How did I get a Demon? How did "they" get there?

   We are going to examine some of the ways that this happens. There are many ways that Satan uses to gain some measure of control over a human life. Demons are spirit beings that can't function in our physical ream like they want to unless they can gain some kind of entry into a human body. If they can gain entry into our body, they can influence our thoughts and actions much more than they can from the outside.

   Let's examine six of the ways that demons can use to gain entry into our minds and bodies:

1. Willful Sin
   If you are living in deliberate spiritual rebellion, you are open to demonic attack. God will only set you free from you enemies, not your friends. He will only set you free to serve him better. If you are living in sin, you must change your address. You must turn to Jesus with all your heart. You must build a good life with Him, which means spending time with Him in prayer and reading his word. You must say "Jesus, forgive my sins. I repent and I renounce them and I turn from my sins to you with all my heart". Then you are ready to ask him to deliver you from your enemies.

2. Involuntary Inheritance
   Ancestral curses cause an inherited vulnerability to demons. Have you noticed that cancer and heart disease usually show up in every generation when it starts in a family? Doctors know that some sicknesses and diseases pass from one generation to the next. The same applies to spiritual sickness. How many alcoholics have alcoholic children? Many times, no matter how the children try not to be like Mommy or Daddy, they turn out the same. How many abused children grow up to be abusers of their children? The curses that the children were born with, many times pass to their children and to their grandchildren. These curses can only be broken through the power and the name of Jesus.
   Let's read Duet: 18:9-14. When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord, and because of these detestable practices, the Lord your God will drive out those nations before you. You must be blameless before the Lord your God. Now let's read Duet. 28:58-61. If you do not carefully follow all the words of this law which are written in this book, and do not revere this glorious and awesome name -the Lord your God- the Lord will send fearful plagues on you and your descendants, harsh and prolonged disasters, and severe and lingering illnesses. He will bring upon you all the diseases of Egypt that you dreaded, and they will cling to you. The Lord will also bring on you every kind of sickness and disaster not recorded in this Book of the Law, until you are destroyed.
   You say, "Didn't Jesus take the curse for us?" Yes, Jesus took the curse of the law, which was that there was no forgiveness wider the law. There was just atonement by animal sacrifice year by year. The sin was covered by the blood of the sacrifice, not taken away. Jesus became our sacrifice to be free from the curse of the law. Our sins are removed as far as the East is from the West, never to be remembered again. What we read here is the curse of the Lord. If we do the same things that they did, we will reap the same things that they reaped.

3. Occult Entanglement
   Read Deuteronomy 18:9-14 once more. When we become involved in the things that God says "do not do" it is like signing a legal and binding contract with the forces of darkness. Satan is the smartest lawyer that ever was, and if he has a legal right to torment you, you cannot stop him until you take away that legal right. This is done by forgiving and asking forgiveness from God. Also, the contract must be broken. This is done by renouncing the things of the occult and turning from them to God with the whole heart. What are these things? Some of the most common are: horoscope, oujia boards, water witching, fortune telling, psychic healing, tarot cards, séances and mental telepathy. (See the detailed list at the end of this article.) Have you ever wondered why God told Israel to destroy some of the cities completely when they came into the land of Canaan or Palestine? He said to destroy all belongings, all cattle, all people, men, women and children, all their gold and silver, every thing that they owned. It was because some of these people were so corrupted by occult sins and demon worship that God knew if His people saved any of their belongings or lived in their cities, they would become corrupt also.
    Occult sins are not covered by the general rule of forgiveness. Sure, when we ask Jesus to forgive our sins, He does. Our spirits are saved and on their way to heaven, but many times our body and our soul are still tormented by the occult spirits that we have a legal and binding contract with. This causes a vulnerability to the forces of darkness. The contract must be voided. If an occult ritual was performed over us, it must be undone. We do this by saying, "Jesus I renounce all the occult involvement (name them). I repent for turning to your enemies about things in my life. I ask you to forgive me and cleanse me from all occult activity".

4. Abuse
    When children are abused, the general nature of the trauma opens them to demonic activity. The five areas of abuse are physical, verbal, emotional, mental and sexual. Of the five, more children are demonized by sexual abuse than all the others. Statistics from "The Family Research Council", a Christian oriented family organization based in Washington, D.C., tells us that 40% of the people in our churches were sexually molested or raped before 17 years of age. This includes men and women both. Out in the every day world, the percentage is 17%. What does this tell us? Hurting people are coming into our churches looking for help. If we don't provide help for them, they will turn to drugs, alcohol, sex and the occult to try to find it. What happens when a child is abused? He or she, most of the time, grows up to be an angry, violent person. They can become revengeful, and feel compelled to take it out on some body else. School violence is a good example. You say, "It isn't fair. I'm the victim and I got the demon!" Nothing that Satan ever does is fair. His kingdom does not play by our rules. He will take every unfair advantage to gain a foothold in our lives.

5. Addictions
    Addictions always go deeper than just addictions. Some deep, underlying root of bitterness and rejection usually drives a person to addictions. What was described in the abuse section, many times, leads to drugs and alcohol. Mind altered states from drugs and alcohol open us to demons. You gave him the right to come in when you yielded your will to the drugs. This opens the doorway to the soul so that demons can enter. If you are out of control, the demons will get in control! Drugs and alcohol shut down the process of your will and give a legal right for demons to enter!

6. Abandonment
    Physical or emotional abandonment opens a child to demons. A parent who is not there, or doesn't care about the child when be or she is there, opens a child to Satan's kingdom. This brings rejection to an unwanted child. Rejection can create the most serious wound to the emotions that the child will ever suffer.

Now to the cure for all these things:
Repent, renounce, and remove.
Repent of all sin.
Renounce all occult involvement.
Renounce all family curses.
Forgive all who have hurt you.
Forgiveness heals the wound of rejection, resentment infects it.
Identify the enemy inside. If you are an angry person, for example, begin to resist anger.
Pray and ask Jesus to help you. Then begin to take the authority that you have in Jesus Christ to remove. "Anger, in the name of Jesus, I command you to leave."

For more help, come to our meetings every Tuesday night at 7:00 pm in the Chapel at the CARPENTER'S HOME CHURCH in Lakeland, Florida.

LIST OF OCCULT RELATED OBJECTS AND ACTIVITIES:

NUMEROLOGY
FORTUNE TELLING
SORCERY
PSYCHIC HEALING
VOODOO
SATERIA
TEA LEAF READINGS
MEDIUMS
HYPNOTISM
TABLE TIPPING
WATER WITCHING
HOROSCOPES
ASTROLOGY
PENDULUM
WHITE MAGIC
BLACK MAGIC
CONJURATION
FETISHES
NECROMANCY (TALKING TO THE DEAD)
TAROT CARDS
PARAPSYCHOLOGY
ASTRAL PROJECTION
LEVITATION
SOUL TRAVEL
PENTAGRAMS
ACUPUNCTURE
CHANTING
NEW AGE PHILOSOPHY
OUIJIA BOARDS
TALISMANS
WITCHCRAFT
FAMILIAR SPIRITS
PALM READING
CRYSTAL BALLS
HANDWRITING ANALYSIS
SOME INDIAN CEREMONYS
E.S.P.
ANY OCCULT BOOKS (Example) SANTANIC BIBLE, EGYPTIAN BOOK OF THE DEAD, ETC.
DIVINATION
MANY VIDEO GAMES (Example) DUNGEONS & DRAGONS
ALL OCCULT MOVIES (Example) THE EXORCIST, THE OMEN, ROSEMARY'S BABY
AND MANY MORE.

Written by Paul Cooprider

For more information, contact us or come to our meetings every Tuesday at 7:00 PM at Ignited Church in Lakeland, FL.