Tag: Renewing your Mind

SIGNS OF DEMON INFLUENCE AND SIX STEPS TO PREVENT IT 

Can a Christian be influenced by demons? The signs of demon influence are all around us. Do you know what sign to look for? I will also explain how to remove demon influences. To understand if you are being influenced by the devil, you need to know that he is the source of evil.  

We are all born with a sinful nature that influences us to go our own way and not God’s way. Our sinful nature is easily lured to please our fleshly desires for sex, drugs, alcohol, gaining wealth, power, and so on. When we sin, that is evil against God; evil is also harming someone sexually, physically, or emotionally. Evil is the opposite of goodness and love. Doing good things is loving and benefiting another person and helping them. All sin and evil deeds are punished by God. Sometimes, He allows Satan to have his way in you to hopefully bring you to repentance (1Cor. 5:1-5).  

Submit to God and resist the devil. 

Both my parents were Christians who professed Jesus as their Savior. They were even baptized by the Holy Spirit, yet they were both influenced by the devil to do evil. They were not submitted to God and did not resist the devil’s influence (Jam 4:7). My mother was a bitter, angry person and spoke destructive words, so I never felt loved or safe. My father was a thief and addicted to pornography, which led him down the pedophile path. How can this be? Remember, evil is harming people and not loving others as God commands. Evil actions begin as a thought that is within your control, which begins by submitting your mind to God and resisting the devil’s influence.  

Six Steps to Prevent Demonic Influence. 

Once you have acknowledged you are a sinner in need of forgiveness and asked God to come into your heart, you also need to follow these six steps to stay on the path of life that leads to heaven. James 4:6-8 explains, “But he gives more grace. Therefore, it says, ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’ 7) Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8) Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” 

  1. You must put off pride and put on humility (James 3:13-18). 
  1. You must desire to please God and fear Him by submitting to His authority in your life (Matt. 10:28). 
  1. Resist the devil by putting off sinful thoughts and putting on Jesus and making no provision for the flesh (Rom. 13:14). 
  1. Draw near to God. Hebrews 10:22 states, “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” 
  1. Repent of all sin. 
  1. Renew your mind. 

It is one thing to pray the sinner’s prayer; it is another to open your heart and let Jesus in to change your mind and heart. The Bible is clear that we are to put off our old life and put on a new life, in the likeness of God, Holy and righteous (Eph 4:22-24 and Col. 3:5-10). Colossians 3:5 states, “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.” 

Jesus explains to the religious leaders in Mark 7:20-23, “And he said, ‘What comes out of a person is what defiles him. 21) For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. 23) All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.’” The good news is that when you open your heart to Jesus and submit to Him, you have divine power to live a godly life (2Peter 1:3-11). 

What fruit do you produce? 

Jesus tells the religious leaders that a tree is known by its fruit in Luke 6:43-45 and Matthew 12:33-37. Mathew 12:35, Jesus says, “The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil.” To know if you are being influenced by the devil to do evil, listen to what you say (Matt. 12:34). Also, ask God to search your heart and mind and show you what your treasure is (Jer. 17:10 and Ps. 139:23-24). The writer of Hebrews wrote in 3:12, “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.” This verse is about believers who have not submitted to God’s work in their lives to transform their thinking and actions. God wants to abide in us, and we in Him, to produce good fruit (John 15:4-6). 

I met my first husband in church. He professed to be a Christian and got his license to be a pastor, yet he was very abusive and wicked. After our divorce, he went from one woman after another and no longer walks with God. Inviting Jesus into your heart does not mean you let him sit in the foyer, where you spend time with him occasionally. Jesus wants to dwell in the entire house and remove all that is not holy. 2Corinthians7:1 states, “Since we have these promises (2Cor. 6:14-18), beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.” The fear of God is putting away all our evil thoughts and doing good. This is why many pastors and Christians succumb to the schemes of the devil and fall away from their faith in God. 

Conclusion 

Saying the sinner’s prayer and acknowledging you are a sinner in need of forgiveness is the narrow gate we all must pass through to walk the path of life (Matt. 7:13-14). But if you stop there, you can easily go back to the path of destruction. Walking the path of life requires putting off your old self and its evil desires and putting on your new self, which is the image of Jesus. Removing, putting off sinful, fleshly desires removes the devil’s influence in your life. Does your life reflect Jesus, who loves, forgives, and serves? Or does your life look like the devil, who hates, is bitter, kills, and destroys relationships with hurtful words and harmful, evil deeds? 

RELATED  

How Does The Devil Scheme Against You? 

THE ONLY WAY TO STOP DEMON INFLUENCES 

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All verses are from the English Standard Version. If you find my posts and website helpful, please share this link with your friends and family: hopeforcompletehealing.com. The information is copyright-protected. Please do not reproduce any part of the posts or my book without proper citation to Joyce Hanscom and this website. 

My latest book, Unlocking God’s Promises, explains 18 categories of promises relevant to each of our lives. It also includes the promises in Psalm 91.  

If you find this website helpful, you would like to read Breaking Mental Strongholds, which expands on my website book and includes many of my posts. 

Additionally, consider my book Fighting Unseen Battles, which describes the many unhealthy beliefs that control our lives and the truths behind them. To learn more about this book, read the post How to Fight Unseen Battles.  

Contact me at hopeforcompletehealing@gmail.com and ask for a PDF of Eight Life-Changing Prayers from the Bible. The prayers are for the Spirit of wisdom, renewal, spiritual strength, knowledge of His will, virtues of God, non-believers, the 23rd Psalm, and victory. I will also send you the Lord’s Prayer Model to pray effectively. Please leave your name, so I know you are a real person making the request. 

Why Some Believers May Not Go to Heaven

Why doesn’t every believer go to Heaven? This is a tough question because the Bible is clear that everyone who believes will spend eternity with God in heaven (John 3:16, 1 Timothy 1:16, and 1 John 5:13). So why does Jesus say in His first sermon, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’ – Matthew 7:21-23” Woe! If you consider the verses before these verses to beware of false prophets, then verses 21-23 make sense because they refer to false prophets who often preach on TV and in our churches. If you haven’t read the previous post, read it now, How the Wise Recognize False Teachers and Teachings.

False teachers have a belief in Jesus, but they distort God’s truth and do not submit their minds to the Holy Spirit’s renewal to be righteous and holy (Eph. 4:24). We are renewed in our minds by reading God’s Word every day, and meditate on the truth, and apply it to memory. Each one of us could be guilty of having false beliefs and being a false prophet. As a Christian blogger, I am very concerned that I may misrepresent God’s truth, which is why I rely on Scripture to do the teaching. You may call me out if you feel I am not representing the truth of God’s Word. I noted in my last post that not all Bibles are equal, and many versions misrepresent the truth, especially the paraphrased versions.

What is a prophet? It says in 1 Corinthians 14:3, “The one who prophesies speaks to people for their upbuilding [not tearing down] and encouragement and consolation [comfort, support].” If you don’t know the truth of God’s Word, you can be a false prophet. For example, your friend is unhappy with their marriage. If you comfort and encourage them by saying, “God wants us to be happy, so it is okay to divorce your spouse.” That is a false teaching. Instead, speak the truth explained in 1 Thessalonians 5:15-18, which is “See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. 16-18Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” And Philippians 4:8, “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.” Changing our thinking and doing the will of God is difficult, but when we obey, we will be rewarded with joy and peace even in difficult circumstances. If you have misrepresented the truth of God, repent, and ask His forgiveness, and He will forgive and restore you. Next, read your Bible every day and meditate on the truth. Then you will do well (Ps. 1:2-3).

What do you want God to say to you when you stand before Him? What if God says, ‘I never knew you; depart from me.’ (Matt. 7:23)? The subject of this post is heavy, but necessary to ponder because we all will stand before Him someday, maybe today. Will He say to you, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” (Matt 25:21,23)?

What is The Will of God?

Jesus said in His first sermon in Matthew 7:21, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” The condition is doing the will of God, though our assurance is by grace. So, what is the will of God? The Bible says that the will of God is to obey His instructions and do what we know He has called us to do, which I will write about in the next post. I wrote extensively about what the will of God is in Unanswered Prayer. Asking For God’s Will or Your Will?

Disclaimer: Our salvation and eternal destiny with God are not because of what we do or by our works, but by the grace of God. Ephesians 2:8-10 states, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” Once we have received salvation through faith in Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit seals us, and then we must work out our salvation by renewing our minds and doing His will. See the blog posts called Forgiven and Saved? Now Renew Your Mind (Part One) and Three Steps to Renew Your Mind (Part Two).

How can I be assured God will say, “Well done, good and faithful servant?”

The Apostle Peter’s instructions in the next passage give us hope. Peter tells us to be diligent, which means to apply ourselves to accomplish something. Meditate on the words o f2Peter 1:3-11:

His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness,

through the knowledge of Him who called us to His own glory and excellence,

by which He has granted to us His precious and very great promises,

so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature,

having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire (lusts).

5For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith, virtue (moral excellence; right action and thinking; goodness of character), knowledge, self-control, steadfastness (perseverance), godliness, brotherly affection (kindness), and love. (My paraphrase in parentheses.)

8For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

9For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins.

10Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities, you will never fall.

11For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

A promise is an assurance we depend on. Verse 10 promises we will never fall if we seek and practice faith, moral excellence, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, kindness, and love. Then, verse 11 promises we will enter the eternal kingdom of Jesus Christ. And verse 8 promises if we have these qualities, we will not be ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of Christ Jesus. How fantastic is this!

Conclusion:

Our life on earth is but a blink or breath compared to eternity (Ps. 144:4). So, be mindful of the day of judgment and what God will say to you. In this post, you learned that you are eternally secure when you do the will of God, fear Him, and diligently seek to add to your faith: moral excellence, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love. In the end times, there will be a great falling away because of deception and suffering. Resolve in your heart today that you will not fall away and begin today to do the will of God found in the Word of God. Hebrews 3:12 states, “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.”

RELATED POSTS:

What Is Required to Stand Before God?

Posts About Godliness

Example of Suffering Well and God’s Response: Part 2 of Suffering Well

All verses are from the English Standard Version. If you find my posts and website helpful, please share this link with your friends and family: hopeforcompletehealing.com. The information is copyright protected. Please do not reproduce any part of the posts or my book without proper citation to Joyce Hanscom and this website. 

My latest book is Unlocking God’s Promises, which explains 18 categories of promises that are relevant to each of our lives. It also includes the promises in Psalm 91.  

If you find this website helpful, you would like to read Breaking Mental Strongholds, which expands on my website book and includes many of my posts. 

Additionally, consider my book Fighting Unseen Battles, which describes the many unhealthy beliefs that control our lives and what the truths are. To learn more about this book, read the post How to Fight Unseen Battles.  

Contact me at hopeforcompletehealing@gmail.com and ask for a PDF of Eight Life-Changing Prayers from the Bible. The prayers are for the Spirit of wisdom, renewal, spiritual strength, knowledge of His will, virtues of God, non-believers, the 23rd Psalm, and victory. I will also send you the Lord’s Prayer Model to pray effectively. Please leave your name, so I know you are a real person making the request.