What do you all actually think demons are

[hootowl]

Hi Gray beard

You forgot the sword in his side.

Yes it is possible to know the bibles teachings and still not believe. It is because of this that I do not believe.
There is so much hypocrisy running under the name Christianity.

Because you can find the faith that is more power to you, that is your perception of how you see your bible when you read it.

But please remember Jesus was not the only one who has been crucified lots more before him and still are being crucified. A lot of atrocities have taken place in the name of God.

I think being dragged behind a car till your dead because your skin was dark was not good either.
People even now are going through mental crucifixion nobody cares.
How about a dark skinned person not allowed in a white church had to worship in their own church for coloureds.
Bank managers throwing people out of their homes. What does your bible say about money lenders what did jesus do?

All under the guise of Christianity? A man spent a long time in prison for the freedom of his people.

Jesus actually had the chance to get out of being crucified, all he had to do was admit he was not the son of God. He chose to be crucified.

The man dragged behind a car did not even get a chance for anything. Not even asked to move somewhere else so where are you going with this?

Have you heard of Changi prisoner of war camp. Women were hung by their hands to trees while their child was ripped out of their stomach.
You know how I know. My first husband was there. He died shortly after coming to Australia. He looked like a human skeleton.
I do not get this stuff out of a book my friend my husband would have been in his late 80's if he had lived.


Jesus made that choice himself I will not hold myself responsible for someones choice. Most of the prisoners of war who were caught in Singapore were conscripted. They also died for their fellow man. They did not have a choice.

I am not trying to offend you and if I have, I offer no apology you have the problem. I am trying to get you to understand where I am coming from.
These are not readings from a book.

Your next question I am sure will be then what are you doing here if your not Christian? I am here because I like you guys and cant believe the way you take yourselves so seriously. loosen up your dead a long time you do not have the power or the insight to know what God wants even if he does exist.

What will you do if you find out this is all for nothing? you just die, You have lived in mortal fear of something that is not even there.

I honestly cannot believe the mortal fear some of you are actually living in.
Me I am the lucky one I have no soul it was ripped out of me so I do not have to worry about what will happen to it.

Please take care

Hootowl

 

[hootowl]

Jordache

You speak about unhealthy tolerance. I believe in live and let live not try to frighten people with a terrible punishment when the end of the world comes.

I do not know and nor do you what will happen to us. Unless you know for certain without any doubt whatsoever God has actually spoken to you one on one, you are only preaching your beliefs.

Others believe differently to you. Nobody is going to believe in something if they know it to be untrue.
Everybody believes their way is the right way.

So I am not going to force anybody through fearful words to follow my belief. That is preaching false doctrine. I have no facts. This is actually called domination through brain washing.

I will agree with you to a certain extent on murder when a person commits a murder tries to hide it or lie their way out, done it for greed etc yes you are right. You will find that is called cold blooded murder.

What about the person who murders and says God asked me to do it? he/she has killed a sinner for God should they get more sympathy than someone who kills because Satan asked them to. To me it is still cold blooded because they used their belief to be right and gave nobody a choice to have their own belief.

But what of the person who just kills because they want to, does not see anything wrong in it. Not done it for any special reason. Yes they are around. They are the ones insane and cannot be held accountable because they thought it was right. They admitted to it no problem. You cannot be held accountable because it was not done for belief or greed it was done because they knew no different

So how can your God or humans hold those accountable for worshiping a tree or anything else of their choice.
You say they can read Gods word they can go to church. No does not work as far as they are concerned what do you know you only have a book to go on. You actually have no more fact than a person who worships any other kind of idol.

Some of you talk about people talking in different voice not there own. Well a church tried to tell my daughter she had a Demon and tried to remove it. Without my knowledge or permission. They said her Epilepsy was a demon. Trust me I soon
put an end to that.

I do not believe voodoo exists go to the market places in India or Egypt you will see things performed like you would not imagine. You cannot throw a curse for money etc curses are something you have to be 100 percent in the right or it will rebound on you. voodoo plays tricks for money or personal gain of some kind. People play games throw their voice etc etc if people have a fertile imagination they can believe anything possible.

Demons would love to meet one I am sure we would be good friends and have great discussions. You know what? I have never had to wrestle with a demon, could be fun. Still do not think any self-respecting demon would want to know me I would possibly lead it astray.

Satanism does exist and if practiced by the right people can do a lot of damage. I am not talking about people who play at it and have rites calling for obscene sexual practices. Or killing of animals etc.
There are a lot of Satanist around you will not know who they are trust me. Some even wear the cloth.
But I will tell you one thing the true Satanist is one of the kindest people you will get and willing to hold out a helping hand to anybody in trouble.

Maybe there would not be so many unwanted children if the fathers stepped up to the plate it takes two to make a child.
And also if people had the right to a choice of abortion without being harassed. I cannot understand a church that would expect a young girl that has been raped to carry on the horror of another nine months.
Also if due to ill health, or child going to be badly disabled.
As just a means of birth control I cannot agree. But some churches do not believe in birth control. See the Christian thing raising it's head again.

You see I also believe in a persons right to end their life if they wished to. If they are bedridden cant move without help and all quality of life is gone and it is their will so be it.

So if you think me intolerant I cant help that, I also believe in a persons right to live their life in the way they choose as long as it is not hurting another soul.

Like I have already mentioned in another post I do not have a soul to worry about that is long gone and what and where I go when I die I could not care less.

Ok I know I have said everything that goes against what you think, but just perhaps someone in here may think to be more tolerant of others and what they believe and not condemn all to hell. Sometimes it is good to look in your own backyard give you less time to look in other peoples.

Hoot owl

 

[Graybeard]

=hootowl;1194161]Hi Gray beard


What will you do if you find out this is all for nothing? you just die, You have lived in mortal fear of something that is not even there.

and what will YOU do if you find out you have lived a lie........
Hootowl[/QUOTE]
...anyway, I can see that you have a mindset and I really do not want to argue with you, I'll just obey what Scripture states as I feel it should be applied to this:

Mat 7:6 "Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces.

 

[Blackson]

In all honesty I have not done enough study on the word demon, but I do not believe it ever meant what it does today. I apply the word demon possessions more to sickness. there are all kinds of sickness such as personality disorders. I do not believe in demons as is taught today.

That is one reason I like it here. People are free to express their minds and views.
Demons are evil forces or evil spirits that works against the righteousness of God. Actually, demons are angels of the darkness, and they will never bring righteous manifestation. they be in the satanism, false beliefs taight in the church today, almost anywhere ythey are allowed to be.
These evil spirits are there. In concure, I would like to mention here that today, people have demonized almost anything they do not like. like in my country here (Malawi), a believer can not mourn for the dead for fear of demons which can enter him or her. Sometimes, even when one dresses what we think is immodesty, you will be deemed demonized. We pastors are busy telling people not even attending wedding parties for demons can enter our them.
In short, today, the church has demonized almost everything.

 

[Rickee]

When someone truly receives The Holy.Ghost ( Holy.Spirit) you no longer are Satan' s pawn. You become.a child of God.
You now have protection, you never had until you received that Spirit from God.

Satan is called " The god of this world" read II Corinthians 4 v 4. Satan is the.Spiritual controller of all non Christian, or Others who never been Born Again, and Living for God.

 

[Rickee]

My former wife was a big demon ( serious) Thank God, and Delta airlines she's gone! That was years ago!!

 

[Tintin]

Texasgirl, but you're not one to even believe in a spiritual realm/reality, so why would you believe in demons?

 

[DreaMo]

When my husband had collapsed and was in a coma in the intensive care unit at the veteran's hospital, a voice began saying over and over again, urgently, "they are coming to kill you". it was a young man's voice and full of urgency. I asked a young intern to track down the noise and turn off the t.v./radio or move the speaking person to an area where other patients can't hear him, because I was afraid that the voice would give my husband nightmares. the young intern searched the area, but there was no radio/television/patient to account for the voice and it was at it's loudest right in my husband's room. the voice seemed to be coming from my husband's ventilator machine. the intern suggested turning off the ventilator, but I pointed out that it's breathing for my husband. so he suggested turning it down to see if that altered the voice, and I told him not to let my husband get less air than the doctor had recommended. So he suggested turning up the air, and I agreed to it. I was thinking that air machines just can't talk and that I should pray that any demons present, be dispelled. I prayed, and he turned up the air. the voice dissolved into a sound of bubbling air. My husband told me later, after we moved into our new home, that he had felt a presence while he was in a coma and heard a voice saying "they are coming to kill you" , and that this voice and presence was what made him decide to fight his way out of his dream state. that he was feeling the same presence again after we moved into our new home. strange things were happening. doors and windows locked and unlocked, and opened and closed by themselves, a lamp moved on it's own, and small objects ( a bread tie, a knife loaded with peanut butter, pencils) flew across the house and struck family members. electronics came unplugged and little girl's clothes kept turning up in our laundry, even though we don't have a little girl and we have our own washer and dryer, we don't use a laundromat. I called up my mother and she reminded me that not all spirits are evil. She suggested that we might just have an unseen friend in the house. I prayed with her to dispel any demons, and then I told the spirit that if it's not a demon it can stay, but it has to follow the house rules; no unlocking doors and windows, no throwing things, and don't unplug anything unless it's worried about a fire hazard. Also, if it must make clothes appear, they should be appropriate in size and style to a family member. From then on, the rules were obeyed, although the skillet kept coming unplugged and men's underpants of unknown origins appeared in the dryer. So I guess it wasn't a demon.

 

[CHRISTENE]

Revelation 18:2,3

2 And he called out with a mighty voice, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a dwelling place for demons, a haunt for every unclean spirit, a haunt for every unclean bird, a haunt for every unclean and detestable beast.

3 For all nations have drunk the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality, and the kings of the earth have committed immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have grown rich from the power of her luxurious living.”


1 Corinthians 6:18
Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body.

 

[Graybeard]

Texasgirl, but you're not one to even believe in a spiritual realm/reality, so why would you believe in demons?

She won't be replying as she has been banned.

 

[Tintin]

Oh, thanks for letting me know.

 

[Graybeard]

no problem.....and to think you would have waited all day for a reply

 

[David_]

I think its clear in scripture that demons are real. Jesus cast out demons.

Can a Christian be demon-possessed?
If you mean, can a Christian be totally owned by a demon or Satan, you
cannot be totally owned by Satan or a demon. The Bible does use the
term 'demon-possessed', which does not imply total ownership. Demons
own nothing. The New Testament considers them as squatters or invaders on territory that is not theirs. God owns the deed to your life
through the blood of His Son. 1 Peter 1: 18-19.


The enemy (satan) is real, read James 4:7 “Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee
from you.”, ok, make it clear that there is being that flees when we submit to God and resist.
Going with Gods word here, because it is the ultimate source of life, that said..
Demons are real. We can have areas in our life that are strongholds in us that enemy (satan & demons) can influence us through.
When Jesus went public with His ministry, He quoted from Isaiah 61:1,"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to
bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the
brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and freedom to
prisoners;"
Our Lord Jesus Christ has given us His authority and tells us to go and
do the same.
In Luke 10:18-19, He said, "I was watching Satan fall from heaven like
lightning. Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and
scorpions, and over all the power of enemy, and nothing shall injure you."
There is ALL power in the Name and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ!
In Ephesians 6, we are told that clearly we are in a battle, a wrestling
match. We are at war with a formidable foe.
Ephesians 6: 12, " For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but
against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this
darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly
places."
1 Peter 5:8 warns us to be self-controlled and alert.
"Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls about
like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour."

As a child of God you're at war, whether you want to be or not, with a
very real enemy who seeks to rob, destroy, and kill you.
We are commanded to put on the full armor of God to stand and to
withstand and fight!!
We are told in 2 Corinthians 10: 4 that "...the weapons of our warfare are
not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses."
Romans 8:37 assures us, "But in all these things we overwhelmingly
conquer through Him who loved us."

It is important to note: Not everything that involves sin and defeat involves an evil spirit.Before Satan gets involved, we have a sin nature and a desperately
wicked heart.
a. Jeremiah 17:9, "The heart is more deceitful than all else and is
desperately sick; who can understand it?"
b. Much of the defeat we experience is because of bad choices. We
choose to sin. When we give place to sin habitually, we may lose control
of our will in that area and allow a strong hold of Satan to be established.
c. Temptation is not sin, but yielding to it is.
We are attacked through the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the
pride of life. 1 John 2:16 says, "For all that is in the world, the lust of the
flesh, and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the
Father, but is from the world."
d. If we are dealing with the old self, the sin nature of the flesh, the Bible
says we are to claim by faith that "those who belong to Christ Jesus have
crucified the flesh with its passions and desires." Galatians 5: 24. We
need to daily claim Romans 6: 6-7, "knowing this, that our old self was
crucified with Him, that our old body of sin might be done away with, that
we should no longer be slaves to sin, for he who has died is freed from
sin."
If you have claimed Christ's victory for you and are still experiencing
defeat, there may be stronghold in an area of your mind or flesh.








We have free will. we belong to Christ if we are saved. satan can not own us. we are bought and paid for by what Jesus Christ did on the cross for us, the Lord Jesus Christ has come in the flesh, He died for us and rose again, He is alive today.

We confess our sins, repent, and God is faithful and just to forgive us our sin. In Christ we are free from the law of sin and death, the Holy spirit comes into us and fills us. Now we can willfully sin, and have areas of our life that are not submitted to God and the holy spirit does not make us surrender that area to God, and the enemy can move in this area.

However, we can repent, submit to God and resist the devil he will flee...
Demons and demon influence are very real, and we need to fight... Fight as Jesus set the example to fight. We have authority over the enemy in Christ Jesus.

Quick start manual>>>>

We bind the strong man before entering into spiritual warfare against the
strongholds in a believer's life.
We ask the Lord to show us how to minister in all authority as the Lord
Jesus Christ did. I believe that God showed us that we must bind the
strong man first, then go in and take his possessions.
Mark 3:27 says, "But no one can enter the strong man's house and
plunder his property unless he first binds the strong man, and then he will
plunder his house." The strong man is Satan.
By binding Satan first, manifestations of evil spirits have virtually stopped
or at least been greatly reduced.

Resist Satan in the same manner as did Our Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus resisted Satan verbally by using the Word of God. Then He
commanded Satan to "Be gone!" Satan has to go, he doesn't have a
choice, or the Word of God is not true. In Matthew 4:10, Jesus said to
Satan, "Be gone Satan!"
Before engaging the enemy in any area of the believer's life, a prayer of
confession, repentance and submission is first. Then the Bible says to
"Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." James 4: 7.
We are told to actively resist the devil, and he will flee.
***Resistance is Not prayer. It is verbally confronting the enemy with
the Word of God in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.


Now heres the deal with all that and taking the Ground back from the enemy when there is a stronghold area(demon influence in our life):

***ALWAYS SPEAK IN THE NAME OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST AND/OR INTHE NAME OF THE LORD GOD OF HOSTS. Note this as we go forward here: We resist Satan and command him to flee to where the Lord Jesus Christ sendshim according to James 4: 7 and Matthew 4: 10. Speak in the Name of the
Lord God of Hosts and make a final statement:
"Satan, the Lord God of Hosts rebukes you and commands you to 'Be
gone'. You flee right now to where the Lord Jesus Christ would have
you to go."***


HERE IT IS:

-First we submit to God >Our will, intellect, our body, and our emotions.
Prayer of submission. “Heavenly Father, I give you control of my mind,
emotions, will, and body. I invite you to be Lord of my life in the name of the
Lord Jesus Christ.”


-Put on the entire armor of God, the belt of truth, breast plate of righteousness, shield of faith, the Sword of the spirit, helmet of salvation, the preparation of the gospel of peace.
Prayer to put on the armor of God. “Lord, I put on your provision of armor:
the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the preparation of the
gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of
the Spirit.”

-Bind satan. the word says to bind the strong man.
Statement of binding and loosing.*Note this is a statement out right, not a prayer, we do Not pray to satan, we speak out just as Jesus did and take authority over him. “Satan, I bind you. You will not have
control of my intellect, emotions, will or body. I loose myself from every
stronghold and all bondage in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.”

-Confess our sin and repent God.
If you have given ground to the enemy, submit and confess the sin.
Prayer of confession. “Father, I come to you in the name of the Lord Jesus
Christ. I have given place to spirits of ______. They are not from you and I
do not want them in my life. I confess the sin I have committed in this area
of my life. Forgive me for allowing these spirits to have control in my life.
Thank-you for forgiving me in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.”

-Speak this to the enemy in resistance and rebuke, Speak directly to Satan in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ and take
authority over him. Luke 10: 19. "Satan, in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I take absolute authority
over you."
(again, not a prayer, a statement out wordly speaking in authority that God has given you):
Declaration. “Spirits of ______, I take authority over you in the name of
the Lord Jesus Christ. I have submitted myself to God and you cannot stay.
I command you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to leave me now. You
will not have my mind or my body. I loose myself from all your bondage. I
rebuke you and command you to go to the pit of hell right now in the name
of the Lord Jesus Christ.”



-Pray and invite the Holy Spirit to occupy all areas of your life.Prayer of consecration. “Heavenly Father, I ask you to fill and control all
of these cleansed areas of my life with your Holy Spirit in the name of the
Lord Jesus Christ.”

Ephesians 6: 10-18: "Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of His
might. Put on the full armor of God, that you may be able to stand firm
against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and
blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of
this darkness, against the world forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.
Therefore, take up the full armor of God, that you may be able to resist in the
evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm therefore,
having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of
righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the
Gospel of peace; in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which
you will be able to extinguish all the flaming missiles of the evil one. And
take up the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the
Word of God. With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and
with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the
saints."

 

[Alicia]

When my husband had collapsed and was in a coma in the intensive care unit at the veteran's hospital, a voice began saying over and over again, urgently, "they are coming to kill you". it was a young man's voice and full of urgency. I asked a young intern to track down the noise and turn off the t.v./radio or move the speaking person to an area where other patients can't hear him, because I was afraid that the voice would give my husband nightmares. the young intern searched the area, but there was no radio/television/patient to account for the voice and it was at it's loudest right in my husband's room. the voice seemed to be coming from my husband's ventilator machine. the intern suggested turning off the ventilator, but I pointed out that it's breathing for my husband. so he suggested turning it down to see if that altered the voice, and I told him not to let my husband get less air than the doctor had recommended. So he suggested turning up the air, and I agreed to it. I was thinking that air machines just can't talk and that I should pray that any demons present, be dispelled. I prayed, and he turned up the air. the voice dissolved into a sound of bubbling air. My husband told me later, after we moved into our new home, that he had felt a presence while he was in a coma and heard a voice saying "they are coming to kill you" , and that this voice and presence was what made him decide to fight his way out of his dream state. that he was feeling the same presence again after we moved into our new home. strange things were happening. doors and windows locked and unlocked, and opened and closed by themselves, a lamp moved on it's own, and small objects ( a bread tie, a knife loaded with peanut butter, pencils) flew across the house and struck family members. electronics came unplugged and little girl's clothes kept turning up in our laundry, even though we don't have a little girl and we have our own washer and dryer, we don't use a laundromat. I called up my mother and she reminded me that not all spirits are evil. She suggested that we might just have an unseen friend in the house. I prayed with her to dispel any demons, and then I told the spirit that if it's not a demon it can stay, but it has to follow the house rules; no unlocking doors and windows, no throwing things, and don't unplug anything unless it's worried about a fire hazard. Also, if it must make clothes appear, they should be appropriate in size and style to a family member. From then on, the rules were obeyed, although the skillet kept coming unplugged and men's underpants of unknown origins appeared in the dryer. So I guess it wasn't a demon.

We had the same sort of thing happen when we moved into a new home. The garage door opened by itself then crashed down so hard it broke the springs, a shelf tipped itself from the brackets when we were in another room, ornaments being broken for no reason and I couldn't doze on the sofa or I'd wake up feeling as though I were being suffocated with a black blanket. I believe it was a demon and strangely enough my neighbor had strange things happen in her house. Whether this land had been used for occult purposes or what I don't know. I prayed hard and told this thing I to leave the house and after a while the odd things stopped. Whatever it was it certainly wasn't friendly!
To answer the question I think demons are the opposite of angels, they are messengers of evil!

 

[hootowl]

Hi Rickee

There you go you have given the answer no need for priests or holy water
Buy the demon an airline ticket.

 

[mamarose]

Eph 4:8...too much empasis is placed on the darkness of this world. We need to 'give no place to te devil, resis him and he will flee.

 

[nathan3]

I know a little about this and have seen some of this .

It really should be better said, " evil spirits ". Not demons .

You can define a spirit: you have a spirit . Meaning you can be uplifting and able to make the people around you feel better. Or you can be negative, and bring everyone down. Each is a spirit, that comes from you, effecting the people around you.

God also, has a Spirit. His is the Holy Spirit. He brings Truth to light, lifts people up and guides and instructs, etc.

Likewise Satan, also has a spirit. But his is the negative: he uses it to confuse and draw people away from the Truth , away from what is reality , and into the world.


It's written that Satan, entered into Judas , before he betrayed Christ. ( John 13:27 ).

You can read of other spirits possessing people in the Bible . They have the ability to effect what people say , and even how they act, or move.

I have witnessed some one literally possessed by a evil spirit ( outside force - not apparently visible to the naked eye ). This girl lost control of her body, and the evil spirit would try to talk threw her, or make her walk and fall.

I'm not totally sure, but I know they can come from Satan. And hes able to do this.

Also, they could be the people/spirits that where in the giants ( Genesis 6 ). Maybe they did not return to heaven, maybe they are around today effecting people. So you have Satan, the fallen angels , and the disembodied spirits of the giants.

All these can be where evil spirits come from . They can also be called familiar spirits. A familiar spirit, is one of the above mentioned , that has been in people before, so when they inhabit a new person, the person can feel as if they have memories from a past life. If its true, then the reality is, they are just calling to memory the previous person that was possessed before them, by the evil / or familiar spirit possessing them now.. There is not a evil spirit behind every bush.

You'll find that, its recorded in the Bible. That only threw Christ name, His authority ,is one able to tell a evil spirit to leave , an return where they came from. The bible teaches even to use olive oil that you can ask God to bless for you to do this. It simply shows faith . No priest is needed, only Christ.


I have witnessed this before...



The thing people get confused about is from movies, and images online and in books. Things that are not even real, like monsters and strange creatures. Evil spirits are not people, that have passed away.... That is Not reality.

If you want a real documented case, done by a non believer, and a medical professional read this report :

A Case of Demonic Possession | Lucnia ( lookh-nee'-ah ) a lamp-stand

 

[nathan3]

I want to add, if you have Christ's / The Holy Spirit in you, there's no way you can be possessed in reality .

Luke 11:

24 When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he saith, I will return unto my house whence I came out.

25 And when he cometh, he findeth it swept and garnished.

( meaning, Christ is not there, the man is alone, and the evil spirit can effect him still )



26 Then goeth he, and taketh to him seven other spirits more wicked than himself; and they enter in, and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first.

 

[Angela53510]

As a Christian I believe God is in control. That means God is sovereign in all things.

Christians do not need to worry about demons. Instead, they need to cling to Christ and to stand on the Word of God.

I believe demons may have the power to tempt Christians. (The devil tempted Jesus, so why not us? Luke 4:2) But any more than that is going way beyond what the Bible says.

“Hallelujah!
For the Lord our God
the Almighty reigns." Rev. 19:6

Either God is ruling and reigning or the Bible is wrong! Even the famous Eph. 6 passage describes defensive weapons, with only the Sword of the Spirit - The Word of God -being the only offensive weapon. And believers are told to STAND, not to cast out demons, to pray in loud voices or other non-Biblical things.

THIS is what the Bible says about how we are to deal with the devil:

"And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil,[SUP]25 [/SUP]correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, [SUP]26 [/SUP]and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will." 2 Tim. 2:24-26

We must use Scripture verses that come AFTER the cross and the resurrection, or we will go sadly astray in our beliefs about demons and demonization/possession, etc. Jesus conquered the devil and demons and to suggest anything else is heresy!

As Christians, we are joint heirs with Jesus who has all authority!

"and if children, then heirs — heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if so it be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together." Romans 8:17

"And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me." Matt. 28:18

 

[reject-tech]

[h=2]What do you all actually think demons are[/h]

Bad thoughts that you can't get out of your head. Not much more complicated than that.
Most of them didn't come from you, you got them from seeing and hearing about bad things.
But you can think about them on purpose and make them stronger.
Or despise them and lock them away until God miraculously pulls them out by the roots.

I don't believe they are sentient beings in the same way that most people do.
But in a certain sense, I suppose you can say they have a mind of their own.

Who knows for sure? That's what I believe they are. I called BS on "evil spirit creatures" at some point and got rid of a lot of fear.

I believe personifying the word "demon" was taken overboard sometime in the last 2000 years.