The Spiritual Realm

There is an entire race of people living on this earth that we can’t see. They live in our homes, ride in our cars and influence our lives on a daily basis. They are not what the movies have made them out to be. They are not grotesque monsters that eat human flesh, vampires or werewolves.  There is nothing physical about them at all. They have a bodily form just like you and me. They have arms and legs and a head with some similar facial features. They are hairless and their outer shell or clothes is formed to them so tightly it may not even be clothes at all.  They are thin and extremely fast moving creatures because they are not controlled by gravity and they do not require the muscle we have to deal with the atmospheric pressures on earth. They are quit possible faster than a speeding car. When they are visible to the human eye there are waves of energy that flow off their back like their bodies are  slicing through the atmosphere. It’s hard to explain.

There are billions of these creatures that work 24 hours a day under a military dictatorship. Their leader is Lucifer, satan the devil. The different divisions are described in Ephesians 6:12

“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”

We read in Colossians 1:15-17 that Jesus Christ created them,  “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.  For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.  And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.” They were cast down to earth when satan and his angles were thrown out of heaven.

The Bible also tells us in Colossians 2:13-15 that Jesus Christ defeated them through His crucifixion,  “And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses,  having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.  Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.” You see satan and all his demons are a defeated foe and can only rule over you through disobedience to God, and disobedience in the Bible is sin. Satan has no power over you unless you give it to him. You invite him and his demonic friends into your life by not following the protocol of the Bible. Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.  For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come,  nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:37-39

Now here lies the great mystery, “And to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ;  to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places,  according to the eternal

purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord,  in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him.” Ephesians 3:9-12  Prior to the crucifixion, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ few people realized the scope of the church age. The major and minor profits made countless predictions concerning Jesus and the church, but never realized that it would consume a period of 2,000 years. I believe, that the Apostle Paul didn’t even have a clue of the length of the “dispensation of the church” when he discussed the end of the age. Daniel admits his confusion on the whole matter and John who wrote “The Revelation of Jesus Christ” had to be perplexed at everything he saw and heard.

Now we come to a story in the Bible that many over look. We read in Luke Jesus saying,  “When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’  And when he comes, he finds it swept and put in order.  Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first.” Luke 11:24-26 The bulk of the story is about the demons, and we read that the unclean spirit goes out of a man, or is put out of a man, and the house or brain of the person is swept clean. This is the mental condition of a new Christian. They have accepted Christ as their Savior and the Holy Spirit has come upon them expelling all the demons inside of them, and has put their house in order. Except for prior knowledge, this mind is empty, and an empty mind is an open target for demon control. The Holy Spirit can’t help you unless you fill your mind with the Word of God. The definition of a Christian is someone who has a personal relationship with Jesus Christ through daily Bible study and prayer. If you want the protection from demon attack afforded a Christian, if you want to grow in your relationship with God, if you want to grow in faith and if you want to go to heaven; daily Bible study and prayer. Being a Christian is a lifelong walk in faith and faith comes from daily Bible study and prayer are necessary. The Bible says, “Faith comes from hearing or reading the Word of God,” and it says, “He who is faithful until the end shall be saved.”

It was a warm October afternoon in 2007,  and I was working in my shop. I was on my twentieth day of a fast similar to the one described in the book of Daniel and I had abstained from meat and sweets. The sun was shinning through the garage door so I left the lights off as I worked at my bench. I caught a glance of some movement out of the corner of my eye. As I turned and, looked there was a tall, very slender person walking by my garage door. He was carrying something very similar to an ipad except it was smaller and opaque. You could see completely through him/her/it, I am not sure. There were waves of energy resonating from its back. As I turned to get a better look, the being noticed me sitting there. Then it realized that I could see him, and it bolted very fast around the corner of the building and disappeared. He had this amazing look on his face when he realized I could see him. It was a look of total shock, and then there was great fear in his eyes.  I know now that he wasn’t afraid of me, but the Holy Spirit that resides inside of me. Several times I saw glimpses of this creature inside and outside of my home. Each time he would run from me so fast that he would disappear almost instantly.  I became concerned of his presence so I prayed to my heavenly Father, “If this creature be of Your doing, Father then he is welcome to stay, however if this creature is in league with satan then I ask you to remove him from this property. In Jesus Christ’s name I pray, Amen.” I never say it again.

I have, however, witnessed several anomalies in the last 5 years. None of them were more complete of a person than this one. I believe that through Bible study, prayer and fasting the spiritual world that exists along side of our world can be evident.  There are stories in the Bible that tell us that we should err on the side of caution because confronting some of these spirits can be dangerous. And when they had come to the multitude, a man came to Him, kneeling down to Him and saying,  “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and suffers severely; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water.  So I brought him to Your disciples, but they could not cure him.” Then Jesus answered and said, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him here to Me.”  And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him; and the child was cured from that very hour. Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief;for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.” Matthew 17:14-21 There are several warnings about getting involved with people who claim to have the ability to contact spirits.  No one  should practice witchcraft, or a soothsaying, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritualist, or one who calls up the dead.  For all who do these things are an abomination to the Lord, and because of these abominations the Lord your God drives them out from before you. Deuteronomy 18:10-12

The good news is if you are a daily Bible study student, you are well connected to the Holy Spirit that lives inside of you. These demon spirits recognize His presence and flee. He, the Holy Spirit, is truly the person we should spend our time with. Listening for that still, small voice can be the most rewarding relationship we can have on this earth, and it is  important we spend time developing our testimony. And they overcame him (satan) by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. Revelation 12:11 Our testimony protects us from the attacks of satan.