Ephesians 6:12

I can’t believe I haven’t seen it before!
Tonight a friend was talking to me about a struggle involving her husband. She said “I don’t even recognize him Donna. This is not like my husband.” I asked her if she had ever heard of rebuking spirits in Jesus name. She had not. I told her to call if she wanted to talk about it.
As she shared what happened today, I listened, then I said “we are so distracted by our skin. We so are distracted by what we can see and hear and feel and taste that we completely forget that this world is so much more spiritual than it is physical. Ephesians says that our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against spiritual forces.”
I may step on some toes in this politically correct society, because it seems ok to say that God is love, but we can’t acknowledge that Satan exists. If God is the same yesterday, today and forever, then wouldn’t it make sense that Satan is too. We focus a lot on God’s love and grace, we focus a lot on man’s sin, but I believe that by not acknowledging Satan, we give him power.

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The Bible says that the “fruits of the Spirit” meaning, the proof that one has the Holy Spirit or God’s Spirit in them is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. If those are fruits or evidence of God’s spirit….what are anger, rage, jealousy, deceitfulness, lust, addiction, depression, and selfishness? Perhaps fruits of another spirit?

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Scripture clearly says that Satan or the Devil is not only a liar, but the father of lies….so wouldn’t it go to reason that lying is a spirit that comes from Him?

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I believe that each of these “acts of the flesh” are spirits that do not come from God. Sexual immorality, impurity, debauchery which is excessive indulgence in sensual pleasures, idolizing, being involved in witchcraft, hating, discord or disagreements between people, jealousy, rage, selfishness, factions or smaller organized groups within a larger group that don’t get along, envy, drunkenness….I think the list could go on for days!
If it is an act, action or attitude that is not of the spirit of God, I believe it is still spiritual. I believe everything is. We are just so distracted by what we can see that we are blind to what’s going on behind the scenes.
Here’s where it really gets scary. Let’s say someone struggles with an addiction. They get rid of that addiction, but do not replace it with God and His truth. According to Luke 11:24-26, that spirit that left them wanders around, then returns finding that the person has swept clean the house and put it in order. He brings back with him seven other spirits more evil then itself. Sound like relapse?

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Now, if God is the same, yesterday, today and forever….let’s see what that means.

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When Satan tried to tempt Jesus, Jesus Himself quoted scripture. Guess what Satan did? He quoted scripture back. Jesus used the truth in the Bible to stand up against Satan’s lies. If Jesus had to do this, why wouldn’t we?

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In Mark 16:17, Jesus tells us that He has given believers the authority to cast out evil spirits in His name. I used to roll my eyes, just a little, when my mom and grandma would talk about casting out spirits. When my marriage was really struggling, my mom and I stood in every room of my house and prayed against all sorts of spirits which I won’t name because it doesn’t matter…the fact is, there were things going on in my home that didn’t belong there and we knew that only Jesus had the power to break the spiritual strongholds that were present.
Here’s where the “I can’t believe I haven’t seen it before comment came from:”
I believe that I have been living under spiritual oppression since I was 11 years old. I know the day it happened. I can tell you the exact day that self-hatred fell over me like a suffocating blanket. I have had moments of freedom from it, glimpses of internal peace, but never for long. I believe that there has been a spirit of self-hatred holding me hostage for almost thirty years.
That self-hatred was at times so deep, and so intense that I literally believed that if I was to kill myself, my family would be better off without me. One of those times, I had a 5 and a 2 year old daughters. I can tell you intellectually that at the time I was doing some pretty incredible things. I was renovating my house, training for a marathon, and helping people left and right. My life held incredible value….but I couldn’t see it. All that I could think was dark thoughts of ending it all and that being to make the world a better place for my husband and kids who I was pretty sure would fare better without me. Do you see how powerful the enemy’s lies are?
I have been mystified by the intensity of the hate I felt for myself, because I have always known that I was loved by God. I have always known that my family unconditionally loved and supported me, and I have had more people try to tell me the good they see in me over the years than I could even begin to tell you.
A good friend who I have spent two day a week with for almost ten years now told me recently that in those almost ten years, I have never accepted a compliment she has given me. She said “I just keep trying to tell you the good I see in you. I recently thought ‘I know she hears me,’ but you never acknowledge what I say.” I asked her what I do instead. She said “sometimes you change the subject. Sometimes it’s like you didn’t hear me and just ignore me, sometimes you argue with me about how my compliment is not true, and sometimes you deflect my compliment by putting yourself down, but you never just say thank you.”
I wondered how many other people I have done that to over the years. I know for sure that my mom, sister and best friends have tried to tell me the good they see in me over the years, but I always chalked that up to them just trying to make me feel better about myself.
On September 4th at Celebrate Recovery, I took a blue 24 hour surrender chip and told God “I’ve tried and others have tried to help me see my value and worth in this world, but I can’t see it. No one can help me and I can’t do it myself. If I am ever going to stop hating myself and start to value myself, it’s gotta come from you. I surrender my low self-worth to you.”
I thought I was making strides. I wrote out about 15 scriptures and read them day after day affirming my value with the truth of God’s word, then like clockwork, a couple weeks before Christmas, that self-loathing foamed back up in me until I was blinded again. I wanted to run away and live in a cave so people didn’t have to live in my presence. I wanted to glue my mouth shut so I could never offend. I wanted to quietly serve and love people from a distance because I felt that to get close to me wasn’t safe. No matter how much I wanted to love people, I was destined to hurt them.
As I was talking to this friend tonight, I was overwhelmed by the realization that this self-hatred was a spiritual oppression and that in Jesus name, I had the power to rebuke the spirit of self-hatred and self-condemnation.

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Praise the Lord that He is able to set us FREE from the law of sin and death! God gave me a word to focus on in 2020….Freedom. I wanted to experience freedom from excess stuff, and freedom from all of my self-limiting, self-hating thoughts. A friend asked me what that would look like? How would I know that I had achieved it? I said “I’ll know when I find myself being as loving, kind, gracious and patient with myself as I am with others.” I was always able to give it to everyone in the world but myself.
In the name of Jesus and by the blood He shed on the cross, I rebuke any spirits in my life that are not from Him. I rebuke the spirit of self-doubt, self-condemnation, and self-hate. I rebuke the lies of the enemy and all his tricks intended to take my focus off of God’s plan for my life.
Heavenly Father, I pray in the name of Jesus that any places in my life which are left empty that were once filled with those lying spirits are filled with you and your truth so that there will be no place for them to return. I praise you for your goodness and faithfulness. I thank you for placing your Holy Spirit in me to reveal your truth. Thank you for patiently waiting for me to apply the truth of your word to my life, and I thank you in advance for the freedom you’re giving me in this very moment.
I pray that you would keep my eyes open to the deceitful ways of the enemy and give me the boldness to call him out and rebuke him when I notice him at work. Thank you, thank you. In Jesus name I pray….Amen.

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If you notice any spirit in your life, in your heart or mind, in your spouse or your kids that is not from God, use the power that Jesus gave you through the Holy Spirit to cast those spirits out in Jesus name. If you have questions or want to talk more about it, feel free to reach out. I myself feel like I’m going to bed a little lighter tonight.