One Man's Perspective on Spiritual Warfare

    

     There is a young boy who attends our church with his mother and sister. This boy has been kicked out of several schools for threatening behavior, some episodes which ended with a visit to the hospital. He is the kindest most well behaved boy I have ever met, but then a darkness comes over him, he goes for blood. He has threatened to kill his mother, sister, and several others, and has attempted to do so on more than one occasion. In these episodes he speaks with the vocabulary and grammar of a grown man.
     Many in our church fear for their own safety. However, I am more concerned with his. This is not the behavior of a child. This is demonic possession.

     I told you that story to tell you this. Demonic possession is real, but luckily, God's Word promises us as believers safety from possession. However, we can still be oppressed. The difference is this. 
Demonic possession is the complete control of a demon over a persons body or life.
Demonic oppression is demonic influence in one's life.
We are safe from possession because the Holy Spirit resides in us, but demons do not cease in there mission to destroy all that God has built up. They can still influence us, and believe me oppression is not something to joke about.
     I have been oppressed by demons, and they still try. Perhaps they always will, but if they did not try to hinder what I am trying to accomplish, then it has become clear that I am not doing God's will, which is why I feel so sorry for this young boy.
     He or someone around him has a mission in life and the potential make life a little harder for Satan. As he is right now, he may never be able to tap that potential. I can't imagine what he must be going through. On some level he knows what is going on.
     My point is that we as believers are targets. As followers of Christ, it is our duty to carry out God's will, which the enemy hates and will actively try to thwart. I believe that God has given me a purpose which I am not yet fully aware (perhaps this is it), and Satan and his armies hate it.
     I don't know how much you know about spiritual warfare, the army of God against Satan and his legions, but I implore you to educate yourself. How can we go into the battle, that is the world, without knowing our enemy. If we do not know the forces at work around us, we become pawns in a seemingly endless spiritual war. We must know who we are fighting and equip ourselves with the armor of God.