Influences

by Arthur Dyck

One evening, a couple came to my wife and me for help. They were very depressed and not happy with the way they were living.

A middle-aged lady also came for help. She stated that when she went to bed, fear would overcome her, and she would feel as if something was trying to choke her.

Another lady came seeking freedom and healing, having gone to psychiatrists and other counsellors without success.

A mutual friend brought a drug addict to us. She said that she had a $500-$600 a day heroin habit--and was doing whatever it took to get that kind of money. She declared that she wanted out of that "whole stinking lifestyle".

Someone has said, "The one who influences the leader is stronger than the leader." Influence is the power to cause a change in the life of another person. When someone comes up behind you, shoves a piece of steel in your ribs and commands, "Hands up or I'll shoot!", that's influence. Another kind of influence is when a parent tells a child to do something.

Other influences are not so easily recognized. Psychologists have discovered that the colours yellow and brown trigger the "hunger" mechanism. Hamburger outlets use those colours.

The "unseen" world has two prime sources that influence us as human beings. The first is God, the Creator of the universe, including angels. He is pure and influences us for good.

The other prime influence is Satan, also called the devil, an angel who decided to rebel against God. He convinced other angels to follow him; these became demons, or evil spirits. However, God was more powerful and threw Satan and his followers out of heaven.

After that, God decided to bring the human race into this world. God made the first man and woman pure. When Satan saw the first man and woman, he decided to try to influence them into following him instead of God. He was successful, and their unfaithfulness led to them sharing Satan's punishment, being sent away from God, suffering much pain, and even death, as a result.

Satan is still doing what he does best--trying to get people to believe him instead of God. The more we do what the devil wants us to do, the more control he will have over us. His long-term goal is to be our master.

The five people I talked about earlier had all fallen under the influence of Satan.

The couple suffering from depression had been listening to music with lyrics that encouraged worship of Satan.

The middle-aged woman had been involved in "occult activity" such as using a Ouija board, horoscopes, teacup reading and tarot cards.

The second woman had also become involved in reading horoscopes, going to fortune tellers and reading tarot cards. Some of the information she heard seemed to be right. She finally ended up taking part in seances and attending meetings where people were worshipping Satan.

I would not be so bold as to label as evil everything that I do not understand. It may or may not be. However, some things have been commonly used by the devil as pathways to gain influence over people:

* New Age teachings. Treating the environment with respect is good, but seeing nature as full of spirits and being open to contact from those spirits is dangerous.

* Eastern religions. Many religions promote meditation. God wants us to meditate on (think deeply about) the Bible, which will bring us into contact with Him. What spirits will we come into contact with when we meditate on nothing in particular or on a word whose meaning we do not know?

* Astrology. This puts our lives in the control of horoscopes and those who devise them. What spirits lie behind these things and to whom are we giving control of our lives?

* Games. The destroyed lives of people who thought the Ouija board, Dungeons and Dragons, etc. were only games are tragic. A couple who came to us for counsel went home and threw their Ouija board into the fireplace. As it started to burn, the flames reached across the floor, and loud screams came from the fireplace. What spirits were in the Ouija board?

* Music. I am not making judgements about most of the music in use today. Some music is neutral, some is used to glorify God, but some is used by the devil to influence people. Some years ago, I was on a community cable TV program with a man who had been in a rock band but who had later become a Christian. He said that his band had regularly prayed to Satan that their music would be used to destroy lives.

* The paranormal. This includes things such as Extra Sensory Perception, clairvoyance, precognition, mental telepathy and psychokinesis (bending spoons by gently stroking them, or moving objects without touching them). While not necessarily evil in themselves, by making us open to spiritual influences we do not understand, these practices can allow demons to enter our lives.

* The occult. This includes witchcraft, using mediums and spiritists, foretelling the future by nonrational means and using black magic. Basically these practices get spiritual information from evil spirits. Sometimes the information is true. Then it becomes truth with a little error thrown in. Finally, it becomes a lie--but by then we have become deeply attached to the source of information.

* Drugs. Our word "pharmacy" comes from the Greek word "pharmakon", which means "spell-giving potion". While medicines have been a great blessing to humanity, it is easy to recognize that drug abuse can be a tool of the devil, resulting in addiction, ruined lives and deformed babies.

God has a plan to help people get back to following Him. God told some people to write down certain things and then collect them into one book called the Bible. That is where we find out what God wants us to do. There we read what the devil has done to people, but we also read how God fixes what the devil messed up.

Freedom is available to anyone who is experiencing excessive fear, lack of self-control, unnatural behaviour or helplessness due to the influence of evil spirits. The first thing is to make sure that you are on God's side by accepting Jesus Christ as the Son of God. When we look to Jesus, admit the things we have done wrong and believe that Jesus will forgive us, God promises that we will immediately become "children of God", part of His family. We will then have the influence of God's Holy Spirit in our lives.

At the same time, we should renounce any activity or involvement with evil. If demons are present, it may also be necessary to deal specifically with them. This is best done with the help of another, experienced Christian. The authority of Jesus will override every other authority. Demons must respect Jesus' authority and leave.

Many people have discovered that Jesus' power is available today. Among them are the five people I mentioned at the beginning of this article.

After we prayed for the depressed couple, they were filled with joy.

I asked the middle-aged woman if she had ever renounced her involvement with the occult. (Renouncing is agreeing that the activity is not right and that it will no longer have a place in your life.) She said, "I renounce the Ouija board, horoscopes, teacup reading, tarot cards.<|>.<|>.<|>.<|>" I then said, "You foul spirits of the occult are going to leave her right now in the name of Jesus!" Her head went back, and a loud wailing scream came out of her mouth as the demons were leaving. She was free. She took many deep breaths, which she had not been able to do for many years. This happened about 18 years ago. She is still experiencing the same freedom.

When the second woman came to see us, she had already made the decision to leave the Satan-worshipping crowd. We prayed with her, and the power of the devil over her life was broken. She asked God to forgive her sins, and the love of God filled her life. A few weeks later, she reported, "I had no idea that I could be so free so fast!"

The woman who was a drug addict said that she had already decided a few days earlier to become a Christian. After a short prayer, I commanded the evil spirits of drug addiction to come out of her in the name of Jesus. She collapsed on the floor. After about a half-hour, she got up a different person, free of drugs. She experienced no withdrawal symptoms. She started going to church. It was not long until her whole family became Christians when they saw what Jesus had done for her.

The best evidence that a fruit tree is indeed a fruit tree is the fruit that it produces. The best evidence that we are following God's Spirit rather than an evil spirit is the effect it has on our lives. Does it lead us to peace, love and joy or to fear and bondage? In the Bible, Psalm 1:1-3 says, "God blesses those people who refuse evil advice and won't follow sinners or join in sneering at God. Instead, the Law of the LORD makes them happy, and they think about it day and night. They are like trees growing beside a stream, trees that produce fruit in season and always have leaves."

God gave us the ability to choose. We can choose which source of influence we will allow to guide our lives. It makes a lot of sense to choose the one that is positive and helpful.

Arthur Dyck and his wife Margaret live in Langley, B.C.

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