There is a battle waging for your soul, right in this very moment. Whether you have any idea at all, there is an enemy lurking in your life, and pitting the powers of hell against you. Sounds crazy, huh? Yeah, I would have thought so too a few years ago. As a matter of fact, I did not even believe in Hell or the Devil. That is exactly what he wanted though. To convince me that all the lies he spun in my mind were true. Once I became a Christian I started to read the Bible. And the Bible makes it very clear that Hell and Satan are very real indeed . And because I choose to believe that the Bible is the inerrant Word of God, I had to believe that things did exist, whether I could see them or not.
And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. Revelation 20:15
As a brand new Christian I had very little understanding of the spiritual realm and how it worked, even though I had entered in to it many times during my time with the occult. Little did I know, all those years I was opening up the door to Satan and welcoming him in. I had no intention of doing so; only intentions of doing good. You see as a witch it was very important to never harm anyone or anything, and to never use black magic, which would be of the devil. Another lie I believed. All magic comes from the power of evil and darkness, and is a counterfeit of God’s power, which is holy and pure. You are literally harnessing the powers of darkness to do magic and other occult and new age activities.
Ouija boards, tarot cards, divination, crystals, chakras, mediums, psychics, astrology, numerology, palm reading, yoga- these are just a few of the examples of participating in the occult. Many people have dabbled in these seemingly innocent things all in good fun. I got my start into the occult as a pre-teen when my sister made a ouija board one night. I had no idea what it even was, but when it began to move on its own it opened my eyes to a whole new world. It was scary, but intriguing. That was just the beginning of my fascination with things of darkness and mystery. Soon I was obsessed with vampires, witches, checking my horoscope daily and trying to understand astrology and how to predict how my life would go.
It seemed innocent enough, but it was really a path leading me straight into darkness. I began to desire more, to fantasize about a life in darkness as a witch, or to meet a vampire lover. It sounds so silly now, but as a young girl it was very real to me. I wanted to wield magical powers and have a life that was so much more than the mundane and depressing one I was living. I wanted to escape into a world of magic. It was not hard to do as I spent my time watching movies and reading books and writing my own stories. I could not see the bigger picture of how romanticized these things was so very dangerous to me. I could not see I was entertaining evil or how it was enticing me into a seductive life that was far away from God. Of course at that point in time I cared very little for God.
It is very easy for me to look back now as see how this fascination as a young teen drew me into the world of the occult as an adult. A world that held on fast to my heart and wrapped itself around everything that I believed. I can see now, in hindsight, how dangerous walking into the world of the occult was, and the repercussions of it that I still am dealing with so many years later. At the time it was just innocent and fun; a fantasy. I can see now how it was no accident that drew me into this darkness, but someone with an evil intent for my life. An intent to steal me away from the life I was created to live.
It was not until about a year ago, when I realized that spiritual attack was real and it was happening to me. I began to have horrible brain fog (confusion, memory loss, inability to focus and understand things). At first I just thought there was something wrong with me. I began to seek treatment for my problem, desperate to find out what was wrong with me. But as time passed I would seem to get better and then I would just get worse. More symptoms began to appear. I sought out prayer from healing ministries and would begin to get better, only to get worse again. It made no sense, and I could only come to the conclusion that is was not just a physical problem, but a spiritual problem.
Why would Satan want to keep me oppressed in brain fog? Because when I had brain fog, I could not read the Bible, I could not pray for myself, I could not encourage and pray for others as I had become accustomed too. During this year my spiritual gifts began to blossom and God was moving me in amazing ways. But with horrible brain fog, those spiritual gifts were of little use to anyone who I might help. It is like being held captive in your own mind.
Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 1 Peter 5:8
It was through many different prayer sessions that God began to reveal to me truths that had been hidden from me by the lies of the enemy. Lies I had completely bought into. Satan had been working hard to oppress me since I was a young girl. He wanted to turn me far away from the path God had before me, and it worked. I fell into a life of drugs and the occult. But Jesus is so much bigger than that, and His plans would be accomplished. I was saved by Jesus and now here I was, still held captive by the devil. How miserable it is to find the most amazing saving grace and mercy of God, to know Him, to experience Him, and then to be cast into darkness all over again!
Do not think you are exempt from the schemes and attacks of the devil. He is a hunter, and you are his prey. He knows all your weaknesses, your fears, your guilt and your shame. He knows your past, and the darkness inside that haunts you. He will use all of it against you, to feed a never-ending string of lies to you so he can keep you in some form of bondage. Many of us are captive to a stronghold in some area of our lives, and Satan is all to happy to keep us there. He will place temptations before us and try to keep us distracted.
The New Age Movement has only grown in the past 20 years since I became involved in it. It has seeped into many Christian homes, with seasoned Christians falling prey to its seductive ways. All Satan needs is an open door into your life, and he can begin to bring his demons into your home. He can start with something as simple as a TV show or music, and once you let that in, it opens the door to more. God has warned us many times not to have anything to do with things that take us away from Him. It is a subtle trap, waiting for someone to stumble into it.
Psalm 91: 1-6
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.”
For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler
and from the deadly pestilence.
He will cover you with his pinions,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.
You will not fear the terror of the night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,
nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness,
nor the destruction that wastes at noonday.
