In Chapter 6 of Healing Your Church Hurt, Stephen Mansfield humorously notes that he has a friend who always is threatening to write a book titled “Demons I Have Known and Loved”. Stephen’s friend is greatly gifted in helping people get free from their bondages, so there is more than a grain of truth in his concept.
Stephen adds that people get nervous talking about demons, primarily because their concepts of demons aren’t Biblically-based: think horror movies and Stephen King novels. The biggest misconception of this thought pattern is the belief that the only time demons are at work is when something dramatic is happening.
The truth is that the word in New Testament Greek that we translate as “demon possession” means a great deal more. The word daimonizomai probably is best translated “demonized”. Used the right way, the author states, the word applies to a wide range of demonic activity against human beings. When good Christians give themselves intently to an area of uncleanness, demons soon get involved. In fact, when demons establish a stronghold in part of our personalities we don’t want to change, in reality we’re voluntarily partnering with those demons.
Stephen concludes by asking us to seriously consider these questions:
“Are you church hurts and that season of humiliation and pain in any way involved with a stronghold in your life? Is there an aspect of your personality that you tend to like but which is actually sin and which exacerbated the problems you have endured? Are there demons you have known and loved?”
Today’s question: In the devastation of your vocation loss, are there areas of your personality where the devil has gained a foothold? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “We had hoped . . .”
