Stop it! Kona Week 7
Everything has shifted this week! I feel like layers have been torn from my eyes and my heart. And I have been changed. This is going to be a really challenging post to write.. please bear with me!
Our speaker this week and next week is a cowboy who runs a church in California where all sorts of "unlikely" people belong. We're not only talking about ex-drug addicts and ex-convicts (although they're there too!) we're moving into the realms of ex-cannibals, ex-vampires, ex-Satanists etc etc! Dave Bryan, he's a completely remarkable man. Very down-to-earth, genuine and funny! I didn't even know cowboys were real, much less a cowboy running a church made up of characters like this where casting out evil spirits is totally normal and just part of how they roll. In fact, they encourage people with "spiritual problems" to contact them. One of their mottos is "if you have spiritual problems, we have spiritual answers." Their doors are totally wide open. This is is living audaciously and unafraid and it is mind-blowing to me!
The greek word for the devil is the "diabolo" the "thought-caster". Dia = through, bolo = throw. Think of those balls on ropes that would be cast to trip up animals and bring them down. Now this understanding of him has revolutionised my thinking. Up to this point I knew that the enemy was prowling around and I had to guard against him but it never really occurred to me that he was intentionally and daily throwing thoughts into my mind to try and trip me up. This is actually completely freeing as I now don't need to condemn myself when random ungodly thoughts pop into my mind because they're not coming from me! Christians aren't completely shielded from the demonic world - we have to fight and take our stand against the enemy who is very real and who is on assignment against us as we actively push his kingdom back.
Now I have seen deliverance happen and taken part in it in the past - particularly as I have spent time in South America (which is much more spiritually open than the UK!) Demons controlling people's bodies and being cast out is not a new thing for me - we know that Jesus is greater and we know that He is living in us and therefore that we have authority over all such spirits. But HERE is where my thinking has been renewed - it had never really sunk in that everyone is influenced by the demonic spiritual realm, to a greater or lesser extent and therefore we are to stay alert and pray for deliverance over ourselves and others (if they want) as a semi-regular, normal, non-scary thing!
This understanding has given me so much freedom! For example, if I am feeling unduly anxious over something, instead of condemning myself as "an anxious person" or "that's just how my body reacts" and trying my best to overcome my anxiety by deep breathing/whatever, I can take authority over the spirit of anxiety which is attacking me (and which is NOT part of me!) and command it to go in the Name of Jesus. And it has to go. If it doesn't, persist until it does. And I repent of any unconfessed sin or area in my life which has allowed this access and ask the Holy Spirit to come again and fill me with His presence and His peace. I would so much rather understand that I am attacked by spirits of fear, frustration, anxiety, doubt, anger etc than believe that these things are somehow part of my character and "oh well, I'll just accept it as who I am and try to not let it bother me". It's learning not to be content with anything less than complete freedom and wholeness.
Now just to be really clear - no, not everything is demon-related. Yes, we do live in a fallen world and people suffer from genuine biological, genetic issues that may have nothing to do with the spirit world. But personally I think that we're not doing ourselves any favours by being stoic Brits and totally ignoring the spiritual realm either. The enemy will just take more and more from us until we stand against him and say STOP IT! He's a thief and he comes to steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10). I think it's time to start getting mad at him and taking ground back!
Check out this video - it's sensational!
PRAYER
Kev & Sarah and their family came back from the mainland a couple of days ago and I think Tim & Wanda arrived back today. Thank you SO much for upholding them through this horrendous family situation. Please continue to pray for their daughter and her 4 children as they walk through their grief if and when you think of them.
Please just continue to pray for me, my heart, my mind, that I would use my time wisely, that I would stay as close to Jesus as possible and keep my eyes glued on His.
My room, my school, our outreach teams.. just keep covering us all please!
Thank you! You are amazing! Please let me know if you would like to know more on this.. I've taken tons of notes that I'm happy to send to you. I'm really happy to have a dialogue with you about any of this stuff. I'm very much learning and investigating.. feel free to completely disagree with me!
Here is a happy picture of me and my roommates and my next-door roomies! It was one of the girls' birthdays and we went out to celebrate her. Below is me enjoying God and enjoying life in one of my favourite spots.
Have a good week everyone.
Very much love,
Hannah xxx
