Living Salvation.

Joh 8:34  Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. 

Joh 8:35  And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever. 

Joh 8:36  If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. 

We are all servants of sin as we live in this world. But we are not going to live in this world forever.  What is forever is the Son of God and the Son of God can make us free from sins, no longer servants to sin.

Joh 8:31  Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; 

Joh 8:32  And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. 

The Son of God can make us free. We need to continue in the Word of the Lord, knowing the truth, because it is God's truth that will set us free.

We need to be free, because to be captive to sin is to be a part of the world, and to be a part of the world is to be conformed to the world, and being conformed to the world is to belong to Satan.

This needs to be our prayer--

Psa 19:12  Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults. 

Psa 19:13  Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression. 

Psa 19:14  Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer. 

We need to be kept from willful sinning. Sin can have dominion over us, but through our Savior it can be overcome.  Are the words of our mouth, and the meditation of our hearts acceptable to God? We need to examine ourselves--

2Co_13:5  Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates

When we examine ourselves we can tell whether we are in the faith- and if our words and heart are not acceptable to God, to our Savior then we are not in the faith, we are not living in the truth of our LORD.  We don't like thinking about this kind of stuff though because the weight of our sin is so incredibly heavy as we realize how far we are from where we should be. To shrug it off, to deny it, to hide from it, to pretend that it doesn’t matter is to live in ignorance and it's in ignorance that our Savior is going to tell many that He doesn't know them. They will be ignorant of the truth because they don't want to face the truth at all, the lies are so much easier to live.

Our Savior will set us free through His truth, and that truth has commands.

Our Savior has commands.

Joh 14:6  Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. 

Joh_14:15  If ye love me, keep my commandments.

Yet, we ignore that last part because we pit it against salvation being only found in Jesus through grace and not works, it's a gift.  We equate keeping the commands of our God with works.

An analogy might be as follows-

Your father tells you that he has a gift for you and he gives it to you, no strings attached, the gift is yours. You take the gift and it's yours for as long as you desire to keep it, you can't trash the gift unless you really want to. Your life continues and you go on as usual and your father tells you that if you love him you'll listen to him and what he tells you to do because he only has your best interests at heart in all he commands you. He continues on and tells you all sort of things that he'd like you to do which ultimately stem from loving him and loving others. Now you have to choose always, in all you do, if you are going to do the things he's told you or not. It will be something you'll have to choose all the time, all your actions stemming from these commands he's given you.  He also tells you that if you love him and follow his commands then you will be living in love. When you choose not to follow the commands and you let yourself stray, you are choosing to turn from Him and that gift He gave you will become less and less a gift you want to keep.

Salvation is a gift, and keeping the commandments make that gift more and more precious to us. Keeping the commandments isn't a way to earn salvation, it's a way to love and live the salvation given to us.

All by the grace and mercy, the love of our SAVIOR, JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD now and forever!!!!!!!

Not of the World.

From yesterday-

We are NOT SUPPOSED to be of the WORLD!  Yet how many Christ followers are so close to the world you can't tell they are Christ followers at all?

Are we supposed to be able to tell if someone is a Christian by looking at them? We have some religious organizations that you can tell right off - Quakers, Amish, various monks in their garb, Catholic priests and nuns in their religious outfits, certain pastors that wear collars, there are more I'm sure, but those are a few we can recognize. Do their outfits mean they are Christ followers, or fathers of other religions? Not necessarily, because anyone can don an outfit without their hearts being true.

Back to the question, are we supposed to be able to tell if someone is a Christian by looking at them?

I don't think so, because if a person had seen the disciples and apostles, and Jesus Himself walking about they wouldn't have known they were all Christ followers, or followers of God the Father. We aren't supposed to wear flashing neon signs upon ourselves. Not that you can't if that's what you believe God is calling you to do.  Our actions in our everyday lives are what defines us as Christians.  Our accepting Christ on a daily basis.  That ol' saying- I'm not perfect I'm just forgiven- has some weight to it because Christians can be the screaming banshee who is suffering through a spiritual attack on their way to being the most peaceful, serene Christ follower down the road.

No, we are NOT supposed to conform to the world, because the world is ruled by Satan. Wherever Satan has a foothold, we are supposed to go elsewhere.

We have this as a guide--

Php_4:8  Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

If we can't think on these things we really need to be questioning out spiritual walk with Christ.

Honest, just, pure, lovely, good report, virtue, praise.   Can we read these words and relate them to our lives? Are we thinking on these things and all things related to these things?

Rom 12:9  Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good. 

Rom 12:10  Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another; 

Rom 12:11  Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord; 

Rom 12:12  Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer; 

Rom 12:13  Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality. 

Rom 12:14  Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not. 

Rom 12:15  Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep. 

Rom 12:16  Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits. 

Rom 12:17  Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. 

Rom 12:18  If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. 

Rom 12:19  Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. 

Rom 12:20  Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. 

Rom 12:21  Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good. 

This is NOT being conformed to the world.

Knowing to do good and doing it, this is not being conformed to the world.

Rom_12:2  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

We have to be transformed by the renewing of our minds and this is how we are NOT conformed to the world and this will PROVE what is that good and acceptable, and perfect will of God.

If we are blending with the world we have to ask ourselves if we are shunning the will of God.

If we are compromising our Christian principles then we truly need to seek forgiveness.

It isn't easy NOT to conform to the world- Satan wants us to join in because when he gets us to conform to the world, we are conformed to his will and not God's.

Please, Father in Heaven, please keep us from evil- all evil including being conformed to this world! Help us to be YOURS in all ways in our lives! Please, save us from ourselves! Please, forgive us! Help us forgive others! All in the name of our Savior, our Lord, Jesus Christ, now and forever!!!!!!!

Faith On Earth.

Luk_18:8  … Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?

Yes. The Son of man will find faith on earth. How much faith is another story. There will be the faithful waiting for the Lord when He returns--

1Th 4:16  For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 

1Th 4:17  Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 

We which are ALIVE and REMAIN - when the LORD HIMSELF DESCENDS FROM HEAVEN WITH A SHOUT WITH THE VOICE OF THE ARCHANGEL AND WITH THE TRUMP OF GOD - we who have faith all the way to the end will rise up into the air to meet the LORD!

This is glorious news, we do know there will be faith, but we also know there will be VERY few that have that faith that is real beyond deception. There is going to be a deception so great ALL but the very elect will be deceived. Those deceived will hear the Lord tell them He never knew them- even though they REALLY BELIEVE with all their hearts that He knows them.

Mat 7:13  Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: 

Mat 7:14  Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. 

Strait and narrow is the way that leads to life. So why do we imagine it's a very broad way and most people are going to find it? Why do we delude ourselves? Maybe because we can't judge who is and who isn't going to belong to the Lord it is easier for us to just assume that most will make it, that everyone will make it there one way or another.  Jesus didn't say to the people- "Go wait in the waiting room until you get to know me."  He told them to get away from Him.

Mat 7:21  Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 

Very plainly we are told that NOT EVERYONE that says LORD, LORD will enter into the kingdom of heaven.

The kingdom of heaven, contrary to the belief of some, isn't going to take everyone in. Why? Because people are going to choose NOT to enter.  No one will be left out who truly chooses to belong to the Lord Jesus Christ, the WAY to heaven, the WAY to eternal life. The trouble is truly choosing to belong to the Lord is a strait and narrow way, it's NOT THE WAY OF THE WORLD. It's not the way of the MAINSTREAM religion. It's not the way of the masses.  It's the way of the TRUTH and only the LORD's truth. Yet so many people don't want all the truth, they just want the feel good religion. They don't want a strait and narrow way, why? Because a straight and narrow way speaks of something other than us doing whatever we want to do, without regard to the Lord's truth. The straight and narrow way means sacrificial love, and the sacrifice we are giving is ourselves-

Psa 51:17  The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. 

Mar 12:33  And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. 

Rom 12:1  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 

Rom 12:2  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. 

Heb 13:16  But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased. 

We are NOT SUPPOSED to be of the WORLD!  Yet how many Christ followers are so close to the world you can't tell they are Christ followers at all?

More on this tomorrow by the grace and will of our LORD and SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST!

Among the Faithful!

Luk_18:8  … Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?

We just talked about faith and prayer quite a bit but we need to talk about it more. Let's focus a little on the above verse-  When our Savior returns will He find faith in this world?  We want to answer with an emphatic yes, but should we? I don't think we should without considering why this verse even exists. If faith is guaranteed to exist for all Christ followers then we are really asking if Christ will find any real followers on earth when He returns. You can't be a real follower of Christ without faith, right? We HAVE to think about this stuff, we have to get right down into the dirt of it all and not stay where it's all happy and light. Think a moment about that verse that weighs heavily upon me quite often as anyone who reads these studies knows-

Mat 7:22  Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 

Mat 7:23  And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. 

WHY does this verse exist?? WHY?! It's a warning to US! Both of these verses are warnings to us! We HAVE to HEED THESE WARNINGS! I envision myself jumping up and down on a large soap box while waving a large sign as I shout out for people to TAKE HEED and shouting out these verses! 

We can't answer YES to the question- shall Jesus find faith on earth when He returns, without comprehending what it truly means. It is so much more than the idea that I simply say I believe and think I believe. I have to ask myself is it a heart aching, gut wrenching, mind absorbing belief?  Is it an unwavering faith? Or do I catch myself often with teeny tiny, miniscule doubts? Is there a flutter of wavering in my belief?  We tell people it's normal, it's acceptable to have doubts- but is it? Should we say it's normal and pacify people gently so they don't lose hope? We have to right, but is it encouraging acceptance so that we doubt more knowing we can fall back on the comfort pillow of endless forgiveness? What happens if we are so comfortable in doubting- especially when troubles and tribulations arise- and we die during the doubt?  I know, I'm being morbid, and maybe overly dramatic but this is eternal life we are talking about!!!! The question was raised- will Jesus find faith on earth when He returns, and it truly is SO easy to just say yes, of course, there is a lot of faith on earth, tons of faith-me my friends, my church, my online groups we have so much faith in Jesus that He's going to find heaps and heaps of it when He returns. We have to dare to dig deep. Not ALL faith is truly in Jesus. Above in verse Matthew 7:22,23 we are TOLD that many will believe they are saved, MANY are going to believe they are of the faithful that Jesus will find, and they ARE NOT! This is SCARY, this should be scary, it should be horrifying to us!

To have real faith or fake faith- how do you know which is which?  If you are among those who truly believe they are God's and have the faith our Savior will be looking for, are you among the deceived? God forbid, I do NOT want to believe I am known by the Lord only to be told He doesn't know me at all.

We are going to continue to study faith, and by the will of our LORD we will HAVE the faith He will find on earth when He returns.  We will rise to meet Him in the air because HE WILL KNOW US.

All through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior! NOW and FOREVER!!!!!!!

Prayer and Faith

Jas 5:13  Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms. 

Jas 5:14  Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: 

Jas 5:15  And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. 

Jas 5:16  Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. 

Jas 5:17  Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. 

Jas 5:18  And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit. 

Afflicted? Pray.

Merry? Sing psalms.

Sick? Receive prayer and anointing.

Confess, pray, be healed.

Fervent prayer-righteous- gets results.

However- our prayers have to be in accordance with the will of God, not ours.  We mistake our wants, our needs, our desperate desires for the will of God and we pray for things as if they must be answered as we desire. If our prayer of faith goes seemingly unanswered, is it because our imagined idea of the best answer isn't God's way? Our heart aches for the things that we go through, fair and unfair. Circumstances beyond our control often cause us pain. And sometimes we do things wrong and regret the wrong when consequences come to pass. We cry out for help from God and when nothing changes and bad things still come to pass, and things get worse and worse we can't figure out why our prayers go unanswered.

We read about prayers being answered- 'the prayer of faith shall save the sick'  and yet we pray, and pray, and pray and our loved one- be it a baby, a child, a teenager, a young adult, or any loved one or friend, even strangers- remain sick, we doubt our faith. We lament our failings, we are dismayed by our inability to have the faith in this verse that tells us 'the prayer of faith shall save the sick'. 

Is it always our lack of faith that keeps the sick from being saved? Did none die when Jesus walked the earth during His ministering years? We know Lazarus died and was brought back, but we don't read that no one died at all during the three years He went about healing. We do know people beyond number were healed, and surely He kept people from dying, a lot of people. But something as sensational as no one dying during Jesus' ministry would be remarked upon.  Not all had faith. Jesus asked more than one person before healing them if they had faith.

Mat_9:22  But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour.

Mat_9:29  Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you

Mar_2:5  When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.

Mar_5:34  And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.

Mar 9:23  Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. 

Mar 9:24  And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief. 

Mar 9:25  When Jesus saw that the people came running together, he rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him. 

Mar 9:26  And the spirit cried, and rent him sore, and came out of him: and he was as one dead; insomuch that many said, He is dead. 

Mar 9:27  But Jesus took him by the hand, and lifted him up; and he arose. 

Mat_9:28  And when he was come into the house, the blind men came to him: and Jesus saith unto them, Believe ye that I am able to do this? They said unto him, Yea, Lord.

Luk 8:49  While he yet spake, there cometh one from the ruler of the synagogue's house, saying to him, Thy daughter is dead; trouble not the Master. 

Luk 8:50  But when Jesus heard it, he answered him, saying, Fear not: believe only, and she shall be made whole. 

Having faith, having belief is paramount, but knowing God's will is what we are having faith in is so important.  Our belief is in God, our belief is in our Savior, our belief isn't in our own faith or our ability to have faith. Remember what was written above- the father said- 'help thou my unbelief'.   We do believe, but we can't trust our belief, we need to trust in God.

God's will be done first and foremost. God's will.

We know this--

Luk_18:8  … Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?

More on this tomorrow by the will, and the grace of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!

Prayer of Faith

Firstly, my week long study (approximately an hour or more each day- not timed- could be less or more) on possession by evil, unclean spirits, demons, devils has truly not revealed any outright answers about figuring out if someone is possessed.  There are facts-

1. Unclean spirits, evil spirits, demons and devils are all names for the evil angels that chose to align with Lucifer when he chose to separate himself from God. One third of all the angels in existence decided to separate themselves from God -the Heavenly Father, God- the declared Son of the Father, Jesus Christ, and God- the Holy Spirit, the Comforter.

2. All evil spirits (under any name used for them) are Satan's to control and use for the sole purpose of influencing human beings to separate from, or keep from ever aligning themselves to God ( all three of them- Father, Son, & Holy Spirit).

3. Evil spirits can take possession of a human being.

4. Evil spirit possession can be exhibited by different kinds of possession. Examples: deaf and dumb spirits, talkative spirits, a whole legion of spirits in one person, spirits that cause sicknesses that don't have to solely be caused by them, but can be. Spirits can cause rage, fighting, beating up others, hurting the human they possess, trying to kill the human they possess, and more.

5. Evil spirits have been cast out of human beings by Jesus Christ Himself, by the Apostles Jesus left behind, by disciples of Jesus and by those called to be healers.

6. Evil spirits sometimes won't leave a person unless the healer has prayed extensively and fasted while praying- the time limit on how long is unknown.

7. When Jesus returns for His people to take them to heaven many people are going to say to Him that they cast out evil spirits in His name- and Jesus is going to tell them to get away from Him, that He never knew them.  This leaves us the conclusion that there will be many who think they are doing Jesus' will but are really doing Satan's bidding. They will seemingly cast out evil spirits from people- the people will appear cured after their casting out- using Jesus' name- and yet it is Satan who has called the evil spirit to leave the person in order to deceive the person casting out who believes they are doing Jesus' work when they are not.

8. In the last days as Satan's days of deceiving grow shorter he will be working harder and will even do miracles attributed to Jesus by others. Miracles will be performed so wonderfully all but the VERY elect will be deceived.

9. Not all evil spirit possession occurs through inviting the evil spirits to take possession as some do when they choose a life void of God. Possession can be allowed for reasons we cannot comprehend, but ultimately for the glory of God to be revealed.

10. This life no matter how torturous in any aspect from birth to death is a temporary life compared to eternity's life for those who choose Jesus Christ as their Savior, no longer allowing themselves to be separated from God, by His grace.

11. God allows much tribulation to befall those who love Him and those tribulations are equated to gold being tried in fire- purifying, refining fires.

12. We who believe in God know the following to be truth- that ALL things will work together for GOOD to those who love God and are called according to His purpose.  We TRUST that even the horrors of our life or the lives of our loved ones, or anyone else are allowed for reasons beyond our ability to fully comprehend. The secret things belong to God, not us. We are looking through a dark glass right now, but one day will see clearly. Faith, believing in what we cannot see, yet hoping without sight, without all the answers, without all the knowledge - the whys and wherefores of the greatest of life's tragedies- yet always HOPING in Jesus Christ, believing in Him.

These are some of the facts we've come across in this study.

We know we are to pray for the sick, the afflicted-

Jas 5:13  Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms. 

Jas 5:14  Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: 

Jas 5:15  And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. 

Truthfully we could consider anyone who was suspected in the slightest to be possessed of an evil spirit - afflicted, right? We may not know the exact affliction, but we know there is a person troubled and suffering extensively in some manner. 

We are told to pray.

If any are sick… are told call an upstanding member of God's people to pray over that person, to anoint that person with oil in the name of the Lord.

A PRAYER OF FAITH will save the sick.

Does this mean that everyone prayed for will be healed? OR does it mean ultimately they'll be saved in the only way that most truly matters, eternally? We know people pray for their sick loved ones all the time, and even for sick strangers. But we also know they are NOT always healed. However the healing prayer could truly go deeper than temporary healing of our corruptible flesh. Some are healed, others are not, but it is all to God's glory, or His will that goes beyond our comprehension.

*******

We must pray- Have mercy on us, Jesus, Son of God, we beseech Thee, needing Your forgiveness for ALL our sins. We do not want to be as those who pray in Your holy name as those who claim You but don't know You and are not known by You.  We are desperately in need of Your help. To the one afflicted- we don't know if it's possession by an evil spirit that afflicts you, or a sickness in your brain, or some other illness. If it is an evil spirit, we command thee in the name of Jesus to come out of the afflicted! In Jesus' name we charge thee, come out of the afflicted and enter no more into the afflicted. We cast out the spirit or spirits with the holy word of our Savior, Jesus Christ, we do this in faith, nothing wavering! Let this be our prayer, for our most precious afflicted one. Bless them and keep them in You all though God the Father, by the mercy and grace of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, now and forever!!!!!!!!

*******

Good and Evil Spirits.

Evil surrounds all of us. We are living in a world of unseen spirits- evil and good.  Evil spirits are those who sided with Satan and his lies and were cast from heaven. Good spirits are angels and these are God's ministering spirits.  These two opposing forces, no matter how much they've been fictionalize on tv, movie screens, and in books are real.  Not only are they real, they are powerful. The things the evil spirits can do to someone are horrific. Job is well known for Satan bringing down upon him all sorts of evil all in the hopes Job would curse God, that he would lay the blame for all his tribulation upon God. We know that God doesn't want us involved in any way with the evil spirts. The Bible talks of witches, sorcerers, soothsayers and so on- as REALLY EXISTING. This brings me around again to what I started off saying- evil surrounds all of us.

Eph 6:11  Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 

Eph 6:12  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. 

We WRESTLE NOT AGAINST FLESH AND BLOOD.

We WRESTLE AGAINST PRINCIPALITIES, POWERS, RULERS OF DARKNESS IN THIS WORLD, SPIRITUAL WICKEDNESS IN HIGH PLACES.

We wrestle.   We are in a fight, a battle and it's spiritual. 

It's foolish of us to believe that evil spirits leave us alone. They will try everything to get us from the love of Jesus, everything. If they've got us from the love of Jesus they don't need to bother us too much, except maybe to torment us for their amusement, or to use us to influence others away from Jesus.

What is the purpose of spirit possession?  To torment. To viciously, evilly torture the one possessed and those loved ones around them. 

In today's world we watch our loved ones suffer and we seek all sorts of solace for them usually by going to doctor after doctor, trying treatment after treatment. We dare not mentioned demon possession because that's just crazy talk, and maybe we are the ones needing a doctor and treatment. Yet if you are a Christian then you have to believe in possession by evil spirits.

When children are involved in demon possession, as we've studied already, we have to know that they are being tormented and their loved ones are being tormented as well and the reasons why and wherefores are most likely unknown to us. It's surely not the child's fault- to say the child opened the door to an evil spirit willfully would be wrong.  Adults can most assuredly open doors to evil spirits and invite them in, but not young children- this doesn't stop them from being possessed as our Bible tells us.  I have to believe the Bible allows us to realize this for a reason. If it has happened then it has, and Jesus had to cast evil spirits out of children, and his disciples were told they needed to fast and pray (more than a short casting out) for certain spirts that don't readily leave a child.

We need to follow suit.  Seriously, if we as Christians believe someone may be possessed by an evil spirit are we to ignore it and hope it goes away on its own? Maybe we are to pray silently, separately, but if no relief is revealed after a period of time perhaps we need to pray directly to the one possibly possessed- asking our Father in Heaven to guide us every single step of the way, praying for forgiveness of all our sins, seeking spiritual cleansing from the LORD, for only He can take our filthy rags and make them white in His blood.  We may need to command the evil spirit to leave- not asking any names or such things, not seeking any sort of communication whatsoever with the evil spirit, there is no precedence for that. Jesus didn't want to converse with the spirits, He rebuked them. Only the power of the Holy Spirit can release the demon from someone, all through the love of our Savior and the love of our Father God in heaven. Jesus did nothing on earth that wasn't of the Father, and likewise the Holy Spirit does nothing that isn't of the Father and Jesus.

Cast out with the WORD of JESUS.

Matt 8:16 When the even was come, they brought unto him (((JESUS))) many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick

Rebuke the evil through JESUS.

Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit and HEALED the child.

Luk 9:42  And as he was yet a coming, the devil threw him down, and tare him. And Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, and healed the child, and delivered him again to his father. 

Command the evil spirit in the name of JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD to come out.

Paul commanded the spirit to come out, and that same hour he did.

Act 16:18  ...Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out the same hour

Cast out.

Rebuked.

Commanded in Jesus' name.

If we do this we must do it with FAITH.

If we do this and the evil spirit remains, if the situation is unchanged then we have to PRAY and FAST seeking the removal of the evil spirit. If the situation still is unchanged then we have to keep praying without ceasing, meaning a constant renewal of our prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving unto GOD.

I'm not sure we'll know of possession or illness, or if there is a permanent need for whatever ailment has brought about the idea of possession- only God knows and He has lessons for us that go far beyond our comprehension.  The trying of faith can take so many forms. We know that Abraham was called to sacrifice his only son, a son he'd had very, very late in his life and despaired of ever having. God did not take his son, but Abraham's faith was tested to the utmost and so will ours be.  God will NEVER ask us to sacrifice our children on a physical altar, but we may need to offer them to God for His will to be done in their lives and we must do this in faith trusting He will.

God help us, guide us, forgive us, keep us, love us, all through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, now and forever!!!!!!!