the foreign gods were not good to me

[DanielB]

"But the devil abuses those who forgive him. He starts to tempt people to sin then and plays God. If you didn't experience this you haven't been in touch with him."

Then what is the proper way to be towards him? Angry, bitter, hateful? There is no reason not to forgive him. I am not saying to be his friend(or even to not consider him against you)! If the devil wants to harm or corrupt you, he would rather you hate him or have a grudge or be bitter about him rather than to forgive him(which would not give him any extra influence over you).

[anti_nietzsche]

Maybe you are right Daniel, but it's hard. I've been the victim of a demon for more than 10 years now and it's been very difficult sometimes. It's like all joy of life is sucked out of you and happiness is only possible in delusions. And why would Jesus call the devil a liar and a murderer from the beginning? I suppose I can forgive him, but what happens when the devil abuses that and turns my thoughts wicked and awful? This has happened to me a few times, I've really been touched by the dark side in this, trust me! I had to call on Michael a few times. I always thought Paul had done a mistake in handing people over to satan.

[DanielB]

By the way, I am not trying to come across as harsh(just making my point). I personally just interpret Paul saying that to mean to let the unrepentant people(those who are not trying to deal with their bad behaviour) to hit "rock bottom", which often inspires change since people realize they have been foolish.

If some of your thoughts are disturbing you then you should not consider them your own thoughts. If the devil directly influences our thoughts, they are his thoughts and not our thoughts. What we are willfully or unwillfully exposed to also influences our thoughts. I have not figured out any way to effectively control thoughts but it isn't necessary. Think of thoughts as something outside of yourself that you are just seeing. Thoughts are outside of ourselves in a way(at least unwillful thoughts) because the seem to be made by an unconscious automatic/machine like part/parts of the brain rather than willful creations. If demons are terrorizing you and messing with your mind, consider that they are trying to hold you prisoner by guilt and lies and convincing you that unpleasant thoughts are coming from your own heart rather than theirs and misleading you to think that "you must control your thoughts(which is next to impossible or impossible to my knowledge) or you will be guilty of evil".

[eaglesway]

The "way to be" towards satan is to fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of your faith. If one has been taken captive they must cry out to the liberator- Jesus Christ. He is the only one with power over demons. Spending time in His presence, prayer, worship, praise, fellowship, forgiveness- these are "the weapons of our righteousness" and they are "mighty through God for the pulling down of every stronghold and fortress that exalts itself against the true knowledge of God"...."taking every thought captive to Christ".

Jesus said, "Get behind me". It is difficult to get him behind we are studying, curious, and engaged with him or any of the fallen spirits that serve him. Our education about the works of darkness does not come from the darkness, it comes from the Holy Spirit and the scriptures. We are not ignorant of the wiles of the devil if we walk as children of light- having no intercourse with the unfruitful workers of darkness.

The truth is, darkness can never overcome light. It cannot stand in His presence. Resist the devil and He will flee from you. Resist Him by drawing near to God.....he cannot follow you into the secret place of the most high.

[jabcat]

yes John,  also, our weaknesses of the flesh - whether physical or mental - can enter into it..much of this, as daniel suggests, might be better ignored, figured as "not really us".  "I, yet not I".  I believe satan can prey upon those weaknesses to distract and discourage us, especially if we give it too much attention.  "Who will deliver me..?"    I agree, "keep our eyes on Jesus". 

[Ross]

The "way to be" towards satan is to fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of your faith. If one has been taken captive they must cry out to the liberator- Jesus Christ. He is the only one with power over demons. Spending time in His presence, prayer, worship, praise, fellowship, forgiveness- these are "the weapons of our righteousness" and they are "mighty through God for the pulling down of every stronghold and fortress that exalts itself against the true knowledge of God"...."taking every thought captive to Christ".

Jesus said, "Get behind me". It is difficult to get him behind we are studying, curious, and engaged with him or any of the fallen spirits that serve him. Our education about the works of darkness does not come from the darkness, it comes from the Holy Spirit and the scriptures. We are not ignorant of the wiles of the devil if we walk as children of light- having no intercourse with the unfruitful workers of darkness.

The truth is, darkness can never overcome light. It cannot stand in His presence. Resist the devil and He will flee from you. Resist Him by drawing near to God.....he cannot follow you into the secret place of the most high.

I.M.O worrying about satanic power being too big to overcome is  like looking at a captain in an army being greater than the general.
Have been there; never felt right; but learned that Christ's work is my answer, not my personal effort. His faith, knowing His provision of salvation, walking with the good news about the completeness of His work for us.

[CHB]

The "way to be" towards satan is to fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of your faith. If one has been taken captive they must cry out to the liberator- Jesus Christ. He is the only one with power over demons. Spending time in His presence, prayer, worship, praise, fellowship, forgiveness- these are "the weapons of our righteousness" and they are "mighty through God for the pulling down of every stronghold and fortress that exalts itself against the true knowledge of God"...."taking every thought captive to Christ".

Jesus said, "Get behind me". It is difficult to get him behind we are studying, curious, and engaged with him or any of the fallen spirits that serve him. Our education about the works of darkness does not come from the darkness, it comes from the Holy Spirit and the scriptures. We are not ignorant of the wiles of the devil if we walk as children of light- having no intercourse with the unfruitful workers of darkness.

The truth is, darkness can never overcome light. It cannot stand in His presence. Resist the devil and He will flee from you. Resist Him by drawing near to God.....he cannot follow you into the secret place of the most high.

Absolutely! I was thinking the same things while reading anti's posts. I also believe if we keep our minds on this sort of thing it is like giving the demons an invitation. If one dwells on and thinks about these dark things all the time we are surely opening our minds up to let them come in.

CHB

[marie glen]

 :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[anti_nietzsche]

I watched some deliverance videos on youtube and I got better. But some of the videos are wacky when they consign a spirit to every disease or ailment or sin or misvirtue or problem. Some of that can be true but I don't think all.