eBook
Available on Compatible NOOK devices, the free NOOK App and in My Digital Library.
Related collections and offers
Overview
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781504360128 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Balboa Press |
| Publication date: | 06/13/2016 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 210 |
| File size: | 236 KB |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
Deliverance and Spiritual Body Mapping
By Carolyn Steidley
Balboa Press
Copyright © 2016 Carolyn SteidleyAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-5043-5981-8
CHAPTER 1
BEFORE WE BEGIN
Before we begin, I need to make something very clear: Deliverance is not an event; it is a process. Deliverance is the casting out or away of demons and other dark forces. However, after the demon has vacated, the individual's toxic thinking and bad habits must be addressed. It is important to enroll the person in a discipleship program following their session.
When working in deliverance, be prepared to work outside the box but always in alignment with the Bible. In this type of ministry, you will see a lot of things that will blow your mind. Always remember that none of what the enemy does is a surprise to the Lord. He will guide and lead you to defeat your adversary. After all, your victory over the enemy is your inheritance, according to Isaiah 54:16-17. The Lord created the waster to destroy; He went on to state that no weapon formed against the believer will prosper. The Lord is on your side when dealing with the enemy.
Several years ago, I became quite upset after losing two mentors to cancer; one was my teacher in ministry, and the other was my mentor in training horses.
One day, I was angrily pacing in my living room, telling the Lord what I thought about this whole matter. (I do not recommend taking this attitude toward the Lord. I was young and immature.) I told the Lord, "I am tired of being a pawn on a chessboard stuck between two kings — a black king and a white king!"
I heard the Lord speak quite audibly in the room; I have only heard Him talk to me like this once. "Yes, I put you there. But I made you the queen to go anywhere you want to go."
There was a pause. Then He said, "And it is the ultimate slap in my enemy's face that he is subject to a mere mortal."
I was stunned. I had not thought about things like that. The Lord told me, "I gave you the authority to take the enemy out, now do it!"
There are a few things to consider before delving into doing a deliverance. First, make sure that the person needs one. Ask the Holy Spirit, "Does this person need a deliverance?" Your discernment should tell you, but if you are not sure, wait. One can do a lot of damage when one attempts a so-called deliverance on an individual who needs psychological help or an inner healing instead.
Second, be sure that you understand the difference between the soul realm and the spiritual realm. I find this is a real problem in ministry. I want to state the obvious: Not everything is a spirit. Sometimes the person needs inner healing or physical healing. Be open to working with doctors. While they work on the mental or physical body, you address the spiritual issues.
It is imperative that you hear from the Lord on what the person needs: healing, deliverance, or a counselor. Deliverance and healing go hand in hand; for that matter, so does deliverance and counseling. I have lost count of how many times a person will be delivered from an evil spirit and is physically healed in the same session.
Deliverance and healing are two separate issues. A demon can cause damage to a person's body. After the demon has been cast out, the damage may remain, at which point healing needs to take place. As a matter of fact, at this time, we have thirty-four people delivered and healed from cancer.
Do I Speak Aloud to a Demon?
People have asked me, "Do I have to speak out loud to a demon?" The answer is no.
Now, I know that will go against many individuals' theology. I too was raised to believe that a demon cannot hear your thoughts.
Then I encountered a situation that challenged me. A family member was in the ICU and dying; I was asked to come. The ICU room was swarming with doctors and nurses as they frantically worked to save the person.
I silently rebuked the spirit of death and told it to leave as I stood in the doorway. I then left and sat down in the waiting room. Within an hour, a doctor came out to tell everyone that our family member in the ICU was going to be all right.
Later, I asked the Lord about that situation, as it went against everything I thought I understood about spirits not being able to read my thoughts. His answer to me was, "They can hear your spirit." That made sense, of course.
Who Should Not Get Involved
I believe there are those who should not get involved in deliverance. One should first be baptized in the Holy Spirit. I would hate to attempt a session without the Holy Spirit.
In Francis MacNutt's book Healing, he points out three different personality types that should not get involved in ministering in deliverance.
The first are those who are hyper-sensitive to attacks in the spirit realm. They are vulnerable and, therefore, open to the enemy. The second personality would be a person who is "too aggressive." This person enjoys the fight way too much. Hatred for the enemy should not be the motive for deliverance. Love and compassion for the individual who is the victim should be the motivation. We must always work out of God's fruit of the Spirit. The third would be a person who is motivated by power.
Of course, it can be a rush when the demons fight and lose. If you are not careful to stay humble, your ego can be a stumbling block. The most powerful position there is in the kingdom of God is humility. There is spiritual vision and clarity of sight from that position.
In this type of ministry, people will develop an area of specialty. Let me explain: It seems the Lord will bring a set type of deliverance to these ministers. An example would be what we could call team A; the Lord will lead people who battle depression to this team. This team becomes proficient in dealing with these types of spirits. To team B, the Lord may bring people who want to be set free from the occult; team B would become proficient in these types of spirits, and so on.
The problem I see is that sometimes these ministers, when they hit a block and can't seem to progress, may hesitate to send someone to a different healing/deliverance team.
On the flip side, I have seen a group that has sent an individual to another healing ministry, and the second team will look down on the first team, not realizing that a particular spirit is not the first team's forte.
It all boils down to pride. Pride has no place in a believer's life, let alone a ministry team.
No Formulas with God
Please do not get caught up in the idea that there is only one way to minister in inner healing and/or deliverance. I believe in studying the different aspects of ministry, such as sozo and terraforming, which are both different styles of inner healing. As well as traditional deliverance, which is speaking directly to the enemy and casting him out or away from an individual, much the same way Jesus did in the New Testament. Finally, there is spiritual body mapping, which I will explain more later in this book. By studying the different styles you can take what works for yourself and develop your own style.
Allow the Holy Spirit to direct you. Take what you learn and put the information in your quiver so you have it when you need it. The more you educate yourself, the more empowered you will be and the more versatile your work for the Lord.
It is important to be skilled in this ministry, as there are principles we need to know and understand in the kingdom of God. Also, consider that people are individuals, and no two are alike. There are no formulas. God is sovereign and will do things according to His will. The more trained we are, the more prepared we will be when confronted with a new situation and when working with different personality types.
I began to have a clearer understanding when I was asked to teach a deliverance class in Arizona. After the class, many of the students requested a session. I could see the longing to walk with the Lord in the manner I had described possible.
Throughout the two-day meeting, we were able to deliver seventeen people, and some of them received either a physical or inner healing as well. The Lord supernaturally developed teams, and as one person got delivered, she or he would get out of their chair and begin helping the next person get delivered. It was the most amazing and humbling thing I've ever seen. When it was over, we were exhilarated and tired.
After that trip, I knew there had to be another way that would set people free without such taxing effort. Then it happened. I was teaching a series of classes on deliverance at a church, and we broke into small groups and began to minister to each other. As I was overseeing each group, my husband, who partners with me in ministry, was sitting on the platform stairs with his eyes closed, talking to the Lord. He felt the Lord sit next to him on the steps. The Lord lovingly said, "You know, there is an easier way."
Robert opened his eyes and he saw the people as the Lord saw them. They were beloved little children, approximately five or six years old. Each had their sword and was practicing sword-fighting the enemy. What he saw was precious. Yet the Lord said, "There is a better way."
Later, when Robert shared with me what the Lord had said to him, I was overjoyed and immediately began to pursue the Lord; I wanted to know this better way.
I have to laugh when I think about this because I had been doing this better way all along and not recognizing it for what it truly is. We now know: spiritual body mapping!
I will get into spiritual body mapping later in the book, but for now, I want to answer some frequently asked questions.
CHAPTER 2POWER OF THE ENEMY
Whom Does the Enemy Target?
And the Lord God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate." So the LORD God said to the serpent: Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all cattle, and more than every beast of the field; on your belly you shall go, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life. (Genesis 3:13-14 NKJV)
As most of us know, this passage is referring to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ and how He will crush the power of the enemy. But when we look at the Hebrew, the scripture reveals much more.
And I will put enmity [hate] between you and the woman, and between your seed [posterity] and her seed [posterity]. He shall bruise [overwhelm] your head [chief, authority]. And you shall bruise [overwhelm] His heel [rear of the army-]. (Gen. 3:15 NKJV)
The Lord was telling us this whole time who the enemy is going to target — the straggler!
Now take Gen. 3:15 through the cross to Matt. 12:43-45. We should look at everything in the Old Testament through the cross and view it from the New Testament side. What I mean by this is because of what Jesus did on the cross, dying for our sins, we are now under grace and not under the Old Testament Law. Therefore, we should examine how the New Testament and grace portrays the same matter. Because when we do, one of three things will happen:
1. The New Testament will change the matter.
2. The New Testament will fulfill the matter.
3. The New Testament leave the matter the same.
Please note: In Matt. 12:43-45, the spirit has not been "cast out." Spirits can come and go at will and spirits do not like to inhabit a person alone; they like to bring others more horrific than themselves in with them. Their objective is to "kill, steal, and destroy." If they cannot get that done, they will be satisfied with just capping you, where you feel like you can't seem to get past an invisible barrier, so you are ineffective for the Kingdom of God. Have you ever felt like you can get just so far and then you hit an invisible wall? The enemy has capped you. However, you have authority over this blockage! Use your God delegated power and the Word of the Lord against the enemy and cast it away from you.
For several years, I used to cast spirits into dry, empty places until one day it this practice backfired on me. There was a couple in ministry who were staying in their trailer outside my home while they ministered in different churches in our area. One day, I had performed a deliverance and told the spirits they had to go into dry, empty places and not to return. I also told them not to come back, because spirits often step outside only to then step right back in; they are very legalistic.
That night, when the couple returned, they walked into their trailer and chaos erupted. To say the least, it scared them, as the spirits ran out of the trailer, knocking things over in their wake. Unbeknownst to me, they had turned off the water to the trailer so it would not leak. Therefore, it was dry and uninhabited. It fit the criteria I had given the spirits. They just stepped outside and made themselves at home inside my friends' trailer. What an experience. I have since changed where I send them.
When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest [recreation-], and finds none. Then he says, 'I will return to my house [dwelling place-] from which I came." And when he comes, he finds it empty [leisure, holiday], swept [to trail, root Greek word for swept, to choose oneself], and put in order [root Greek word for order: "to be carried off, the world"]. (Matt. 12:43 NKJV)
In Genesis 3, the verse specified that the target of the enemy would be the straggler. Matthew elaborates this further. In verse 44, we see what gives access to the enemy, "a person who trails behind, thinks only of him or herself and is carried off by the world." By allowing oneself to get caught up in the world, whether through compromised morals or with the "cares of the world," one permits legal access, doorways for the evil spirit to bring far worse than himself to "his dwelling place." Note the possessiveness, the feeling of ownership the demon exhibits toward "his person" in Matthew, the spirits feel they own the person they are tormenting.
Matt. 12:45: "Then he goes and takes with him seven (seven in the Greek, means complete) other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first. So shall it also be with this wicked generation" (NKJV).
Examining this verse through the cross did not change or delete what Genesis defined. The enemy will target those who are trailing behind, thinking of themselves, and have been caught up in the things or cares of this world.
The question arises, Can a Christian be tormented by an evil spirit? "The Assemblies of God maintains that it is not possible for a Christian to be demon-possessed." Absolutely correct! The controversy boils down to definitions and miscommunication. Firstly, one would need to define a Christian. According to Prince, "The term Christian means different things to different people ... but most agree it is an individual who has repented for one's sins and through faith has received Jesus Christ as one's Savior." To be possessed is to be owned and for Satan to own a Christian is ridiculous, as Jesus paid and redeemed the Christian with His own life, meaning the Christian is now owned by Jesus. The term to possess an evil spirit is different from being possessed by an evil spirit. This word comes from the Greek word diamonizo, which means "subject to demonic influence." Whether a spirit is on the inside of a person or on the outside, the result is the same — the person is in a state of temptation, torment or spiritual blindness.
Hierarchy of the Enemy
To more fully understand the enemy's authority and ranks, let us look at a word study of Ephesians 6:10–18.
Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.
Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles [trickery] of the devil.
For we do not wrestle [the word 'wrestle' goes to a Greek root word that means "I exist"] against flesh and blood, but against principalities, [chief] against powers, [delegated authority], against the rulers of the darkness of this age [leaders controlled by the enemy who operate in spirit of error], against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places [evil spirits who are not earth bound]. (KJV)
As you can see, there are different ranks in the army of Satan.
1. The chief rulers. These spirits are not earthbound and oversee vast armies over countries.
2. The delegated authority." These spirits may or may not be earthbound, but carry out the commands of the chiefs.
3. The human leaders, who are controlled by a spirit of error.
4. The hosts of wickedness in the heavenlies. These are evil spirits who are not earthbound.
To more fully understand what the Word is referring to by the term heavenlies, we need to know the evil spirits have access to what is called the second heaven, that place between us here on earth and where the Lord resides. This is a very violent place; it is where spiritual wars are carried out. We read in Daniel, chapter 10 about a war in the heavenlies. It is good to note when doing a deliverance that a door to the second heaven can be opened, so it is very important to close this door at the end of a session.
We have no need to fear. We have authority delegated to us by Jesus to trample over all evil. Not only do we have delegated authority over these spirits but through prayer, the Lord will expose their tricks and give us His perspective of the battle.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Deliverance and Spiritual Body Mapping by Carolyn Steidley. Copyright © 2016 Carolyn Steidley. Excerpted by permission of Balboa Press.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Table of Contents
Contents
Dedication, xi,Foreword, xiii,
Disclaimer, xv,
Introduction, xvii,
Part I Identifying and Exposing the Enemy's Access to Our Body, 1,
Chapter 1 Before We Begin, 3,
Chapter 2 Power of the Enemy, 9,
Chapter 3 Lesser-Known Spirits, 35,
Part II Understanding Weapons, Legal Rights, and Authority in the Spirit, 59,
Chapter 4 Weapons in War, 61,
Chapter 5 Spiritual Coverings, 76,
Chapter 6 The Power of Speech, 93,
Part III Spiritual Body Mapping, 111,
Chapter 7 Preparations for a Session, 113,
Chapter 8 Spiritual Body Mapping, 115,
Chapter 9 After a Mapping Session, 126,
Part IV Commonly Asked Questions, 129,
Chapter 10 Dreams, Keys, and Human Spirits, 131,
Chapter 11 Taking Authority over Children, Animals, and Areas, 144,
Appendix, 157,
Glossary, 177,
End Notes, 181,