This was posted on a Facebook page with no known author.

The Editors of Word & Work post this with hesitation,

but it is a subject that perhaps has been in your thoughts.

 

     I’ve been trying to find the words for this for days, since I saw a recent documentary about the reality of demonic spirits and the need for deliverance in our faith communities to help people that are suffering. And, let’s be honest. The world is in a world of hurt. Much of it is demonic. There, I said it. You can call me crazy, but can I ask you to turn around and look at the world around you? Now, who’s crazy?!

     It’s a tough subject to approach, because people just ignore or don’t believe that the craziness around us has a spiritual root. Many are afraid of what that would look like if we try to expose it and cast it out. Especially churches and Christians. It could get messy, God forbid. God is a God of order, they say. Absolutely, He is. But, we may be out of order to disregard what is going on around us. We may be out of order to ignore the power of God within us and the authority He has given us over principalities and powers of this evil world.      We best be afraid of how much messier it is going to get if we don’t face reality. Do we care enough about people to want them to be free? I often wonder, because a large amount of people are not free. They are bound by chains of oppression. Where does that come from? 

     I’ve seen far too many people with wrecked lives to doubt the existence of a sinister root. Sure, people have sin and disobedience to God in their lives, but many also give a place in their life to the schemes of the enemy. Don’t tell me you haven’t seen the madness of oppression in a person or group of people and considered that they may not have gotten there on their own. They may have assistance in their brand of craziness. There is often more at play. And, we tend to look the other way because it’s just too bizarre for us to handle.

     We can pray, but if we aren’t praying with the belief and authority God has given believers, it won’t have the chain-breaking effects we desire. They will stay bound. There is evidence of that all around us. People have free will, yes. But, many are freely allowing demonic spirits to take up a place and space in their lives. They are held strongly by the deceit of these strongholds. Spirits are at work and are wreaking havoc. Again, just look around. The level of crazy we have reached in society is not normal. 

     Most of us have no problem with angels. We love our guardian angels and ministering spirits. Those are the good ones. (And none of them are dead relatives, by the way. Human spirits do not vacate human bodies upon death and turn into angel spirits. They remain human spirits in heaven or elsewhere. Just as we were created as humans, angels were created by God. The two are not the same. I’ve been wanting to say that for a long time, because too many of us think a person dies and becomes an angel. They don’t).

     But, there is another truth about angels that we shy away from. One third of the angels in heaven were cast out by God because, when Lucifer rebelled against God, he recruited a bunch of angels to do likewise. Where do you think those spirits are now? They are roaming the earth looking for a human home to oppress. I know it sounds a bit crazy. But demons and angels are all around us. If we believe in the good ones, why can’t we recognize the bad ones? Maybe it’s because Satan and demons operate in deceit and darkness.      We can blame any number of people and things for the ratcheted up craziness in this world, but I’ve come to believe that people are oppressed by spirits that animate their behaviors and thinking. That influence is causing more and more craziness in our world today. 

     Get honest. Look around you. There is an entirely different kind of crazy going on and it’s time we considered casting it out in Jesus Name. I realize legalists will pop blood vessels over this, because it’s just too messy…..so let’s just continue to ignore it. We cannot control the messiness…it would be embarrassing. Well, Satan and sin and demons are messy. Life is messy. I, for one, am tired of it. Are we going to continue to put up with the mess of the world or are we going to consider what it truly takes to help people be delivered of their oppression?

     It’s a bold position, I know. Don’t ever take your eyes and praise off of Jesus, but take authority over the devil and his demons through the power of the Holy Spirit within you when they attack you and those you love. Nothing is crazier to me than sitting by passively and just watching society be destroyed by demons that have made it clear that they want to steal and destroy the peace and goodness that God offers us. They attack minds, bodies, behaviors. They want to kill us. They often succeed and we continue to sit by passively and allow it to happen because we are embarrassed to call them out.

     With the love and power of God, we don’t have to accept defeat and craziness in this world. We just have to recognize the battle and suit up. We are in the fight, whether we like it or not and whether we believe it or not. Let’s live in the victory that God provides.

 

Amen!