via Under The Influence:

When we think of someone under the influence, most assume they are under alcohol or drugs. It’s easy to assume this, especially if they are confrontational or hold changes in demeanor. Unfortunately, there are numerous people who are confrontational or emotionally unstable, where no substance was consumed. These people may be under the influence of a dark spirit that has them acting as if they consumed something. Their behavior can mirror that of a belligerent person.

How can someone be under the influence of a dark spirit? ( Easier than one might think…)   Our eyes and ears are exposed to whatever our feet take our bodies too. This means what we allow our eyes to see or our ears to hear can be an open avenue, dark spirits may use to travel through. This includes who we allow ourselves to keep company with as well.  Dark spirits seek to persuade our thoughts onto things we were not meant to think upon, so they are always looking for access to us… Many people fail to realize they travel. They can travel through books, music, computers, t.v, land and yes even through people.

Dark spirits belong to the army of darkness, which is led by the devil himself. Think of the devil as the shot caller and his demons as the ones who carry out his evil intentions. Make no mistake, thinking you are off limits to evil. ( The devil loves when people underestimate him.)  The devil and his army are the ultimate opponents of God. With that being said, they wreak havoc in the world and specifically target God’s people.  Don’t take my word for it; rather look at what the Lord left as warnings and guidance, in the Bible.    1 John 4:1 Reminds us not to believe every spirit but rather test the spirits to see if they are of God or of evil.   1 John 4:3 Reminds us the spirit of the Antichrist is already at work in the world. ( It means there are many people who have denied Christ and are under the influence of evil itself.)  These scriptures help us gain perspective as to why certain people treat us so poorly…  They may be under the influence of evil.

There are numerous examples of how evil will harass God’s people…  They steal your time by sending subtle ideas into your thinking with the intention of distracting you from other things or to cause you to miss important moments. They try to get people under their control through fear, shame, manipulation, mistreatment or accusations. (This is done through trusted people around you.)  In other words, they use those we love to harm us emotionally as a means to cause division in the marriage, family or friendships. They study us and find areas of weakness; then try to expose our weakness to others. (Anything to shame us and tear us down further.) They try to create the idea that certain people are our enemies. They do this by subtle, occasional forms of mistreatment or critical words spoken during moments we seek gentleness.  At first it is subtle, occasional mistreatment just to see how we respond.  If they get a rise out of us, they begin increasing the amount of mistreatment as well as harsher words spoken. Next thing we know, our eyes see those we love as enemies…Our love for them becomes callous due to how we feel around them,  after treatment they offered…

The devil and his army use us as their ultimate entertainment. They love to see us afraid, vulnerable, feeling unloved or incompetent.  The enemy of God is the enemy of those who love God… We are in a constant spiritual battle and because we can’t see the spiritual realm or the battle being fought in it; our focus can easily shift from the things of God to the things of man and how we feel at the moment. Let me remind you, most of the time our emotions are triggered due to the battle going on in the spiritual realm. That battle is between good and evil fighting for control over us. We may not be able to see, but we can feel the impact emotionally, spiritually and eventually physically.

Unfortunately, we issue blame on undeserving people for how we feel when in all actuality the blame belongs to the source our eyes can’t see. This means we responded so poorly to prior spiritual attacks that they kept sending more and more; which led us to redirect blame onto those our eyes could see.  Most of us don’t stop to think , we are being harassed by a demon. No it is easier to say our spouses or family members or friends hurt us and then came back to hurt us further… Yet, everyday we are being harassed and  it may be subtle or it may be bold.   In fact, if you are not being harassed then you have already proven to not be a challenge to the devil. This means, he already has you where he wants you which could be down and defeated…

Those who tend to not be a threat are those who hold constant worry and fear, who are restless, panicking, tense, avoiding others, insomnia, needing constant reassurance, critical of others, angry, unable to relax, second guessing everything, focusing on negativity, overthinking, excessive crying or sleeping, shaking, loss of appetite or fatigue with a tightness in the chest and headaches…. This is called oppression. In simple terms, oppression means to be heavily weighed down mentally or spiritually. ( Anytime our minds and hearts are under that type of distress our body also holds physical distress as well.)   This happens when we give more weight to the feelings we feel than to the truth left for us…

My encouragement, is quit entertaining thoughts or ideas that go against the Word of God.  It is time to take back what the enemy tried to steal from you. ( Your mind, capability, truth and confidence.)  Then fight with every ounce of truth you hold;  to regain your marriage, family and friendships. You may have been knocked down but you have been down long enough;  so get up swinging your sword of truth and fight for what the enemy thought he could take from you.   Make him understand what a true threat is! 1 John 4:4 Reminds us that he that is in us , is greater than he that is in the world…

Blessings,

Robin Worgull