Last night I watched this movie at my friends' house: The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005). I believe the Lord wanted me to see this movie. When it came to describing and showing demon possession, The Exorcism of Emily Rose was right on target.
I have never been demon-possessed, but I have been demon-oppressed. I believe the Greek word is demonozanai (spelling incorrect?) which means a part of the personality is demonized (this is not the same thing as demon possession).
I was first attacked by a demon in my sleep (the devil loves to attack people at night when they are at their weakest while they are sleeping) when I was in the third grade. I woke up and found myself paralyzed--it was very hard to breathe. Then I saw these two beedy, evil eyes looking at me. I don't know how long I was paralyzed, but finally the evil presence left my bedroom and I was able to get out of bed. It really scared the hell out of me. I then left my bedroom and walked to the bathroom and turned on the light. I believe it was around 4 A.M.
The next time I was attacked by a demon was when I dropped out of high school in May of 1977--I was a junior; I was seventeen. I was sleeping in my pickup near these railroad tracks in Ames, Iowa and this evil presence paralyzed my body. When you are paralyzed, you usually start choking because it is very hard to breathe.
At the age of seventeen, I was an atheist, so I didn't know how to pray against these demonic attacks. At the age of eighteen, I began to pray to God again. At the age of twenty-two, I asked Christ into my life--which definitely changed my life for the better.
Between the age of seventeen and twenty-two, I was attacked by demons a number of times in my sleep. After I became a Christian, the attacks continued till the age of twenty-six. At the age of twenty-six, something very significant in my spiritual education happened: all day long there was this evil presence oppressing me--it felt like a thick, heavy blanket of darkness wrapped around my head. I got so frustrated and angry I cried out, "In the Name of Jesus Christ, begone Satan!" And the evil presence left me. It was such a relief.
A few years later, I discovered that the Blood of Jesus is more powerful than the Name of Jesus. Whenever I felt a demonic attack, I would say, "Blood of Jesus" or "I plead the Blood of Jesus" and the demon would leave quicker than if I had said "In the Name of Jesus." As we all know, it is the Blood of Jesus than cleanses us from sin. Satan hates and fears the Blood of Jesus.
As I have gotten stronger and deeper in Christ, the attacks have decreased over the years. I still get attacked once in a while because I am still obeying the Lord and disrupting certain aspects of Satan's kingdom through my life of intercession.
The scene in the movie where Emily Rose was in bed and this demon crushes her into the mattress and paralyzes her--this is absolutely true. This happened to me once back in December of 2008 (somewhere around December 8th). I was hitchhiking in Idaho and found a camper at this industrial park to sleep in. I laid my sleeping bag on this mattress and went to sleep. Later that night, this powerful evil presence filled the camper and the weight of the demon crushed my body into the mattress. I could feel my body being pressed deeper into the mattress. I thought my legs and hips were going to be broken. Eventually the demon left the camper. This demon could have been a principality, a power or Satan himself.
A week later, I found out that my book High Plains Drifter: A Hitchhiking Journey Across America was published. It was published close to the day that my body was crushed by that demon. I knew then that Satan hated the fact that my book was published. The theme of High Plains Drifter is obedience to the Lord--this is how we defeat Satan in our daily lives. Obedience, obedience, obedience. "Obedience is better than sacrifice."
It is also interesting that in late September of 2008, I was sleeping in my tent somewhere south of Lolo, Montana and it felt like a deer had jumped onto my tent and landed on my ribcage. It was very painful. I thought for sure that my ribs were broken. I woke up the next morning and felt my ribcage, but no bones were broken. Two days later, I was in Dillon, Montana and I was checking my email at the library and PublishAmerica had just notified me that they wanted to publish High Plains Drifter. Again, Satan hates High Plains Drifter and hates my life of intercession.
In the movie The Exorcism of Emily Rose, the priest would say the Rosary when confronting the demons in Emily Rose. This is absolutely useless. All you need to do, is to use the Name of Jesus and say, "In the Name of Jesus, come out of her, Satan!" Also you need to be a mature Christian--this is not for novices. The Rosary is not Christian--it is Catholic. "There is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus." Mary is not a mediator. The Catholic Church describes Mary as "co-mediatrix", but this is not Christian.
People need to read and meditate on the Book of Hebrews in the New Testament: the Lord Jesus Christ is far superior to angels, and the blood of bulls and goats. Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God, not the Lamb of Man. Our Heavenly Father sacrificed Jesus at Calvary for the sin of the world. Faith in the Finished Work of the Cross has absolute authority over Satan. And if you are Baptized in the Holy Ghost you have added power over Satan. Jesus came to set the captives free.
Obedience: The Bondage Breaker
Classic Demon Possession
Levels of Spiritual Warfare
Sarah: You are not old. I was supposed to graduate from high school in May of 1978, but I dropped out twice: once in my junior year and then finally in my senior year. High school was very oppressive to me. And I was an atheist for most of my high school years--and I went to a Catholic school, which probably didn't help.
ReplyDeleteI finished high school at a night school while working at a lumber yard full time; I finished in February of 1978.
Christians need to know more about demonic attacks and spiritual warfare and deliverance from demons. If Satan can't prevent you from being saved, he will most definitely try to keep you a baby Christian for the rest of your life.