I’m going to be honest here with you and state the obvious: If you struggle to give any plausible credibility to the idea that ‘spiritual entities of darkness, wickedness, and evil’ truly exists and operate in a literal... ‘spiritual world’ (that we all live in), then much of what I am wading in to here will come across as ‘foolishness to you. And I’m okay with that because I’m not here to impress anyone with intellect or theology. Paul said that to people who are ‘perishing’, this message is ‘foolishness’(1 Cor. 1:18).

When talking about demon spirits and how He gave His disciples ‘power over all the power of the devil’, Jesus said these things are ‘hid from the wise and the prudent’ (prideful) but God ‘reveals it to the babes’. (Luke 10:19-21) Guess how these things are ‘hid’ from them? (2 Cor. 3-4) Did you catch that part about ‘perishing’ there? And just who do you think Paul is referring to when he mentions the ‘god of this age’? I bet it is the same ‘prince of the air...the spirit who now works IN the sons of disobedience’ that he spoke about in Ephesians 2:1-3. And could John have been any more on point with what he wrote in 1 John 5:19? - ("The whole world is under the sway or influence/power of the wicked one.")

Anyone feel like maybe you have been ‘in the dark’, as if covered or blinded by a ‘veil’ of sorts? Would you like to see and understand more? Don’t take offense to this but 2 Cor. 3:16 would be a good start. I say don’t be offended... because I’m guessing anyone who goes to look that last verse up would be quick to say you have ‘already done that’, as in ‘turned to the Lord’. And friends...this is where I’m convinced most...of us have missed it; me included. We’ve not truly understood, (nor read the small print) as to what it means to ‘come to Jesus with ALL our hearts’. Don’t feel bad, as many are starting to wake up to the disturbing possibility that just maybe...somewhere along the way, we ended up buying in to ‘another gospel’, following ‘another Jesus’...and ‘received another spirit’. Paul said this easily happens. (2 Cor. 11:3-4) And guess who is behind that? (14-15)

At best...many sincere people have found themselves struggling along in a ‘form of godliness’...void of any true ‘power’ to overcome all sin, the flesh, and the devil...as they continue to ‘always learn but fall short in coming to the knowledge of the truth’. (2 Tim. 3:5-7). Why do suppose Jesus told those scribes in John 5:39-40 that they could basically spend the rest of their life searching the scriptures for eternal life but never would experience it until they were fully willing to ‘come to Him’? But once we do, (come to Him with ALL our hearts) then He begins to ’reveal the mysteries of the kingdom to us’. (Matt. 13:11-15)

All that to say...the countless scriptures hid in our Bibles that addresses this idea of spiritual warfare and conflict, where demon spirits take God’s people... into captivity, is not... ‘poetic language’ as some might suggest. And the sooner we wake up to this reality...the sooner we might begin putting a lot more pieces together where we can 'see' what is really happening in the world today (Eph. 1:18). The good news though... as this ‘invasion of darkness’ increases, there is a place of refuge and safety that is found solely in Him, in Christ, who is our ‘Ark’ today as the flood rises all around us. And it is called ‘abiding in Jesus’, where we find protection. (Ps. 91; 1 John 5:18; Matt. 23:37)

Do you remember the story of the first Passover found in Exodus and how God was sending the ‘destroyer’ to come and strike the land, killing all the firstborn in Egypt? (Ex.12:23) It was not enough for His people to simply partake in the eating of the lamb and applying blood on their doorposts. Take a look at verse 22 there and underline it – “none of you shall go out of the door of his house until morning.” IF you are not ‘in the house’, or ‘In Christ’, you are ‘fair game’, as harsh as that might sound. Simply quoting ‘greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world’ is not going to do it for you. (1 John 4:4). So while countless sincere people want to debate who is ‘saved’ and how does one ‘get saved’ while failing to see the importance of abiding in Christ (John 15:1-5; 1 John 3:6-9), many will continue to be ‘destroyed for a lack of knowledge’ (Hosea 4:6)

Tomorrow, Lord willing...I will continue to expound why this is so important, and seriously urgent...because we do have a ‘border’ crisis, and a ‘breach in the wall’. But it is not ‘flesh and blood’ that are coming across to bring destruction and suffering. (John 10:10; Eph. 6:12; Rev. 12:12)