“If you don’t believe in demons, then their job is half done.”
This is the nineteenth, of a hopefully weekly series, that explores faith, religion, and Christianity. The idea is to share with you my faith, issues I am working on, and to promote discussion.
“...immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit. He lived among the tombs. And no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain, for he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he wrenched the chains apart, and he broke the shackles in pieces. No one had the strength to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones.” Source
More on this in a minute, but first I want to bring up the the topic about the existence of demons in regards to a slightly different use of the word demon.
I once had a man tell me something along the lines of “once you defeat the demons outside of yourself, then you are faced with those within”.
This use of the word demon is more akin to the term vice, which is an immoral or wicked behavior, or perhaps sin, and possibly any other sort of adversity that you may be facing.
Unfortunately, I have done more than my share of sinning.
However, I have been redeemed and forgiven and am being cleansed.
So the question I have is how we can go about destroying some of these demons?
I want to be clear that the Bible is not a self-help book.
Rather, it is the account of God's redemptive work through Jesus Christ and His plan for the future.
However, while we await that future we are called to good works, not as a means of salvation, but as an outworking of our faith.
In order to carry out these tasks, part of our responsibility is to take care of ourselves in a way that allows us to “present [our] bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is [our] spiritual worship.”
And we can do this by being “transformed by the renewal of [our] mind, that by testing [we] may discern what is the will of God”.
I also think there are other lessons we can learn to help us in this process.
One example of an “outside demon” that someone may need to overcome is sexual infidelity.
Not hard to believe, “Psychologists warn us that sexual infidelity within romantic relationships is a source of great conflict, often leading to anger, pain, and termination of the relationship.” (Cialdini, 2016, pp. 168-169)
What may be surprising to some is how to best overcome this temptation.
“Fortunately, they’ve also located a pre-suasive activity that can help prevent the occurrence of this toxic sequence: prayer - not prayer in general, though, but a particular kind. If one romantic partner agrees to pray for the other’s well-being every day for an extended period of time, he or she becomes less likely to be unfaithful while doing so.” (Cialdini, 2016, p. 169)
For those of us who are married, this is a strong reason to be in continual prayer for our spouse.
One example of an “inside demon” that someone may need to overcome is depression.
How can we overcome these difficult thoughts that creep up or haunt our minds?
One suggestion can be gained from an unusual paradox that was researched by psychologist Laura Carstensen.
“The undesirable outcomes of aging vary from person to person, but, on average, elderly individuals experience significant losses in both physical and mental functioning. Yet they don’t let the declines undermine their happiness.” (Cialdini, 2016, p. 123)
Carstensen’s research showed that “when it comes to dealing with all the negativity in their lives, seniors have decided that they just don’t have time for it, literally.” (Cialdini, 2016, p. 123)
“To a greater extent than younger individuals, seniors recall positive memories, entertain pleasant thoughts, seek out and retain favorable information, search for and gaze at happy faces, and focus on the upsides of their consumer products.” (Cialdini, 2016, p. 123)
The idea here is that we have a conscious choice on what we focus on and this has a direct ability to impact our outlook in life significantly.
For the rest of us who are not at an advanced age, Dr. Sonja Lyubomirsky provides the following suggestions:
1. Count your blessings and gratitudes at the start of every day, and then give yourself concentrated time with them by writing them down.
2. Cultivate optimism by choosing beforehand to look on the bright side of situations, events, and future possibilities.
3. Negate the negative by deliberately limiting time spent dwelling on problems or no unhealthy comparisons with others.
(Cialdini, 2016, p.125)
I would also suggest checking out Dale Carnegie’s How To Stop Worrying And Start Living.
This is consistent with what the Apostle Paul guides us when he writes “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”
But let’s get back to the man with an unclean spirit, because fortunately for him the story ends well.
We see that Jesus showed up.
“And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and fell down before him. And crying out with a loud voice, he said, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.” For he was saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” And Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “My name is Legion, for we are many.” And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country. Now a great herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, and they begged him, saying, “Send us to the pigs; let us enter them.” So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs; and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the sea.” Mark 5:6-13
But the story doesn’t quite end there…some local herdsmen saw what happened and had something to say about it.
“The herdsmen fled and told it in the city and in the country. And people came to see what it was that had happened. And they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed man, the one who had had the legion, sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. And those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and to the pigs. And they began to beg Jesus to depart from their region. As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him. And he did not permit him but said to him, “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.” Mark 5:14-20
And that is only one example of the power of Christ.
So, as always, if you are interested in knowing more about Jesus Christ, please let me know.
Lord willing, see you all next Sunday!
Thanks,
@strangerarray
Cialdini, R. (2016). Pre-suasion: A Revolutionary Way To Influence And Persuade. New York: Simon & Schuster.
C.S. Lewis - Screwtape Letters
Mikhail Bulgakov - The Master and Margarita
Follow me @strangerarray and donate because together we can conquer more demons.
Please check out the previous Sunday Series post:
- Disparity on Display
- Comfort and Contentment
- Testify
- Praise and Worship
- Reasons to Believe
- Do I have to go?
- In God We Trust
- It’s Hard to Find Good Help These Days
- Breaking the Habit of Self-Destruction
- Nothing Is Ideal
- What Difference Does It Make?
- Saying Grace
- Livin' On A Prayer
- You Gotta Serve Somebody
- Dying To Be Ignored
- Now That I've Tasted Blood, Now This Wine Tastes Too Thin
- Don’t judge me, bro! - A Special Guest Post by my brother Joshua Paine
- Trusting The Timing In Every Day