Open Heavens Tuesday: Tolerating Demons?

Memorise: Neither give place to the devil.  Ephesians 4:27

Read: Acts 16:16-18

16 And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a
certain damsel possessed with a spirit of
divination met us, which brought her masters
much gain by soothsaying:
17 The same followed Paul and us, and cried,
saying, These men are the servants of the most
high God, which shew unto us the way of
salvation.
18 And this did she many days. But Paul, being
grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command
thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of
her. And he came out the same hour.

Message
One of the signs affirming that you have received
Jesus as your Lord and Saviour is the ability to
cast out demons. This grace is not the exclusive
preserve of a few Christians who are branded
“deliverance ministers”; rather, it should be
commonplace among all Christians (Mark
16:17-18). However, you need to know that you
cannot cast out demons while living in sin; they
will expose your secret deeds. There is the story
of a minister who attempted to cast out a demon
from a fellow, and the demon spoke out saying:
“Are you the one commanding me to go? You who
committed fornication with so and so yesterday?”
That was the end of that deliverance session. In
practice, we don’t see a lot of believers in Christ
casting out demons today. Why is this so? Are you
afraid, or living in secret sin? This should no be
so. You should cast out demons whenever you
perceive any operating around you. From today,
you shall be a demon-chaser in Jesus’ Name.
Wherever you go and find demons in operation,
you should stamp your feet down in the Name of
Jesus Christ and command them to take their
leave. They will have no choice but to obey. If you
need to support your faith, you can team up with
one or two more believers and go out to preach
the gospel, casting out the demons you find along
the way, and they will obey you.
In our Bible reading, there was this young lady
with the spirit of divination who appointed herself
as the Public Relations Officer of Paul and his
team, while at the same time working for her evil
masters. She did this for a while, until Paul was
grieved in the spirit and commanded the evil spirit
to come out of her, and it did. From this account,
you should learn that as long as you are ready to
tolerate demons, they will continue to harass you.
The trouble you allow to stay with you may take
you along with it. In some churches, spirits of
divination are in operation and they are tolerated.
In fact, some pastors don’t know the difference
between a spirit of divination and the spirit of
prophecy that comes from God. In such churches,
the devil reigns, and he manipulates people freely.
Many believers today are far from the place where
God wants them to be, because the forces of
darkness are fighting to hinder their joy, they
throw up their hands in resignation to fate,
expecting God to do something about it, but God
expects them to command those forces working
against them to loose their grip and take their
leave in the Name of Jesus. Are you doing this today?

Action Point:
If you notice demonic manipulation in any area of
your life, command the spirits responsible to loose
their grip and take their leave in Jesus Name.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: EXODUS 4-5 and ROMANS 4
 Pst E. A ADEBOYE