It became apparent to me that after leaving the church institution many years ago, that the Lord and experience was my true teacher, and while I was lost without someone to mentor me correctly in the things of God, I had matured more and faster outside of its grip. The Lord used my pain to teach me that my life was not all about me to start with. Yet, I was clueless about what free will actually was, because I believed that I had none, as taught  to me by another religious and pious soul. Had I understood the significance of being sound and operating with full control in my own being, I would not have felt such ambiguity   in life situations.

I saw a face on Christianity that did not seem godly and that I did not understand. What I was  ignorant about and had no knowledge of, was that there were several faces that could keep a person in captivity. They are known as religious demons. Even though I was not a person that heard voices or felt any major torment of any kind that was keeping me from functioning daily, I had to acknowledge the fact that I had very little fruit in my life and often felt incomplete or inadequate to perform.  I followed, as many still do today,  the next spiritual movement and program that was laid before me.  While sincere in my quest for truth, I was just another religious church attender, under the power of these fallen angels who would confuse me, by working their evil on me. Not only did I not understand who I was as a person, I fell into sins, in my weakness. I  was an easy target, and unsuspecting believer whose life was emotionally charged because of and through the deception of witchcraft that my hurt mother had exercised over me growing up, before I ever stepped foot into a church institution where the same evil behavior, unbeknownst  to me, was taking place.

 I simply was ‘ignorant.’ That word gets a bad wrap. It simply means you are UNAWARE and do not know. I was never taught to try the spirits while attending ‘church.’ I was taught how to become religious through particular practices and behaviors that were supposed to be ‘pleasing to GOD.’ My fear of making mistakes was the doorway that religious demons used to cause me to receive false doctrine. This is how the devil strategizes in  a person’s life. He takes your weaknesses and uses them against you and for some it paralyzes them to move forward with any real success in Him; not what the world and the churches proclaim as success, but a respect for His Truth, and ultimately authentic salvation, through a Born Again experience.

According to my Pastor, Pam Sheppard, of Rescue Online Fellowship, mistakes can be invaluable to our spiritual growth, as she shares below:

       “It has been my experience that the doorway UNKNOWINGLY left wide open to demonic torment is a captive’s fear of ever making a mistake. Demons take great pleasure in tormenting people who they can control with criticism, shame and accusation. As a deliverance counselor, I realize that for each captive, there is a different root cause. For the most part, a fear of making a mistake comes from how you were raised. Those who have been under the authority of extremely judgmental, critical parenting are inclined to either become passive or aggressive in their response to this fear.

The passive ones try to “always be correct and proper” because they are afraid of suffering the consequences that judgmental parenting brings. On my web caseload over the last 9 years, those who are constantly hearing critical, accusing voices in their minds have been raised by critical, judgmental parents. Perfectionism in passive people also leads them to be ardent people pleasers–a breeding ground for depression.

The aggressive folks tend to become the rebels of the world who often seem to make mistakes on purpose and by design because they simply enjoy annoying people. In other words, “if you made me the black sheep of the family, I’m going to play that role with style and gusto! If you told me when I was 10 years old that I am going to be no good, just like my father, well, I am going to be “my father” to the 25th power. So watch me, Mom, as I go through the revolving prison door of recidivism. Watch me and suffer Mom, because you have tried to frame me with a fear of being like a Dad that I didn’t even know, because of you and YOUR failures!

Here is another pattern. January 2 of every year  could be renamed “Get Rid of the Fat Day. There are unseen reasons why some of us got fat. Here is the scenario for the rebel:  ” If you have called me “fat” all of my life when I was not fat but voluptuous and my sensuality disturbed you, Mom—-I am REALLY going to become fat just to show you what FAT REALLY IS AND that I don’t care what you think of my body type!!!!”

Scenarios like these are often played out on a sub-conscious level. Anytime you don’t know who you are and why you are behaving the way that you do, you are a prime target for demonic interference. As a deliverance counselor, this is the reason  why I am less concerned about whether or not you ever experimented with the occult or drugs than I am about how you deal with “making mistakes.” It does not take a great deal of education to become a great learner. Learning involves listening and mimicking. Even if we can’t read or write, life itself is going to teach us something!!!” If you have never made a mistake then you have not learned very much.

For the Christian in particular, God designs the lessons of life disguised in the form of obstacles, mistakes and difficulties through a maze of trials, tribulations, troubles and tests. Why? Because the Christian walk in the spirit by faith in God alone is what earns us our eternal crowns. Without any ashes, there is no beauty. Without failure, there is no glory. Without falling, we really don’t know how to stand. We are sinners who must totally rely on the Holy Spirit’s leading in order to please a perfect God. He is pleased when we can resist the pride of our sinful nature and embrace our ashes.

I was born again  40 years ago. Much of what I had to give to God is a life of mistakes and failures. These are my infirmities, and like Paul, I actually glory in them. I know that I glory in them because when I speak or write about my mistakes, I have no inner pulling of sorrow, shame or regret in my heart. I know that I glory in them because I give practically no thought or expression to the things that man would consider successful accomplishments. I glory in my mistakes because I have come to know that the power of Jesus Christ of Nazareth is all over me when I can acknowledge my own weaknesses.

There is a difference between making a mistake and being a mistake. If I am in Christ, then I am not a mistake. On the contrary, if I rely on “self,” then I am functioning as a mistake. What the bible confirms is that God did not believe that I was a mistake or I would not be here. God does not believe that YOU are a mistake or YOU would not be here either. When we begin to see even an iota of how big and all-consuming God is, then we will stop worrying about our mistakes and the demons that are assigned to us will be bound and gagged.

I can recall a day when the religious demon assigned to me sent me a dream that showed me committing a sin from my past and “loving it.” Demons rarely accuse me of sin because they know that I don’t receive or respond to their guilt trips.

Do I have the desire to commit the sin again? Absolutely not. Would I do so if tempted? I stand strong. If I walk in the flesh, its certainly possible.   However, here is the truth of it. The flesh DOES NOT CHANGE! In our flesh, the born again remain capable of committing the exact same sin TODAY!!! Yet, though capable, If we walk in the spirit, we will not be overpowered by the lusts of our flesh.  There is NO CONDEMNATION TO THOSE WHO ARE IN CHRIST JESUS.

You see, Brethren, Christians who are afraid of making mistakes focus on self-righteousness and not on the righteousness of God in Christ. They are not looking to the cross. They are looking to self. They are trying to please God just as they tried to please their earthly parents. Yet our understanding and practice of perfection is totally different from God’s as it pertains to His people. Take Job, as our classic biblical example. He was as perfect as man can get, pleasing to God, yet prior to Calvary.

That was Job’s problem. He was toooo perfect. He had no mistakes to draw from. Without the mistakes, Job really did not know God very well. Once God allowed the devil to attack Job, Job’s hidden mistakes were revealed. He was focused on “self-righteousness. The true nature of God was also revealed. Once confronted by his religious friends, Job became defensive. Defensiveness is an outgrowth of pride. If you are defensive, then even the very thought of making a mistake becomes a bondage to you. On the real, face it. Mistakes are part of our lives and we will keep making mistakes till our last breath. In my book, “Faces of the Religious Demon” are scores of case summaries of professing Christians who religious demons tormented because their captives were afraid of making mistakes.  For one reason or another, deliverance counseling uncovered   a complicated pride system at the root.”

If I am speaking to YOU, then deliverance counseling or mentoring will help you get the victory. So call and book a telephone session at 1-888-818-1117. We are committed to helping you in these last days. Visit us at getreadyforthelord.com and email us at getreadyforthelord@gmail.com.

For “Faces Of The Religious Demon” and all other essential end-time reads by Pam Sheppard, please visit http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/pam_s911

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