Dealing with the Dark World (Repost)
The Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons.
1 Timothy 4:1
A few years ago I was speaking in a Southern California church on the subject of the New Age Movement. My text was 1 Timothy 4:1. After my message, I was surrounded at the front of the sanctuary by people wanting to hear more about freedom from spiritual conflicts caused by demonic influences.
Sitting about halfway back in the sanctuary was a 22-year-old woman who had been weeping uncontrollably since the service ended. As I approached the young woman, I could hear her sobbing, "He understands! He understands!"
Later Nancy described to me her horrible childhood, which included an abusive father and a grandmother who identified herself as a black witch. "When I was three years old, I received my guardians—spirit guides," she continued. "They were my companions, telling me how to live and what to say. I never questioned if having spirit guides was anything but normal until my mother took me to Sunday school."
"Would you like to get rid of your spirit guides?" I asked.
There was a long pause. "Will they really leave, or will I go home and be thrashed by them again?"
"You will be free," I assured her. An hour later Nancy was free.
Nancy's experience is not an obscure, erratic blip in the contemporary Christian community. In fact, in more than 20 years of ministry as a pastor, counsellor, seminary professor and conference speaker, I have met and ministered to more Christians in bondage to the dark side of the spiritual world than you may believe. Christians are woefully unprepared to deal with the dark world of Satan's kingdom or to minister to those who are in bondage to it.
Yes, as Timothy warned, "deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons" are real. But as you daily embrace Christ and His truth, you will be able to recognize Satan's lies and choose the truth.
Thank You, Jesus, for being the way, the truth, and the life. I know You are my weapon for overcoming the evil one.
Neil T. Anderson is the founder of Freedom in Christ Ministries. He began the ministry in 1989 and continues to spread the message of freedom to this day.