In Enemy Territory
There is balance that we need to know about the spiritual realm. On one hand, we are to know that Satan exist and we have authority over all powers of the enemy because Jesus broke all their powers when he died on the cross. On the other hand, focussing on God and knowing who we are in Christ is more important than "Satan busting". Oh, I must also add after hearing Rev. Marvin's sermon that it is not like equal powers of good vs evil for Satan is only a fallen angel and his powers is nothing compared to our almighty God.
But not to use our authority and not knowing how the devil works on our minds is deadly.
I never had to think about how the devil works thinking that the devil cannot touch Christians. They definitely cannot touch Christians who know who they are in Christ (basically all that the bible says we are and the divine powers given to equip us all etc) but since I had hardly read the bible and forgotten much and living pretty the way I wanted, we were definitely under attack. And because we influence others around us and the people in our church, then basically even our church was/ is under attack too.
Even the chief priest of voodoo who became a Christian and met Ps Vernon Falls said "If only Christians knew how powerful the word of God is!" meaning to know His word is more powerful and more damaging to the devil than studying how to bind and break the devil.
So, I was disturbed because for the umpteenth time, someone came up to our family again to tell us he saw "something" around my house. This time it was a chinese "astro" man. He had a long conversation with my mum outside the house after the repairs. He said he saw something and he didn't like what he saw. But the saddest part was that my mum asked him for a solution to rid of the evil spirit! I used to get spooked by the comments of evil spirits around and in my home. But it showed my weakness of not knowing what God says about me. I did not know who I am in God or more like not practiced it. I had not sunk God's words into my spirit man. I did not believe that God who is in me is greater than the evil spirits around me and that is why I was afraid. The man's solution was charity work and more light in the garden. He told my mum to get rid of all the tall plants in our garden. As I write, the tall plants in my garden are being chopped up as the man said evil spirits like to hide in them. (Interestingly, we have been having lots of difficulty with our garden lights. No matter what we do, our garden lights would get spoiled after a heavy rain. We need lights specialist!)
We are not alone. Evil spirits are everywhere but they cannot touch us who believe in Jesus. A medium who turned christian told me that when a christian walks past him, he can feel power leave him immediately.
Believing in Jesus with none of God's words in us is to walk with no protection. That night, I read out to my mum line by line of what Psalm 91 says. These are God's promises to us. I have memorised this entire psalm and sometimes, say parts of it when I can't sleep.
1He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
Will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
2I will say to the LORD, "My refuge and my fortress
My God, in whom I trust!"
3For it is He who delivers you from the snare of the trapper
And from the deadly pestilence.
4He will cover you with His pinions,
And under His wings you may seek refuge;
His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark.
5You will not be afraid of the terror by night,
Or of the arrow that flies by day;
6Of the pestilence that stalks in darkness,
Or of the destruction that lays waste at noon.
7A thousand may fall at your side
And ten thousand at your right hand,
But it shall not approach you.
(isn't that powerful, our neighbours or people around us might be dropping like flies because of plagues, pestilence or arrows shot by evil spirits/ devil but it shall not touch us!)
8You will only look on with your eyes
And see the recompense of the wicked.
9For you have made the LORD, my refuge,
Even the Most High, your dwelling place.
10No evil will befall you,
Nor will any plague come near your tent.
(again another beautiful promise that no evil or plague will befall us!)
11For He will give His angels charge concerning you,
To guard you in all your ways.
12They will bear you up in their hands,
That you do not strike your foot against a stone.
(my mum insists we pray for thousands of angels to aid us but here it is in God's words. He will! He will! We just need to keep saying it out and praying God's words. I read in psalm 68 that there are thousands upon thousands of angels - psalm 68:17 "the chariots of God are tens of thousands and thousands of thousands...")
13You will tread upon the lion and cobra,
The young lion and the serpent you will trample down.
(Here is the authority given to us as His children. We will and can trample on the devil and his minions)
14"Because he has loved Me, therefore I will deliver him;
I will set him securely on high, because he has known My name.
15"He will call upon Me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble;
I will rescue him and honor him.
16"With a long life I will satisfy him
And let him see My salvation."
Henry and I prayed in agreement to take back ownership of our house and used our authority to bind and break the devil. We praised God for indeed He is greater than the evil spirits around us. We need not be afraid of the devil because we are overcomers. Please read the bible and believe all He says about us and hold them dearly in our hearts and pray God's words often so that when the attack comes, we are equipped and after doing everything He calls us to do, we can just stand firm!
Revelations 12:10-12
10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:
“Now have come the salvation and the power
and the kingdom of our God,
and the authority of his Messiah.
For the accuser of our brothers and sisters,
who accuses them before our God day and night,
has been hurled down.
11 They triumphed over him
by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony;
they did not love their lives so much
as to shrink from death.
12 Therefore rejoice, you heavens
and you who dwell in them!
But woe to the earth and the sea,
because the devil has gone down to you!
He is filled with fury,
because he knows that his time is short.”
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Hi Liz,
ReplyDeleteConcerning powers and authority, I believed it is best to understand them this way: Firstly, as you rightly pointed out, there is no equal powers to begin with; God always has had the greater power; and yes, Satan was just the fallen chief angel. Secondly, powers and authority are different. One can have powers but no authority. What Jesus did on the Cross effectively wrestled back the authority that Satan had over Man. Man lost that authority in the Garden of Eden, to Satan. With understanding of the subtle difference between powers and authority, rather than saying Jesus broke all the powers of Satan, we should say Jesus wrestled back the authority or more loosely, broke Satan’s authority over Man. Satan’s power was not removed from him, only the authority was removed from him. His destruction was not yet completed; He was defeated but his powers were not yet removed and he was not destroyed yet. Satan has no real authority over a believer, unless the believer re-gives it over to Satan, but there is also such a thing as apparent authority which Satan can wield over believers who still thought that Satan still has the authority (even though Satan has none). If you are not sure what I mean by apparent authority, let me know.
Understanding powers and authority is vital, for with correct understanding we can then understand how Satan could still create lots of havoc in the lives of both non-believers and believers. Leaving non-believers aside, for believers, if we think at no time, Satan can touch us, we better think again. When we are fully aligned with God we are a perfect vessel with no crack whatsoever in us. Satan is no gentleman, if he can find even a pinhole crack, if he wants to, he will drill a gigantic hole into us. Satan CAN touch believers, and therefore, I believe it is incorrect teaching to say that a believer cannot be demonized and at the worst end, demon-possessed. Knowing how to deal with Satan, from the Word of God, is paramount, for it helps to fend off needless “drillings” of Satan against you. Metaphorically speaking, if you know how to re-seal everything when Satan starts to drill, you rather his effort futile, and he will put his attention to easier targets. Now, this is different from saying that Satan cannot touch believers.
It is not uncommon for those who had engaged in spiritist practices to be more sensitive to things of the spiritual realm. Therefore, comments of them knowing a “presence” (they may call it power) with Christians are because Christians are with the Holy Spirit indwelling them. Secondarily, some believers carry strong (even stronger) anointing with them. Some of these spiritist practitioners are hocus pocus (fake) but some of them are able to “see” into the spiritual realm, and what they see are not entirely incorrect, except they talk only of that which is to their advantage. Do spirits (evil spirits) hide in trees? Yes, they do. But the point is that we just need to have the correct understanding of how to deal with Satan and his minions so that these spirits do not find us desirable for them to attack. And when we know how to deal with them, we are not afraid, and that is what believers should know.
As far as garden lights are concerned, it is common, and the explanation is simply because of insulation problems; electricity and water just do not go together, and it accounts for problems happening in raining days. The rodents are the culprits most of the time, they bit off the insulations, and water gets to the wires or contacts – there is nothing to do with the spirits. I am not saying that there is no correlation at all between darkness (physical absence of light) and evils, but we should not be paranoid with some lack of physical light. When evil spirits want to strike, even in broad daylight, they can strike you. I am NOT afraid of walking into a dark room, but I want to be concerned not to leave pinholes here and there, or what some called footholds, for the devils to work on.
Anthony Chia
Sorry,
ReplyDeleteThe 2nd last line of the 2nd para above:
"Metaphorically speaking, if you know how to re-seal everything when Satan starts to drill, you rather his effort futile, and he will put his attention to easier targets."
should read as (spelling):
Metaphorically speaking, if you know how to re-seal everything when Satan starts to drill, you RENDER his effort futile, and he will put his attention to easier targets.
Thanks Anthony! This is really so good n u have made it a lot clearer to me ESP powers and authority coz i know it is not finished yet too. About the lights, I still can't believe there is no way round it. I am sure people have garden lights in this tropical country that survive our tropical rainstorms. I. Just wish someone would recommend a good light specialist. Ok I will start to google now. Thanks Anthony. :)
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