Types of Demonic Harassment

Though you cannot see it with your natural eyes, in the spiritual realm, a conflict between light and darkness is taking place—angels against demons, Heaven against Hell, truth against deception. Your mind is the battlefield.

“Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.” - 1 Peter 5:8 (NLT)

While demons cannot dwell in believers, they can harass them. This isn’t a reason to be scared but rather prepared.

Here are 3 ways demonic beings attack the minds of Christians:

#1 - Fear

Demons aim to drag your thoughts to dwell on the worst-case scenario in every scenario. They torment your mind by suggesting what can go wrong. They even use irrational fears to keep you from enjoying the life God intended for you.

#2 - Accusation

Satan is the accuser, Christ is the advocate. Demons harass your mind by bombarding you with thoughts that bring forth guilt and shame from past mistakes. Sometimes, demons will even influence others to hold your past over you.

#3 - Temptation

If sin were a product, demons would be salesmen. While demons don’t do the sinning for you, they do try to persuade you to disobey God, as did the serpent in the garden. While tempting you, they minimize the sin, and once you give in, they magnify it. So then temptation and accusation can work together.

How can we be free? 

Fear, accusation, and temptation can make you feel like you’re going crazy, but the solution is a simple one. 

Spiritual warfare is simply the fight to believe God’s truth over the enemy’s lie. Deception leads to thoughts and feelings, which ultimately produce actions that become habits.

Instead of just dealing with the results of deception, we must be made aware of the roots of deception.

All forms of demonic harassment are rooted in deception. The enemy cannot defeat you unless He’s deceived you. Fear is based on the lie that God isn’t in control. Accusation is based on the lie that God isn’t forgiving. Temptation is based on the lie that God isn’t enough.

Once you know the truth, you’ll be free. The light of truth is what does away with the darkness of demonic harassment. 

For more on this topic, you can watch my teaching, “If You're Seeing These Signs, You Need Deep Deliverance,” on YouTube by clicking here.

ENJOY DAVID'S WEEKLY BLOG? CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP TO RECEIVE IT VIA EMAIL.

How to Win in Spiritual Warfare

The enemy has been defeated. Christ reigns victoriously. So why then are we commanded in Scripture to be equipped for spiritual battles?

“A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm.“ - Ephesians 6:10-13 (NLT)

The truth of the matter is that the Devil is real, and so are demons. They are not biblical metaphors for evil. They are living, sentient beings that exist in an other-worldly dimension. They have been around for eons, understand human nature, and are highly trained spiritual assassins. 

Now, by no means should the believer live in a paranoid state or constantly worry about being overcome by demonic powers. But the Scripture clearly teaches that we are to be engaged in spiritual warfare.

But since Christ has already won the victory, how does spiritual warfare look for the believer? Mind you, demonic beings affect believers differently than they do unbelievers. 

So here is the simplest definition of spiritual warfare that I can give to you as it applies to the believer: the fight to believe God’s truths over the enemies’ lies. 

Think about what armor we are given - the shield of faith, the sword of the spirit, the belt of truth. By faith, we guard ourselves against lies. The sword of the spirit, which is the word of God, destroys deception. The belt of truth keeps us prepared to resist deception. 

At least for the believer, spiritual warfare is primarily about avoiding deception. By getting you to believe lies, the enemy can affect your thinking. By affecting your thinking, the enemy can affect your emotions. By affecting your emotions, the enemy can affect your actions.

In no way can the enemy own the believer, but the believer can embrace lies that limit faith. There’s much to know about spiritual warfare, but this is the primary way to win: know the Word of God (the sword of the Spirit) and believe that Word by faith (shield of faith).

For the believer, knowing and believing the truth is the way to win. For when you know the truth, you are free.

ENJOY DAVID'S WEEKLY BLOG? CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP TO RECEIVE IT VIA EMAIL.

Bold As Lions

Sin produces cowards. If you lack boldness in your life, consider the possibility that the lack of boldness may have come about as a result of a lack of righteousness. Here’s what the Bible says.

The wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the righteous are bold as a lion. (Proverbs 28:1, KJV)

When someone is living righteously, they have nothing to fear. Despite what superstitious preaching might try to make you think, the believer who walks in holiness before God does not need to live in paranoia, constantly wondering if some demon has gained influence over them. Despite what culture might teach, the believer who lives in righteousness before the Lord doesn’t need to be afraid of people. 

What can demons of darkness do to the one who walks in the light? What can mortal man do to the one who has gained the favor of Eternity Himself? 

When you live righteously, demons can’t deceive you and people can’t pressure you. Devils can’t handle you, and culture can’t cancel you.

When you live righteously, free of guilt, you can go before God in bold confidence.

21 Dear friends, if we don’t feel guilty, we can come to God with bold confidence. 22 And we will receive from him whatever we ask because we obey him and do the things that please him. (1 John 3:21-22, NLT)

When you stand righteously, you stand boldly before God. When you stand boldly before God, you live confidently before everyone and everything else.

Truly, the believer has only one concern: obedience toward God. Righteous living liberates the believer from all ungodly fear. So if there is any sin in your life, take this as a sign from God. Repent before the Lord of all sin, and allow the Holy Spirit to make you holy. All believers can be truly free from the immorality, the ungodliness of cowardice.

ENJOY DAVID'S WEEKLY BLOG? CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP TO RECEIVE IT VIA EMAIL.

Remnant Rising

Let he who has eyes to see, see. Let he who has ears to hear, hear. In this hour, God is cleansing His house. 

For the time has come for judgment, and it must begin with God’s household. And if judgment begins with us, what terrible fate awaits those who have never obeyed God’s Good News? (1 Peter 4:17)

A distinct line is being drawn. While many are conforming to culture, others are standing strong for what is true. A remnant is rising.

24 Here is another story Jesus told: “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a farmer who planted good seed in his field. 25 But that night as the workers slept, his enemy came and planted weeds among the wheat, then slipped away. 26 When the crop began to grow and produce grain, the weeds also grew. 27 “The farmer’s workers went to him and said, ‘Sir, the field where you planted that good seed is full of weeds! Where did they come from?’ (Matthew 13:24-27)

Indeed, from where did all the weeds come? From where have deception and division come? From where have demonic doctrines come? The enemy has attempted to sow these things in the Church. There are those who look like us, talk like us, and pretend to believe the Word of God like us. But we can rejoice and rest in the fact that God himself will take care of it:

28 “‘An enemy has done this!’ the farmer exclaimed. “‘Should we pull out the weeds?’ they asked. 29 “‘No,’ he replied, ‘you’ll uproot the wheat if you do. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest. Then I will tell the harvesters to sort out the weeds, tie them into bundles, and burn them, and to put the wheat in the barn.’” (Matthew 13:28-29)

Ultimately, it’s God Who will judge, God Who will separate the wheat from the weeds. We need to only wait and see. And while the final judgment comes at the end of all things, there are certainly seasons - even now - when God will clean house. 

What we’re seeing today is a separating, a revealing of truth. Truly, God is cleansing His Church. It is being revealed who truly believes the authority of the Word over the opinions of the world. It is being revealed who esteems Christ over culture. Take note. Sadly, many of the churches bowing to the systems of the world today could very well be the ones bowing to the system of the anti-Christ when it has fully come. 

For now, we just watch God do what He does. Who bows to culture? Who participates with the world’s systems at the cost of obedience to God’s Word? Who softens the message? Who winks at sin? God will bring separation.

This prophetic message is both a warning and an encouragement. Get ready. God is cleansing His house.

ENJOY DAVID'S WEEKLY BLOG? CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP TO RECEIVE IT VIA EMAIL.

The Holy Spirit is God

People often ask me questions like, “Can I pray to the Holy Spirit? Can I worship the Holy Spirit? 

And, while I understand the Biblical truths concerning prayer and worship, while I understand that we are taught to pray to the Father in the name of Jesus, I want to address this idea that the Holy Spirit is somehow less divine than the Father and the Son.

No believer doubts the deity of the Father. No true believer doubts the deity of the Son - otherwise, they would not be a genuine believer. If there is any doubt raised concerning divinity, that doubt seems to most often be aimed at the Holy Spirit. 

So I want to show you, as simply and concisely as possible, that the Bible most certainly reveals the Holy Spirit as God.

Firstly, the Holy Spirit is omnipresent. 

I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence! (Psalm 139:7, NLT)

Secondly, we see that the Holy Spirit is omnipotent. In Luke’s gospel, the power of the Holy Spirit is the very same as the power of the most high.

The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God. (Luke 1:35, NLT)

Thirdly, we see that the Holy Spirit is omniscient. He searches the mind of God and knows the mind of God. Therefore, He knows everything God knows. Thus, He is all knowing.

10 But it was to us that God revealed these things by his Spirit. For his Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets. 11 No one can know a person’s thoughts except that person’s own spirit, and no one can know God’s thoughts except God’s own Spirit. 12 And we have received God’s Spirit (not the world’s spirit), so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us. (1 Corinthians 2:10-12, NLT)

Finally, the Holy Spirit is eternal.

Just think how much more the blood of Christ will purify our consciences from sinful deeds so that we can worship the living God. For by the power of the eternal Spirit, Christ offered himself to God as a perfect sacrifice for our sins. (Hebrews 9:14, NLT)

Who else but God is omnipresent, omnipotent, omniscient, and eternal? Clearly, the Holy Spirit is God.

ENJOY DAVID'S WEEKLY BLOG? CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP TO RECEIVE IT VIA EMAIL.

No Other Way

“Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.'” - John 14:6

Either we believe Jesus’ claim to exclusivity or we don’t. Christ Himself has told us that there is no other way to God.

I am concerned especially for my generation when it comes to boldness. It seems that my fellow millennials have been raised in a culture that champions tolerance over truth. It’s almost as if we are to believe that if something is offensive that it is, therefore, untrue. Many would rather avoid offense than deception. But nothing is untrue just because it is offensive, and nothing is true just because it is offensive. An idea’s ability to agitate or offend has no effect on its truthfulness.

Disagreement is not hate. The belief in truth is not bigotry. Exclusive claims are not intolerant.

This culture, with hypocrisy, will applaud the individual’s journey to find and live in their “own truth” yet disdain the one who says they’ve found it. It seems to me that the spirit of the age celebrates the wandering journey to find truth while condemning anyone who has actually reached the destination.

Why?

It’s because, so long as man is wandering, he is never settled. And so long as he is never settled, he never finds truth. And as long as he hasn’t found truth, he is free to do as he wills.

But you, fellow believer, must not fall for such nonsense. Be bold. Be sold. Be convinced of the truth that Christ proclaimed. He is the only way to Heaven, to God, to Truth. All others are false. That’s the truth.

ENJOY DAVID'S WEEKLY BLOG? CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP TO RECEIVE IT VIA EMAIL.