Wednesday, March 08, 2006
First Demonic Encounter...
Below is the story of my first face to face experience with the Demonic, there have been others since that I will share later. I do struggle with the language that I used to tell this story, it is not for children, but then again neither is Ezekiel 23. But I used the actual circumstances to show that the Christian Life is not always neat and orderly, even in Jesus's casting out of demons, they came out with a shriek, convultions, or from a naked, crazy man who couldn't even be chained. Definitely not your typical church service. I do respect any comments and am not above changing the wording of the story below...
Shortly after becoming a Christian, I ran across a verse in Corinthians that excited me. “Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit.” – 1 Corinthians 12:3 Though I may not have fully understood the verse in terms of it meaning speaking in the Spirit, I knew that I could say “Jesus is Lord” with no problems. I passed this information on to the young woman I was dating and asked her to say it. She could not say it with a straight face. The only thing she could say was a quick “Jesus is Lord” with is snicker and a laugh. Not thinking too much of it at the time, I made a mental note of it.
In the course of time there were many strange and unusual occurrences with this woman such as her seeing a vision of a demonic force strangling her. She occasionally heard voices; or had an extreme fear when attempting to destroy a voodoo type doll from Africa that was given her as a gift from her uncle. (We were going to burn it, but ended up just throwing it out the car window, Lord willing it’s curse was not passed on to another, it should have been burned.)
Things finally came to a unravelled one evening. She had been drinking heavily and I could sense there was something terribly wrong with her when I talked to her on the phone that winter night. I sped over to where she was staying and what happened completely took me off guard and caused me to immediately start praying in my mind and Spirit to the Lord for help and guidance. She had been trying to kill herself and there was blood on the floor and on a curling iron near the leg shaving razor she had been using to cut herself. The wounds on her wrist were not very deep but only dozens of shallow cuts where she hacked away at her veins. Her eyes were not her own, they were glossed over and distant, her face was distorted and the anger and hatred on her face I had never seen. When she spoke it was in the 3rd person sense with phrases such as “You can never have her, she is mine.” Or during a conversation wiht her about my forgiveness from sin, a comeback about how “God never F*ing forgave you!”. She had an unnatural strength and could easily pick me up and throw me against a wall or bureau. All chaos had broken loose and I was in the middle of it. I had read about demonic possession and knew Jesus ran into this sort of stuff all the time. (Actually about 1/3rd of his ministry involved casting out of evil spirits) But other that what I'd seen on TV, I had never seen anything like this. The battle went on for a while; she would tear at my clothes saying vulgarities or just curse like sailor about how God cared nothing about me or her. At one point during the struggle her grandfather, who was asleep upstairs, woke up to the commotion. He called down asking if everything was OK. The woman, then in her real voice, exclaimed that everything was fine and there was no need to worry. Her grandfather never came down to check in. Afterwards the demonic force spoke again cursing what she said to her grandfather, knowing that I needed to be gone for him to be able to finish his business (her suicide). So the wrestling and the profanity continued. Eventually she decided she needed to kill me and went into the kitchen to grab a knife. What happened next is actually quite humorous but shows the Lord’s ultimate control of even an out of control situation. In the kitchen they had one of those blocks of knives with everything from steak knives to the 10 inch mega cutting blade. There were probably about 10-12 different knives in all, all of them capable of killing someone. When she went to grab a knife she ignored the block of knives on the counter just above the silverware drawer and opened the drawer instead. She then proceeded to grab a fork and headed back to the room where we had been wrestling. Once back in the room, with my arms wrapped around her pinned against a wall, she looked at the fork and exclaimed “Why the f**! Did I grab this!” She then proceeded to stab me with the fork in the thigh putting 4 small holes in my leg. Had that been a knife it would have been much worse than a few small holes, possibly cutting an artery in the leg. So even in the chaos I was protected. Eventually after much struggle, with furniture and whatever else thrown around, I finally wrestled her down on the bed. I held her as tight as I could and continued to pray for the Lord's help. Out of seemingly nowhere came the words “Jesus is Lord” from her mouth and immediately her body went limp and she crumpled down on the bed with all tension released from her. Her eyes cleared and she looked around the room seeing the mess, exclaiming “What happened here?” Soon after her grandfather came in and saw the blood and called her parents who quickly came over. I never told her parents or grandfather about the demonic influence I experienced with their daughter. They just thought the mess was from me trying to keep her from killing herself. Shortly afterwards I walked to the kitchen’s sliding doors and looking out at the stars thanked God for his protection and deliverance through the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. She was checked in that night for mental help at the local hospital because of the attempted suicide.
There is more to this story. Later she confessed to have had prayed to Satan on occasions as well as having a boyfriend in her past who was probably involved in some sort of satanic rituals as well. I was even shown a place where he had lit candles in a half-circle around and area where they were together. So it would seem that she had given more than enough room and invitation for the demonic presence in her body. Also the verses from the book of Luke are applicable to this story:
“When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives it finds the house swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first.” - Luke 11:24-26
Matthew tells the same story in Matthew 12:43-45 but describes the house as unoccupied (empty), swept clean, and put in order. I mention all this to say that though this woman gave her life to Jesus afterwards and obeyed Jesus’ command to be baptized, she never bore fruit of repentance and her life was a complete mess. She was a blackout drunk for many years (though she is sober today) and lived in many other sins. During one of her blackouts the demonic spirit or spirits, again took control of her body one night. This time she ended up in intensive care for 2 weeks fighting for her life after it was over. So her later condition was indeed much worse than at first. So be sure to fill the empty places (the spiritual vacuum left with the removal of an evil spirit) with the Holy Spirit within the body so the spirits have no place to return to.
“If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end then they were at the beginning. It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, then to have known it and then turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,” and “A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud.” - 2 Peter 2:20-22
Shortly after becoming a Christian, I ran across a verse in Corinthians that excited me. “Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit.” – 1 Corinthians 12:3 Though I may not have fully understood the verse in terms of it meaning speaking in the Spirit, I knew that I could say “Jesus is Lord” with no problems. I passed this information on to the young woman I was dating and asked her to say it. She could not say it with a straight face. The only thing she could say was a quick “Jesus is Lord” with is snicker and a laugh. Not thinking too much of it at the time, I made a mental note of it.
In the course of time there were many strange and unusual occurrences with this woman such as her seeing a vision of a demonic force strangling her. She occasionally heard voices; or had an extreme fear when attempting to destroy a voodoo type doll from Africa that was given her as a gift from her uncle. (We were going to burn it, but ended up just throwing it out the car window, Lord willing it’s curse was not passed on to another, it should have been burned.)
Things finally came to a unravelled one evening. She had been drinking heavily and I could sense there was something terribly wrong with her when I talked to her on the phone that winter night. I sped over to where she was staying and what happened completely took me off guard and caused me to immediately start praying in my mind and Spirit to the Lord for help and guidance. She had been trying to kill herself and there was blood on the floor and on a curling iron near the leg shaving razor she had been using to cut herself. The wounds on her wrist were not very deep but only dozens of shallow cuts where she hacked away at her veins. Her eyes were not her own, they were glossed over and distant, her face was distorted and the anger and hatred on her face I had never seen. When she spoke it was in the 3rd person sense with phrases such as “You can never have her, she is mine.” Or during a conversation wiht her about my forgiveness from sin, a comeback about how “God never F*ing forgave you!”. She had an unnatural strength and could easily pick me up and throw me against a wall or bureau. All chaos had broken loose and I was in the middle of it. I had read about demonic possession and knew Jesus ran into this sort of stuff all the time. (Actually about 1/3rd of his ministry involved casting out of evil spirits) But other that what I'd seen on TV, I had never seen anything like this. The battle went on for a while; she would tear at my clothes saying vulgarities or just curse like sailor about how God cared nothing about me or her. At one point during the struggle her grandfather, who was asleep upstairs, woke up to the commotion. He called down asking if everything was OK. The woman, then in her real voice, exclaimed that everything was fine and there was no need to worry. Her grandfather never came down to check in. Afterwards the demonic force spoke again cursing what she said to her grandfather, knowing that I needed to be gone for him to be able to finish his business (her suicide). So the wrestling and the profanity continued. Eventually she decided she needed to kill me and went into the kitchen to grab a knife. What happened next is actually quite humorous but shows the Lord’s ultimate control of even an out of control situation. In the kitchen they had one of those blocks of knives with everything from steak knives to the 10 inch mega cutting blade. There were probably about 10-12 different knives in all, all of them capable of killing someone. When she went to grab a knife she ignored the block of knives on the counter just above the silverware drawer and opened the drawer instead. She then proceeded to grab a fork and headed back to the room where we had been wrestling. Once back in the room, with my arms wrapped around her pinned against a wall, she looked at the fork and exclaimed “Why the f**! Did I grab this!” She then proceeded to stab me with the fork in the thigh putting 4 small holes in my leg. Had that been a knife it would have been much worse than a few small holes, possibly cutting an artery in the leg. So even in the chaos I was protected. Eventually after much struggle, with furniture and whatever else thrown around, I finally wrestled her down on the bed. I held her as tight as I could and continued to pray for the Lord's help. Out of seemingly nowhere came the words “Jesus is Lord” from her mouth and immediately her body went limp and she crumpled down on the bed with all tension released from her. Her eyes cleared and she looked around the room seeing the mess, exclaiming “What happened here?” Soon after her grandfather came in and saw the blood and called her parents who quickly came over. I never told her parents or grandfather about the demonic influence I experienced with their daughter. They just thought the mess was from me trying to keep her from killing herself. Shortly afterwards I walked to the kitchen’s sliding doors and looking out at the stars thanked God for his protection and deliverance through the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. She was checked in that night for mental help at the local hospital because of the attempted suicide.
There is more to this story. Later she confessed to have had prayed to Satan on occasions as well as having a boyfriend in her past who was probably involved in some sort of satanic rituals as well. I was even shown a place where he had lit candles in a half-circle around and area where they were together. So it would seem that she had given more than enough room and invitation for the demonic presence in her body. Also the verses from the book of Luke are applicable to this story:
“When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives it finds the house swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first.” - Luke 11:24-26
Matthew tells the same story in Matthew 12:43-45 but describes the house as unoccupied (empty), swept clean, and put in order. I mention all this to say that though this woman gave her life to Jesus afterwards and obeyed Jesus’ command to be baptized, she never bore fruit of repentance and her life was a complete mess. She was a blackout drunk for many years (though she is sober today) and lived in many other sins. During one of her blackouts the demonic spirit or spirits, again took control of her body one night. This time she ended up in intensive care for 2 weeks fighting for her life after it was over. So her later condition was indeed much worse than at first. So be sure to fill the empty places (the spiritual vacuum left with the removal of an evil spirit) with the Holy Spirit within the body so the spirits have no place to return to.
“If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end then they were at the beginning. It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, then to have known it and then turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,” and “A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud.” - 2 Peter 2:20-22
