The Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the
faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons (1 Timothy
4:1).
A few years ago I was speaking in a Southern California church on the subject of
the New Age Movement. My text was 1 Timothy 4:1. After my message, I was
surrounded at the front of the sanctuary by people wanting to hear more about
freedom from spiritual conflicts caused by demonic influences.
Sitting about halfway back in the sanctuary was a 22-year-old woman who had been
weeping uncontrollably since the service ended. As I approached the young woman,
I could hear her sobbing, "He understands! He understands!"
Later Nancy described to me her horrible childhood, which included an abusive
father and a grandmother who identified herself as a black witch. "When I was
three years old, I received my guardians--spirit guides," she continued. "They
were my companions, telling me how to live and what to say. I never questioned
if having spirit guides was anything but normal until my mother took me to
Sunday school."
"Would you like to get rid of your spirit guides?" I asked.
There was a long pause. "Will they really leave, or will I go home and be
thrashed by them again?"
"You will be free," I assured her. An hour later Nancy was free.
Nancy's experience is not an obscure, erratic blip in the contemporary Christian
community. In face, in more than 20 years of ministry as a pastor, counselor,
seminary professor and conference speaker, I have met and ministered to more
Christians in bondage to the dark side of the spiritual world than you may
believe. Christians are woefully unprepared to deal with the dark world of
Satan's kingdom or to minister to those who are in bondage to it.
Yes, as Timothy warned, "deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons" are real.
But as you daily embrace Christ and His truth, you will be able to recognize
Satan's lies and choose the truth.
Dr. Anderson, Freedom in Christ and Harvest House Publishers
www.ficm.org
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