Drop The Rock
By Phil Scovell
Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a
cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin
which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the
race that is set before us, Hebrews 12:1.
The drill instructor walked slowly down the line of men.
Somebody was in trouble, they all knew, but who.
Finally the short stocky man, who had the build of a hand
grenade, stopped and stared into a man's face for at least a full
minute without speaking. The silence was painful and ominous.
Suddenly the hand grenade exploded. "What's your name,
maggot?" he screamed; the tip of his nose only two inches away
from the young marine's own nose.
"Sir," the startled marine yelled back, "Private First Class
John Carver, sir."
Silence fell all around the men and nobody moved. It seemed
as if hours passed. Suddenly the drill instructor's voice boomed
like an artillery barrage. "No, private Carver, your name is
maggot because you are holding up the rest of the team. We can't
have that now can we, Private First Class maggot?"
"Sir, no, sir." the frightened youth screamed an octave
higher than his normal voice.
"Then what are we going to do about it, maggot?" the
sergeant bellowed back; spittle flying in every direction.
"Sir, I don't know, Sir," came the loud reply.
"Oh, I know what we are going to do about it," the D I
boomed in reply. "You see that rock over there, maggot?"
The young marine moved his eyes without turning his head for
fear he would be yelled at for moving. "Sir, I see the rock,
sir."
"Good," growled the sergeant. "When I tell you to, maggot,
you are going over and picking up that rock." The rock was about
the size of a man's fist. "Are you right or left handed,
maggot?" the D I demanded.
"Sir, right handed, sir," he yelled; his voice rolling over
the empty ground that surrounded them and dying away.
"Good," came the reply. "I want you, maggot, to go over and
pick up the rock with your right hand. I want you to carry that
rock in your right hand all day. You will not put it down for
any reason at all any time during the day until 1800 tonight
when you report to my office in front of my desk. Is that
understood, maggot?"
"Sir, yes, sir."
"Well, maggot, he jeered, "go get it."
Many years ago I saw something like this happen in a movie I
was watching on television. I, of course, left out all the
expletives which normally would been used in the exchange. The
idea, of course, was discipline, obedience, and the importance of
the unit as a whole. One man, in a combat situation, out of sync
with his unit, can easily get everybody killed.
I am certain, the marine discovered, for the twelve hours or
so that he had to carry the rock, it was much heavier by the end
of the day. It wasn't because the rock was heavy in the first
place but because he had to carry it hour after hour. By the end
of the day, he probably could hardly hold it due to its
tremendous weight.
This is exactly the picture we see in Hebrews 12:1
concerning putting aside the weight which hinders our
relationship with the Lord. The passage is in reference to
running a race but what if you feel you aren't even walking the
race? Many Christians even wonder if God is on their side at
times due to circumstances. We are told, and taught, the Godly
do not live by feelings. Yet God created us with emotions and
feelings. When they are working normally, nobody seems concerned
but let something happen to the emotions or let our feelings
become unfocused, and suddenly everybody thinks we need to be in
the doctor's office getting a prescription for a chemical
imbalance.
* Lay Aside
The Greek term for "lay aside" in this passage means to do
exactly that, that is, take hold of the weight and lay it down.
Imagine the relief that marine must have had when his sergeant
told him to drop the rock. If you are going to run with the
wrong crowd, you are going to have to carry what they carry and
believe what they believe. If you don't, you won't be accepted
by them. If, on the other hand, you walk with the Lord, He said,
"Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will
give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am
meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light," (Matthew 11:28-30).
Drop the rock!
One day I was complaining to the Lord how heavy my burdens
were and that He was putting more upon me than I felt I could
handle. Then I heard the still small voice of the Holy Spirit
say, "If the burdens are too heavy, they aren't the Lord's." I
almost laughed out loud at what I had just heard. It was, in
fact, the truth; I was indeed carrying burdens that weren't the
Lord's. No wonder I thought it was too heavy. Drop the rock!
* Which Doth So Easily Beset Us
This phrase is a single Greek word and means (to skillfully
surround). Does that sound like anybody you know? At the very
moment I read that Greek definition, I thought of Satan; that old
serpent; the devil, (Revelation 12:9 and Revelation 20:2).
Many years ago, my mom volunteered to work in the kitchen of
a summer church camp for a week. I couldn't have been much older
than 4 or 5 years old but I well remember this week of camp. A
missionary was one of the guest speakers. He had been in the
jungles of south America many years and told miraculous stories
which were hard to believe. Fortunately, the story I am about to
repeat, he had the confirming proof to back up his story.
He and a couple of the natives were in a river boat and
paddling there way along. All of the sudden, a huge snake's head
popped up out of the water, so close to the boat, they could have
reached out and touched it. Reflectively, and out of self
preservation, one of the natives swung his paddle as hard as he
could at the massive serpentine head. It appeared to have
stunned it. The missionary yelled he wanted to catch it so the
missionary and the two men grabbed the head and held on to it as
they worked the boat over to the bank. Climbing out, they
struggled and grunted and wrestled in the mud until they had the
snake out of the water. It was a huge anaconda. It measured 25
feet in total length. It's body was massive; weighing several
hundred pounds. Not wanting to see if the snake would awaken,
they quickly killed it and decided to cut the skin from the
massive body as a souvenir. As they gutted the beast, they
discovered a six foot alligator, completely whole, inside the
snake's belly.
Anacondas live in the jungles of South America. They are
similar to the African pythons in that they are in the boa
constrictor family. This means they coil about their prey,
making it impossible for them to breathe as they constrict, and
thus the prey suffocates. They then unhinge their jaws, and
literally swallow their prey whole. If the prey is big enough,
the large snakes will become semi-dormant for a month or more as
their food is digested. They mostly frequent rivers and eat
fish, rodents, smaller animals and they, in fact, also eat small
tasty alligators. Yes, it is on record that they have eaten
humans but this is rare, thank the Lord, but in case you are
planning a trip to South America, stay clear of the rivers.
As I said, the missionary at this youth camp had the proof
with him. Tacked up on the wall was the snake skin. I remember
it quite well. The missionary said it was 4 feet wide and 25
feet long. A well constricted 6 foot alligator could have easily
fit inside something that large. Anacondas are on record of
being much larger than these measurements.
Let's talk theology for awhile. As I said, when I read the
Greek definition of "which doth so easily beset us," I
immediately thought of Satan as the serpent who attempts to
entangle us in order to crush the breath of life out of our
relationship with Christ. Some of the great constrictors do in
fact climb trees and wait for prey, such as a gazelle, or other
small animals, to walk by. Then they drop out of the tree;
crushing the animal to the ground. Then quickly and skillfully
they surround, or coil their powerful reptilian bodies about
them, and begin constricting until the prey no longer is able to
breathe. Sort of sounds like the devil to me; doesn't it you?
No wonder Satan is called that old serpent; the devil.
I know you didn't ask for my opinion about this but I offer
it without cost or obligation. I personally believe that Satan
did, in fact, embody some type of snake in the garden of Eden.
Furthermore, and I don't have any reason for believing what I am
about to say, I just do, I believe that Satan was confined to one
single tree in the garden. Thus, that tree was forbidden by God.
Furthermore, I personally believe Satan embodied a snake because
God cursed him to crawl along the ground and that pretty much
sounds like a real snake to me. Regardless, he is the Enemy and
he comes as a thief to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10). He
is a master of deceitfulness and lies. He lays in hiding to
strike when we are least expecting.
These great reptilian constrictors have no poisonous venom,
which I find interesting, but they use their own powerful bodies
to keep their prey from breathing. Satan, although not void of
power, has been rendered harmless through the cross of Christ.
Yet through deceit and unholy cunning, he "skillfully surrounds"
his prey and chokes off one's relationship with God if we allow
it.
As kids, we used to always challenge each other to see who
could hold their breath the longest. When we went swimming we
often would pick a spot far out into the pool and challenged each
other to see who could swim to that point and back again without
surfacing. In our childhood games, however, we knew we could, at
any time, surface for air or if on land, simply open our mouth to
breathe. Our enemy does not allow that opportunity. Why?
Because the devil never plays fair. In fact, you can't believe a
thing he says. Jesus said satan is a murderer from the beginning
and the father of all lies and we are told there is no truth in
him according to John 8:44. The enemy's plan, therefore, is to
choke the spiritual life out of you. He does this best by
skillfully planting lies in the mind.
* Weights
What are these weights that so skillfully surrounds us? One
thing they could be is present circumstances. Most certainly the
enemy uses circumstances to try and sidetrack us from walking
with Christ.
Something much more devious, however, is how the enemy uses
circumstances. They become trigger mechanisms which activate
woundedness from past events which still causes guilt and fear
and shame and even more serious abnormalities such as anxiety and
panic attacks, phobias, and personality changes. How could such
things happen if salvation has fixed everything and erased the
pains and hurts of the past?
Recently I was praying with a man by the name of George. He
was suffering from anxiety and panic attacks. He had such a
strong fear of death and dying, he could just think of a
cemetery, or drive by one on the street, and start having an
anxiety attack. He had lost the ability to focus on anything for
very long and the ability to concentrate to the point he could no
longer hold down a job. His daughter, age 22, was not in good
health and was facing some very serious life threatening surgical
procedures. This alone trigger deep woundedness with George
which he could not understand nor identify.
George also admitted that he had a fear of bathrooms.
That's right; bathrooms. This 46 year old man was afraid of
bathrooms and could hardly walk past the bathroom in his own
house without anxiety feelings. Psychology would identify this
as a phobia. Fortunately, it was no such thing.
As we began holding prayer sessions together, the Lord
revealed to George what caused the fear of death and dying. He
had come from a dysfunctional family with a father who didn't
love him and didn't want him. He always said he was worthless
and would never amount to anything. His father told him one day,
when he was a teenager, he wished he'd never been born.
Furthermore, his oldest sister said she was going to scare him to
death and constantly did things to him that frightened him so
severely, he would lay in his bed at night trembling
uncontrollably from the fear she afflicted upon her little
brother during the day.
One night, his oldest sister took a very large knife and
tried sneaking up on him in his bedroom. He ran to the bathroom
for safety and his mother followed him. He grabbed his mother
and said he was afraid he was going to die. The bathroom was the
focal point of his fear at that moment. Through intercessory
prayer, the Lord set George free from this fear and renewed his
mind by exposing the lies associated with death and dying.
Furthermore, a love for his older sister blossomed which had
never been there before.
* The Salvitic Lie
George was saved later in life. My question is, why wasn't
he healed of these events which occurred earlier in his life at
the moment of his salvation? The mistake we make, when teaching
the doctrine of salvation, is that our past is somehow erased
through the forgiveness of sin. The sin is truly forgiven and
erased as far as God is concerned but our memories, and emotions
associated with those memories, are intact and so are the lies
planted by the enemy. Could this possibly be a "weight that doth
so easily besets us" or so (skillfully surrounds) us? If we are
going to obey the command to renew our minds, according to Romans
12:1-2, Ephesians 4:23, Colossians 3:10, and Philippians 3:15,
there has to be something to renew. If all has been made new,
then there is nothing old to renew. Yet day after day I talk
with born again Christians who come face to face with unresolved
issues in their past. If we are saved, why are we not saved from
our past? The answer is, we are but our minds are not.
* Body Soul And Spirit
Many books have been written on the body, soul, and spirit
of THE HUMAN design so I'll try not to do that here. A brief
look at this doctrine is necessary, however, at this point.
It is our spirit that is created anew, that is, our spirit
is born again and provides a place in which the Holy Spirit
dwells. The body and the soul are not born again, or saved, or
recreated, or to use a good old seminary term, the body and soul
are not regenerated. That will happen when the Lord returns
because the bible says when we see Him, we will be like Him and
we will be changed. (See 1 Corinthians 15:51-52 and 1 John 3:2).
In the mean while, the body and soul are disciplined by the Word
of God according to James 1:21. By the way, the soul is that
part of our physical makeup where the mind and emotions are
found. So, when we use God's Word to live by, or to discipline
our lives, it is in the area of our souls where this is done.
The bottom line is the battle is won or lost in the mind.
* Satan's Devices
Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant
of his devices (2 Corinthians 2:11).
Upon reading this verse, it should be obvious there is a
reciprocal truth that is being taught. The thing which should be
apparent is the possibility that we can be taken advantage of by
the enemy if we are ignorant of his devices. The first time I
read that verse many years ago, I said to myself, "Maybe you
aren't ignorant of his devices, Mr. Apostle Paul, but I have no
idea what his devices are." Being unaware of the enemy's devices
for the Christian is nothing short of dangerous. Perhaps,
therefore, before doing anything else, we should find out what
the word "devices" means if we are going to have some insight to
the devices used by the enemy.
* Devices Defined
The Greek word for "devices" in this passage is (noema.) It
is used some 6 times in the New Testament and it breaks down this
way:
mind 4,
device 1,
thought 1
Here are some of the ways in which "devices" is rendered by the
King James translators. Notice the words in quotations.
2 Corinthians 10:5
Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth
itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity
every "thought" to the obedience of Christ.
2 Corinthians 11:3
But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve
through his subtilty, so your "minds" should be corrupted from
the simplicity that is in Christ.
2 Corinthians 4:4
In whom the god of this world hath blinded the "minds" of them
which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of
Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
Now, consider the Greek definition of the word "Devices"
also translated as thought or mind or minds in these verses.
1) a mental perception, thought.
2) an evil purpose.
3) that which thinks, the mind, thoughts or purposes.
Just reading these passages clearly demonstrates where Satan
works. He, the enemy, is confined to one area of deceptive work
and that is the human mind. His technique has an "evil purpose"
and that is to "blind" the minds of both lost and saved so that
we cannot see the light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. "But I'm
a Christian. He can't do that to me, can he?" I've told this
story before in other places but let me repeat it now.
In Bible college, we had a wonderful doctrines professor.
In one class, he began teaching on Satan and fallen angels and
demons. He told the story of a friend of his in the Lord who
told him one day that he, the friend, was going out and war
against the devil. Our professor advised him not to do such a
thing because he would get into trouble. The man did not take
his advice. A few months later, the professor got a phone call
and was asked to come to this man's home. When he arrived, he
was taken to the man's bedroom. There he found his friend lying
on the bed. They privately talked. The man asked our professor
to please have him admitted to a mental institution because he
was losing his mind. Our doctrines professor asked him why. The
man confessed his involvement with battling the devil got him
into mental trouble and he was now losing his mind. The
professor asked him how he knew all this and the man told him
that he had thoughts of killing his wife and children. The
professor did as the man requested and had him committed to a
mental hospital.
When our doctrines professor related this story, he
concluded by saying the following: "If you leave the devil
alone; he will leave you alone." The unspoken implication was, a
blazing flashing neon sign: Because if you don't, you'll go
crazy. Unfortunately, our professor never gave us any other
details. What did this man do? what did he say? How did he do
battle with the enemy? Furthermore, how could this born again
Christian get to the place where he felt as if he wanted to kill
his wife and children? The story alone, however, scared me well
enough to make me believe what the professor was saying was true.
Years later, I learned the hard way that my doctrines professor
couldn't have been more wrong.
* The Mind
As I said, the battle is won or lost in the mind. You will
find some Christians who will quote "Thy word have I hid in mine
heart, that I might not sin against Thee," (Psalm 119:11), and
insist, "See there? It is the Word of God that keeps us from
sin." Of course, they are right but we aren't always talking
about sin when it comes to the mind. Let me use George as an
example.
As I said before, George had a phobia about bathrooms.
There was no sin of any kind involved with his fear. The fear
was demonic in nature but it was based upon a lie of the enemy.
The lie? "You are going to die." After all, his sister told him
all the time that she was going to "Scare the hell out of him."
George told me she did a very good job frightening him half to
death much of his childhood. Yet, George committed no sin. Fear
was generated, a lie was planted that he was going to die, or be
killed, and this demonic lie created perpetual and continuous
fear in a little boy's life as he grew up. Consequently, the
enemy continually attack George throughout his entire life with
similar frightening and terrifying experiences. Much of this
George had forgotten, shoved to the back of his mind, and learned
to live with it throughout his adult life. Furthermore, he was
now born again and he, too, was taught, "Therefore if any man
[be] in Christ, [he is] a new creature: old things are passed
away; behold, all things are become new (2 Corinthians 5:17).
Then, if this verse is true, and it is, why was George having
anxiety and panic attacks and living with depression so severe,
he could no longer work? It wasn't that he didn't believe the
Bible; he did and he does. The answer is what the enemy had done
by implanting lies in his mind.
* Foothold
The enemy begins by attempting to establish a foothold. He
waits for the right time and, according to Ephesians 6:16, he
tosses fiery darts. If this happens to a child, as is so often
the case, their little minds are unable to process the
information as demonic influence in nature but regardless, a
foothold has been established. This can occur during a traumatic
experience such as the death of a family member, a close call
while crossing the street, a bully at school threatening to beat
them up, someone making fun of them or calling them names, or any
numbers of seemingly harmless events in their life.
* Sin
Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a
cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin
which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the
race that is set before us, Hebrews 12:1.
We have come full circle. Note what the verse says: "let
us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset
us." There appears to be two forms of weight, or heaviness,
which (skillfully surrounds) us. We've looked at one
possibility, that is, circumstances beyond our control but what
about sin?
Sin is used by the enemy to gain a firm foothold upon which
he can quickly build. We are told, "Neither give place to the
devil" (Ephesians 4:27). The word for "place" in this passage
simply means a marked off or designated area. For example, the
closet of a home is a marked off, or designated area, where
certain things are kept. We do not hang coasts and jackets in
the living room or the kitchen or the bathroom; we put them in
the closet. Why? It is the designated area and besides, we
don't want everybody else seeing we have no place to put our
coats and jackets by hanging them in the living room. It is like
the bachelor I once knew. Every time his girl friend came to
visit, he swept the carpet but he swept the dirt to the edge of
the carpet, lifted the edge, and then pushed the dirt under the
carpet. That was his designated area for what he did not want
someone else to see. quite simply, sin creates just such a place
for the enemy to operate. Rarely do we commit sin without a mark
being left and that mark is a lie of the enemy which is often
left behind without our knowledge. "Can you give me an example?"
I would be happy to do exactly that. Let's make it a strong
illustration while we are at it, just to make certain the point
is understood clearly.
Let's say, as a grown adult and one who has been born again
for many years, you commit an immoral act. Let's say,
furthermore, the guilt is more than you can bear; even after you
have asked for forgiveness. You know you have been forgiven
because you believe God's Holy Word. The guilt of your sin,
however, doesn't seem to want to go away. Furthermore, you
suddenly discovered you are, on top of everything else, pregnant.
"Now what?" You know what the church people will think. You
know what the man thinks because he can't be found anywhere.
Besides, you were so drunk that night, you aren't even for sure
who the real father might be. You are satisfied, however, there
is plenty of time. to make a long story short, you decide, even
at your age, and even in spite of all you know and believe as a
Christian, to get an abortion. After it is done, the depression
sets in. It's bound to go away, you know, because that's what
they said at the clinic. They even give you pills to help
override the depression. When the pills run out, however, the
guilt rushes back in like a giant title wave and there isn't one
Christian with whom you can confide. Now suicide becomes
something you just can't seem to get out of your mind.
In this scenario, as extreme as it may be to consider, I
trust you can easily see how a foothold became a stronghold. If
we are any Bible believer at all, we know that the sin of
abortion can likewise be instantly, I said, instantly, forgiven
by the Heavenly Father. In this story, however, the enemy uses
the foothold of guilt to build upon to create a fortress. He can
now expand upon the feelings of guilt and so he does. He even
begins to work the suicide angle on you just to make things
worse.
* Demonic Voices
I pray with people all the time who hear voices. The
voices, as they did with me, start out as basic impressions of
self doubt. "You aren't good enough. Your father and mother
were right; you will never amount to anything. You are too
sensitive or it wouldn't have hurt you so much when she said that
about you. If you were a stronger and better and more spiritual
Christian, it wouldn't have effected you. Besides, you knew
better. You've tried before and failed and you will fail now.
You have always failed because you are a failure. No body likes
you. You've sinned too much. God can't forgive somebody like
you. The spiritual life is only for those God chooses." As I
said, these are impressions; they aren't exactly words but
something you somehow feel. They sort of ring true, too, now
that you think about it.
Stress occurs, driving emotions to the edge of endurance,
and through circumstances beyond your control, the pressure grows
in intensity. The impressions now take on form.
As time progresses, you now begin to realize that the
impressions sound like actual words which are being spoken inside
your head. Could this be what people refer to as "hearing
voices?" "Dear God; no!" Nearly everyone I have spoken with,
and based upon my own experiences, report these impressions
eventually become mental suggestiveness which soon takes on
personality. By that I mean, the suggestions, the voices,
actually seem to be coming to you independently. To be specific,
the voices are eventually recognized as not being your own
thoughts. Before you just thought you were thinking these
thoughts all by yourself. Now you know they are real voices. We
don't tell anybody we hear voices, of course, because that spells
mental illness that only the professionals, we are told, can
handle.
I know people who have heard voices nearly all their life.
They often report they never knew it until they grew older. The
impressions develop into thoughts and the thoughts advance to
suggestions, and the suggestions eventually seem to take on
mental audibility. By that I mean, they take on personalities
with direct communication.
When a person finally admits to themselves that these are
really voices, a dilemma is immediately created. If they are not
a Christian, they conclude they are crazy and need medical help.
If they are Christians, they also conclude, at first, they are
crazy. Later, they begin to toy with the idea the voices may be
demonic. Frankly, for the Christian, it is almost more tolerable
to believe you are crazy than you are hearing demons talk to you.
I took the time to simply look up the dictionary definition
of "foothold" and here is what I found.
1. A place providing support for the foot in climbing or
standing.
2. A firm or secure position that provides a base for further
advancement.
Both these definitions apply but it is the second definition
which caught my attention. "A firm or secure position that
provides a base for further advancement." This is exactly what
an implanted lie is. It is a demonic intrusion used to make a
further and future advancement into a person's life. If you have
read any of my other personal testimonies, I tell a story where
such a lie was planted in my mind at about the age of 2 but did
not come to fruition until I was about 26 or 27 years of age. At
that point, I experienced a traumatic event that nearly destroyed
me. I was 50 years of age before, through intercessory prayer in
agreement with another intercessor, that the Lord revealed how it
all happened and set me free from the guilt.
About this time, someone is thinking, "That couldn't
happen." I thought the same thing. My theological upbringing,
training, seminary instruction, and the literally thousands of
hours of personal Bible study and Scripture memorization, all
told me it could not happen. I was wrong and so are you, if you
believe it can't be that way.
* Stronghold
A foothold, unless exposed by the True Lord Jesus Christ,
will always develop into a "stronghold." Again, I used the
dictionary for the following definition.
1. A fortress.
2. An area dominated or occupied by a special group.
This is exactly how demons function. They gain a foothold. Once
that is done, they press onward until they find a tinder soft
spot, or a weakness, and there they camp. they build a strong
fortress in our thoughts and exploit it upon every occasion.
they dominate that area, or attempt to, and they often function
in groups.
* Deliverance
Many Charismatics and Pentecostals are familiar with what is
often called a "Deliverance Ministry." This is usually someone
who feels they have been given the gift of demonic discernment.
This means they are spiritually sensitive enough to recognize the
demonic activity in a person. These gifted people will pray for
that person and cast out the demon or demons. Does it work? Is
it Biblical? Yes, to both. However, every person who is born
again has this same authority in their own life. You may not
have a gift of spiritual discernment as these gifted deliverance
people do, but you have exactly the same Biblical authority to
cast out demons and not only to cast them out of others, but to
cast them out of your own thoughts.
What concerns me about deliverance, however, is the lack of
determining the original source. By that I mean, identifying the
stronghold, then locating the foothold, and then allowing the
Word of the True Lord Jesus Christ to eliminate the lie which
allowed the infestation in the first place. If this is not done,
the demon will leave but will also return because the original
source of entrance into the person's life has not been healed.
* Demon Possession
Is there such a thing as demon possession? I used to think
so but now I have my doubts. If you look up the Greek word in
the New Testament that says a person was demon possessed, you
will discovered the word means (to be demonized.) that isn't the
same thing as being possessed. Judas, the disciple that betrayed
our Lord, may be our only example of actual demon possession
because it said that "Satan entered into him" (John 13:27). This
was an actual possession based upon the words "entered into" him.
In the balance of the New Testament, however, no such reference
is ever used but the word (demonized) is used. One thing is for
certain; Christians cannot be demon possessed. this is due to
the fact that they have a newly recreated spirit where the Holy
Spirit now dwells. No demon wants to be in the same place where
the Spirit of the living God dwells. In fact, it would be an
impossibility. However, as we have seen, it is not impossible
for a foothold, and later a stronghold, to be achieved in the
mind of even a believer of the Word. The strength of a
stronghold is based upon how deceived one has become and also
upon their own will. Unforgiveness, bitterness, revenge, hatred,
jealousness, envy, a desire to even the score, and other such
strong emotions can become so deeply seeded in ones thought
processes, the stronghold can be powerful and the demonic
activity can be proportionately forceful.
* Breaking The chains Of Darkness
Over the centuries, the Lord has always been available to
setting the captive free. Intercessory prayer, on the other
hand, has, in recent years, come to the forefront and is being
used by the Lord for deliverance of extreme woundedness. Matthew
18:19 has become the theme, that is, agreement in prayer, to set
people free of guilt and shame, and fear and doubt as well as
many other such weights that doth so easily besets us, and it is
accomplished through one-on-one prayer. I believe the Lord is
bringing us back to a relational style fellowship among
believers, that is, submitting yourself one to another in the
fear of God, (Ephesians 5:21), in order to develop a church
without spot and wrinkle. Without this accountability, we
demonstrate very little of the power of God because of our
individual woundedness that has become so heavy, we can hardly
carry it any longer. We have been told to turn all such
woundedness over to the "professional" and forsaken our
responsibility of ministering to those sick at heart. Until the
church returns to this ministry of individuality, we are going to
remain fractured and separated with the attitude of "every man
for himself." This never was, and never will be, the will of God
for any church or individual.
Perhaps I am spiritually prejudice, but I believe
intercessory prayer is going to bring healing to the Body of
Christ in ways we never considered possible. It is time to break
the chains of darkness and prayer is the only vehicle designed by
God to bring this about. One may say, "What about worship?"
Worship is one of the highest forms of prayer and Jesus said, "My
house shall be called the house of prayer" (Luke 19:46). In my
five decades, I have never once discovered a church which was
known by this most important attribute of holiness. Intercessors
are the focal point of this type of accountability. If we are
going to break the chains of darkness binding the church, it will
have to be one-by-one in the power of the Holy Spirit. It is
time to be free from the things that "so easily besets us.
* Dropping The Rock
Our verse under study implies that running the race is more
than a little difficult carrying the weights that so (skillfully
surrounds) us and likewise implies something must be done. (Lay
aside) or dropping the rock is the only solution. The problem
is, however, that most of us have carried these weights around
with us for so long, we hardly notice them any longer. Oh, we
know that we are weighted down but this is the cross we have to
bear as Christians. May I point out that such an idea is a lie
of the enemy, too? It's just one more weight you have allowed
yourself to carry.
The True Lord Jesus Christ has provided a way of revealing
and releasing us from each of these weights through prayer. In
many cases, however, it takes a called intercessor to pray with
others in order to discovered the hidden lies. It isn't the
intercessor that finds the implanted lies but rather the Holy
Spirit leading us into all truth. Then Jesus exposes the lie for
what it is and His Word sets the captive free.
If you find yourself in this situation and would like to
begin a healing process whereby you not only can drop the rock,
but can also drop everything associated with the weights which
are making your life miserable, call the phone number below and
set up an appointment. It is time to walk free in your
relationship with Jesus Christ.
* Conclusion
I made mention earlier that I believed that Satan not only
inhabited the body of a real snake in the garden of Eden but that
I also believe he was confined to a specific tree. I have
believed this for a number of years; never knowing exactly why.
I believe I understand why now.
In my Biblical studies, along with my personal experiences
of demonic attack, anxiety and panic attacks, hearing voices, and
everything else that goes along with such things, not to mention
my time in prayer, and all the hours of intercessory agreement in
prayer with others, I believe it is obvious that the enemy is
confined to one area of operation and that is within the mind and
our thought processes. Reading over all the passages of
Scripture related to the mind and demonic influence, without a
doubt, this is the case. This is why agreement in intercessory
prayer is so effective and pulling down strongholds and exposing
the demonic lies where they hide. Once the exposure is complete,
the Lord Jesus then allows us to see what He sees and His Word
becomes experiential as well as intellectual and theological.
This is the point of healing. It takes no work or effort, once
the healing is complete, to then walk in maintenance free
victory.
* Contact Information
Safe Place Fellowship
303-507-5175
Email: phil@safeplacefellowship.com
Website: WWW.SafePlaceFellowship.COM
End Of Document
Go To HOME