Freedom!!

I met a homeless man named Joseph on a busy street corner in downtown Kailua Kona. His sign said “Ask me about God”. When I did he told me how we were all god. He said he had an internal combustion engine that produced life. He tried to babble on but I confronted him. Looking at him with love, I couldn’t help but see that he was tormented. I stood my ground and asked repeatedly if he wanted freedom. He eventually invited me to move on. So I did.

Moving on …

Darrel is a gentle, caring man. “Would you be willing?” is what he was asking me. It’s actually a very nice question to ask. Even though he asked me repeatedly, there was no earthly reason why I should say no or ask him not to ask that question again, but I did. You see Darrel was only trying to get to the core of a heart issue I had expressed. But something deep inside didn’t want that pain to be healed. So I said don’t ask me again. And I invited our time to be over.

We moved on …

Later, in love, Darrel led me to see that it wan’t me who wanted the whole thing to shut down. It was me who pushed him away, but the irritation, the sudden angst over having to go deeper was not my angst. So I eventually told IT to move on.

It moved on …

I was lifted out of irritation. I was set free from a mocking spirit that had vexed me for as long as I can remember. Words cannot describe how liberating this feels.

ekballo: I throw, cast, put out, banish, bring forth, produce
Original Word: ἐκβάλλω
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: ekballo
Phonetic Spelling: (ek-bal’-lo)
Short Definition: I throw, cast, put out, banish, bring forth, produce
Definition: I throw (cast, put) out; I banish; I bring forth, produce.

Ekballo, it’s what the Lord and the Apostles would say when confronted by demons. They used it 81 times in the New Testament. Jesus tells us in Mark 16 that we would be doing the same as the church.

Yet in the vast majority of evangelical churches demonology is taught as sort of a secondary topic if it is taught at all.

“Oh, so you’re one of those ‘seeing demons behind every bush” guys now aren’t you?!”

Thanks for asking. The answer is yes and no. Yes, I now believe demons to be a prevalent adversary for Christians.

“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” -Ephesians 6:12

No, I do not think they are to blame for every sin of the believer.

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. -James 4:7

Say ekballo. Choose life over death. Choose Heaven over hell. Choose that gentle friends guidance over your “pet pain”.

“So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” -John 8:37

Sin may have opened the door to slavery, but by the blood of Jesus we can be free.

You have a choice. Whether you are crucifying the flesh according to Galatians 5:24 or you have identified an inaudible influence rising within you. (Romans 7:23). You make the call.

And if a good, godly friend (or even a complete stranger) wants to walk alongside you in prayer to help you see what you cannot on your own, say “yes, I am willing”. The results might just be a new and better you.