Do you know how?
Have you recently experienced the joy of deliverance? Have you been set free from demonic activity? If you have there are a few things that you should know—in order to keep your deliverance so your last state is not worse than your first!
Your Church
What kind of church do you belong to? Are you a member of a church with a Biblical worldview—and do they believe in deliverance? Or are you a member of a humanistic, legalistic, formalistic, atheistic, nihilistic, Marxist, socialistic, New Age mystic, or materialistic/naturalistic worldview church?
This is important to know.
Why?
Because if your church does not believe that Christ is God, risen from the dead, and that he came to set the captive free, that he possesses all authority in heaven and on earth, then they are not going to rejoice with you when you share your testimony of deliverance. This is especially true if you did not get your deliverance through them.
Win Worley, in his booklet, Holding your Deliverance, points out that many who shared their glorious deliverance with their church members were ignored or rebuffed. Some even encountered anger and resentment because they did not get their deliverance though the “accepted channels.”
If you are not properly prepared for such a response it can damage or undermine your faith—meaning you could lose your way and it could block your spiritual growth, according to Worley, “A church that is not strong or knowledgeable enough to set a person free from demonic powers is seldom strong enough to nurture and grow him up in the Lord after he has received his deliverance.”
If they don’t practice or don’t believe in deliverance, how will they be of help to you? How will they help you grow when they deny or discard this important element of the work of Christ?
Your Pastor
Are you under a God-called and chosen pastor? Matthew 22:14, tells us that many are called but few are chosen. Did God choose your pastor? Does his or her life line up with what God says? Are his or her sermons Bible based?
Pastors and leaders should meet the qualifications as outline in 1 Timothy 3:1-7. If your leaders and pastors lives do not adhere to this standard set by God then you need to inquire of the Lord what you should do. He may say stay and pray or he may say come out from among them. But your response should be one of obedience to the leading of Holy Spirit.
Your responsibility
You have been wonderfully delivered. It is now your responsibility to guard well your deliverance. You need to resist the devil—stand against false accusations, lies, tricks, and all schemes of the enemy to ensnare you.
Bind and lose—bind up the demonic spirits, activities in your life and replace God’s best for you by loosing what you need. For example, bind up confusion, doubt, worry, and cast them out in Jesus name. Then loose peace, confidence in God, understanding and wisdom in Jesus name.
Read your word daily. Spend time in God’s word daily for it is a lamp to our feet and a light for our path (Psalms 119:105). Make the word of God your foundation. Let His word increase your faith. Meditate on it, speak it outloud for faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God (Romans 10:17).
Know that deliverance is not an event it is a walk—a daily walk. Wherever you find the enemy get him out. Your life, can be likened to what the Lord promised to do for the Israelites with the land they were to possess. Exodus 23:29-30 (NIV) says, “But I will not drive them out in a single year, because the land would become desolate and the wild animals too numerous for you. Little by little I will drive them out before you, until you have increased enough to take possession of the land.”
The new life—a new mind, body, heart, spirit that God has prepared for you will manifest as you drive out the old nature—as you crucify him on the cross and recapture the land from the spiritual Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites and Jebusites.
The one that was sent before to prepare the way was Christ –and it is through him that you will receive everything that God has prepared for you. If you allow God to clear out every demonic force, influence and live in freedom, you will be totally new for the old—all of it—will pass away.
Worley suggests praying in tongues at least fifteen minutes per day, which is a good way to start. But the Apostle Paul says, “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints” (Ephesians 6:18 NIV). The one thing that is certain is that you need to pray in tongues though the power of Holy Ghost.
Furthermore, you should surround yourself with Christian brothers and sisters that can help to keep you accountable, help you walk in truth and who will speak boldly if they notice a subtle intrusion by the enemy.
Your warfare
You should be aware of and use the weapons of your warfare. You have an arsenal of powerful weapons that can tear down the stronghold of the enemy and defuse his counter attacks. You have the ability through Christ to set the captives free–those in physical, emotional, and spiritual bondage!
“For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ”. (2 Corinthians 10:4,5).
Your weapon
Your armor is the first thing that you should put on daily as outlined in Ephesians 6. It has your weapons of truth, God’s righteousness, peace (which comes from the Good News), faith, salvation, the word of God.
But you have even more weapons then this—you have prayer, the power of Holy Spirit, praise, prayer, worship, the presence of God, forgiveness, patience, thankfulness, obedience, the blood of Jesus, your testimony, love.
Is this all the weapons that God has supplied you with—probably not! Trust God to tell you which weapon to use in any given situation and if you need something new because of the intensity of the battle—God is known for doing a new thing. What’s to stop him from doing it again?
