He Doesn't Play Around

A Spiritual Warfare Reality

Photo by Sander Sammy on Unsplash

I dabbled in the occult before I encountered Jesus at age 21 – a little Ouija board here, a séance or two there, horoscopes, mental telepathy, and a few other things including astral projection. This last thing wasn’t initiated by me however; I simply opened a book and read about it and that opened the door to it. Because the principle of “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you” (James 4:8) works equally effectively on the other side of the fence. And in addition to experiencing occasional out of body experiences I had received visits from a “being” whose breath I could feel on my neck. But when I asked the medium my mom took me to visit about this, her response had been “not to worry – as this was my first life on earth these beings from another world would visit me from time to ‘tap in’ for information.” And this is the darkness I walked in for a number of years.

At any rate, in the final moments of my “pre-Jesus” days I was learning how to map out astrological charts according to birth dates and locations and I had books checked out from the library with the purpose of exploring “white” witchcraft and casting “good” spells. And although I was playing around, I quickly learned - the devil and his minions – He doesn’t play around. He’s out to steal, kill, and destroy as fast as he can, as many as he can, by whatever means he can. But despite the reality of the enemy’s maneuverings, I learned something powerful on the heels of my salvation encounter with Jesus.

I learned that He, the enemy of our souls, the one who hates us to the very core of our being, and all of his cohorts, must bow, DEFEATED, to the authority of the Name of Jesus. (Because ultimately he only has authority where we abdicate our authority in Christ because we don’t know our authority, don’t exercise our authority, or partner with him, even unknowingly, thus canceling out our authority God intended us to have.)

And I remember well my first experience with this truth, very early on as a brand-new believer, weeks old in the Lord, while the enemy still had hooks in me because I hadn’t yet renounced (and repented) all of the works of darkness I had participated in. Very suddenly, while laying on my bed one morning (or evening?) I felt a presence come on me. And I had an immediate awareness that I could not move my physical body, but I was also paralyzed with terror with an awareness that I was experiencing a place of complete and utter darkness and “nothingness” which I somehow recognized as a complete separation from God and His presence. It was the most terrifying experience of my life up to that point. I was trapped in this place and I didn’t know what to do.

But God. My spirit knew what to do. My spirit, partnered with the Spirit of the Living God inside of me – the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead – cried out, “PLEASE JESUS!” And instantly that dark presence lifted off of me and I felt my spirit snap back into my body. Because unbeknownst to me in this instance, my spirit was separated from my body – which is a dangerous place to be if it’s not of the LORD. But at the name of Jesus this thing had to depart!

And this is why I proclaim and will continue to proclaim the name and the virtue of Jesus! But there’s yet more to this story - what God showed me immediately after this happened – because He knew I needed to know. He knew there were yet more battles I would face until I gained the victory over these forces of darkness. But glory to God, I began these battles as a weak and struggling Christian, but I didn’t stay there. It was a process; a process I now refer to as “spiritual warfare bootcamp” that took me from a weak and struggling believer to an overcomer to who He says I am now. And here’s what transpired immediately after…

I went into the kitchen, it was probably the next morning, as the attack likely occurred the night before, and my Bible was laying open on the dining room table, because I was still in the Word that had brought me to Him. And there in the concluding chapter of the book of Mark, these “red-lettered” words transformed from the “logos” word to the “rhema” word – yes, these words jumped off the page and came alive - much to my astonishment, but He is a God of astonishment:

“And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons.”

Wait! What? The very thing I had just experienced. How could this be? How could my Bible just happen to be sitting open to this page? And I had not seen these words yesterday? But this is how God works. His ways are wondrous. And of course, I didn’t know these words were part of the promises attached to The Great Commission. I didn’t yet fully understand the Great Commission – an admonishment to co-mission with the Lord until His return. But there is was - The Solution! The name that breaks bondages and sets people free. A solution that has never failed me. Through every bad dream, nightmare, demonic onslaught, whatever, it was the name (and the inherent authority) of Jesus that carried me through the years.

First with baby steps and fear and trembling (once in a dream I cried out my husband’s name, to no avail of course) till gradually I was strengthened in the Lord and could stand strong on my feet to face the enemy without fear. So yes, I feared the enemy for many years, but now I detest and abhor him, just as he hates me. Last time I sensed his presence – coming through my bedroom window – I shouted “Get out!” I said it twice, but only because I was angry. And this is the power of the name of Jesus, when we have no hooks in us. It’s more than a song, saying, or slogan, it is the name above all things that can be named. The only name in heaven or on earth by which we are saved, delivered, and set free. The triumphant name of Jesus!