DESTROYING THE YOKES

When I prayed these words, “JESUS, PROTECT DAVID!” I was saying, “Holy Spirit, take over; this battle is too big for me to fight on my own!” Spiritual battles are not battles that you fight on your own. You will lose every time and die spiritually and physically, too. That instant, the evil presence jumped on me; I do not use the phrase evil presence lightly. The Bible tells of a man tormented by a legion of evil spirits that Jesus healed. Jesus demanded, What is your name? Legion, he replied, for he was filled with many demons (Luke 8:30 NLT). The Holy Spirit in me alerted me that the presence was so powerful that it was not going to be typical spiritual warfare. I needed someone to back me up!” Spiritual warfare is not like physical warfare fought between humans but against evil spirits. There will be times when you are in spiritual warfare, and the Holy Spirit empowers you to speak with the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ. However, there is a certain level of spiritual warfare that you will experience that goes beyond using your authority in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Sometimes, you will be a bystander while the heavenly hosts fight for you. The Old Testament patriarchs had angels fighting for them, but you have the Holy Spirit and angels fighting for you. The Old Testament patriarchs had great victories with the help of angels, and you will have victories again and again through the power of the Holy Spirit. In Daniel 10, there was spiritual warfare in the heavens where God had to dispatch His highest-ranked angel, Michael the Archangel, to fight against the Prince of Persia, possibly Satan’s top-ranked angel. But for twenty-one days, the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia blocked my way. Then Michael, one of the archangels, came to help me, and I left him there with the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia (Daniel 10:13 NLT). The presence I encountered was powerful enough to be several demons or the leader of that ranked group of demons, which is more powerful than all the other demons. It could have very well been Satan himself. The demons that fight against Christians are called wicked spirits in heavenly places or the spiritual forces of wickedness in heavenly places. Even though demons are powerful, they fight against you like cowards. The attacks usually happen when you are at your lowest, spiritually, mentally drained, or physically tired. Demons will attack you when you are most vulnerable. Quite often, evil spirits make their attacks during the witching hour. The witching hour is traditionally understood in Western cultures to begin at 3 A.M. when supernatural creatures such as witches, demons, ghosts, and gremlins are primarily active. “Psychological literature suggests that apparitional experiences and sensed presences are most common between the hours of 2 and 4 A.M. corresponding with a 3 A.M. peak in the amount of melatonin in the body.” A light-headed feeling is one of the first signs of demonic attacks when lying in bed. It’s a feeling that gives the sensation of blocking out while your head feels like it has multiplied in size. Another thing you may experience is an overwhelming increase in your level of fatigue! You will have trouble staying awake. It’s like being injected with a high melatonin concentration and trying to stay awake! The high concentration of melatonin is where the reference comes from, having a peak level of melatonin. “Melatonin is a hormone produced primarily by the pineal gland, which regulates wakefulness. As a medicine, it is used for the short-term treatment of trouble sleeping, such as from jet lag or shift work. Evidence of benefit, however, is unclear. One review found the onset of sleep occurred 6 minutes faster with use but found no change in total time asleep. It may work as well as the medication ramelteon. It is typically taken by mouth.” For Satan, that day, when he made his attack, it was like any other day when he sent out his demons to do his work. However, it would not be like other days under the Holy Spirit’s watchful eyes. Let’s Rumble When the attack happened, I knew my son would have been in great danger had he been caught in the crossfire, but thanks be to God; ... despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us (Romans 8:37 NLT)! The moment I said, “JESUS COVER DAVID!” I felt the presence jump on me, and my soul immediately separated from my body. I could see my shell, my body beside David on the bed. I was motionless like a dead man. I do not know how far my soul went, but it was high enough to go through the ceiling and roof of the house. When you are in the spiritual world, the physical world does not exist. The ceiling and roof become as transparent as glass. Everything physically disappeared. In the spirit realm, physical barriers are not hindrances. It was as if I existed in a glass jar or open space. When you are in the spirit realm, there is no physical barrier, wall, or safe that is too thick that you cannot see through. My spiritual man, my soul, was wrestling with the demonic presence. The combat is not with hands and feet, having body locks, tripping your opponent to a wrestling mat, and pinning for one, two, and three counts! You do not feel fatigued when engaging in a spiritual fight outside your body. You do not feel pain. It is territorial spiritual dominance. It is about staking your claims and defending your territory. While I was out of my body in the realm of the spirit, I experienced the highest level of human existence, but I did not fully comprehend it until my soul re-entered my body. When you are out of your body, you do not have human emotions attached to your spirit, complete weightlessness, free of pain and suffering. Oh no, I Lost When you are in the spirit realm, time does not exist. I do not know if I wrestled for one minute, ten minutes, or one hour. All I knew was that I was in a war in the heavenly with the guidance of the Holy Spirit. I had the awareness and consciousness of my human existence. However, I was not cognitively aware that I existed outside of my body even though I could see the shell, the covering of the spirit man, and my motionless on the bed. I experienced everything in the spirit realm but simultaneously linked to my humanity, my overall experience. Existing in the spirit realm seems like a normal realm of existence. I believe that at the second coming of Jesus, when creation is restored to its former state of purity and void of sin forever, this is how humankind will exist. However, in the spirit realm, you function independently of your body. Your body is not you. Like clothing covering your body, likewise, your body covers your soul. When you change your clothes for another outfit, your body remains alive. It is not the clothing that gives your body life. The clothing and body relationship is like that of the body and the soul. When the soul and body separate, your body returns to the dirt from whence it came, and your soul lives on. We wrestled for a while; then I heard the voice likened to thunder and asked, “WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?” These words echoed through my entire being. The voice spoke in the spirit realm, but I felt the vibration in my body. The vibration was not a feeling but more like an awareness.