This is quoted from another forum by a dear sister,
I am stating clearly for the reader, that non-Pentecostal's
always down-play the power of Satan, by using the ruse, that we Pentecostal`s are leaving G-d powerless, because we speak about these matters, instead of pretending they do not exist.
Please let me start with a reminder that we are told to fear God first and only..
I would like to share my reason for avoiding and not using the titles, devil, demon or satan. I without doubt can look around and listen to how these have been turned into something greater to fear than God and just the mention of one of these titles evokes and triggers fear in some of the images the world and people have imagined and created them to be.
What is fear? It is in fact a form of confidence, what you fear you place your confidence in rather it is a negative or positive type of confidence, in that it is greater than you and can do whatever it wants to you..
Not only do we have Christians fearing satan with the utmost confidence but the world also, we have literally placed confidence in it believing that it can do whatever it wants, when ever it wants without any limits... Then we down play God by saying He can save you from that if you will do this or do that, or IF...etc..(The word If is enough to give way to doubt)
Now either we are saying and impling that God is helpless to help us as long as we don't do certain things or say certain things or whatever! Impling that God depends on us to give Him the right to save us from such things only by us meeting certain conditions or He can't help us because He is limited by us...but yet satan, devil, demons can do anything to us without us having to meet certain conditions..I believe that would be a huge beast that has been given more power than God and that is exactly what the world believes...the only way I know as an individual to be helpful is for me as an individual to not feed into that false message and image. For me, I can at the least, try and stop with considering my words and what others are hearing in them. I whole heartedly agree that without God we are left open and very vulnerable to all things, being tossed and carried about by the winds, but I am not inclined to say that God does not know or have control over those winds..
Why is it so important to place fear in God above all else? So maybe we can start to learn and build confidence in Him so that He can work with us one on one in turning that confidence into something else besides just fear of Him...But none the less the first step is to fear Him only.
So I think it very much needed that I should down play that image of a beast, satan, devil, demon back into it's proper place for I do see how we have unknowingly switched God into the lesser position with building up satan. There is a time to tear down as much as there is for building up... For truth would be more to satan, devil, demons depend on us and are limited by us on what it can do, and it is when we do or don't do certain things, say certain things and so forth that it has power and allowance given to it to enter our personal space (it is very much under subjection to the Lord).. placing ones fears, confidence and trust in the other direction toward God will place all other things in subjection to guess who?! I don't see it as we should worry about trying not to be possessed, instead consider in what and whom you would like to be possessed...Christ in you, living in you.. get one's self possessed by the Lord and His spirit and there will be no room for others and then all things will be in subjection to you because the Lord is in you and with you..
Jesus never seemed to go out looking for devils and He didn't even search for the sick to heal them, they came to Him, He never advertised that He could do such things and in fact if I'm remembering it correct He asked those He did help not to advertise it too. He healed by the faith, trust and hope that the one that came to Him asking had, it didn't even have to be the sick person them self and in the ones that had doubt but hope enough to ask, Jesus let His faith water that muster seed of hope and they were healed!
A good example of intentionally searching out opportunities to do these things is written for us in Acts 19:13, vagabond exorcists is what they were called, those that force out oaths from others...The Lord did tell us plainly that none could find the Father but through him and none could find Him unless the Father drew them to Him... and in this the glory was always the Father's..
Jesus never forced anyone, He didn't even force others to listen to Him, it didn't bother or un-nerve Him one bit!
If someone came to me and said I believe God can and will heal me using your hand..the first that will go through my mind is "Lord that's crazy! My hands are just like their's! (and in truth I would being asking the Lord why He has not given them to know that He is fully capable of using their own hands)"..and after my inward mouth speaks it to the Lord, I would be reminded that it does not matter what I think, believe or know, but the question is, "can I put aside myself and what I believe for this other person and in respect see that they believe it and are trusting God to make it so?" Yes, I can do that, let me not fail to give them my hand regardless of what I believe and let me not fail to point out to them that their own faith, trust, hope and confidence in God has inspired me to have more in Him myself so that we can both be healed and grow from it, so now God has sent us together to be healed by HIM through each other..I want that person to grow in faith of knowing that God could and does use their hands also, I want them to rely fully on God and not me...
And you might ask in what was I healed from in that, a sudden moment of having lost my compassion and understanding toward a fellow human being in a time of their own need, rather I needed, believed, doubted, hoped or not...
A parent does not wish for a child to grow up dependant on them, the world or others in this world, they pray and hope for their child's independence and that can not be found without God and if they did find independence without God then they are truly alone... that is the first thing deemed not good and only leads back into being in subjection for the desire to not being alone..
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