During the past five decades of dealing with deliverance, I have come to realize that the Enemy hides himself and his characteristics in so many ways that folks just don’t realize that what they are dealing with is an evil spirit (or spirits). These spirits conceal themselves within a person’s character or makeup to the degree that they actually believe that whatever is taking place in them is “normal.”
My first exposure to Derek’s Prince’s ministry on Deliverance was revelatory, to say the least. As he was teaching, he mentioned having to deal with a person who was afflicted with an “accident-prone spirit.” Just like that, something leaped inside of me, and I knew that an enemy that had tormented me for most of my life had been exposed. Insurance companies have a category that they label as “Accident Prone.” It is the result of folks having multiple accidents over a period of years, and a pattern that continues on and on and on.
It is coming up on 50 years since I was first introduced to the ministry of Deliverance by Derek Prince. In those 50 years, what I have learned and what I have seen has opened my eyes to a realm of Jesus’ ministry that is still greatly misunderstood in many parts of the body of Christ. Because of what we have seen unfolding in the past few months and years, it is clear that we are in the midst of a battle Royal with the Enemy. He has been losing ground, and is doing everything in his power to fight against what God is doing in the earth today. He has opposed (and continues to oppose) any and all believers whose very existence threatens his domain. He knows that his days are numbered and that he is on the losing side.
Last week we talked about the seven nations and Israel’s failure to overcome them. Each of those nations represented different ruling spirits — kosmokrator, if you will — whose total existence was purposed to defeat the plan of God in the Earth. Just because Israel failed in the natural to overcome doesn’t mean that somehow throughout the ages, those wicked spirits have gone away.
We left off last week after starting a comparative list of the striking parallels between Adam and Jesus, and the events that unfolded. Jesus literally had to reverse every step that occurred when Adam ate of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.
We left off last week talking about the problem that takes place when we exchange revelation for humanly acquired knowledge. The only real authority is that which comes in the place of our relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.
As we get underway today, let me share just a tiny bit of something I watched unfold in person when the Lord took me back into the Garden. I watched the temptation unfold, and I saw into Adam’s thoughts and his spirit. I also saw into the thoughts and motives of the Serpent . Hopefully, this bit of sharing will be as revelatory for you as it was for me.
We need to backtrack a bit today and cover some ground we’ve covered already, but we’re going to take a slightly different tack in order to understand the dominion that we have in Christ Jesus.
Last week, I left you hanging with my story of God’s miraculous provision, so let me re-cap a part of it before we finish this narrative. We are still on the topic of For Thou art with me!
It probably seems like I’ve been really going overboard lately in talking about our grandchildren, but when we see the Covenant of the Lord being enacted before our eyes on an almost daily basis, it isn’t hard to get emotional about it.