Power over the Enemy: Breaking Free from Spiritual Strongholds (4 page)

That Jesus is our Healer reminds me of a lady who came into a church where I was ministering with knots all over her body. She could not even turn her head a certain way because of a huge knot. Her arms had been frozen by rheumatoid arthritis. I had met her, but I did not know she had lupus, a chronic inflammatory disease that occurs when the body’s immune system attacks its own tissues and organs.

The Holy Spirit said to me, “I want to heal her.” Note that there is a difference between what I say and what the Holy Spirit says. When I touched that woman on the forehead, the power of God came on her, and in one moment’s time she was healed. Her hands and arms flew up, and every knot left her body instantly. She was healed of everything that was wrong with her, and she received the baptism in the Holy Spirit. When she went back to her doctors, they verified the fact she no longer had lupus.

This miracle happened because the Holy Spirit spoke to me. Don’t let the devil get you to do some foolish thing that God has not told you to do. Keep Jesus first in your life and follow His voice.

O
ne of the great themes of Scripture that the church routinely neglects is that of spiritual warfare. There is a warfare with the enemy of our souls that all Christians are called to engage in, but the majority of today’s churches refuse to take it seriously, and many dismiss it completely. But just because someone denies the devil and demon powers does not diminish their reality.

The apostle Paul said at the end of his life, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7). If this great apostle had to fight, do we actually think we are going to heaven on flowery beds of ease? If it was possible for a veteran such as Paul to be hindered by Satan (1 Thessalonians 2:18), what warning ought this to be to us? We’ve linked ourselves up to Jesus and His Great Commission to reach the heathen world, and the devil will do everything he can to stop us.

For many years after I put my faith in Jesus and had entered the ministry, I did not know my rights, my privileges in Him. Consequently, I did not know how to use the Name of Jesus or how to resist the devil successfully. And you know, the devil beat me down. But thank God, through that entire struggle I learned what I know today. I don’t know everything, but I know who my enemy is. I know who the troublemaker is and what he’s trying to do.

He is going to do everything he can to confuse your mind, discourage your spirit, and make your body sick. The devil is doing his best, but his best is not enough when we know who we are and our rights and privileges as believers.

According to the apostle Paul, this is the true nature of the spiritual battlefield upon which we are engaged: “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand” (Ephesians 6:10–13).

A different translation says our battle is “against the world rulers of this darkness,” and another says “the sovereigns of this present darkness. The master spirits of this dark world.” These cosmic powers of this dark world are just as real as the angels. These spiritual hosts have the mastery of the world in these dark days. The great evil princes of darkness rule this world.

That’s what God’s Word says. There is another world filled with various powers of evil that hold sway in the darkness around us. As grim and menacing as it sounds, there are despotic empires and forces that control and govern our dark world.

The apostle Paul adds this: “in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience” (Ephesians 2:2). That was our true state in life before we came to faith!

Jesus called the devil “the ruler of this world” (John 12:31).

The apostle Paul called him “the god of this age,” who blinds the minds of unbelievers “lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them” (2 Corinthians 4:4).

The apostle John tells us that “we know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one” (1 John 5:19).

Do you believe this is true?

This is why we have abortions and murders. It’s why we have children killing children and drive-by shootings. It’s why we have adultery and fornication and lewdness and pornography and violent video games and every other foul thing that’s come into the world. It’s the rulers who have the mastery in this dark world. And
everyone who doesn’t have Jesus in their heart is under the enemy’s power
. But thank God, we have been delivered from the power and the authority of darkness, and we have been translated into the kingdom of His dear Son!

The devil and these cosmic rulers have an individual plan against every individual by name. They don’t just flit here and there and happen to brush up against you and happen to torment you a little while. There is a plan that Satan has against every child of God. He knows your weaknesses. He knows all the things that can cause you to stumble, and he has assigned these evil princes to dog your path, to attack your family, to drag you down to hell if they can. The Bible tells us that we are fighting against these great evil forces.

The enemy has assigned demons to follow you, to stand against you, and to thwart you in every way they can. They have an assignment from the evil one. You say, “Well, I just don’t believe that.” But just because you don’t believe it, doesn’t mean it’s not true. Let God be true and every man a liar.

If you’re not grounded in the Word of God and trouble comes your way, the first thing you’ll ask is, “God, why have you done this? Why have you allowed this to come on me? Why have you given me this sickness or this trouble or this heartache? Why God?” But if you know the truth, you’ll know it’s not God; it’s the devil.

Jesus said, “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy” (John 10:10). If there’s anything in your life where stealing is going on, killing is going on, destruction is going on, it’s not God; it’s the devil. The devil comes to steal your marriage. The devil comes to steal your children. The devil comes to steal your money. The devil comes to steal your peace. The devil comes to steal all that you hold dear, but not just steal; he is out to kill. Kill your dreams; kill your marriage; kill your children; kill all the joy that you have in your life. He’s out to steal, to kill, and then to destroy. That’s his work. Somebody said that when a storm comes through and destroys houses and lives, it’s an act of God. It’s not an act of God; it’s an act of Satan, who’s causing the disturbance in this world. You say, “Prove that to me.” Well, when there was a storm on the Sea of Galilee, Jesus “rebuked the wind and the raging of the water” (Luke 8:24). He couldn’t rebuke what His Father was doing; He was rebuking what the devil does.

The Bible also states, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8). The Bible states that Jesus has given us the power to use His Name. We have a Name that’s above every name. We bear that Name. And Satan trembles when he hears the sound of our footsteps.

God is raising up an army who know how to fight in today’s spiritual warfare—an army of believers who know that they’re born again and have the Name of Jesus. These believers know the enemy has to bow at that Name and to run when they resist him. The devil knows that we are more than conquerors through Christ Jesus! He’s raising up an army who knows that the greater One is within them.

It doesn’t matter how many master spirits rule or how many dark demons travel after you and try to drag you down to hell. If you know the truth and you use the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, you can break the power of the devil and drive him away! You need to be so trained that you can win the conflict.

In the book of Job, the oldest book in the Bible, God pulls back the curtain and clearly shows the human race who is the troublemaker and who is the Healer and the Deliverer (read Job 1—2). God pulled back the curtain of time and said, “I want you to know that when sickness and tragedy come, it’s not Me. I’m not the great afflicter. I am the Healer!”

We need to realize that it’s not up to God or our pastor. You must learn to act for yourself. You have to rise up, stand against the devil yourself, and drive him out of your house! Use the Name of Jesus! If every father would take charge of the home and use the Name of Jesus and rebuke the devil and drive him out of their home, they’d have peace. You can break the power of the devil in the Name of Jesus, but you have to do it yourself.

I love the story in Genesis 14. The enemy had come down on Sodom and Gomorrah where Lot, Abraham’s nephew, lived and had taken all their goods, all their wealth, and all the people, including Lot. That is precisely what the devil wants to do. But notice that the Bible says, “Now when Abram heard” (v. 14). See, you must first hear some things. When Abraham heard that the enemy had taken his nephew and family, all the wealth, and all the goods, he didn’t get mad at God. He got mad at the enemy. Don’t blame God; blame the enemy. When Abraham heard that the enemy had taken these things, what did he do? The Bible says he “armed” himself and “his three hundred and eighteen trained servants” (v. 14).

You have to rise up,

stand against the devil yourself,

and drive him out of your house!

USE THE NAME OF
J
ESUS!

That’s what I want you to do. I want you to learn how to put on the armor of God. If you put on the armor of God, you’ll look just like God. Abram armed himself and all in his household. And then the Bible states that he “attacked them and pursued them” (v. 15). Have you lost something to the devil? Pursue it and go after it. You have to learn how to go after the enemy. Don’t be saying that “the devil’s chasing me”; rather, say, “I’m chasing the devil.” And the Bible says, “He… pursued them… and brought back all the goods” (vv. 15–16). How much?
All!
That tells me that if we’ll use the Name of Jesus and learn how to fight in the spiritual warfare, we can recover whatever the enemy has stolen from us.

That’s what this is all about—to teach you how to get it all back! You can’t do it in a moment in time. You can’t do it in one church service. But if you are in the power of the devil’s grip with alcohol or drugs or self-righteousness or any sin, you can get free. Do not live in ignorance of who you are in Christ, what Christ has done for you, and what you can do through Him. “You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4)!

Our enemy is the devil. The Bible says, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12). These terrible unseen demonic forces are our enemy. The enemy is not just out there somewhere. It is the devil and all the princes and demons under him. They are highly organized in the heavens and assigned tasks. You are on their hit list! By name! Your family is on the devil’s hit list! If you know who you are in Christ, you’ll get off of his hit list, and he’ll be on your hit list.