OPEN HEAVENS Devotional – Thursday
September 22nd 2016
TOPIC: DEMON POSSESSED?
Memorize: How God anointed
Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing
good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.
Acts 10:38
Read: 1st Samuel
16:14-23,
14 But the
Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled
him.
15 And Saul's
servants said unto him, Behold now, an evil spirit from God troubleth thee.
16 Let our
lord now command thy servants, which are before thee, to seek out a man, who is
a cunning player on an harp: and it shall come to pass, when the evil spirit
from God is upon thee, that he shall play with his hand, and thou shalt be
well.
17 And Saul
said unto his servants, Provide me now a man that can play well, and bring him
to me.
18 Then
answered one of the servants, and said, Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the
Bethlehemite, that is cunning in playing, and a mighty valiant man, and a man
of war, and prudent in matters, and a comely person, and the Lord is with
him.
19 Wherefore
Saul sent messengers unto Jesse, and said, Send me David thy son, which is with
the sheep.
20 And Jesse
took an ass laden with bread, and a bottle of wine, and a kid, and sent them by
David his son unto Saul.
21 And David
came to Saul, and stood before him: and he loved him greatly; and he became his
armourbearer.
22 And Saul
sent to Jesse, saying, Let David, I pray thee, stand before me; for he hath
found favour in my sight.
23 And it came
to pass, when the evil spirit from God was upon Saul, that David took an harp,
and played with his hand: so Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil
spirit departed from him.
Bible in one year: Ezekiel
4-6, Psalms 66:1-9
MESSAGE
The use of the term “demon
possessed” in the Bible is always in reference to a person operating under the
influence of a demon or evil spirit. The Bible describes demons as evil,
spiritual beings or malevolent forces that are opposed to God, and are in the
habit of influencing human beings to disobey God. However, demons always bow in
the presence of our God. If you study how demons related with Jesus Christ and
His disciples in the Bible, you will observe that they recognized God’s
presence in Jesus Christ and His disciples and they surrendered without much
argument. I have always told my children that if we have enough of His presence
in us, demons will flee when they sight us, how much more when we command them
to go. In Mark 5:1-6, when Jesus stepped on the shores of the Gadarenes, a
very notorious; heavily demon-possessed mad man immediately reported to Him
even before He said a word.
As a matter of fact, until you
carry a higher level of His presence in your life, you may not realize the
activities of demons in your environment. Believe it or not, they are
everywhere, performing their negative assignments. But as God increases His
presence in your life, there will be commotion because demons recognise the
presence of God and they can’t be at rest in His presence. Even in church,
while God’s anointed Word is being taught powerfully, demons will not be able
to withstand the power in the Word, this happened when Jesus was teaching in
the synagogue in Mark 1:12-26. One day, Paul and his co-labourers in God’s
vineyard were on their way to a prayer meeting when the spirit of divination in
a young lady became restless because of God’s presence in them. If only you
carry a higher level of His presence, the demons around you will manifest from
wherever they are hiding. Ask God for more of His presence upon you.
Furthermore, every encounter
with the Word releases a measure of Truth that sets free, and just as the level
of bondage varies in the lives of the captive, so also, the dose of Truth
needed to bring total liberation varies. If you can expose yourself to more and
more of the Word and allow the light of God’s Word to shine on you, captivity
will give way and you will be free. God desires your absolute freedom (John
8:36). Yet, beyond this, Jesus wants to empower you to set other captives free
(Mark 16:17). What level of freedom are you experiencing? Everything that has
taken you captive shall release you now in Jesus’ name. Your deliverance shall
be permanent and you shall become a means of liberation to others in Jesus’
name.
Prayer Point
Father, please let your
presence and the power of your Word fill my life completely in Jesus’ name.
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