God's Property ~ Part 3

Dear Friends,

Glendale has a police shooting range hidden up in the Verdugo Mountains. When I worked for the City, we built a concrete-block “simulation house” and lined the interior walls with a special thick, self-sealing rubber material. When you fire a bullet into it, the material absorbs the bullet but it can't penetrate the concrete walls. When the officer goes through the different rooms to search for the bad guys, they come across life-sized cardboard cutouts of people. In one room, they may come across a cardboard figure of a pretty woman holding a gun to a child's head or it may be a cardboard cutout of a rough-looking man holding a small hair dryer to a child's head. In a split second the officer needs to recognize the enemy and take action. When it comes to the events that are occurring moment to moment in our own lives, so do we.

When we don’t discern the working of the evil one in our life, he will smack us down every time. That’s why we need to recognize the enemy and take action!

Jesus said, “..in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)  Christians are not exempt from tribulation but in fact are especially subject to it. And the word Jesus used means a crushing pressure from evil. Jesus is not saying you’re going to have a few tough times, Bubba. He’s saying that you will be continually squeezed and under crushing attacks by evil ones.

As Charles Stanley has said, “When we talk about spiritual warfare, we must remember that each day, we live in the midst of a real, personal battle that we must fight.” If we fail to grasp the reality of this battle, we have no understanding of why we continue to struggle with the things we find ourselves constantly wrestling with in our lives.

We said in last week’s AMEN Corner, Christians cannot be possessed but we can be oppressed. We can be harassed, hounded and tormented by demons as they exert outside pressure on us.

Did you know that our daily battle with the demons in our life continues because we continually arm the devil with the weapons he uses against us? And the enemy’s weapon of choice is our very own penchant to sin. If you were in church Sunday you heard that our unrepentant and continued sins are the primary cause of our inability to live the fullness of life in God’s presence. And it is also our continued sinful behavior that results in entryways that demons can use to harass us or attach themselves to us. Read Ephesians 4:25-32 keeping in mind that not heeding Paul’s warnings will give “place to the devil” and provide the evil one with ammunition for him to use against you.

Other “entryways” may be the movies, TV or on-line games we watch and play. It may be sexual impurity we engage in. It may be “art” objects in our home or it may even be our exercise program! 

For example Tai Chi and Yoga are from Eastern religions and both achieve a state of realizing your personal deity which resides within you and then aligning your god with the universe. In Tai Chi, the "Chi" is the binding life force in the universe that moves through the invisible channels in the body. Tai Chi movements realign your vital internal energy with the gods to allow you to become your own god. Eastern religions teach that Yoga practices and body postures originated with the rituals of human fire sacrifice conducted by the ancient Vedic priests. Today, Yoga is a ritual used by both Hindus and Buddhists, and is a union of your finite self with your infinite self called your Brahman which is the concept of the universal life force. The postures and breathing exercises unite your body, soul and spirit with the spirit deity called Brahman. This is why so many Christian parents today are fighting against the practice of Yoga in our Nation’s secular schools.

Have you given the evil one entryways that allowed him to gain a foothold in your life? You may want to slam those doors closed! Recognize the enemy working in your life and take action. Remember the good news of Jesus, “..but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” By overcoming the world, Jesus has given His followers a certain authority to come against evil in the world. Next week we’ll look at six action steps to take and free ourselves from demonic oppression.