I’m sorry that Words for the Day is late this morning; I’ve been up since 1:30 a.m. but had a plethora of big problems to address already today. In that regard I would ask that you prayer warriors kindly send up a few friendly prayers to ask God to give me strength in dealing with it all.
A couple of days ago I got requests to fill out additional forms for my upcoming Bill Glass Champions for Life prison ministry event in California. I was slightly perturbed at having to fill out my life history on so many seemingly duplicate forms and decided to give one of my friends in that fine organization some grief about it.
When I queried him on the phone about it, it turned out that the reason for it is that on this event they want me to go into one of the toughest maximum security prisons in the nation; in fact it is the same prison where Charlie Manson is being held. I told my buddy that should be interesting and he tried to sound portentous and ominous and told me that he would get me an appointment with Charlie if I’d like.
I replied that I was not scared of Charlie Manson and if he quivered his eyes at me I’d quiver mine right back at him. My friend laughed and then remarked that he thought Charlie might be demon possessed. I told him that I agreed and wondered out loud if I had been possessed during my reign of terror in my youth.
He told me about another platform speaker within the Bill Glass ministry who used to be the leader of the fierce Mongol biker gang who were known for their vicious sadistic acts of violence throughout southern California. This guy maintains he had to be possessed, because no sane person would ever cut someone’s ears off and then carve his initials in the forehead of his enemies.
Hmmm… He might have a point there.
Jesus performed many miracles during His ministry and in fact exorcised several demons from various people. Demon possession is not superstition and in fact I’m convinced remains as a problem today. I can’t find anywhere in the Bible where it all of a sudden stopped because we became “an advanced civilization”.
Unconvinced?
Have you ever heard of Hitler?
Demons are angels that were expelled from heaven along with satan. The Bible teaches that 1/3 of all of the angels in heaven were removed; however it does not give us a number. I would imagine it is because we cannot envision a number that large. (Who knows it might even be bigger than the national debt that Obama keeps adding trillions to in order to buy more votes from his freeloading admirers.)
Every recorded incident where someone saw an angel in the Bible was scared silly and fell to the ground. In my book Miracle on Luckie Street I recorded an incident where I actually heard one speak during a witchcraft incantation whereby I was trying to conjure up a demon. It scared me so bad I ran for miles all over New Orleans until I thought my heart would literally explode. I got rid of all of my witchcraft books and quit practicing it that night.
The Bible warns us not to practice witchcraft, or astrology, fortune telling, or engage in any form of the black arts. Obviously there is a good reason for this warning being in the Bible, which I believe to be to save us from falling prey to dangerous evil. Just Google zombies and read of the folks in Haiti whose lives are controlled by dark evil forces.
I’ve visited many prisons and seen many tortured souls who appear to me for all practical purposes to be possessed. Ordinary people would do well to fear coming in touch with such evil, but Christians are not ordinary people. They are powered by God. Jesus once demonstrated His power when He commanded some demons to leave a poor tortured man, which they promptly did and then the demons quickly inhabited a herd of pigs which subsequently ran off a cliff to their deaths by drowning in a lake.
Hmmm… I’ve wondered about this miracle many times. Why is this event even recorded in the Bible? Is there any significance to the demons inhabiting “pigs” once they were exorcised from the man? Why did they run off a cliff to their deaths by drowning?
| I think it is in the Bible to warn us that the world is full of great perils including malignant spirits which appear to be more numerous than we can comprehend. We as followers of Christ should not fear them though, because God can and will quell the storms and calm the seas of turmoil created by them in our lives.
In that regard make no mistake that fallen angels have enmity, (bitter hate), towards mankind and want to ensure that there is no peace and ensure that we are as furiously driven as they are. When Christ enters the scene they themselves are furiously driven to destruction. A point that we should all notice and realize that we need Christ to quell the fury. As for the pig analogy? I think it indicates that there will be barbecued pork in hell. Luke 8:33 Then the demons came out of the man and entered the pigs, and the entire herd plunged down the steep hillside into the lake and drowned. |