Reprinted with permission from www.butterflyinthespring.com
Pastor Robert Morris (from Gateway Church, Texas, the eighth largest church in the US) tackles the subject of Demons. He explains that demons are disembodied spirits looking for a body (to inhabit). How can a believer keep himself from being an open house for a demon or a legion of demons? What do you mean by opening a door for the devil? What is meant by we ourselves are granting permission for Satan to take us bondage? These are some of the questions that Pastor Robert answers as he points out that the reason why many believers aren’t freed from under the power of demons (who had power over them before they were saved) is that they do not believe that it is possible. One extreme is to be superstitious, seeing “demons under every bush”; the other extreme is to be skeptical, thinking that “demons don’t exist. Both extremes are deception, which is the native language of the devil on which he thrives. In the middle is reality that demons are real, that their power is reduced to nothing in the name of Jesus Christ, and that they can be cast out and kept out of a believer’s life. In this teaching, we can find out what things can be done to live a life that is “Free Indeed”.
1. Under the Influence (Sept. 25, 2013)
“You’ll never get free if you don’t know that you can be in bondage.” – Pastor Robert Morris (13:31) Pastor Robert talks about a stage earlier in his life when he was saved but he was in bondage. For the first time in his life, he let his ice cream melt when he was shocked to realize, “I’ve got demons!” But he goes on to share how to be set free.
2. Permission Granted (Oct. 9, 2013)
“Do we ever, as believers, grant Satan permission to come against us or to take us bondage in an area? Does God ever grant Satan permission to take us bondage in an area?”
3. Believers in Bondage (Oct. 21, 2013)
Demon possession does not mean “ownership” in the Greek but “to gain power over”. “Can a Christian be under the influence of a demonic spirit? Absolutely,” Pastor Robert answers his own question. He gives these illustration: “If there were a thief in your home, that thief would not own your home but he would be in your home and he would be stealing from you until he was arrested and taken out. If a man took drugs into his body, even if he’s a Christian, he can be under the influence of that substance and do something totally out of character for him. Believers sometimes are never freed indeed because they don’t believe that they could indeed be in bondage. Pastor Robert teaches on how to be set free from bondage.
4. Breaking the Snare of Fear (Pastor Steven LeBlanc) (Oct. 30, 2013)
This is about breaking free of the fear of man, the Number 1 bondage among believers because this is the most deceptive fear there is.
5. The First Open Door (Nov 7, 2013)
There’s a thief at your door that you see through the peephole, you open the door and walk away: the thief will come in. Pastor Robert talks about how believers make way for demons to come into their lives (and how not to).
6. Fighting For Your Life (Nov. 13, 2013)
This is about overcoming the spirit of lust, the major stronghold that Pastor Robert himself had to deal with during the first few years of his life as a believer. He certainly wants to share with believers how to be set free of this. While amorous, hot sex may be part of God’s design within the context of marriage, outside the context of marriage it corrupts the soul. Pastor Robert says the height of deception is when a man and woman in adultery pray together, thinking that they can enter the presence of God in their sin. The spirit of lust says, “You will be the first person in history who won’t get caught.” as if he won’t get caught by God.
Prov 7: 22-23 22 All at once he followed her like an ox going to the slaughter, like a deer stepping into a noose 23 till an arrow pierces his liver, like a bird darting into a snare, little knowing it will cost him his life.
7. A Mind Set Free (Nov. 20, 2013)
This is about breaking free of mental bondage with a discussion on nuclear weapons of warfare against demons. Find out what the devil gaining demonic stronghold can’t hide under. Find out what are the four times when the devil most often attacks your mind and what to do about it. Pastor Jimmy Evans says that you can’t take a thought out of your mind but you can only replace it with a more powerful thought. He teaches about how to overcome mental bondage that doesn’t take five minutes.
8. Wounded Warriors (Nov. 27, 2013)
This message is about emotional healing of even childhood wounds that seem to be unrecoverable. There are two major stronghold spirits that come with these hurts. The first is the stronghold of Rejection. Seven more emotional strongholds come from the root of rejection: anger (or rage), insecurity, pride, independence (from God and others), easily offended, excessive shyness or loneliness, control and manipulation. Someone intimidating may be trying to control and manipulate out of a spirit of rejection. Find out about the other emotional strongholds from this message.
Pastor Robert teaches that you don’t have to live with a broken heart. Healing is available.
9. Open Gates (Pastor Brady Boyd) (Dec. 1, 2013)
This is for two groups of people: (1) the believers who are having a sweet time with God; and (2) believers who feel trapped and abandoned, who used to feel like they were in the first group but not anymore.
10. Set Free 1 (March 25, 2014) and 2 (March 27, 2014)
John 8:36 He whom the Son makes free is free indeed.
Can believers be demon-possessed? Can believers be controlled by demons? How do you get rid of demons? These are some of the questions Pastor Robert answers from this series of teachings.
11. Beware of Demonic Spirits (April 27, 2014)
Pastor Robert says that demonic bondage is not something to be afraid of but something to be aware of. He says that there is quite an impressive organisation the devil is running with seven categories of demons in Scripture: thrones, lordships, rulers, authorities, principalities and powers, rulers of the darkness, and evil and unclean spirits. They can be cast out in Jesus’s name. They have no choice but to leave when you cast them out in Jesus’s name.
He emphasises that we need to know how to get out of bondage and stay free indeed.
“Deliver us from evil” is the finale of the recommended prayer by Jesus. Whether or not we know or like it, there is spiritual warfare going on. The enemy is never a person. It is against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
Eph 6:12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
Jesus sits far above all authority, power and dominion…
Eph 1:20 he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, 21 far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.
And Jesus gives His people authority to overcome all the power of the enemy.
Luke 10:19 I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.
When we receive and believe in the name of Jesus, the authority and power of Jesus in us overcomes all the power of the enemy. Demons lose their authority and right over our lives. We are delivered from evil when the lordship of Jesus is in place. But our part is not to give the enemy footholds in our lives; complacency strengthens the enemy’s foothold.
