Last Saturday, I woke up with a vision and it was brought
further to light as the days progressed. This blogpost is going to be very
touchy and it may offend those who are chief offenders. I pray that those who
have suffered (or are currently suffering) under the weight of demonic
oppression as well as the opinions of others (especially from those sitting in
the pews) that have led to you being plagued with oppression will find refuge
in this blogpost (but more importantly with His Word). Healing is the children’s
bread and you can be healed and be made whole from what the devil did to you
(or from what he’s trying to do to you). The foundational scripture for this
series is John 5:1-9, but I want to focus on Luke 13:10-17 for this particular
blogpost.
Now Jesus was teaching
in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. And there was a woman who for eighteen
years had had an illness caused by a spirit (demon). She was bent double, and
could not straighten up at all. When Jesus saw her, He called her over and said
to her, “Woman, you are released from your illness.” Then He laid His hands on
her; and immediately she stood erect again and she began glorifying and
praising God. But the leader of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had
healed on the Sabbath, began saying to the crowd in response, “There are six
days in which work ought to be done; so come on those days and be healed, and
not on the Sabbath day.” But the Lord replied to him, “You hypocrites
(play-actors, pretenders)! Does not each one of you on the Sabbath untie his ox
or his donkey from the stall and lead it away to water it? And this woman, a
daughter (descendant) of Abraham whom Satan has bound for eighteen long years,
should she not have been released from this bond on the Sabbath day?” As He was
saying this, all His opponents were being humiliated; and the entire crowd was
rejoicing over all the glorious things that were being done by Him.
Before I dive into the passage above, I’d like to talk first
about demonic oppression. I would like to reference a blogpost from 2013 that
was written on this very topic. If you want to read it before I dive into it,
you can right here (in fact, I’ll be referencing a few things from it for this
blogpost) -> http://mayneman.blogspot.com/2013/11/the-difference-between-demonic.html
One thing A’ndrea said that stands out: Demonic oppression is simply having an influence on a person via their
thoughts or emotions, but unable to have access to the person’s mind and
body. The spirit can only impact the individual using their senses (what
the person sees, hears, smells, touches, tastes). An oppressive spirit might
try to get the person to believe they are depressed, angry, lonely, vengeful,
tired, etc. Simple prayers and a refocusing of thoughts are enough to overcome
an oppressive spirit. The Bible tells us in Philippians 4:8, “Finally,
brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest,
whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure,
whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good
report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise,
think on these things.” We are encouraged to keep our thoughts on what is
positive right after we are told not to be anxious for anything, but to
use prayer and petition, as well as to allow God’s peace to guard our
hearts and minds (Philippians 4:6-7).
If you are a believer, you know that there are three stages
as to how we develop. There’s the baby stage, the childhood stage, and the
manhood (womanhood) stage. The area where we can actually face oppression the most
I believe is in the childhood stage. You see, the childhood stage is where we
grow in understanding, but you are vulnerable to unsound doctrine (Ephesians
4:14). I’ll elaborate more on that when I talk about opinions later. But in
this childhood stage, there’s a strong chance that you will not be speaking
right (whether it be evil, vain or foolish). That can bring oppression whether
you may know it or not. Unfortunately, many people are in this stage.
Demonic oppression can come as a result of childhood abuse.
When you were supposed to be protected and covered, the devil gained a foothold
as a result and tried to oppress your life. I don’t know where you are, if
you’re reading this, many of you are stopping this generational curse by
calling this oppression out and striving for healing/wholeness in your mind,
body, soul and spirit. Hallelujah! You have latched on to who God is and are
starting to know who He is by becoming one with His Word. Let me encourage you to keep going with this
(and I ask that you encourage me to do the same). Don’t let the devil stop you
from becoming one with His Word. He wants to do everything he can to keep you
oppressed and tormented. If he can do that, he can keep the generational curse
going. I know I’m jumping ahead, but the devil will send his imposters to you
to say that you were the cause of the abuse.
Demonic oppression can also come from bad relationships.
Regardless of how you landed in it, the demonic may have gained a foothold via
your mental and emotional psyche as a result of what you had to endure. Don’t
let the devil and his impostors come up and tell you that you can’t heal or you
won’t recover! The devil is a LIAR. I stand in agreement with you and intercede
for you calling that oppression out and covering you with His Word, speaking
words of healing/wholeness in your mind, body, soul and spirit. Hallelujah! I
encourage you to latch on to who God is and get re-acclimated in who He is by
becoming one with His Word. Don’t let the devil stop you from becoming one with
His Word. He wants to do everything he can to keep you oppressed and tormented.
Sometimes we can be our worst enemy, and give the devil
access to oppress us. Think about it, we can sing, “My life is not my own, to
You I belong.” The minute something doesn’t go your way, you take matters into
your own hands without thinking to God. Granted, you can repent, but between
the timeframe you took matters into your own hands and repenting, you stand a
risk of being oppressed.
I could talk about a few other areas that can lead to
oppression, things like denial, pride, living in a state of offense, unresolved
anger and hatred. But I do want to say one thing about denial. When you deny
something, you are actually living in a state of torment (which is oppression)
because when a trigger sets in, the torment will manifest itself. Now keep in
mind, if you were abused, that torment/oppression wasn’t your fault (meaning,
you weren’t the one who created that oppression). That was brought on you
through someone else. But it’s now up to us (yes, this includes me too – as I’m
dealing with some areas of my life that need healing via oppression brought on
by others). We have to fight to be delivered from oppression – but we fight
knowing that we win according to 1 John 5:4 – this is the victory that
overcomes the world, even our faith! Now there’s a denial where you know that
you harmed others and you don’t want to own it. In my opinion, that’s intentional torment
(borderline possession – and that’s not good). You see oppression doesn’t just
come off of us just by saying, “Leave!” We need supernatural assistance from
the Throne Room!
Can I ask a question: do you trust God with everything that
concerns you? If the answer is no (and I’ll wave my hand and say no), don’t
beat yourself up. Now you should be able to locate yourself. If you have ever
felt that you can do it by yourself and you cringe at the thought surrendering
all control to Him, then it makes sense not to trust. But refer back to
Jeremiah 29:11 (from the Message Bible). He knows what He’s doing. Think about
this, Jesus could do nothing apart from the Father. As I think about it, our
lack of trust in Him can actually come as a result of how we grew up
(especially if it was a house full of rejection, neglect, abandonment). So for
many of us growing up, we had to pick ourselves up by our bootstraps. So, we
have to seek God to help us and cradle us in His arms so we can know what it
means to trust a God who really loves us even though our mother and father
forsake us (Psalm 27:10). The beauty of God is that He sees us as special and
redeemable even though we may be struggling with some form of oppression.
As I wrap up the first segment on demonic oppression, let me
shame the devil right now. If you’re sitting here right now condemning yourself
for the mistakes you’ve made (and I have to constantly cast these childhood
mistakes as well as mistakes as of current that the enemy is throwing at me), I
say this: So what you made a mistake! So what if you did this or that
(knowingly or unknowingly it was contrary to Scripture)! It’s not over for you.
You can heal, you can be made whole and recover and launch into what God has
for you without the bitterness, anger, the shame, and the condemnation that the
devil and you yourself may bring unto you. The God that I serve loves you, and
He’s not counting you out. He wants you to co-operate with the plan He has for
you. We have to go hard for God and be one with His Word.
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