“Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 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.”
Ephesians 6:11-12
Just like I promised, here is part two of “I’m not a Baptist”. After working through this one, I’ve realized this is going to be more than a 2 part series.
I also want to preface the rest of this series with a disclaimer. Though I’ll be writing about my World Race experiences, it is not World Race that caused me to be open to the giftings of Holy Spirit or caused me to experience what I’ve experienced. This belief in the continuation of the gifts came from my own wrestling with the scriptures, and a many of long conversations and borderline arguments with a trusted brother in Christ.
These blogs are written to my family of believers who come from a similar background as I, who may be skeptic, cautious, or turned off completely from the gifts that are often considered “miraculous”. I don’t like separating shepherding, teaching, and preaching from prophesy, healing, and speaking in tongue. They all come from the same Spirit and they are all used to deepen your relationship with God and edify others.
The best way to address this topic is for me to move through the list I proposed at the beginning of my last blog.
Let’s start with,
“I discern the presence of demons”.
Encountering and being aware of demons at a young age forced me to know what their presence felt like. Over the years Father God gave me a gift of discernment. By His Spirit in me, I was able to tell in given moments the presence of evil spirits. There are two particular ways that I’ve been able to tell that they are around (this is different for everybody). For me I can feel their presence. I will feel first and foremost a weight in my arms that makes me feel like I need to shake them out. I will also feel a heaviness in my heart and chest. The second way for me is hearing them speak to me. The same way I hear the voice of the Lord (almost like thoughts in your head, but you know the voice of the Shepherd). Knowing the voice of my King means I know when it’s not his voice too (Disclaimer: I don’t always feel and hear when they’re present). So what is the purpose of this? I asked the Father “what would you have me to do with this discernment?”, and he led me into intercession (that’s where speaking in tongues comes in, but we’ll get to that particular story later).
In the race I’ve experienced the presence of demons in the basement of a church in Colombia. Darkness filled the room. Walking down the stairs, I had to stop mid-walk, as I felt the heaviness through my body.
I experienced one in a house visit in Colombia. A sweet woman who had battled depression and suicide was sharing with us this struggle. Out of the Lord’s sovereignty he brought us squad mates to this house because we ourselves had all battled this as well. While in that space one whispered in my ear as she was talking about suicide “Yea, it would probably be good if you went ahead and did the same thing”. That’s when I knew things got serious. Not to mention we saw it manifest in this woman whether through possession or heavy oppression.
I’ve also experienced one here in Bolivia, sitting by my ear growl breathing.
Now I know some people after reading this are still skeptical. But each time one has been present, it has been confirmed by another teammate. Praise God I’m only gifted in feeling their presence and hearing them at times. But other people on my team can also sense them by feel, and even see them. The reality of their presence is confirmed when the description of the way they look and their specific agenda is in line with what others have seen, felt, and heard.
At any point during this series if you have questions or want to dialogue it would be my joy to talk with you. The process of accepting the “miraculous” gifts of the Spirit was a process for me in my Christian walk. Now I’m completely receptive and walking in it as the Lord sees fit.
