All About GOD - Growing Relationships with Jesus and Others
Is he possessed by the devil?
I've got a friend, he is a non believer and he claimed to be able to SEE things that normal people could not, after getting a high fever. He is able to see "ghosts"/evil spirits everywhere, at the window or at any place. Most of them in the toilet. He told his brother that he was not allowed to speak of them and he would try to avoid them and ask his brother to shut the windows for him or avoid roads with alot of such "things". He could see aimless ones as well as scary ones which would try to attack him. How is it possible that these things could attack him? arent we in a different dimension? (thats besides the point) The point is, how to help him? He is a non believer. The bible has no purpose if he does not have faith in it right? Is he possessed?
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Rita Cullimore on
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Ariel,
The first question is, does your friend want to be delivered from these visions? If he does, talk to him about the Lord. Show him Who God is. Explain to him that when he comes to know Christ as Savior, these evil visions will disappear. The outcome to this attack is entirely up to him. Pray for guidance from the Lord regarding you teaching of Christ to him. What is the spiritual condition of the brother? Is he a Christian? Perhaps, if he is, you both could reach him.
If he isn't interested in hearing of the Lord, isn't interested in getting rid of the vision of demons, protect yourself and move away from him.
Blessings to you in ministering to this situation...In Jesus' Name...
Rita
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Hi Rita,
Thanks for replying. His brother was a christian. He backslided. Yes, he would want to be delivered from all these visions. So he just need to know the Lord for all these visions to disappear? I thought he needed a pastor to cast out the evil spirit within him. Alright, I would try talking to his brother about Christ for a start. Thanks!:) But its not easy because I am studying overseas. I cant bring him to church and stuffs. Any idea how to rekindle the love of christ for backsliders? Because I have never tried spreading the gospel to backsliders before. You get what I mean? They know what they should have known and they chose to leave God. Not implying that they will never come back, but what should i do? To bring them close to God again.
With love,
Ariel
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If your friend is a Christian, he is saved even though he has turned from God for a time. This is hard to understand, I know but it is the truth. I am assuming that he is not following God but is trying to do what he wants to do. We all sin, but a Christian's spirit is in tune with the Holy Spirit and what we need to do is to regenerate our minds when we decide to sin to get it on course with our spirit.
Jesus gave us all the power to help people, not just pastors. He has told us to preach the gospel, also to rebuke Satan. It will need to be on the decision of your friend to choose Christ, but that doesn't keep you from speaking to him about the Lord. The Holy Spirit will help you to accomplish this.
My prayers are with you and the Lord will bless you greatly as you preach the gospel to these friends.
Blessings,
Rita
Before you speak to your friends, pray for guidance as you do this work and believe that God will help you.
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Thanks Rita!
Its heartening to know that he is still saved!:)
Alright, I will pray doubly hard.
With love
Ariel
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Permalink Reply by forgiven on
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Hey ya know....many years ago I used to take 'recreational substances' to induce all kinds of things like that. The mind is a strange thing. People can see comparble things to those psycedelically induced from many other things, physical ailments, suffocation, slipped disc, mental trauma, or just plain mental instability. I am sure people on this forum could list many other causes. Most often, it is not evil...just human. However through prayer and the power of God.....these visions which are not of God can be overcome, and if asked, God can grant discernment to tell which are real and of God.
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Oh wow sounds complicated. Alright. Thank you very much, Forgiven.:)
With love
Ariel:)
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Permalink Reply by KathleenB on
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Sounds like he's starting to exhibit signs of schizophrenia. One suggestion, not mentioned here so far, is that there are very effective drugs, combined with therapy, that work to keep these things under control. Schizophrenia is a mental disorder that can actually be seen in certain kinds of brain scans (MRI) and the most effective way, to date, of dealing with it, with known positive results, have been medication and therapy. He should be medically and psychologically diagnosed to determine if this is the case, first, before anything else should be attempted.
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What does fasting have to do with "brain misfirings"? Often people fast with the idea that fasting imparts some sort of "cleansing". In fact, the opposite is true, except for its possible psychological affects and, if he's prone to believe in spiritual power, the same mechanism may work there in terms of a feeling of positive energy, again based on psychological affects.
For instance, if fasting (assuming some sort of water based diet that doesn't provide enough carbohydrates) is conducted over enough time, body fat will be burned for energy, as well as protein taken from one's lean muscle tissue (not something one wants). Ketones are produced and that isn't cleansing but its opposite.
Our bodies are already pretty self-sufficient. The liver is the body’s natural detox center. Other organs, including the lungs, the kidneys, and the skin, also remove impurities and toxins from the body. A fast may give the perception of “cleaning out” your body’s impurities, but that’s not what happens. While some people reportedly feel great after fasting, others feel sluggish, tired, achy, and unfocused. That’s because they’re often not getting sufficient calories.
The only cleansing that may occur concerns the possibility that certain dangerous fat soluble chemicals may be present in one's fatty tissues and, when the fat is burned for energy, these substances get released. This usually is beneficial over the long term but there have been instances when a large release of these toxic chemicals into the bloodstream actually caused harm.
Though it won't usually hurt if done over a short period of time, there's really no measurable evidence of "cleansing", assuming that was your idea.
If by fasting you're referring to it as a means of demonstrating faith or penitence, and an opportunity for spiritual reflection, well, yes that may work but one should be aware of its dangers and not carry it on for too long a time, i.e., more than 3 days max.
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Permalink Reply by Amanda on
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Char, I have not been able to find one incident in Scripture where a person possessed by evil spirits was able to cast them out of themselves through prayer and fasting. I suppose in the case of oppression it is different. Fasting and praying will not do this man any good if he is possessed but it would help the one who is to do the "casting out"... unless I am misunderstanding that Scripture.
Jesus often fasted and prayed I am certain. He often went to places by Himself where He could pray alone. Maybe His disciples were not doing it enough and needed to be encouraged in that area. One would need the gift of spiritual discernment in such a case as this ... to be able to help this man. It could be severe psychosis and it could be demonic oppression, because he is seeing demons but that does not mean either that they are actually in him, or it could be worse and they are in him as well as all around him and being an unbeliever he has no spiritual armor with which to fight them because salvation is part of our armor.
Since this discussion is over a year old, I would be very interested in hearing an update and in knowing how he is doing today. I think it would be terrible to experience these things. Poor guy.
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Yes, it is useful in your faith ... But this man is being described as an unbeliever. If he is indeed possessed he would need Satan cast out before he could receive the indwelling Holy Spirit. But even then he might not become born again. He would need to spend some time at the feet of Jesus so to speak. The one who does the casting out is the one with faith and who needs to fast and pray in order to cast out certain kinds of demons ... If I am understanding the words of Jesus correctly.
David did a great job of explaining fasting. I will add that While we might give up other things we enjoy during a fast, such as intimate relations with our spouse or as you said TV, I really believe Jesus was talking about food moreso than other things and we give up other things in addition to certain foods but Daniel's fast is a good example of giving up not all foods but only certain foods and drinks.
David said:
>>"When we fast the primary goal is never to physically detox our bodies, we really can't care less about that secondary benefit, if the benefit is even there as you made a point to explain. Our primary goal when fasting is to deny the flesh its fleshly desires, so in turn we master it and not the other way around. As we fast we invest time in God's word, which is his will and the primary vehicle which God uses to communicate with us, as the Holy Spirit (God) makes the word come alive. There are multiple benefits to gain from the practice; one among the many is to receive God's enlightenment about our current troublesome situation. The benefits are many, but to the regular Joe, such practices maybe simply foolishness. They were foolishness to me before I was born again ..."
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Yes. And if you are a believer and you have read in God's Word to fast and pray and you feel led to do it and then someone tells you that it isn't good for you right now to fast and pray ... For whatever reasons they come up with ... Then you know that is scripturally incorrect and can't possibly be guidance from Holy Spirit either. Unbelievers who are possessed would not feel a need to fast and pray and would have an aversion to Christ ... Unless they are becoming believers and being delivered. If he himself felt the desire to fast and pray ... Then that would be very promising indeed! It would mean he believes.
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Permalink Reply by David Velasquez on
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Kathleen,
Your posts are welcome, we are glad you are here. I am not just saying that, nor am I saying it with a fluffy emotionalism. It is good that God has brought you here. Many of us have read and experienced the benefits of fasting for Spiritual and physical rewards. We have also shared the precarious outcomes of fasting for physical purposes when one is not well informed. We appreciate everyone’s posts, because we find that the comments add to our wealth of knowledge in many, if not all, aspects of our Spiritual and many times physical life, so thanks for sharing the info.
This community as you know is primarily comprised of born again believers, which simply means, people who love God, Christians. There are various backgrounds amongst us as there are individuals, with their individual experiences; yet, we all have one thing in common. The death and resurrection of Jesus has made a world of a difference in our lives. The wisdom of the world, which we use to perform our professions etc... Is not toss to the side here, but rather enhance by our relationship with God, because now we are partakers of God's wisdom and worldly knowledge.
If you are a born again believer I would expect you to understand that, but I do not know if you are born again or not and thought you may find that is not of my business, none of us here have a problem disclosing the most beautiful thing in our lives.
I am saying all that to say this, you are asking Char the following: >>What does fasting have to do with "brain misfirings"?
We live in a beautiful world, a world where the Supernatural is just as real as the tangible physical items around us. Not more real or less, but just as real. The troubles we encounter in this world whether emotional, physical, metal or spiritual ones can have additional origins, hence other remedies (that is not always the case, but at times is so), that we must consider. We use experience, God's discernment and most importantly his guidance to determine the root of the problem we confront. We of course try to exhaust all the physical possible causes for an infirmary, understanding all along that even if the root issue springs from physical issues, our God can do way beyond anything we can do through human devices. One of the many weapons in our arsenal, which is not a worldly one, but mighty and divine, is fasting, not as your typical fast, but as one done according to Christian practices and mainly with Christian purposes. The fasts that we can enter to are as numerous as there are individuals and situations.
We understand that God's ways are foolishness to those who still have not tasted of the beauty of our Lord. However to try to help you see the benefits of fasting for this or other ordeals for a born again child of God is like teaching a blind man to play golf, you just won’t get it, you won’t be able to grasp it in experience, not because I think you do not have the mental capacity to digest the concepts, but because unless you are born again, you truly cannot understand Christian ways. I don't know if you are or not, since a person who is young in the faith, a baby Christian per sey, has the same question you made, but the majority of Christians know the benefits of such practice even if to some is only known by theory.
I am glad you are here and I don't mind your questions at all. You are welcome to ask away, but again you cannot fully understand our ways, which to the human logic seemed at times foolish. The concept of loving your neighbor, turning the other cheek, it's better to give than to receive, it's not about you, but about blessings others and bringing God glory not seeking self glory by any human vehicle to attract glory to our self to feed our selfish ego and pride are not things we care for. All those things are exactly the opposite of what the world preaches.
When we fast the primary goal is never to physically detox our bodies, we really can't care less about that secondary benefit, if the benefit is even there as you made a point to explain. Our primary goal when fasting is to deny the flesh its fleshly desires, so in turn we master it and not the other way around. As we fast we invest time in God's word, which is his will and the primary vehicle which God uses to communicate with us, as the Holy Spirit (God) makes the word come alive. There are multiple benefits to gain from the practice; one among the many is to receive God's enlightenment about our current troublesome situation. The benefits are many, but to the regular Joe, such practices maybe simply foolishness. They were foolishness to me before I was born again, but may be you are more open to those truths than I was.
Any ways - I thought I share the above with you.
Love and blessings to you.
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