Not a stranger to the realms of the Spirit and the reality of the demonic, I have been growing since the first days of my conversion in understanding the ways of the enemy of our souls.
....Venice Beach 1993 Fuller Seminary spiritual survey.....My wife and I ventured into Venice Beach to interview spiritualists, palm readers etc... We had already known about or met many in other journeys down the Venice Board walk over the summer.
We had some great talks with people who were fully convinced they had a familiar spirit.
Familiar Spirit = "The main purpose of familiars is to serve the witch or young witch, providing protection for him/her as they come into their new powers.[3] (Wikipedia - familiar spirit) A presence that helped them know things about people, events, etc that they relied on and communicated with. I was fully convinced as well and marveled at the depth they were willing to share with us about these "helpers' they expected to hear from in their readings.
Not a surprise.
"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms."
Eph 6:12
Eph 6:12
Not a stranger to the realms of the Spirit and the reality of the demonic, I have been growing since the first days of my conversion in understanding the ways of the enemy of our souls.
It appears possible. But I cannot figure out how.
People divorce Jesus from the realms of the Spirit,
encounters with the demonic,
from the whole cosmic struggle of his Kingdom
entering in and overcoming darkness.
I recently read a blog that mentioned the absence in the bible of the "Jezebel Spirit".
That was a good point. The author mentioned the flesh as the main element in the destructive ways of humanity. I find it interesting that the world rarely speaks of evil as a reality but for the most part everyone acknowledges that Hitler was "evil". The bible speak to three key points of evil. The World, The Flesh and The Devil. Jesus defeated them all.
Yes the Bible does not directly call....
1) The destruction of the worship of Yahweh in the hearts of Israel (so that, of a whole nation, only 7000 continue in true worship and bow to the Father) the Devil directly.
2) The attempted murder and destruction of the prophetic voices throughout the land (including Elijah, and the systematic replacement of the divine voices with prophets of Baal) the Devil directly. (OT prophets spoke the very words of God to Israel in an attempt to win them back) - Jeremiah 1:17-19
17 “Get yourself ready!
Stand up and say to them whatever I command you.
Do not be terrified by them, or I will terrify you before them.
18 Today I have made you a fortified city,
an iron pillar and a bronze wall
to stand against the whole land—
against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests
and the people of the land.
19 They will fight against you
but will not overcome you,
for I am with you and will rescue you,”
declares the Lord.
Stand up and say to them whatever I command you.
Do not be terrified by them, or I will terrify you before them.
18 Today I have made you a fortified city,
an iron pillar and a bronze wall
to stand against the whole land—
against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests
and the people of the land.
19 They will fight against you
but will not overcome you,
for I am with you and will rescue you,”
declares the Lord.
3) The replacement of true worship, prescribed by the Father, with Baal and Ashe -rah in the one nation chosen to reflect and display his glory on earth.
4) The wiping out of the memory in the hearts of Israel of the holiness of God, righteousness and truth and purity in life and witness. The worship of Baal is a sexual rite. Sex is the blessing language of covenant commitment. Sex in covenant expresses deep wells of intimacy and love. Sex as worship, as in pornography and everything living in the tribe of the barren heart, is adultery of first love and the Kingdom first. It is ultimate distortion and deception. It is soul enslavement. Blinding the eyes of the heart and stopping up the ears. It is a captivity of immense proportions.
5)Paul, in the N.T. era mentions Idol worship as an offering to demons. I Cor 10:20
19What do I mean then?
That a thing sacrificed to idols is anything,
or that an idol is anything?
20No, but I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice,
they sacrifice to demons and not to God;
and I do not want you to become sharers in demons.
21You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons;
you cannot partake of the table of the Lord
and the table of demons.…
That a thing sacrificed to idols is anything,
or that an idol is anything?
20No, but I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice,
they sacrifice to demons and not to God;
and I do not want you to become sharers in demons.
21You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons;
you cannot partake of the table of the Lord
and the table of demons.…
6) Yet, there are demons mentioned by name in the Bible including, "legion"(Mark 5:9) and "Python"(Acts 16:16). Jesus talks with Legion and frees people enslaved by demons. Paul encounters python and whole societies ruled by their ways and captivity.
1 Kings 18:21-40
King James Version (KJV)
21 And Elijah came unto all the people, and said,
How long halt ye between two opinions?
if the Lord be God, follow him:
but if Baal, then follow him.
And the people answered him not a word.
How long halt ye between two opinions?
if the Lord be God, follow him:
but if Baal, then follow him.
And the people answered him not a word.
22 Then said Elijah unto the people,
I, even I only, remain a prophet of the Lord;
but Baal's prophets are four hundred and fifty men.
I, even I only, remain a prophet of the Lord;
but Baal's prophets are four hundred and fifty men.
It seems to me that in order to hold the view that the demonic is no longer active, that the evil affairs of humanity and the world are simply the struggle of the "flesh" is to:
1)Divorce ourselves from the whole person of Jesus Christ and his Apostles who encountered and delivered the world of their time from demonic beings. Beings/angels who speak, capture and possess people. The Kingdom present breaks every captivity. And Jesus gave us authority over ALL demonic angels.
2)To live a duality in terms of the Scriptures; Angels, demons and spiritual realms are all revealed countless times and are at the core of understanding the very nature and reality of the coming Kingdom of our Lord. We get a half Jesus. Good teacher, smart person, no realms of the Father and certainly no supernatural.
There are three things we fight as the Kingdom advances, the world, the flesh, and the Devil. If we allow the Spirit to lead us we will encounter the captivity and bondage around us. We will encounter demons in America. As discernment grows, we will dislodge captivity and see people delivered just like Jesus, the Apostles, those they laid hands on all the way up to today. If we allow the Spirit to lead us we will encounter the captivity and bondage around us. That is when the opportunity for freedom and the ministry arises. When the freedom of the Lord Jesus through the Spirit in us is expressed.
The world gets set free in this process. The "presence carriers" of the Kingdom, through following Jesus by the Spirit day to day, will encounter strongholds, demonic presence, and captivity. In the grace and power of the King you and I can bring freedom.
The world is under the tyranny of the Prince of Power of the Air (I always loved this - the air = nothing really). It always intrigues me that Christians would spend much time at all arguing that the demonic powers are not real, present and as active as in any time in human history.
But our mission is not to go hunt them down.
We are to seek the Kingdom first, First Love, Be a Temple and dwelling of God where Christ dwells by the Spirit.
There are all kinds of levels of involvement in freeing people, cities, nations from the grips of the powers. The key is Kingdom first, First LOVE, First prayer and worship, being a temple and honoring the advance of the Kingdom in our own lives.
Have you cast a demon out of a person or ever seen anything like what regularly occurred with Jesus in the New testament?
Has the world, as fundamentally presented in the Scripture, changed since the time of Jesus?
The great restoration needed today is to be restored to being the dwelling place of God. This is one of the stated goals of the Father. To make us a building, a temple of his presence. Each believer. Full of First LOVE life and following Jesus by the leading of the Holy Spirit. Together a witness of the Kingdom in the world. Shining love and family in the knowledge of Jesus Christ and his perfect work.
This is the easy yoke and light burden. When we encounter barriers to the advance of the Kingdom we allow the flowing rivers of living water to break out and spread around us. We change the atmosphere with the Kingdom grace and love.
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Thank you for reading. Really appreciate it.
Go after Him with a childlike First Love fire.
Love in the Lord,
Brother Jeff
Jeff Reynolds. Sr. Leader
Capstone Christian Fellowship
jreynolds@mycaptone.org
jeff@jeffreynoldsministries.com
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