Lately, I've been shaking my head amid all the political craziness on television. It's insanity! On one occasion I became more frustrated by the minute and caught myself comparing a particular female in Congress (mentioning no name) as having a demon possessed soul. After saying that, it dawned on me that maybe I should write a blog and explain the difference between being demon-possessed and demon-oppressed because there certainly is a difference. Let me first say that it is impossible, virtually impossible for a born-again Christian to be demon possessed! The Bible assures us that when we come to Christ believing with a sincere heart, confess our sins, accept Jesus as Lord, we get adopted as children into God's family. And that, because Jesus has redeemed us by His Blood sacrifice on the cross. While we once belonged to the kingdom of darkness, we have now been grafted into the Kingdom of Light! We are "GOD-POSSESSED," literally. Our hearts become His home. Without Him, you are demon owned, and servants of sin. You either have the Lord or you don't. You are either walking with Him or without Him. When you die there are only two results. A person lacking salvation and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is a candidate classified as demon-owned (possessed). If you study the scriptures you'll understand the gravity of this. By default, we are born into sin. This is why Jesus came...to "save the lost and to set the captives free (Romans 6:22, Galatians 5:1,). Notice the word "captive?" Unless you are saved, you are a captive of Satan, he has you. He owns you. Possession can manifest in an extreme manner or not.
Each person is born with a propensity for sin, selfishness, rebellion, lying, greediness, wrong-doing, etc. The demons know this! They prey on our natural propensity to do wrong. Demons can study you from the moment you are born and determine how the inescapable consequences of sin can be used to ruin you (1 Peter 5:8 "Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour.") And, demons are masters at taking their time to complete their destruction of you. If it takes 5 years or 80 years to ruin you it isn't a problem for them. They have nothing else to do, right? If you are without Jesus, you are without hope. You see, the word possession simply implies ownership! IE: She possesses a beautiful smile, he possesses a great personality. How many books do you possess? My grandfather possesses great wealth, etc. Who owns your heart?
On the other hand, demon-oppression occurs when demons torment you. This can happen to both believers and non-believers alike! Oppression is not possession. Oppression is torturous. Christians are not exempt from demon-oppression. Demons cannot possess or destroy a born-again Christian, but Christians can be oppressed by the minions of hell. Demons can incite, agitate, upset, cause illness from worry and otherwise make things miserable for their victims. What Christian hasn't been tormented mentally at some point? Demons love to magnify situations so that you'll begin to worry and doubt if God is actually hearing and or helping you. Their goal is to make you lose faith. A demon can make a man who has anger issues very explosive and violent or act in a rash and unpredictable way. I saw that very thing when I worked for a psychiatrist. Demons will often exacerbate a person's proclivity to be paranoid or schizophrenic. When these demons do these things, mental health experts are not only baffled but often times are frustrated because they feel they have failed in some way. But medications make little difference against demons that oppress! We absolutely can be tormented by destructive evil forces and many of us are. Paul was! 2 Corinthians 12:7 "Therefore, to keep me from becoming conceited I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me". Besides attacks on our soul or bodies, attacks can target our thoughts and can be the source of emotional and or psychological issues. I believe that is what I was seeing regarding the female Congresswoman. There was and has been an inordinate amount of confusion, fear, division and wayward behavior within our current government. It is so important for Christians to put on the whole armor of God each day as spoken of in my last blog. Don't doubt the existence of demons or evil spirits. Read your Bible! Colossians 1:16 tells us that God's creation has two components: visible and invisible!
Until next time.
-Pat-
Until next time.
-Pat-
wow! what a powerful message, pat. thank you. i read this 2x and it sunk in. most people think possession is like the linda blair head turning event. and i suppose it can manifest as extreme or not as you mentioned. you've really explained it for me. possession--WHO do you belong to? 2 choices. no purgatory, no in-between. it's saved or unsaved. in the end heaven or hell. so either God possesses and owns you or the devil does because there is no in-between. i never really looked at it that way because i leaned toward believing the possessed linda blair, turning head, spitting green fluid from the mouth example. but you're right. man! has the devil got people fooled and blind. i understand oppression 100%. God bless you, pat! keep writing.
ReplyDeleteYou're not alone, Dan. I once had the notion that possession only manifested as extreme behaviors too. I guess I watched too many movies. I'm glad you enjoyed the blog. Thank you for stopping by. God bless!
ReplyDeletePowerful as Dan said....gives a lot to think about and to be prepared for, God bless you Pat
ReplyDeleteThank you for stopping by, Kerry!
DeleteGood insight and clarifications as you are right when we think possessed we think Linda Blair. Now we can think back and think a little more deeper. Glad you are back writing Blogs.
ReplyDeleteTHANK YOU, Shanda! That means so much to me. I hope you return again and again. May the Lord teach and guide you to heavens door!
ReplyDeleteMany years ago, I saw people being prayed for where demons were ALLOWED to manifest. What I mean by that is that those praying for individuals, treated it a bit like a game, showing off. It most certainly is not a game. Demons should never be given the upper hand and be allowed to manifest. They KNOW they must bow to the Holy Name of Jesus/Yeshua! All that is required is to mention His Name and they will be silenced. One last thought....prayer to cast out demons should never take place unless the person being prayed for has first repented of and denounced all sin; second, the person is required to declare and confess that Jesus is Lord and King over their lives! The Bible says that unless the 'house' is swept clean and made ready for the Holy Spirit, those demons will return and bring with them 7 fold!
ReplyDeleteAnother great message Pat! Many Christians know nothing of the demonic realm; some churches believe that Satan does NOT exist.
Your teaching what the Holy Spirit gives you will change peoples' lives! To God be the Glory!
PRAISE THE LORD! To Him be all the glory.
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