Butch and I were visiting with a minister and his wife, and
they asked us to pray for them as they were being plagued with debilitating, life-threatening illness and finances which
were constantly being drained because of the constant need for medical attention.
It was obvious to us that there were many strongholds in the lives of
these two people, and we told them that, although we would be more than happy to pray with them for God to heal their bodies
and deliver them from financial problems, they needed to do a prayerful inventory of their lives and home, and get rid
of anything that would be displeasing to the Lord--anything that could be used, by Satan, as a point of contact for demonic
oppression in their lives.
This minister had seen many of the articles on our website and had requested copies
of several of them--including "The Devil's Bible," yet, as we were speaking, his wife had been sitting at her computer (right
in front of us) playing card games!
At that point, she spoke up and said they had already searched their
home and gotten rid of everything in it that could possibly be used as a portal for demonic oppression.
The minister begged us to pray immediately, which we did. After the prayer,
he asked us to look around the room and please inform him and his wife if we saw anything that needed to go.
We pointed to the computer screen and said, "Those cards."
The reaction from his wife was electrifying.
She shot up out of her chair--wailing. She literally started
jumping up and down (still wailing) crying "Noooooo," then she clapped her hands over her ears and ran--screaming--from
the room.
Now what--besides a demon--could have elicited a response like that?
Needless to say, no repentance came to these people over the sin of card
playing. After that, the minister began making excuses for his wife in order to vindicate the card playing that
continued to go on in his home.
We had discerned more than one demonic stronghold in their
lives, but if they had only repented of the one that was brought to their attention, we believe the Lord would have made the
way for them to acknowledge and receive deliverance from the rest as well.
We still have a good relationship with this minister and his wife. They
are very good hearted people. And he continually asks us to pray that God will reveal anything in his life that needs
to go....
We do pray for them, often, but we know that it will be very difficult,
if not impossible for them to move past rejection of truth that has already been revealed. It
will continually be a blockage in their spiritual growth and prosperity until it is removed.
At the point where any of us embrace the lie, the truth
becomes obscured in other points in our lives as well.
This family is still plagued with illness (some life-threatening).
It is a terrifying thing for us to behold, that God's people would choose sin--even when their very lives are at
stake.
Nothing--no sin--is too small not to take very seriously.
The example I have just shared, is not the only time we have seen Christians,
who are suffering from life--threatening debilitating illnesses, consistently choose death over life.
The Word of God says, "My people perish for lack of knowledge..."
Most of us have heard this verse repeatedly.
False teachers love this verse and usually set themselves up to be the
ones who will bring life-giving knowledge to God's people...
But the second part of that verse is one rarely quoted, and it is the
second part which makes it clear that there is absolutely no life-giving knowledge that has been withheld from the people
of God--ignorance is not the problem.
Rebellion is.
The second part of that verse says... "Because they have rejected
knowledge..."
God's people are not perishing primarily because of ignorance (though
some admittedly are). God's people are perishing because they consistently reject the truth.
Because they prefer their sins to the life-giving truth that will set
them free.
