Yesterday I left you with something to think about – the impact that “angels” have had on the world in the past. The truth about the matter is that they were the spiritual beings that had been cast out of heaven and down to earth with Satan. So let’s make sure you understand the distinction. Those cast out of heaven form the basis of what we now refer to as demons. (Matthew 25:41, Revelation 12:9) They are rational beings who believe in God (James 2:19) and possess personalities just like humans who made a choice to join Satan’s band and not stay within God’s oversight (2 Peter 2:4, Jude 6). They are committed to thwarting God’s plan and making life difficult for us.

What I want you to be aware of is that the demons can gang up on you if you leave the door open. That’s right, they can gather together a group of their buddies, increasing their power to mislead, tempt or get you into trouble. You can see this is true with the examples of Mary Magdalene (Mark 6:9, Luke 8:2) and the man in Mark 5:9 – 15 and Luke 8:30 – 33). They have the capacity to harass anyone and everyone within their realm of authority. They even have the capacity to inhabit or “possess” the physical bodies of those who do NOT have the Spirit of God living inside of them.

I tell you these things to help you understand that these individuals have been alive for thousands of years. They have followed family lines and they understand the familial habits established through blood cultures. They will often know you and your family’s traits better than you. They are cunning and conniving. They will use your weaknesses against you and “whisper in your mental ear” to get you to do things that will embarrass you personally as well as those who are watching you as a representative of Christ Jesus. You need to know this, but I do not want you to despair – no reason to do that. Listen to what it says in Romans 8:

What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? . . . For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any power, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (31, 38 – 39)

Then the end will come, when he [Christ] hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies [including Satan/demons] under his feet. (1 Corinthians 15: 24 – 25)

You are protected but those who do not have the Spirit of God are NOT. That is why we cannot judge those who are not believers by the same standards as we are commissioned to live by (1 Corinthians 2:14). They have no choice due to their vulnerability. What we do have to remember is that God can unleash these spirits to test us (1 Thessalonians 2:4, 1 Peter 4:12). So what Satan and those demons mean as temptation, God is just using as a test so we can learn to persevere (James 1:3) and become stronger in our faith.

The fact is these entities are there, not just to create problems for us, but are a part of life’s circumstances to mold us and shape us into Christ’s likenesses. We must adopt the same type of attitude Joseph adopted towards his brothers after they sold him into Egypt (Genesis 45:4 – 5). It’s simply a challenge we are already equipped by God to face. Love Dad.