Witchcraft is a combination of control, manipulation and domination and indeed it is demonic, though not always of the pointy hat, broom riding, spell casting variety that has been popularized. Unfortunately this non-pointy hat version of demonic witchcraft is fairly widespread including in the USA and is common even in many churches. Many such church goers thus need deliverance from these spirits (demons) of control, manipulation and domination, though most do not realize it and would never consent to it. They are blind to the reality that this unholy behavior is in no way Christ-like and often believe themselves to be wonderful christians. When such christians stop abiding in the Lord Jesus as branches to the Vine which they long since have stopped doing, they open themselves up to such delusions. This topic of witchcraft in the church is something Derek Prince among others have spoken on. I am currently working on helping a witch get set free from 3000 miles away, but it is having to be done the long slow way since she is not able to see that she is a witch and that she needs to repent from a long list of unrepentant and continuing unholiness in her life. Think proverbs 31 wife... and now imagine the exact opposite. Those around her including her husband and immediate family can clearly see that something is seriously wrong, but she is completely blind to it, believing herself even to be a wonderful christian woman. Recognition and true repentence would make this a simple and instantaneous deliverance, but the absence of both due to the curses of spiritual blindedness and delusion make it much more difficult... but there have been minor breakthroughs and eventually this battle will be won : ). It is true that the demonic realm has their own version of tongues and it is also for certain that some people speak out in gibberish from their own flesh genuinely believing it to be holy tongues and even believing it to be the evidence that they have been baptized in the Holy Spirit... but it cant be denied that there is also such a thing as true holy tongues which is an actual gift of the Holy Spirit, fully biblical and discussed by Paul as a personal prayer language, a language which in part can be used when the believer is unable to express in words what s/he wants to express. It is therefore a means of praying in the Spirit. In 1 Corinthians 14:39 Paul says, Therefore, brethren, desire earnestly to prophesy, and do not forbid to speak with tongues. If you read all the scriptures about tongues, it would require a particularly strong level of spiritual blindedness to conclude that every tongue has to be a real modern day planet earth language that exists exclusively to evangelize people of that language. Paul talks for example about tongues of angels and he speaks of tongues being spoken in churches that require interpretation to be of any value in that setting. As with many supernatural manifestations, there is the true Holy Spirit manifestation, the unholy demonic counterfeit, and the flesh counterfeit. What some believers seem to consistently do is to conclude that since some supernatural manifestations are false, they must all be false, which is to often reject actual holy manifestations of the actual Holy Spirit which is quite an evil thing to do and should be avoided at all costs by anybody who wishes to walk in holiness. Careful discernment is thus required, not blanket rejection of every supernatural manifestation. In Africa one of the most prominent issues- spiritually speaking- is witchcraft. In my experience here in Tanzania I have witnessed the effects of the Africans involvement in witchcraft. My first encounter was a few weeks ago when we were doing door to door evangelism. Pastor took us to the home of a woman who is a member of our church. The woman called Pastor to cast out a demon that she thought was in her daughter. The daughter, Grace, came into the room with a deep sadness in her eyes. Her grandmother played a significant role in teaching Grace to rely on witch doctors and to send demons to other people. We spent three days talking to Grace, speaking truth into her life, getting to know her story, and showing her love. Grace had a painful problem in her stomach which felt like something was moving up and down her insides. On the third day Grace returned with trinkets that she wanted us to destroy. She had been given the trinkets by the witch doctor to use for witchcraft activities. Grace accepted the Lord and the next thing I know Grace is writhing on the floor and Pastor is casting out a demon from her. Her body lost complete control, even to the point that she urinated on the floor. It took two of us to hold her legs down. A few moments later, Grace stands up, set free from the demon that influenced her. She smiled, gave us huge hugs, and returned home with her mother after offering us enthusiastic gratitude. First we need to ask ourselves if we believe that the bible is true and if we believe that demons exist just as the bible says they do... as a quick refresher, my bible says that 1/3 of the angels rebelled against God and became demons. Do we believe as the bible states that they existed 2000 years ago when the Lord Jesus was casting them out of people everywhere He went including 2000 of them out of one man and 7 out of Mary Magdeline as just two of many examples? Do we believe as the bible states that these demons are eternal beings? If yes, then mustnt we conclude that they still exist today? If demons were a big problem 2000 years ago and they are eternal beings, then shouldnt it follow that they are still a big problem today? If we conclude that they do exist today and that they are indeed problematic today, we then need to ask ourselves if a woman who is visiting witch doctors, who is herself practicing witchcraft, who has demonic trinkets in her posession... is this the type of person who is likely to have unwittingly invited demons into herself? If yes to all of the above, then it should come as no surprise that this woman did indeed have demons. So she is wonderfully ministered to by genuine servants of the Lord Jesus for 3 days and receives Jesus and now the demons are getting cast out... creating a struggle initially which causes her to writhe on the ground and even pee herself. Is this really so difficult a scenario for a true believer to fathom? So this girl receives the Lord Jesus, her demon gets cast out and then afterwards she is smiling and hugging and offering gratitude. I dont know what everybody else thinks, but i very much believe that this girl got set free from actual demonic possession. How is this a bad thing? Do we object to the writhing and the peeing that took place during the struggle? Sorry everybody, but deliverance from demons is not always pretty, or prim and proper... and nor is it always for the faint of heart. Why would a true believer have such a hard time believing that this could happen?... that a person being delivered from a demon could writhe on the floor and/or pee? What is demonic deliverance supposed to look like? If people in churches are sometimes writhing on the floor, is it not possible that... at least in some instances... they too are being delivered from demons just as was this new believer? As always, it is a good idea to look at the fruit. What was the individual like before this happened and what were they like afterwards? In our friends case above, beforehand she had deep sadness in her eyes, had something seriously wrong going on in her stomach that was moving around... and she was practicing witchcraft. Afterwards, she was smiling, hugging and offering gratitude. This is the exact instantaneous transformation i would expect to see in a person who was set free from demons and i therefore conclude that this was a battle won by the kingdom of holiness.
Posted on: Tue, 09 Dec 2014 23:45:31 +0000
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