It no longer mattered what his five-year-old counterpart had done.
All that mattered now was proving dominance and issuing an appropriate amount of retribution.
Each challenger grabbed the other in preparation for assault when she walked into the room.
Boys!
Enough!
Let go of each other immediately!
She just didn’t understand.
He had no choice but to acquiesce to the directive but he was not about to forego the clear delivery of his message.
In a single motion, he obediently released his grip while simultaneously giving a sharp thrust at his opponent.
The act had the desired outcome as his combatant fell off balance to the ground.
The fight had been over, but a five-year-olds theatrical sucker-punch declared the official end.
Mark 9:25-27
You deaf and mute spirit, he said, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.
The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out.
The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, He is dead.
But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and he stood up.
Theologically speaking, deliverance ministry is somewhat straight-forward.
As the father of lies, Satan works his influence in the form of deception.
Even in the Garden of Eden, Satan used this method to change the course of humanity.
Luke 4 (and other accounts) show Christ’s masterful exposure of Satan’s deceptive prowess.
The enemy gains access to an individuals life by feeding on their acceptance of untruth.
Freedom, therefore, comes with the exposure of the life and the confession and acceptance of the truth.
This act, coupled with repentance and the authoritative power of Christ, brings deliverance and joy to the tormented soul.
Though the execution of such a simple process may take time, brokenness, prayer and sometimes fasting, deliverance is possible and promised to the soul crying out for mercy and freedom.
Through the enemy’s perspective, these requests are torturous.
The parasitic lust of the demonic force is fueled by fear, condemnation and apathy.
Their comfort is of the utmost selfishness and confrontation with the light and with the truth is unbearable.
As truth is thrown in the face of the tormenting spirit, the right of occupancy is jeopardized.
The ultimate revocation of this right is offensive to the spirit who, as a five-year-old might do, may react in a theatrical sucker-punch to his victim.
Often, the manifestations of such exorcism are laughable at best as the individual might shake, vomit, convulse, scream, etc.
All in all, they are shameless, last-resort attempts of the enemy to deliver one final blow.
The truth, however, is that the enemy is defeated in this glorious moment.
The fight is over, the battle won.
The devils theatrics are likened to a child’s temper tantrum.
I write this to expose the life.
Theatrics should not breed fear, the lack thereof should not breed doubt.
Isaiah 61:1 The Spirit of the sovereign Lord is on me … to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners.
