Our Spiritual Battle…

In this post, I’d like to talk about demons and our spiritual battle.  First, I realize it’s difficult for some people to grasp the concept of ‘demons’.   I think the majority of Christians would say they believe demons are real, but with them being Christians, they would say that demons aren’t really something they have to worry about.  In other words, I know some Christians who believe that demons are real but they only can wreak havoc in ‘less Christian’ places, or on non-Christian people.  There is absolutely zero scripture to back that up, so it is utterly amazing to me why they would think this way.  All I can say is that this way of thinking is wrong and yet another lie from devil.  Revelations tells us:

“And there was a war in Heaven.  Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back.  But he was not strong enough and they lost their place in Heaven.  The great dragon was hurled down – that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray.  He was hurled to the earth and his angels with him.”  – Revelations 12:7-9 (NIV)

It says, quite clearly, he ‘leads the whole world astray.’  The language used here indicates that he is actively leading the whole world astray RIGHT NOW.  It does not say ‘he lead’, as in past tense, but that ‘he leads’, meaning he continues to do it.  And, more importantly, ‘he leads the WHOLE WORLD astray’, not just some people but ALL people, and not just in some places, but in ALL places!

One more thing I’d like to say before we continue.  Revelations 12:4 is where it mentions that the dragons tail swept one-third of the stars from the sky and flung them to the earth.  Some people say that means that one-third of Heaven fell, that one-third of the angels fell with Lucifer to the earth.  But that scripture comes BEFORE it speaks of the war in Heaven and BEFORE the dragon and his angels were hurled down to earth.  In actuality, we have NO IDEA how many angels fell with Lucifer.  I don’t believe it was one-third because the scripture does NOT back that up.  I don’t really know what the significance was to the devil sweeping his big tail in the sky and flinging one-third of the stars to the earth.  I cannot say what that means exactly.  But what I DO KNOW is that Revelations 12:9 clearly says ‘he was hurled down and his angels with him’.  Meaning it was God or Michael and his Angels who did the hurling, and that act came AFTER the tail-sweeping by the serpent.

So what we DO know is that the devil IS on earth and his angels (demons) are with him.  How many doesn’t really matter.  It could be 100 or 1,000,000 and it still wouldn’t matter.  Their entire existence now is to deceive mankind and lead us ALL astray.  They don’t sleep;  they don’t eat;  they don’t watch television;  they don’t all clock out and have demon get-togethers in their off time because there is none.  They don’t do anything except look for inroads into our lives for the purpose of deceiving us and leading us astray….leading us AWAY FROM THE LORD.  Simple as that.

The other thing that people need to be aware of concerning demons is that they are NOT the big, scary monsters horror movies have all deceived us into believing they are.  If a demon could enter your body and take over anytime he wanted, they would do it ALL the time!  But demons cannot take over our bodies and make us wreak havoc AGAINST OUR WILL.  They MUST have our permission!  They can’t do anything that you don’t allow them to do through SIN or UNBELIEF.  They HATE mankind.  If they could pick up a rock and crush your skull, they would.  If they could set fire to the entire world and destroy it today, they would.  They don’t do it because they don’t have the power to do it.  They have ONLY the power that mankind gives them.  When you sin, you open doors to the demons which allows them into your life and thus, they are able to get to you easier.  Keeping those doors closed by worshipping and praising God are the simplest ways to keep evil from gaining a foothold in your life!  But if you commit sins everyday, you’re going to have your work cut out for you and will suffer losses until sin is removed from your life.

The same way that God uses people, the devil does as well.  In the Old Testament, when God needed to deliver a message, he sent an angel.  It was apparently pretty common for angels to be out and about delivering messages.  But after Jesus’ death and resurrection, we now live under a new covenant with God.  So now if someone on earth is needed to help you, God sends a person.  The same way that God uses people to help one another, so does the devil.  If the devil wants to get to you, he MUST use a person.  He doesn’t have the power, so instead, he will deceive a person or people to carry out his evil plan.  Now, don’t get me wrong.  I’m NOT saying that all these people are ‘possessed’ in the way the horror movies have explained it to you.  (I will speak about true possession in a future post.)  But if you are NOT living a godly life, if you are NOT born-again, if you have no relationship with our Lord and Savior, etc…..then you are open to any and every evil work the devil will have you do.   The devil will deceive you into believing all kinds of evil things are actually good, until you no longer know the difference.  And while the devil WILL USE you, that does not absolve you of your responsibility.  You cannot blame the devil.  You have only yourself to blame for nothing following the WORD of GOD.

I just cannot stress enough that the demons have zero power on earth.  The only power they have is what WE give them.  If they could do all those things we see them do in horror movies, they’d be doing them every second of every day.  The war they wage, and the only weapon they have, is DECEPTION.  That means that the war takes place IN YOUR MIND.  Deception takes place on an intellectual level.  If someone lies to you and you believe the lie, you’ve been deceived.  They didn’t hit you or do anything else PHYSICAL to you.  What they did to you took place in your mind.  The devil’s ONLY weapon is deception.  But when you know the TRUTH and are no longer being deceived, the truth will set you free.

“And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”  John 8:32 (NIV)

I once thought I knew so much about life.  I have had so many varying experiences in my lifetime and gained so much knowledge, I really thought I had it all figured out.  Well, until I became born-again.  Looking back, I am filled with awe of just how much I was deceived.  And to this day, I am still learning and finding new things… finding the truth.  If you want the truth too, all you have to do is ASK GOD for WISDOM and REVELATION KNOWLEDGE about whatever is on your mind.  I quoted this passage and asked Him and He answered me immediately.  You have to just ask and He will answer you too!

“Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.”  Matthew 7:7  (KJB)

In closing, please remember that we are all in a SPIRITUAL BATTLE every day of our lives!  I will have more examples of this in future posts.  Keep praying, commune with God, and pray in tongues (and if you don’t have tongues yet, ASK HIM for them!)   And most important, in my opinion, PRAISE and WORSHIP HIM OFTEN!  Protect yourself and your family by keeping strife and sin out of your lives.   These are inroads for the devil and I promise you… you want as few roads in as you can get! PRAISE and WORSHIP are wonderful ways to keep the devil away.  The devil cannot be in the presence of praise to God.  I prefer singing and even made up my own song that I can sing over and over, while in the car or housecleaning or whatever.  But no matter how you praise, if you are praising God, I promise, the devil won’t be anywhere near you!

“Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”  James 4:7  (KJB)