Can a born-again Christian have a demon?

[Dave G.]

Far too many people like their sin, so will resist offers of help, but as I said last time, the demoniac at Gadara proves that demons cannot stop people seeking salvation if they want it.
And most sadly, many surrender their lives to the Lord, join the church, and then get no help dealing with the demons that pollute their minds and bodies.

However, its not the violent or outrageous demons that we should worry about, its the subtle ones that exert silent control over what a person believes or does.

Over 30 years ago, (here in the UK) when I was still fairly new in the game, I and a friend were asked to pray for a visitor to the church.
She gave very little clues as to what her problem was, so after committing the problems to the Lord, I suggested we waited on God for a word of knowledge or something.

After a few minutes, I received the following word. "The spirit of Mormon".
At the time, I had no real understanding of Mormonism to guide me, so I spoke out the word to her.
She was immediately very indignant, saying she had never had anything to do with Mormonism. I apologised and we carried on waiting and doing some general prayer.

Then suddenly, she cried out and put her hand over her mouth in shock. "I've just remembered," she said, "When I was a little girl, my mother told me the story of my great great great great grandfather. He went to America and went out on the great trek to Salt Lake with Brigham Young!"

That trek to Salt lake happened about 140 years prior to us praying with this faithful Christian lady. Nevertheless, by a simple Word of Knowledge, God revealed that a demon of Mormonism had travelled down the family line, father to daughter etc, and was still within her and spiritually oppressing her, and making her walk difficult.
Needless to say, we drove it out, making sure it had no right to continue any further down her family line.

I give this testimony to show how insidious demons are, and how you can't dismiss their presence or influence on believers.

Most spirits we deal with are mundane, like spirits of pornography or lust, prevalent among men and women.
Spirits of unbelief that are prevalent among intellectuals and theologians.
Spirits of anger and unforgiveness that really make it difficult for Christians to walk freely before God.
Spirits of witchcraft manipulation and control.

and so on.

Great testimony, I love it because it shows the working of the Holy Spirit !!! It amazes me how the Lord works in simple one liners lol !!! And it's so true that He does it over and over too. We do a local cable tv broadcast here locally and I do an introduction and announce the names etc. for the pastor. I do a testimony, a reading, sometimes get a little preachy and maybe even go a bit too long lol. But we just did one Wed. I had it all prepared from the book of Matthew, my mind was all set but for a little niggle. So I finished my coffee up two hours before leaving for this event and was in the kitchen washing my cup looking out in the yard and suddenly I saw in my mind like a street sign and I whispered the words I saw :" Hebrews 10 THE BLOOD". I went to my computer got out my bible, came up with the verses and headed off to the recording session. I used the Hebrews, we spoke on the verses for probably 15 minutes then the pastor went into his presentation now cut a little short. He said we will pick this up in the second half hour and I used my Matthew presentation for the second recording session , the one from Matthew. Well the pastors portion was a bridge over troubled waters and was using Matthew for his verses. So I had two intros, it all went together well and the Lord provided. And the pastor and I never communicated before hand on this except to confirm the time and place. No topic or subject matter.

I know that's not about deliverance, but it is about how the Spirit works. We marvel at it the pastor and I because you just can't make this stuff up and it happens over and over. I used to do intros for another pastor further away from this area and he was amazed at the connections that took place, the unity between the intro and his prepared message. One time we were in the same portions and never communicated on it. He came up to me after service while I was talking with some brothers and sisters and walked right up and said " we never talked about this, we never planned it or communicated on it". And we didn't, he texted me on a Tues if I would do the intro Sunday and I simply replied " sure". And we met Sunday before service, asked if I was locked and loaded as he used to say and I said " yep". And so it went.

I can just imagine the working of the Spirit in deliverance, it must be amazing !

 

[Francis Drake]

Great testimony, I love it because it shows the working of the Holy Spirit !!! It amazes me how the Lord works in simple one liners lol !!! And it's so true that He does it over and over too. We do a local cable tv broadcast here locally and I do an introduction and announce the names etc. for the pastor. I do a testimony, a reading, sometimes get a little preachy and maybe even go a bit too long lol. But we just did one Wed. I had it all prepared from the book of Matthew, my mind was all set but for a little niggle. So I finished my coffee up two hours before leaving for this event and was in the kitchen washing my cup looking out in the yard and suddenly I saw in my mind like a street sign and I whispered the words I saw :" Hebrews 10 THE BLOOD". I went to my computer got out my bible, came up with the verses and headed off to the recording session. I used the Hebrews, we spoke on the verses for probably 15 minutes then the pastor went into his presentation now cut a little short. He said we will pick this up in the second half hour and I used my Matthew presentation for the second recording session , the one from Matthew. Well the pastors portion was a bridge over troubled waters and was using Matthew for his verses. So I had two intros, it all went together well and the Lord provided. And the pastor and I never communicated before hand on this except to confirm the time and place. No topic or subject matter.

I know that's not about deliverance, but it is about how the Spirit works. We marvel at it the pastor and I because you just can't make this stuff up and it happens over and over. I used to do intros for another pastor further away from this area and he was amazed at the connections that took place, the unity between the intro and his prepared message. One time we were in the same portions and never communicated on it. He came up to me after service while I was talking with some brothers and sisters and walked right up and said " we never talked about this, we never planned it or communicated on it". And we didn't, he texted me on a Tues if I would do the intro Sunday and I simply replied " sure". And we met Sunday before service, asked if I was locked and loaded as he used to say and I said " yep". And so it went.

I can just imagine the working of the Spirit in deliverance, it must be amazing !

A friend and his wife asked me for prayer. They loved the Lord and had faithfully served him for many years, but everything they did, every business project they started, soon failed. They were in their mid 50s and quite despairing.

As we prayed, I started to relay what seemed to me a really feint thread of thought.
I said, "What I see is as if you are back at school, and its a parents evening. The teacher is at one side of the desk and you and your dad sitting at the other side. Its as if the teacher is saying to your dad, 'David is a complete waste of space, and everything he does in life will end in failure.....' I then carry on trying to explain what I thought it meant for today.
Meanwhile David is saying, "Yes yes that's right, yes "...…….but I'm still waffling on and not listening.
Then he suddenly yells at me to shut up!
"You're not listening" he says, "I've been trying to tell you that's exactly what happened when I was a kid, and those are the exact words my class teacher spoke over me in front of my dad...…….!"

I was shocked, I thought I was just describing a general scenario to jog his memory. I didn't realise God had given me the exact words and situation.

Needless to say, we broke that curse on his life, cast the demons out and set him free to prosper.

 

[Francis Drake]

In our weekly house group back in the 80s we had a couple, where the lady's very elderly mother had been subject to many years of chronic illness.
She was again in hospital, and that meant the couple often turned up late to the meetings.
Her mother was a strong believer and desperate to go home to her Lord and Saviour, but her suffering just carried on.

On this night, her husband came alone having dropped his wife off at the hospital. Again with the request from his wife that we pray the Lord would take her mother soon.

We had frequently prayed for her, but on this occasion, I asked that we wait on the Lord for wisdom.
Very soon, the Holy Spirit gave me a picture. In it I saw the lady's heart, and it was surrounded and being held by an evil demonic black entity, it looked like a gel or jelly fish. Her heart was almost completely hidden by it, but what I could see clearly was that the demon was busy pumping her heart, keeping her alive and in suffering!
I had never contemplated such a thing before, but I saw it crystal clear. I described it to the group and we started praying, and I just commanded the demon to let go of her.

Ten minutes later, the phone rang. It was the lady asking for her husband to come as her mum had just died.
I asked how long ago did she die, her reply, "Ten minutes ago"


Ps 116.15 Precious in the sight of the LORD Is the death of His saints.

 

[AbbaLove]

The same Spirit that rested upon Christ was also resting on His followers, but obviously did not come to rest upon Judas because Judas was an evil man from the start and had no sincere interest in serving Christ. He only followed Christ for his own selfish purposes.

The indwelling/abiding of the Advocate, Counselor, Teacher (Holy Spirit) didn't possess His disciples until after His resurrection ~ ascension (Acts 2). Christ Jesus only did what the Father told Him to say and do (John 5:18-20, John 6:38, John 10:30, John 14:10).

John 8:58
Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I AM."
John 13:18
I AM not speaking about all of you; I know whom I have chosen. But this is to fulfill the Scripture: 'The one who eats bread with Me has lifted up his heel against Me.'
John 13:26-28
Jesus replied, “He’s the one I give the piece of bread to after I have dipped it.” After Judas ate the piece of bread, Satan entered him. Therefore Jesus told him, “What you’re doing, do quickly.” None of those reclining at the table knew why He told him this.
​

Do you actually think that Jesus was uninformed or caught unawares (John 6:70-71, John 13:18) as if He didn't know the heart of Judas or that He was to be the Lamb of GOD. Even from the very beginning (Genesis 1:26, Genesis 3:22, John 1:1-14, 1 John 1:1-3). Otherwise, why would these two scriptures in Genesis have need/purpose for saying "Us" ??

1 John 5:18-20
We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the One who was born of God keeps them safe, and the evil one cannot harm them. We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one. We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know Him who is true. We are in the true One--that is, in His Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.​

 

[Contenders Edge]

​

The indwelling/abiding of the Advocate, Counselor, Teacher (Holy Spirit) didn't possess His disciples until after His resurrection ~ ascension (Acts 2). Christ Jesus only did what the Father told Him to say and do (John 5:18-20, John 6:38, John 10:30, John 14:10).

John 8:58
Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I AM."
John 13:18
I AM not speaking about all of you; I know whom I have chosen. But this is to fulfill the Scripture: 'The one who eats bread with Me has lifted up his heel against Me.'
John 13:26-28
Jesus replied, “He’s the one I give the piece of bread to after I have dipped it.” After Judas ate the piece of bread, Satan entered him. Therefore Jesus told him, “What you’re doing, do quickly.” None of those reclining at the table knew why He told him this.
​

Do you actually think that Jesus was uninformed or caught unawares (John 6:70-71, John 13:18) as if He didn't know the heart of Judas or that He was to be the Lamb of GOD. Even from the very beginning (Genesis 1:26, Genesis 3:22, John 1:1-14, 1 John 1:1-3). Otherwise, why would these two scriptures in Genesis have need/purpose for saying "Us" ??

1 John 5:18-20
We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the One who was born of God keeps them safe, and the evil one cannot harm them. We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one. We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know Him who is true. We are in the true One--that is, in His Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.​

I believe I had mentioned previously that the Holy Spirit can either be in someone, with someone, or upon them but I never claimed that the Spirit indwelled the disciples before the ascension of Christ into Heaven. I only stated that He was with them and may even have come upon them at times, which is not necessarily the same as an indwelling.

The only disciple with whom the Spirit of God may have had nothing to do with was Judas because he never really had any sincere faith in our Lord, but Christ was already aware of this. I never attempted to argue otherwise.