Deliverance isn’t just about casting out demons. Deliverance manifests in many different forms. While I believe there is a time in everyone’s life when demons need to be cast out, we can also receive freedom and liberation in the simplicity of daily following the Lord.
Deliverance is renewing our minds. Our mind is a battlefield, and as we renew our mind, deliverance occurs. Casting out a demon is one set of the equation when receiving victory and walking out the fullness of God in and over our lives.
We get free and stay free when we change our behavior patterns, thoughts and habits. If we cast out a demon but do not change, we leave ourselves open for more and stronger demons to enter (Matt. 12:43-45). Filling ourselves up to close the door to demonic entry points is a combination of being in the Word, praying, worshipping, renewing our minds and changing our lives. We cannot go forward in the same stinking thinking and expect lasting freedom. True freedom manifests when we learn how to capture every thought (2 Cor. 10:3-5) daily, moment by moment, if necessary, leaving no room for the enemy.
Evil spirits aren’t the only enemies to receiving our breakthrough. We can often be our worst enemy when we walk in and operate in the lusts of the flesh. The lust of the flesh is not just sexual desire; it is anything we seek after in life more than Jesus. It is any sin, addiction or emotional ailment we continue to entertain instead of dismiss. Our flesh needs to be bound and restricted just as much as the strongman trying to penetrate our lives because our flesh creates strongholds from which we need additional freedom.
Recently, as I was reading and editing my upcoming book, Prophetic Spiritual Warfare, something in which I have sought a breakthrough finally made sense. It took one simple sentence to have a profound moment of freedom. Often, we think of the ministry of deliverance as vomiting, screaming or being on the floor hammering out a demon. We don’t realize one person having a conversation with another can bring forth deliverance through something said. We can receive deliverance every time we read the Word of God because the Word of God is deliverance. We also receive deliverance when we pray and worship because Jesus is the deliverer.
We can become over-enamored with receiving the ministry of deliverance and, in fact, become a deliverance junkie, always wanting hands laid on for the next demon to be cast out. True freedom begins when we have the mind renewal to accompany the demon that was cast out. Going from minister to minister to have a demon cast out will keep you focused on the problem and the anguish more than the deliverer and the solution. Don’t overcomplicate things. Seek Jesus, renew your mind, cast out the correlating demons and expect the ease that can happen in deliverance. Don’t just look for deliverance only in a strong manifestation of an evil spirit, but look for it in subtle ways of living a daily life devoted to Jesus Christ. {eoa}
Receive additional freedom from my book, Unshackled, available wherever books are sold.
Receive training for the ministry of deliverance through my e-course, Ministry of Deliverance, at charismacourses.com.
Kathy DeGraw is a prophetic deliverance minister. She is the founder of Kathy DeGraw Ministries and K Advancement LLC. Kathy hosts a podcast show called Prophetic Spiritual Warfare on the Charisma Podcast Network. She is the author of several books: Prophetic Spiritual Warfare, Speak Out, Discerning and Destroying the Works of Satan and Unshackled. She is empowering people and setting the captives free through her many e-courses at charismacourses.com. You can connect with Kathy on Facebook at facebook.com/kathydegraw or visit kathydegrawministries.org.
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