DEVIL CAN'T WIN WHEN WE COUNTER HIS DEMONS WITH FAITH INSTEAD OF FEAR IN WAKE OF ATTACK

DEVIL CAN'T WIN WHEN WE COUNTER HIS DEMONS WITH FAITH INSTEAD OF FEAR IN WAKE OF ATTACK

A major mistake made by those seeking to protect themselves against the enemy or cast out spirits is that they approach the situation with fear instead of faith. This is very important because when we have fear, it gives the devil power. It attracts spirits like a flame attracts moths. It does this because fear of him is faith in him (in his powers).

Look at Job: he got what he worried about. "For the very thing I greatly feared has come upon me, and what I dreaded has happened to me," he said (in Job 3:25).

As an expert, Ron Phillips, says in a very good new general-Christian book (Everyone's Guide to Demons and Spiritual Warfare), we must approach demons with faith or we become ensnared in a vicious circle. "Demons are like cockroaches," he writes. "They tend to increase in number if not evicted by the power of God. Fear is a magnet to demons. It will draw in the enemy and will bring the thing you have spoken out of your mouth. You need to understand that not only is fear an emotion, but it is also a spirit. In 2 Timothy 1:7 we read: 'For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.'"

A sound mind?

How many times has this happened to you? You spend too much time expecting a negative and you draw it. "Fear hath torment," states 1 John 4-18.

"When you engage the spirit of fear, he brings along his tormenting buddies," adds the author -- pastor of a Baptist church in Tennessee (but one who speaks without bias to all Christians). "Fear never comes alone. Fear's best friend is torment. Torment involves sleepless nights, or thinking your husband is having an affair when he is not, or the inability to speak the truth out of your mouth."

When you pray, are you in a state of struggling? Do you feel like you barely have your head above water? Do you pray from the standpoint of apprehension?

If so, you are letting fear get the best of you and must ask the Holy Spirit to replace it immediately with faith. Faith always wins. It is more powerful than fear. It is more powerful than the devil. In fact, fear is one of the devil's greatest tools.

But when we dismiss it, we dismiss much of his power. The soundness of our minds often depends upon our sealing our thoughts and homes from infiltration.

When we are in fear, the devil is empowered even to cause those around us to see or hear things we didn't do or say!

He twists things. He is the "spirit of the python" (think Garden; think snake). He frequently  sends someone you know, often a family member, to attack or divert or defame you, operating from a "spirit of anger." When there is pride, the problem is tenfold.

Says another author, Catholic Stella Davis, author of another new book, Spiritual Warfare, "Many people don't know they are being used by Satan. They help him, especially in relationships. I have seen many times how he works with people. He paints a beautiful picture to them, he whispers in their ears or hearts to hear the wrong things, to see the wrong things about people."

"There are entities that try to track through your family history!" warns Phillips. "Let me make it clear that the 'pythons' spoke out of the dust or ground. Simply stated, the past wraps around you and tries to squeeze the life out of you."

"How does the enemy challenge us?" asks Phillips. "Satan will surround us with people who distract us. He will use slander to defeat us and turn us away from victory. 'All day they twist my words; all their thoughts are against me for evil' (Psalm 56.5). Satan is the accuser! His goal is to slander and ruin. The word twist is the Hebrew word astab, which means 'to fabricate, to carve up, to inflict pain.' Satan will take what you say and do, fashion it into something that causes pain, and misinterpret you and what you believe!"

"Curses, which can also be called habits, affect families, churches, social circles, cities, and nature. They pass down through families if they aren't broken. The invisible realm is where curses operate, and they can be transferred by words or objects."

"A curse is an extended evil rope with one end tied to you and one end tied to 'who knows what' in the unseen past," adds the book. "You may be living with a curse if it seems that something repeatedly hinders you or creates struggle in a certain area of your life."

That must be cut and eliminated, if we want freedom.

Often, we eliminate it by exercising love.

Love, like faith, always wins.

The enemy is defenseless against it.

Bless those who curse you and do it with love and you will neutralize the venom.

[resources: Everyone's Guide to Demons and Spiritual Warfare and Spiritual Warfare]