The Soul Redeemer: From Victim to Victory (6 page)

Nicole and Casie parked the truck at the bottom of the hill and decided to walk to the park to pray as they had planned.  As they were walking, Nicole voiced a concern that had been turning around in the back of her mind and was finally making itself heard.               

"Casie, I know that God has shown us that IS is the principality over Samaria, but I know that it has something to do with me personally as well.  I just don't know what it is." 

She told Casie about the attack in the night, and then continued.  "It concerns me that IS is a familiar spirit to me.  I don't want him and I've done everything I know to do, but I'm not free.  I know that if I am going to be a part of overcoming this principality here, I have to be set free myself first. 

"Wow, just listen to me," Nicole said.  "I don't feel like I'm in bondage to a sexual spirit.  I don't have uncontrollable sexual desires.  In fact I hardly have any at all."

Casie didn't know what to say and so she just began to pray in her prayer language.  All of a sudden she stopped walking and asked, "Could it be that a lack of sexual desire for your husband is the work of IS?  Like the extreme opposite?  I don't know; that question just came to me."

Nicole stopped and turned toward Casie.  "Well, I thought it was menopause," she chuckled, "but seriously, you could be right.  It would be like Satan to hide behind a symptom like that and to take it to the opposite extreme if he can't have his way with his first choice."

They resumed their walk and Casie said, "The other thing you may want to pray about are the scars."

"The scars?"

"When people are wounded, scars often remain," Casie explained.

"But Jesus healed my wounds," Nicole said.

"Yes He did heal them from the inside out.  But are there scars?  Scars can be like calluses or hard coverings on the surface of the heart.  Or like walls that we build up around us to keep relationships or others at an emotional distance so that we don't get hurt in the same way again."

"But Jesus had scars.  I didn't think they were bad."

Casie said, "The scars that Jesus has are to prove His love for us and to cause us to want to draw near to Him when we realize the price He paid so that we could have an intimate relationship with Him.  He never uses them to keep us away."

The two women arrived at the park and sat quietly on the bench in the shade of the large oak tree while Nicole pondered what Casie had said. 

After several minutes of soul searching, she said, "You're right, Casie.  There are emotional scars around my heart that I have used to insulate and isolate myself, even from my husband.  I never saw it before, but I realize now that I've been presenting a false front that is perverted and far from true worship, like I was saying earlier.  I keep thinking about the vision Jesus gave me this morning of my bare, naked heart and how beautiful it was when I allowed it to be connected with His heart.  I need to be that emotionally vulnerable with Jake.  I need Jesus to tear down the walls I've been hiding behind and allow myself to connect with Jake the way I did with Jesus."

Casie placed her hand on Nicole's shoulder and looked into her eyes.  "And that is what will overcome the power of IS from hindering intimacy with your husband."

Nicole suddenly smiled.  "That's right because when there are no emotional barriers between a wife's heart and a husband's heart, they will merge in soul as well as body the way God designed, which connects them both with God's heart.  That's worship!  I see it so clearly now!  It's like a holy triangle consisting of husband, wife and Jesus. It is such a safe place of worship that there is no place for the enemy.  IS will get so displaced that he won't find his way back as long as both partners stay within the protection of the holy triangle!"

Casie said, "With all this being said, I know that there are times when we are to guard our hearts and to even set up boundaries with other people.  Just not with God, our spouses or those godly relationships with people that we are to be connected to…like you."  Casie reached over and squeezed Nicole's shoulder.  "Unless those people are requiring us to do something that would be contrary to God's Word and His holiness."

The ladies sat watching the workings of the town, and finally Nicole said, "Well I have hope that things can change now.  I think that whatever God is doing in me, it's somehow related to His work here in Samaria.  And it's a process, both for me and for Samaria.  So Jesus, I'm willing to allow you to remove the scars or whatever you need to do in me."  Then she said, "As far as Samaria goes, I think that Jesus wants us to continue what we started yesterday."

"I think so too," Casie said.  "In Jesus name, I bind, blind and deafen all seeker, scanner and eavesdropping spirits; and Lord God, we ask for protection, wisdom and discernment as we seek Your guidance in setting our community free from the strongholds of the devil."

"Amen!" Nicole agreed.  She began voicing the thoughts coming to her mind.  "Even though we know that IS is the ruling principality here, he has spirits that work under him.  We have such an overabundance of addictions which cause poverty, laziness, violence, guilt, shame, mental and physical illness and abuse of all kinds.  I think that the strongman or power behind these things could be Behemoth as described in Job, the god of the belly or Gluttony."

"I think the key word you just used is 'overabundance,'" Casie said.

"You're right.  Gluttony or unrestrained passion and desire is so prevalent within our nation that I think we all entertain this spirit to some degree without realizing it.  I know I sure battle with it in different areas of my life such as in the area of food or materialism.  I find that fasting helps me to recognize and defeat it."

"Yes, I can see Behemoth as a strongman in our community and beyond," Casie said.  "IS sure seems confident in his ability to control, dominate and manipulate people, even Christians through spirits like this one."

"You're not talking about demon possession in Christians, are you?" Nicole asked.  "Because possession has to do with ownership and those who belong to Christ can't belong to Satan."

"I would call it oppression," Casie said.  "A Christian's spirit may belong to Jesus, but their souls (mind, will, emotions) and bodies are still able to open doors for unclean spirits through hidden or unrepented sin, or through generational curses that were passed down but that go unnoticed or are ignored. 

"At any rate, once a door is opened in the soul or body, you can be pretty sure that a demon will enter and claim legal rights to be there.  So while a Christian is not possessed by Satan, they can be under the influence of demons or controlled by them in areas of their lives that are not submitted to the Holy Spirit.  This doesn't cancel out the person's free will.  They still choose their actions."

"I think we're on the same page here," Nicole agreed.  The story teller in her said, "I see Satan like a sneaky squatter who lurks nearby waiting for the door of a rented house to be left open.  The owner of this house is either God or Satan, and we are the renter. 

"The renter may have been aware or not, that he left the door open, but he is completely unaware of the squatter who believed that the open door was his legal grounds for entering, and who happily took up residence in the basement or dark corners of the house.

"The squatter strategically creeps out of his hiding place and leaves enticing gifts for the renter.  As the gifts are accepted, the squatter comes out of hiding more regularly with more appealing gifts, until he hardly has to hide at all. 

"The renter doesn't notice the squatter, just the gifts that he has come to rely on.  And he doesn't notice that the squatter is beginning to control his life as he steals, kills and destroys.  The renter doesn't associate the destruction with the gifts because he loves them. 

"The squatter, who now claims ownership, although illegitimately, continues to live there and to rule until he is recognized and bound, like Jesus explained in Mark 3:27.  Once he is bound, then this strongman can be evicted, but his gifts must go along with him."

"Yep.  Good analogy," Casie said.  "Some people think that Jesus always kicks out the demons when they get saved, and that may happen sometimes.  But I believe that if they have been given a place even unknowingly, we have to repent from the sin, and then recognize and renounce the lies we've been acting on that lead to the sin.  And then we need to kick the demons out along with all their perks, or they will sit there tempting us, hoping that we will continue to believe the lies and practice the sin."

"I've noticed that many new Christians repent of sin and begin to walk with Jesus, and then they start to slip back into their old ways."  Nicole said, "I've never really thought of it before, but most new believers are taught to ask forgiveness and to repent, but are not taught to cast out the unclean spirits that are the promoters and carriers of the sin.  No wonder they get pulled back into their old life style!"

"True," Casie said, "But remember that deliverance is a process.  This is exactly why we need a discipleship center.  It takes a lot of time and training for new believers who have been in such bondage to learn the truth from the lies; to know the voice of the Shepherd from the enemy's; to identify the open doors for the devil and how to shut those; to be so saturated with the Word of God that it gets deep down into their spirit and soul.  It's difficult for this to happen and for them to maintain their freedom with just church once or twice a week." 

Nicole suddenly laughed.  "Just listen to us talking about Christians being held in bondage.  Boy oh boy, Casie.  I hope God knew what He was doing when He introduced us because I have a feeling that we're going to upset a lot of people!"

Casie laughed at the thought as well then said, "Seriously though, I recently did a study on the Jezebel spirit, a power under IS, and it is one of the most prevalent, powerful and evil demonic spirits influencing Christians and our churches." 

Nicole recalled, "In the Old Testament, the woman Jezebel was an Israelite queen who operated in worship of Baal and Asherah, and was steeped in witchcraft, which is manipulation and control.  She took control of her husband's responsibilities and basically ruled his kingdom for him.  She killed all of God's prophets except for Elijah.  I think that the spirit of Jezebel was around long before this wicked queen." 

"That's right," Casie said.  "Jezebel was just a woman who was so dominated by this spirit that it just about destroyed the whole nation of Israel.  In Revelation 2:20-23, Jesus gave her name to this same spirit that was corrupting His church through their tolerance of another woman that was operating under its influence.

"This religious spirit is still active today in homes, churches and politics, or any where that it can usurp authority and begin to operate under its own power and control.  I believe that this is one major reason there are so many broken homes and ineffective churches.  I think that this ancient spirit was involved in tempting Eve in usurping God's authority and taking matters into her own hands."

"That makes sense," Nicole considered thoughtfully.  "In Genesis 3:16, God responded to Eve's disobedience and rebellion by placing man in authority over woman, and ever since, it seems like the Jezebel spirit has been trying to steal that authority.  The women's rights movement has played right into its agenda."

Casie agreed, and then continued.  "Next to marriages, church is its favorite place to establish a throne because then it is not only gaining worship for itself, but is also stealing it away from God.  As its kingdom gains strength, God's Kingdom diminishes within that place, and the people have no clue what is going on.  I think that this may be why we have so many dead churches.  Without discernment, they are tolerating this spirit and the sin (which is often hidden at first) that it operates in."

"Just for the record," Nicole asked, "there is a distinction between the Jezebel spirit and the person that the spirit tries to attach to, right?" 

"Absolutely," Casie said.  "God loves the individual whether or not they are a Christian.  He understands the fierce battle for their soul, but He has no tolerance for this wicked spirit and strictly warns His people not to tolerate it either.  Those who do tolerate it and refuse to repent will eventually suffer severe consequences."

Nicole said, "I was just thinking about the Jezebel spirit that we encountered in the balcony at church.  It had come in with a woman who had been part of that church many years before.  The woman was long gone, but that spirit had stayed connected to the building because no one had recognized it and commanded it to leave."

"Oh yeah!" Casie exclaimed.  "And it tried to attach itself to you.  It was waiting for just the right person to fall prey to its seduction.  Just think how differently things would have gone if you wouldn't have recognized it and had given in to it!"

Nicole shivered.  "Scary thought!  I was wondering how a Christian could allow such a terrible spirit to work its way into their life, but in thinking about that experience, I can totally understand how."

Casie explained, "Jezebel loves to find Christians to attach to.  It will even encourage non-Christians to go to church, maybe even to have a 'salvation' experience.  That way it can work it's destruction from the inside out. 

"This spirit takes advantage of people who have been wounded and unloved because they are often looking for ways to be in control so that they won't be hurt again.  It offers that false sense of comfort, power and control that appeals to them.