Quote:
Originally Posted by jediwill83
if Christ is in you and you are in Christ then the enemy doesnt see you...he sees Christ...UNLESS he can get you to step out and respond or react in a way that is not like Christ. Hes just lobbing bombs and noisemakers trying to get a unChristlike response from you.
See, if the old Jediwill83 is truly dead, I wont respond as the old me would. The enemy doesnt have any power over the new me, but if I bring back the old me...Im fair game.
If I let doubt, fear, my flesh rise up and dont keep it under subjection, that is where the enemy has some indirect power by manipulating me to behave not like Christ would.
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I believe that evil spirits can speak. They can communicate. However, they are spiritual and as a result they cannot be heard with the natural ear. Yet, they can freely communicate with other spiritual beings. While man has a physical body with physical senses, man is also a spiritual being having a soul. And so, I believe that on level imperceptible to the human ear, a spirit can whisper into the human soul. This come as temptations, suggestions, discouragements, etc. If we are not careful, since we do not hear an actual voice with our natural ears, we can think that these thoughts are our own. Let me demonstrate the power of communication upon the mind. I'm going to type something and I want you to read it. Here goes....
Red ball
Now, the vast majority of people who read that line above will instantly picture a "red ball" in their minds. I have no power to control their minds. I have no power to read their minds. But by the mere power of a "word" I injected an image from my mind to your mind. The big benefit here is, you know it's coming because I told you it was coming. In addition, you're reading the text, not really hearing me speak. But what if I could speak to you in a manner below your physical sense of seeing (as used in reading the line above) or your physical sense of hearing (which is how must of us receive the thoughts of others as they express them through spoken words).
Now, imagine a spirit whispering to you in a manner that can't be heard with the human ear, but that can be heard by the soul. Let's say that a demon said the phrase "red ball" while you were cooking dinner. What would happen? You'd be tenderizing steak for the grill and suddenly think of a red ball. Now, demons don't go around influencing us to think about red balls or soccer balls, etc. Instead, while we're doing something innocuous, they whisper things like, "That James at work, he's a real jerk. I oughta fix him." Or, "That Sally Sue, she flirted with me, she is kinda hot." And if we are not very careful, we'll think that these words are our own minds wondering into these topics and if we're not careful the flesh will rise up to great the thought, and often build upon it, linger with it, cultivate it, and begin to fixate upon it. Before you know it, you're thinking about Sally Sue in an inappropriate way because the flesh and the carnal mind began to respond to that first demonic thought impressed upon the mind. Then a second fiery dart comes your way, the demon whispers, "We're leaving town next weekend for the conference. I wonder if she'd like to hang out." Guess what you start thinking... exactly that. And you think it's you! Next your flesh stirs, and the flesh is very pleased with the idea. At this point, a seasoned saint will know that those thoughts do not originate from the new nature of the Holy Spirit residing in them. A seasoned saint will realize, they are under a subtle spiritual attack and they will take their thoughts captive and rebuke that spirit and any notion of looking at Sally Sue like that.
And that's an example of the battle we might face while awake. What about when we sleep? Do evil spirits cease their assault on our minds? Nope. They continue to impress thoughts, scenarios, discouragements, etc. upon our minds, whispering over our sleeping heads and this can influence our dreams. I assure you, if you fell asleep and I whispered "red ball" repeatedly over you while you slept for let's say a month... at some point, you'd start dreaming about a red ball.
Notice... the demons aren't in us. We're not possessed. They are outside of us. Notice they aren't working some kind of "magic" or projecting any strange new agey kind of energy. They are simply whispering things in the spirit around us that are being picked up by our souls.
Now, if we live lives of prayer and walking in the fullness of the Holy Spirit those spirits will not come near us. Because as we pray, speak the Word of God, live devotionally, and model Christ... those realities are processed in their minds. And they can't stand it. It reminds them of how utterly doomed they truly are. Imagine a spirit attacking your mind with subtle suggestions and you rebuke it and say, "Satan, the blood of Jesus is against you." What goes through that demon's mind? The cross. The blood. The Savior Jesus. The very event that sealed their defeat and will render them forever condemned in the lake of fire. They hear the name, "Jesus", and they see Him shining in their minds. This terrorizes them. They can't stand to have the thought of Jesus, His authority, His blood, or His power brought to bear upon their consciousness. If they were physical, and you simply said, "Jesus has defeated you.", they'd go into fits of rage, terror, and anxiety. They'd have a nervous break down right in front of us.
The battlefield is the mind. It's not a realm of magic and fantastic energies, and powers. It's the mind. They effect us by interjecting thoughts of temptation and sin into our minds. We send them to flight by bringing the reality of Christ to bear upon their minds through our words of rebuke and our command that they be bound and cast out.
It's not magic. It's a battle of words.
Now, please also note... not every carnal thought is from a demon. But if you pay close attention to the thoughts that pass through your mind, you'll notice that on occasion, some are a little... different. They don't reflect you at all. Not even the carnal you. It is at that point that you need to realize that you're under an attack.
Christians and unbelievers who believe these attacks and think they are actually thinking these things often give into the temptations or allow the discouraging thoughts to defeat them. When one is believing the lies of these devils and living defeated lives under their influence, this is oppression.
Hybrid Mode
