DAILY ENCOURAGEMENT TUESDAY - Demonic Actions in This Hour. Part 1.

The devil will let a preacher prepare a sermon if it will keep him from preparing himself. - Vance Havner.

And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, "What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are--the Holy One of God."But Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be silent, and come out of him!" And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying out with a loud voice, came out of him. - Mark 1:23-26.

The Bible teaches that the origin of false doctrines (1 Timothy 4:1) and the origin of all false religion is demonic (1 Corinthians 10:19-20). This explains the frequency of demon possession among people of false religions and the strong demonic opposition of missionary work in so many places throughout the world. - Touch the World.

I want to make it very clear that there is no way, that I want to give prominence to Satan in these articles, nor do I want people to believe that he has more power than our God. Greater is He that is in us, than he that is in the world! We live in a day when most people have abandoned any concept of what is actually taking place in the spiritual realm. If I tell someone that demons are real, the normal reaction is one of scoff or scepticism.

In a day of modern convenience, we have slowly and methodically isolated the things of God from within our lives. There is a supernatural battle today for our souls. Satan cannot be every where at once, he is not omnipresent, he does not know what we think, or how we feel, and what is worse he does not care.

THE REALITY OF DEMONS

There is a spiritual world, which exists; the Bible speaks of it… And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit. - Mar 1:23. The Apostle Paul writes in Ephesians 6:12… For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

We Are Fighting Against Spiritual Forces Of Evil
The Apostle John writes in 1 John 4:1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.

Our Battle Today; What It Is Not
Not against Governments, Homosexuals, other denominations, not against flesh and blood, but against spiritual forces of evil in Heavenly places. There are times when we feel that we have lost the battle, why? Because we did not show up for the war. In fact, we do not know where the war was, and we went down in defeat. We like to keep things nice and tidy in our minds and, in so doing we choose not to clutter it with the possibilities that Scripture is correct.

We want to try to explain away demonic activity, theoretically. We tell ourselves that those things are not true. Something is killing our Churches today, something is literally and swiftly destroying them bit by bit, something is causing our next generation to thumb its nose at God. In addition, the atrocities we see occurring today, are but drops in the bucket, as to what demonic reality is all about.

Recently National Geographic ran an article about the Alaskan Bull Moose. The males of the species battle for dominance during the fall breeding season, literally going head-to-head with antlers crunching together as they collide. Often the antlers, their only weapon are broken. That ensures defeat. The heftiest moose, with the largest and strongest antlers, triumphs. Therefore, the battle fought in the fall is really won during the summer, when the moose eat continually. The one that consumes the best diet for growing antlers and gaining weight will be the heavyweight in the fight. Those that eat inadequately sport weaker antlers and less bulk.

There is a lesson here for us. Spiritual battles await us. Satan will choose a season to attack. Will we be victorious, or will we fall? Much depends on what we do now--before the wars begin. The Bull Moose principle: Enduring faith, strength, and wisdom for trials are best developed before they're needed. - Craig Brian Larson.

There Is Demonic Reality
Who are these beings? Where did they come from? They are the fallen angels in Revelation Rev 12:9 And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world--he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.

They followed their leader Lucifer as he revolted against God. The name Lucifer means literally, “light bearer” he was the son of the morning. When he fell, he became Satan the same meaning father of the night. He is the king of darkness, the bible tells of this occurrence…

For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment; - 2 Pet 2:4; and in Jude 1:6 And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day.

True story. A Christian leader -- we'll call him Steve -- was traveling recently by plane. He noticed that the man sitting two seats over was thumbing through some little cards and moving his lips. The man looked professorial with his goatee and graying brown hair, and Steve placed him at fifty-something.

Guessing the man was a fellow-believer, Steve leaned over to engage him in conversation. "Looks to me like you're memorizing something," he said. "No, actually I was praying," the man said. Steve introduced himself. "I believe in prayer too," he said. "Well, I have a specific assignment," said the man with the goatee. "What's that?" Steve asked. "I'm praying for the downfall of Christian pastors." "I would certainly fit into that category," Steve said. "Is my name on the list?" "Not on my list," the man replied. - Common Ground.

Scripture tells us, that these creatures are: Invisible, personal and powerful, that they have no bodies of their own and they seek to accomplish their work through the minds, bodies, and personalities of human beings here on earth. Have you ever wondered why these evil and dastardly beings might be interested in us? Is it because of their hatred for God, and his love for us?

Loving Father, I thank you that we have been given authority to trample over the enemy! By the power of the Holy Spirit, help me to realise that the weapons of my warfare are not of this world, but are mighty to pulling down demonic strongholds. Help me Lord to step up my prayer life, in Jesus powerful name, I pray, amen!
GBYAY