discerning spirits Archives - Above & Beyond Christian Counseling

COVID-19’s Top Demonic Teammates

Hordes of demons are ravaging our country using the COVID-19 Quarantine as an official invitation.

The stakes are high. As heaven gets closer, demons are frantically harassing souls to capture them quickly for the kingdom of darkness or disable them from their purpose.

As believers, our souls cannot be possessed. However, demons can rent space through your agreements and create strongholds to keep you from God’s plan for your life.

Like any good strategist, Satan has a well-crafted plan to deconstruct the assembling of the saints and remove your religious freedom.

Hebraically, the year 5780 (our 2020) was the year of the mouth. It was a year intended to release the roar of the lion of Judah. Instead, the demonic realm found a way to cover our mouths and shut down the roar with face masks. The devils are mocking us!

I recently put a meme up on Facebook that pictured an ice cream truck with the writing “Liver and Onions-The Year 2020.” Suffice to say 2020 was not what we expected! But God!

None of this surprises God. His plans will reign, but we have a part to play. God has given us authority over everything that has life in this realm.

Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” Gen 1:28 (NKJV)

Knowledge is power. What you can see and understand cannot hurt you. Here is a list of the top COVID-19 demonic allies.

Covid-19’s Demonic Team

Anxiety and Depression- This tag-team opens the door for the rest. I used to call them the Christmas Proverb (12:25) spirits, but they want to be here year-round.
Anxiety in the heart of man causes depression. But a good word makes it glad. (Proverbs 12:25 NKJV)

Isolation, Self Pity, and Loneliness- These teammates spur weariness in the waiting that keeps your promises for 2020 at a distance. They isolate and intoxicate with self- pity. They invite the next team.

Apathy, Hopelessness, and Death– I just wrote about this team in a recent blog. This team gets you to quit and say things like, “I can’t do this anymore.” They overwhelm you with hopelessness to bring death to your dreams.

Pride, Anger, and Rage- This team loves social media. Pride tells us our opinions are right, so anger and rage can divide relationships and further isolate us.

Rejection, Abandonment, and Suicide- The demonic realm always comes to kill, steal, and destroy. Suicide rates are soaring, and rejection is at the root of this evil.

The enemy is prowling around like a lion to devour. It is time to release the roar of the Lion of Judah. It is time to shout, “The ruling spirit is the Holy Spirit, and God’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

If you sense any of these demonic agendas halting your kingdom plan, we are only one intake form away.

Let’s regroup and make the devils regret trying to mute us!

Demons of Legalism Call You a Failure

By Phyllis Tarbox

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.

Remember the miracle at the Gate Beautiful in Acts Chapter 2 when Peter and John commanded the lame man to pick up his mat and walk? That healing brought glory to the name of Jesus, saved five-thousand people in one day, and stirred up legalism spirits.

So they called them and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered and said to them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.” So when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way of punishing them, because of the people, since they all glorified God for what had been done. (Acts 4:18-21)

Legalism lost that day because of the name of Jesus.

As believers, we don’t always face demons down with that name.

Instead, we listen to the lies that call us a failure and give them a foothold through our agreement.

Ten Indicators a Spirit of Legalism is Tormenting You

It shames you with guilt, so you do not feel loved.
Legalism produces self-hatred and self-condemnation.
3 It stresses performance over relationship and gets you to say, “I’ve failed!”
It points out your shortcomings instead of how far you have come because of what Jesus did for you.
It uses perfection to keep you striving for the approval of others.
It turns your goals into idols to punish you when you cannot complete your “to do” list.
Legalism changes your name to “failure” when you don’t hit the perfect weight, get the promotion, or pass the test.
Legalism drives you with a rule-based mentality.
Demons of legalism hate the fruit of love. They aim to keep you in spiritual bondage with self condemnation because if you cannot love yourself, you cannot love others.
Legalism calls you rejected, unworthy, not good enough.

It steals the names God has for you: Victorious, Beloved, Overcomer.

To sum things up. Legalism wants to steal your name. The Greek word for nameless is Nothros. It comes from the root word Illegitimate, and it means dull of heart. When you are rejected, you are anonymous and dull of heart.

Legalism wants you to agree to the name the demons have given you, and they want you to live under a counterfeit identity. Counterfeit means that something is made in the exact imitation of something valuable or important to deceive or defraud.

Do not let demons of legalism steal your name and replace it with the lie of failure. That is not what God calls you. You may not be where you are supposed to be, but you are a long way from where you were!

Freedom Declaration

God listen to their threats against me and give me the boldness to speak freely and confidently in the name of your son Jesus Christ. I accept my new name as the beloved and reject the counterfeit name of failure. I command all demons of legalism, self-condemnation, and rejection to loose me now in the name of Jesus Christ, and I declare that I am free to be all that you have created me to be. Amen

As always, if you need more help, we are only one intake form away.

The Most Overlooked Food Source for Demons

By Phyllis Tarbox

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!

Deliverance Encounter

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.

Prayer to Cancel a Soul-tie and Cast Out the Demons

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!

Must Demons Flee in God’s Presence?

By Donald Ibbitson

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.

Light and Darkness

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.

Have No Fear

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.

Are You a Spiritual Person? Could That Be a Problem?

By Donald Ibbitson

On the first counseling appointment, we try to assess a person’s spiritual condition… specifically, where are they in their relationship with Christ?

One chilling response always concerns me, “I consider myself a spiritual person.” It sounds harmless but I’ve found that clients who voice that view are often very difficult to connect with. They voice it with a tinge of pride and consider it a positive factor but I’ve often seen it to be otherwise.

Why is that? [Read more…]

COVID-19’s Top Demonic Teammates

Covid-19’s Demonic Team

Demons of Legalism Call You a Failure

Ten Indicators a Spirit of Legalism is Tormenting You

Freedom Declaration

The Most Overlooked Food Source for Demons

Deliverance Encounter

Prayer to Cancel a Soul-tie and Cast Out the Demons

Must Demons Flee in God’s Presence?

Light and Darkness

Have No Fear

Are You a Spiritual Person? Could That Be a Problem?

Meet Our Team

Tampa, Florida

Clearwater, Florida

Brandon, Florida

Connect With Us

Become a “Warrior Partner”

Become a Christian Counselor

Get Trained in Deliverance Ministry

Resources