willing to live with the consequences is to maintain vital contact with the Holy Spirit. Ephesians 4:30-32 says this is essential if we want to be successful in spiritual warfare. We’re told not to grieve the Holy Spirit, and then in the very next phrase we are told “Let all bitterness… be put away from you” (verse 31). Anger is mentioned too. Many bitter people also struggle with anger.
Notice that we are to replace all of the sinful acts in verse 31 with forgiveness. And not just forgiveness. We are to forgive the way Jesus forgave us – completely. He forgave us an eternal debt. All we are asked to do is forgive temporal debts.
The only thing that sets people free is the truth and their committment to it. If a person is willing, he or she must pray that God will reveal the people they have not forgiven in that person’s heart. People must deal with the pain and hurt before they are trully free. Are people usually bitter for no reason? No, something has happened. So, when someone says “I forgive so-and-so” they should be asked “What do you forgive them for?” The person being counselled must face this question.
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CHOOSING TO FORGIVE
Forgiveness is a choice, not a feeling. When it comes to forgiving someone who has offended us, we must act in obedience, even when the feelings aren’t there. Ephesians 4:32 makes it clear that God is not asking me to feel something, but to do something. When God told Moses to stretch out his staff over the Red Sea, he could have boubted, even being resentful that God had put him in this predicament – the approaching Egyptin army pinning him against the sea and his people, unarmed, tired from the journey, some of them complaining. Moses could have complained and refused.
Instead, he did as God commanded, because it was God who asked and because Moses knew who God is. Faith demands a warrant, a grounds for belief. A warrant is a legal docment on which an action is based. God’s Word, His promise to act, was the warrant for Moses’ faith. We know he had faith because of his actions, That’s the way it is with forgiveness. We can respond with forgiveness even when our feelings say no, for God’s Word commands us and promises His blessings to those who do forgive.
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Part 5: It’s always right to get right
Accodring to 1 Timothy 1:19 there are two things you need to keep from being shipwrecked in the Christian life: faith and a good conscience.
Originally, the apostle Paul made the request of Timothy, so that this young follower might “war a good warfare” (verse 18). If we look briefly at the setting for these words, we can understand why a clear conscience is so important in our spiritual lives. Paul told Timothy to be on hi spiritual guard. Why? Because Timothy was serving the Lord in a hotbed of pagan religion and demon activity, the great city of Ephesus. Even the church at Ephesus was being infiltrated by false teachings.
If Timothy was going to fight a good spiritual war, he needed first to hold on to “faith“, which in this setting probably refers to the faith, the truth of the gospel, as supposed to false teachings like those Paul refers to earlier in the chapter.
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THE IMPORTANCE OF A CLEAR CONSCIENCE
Timothy also needed a good conscience to fight a good spiritual war. Thge word conscience takes takes in a lot of territory in the New Testament, nut I want us to focus on one aspect that I believe is critical to victory over the enemy: the need to keep our conscience clear. Paul himself said he worked hard to keep his conscience clear of any offense toward God and towards others (Acts 24:16).
How important is a good conscience? Paul listed it in 1 Timothy 1:5 as one essential for effective ministry. That, plus the discipline inflicted on Hymenaeus and Alexander for jettisoning their consciences along with their faith (verse 20), suggests it’s extremely important.
Paul is saying, in effect, thar one of the several errors these men were propagating was that it’s not important for believers to maintain a clear conscienc. For this they were turned over to demons in a step drastic church discipline designed to bring about their repentance.
Remember that these men were believers. You don’t have to turn unbelievers over to Satan. They’re already his. I can’t see any believer saying that faith isn’t important. But I can see believers saying that clearing your conscience isn’t important, because it’s a very difficult thing to do.
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The other side of the coin
Why is it so difficult to do? First, though we may be willing to forgive a person who hurts us if he or she comes to us asking our forgiveness and seeking to make things right, many times that never happens. The other person inflicts a wound on us and never does anything about it. Second, we may hurt someone else and never deal with it ourselves. Maintaining a clear conscience demands that we give attention to each of these situations. This is the other side of the coin of bitterness and unforgiveness, discussed in tha last part of this study.
Yes, though the offense is against us, and the offender does not confess the wrong or ask forgiveness, we may forgive the person – and perhaps ask the person for forgiveness as well if we have created hurt in our response.
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Setting others free
That is the other wonderful thing that happens when we clear our conscience. When we seek forgiveness for the hurt we have caused others, we free them up from the bitterness they are holding toward us. By allowing others the opportunity to release their bitterness, we may even be helping to remove an excuse from their lives for the enemy to torment them.
That is why it is good to ask people you try to help to make a listof the people who have soething against them. Until they have done this, they don’t realy have a clear conscience. I’m not talking about endless introspction or airing all their dirty laundry in public. That’s not the idea at all. There are things in all our lives that need to be kept among the people involved. What happened is not everyone else’s business.
The guideline to use is that the scope of the forgiveness need to be no greater than the scope of the offense. If we share things about ourselves with people who are not part of the problem or the solution, we may live to regret it.
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How to clear up old offences
I will try to be very careful here, because people who need counselling often carry extreely heavy baggage from the past. It’s like a time bomb hidden in a suitcas on an airplane. If that thing goes off, it’s going to hurt a lot of innocent people. We’re only dealing here with people with whom we haven’t made things right.
Even in these cases, though, there are times when it’s the better part of wisdom to leave some things unsaid. In other words, we don’t have a right to spill out all of our confessions if it’s going to wreak needless pain and havoc in someone else’s life. If there are people from the past that we need to forgive, God is big enough to bring them back into our lives.
Let me give an example. A young man, let’s call him Tony, wanted to clear his conscience of two episodes of illicit sex that he had earlier in his life. He was now in church and married to a godly woman, and his wife knew that he had lived an immoral past that troubled him, but not the details. Tony had asked the Lord’s forgiveness, but asked the Lord for the possibility of asking the women hehad seen earlier in his life for forgiveness.
Whe Tony went out to eat with his wife, one of the women he had fornicated with came into the restaurant sitting at the table next to them. Tony’s wife went up to the salad bar, and so did the woman’s partner. The woman came over to Tony and said that her husband did not know about their history, and would he please not look at her, talk to her or give her noticable attention. Tony then was able to put their history behind them and have a clear conscience, knowing that this perticular woman had moved on with her life. Tony had been willing to make it right, but did not find it necessary to share their past with anybody else.
Some times you will find that the Lord will arange it so that we will be able to put matters right. It is important to ask forgiveness from God and your fellow man. Only when you have done what you can to make matters right will you have a clear conscience.
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Letting go of the past
If we don’t keep our conscience clear, the enemy gains an advantage over us. That seems clear in the judgement inflicted on Hymeneaus and Alexander in 1 Timothy 1:19-20. A clear cnscience before God is abolutely essential for us Christians. In fact, Paul wrote that the “end of the commandment” – that is, the purpose of ministry or the purpose of our teaching – is love that flows “out of a pure heart, and of a good conscince, and of faith unfeigned” (1 Timothy 1:5).
Do you want God’s love to flow out of you to others? Then a clear conscience is one of the three essentials Paul mentions. I see an interesting progression here. A pure heart looks at the present, a clear conscience at the past, and a genuine faith at the future. If your heart is pure and the past is taken care of, you can look into he future with assurance.
What would you think if you got into the car with me and I started driving down a busy street looking only in the rear view mirror? After you swallowed the lump in your throat, you’d probably say “Lars, you’re looking the wrong way!”
And you would be right. I can’t go forward looking backward, and neither can you. But that is where Satan wants us to look. Paul wrote that we should let go of the past (Philippians 3:13). You don’t have to pretend it didn’t happen. Just let go.
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THE PROBLEM OF GUILT
Whenever I talk about having a clear conscience and not allowing the enemy to torment us with the past, this question usually comes up: “What do you do when you have terrible memories you just can’t handle?”
It is an excellent question. All of us suffer from the consequences of our sin, even after we’re cleansed of that sin. One of sin’s consequences is the scar left by painful memories. Another name for this is guilt. Satan loves to remind us of the things we’ve done so he can keep us in bondage to guilt. “Remember that awful thing you did? How can God use a person like you?”
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Try to forget it?
So we have these memories of things we can’t deny doing. But what do we usually tell people who are struggling with the guilt of past sins? Forget it, don’t think about it.
Have you ever tried not to think about something? It doesn’t work, does it? We saw above that putting the past behind you doesn’t mean trying to forget or pretend it never happened.
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Thank God for the memory
One way to deal with the guilt is asking “Who was in charge of your life when you made that wrong decision?” The answer should be “I was!” Then say: “Then instead of trying to forget or supress the memory of that sin, do this. Whenever the enemy brings it to mind for the purpose of accusing you, face it and say ‘God, thank You for allowing me to remember what happens when I run my life. Right now, I want to rededicate my life to the Lord Jesus Christ. I want Him to sit on the throne of my life, because I know that when He runs my lfe, I won’t do those kind of things.‘”
If guilt is a problem for you, I urge you to follow that simple formula. It’s not a magic formula, nor is it automatic – but it can be very freeing. The enemy comes with these intruding thoughts to drive a wedge between you and God, to keep you from rededicating your life to God. Many have said that after a period of doing this, the accusing thoughts have stopped.
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Be like Paul
By the way, this is not a brand new idea. I believe this was what Paul did when Satan reminded him of his dark past.
And Paul did have a past. Think about the memories he had to deal with. He spent his time before his conversion rounding up Christians and having them put to death (Acts 22:4). I can imagine him going somewhere to preach and having some believer say “Oh yes, I know who you are. You are the one responsible for my grandmother’s death.”
Paul never forgot what he did to the church, but look at how he handled those memories. We have at least three examples in his writings, in 1 Corinthians 15:9, Ephesians 3:8, and 1 Timothy 1:15-15. Turn to each of those texts and you will see that while Paul frankly acknowledged his past actions, he turns those painful memories into occations of praise and thanksgiving to God for the abundant grace He bestowed on Paul. We would do well to imitate the apostle’s example.
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THE ISSUE OF REBELLION
Now I’m moving into another key area where we can yield a tremendous amount of ground to Satan and give him a huge advantage over us if we’re not walking in obedience to the Lord. The immediate aftermath of King Saul’s disobedience is described in 1 Samuel 15:22-23. The prophet Samuel reproved Saul for his serious act of disobedience and told him “Rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft.”
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Rebellion and witchcraft
That’s a remarkable statement. God, speaking through His prophet Samuel, is telling us that if a person goes into a rebellion, He regards it as similar to the sin of Witchcraft, or “divination” as some translations put it. But how does rebellion resemble witchcratf? And what implications does this truth ha ve for us today as we seek to walk in the victory Christ has secured for us over Satan and his ways?
First, it’s clear that you can’t practice witchcraft without opening yourself up totally to the cntrol of Satan and his demons. In fact, witchcraft brings a person in direct contact with the demonic world without any kind of protection in between. Those who have been in that horrible practice will tell you that when yo venture into Satan’s kingdom, you are at his mercy. There’s nothing to protect you from his attacks.
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Losing God’s protection
So how does an awful sin like witchcraft compare to the sin of rebellion? In this way: When we rebel against God’s constituted authority, we step out from under His protection and leave ourselves wide open to the attacks of the enem. If a fort was being attacked by indians, it would be safest to be on the inside of the walls. But rebellion puts us on the outside where we are completely vulnerable. In other words, what we are dealing with here is the issue of God’s authority. Another word for authority is protection. God has established authority structures which provide us with spiritual protection when we are in proper submission to them.
One of thes God-ordained authority structures is the church. That is why, as we saw earlier, church discipline is the process of removing a person from the protection of the church and turning him or her over to demons to be tormented and brought to repentance. Family and government are two mere structures which are also designed by God to give us spiritual protection. We should submit to their authority in our lives.
Biblical concepts like authority, submission, and obedience are not popular today. That’s more an indictment of our age than a legitimate criticism of Scripture. But we should not question the importance of authoruty and obedience. Consider the family. An authority structure there is clarely God’s plan – the way He designed the family to work. We cannot dodge, deny, or ignore His teaching on authority without paying the price.
Make no mistake about it. A family where the children are living in obedient submission to their parents; where the wife helps her husband, sharing her input and wisdom with him and then supporting him in his dicisions; and where the husband in turn living in obedient submission to God is not some outdated arrangement. It is God’s plan, and He expects us to line up under His structure of authority.
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Heading straight down
The consequences for disregarding or disobeying authority are so sure and so devestating that we cannot afford them any longer in our own families or in the family of God. He will not tolerate rebellion. What happens when you or I rebel? When I rebel, I move out from under God’s protection. Now what’s between me and the forces of evil? Nothing! Demonic spirits have direct access to me. This is how rebellion is like wichcraft, because in witchcraft a person attempts to make direct contact with spirits.
If you’ve been on one of those really wild rollercoasters, you know you don’t have to ask when it’s time to scream. Everything is going along fine for a few moments, then suddenly the car takes a plunge and you’re on your way down.
That’s how it is with rebellion. Have you ever seen a rebel draw close to God? No, he moves away from God. A boy rebels against his parents, and for a time nothing seems to happen. Then he hits that certain point, and from there it’s downhill all the way. That rebel ia in for a frightening ride, and many people encounter real tragedies in their lives because of their rebellion.
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Foolishness, disobedience and rebellion
Rebellion is serious and needs to be treated seriously. But at times I’va had parents confuse rebellion with foolishness. Some times parents say “My child is rebellious.” Then, after a talk to thei son or daughter, I can find no rebellion at all. That’s why I think it’s so helpful with parents distinguishing between foolishness, disobedience, and rebellion. They are not the same.
Suppose a neighbour boy comes over to your house, picks up your son’s ball, and says “Here, catch!” So the kids starts playing ball in the house, and they break a lamp. That’s foolishness. You may need to apply some discipline for the breaking of the lamp, but the root of the problem was not rebellion.
Suppose the same kid comes over the next day and says “Let’s play catch.” Your son says “Oh no. My dad says we can’t play ball in the livingroom.” “Come on, just once,” the other kid says. So your son throws the ball and it breaks a lamp. That’s disobedience. You told him not to do it, and he did it.
Now suppose the same neighbour kid shows up again the third day. Your son refuses to play ball in the livingroom because his dad said so. Only this time the other boy replies “Your dad has no right to tell you what to do. That’s rebellion. It’s challenging the right of an authority to be there. Who gave fathers their authority? God did, so when children challenge a dad’s authority they are really challenging God.
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God’s authority figures
Romans 13:1-4 deals with the authority God has established.
“Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.
Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.
For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same:
For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.“
Paul says the authority figures are God’s ministers. Of course, he’s talking about the office her, and not necessarily the person. What about a person who is in an authority structure that is dangerous? He or her needs to be removed and placed under another authority.
We can’t let a child, for example, be continually sexually abused by someone in authority. In that case we try to move the child into a different authority stucture, but not take her out from under authority altogether. Why? Because authority is protection, and we need as much spiritual protection as possible. (And, of course, the abuser should be put into custody of legal authorities.)
1 Timothy 2:1-4 tells us to pray for all those in authority. The only thing that will make a difference in the leadership of our country is prayer. Instead of running our leaders down, we need to run the up!
Ephesians 6:1-3 is vital truth for children and teenagers. For years I had basically skipped over the first half of verse 3, which says children should obey and be respectful so that “it may be well with them.” You know what that means? If children and teens are not obeying their parents, it is God’s responsibility to see that things don’t go well for them. God honours His Word!
If you are a parent, you can help your children in growing up by teaching them obedience and respect. Remember that there are two sides to a thing. Obedience is an action, honour is an attitude. Honour means respect, and children need to be disciplined for being disrespectful. The child who snarls, stomps off, and slams the door behind him when he’s asked to clean up his room needs to be brought back for an attitude tune-up. Why? Because where there’s dishonour, there will soon be disobedience. We always tried to discipline our kids at the attitude and character stage before it came to the action stage.
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THE SAD RESULT OF REBELLION
Unfortunately, not all testemonies about rebellion and authority end happily. Several years ago, a 16 year old came to get counselling. I will call him Stuart. He was deeply into homosexuality and was practicing Satanism. He describes his attitudes and actions to his father and God:
“At the age of 13, I began listening to both Christian and secular rock and roll and heavy metal music. These avenues allowed Satan to blind my spiritual sight so that I quickly became rebellious. I came to the point where I hated my dad and all he stood for. In fact, I hated him so much that I wanted to kill him. I also killed God in my mind. I blamed Him for the demonic attacks on me and for the upheaval I was causing my family. I had many battles with my dad, trying to usurp his authority over our home. Those years contained much turmoil and grief for all of us. Just before my 16th birthday, seeing that my dad was relinquishing no authority… I left home to become my own boss.”
Stuart was deeply rebellious, but it was obvious that he din’t want to do anything about it. He left the counselling in rebellion and plunged more deeply into homosexuality and other perversions – and within less than two years he had contracted HIV.
God finally broke through to him, and he urrendered his life to Christ. He’s now back home living under his father’s authority and they’re studying the Word together. However, this young man still suffers from the consequences of his rebellion. HIV continues to threaten his health.
Stuart got in touch with his counsellor and had a very touchin conversation with him. The timing of his call was of God because the counsellour had to counsel another 16 year ol who was making the same decision to live a homosexual lifestyle. Stuart was asked if he would tell his story to this teenager, and he agreed.
The call was made for the counsellors office, and he handed to the teenager the receiver and left so that they could talk privately. The counsellor was so excited because he knew that Stuart’s testimony would turn this young teen around. As his godly parents sat in the lobby weeping, the kid listened to Stuart’s testimony how he never had thought he would contract HIV and now lived with the virus. He got that virus because he wanted to be his own boss.
They talked for over an hour, yet when the counsellor went back in, the teenager said “That has no relevance to me.” He hung up the phone, and he’s still living in rebellion and perversion today.
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Part 6: What’s so terrible about pride?
So many times when people are under influence of the enemy, there’s usually a major turning point. The neon light goes on and begins to flash the shiny word: pride.
They realize that pride has become the source of the problem, the base from which Satan has been able to launch his attacks. Even though the counseling sessions have not yet dealt directly with the enemy’s influence in the person’s life, the problem of pride becomes obious. That’s how important the issue of pride is.
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THE ORIGINAL SIN
Some times we forget that pride was the original sin in God’s universe. Before Adam and Eve sinned in the graden of Eden, the angel Lucifer, who stood in the very presence of God, allowed his heart to swell with pride at his exalted position. His pride led him into foolish rebellion as he tried to seize hold of the very throne of God. Is it any wonder then that the one who became Satan would use pride as one of his most effective weapons? As we begin to see how ride opens us up to influence, we must look at pride’s origin – among the angels in heaven itself!
Pride originated in heaven. We can se that by looking at Ezekiel 28:11-19. Bible scolors debate whether this passage, and in Isaiah 14 as well, refer to Satan or to human rulers. But notice that Ezekiel changes his reference from “prince” (28:2) to “king” (28:12), using both different Hebrew words and issuing different indictments (accusations) in the two verses. The prince of verses 2-10 is judged because he, though a mere man, tried to be like God. But the exalted language of verses 11-19 cannot be ascribed to a mere human. Verses 11-15 describe the beauty of Satan before his fall. As the prince of angels, he was covered with a robe of precious stones, and light came from him.
The revelation of Satan’s transgression is found in verse 17: “Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty.” The prophet Isaiah makes the picture even clearer when he declares “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, som of the morning” (14:12). Isaiah then recounts Satan’s five “I will” statements showing this dark angel’s prideful rebellion against God.
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A SIN OF THE HEART
When counselling people about pride, it is good to ask the question “Who was Lucifer talking to when he said those things?” The inevitable answer is that he was talking to God.
But read it again. Satan made his pride statements not to God, not even out of loud necessity, but in his heart (verse 13). God judged Satan for the thoughts of his heart, because as a person thinks in his heart, “so is he” (Proverbs 23:7).
The Bible says this repeatedly, by the way. If you want to do a fascinating Bible study, get a Bible concordance and look up every reference to what we say in our hearts. You’ll be amazed at what you find.
I am convicted that real and lasting change will never be made in people’s lives until they change the way they think- Remember, the strongholds the enemy builds in our lives are constructed on lies. These lies are repeated so often that we come to believe and act on them. That’s why part of spiritual warfare is tearing down these strongholds.
Satan wanted to be like God in control, but not in character. He wanted to rule. He wanted to run his own life. Satan’s rebellion was a creature-centered movement, just like New Age is today.
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THE WORST SIN
Do you see why pride is so repugnant to God?
Do you see why it’s the worst sin anyone can commit? It’s like waving a fist of rebellion in the face of the Ruler of the universe.
When you attempt to run your own life, when you say “God, You rule heaven, I’ll rule me,” you are most like Satan.
It is vital that we see the sin of pride for what it is and what it does. A quick run-through of Proverbs reveals God’s attitude and response to pride. If we begin at Proverbs 6:16-17, we find this devastating pronouncement: of the seven sins God hates most, pride is at the top.
“The fear of the Lord is to hate evil,” according to Proverbs 8:13. And in Proverbs 6:17 the very first evil listed is pride: the haughty eyes reflect both arrogance and pride. In fact, this verse can be translated to mean that God hates pride and arrogance as much as an evil lifestyle.
Why is that? What is so terrible about pride? It is setting you and me up as the final authorities in our lives, deciding for ourselves what’s right and wrong for us. That’s taking God’s place in our lives, and He hates it.
“Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord“(Proverbs 16:5). Abomination is one of the hardest and strongest words in the Old Testament. An abomination is something detestable and repulsive. One of the most famous Proverbs on pride is in 16:18: “Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.”
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DEALING WITH PRIDE
How does this happen? How can pride enter a person’s life and bring such destruction? And how do we deal with this sin? Thankfully, the dynamics of how this works are explained in the book of James, which is the Proverbs of the New Testament. I guarantee you that if you can get hold of the truth we’re about to consider, it can turn your life around.
For an example of humility, which is the opposite of pride, consider the author of the book of James. As the half-brother of the Lord Jesus Christ, he could have touted his relationship in his letter to Christians. When you and I know somebody important, sometimes we’re tempted to say just that. By the way, did you know I had lunch with the king of Norway one day? I did. I ate lunch in Oslo one day and the king was somewhere in town eating lunch too, I’m sure.
But in the opening words of the book of James, the apostle wrote with humility. He did not start up “James, the half-brother of Jesus. You’d better listen to what I’m saying.” Instead, James identified himself simply as a servant of Christ. He realized his purpose was to serve, not to win praise or attention. So we know that when James gets ready to talk about pride and humility we need to listen, because he obviously possessed humility.
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“More grace”
The antidote to pride is recognizing God’s grace. Knowing His gift to us, we realize that in ourselves we have little to offer. Instead, we respond in humility to His graciousness. Interestingly the apostle wrote that God gives “more grace” (4:6). Isn’t that great? Which do you want, grace or “more grace“? The problem, is, if God is going to give more of it, what is grace? I find that many Christians don’t really know what it is.
Many of us accept that definition of grace as the “unmerited favour of God”. But His love and mercy are unmerited too. I think we need a definition of grace that takes us beyond that. We can’t find salvation without grace. We need grace for spiritual warfare. We need grace for spiritual victory. But what is grace?
If you are a follower of Christ, God is working in your life right now, according to Philippians 1:6. Remember, as Christians you and I are people in progress. God is actively working in two ways, according to Philippians 2:13. He is working with us “both (1) to will and (2) to do of His good pleasure“. This means God is giving me both the desire and the power to please Him. That’s what grace is.
So when God promises to give us more grace (James 4:6), He is offering more desire and more power than what we need. Then do we need to fear the enemy and his assaults?
Not at all. As we’ll see later, when we’re in God’s will He builds a hedge of protection around us. The only way the enemy can get at us with his temptations is with God’s permission. And God gives us “more grace” to respond to those temptations victoriously.
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The reason for defeat
If all this power is available for us to live victorious Christian lives, you may ask, “Why are there so many losers on the winning team? Why is the church full of so many defeated Christians? Why are so many youth groups plagued by the same sins that mark unbelieving young people?” Many rightly ask those questions, and they may even wonder, though they wouldn’t ask it out loud, Has God failed us?
What’s the problem? Pride. When we let pride come into our lives, God withholds spiritual power. And as we read in Proverbs, after pride comes a fall. The enemy brings in a destructive temptation which is too strong for us to handle, and without God’s power we fall.
Look at the second half of James 4:6. “Wherefore he saith ‘God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble’.” This is the reverse of Romans 8:31, which says “If God be for us, who can be against us?”
That’s a great verse, but think about what the opposite of it must mean. If God is resisting you, does it make any difference who is for you? When I see the word resist, I picture a big arm coming out of heaven, keeping me from fellowship. And sin does that.
When Satan succombed to pride, God shoved him out of heaven. When I allow pride in my life, God soves me away, as it were. He says “I’ll take My power off of your life.” What will happen then? I’ll fall.
That’s why as long as we allow pride in our lives, it’s all over spiritually for us. It’s just a matter of time until we fall. Pride precedes a fall. But God gives grace to the humble person, the one who says “Lord, without your empowering, I can’t do it. If you don’t give me your strength for today, I’m not going to make it. Lord, I need you.”
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Submitting to God
A key part in dealing with pride is found in this divine order: “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7). It is not hard to understand this command with a promise. The key is in the first three letters of the word submit: “Sub” means to rank under.
We submit to God, and from the place of submission to Him we are ready to resist. Submission is the first thing we have to do to be successful in spiritual warfare. That usually means a battle with pride right off, because it’s not natural for human beings to relinquish control of their lives to anyone else. It can only be done supernaturally.
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Resisting Satan
Notice that we are not read to resist Satan’s approach until we submit to God. People say all the time “Oh, I’ve tried to resist Satan, but it doesn’t work.” That’s just the problem. We cannot “work” it ourselves. We have to work it on God’s terms. If we’re prideful, guess what? The devil isn’t going anywhere.
We have to understand that we don’t have a better idea. We’ve got to get our lives under what God says. Then we’ll have the benefit of what He promises.
A good question to ask yourselves is, Am I willing to submit to God in every area of my life, to rank myself under His authority? If not, you’ll experience constant defeat in your attempts to resist Satan. It’s vital that you see this. It could turn the whole battle for you. We all need to make a list of ant area where we have trouble submitting to God, and then release these areas to Him.
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Following God’s plan
I’m not suggesting that resisting Satan or submitting to God is always easy. I admit it – sometimes, it’s hard for me to say no to myself and my will and yes to God. Why is it so difficult? Because my ways are not God’s ways (see Isaiah 55:8).
Sometimes I say to myself, and sometimes to God, “I know your ways are not like mine. I wish they were.” You see, I know that God’s ways are different from my ways – and obviously a whole lot better and wiser. But t is still a struggle for me to get under God’s authority. Sometimes, God wants me to do things that I don’t think I want to do.
We should humble ourselves and thank God for the experiences He sends our way. Many times I have gotten together with other pastors, missionaries, or other co-workers and prayed “Lord, we don’t know what to do. We want to help this person, but we don’t know how to do it. Show us what to do.”
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Who’s in charge?
So we come back again to the one great battle we all have to fight: who is going to be the final authority in my life? Am I going to hold on to the throne of my heart in stubborn pride, or am I going to let the Lord Jesus be Lord of my life?
You know, it’s amazing how closely authority and power are linked in Scripture. You’re either under God’s authority, living in submission to Him, or you’re resisting Him. If you are resisting God in any area of your life, you will not have the strength you need to resist the enemy.
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MY WAY OR GOD’S WAY
If pride is such a lethal problem for us, maybe we should ask how we can get rid of it. I think you know the answer to that. We cannot. We can never simply rid ourselves of pride once and for all – we never will as long as we are in this body. Pride is allowing self to sit on the throne of my life instead of Christ. It’s building life around my will instead of God’s will. But we can deal with pride, as Jesus tells us in Luke 9:23. The answer is that you and I must deny self. Whenever someone says to me “I’m just trying to find myself,” my reply is, “When you find it, crucify it!”
Jesus said we must take up our cross daily and follow Him. I see the cross here in a very general way of God’s will and purpose for my life. It’s a decision we need to make every day of our lives. As the apostle Paul did, we must act in light of the truth that when we are crucified with Christ, it is Christ who lives in us and empowers us, and we live “by faith in the Son of God, who loved us and gave Himself for us” (Galatians 2:20).
We should all write Luke 9:23 on a card and put it on our batroom mirror or somewhere we can see it every day and be reminded of the decision we have to make. It makes for a healthy, balanced life, one in which Christ is in control and we submit to His leadership. There is no room for Satan in such a life.
Jesus goes on to say in Luke 9:24, “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it“. There are only two ways: your way, or God’s way. You’ve got to decide which it will be. I pray that you will learn to deal with pride and let go.
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Rev. Lars Haukeland - studies 