Can Christians be Demonized?

[Godzchild]

Sigh! Ok - believe what you want to believe. When I'm sick I speak against it in the name of Jesus - because I believe it's a lie. I believe the devil is lying to me and telling me I'm not as free as I think....So I choose not to believe him. Sometimes I fail sometimes I succeed but I will not go around declaring sickness and death over my life all day long!

 

[TruthSetsYouFree]

Sigh! Ok - believe what you want to believe. When I'm sick I speak against it in the name of Jesus - because I believe it's a lie. I believe the devil is lying to me and telling me I'm not as free as I think....So I choose not to believe him. Sometimes I fail sometimes I succeed but I will not go around declaring sickness and death over my life all day long!

It's not declaring demons and bondage. It's recognizing a problem (that we aren't walking in the victory which has been bought for us) and then applying what God's Word teaches us on how to solved the problem. People could deny cancer till the day they die, but if they don't do something to get rid of it, they can die from it.

 

[probinson]

Sigh! Ok - believe what you want to believe. When I'm sick I speak against it in the name of Jesus - because I believe it's a lie. I believe the devil is lying to me and telling me I'm not as free as I think....So I choose not to believe him. Sometimes I fail sometimes I succeed but I will not go around declaring sickness and death over my life all day long!

OK. I've been watching this debate, quietly for quite some time now. Here we are, 183 posts in, and NO ONE here has said anything about declaring sickness and death over their life. That's just absurd. Are we reading the same thread??

It's amazing to me. Everyone is basically saying the same thing, and yet no one can agree. Yes, there's a devil. Yes, he's real. Yes, we have authority over him. Yes, Jesus paid the price for us. That's what it all boils down to and what everyone has been saying all along. If everyone would stop reading into what is being said and start looking at what people are actually saying, you would see that you're not too far apart on this issue.

 

[Godzchild]

The problem isn't really there!!!!!

 

[ThankyouJesus]

no

 

[californiadreamin]

OK. I've been watching this debate, quietly for quite some time now. Here we are, 183 posts in, and NO ONE here has said anything about declaring sickness and death over their life. That's just absurd. Are we reading the same thread??

It's amazing to me. Everyone is basically saying the same thing, and yet no one can agree. Yes, there's a devil. Yes, he's real. Yes, we have authority over him. Yes, Jesus paid the price for us. That's what it all boils down to and what everyone has been saying all along. If everyone would stop reading into what is being said and start looking at what people are actually saying, you would see that you're not too far apart on this issue.

Thats what I posted.
I think it boils down to this, If you know who you are in Christ you will give the devil a fight, and He can't easily influence you or oppress you, but some Christians do not know who they are in Christ or the authority they have over satan so they are easily oppressed and influenced by demons. Those Christians who aren't spiritually strong or mature in their walk with God have to be taught who they are so they can know they are more than conquers and know that it is illegal for the devil or demons to have even a foothold into their lives.
God said "His people perish because of lack of knowledge", those who do not know must seek God's wisdom and meditate on His word. For the Truth shall set you free.

 

[TruthSetsYouFree]

Thats what I posted.
I think it boils down to this, If you know who you are in Christ you will give the devil a fight, and He can't easily influence you or oppress you, but some Christians do not know who they are in Christ or the authority they have over satan so they are easily oppressed and influenced by demons. Those Christians who aren't spiritually strong or mature in their walk with God have to be taught who they are so they can know they are more than conquers and know that it is illegal for the devil or demons to have even a foothold into their lives.
God said "His people perish because of lack of knowledge", those who do not know must seek God's wisdom and meditate on His word. For the Truth shall set you free.

While I agree that ignorance can cause a lot of bondages (including demonic), it is not the sole thing that causes or allows bondage in a believer's life.

 

[LeeS]

Sigh! Ok - believe what you want to believe. When I'm sick I speak against it in the name of Jesus - because I believe it's a lie. I believe the devil is lying to me and telling me I'm not as free as I think....So I choose not to believe him. Sometimes I fail sometimes I succeed but I will not go around declaring sickness and death over my life all day long!

Gosh! Thats what we believe too. Except for the declaring sickness and death over our life all day long don't know where you get the idea that we're saying that.

The devil is a liar and because he's under my feet I dance in victory on his head. By doing so he is "cast" out. Whether it be off of me or off of someone else he is cast out/off, whichever applies. If people are struggling you help them by doing WHATEVER is necessary. If they need prayer and instruction then you give them prayer and instruction on how to not only be able to take care of these issues themselves but how to not have the issues at all. That is called Victorious Living.

 

[californiadreamin]

While I agree that ignorance can cause a lot of bondages (including demonic), it is not the sole thing that causes or allows bondage in a believer's life.

I agree.
There are many things that can allow bondage in a believers life( disobedience, sin, etc.), but we have to have knowledge of what those things are that's causing us to be in bondage so we can change them and get free from that bondage. We also have to have the knowledge on how to get set free.

 

[TruthSetsYouFree]

I agree.
There are many things that can allow bondage in a believers life( disobedience, sin, etc.), but we have to have knowledge of what those things are that's causing us to be in bondage so we can change them and get free from that bondage. We also have to have the knowledge on how to get set free.

Amen!

I was going to quote a scripture in response... but I see in an earlier post, you already did....

God said "His people perish because of lack of knowledge"

 

[Simon_Templar]

Let me share a story (you could even get real spiritual and call it a parable if you like).

I was watching National Geographic on TV. Due to overcrowding in some zoos, there were a number of monkeys that had been bred in the zoos that were going to be taken and released in the wild.

The scientists loaded them all up, flew them to the Amazon (what would have been their natural habitats) set all their cages out in the middle of the jungle, and opened up the doors to all the cages. They had set the monkeys free.

To their surprise (and dismay) the monkeys all sat in their cages and wouldn't come out. You see, the monkeys had been born in a cage, had lived their whole lives in a cage, and didn't know anything BUT a cage. Even though the doors were all wide open and the monkeys were 'set free' the monkeys had no idea of how to be free.

The scientists began putting food just outside the doors of the cages. The monkeys would go to the door, reach their hand out to get the food, then retreat further back into the cage to eat. By gradually moving the food further and further away from the cage, the scientists were gradually able to get the monkeys to come out of the cage to get their food-- but as soon as they heard a strange noise, or something frightened them they ran right back into their cages (which was their 'safety zone'). This process went on for months, with the scientists gradually moving the food further and further away until finally one day the monkeys never came back to their cages. When were the monkeys set free? Day one. When were the monkeys actually free? When they finally learned what freedom meant.

This is how it is for us as Christians. We were born in the bondage of sin and that's all we know. We have patterns of thought, patterns of action, etc. that keep us in bondage-- but we don't know anything different. When we come to Christ, for the first time the door to the cage is open-- but we don't know HOW to be free yet.

Jesus said "If you continue in my Word, then you will be my disciples indeed. And you will know the truth and the truth will make you free". The key is to continue. We are all "set free" when we first come to Christ, but it is the process of continuing in His Word that 'makes' us free-- that teaches us what freedom is and how to live in light of the freedom we have in Christ. And throughout this process, Christ has designed it so that we, His Body, minister to one another and help each other come to know what that freedom means.

And within days of leaving the cages all the monkeys were brutally killed and eaten by jungle predators because the monkeys had none of the skills necessary to survival in the wild... I'm not sure how that fits into the whole parable thing though.... j/k

 

[Simon_Templar]

Sigh! Ok - believe what you want to believe. When I'm sick I speak against it in the name of Jesus - because I believe it's a lie. I believe the devil is lying to me and telling me I'm not as free as I think....So I choose not to believe him. Sometimes I fail sometimes I succeed but I will not go around declaring sickness and death over my life all day long!

People often don't realise how powerful the human mind is, supernatural/spiritual elements aside. The mind exercises powerful control over the body. An example is a friend of my mother who was a christian scientist. She did not believe that she could be sick. Sickness in her view was a falsehood projected on her because the people around her believed that she was sick. She was sick at one point with and absolutely refused to believe that she could be sick. She was still convinced it was the negative mental projections of everyone around her. Finaly at one point my mother prevailed upon her to go to the doctor.
The doctor was amazed at the woman's condition because she had a severe strep infection yet was exhibiting almost no symptoms. She should have had a high fever, yet her temperature was normal etc.
Her mind was simply controling her body's responses to the sickness. It didn't mean the infection wasn't there.. her belief was just so strong that her body would not respond to the presence of the infection normally.

Am I saying through all this that God doesn't heal or its "all in your head".. no, not at all. I believe God heals. What I am saying is that God heals as he does everything else.. whom he wills, how he wills, when he wills. We can work up alot of things, but ultimately what we work up, amazing as it sometimes is, is empty. If my faith requires me to believe that everyone else is bringing death and sickness upon themselves because they aren't quite good enough in their faith, or haven't quite attained just the right understanding... then i'd have to question both my faith.. and the picture it presented of God, his ability and his mercy.