Blog

It was around 11:00 PM. This was back during the time when I lived with my grandmother and Debbie was just a dream of mine. I had mentioned before the incident in which I had been awakened by a heavy weight laying on top of me. This was the same type of feeling only it wasn't a weight and I was wide awake, reading in my room. The room was filled with the presence of evil though I could see nothing. I knew that an evil spirit had entered my bedroom. The temptation to be afraid was all around me. It wasn't the first time this had happened.

Now folks, this may sound a bit fantastic but it is true. It really happened. Once again I began to pray nearly begging God to make this evil presence go away. This time, the more I prayed the stronger the evil became. It was nearly as if a dark mist was filling the room. I didn't know what to do and I was beginning to give in to the fear.

Then it happened. My grandmother was fast asleep. But suddenly I heard a voice. She was singing, faintly at first but then right out loud she sang the words of an old Andrea Crouch song, "Jesus is the answer for the world today " As quickly as it had come that evil presence seemed to run from the room. I'm not kidding folks; this was real. The next morning I asked my grandmother if she remembered singing that song and of course she had no recollection of it at all. She was singing in her sleep. But I believe that it was the Lord prompting her in her dreams to sing that song.

From that day forth I have never felt that evil presence of fear just like that again. It was driven not only from my room that night but completely out of my life. At that time I had been a Christian for five or six years. I had been intensely studying for ministry and I had no idea that kind of fear lurked in my life. It had been a strong hold that the devil had refused to let go when I came to the Lord.

There are those going around claiming that Christians can be demon possessed. I find no such teaching in the word of God. In fact we are told that the devil and the Holy Spirit cannot occupy the same space. So if we have been saved and the Holy Spirit lives in our lives the devil can only come back if we send the Holy Spirit out of our lives. I've talked to a lot of Christians who live in fear of a demon spirit taking them over. I always tell them, just as I'm telling you, if we stand fast in the Lord that cannot happen.

However, just like I had that fear of evil spirits lurking inside of me even when I was not aware of it, we can have other things that are there, and most of us do. I firmly believe that it will most likely take the rest of our lives to weed it all out. I'm speaking of those weaknesses that the devil most often tempts us with. I'm talking about things that are un-Christ-like some of which we know about and some we don't know about yet.

I also believe that if the Lord wanted to rid us of all those things when we get saved that He could but it would so overwhelm us that I'm not certain we could take that kind of change. So one by one the Lord will reveal them to us and allow us to cast the devil out of that strong hold. Some are fierce battles and it may seem that we will never overcome. But if we hold true to the Lord, and never fail to ask His forgiveness when we yield to that particular temptation, one day our victory will be won.

We may also wonder, "I thought that we were to be perfect just like God is perfect." I've studied long and hard on that one. Though I am not an authority I can tell you what the Lord spoke to my heart regarding this subject. When we get saved, the Holy Spirit takes up His abode and our spirits are made perfect. But we are still housed in a body of flesh with bad habits and thoughts. It will take the rest of our lives to make our imperfect bodies, climb the ladder to where our perfect spirits are. Armed with this knowledge, along with the word of God and the mighty Holy Spirit, we can cast the devil from our lives!


Jerry D. Ousley is the Author of five books, "Soul Challenge", "Soul Journey" "Ordeal" "The Spirit Bread Daily Devotional" and his first novel "The Shoe Tree." Find out more by visitingwww.spiritbread.com
or email us at jousley@spiritbread.com