Above & Beyond Christian Counseling
Christian Counseling, Deliverance Ministry and Spiritual Warfare
Do you feel like a failure even when things work out?
Does the memory of your mother or father’s voice still demand perfection?
Do you struggle with self-condemnation?
Demons of legalism call you a failure to put you on trial and punish you. [Read more…]
What have you missed that is feeding spirits of anxiety, depression, misery, and anger?
Do you allow people to control, manipulate, and wreak havoc in your life?
Are there unresolved issues with people from your past?
When you cry out, “Lord, why have you not delivered me?” Is it because you have allowed an ungodly soul-tie to remain as a food source for demons?
Ungodly soul-ties are the open doors to the inhabitants in your land, God told you to drive out!
But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then it shall be that those whom you let remain shall be irritants in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall harass you in the land where you dwell. Moreover, it shall be that I will do to you as I thought to do to them.'” (Numbers 33:55-56).
Severing the soul-tie is step one. Next, you must drive out the spirits associated with those soul-ties to experience freedom. One without the other is pointless.
But don’t be surprised by what may happen next!
One of my clients was authoring a book on pastoral abuse in the church was seeking deliverance. She wanted her testimony to bring healing to her readers. All the soul-ties and demons associated with abuse had to go.
Her deliverance was peaceful but profound. When we finished, she felt confident she could write the last chapter and from a place of victory.
The abuse took place three years prior, and this deliverance session was the finishing work on a long journey of healing. The client had had no contact with the pastors over those three years, but before she left my office, they tried to contact her on her cellphone!
I let her know that was not unusual. When we break a soul-tie and cast the demons out, an alarm triggers in the spirit realm. It sounds like this: “Oh, no! My food source is gone!”
The soul-tie will try to reattach quickly because the demons are frantic over the lost connection.
I experienced a similar situation when I broke a soul-tie with an old boss who used to harass me. We had not spoken in years, but minutes after breaking that soul tie, he was calling me on the phone!
I also noticed my cellphone would continually pocket dial one of the soul-ties I broke. Here’s a hint, if the soul-ties you are canceling are people you do not want in your life, eliminate them from your contact list. Do not give the enemy avenues to re-establish a connection.
Pray aloud, “Thank you, Jesus, for dying that I might be set free. I forgive and loose, in the freedom of my forgiveness, those with whom I have ungodly soul ties. I now break and sever, every ungodly soul tie with (names). I now use the authority I have in Jesus Christ to command all demon spirits to have no further right in me through these relationships in the name of Jesus.”
Remember, if you are still struggling, we are only one intake form away from your freedom!
“I can’t watch the news anymore; it makes me so angry!”
“Facebook is infuriating me.”
“I am grumbling in anger all the time!”
Spirits of anger are enjoying the world events, and they are trying to infiltrate your soul. They know if they can get the sun to go down on your anger, they have won a foothold. [Read more…]
Pastors love to use an illustration to make their point about demons. They will talk about darkness (a spiritual allegory for demons), turn the lights off, and then light a match to illustrate that when the light comes, darkness disappears.
Effective. But is it accurate to extend that to God’s presence (light) driving away demons (darkness) as they try to contend?
The go-to scripture they will use is 2. Cor 6:14:
“Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?”
The implication is clear. When righteousness is present, wickedness cannot stay.
They will also reference John 1:4-5, referring to Jesus.
In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
Again, the light overcomes the darkness. The implication is that when Jesus shows up or is present, then demonic spirits must go.
Our deliverance ministers at Above & Beyond wish it were that simple. Oh, that it was true! Sadly, many Christians have bought into this view and become upset or angry when they cannot get themselves free from demonic torment by merely inviting Jesus’ presence.
Scripture must be interpreted and applied in context, and neither one above declares that demons must flee. Demons bring spiritual darkness, but there is (usually) more involved than light to get them to scatter.
Deliverance ministry is the driving out of demons. Jesus gave his body authority and the directive to do that (Mark 16:17). If they simply skulked away when He showed up, why would it be necessary to drive them out?
God has no issues with demons in His presence. In Job 1:6, Satan himself appears before His throne in heaven, along with angels.
Jesus came face to face with many who were demonized (the one in Gadarene was significant enough to be covered specifically in Scripture) and the devils did not leave on their own volition.
Man is a triune being. Believers have a born-again spirit and Holy Spirit indwelling them. Demons reside in the soul and are behind many sicknesses in the body. In the same “temple” (our bodies are a temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 6:19). God and demons in the same person. The devils can co-exist quite happily with God as their next-door neighbor.
Misapplication of these scriptures, and others, cause damage to God’s children who need counseling and deliverance ministry. Make no mistake: deliverance is for believers. It’s of little value to cast demons out of unsaved souls because they have little chance of staying free.
God can and does sovereignly deliver people and His manifest presence in gatherings (large and small) can lead to a cleansing of the atmosphere for a season. Those encounters cannot be discounted but should not be confused with an automatic cause and result.
We should not be afraid of demons. Jesus has won the victory on the cross, and the demonic realm is (positionally) under our feet. We need to appropriate, or take hold of Christ’s work, and deliverance is one such area that requires action and enforcement. Healing represents another battlefront.
Christian should not be afraid of demons; in fact, they are genuinely petrified of spiritual warriors who know their authority, power, then walk in it. While demons have no authority, they do have the ability (power) to destroy, and failure to deal with that leads to heartache. I believe that pastors who teach that there is no war, that believers simply need to understand and receive, do a severe disservice to their flock.
Another common teaching puts forth the notion that demons have no power other than what we give them or allow. False. That error places the blame on the person and implies their torment is due to lack of faith, strength or knowledge.
If you need deliverance, get it. Learn how to wage spiritual warfare effectively. There are many excellent resources to train you to discern, resist, bind, drive out, and intercede against the demonic realm. You need to learn; ignorance is not bliss, and now is the time to start.
This article is based on my observation, experience, and fresh revelation from God during a specific deliverance session with a female client we will call Sasha.
With her encouragement, I share her deliverance to expose the demons of hopelessness, dread, and death that sought to kill, steal, and destroy her destiny. [Read more…]