Demons Among Us?

Back in the day before cell phones, landlines were serious business. And international calls? Those were really important (not to mention expensive!).

Well, one day when I was working with Auntie Trini in the ministry in Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico, we received just such a call. Some ministry friends had had a youth group visit—and one of the girls had kind of gone off her rocker. She was, in fact, acting like a feral animal. The youth group returned to their home state, leaving the mother and daughter behind; the mother didn't want to take her daughter home in this condition. Our friends had prayed for the girl, prayed for healing, tried to cast demons out from her, but all to no avail. The girl kept acting like a ferocious lion, crouching and roaring on all fours.

In desperation they called Auntie. They knew she had experience praying for deliverance from demons. So while I kept the home fires burning, Auntie flew to the border to help.

There, after a few pertinent questions, she was able to ascertain that this malady was not an illness of the mind, or some chemical imbalance. She learned that the girl had, in fact, delved into the powers of darkness. It turned out that the girl had been the recipient of a levitation experiment during, of all things, a Sunday School picnic. Oblivious to the fact that such powers are of demonic origin (God uses His might to perform miracles of blessings, not to perform tricks to amuse or entertain), the experiment had been successful in its objective. The girl was levitated. Unbeknownst to her, however, the "innocent" experiment had opened the door of her soul to the workings of the enemy.

Our friends were astounded when, after a simple prayer on the girl's behalf, Auntie trounced the demon powers and the girl was immediately restored to her right mind. She was able to go home with head held high, no longer under bondage to the enemy of our souls, and with an important lesson under her belt: flirting with powers that are not of God (Leviticus 20:6; 19:13; Revelation 21:8, among others) opens our selves to the workings of the enemy.

Before Auntie left our friends, she reiterated to them the importance of remaining focused on Jesus. It was He who redirected the disciples when they were in extasy over the fact that demons had obeyed them, saying, "I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you: but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven" (Luke 10:18-20). Sadly, Auntie had seen prayer warriors whose focus on demons had warped their spiritual perception to such a degree that instead of sensing the presence of God, they felt the presence of the devil behind every bush.

There are evil spirits that walk this earth—but they are neither all powerful nor ubiquitous. While they should be confronted when they manifest, as Christians we shouldn't be looking for them behind every sin or misstep. Many times deviation from God's path stems from ignorance, the human will, or simply desires of the flesh. Despite Auntie's warning, however, our friends took the plunge into "a demon in every bush" theology. If you had smoked one cigarette in all your life, you had a nicotine demon. Any anti-biblical thing a person had delved into or merely brushed against was not a sin to repent of and conquer but a demon to exorcise. If that were true, many of the wonderful Christians living godly lives are unknowingly demon possessed. These precious but beginning-to-err people even started teaching that you could never be really free of all demons—exorcism was a work in progress, a lifetime of deliverance session after deliverance session. Hmm ...

I asked them about how such a belief could be reconciled to the fact that when Jesus delivered the Gadarene demoniac He did so in one fell swoop.

Their answer threw me for a loop. "Janine," they told me, "how do you know he didn't go back to Jesus for more deliverance sessions?"

Young as I was at the time, I didn't know what to say to this. Later, on reflection, I realized the fallacy of their logic. Jesus told the delivered man to go back to where he was from and tell them what great things God had done for him. If he was still a half-baked only-half-delivered guy, his testimony wouldn't have been worth much. He was so changed, however, that the next time Jesus came to the Decapolis region, instead of begging him to leave like they had done right after the demoniac's deliverance, they brought their sick to Him for healing (Mark 6:53-56; Mark 7:31-37; Matthew 4:25). A continuing need for deliverance doesn't lend itself to support the populace's embracing of Jesus that resulted from the Gadarene demoniac's testimony.

Our friends' foray into theological error began with a dangerous red flag: adding to what is written in God's Word. These were not novices in the Christian walk, yet how easily they turned aside into deceit. This sad story reinforces our need to be ever vigilant, to run any new belief we run across through the unadulterated sieve of God's Word, no matter how enticing it seems, in order to guard our hearts from error.

Why do people mess with demons or demonic powers? There is just something about the supernatural that calls to the human psyche. If people don't go to Jesus, where will they have this need fulfilled? Why, in the enemy's court, of course—Ouija boards, seances, witchcraft, etc. But this extra-curricular delving into spiritual stuff comes at a price—not only are we playing with fire that God says is abomination to Him, we open ourselves up to the machinations of our enemy.

There is a resurgence of witchcraft in our country today. People are hungry for meaning and something more than the humdrumness of everyday life. Don't let yourself be deceived. Yes, there is a kind of power to be found in those things, but it is not of God. Guard your heart—and instead delve into the Word of God. Pray. Seek Him. You will see miracles, you will see the moving of His hand, and your heart will find that fulfillment it craves. Don't be pulled into the enemy's parlor game tricks; seek the power that is real, comes from God, and leads to worship and a closer walk with Him.

"There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch. or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination unto the Lord ..." (Dt. 18:10-12).

"Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these: ...witchcraft...of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God" (Galatians 5:19-21).