By Pamela Sheppard

The Lord declared that the truth shall set us free.  Therefore, spiritual freedom is my overall goal of deliverance.  For until the captive is free from religiosity, he will never experience the liberty that truth brings.  Therefore, Pam Sheppard Ministries and Sheppard Counseling Center  are geared toward helping a captive to take a stand for his own well-being and ultimate survival.  For it makes no sense that  a believer in Jesus Christ  should religiously misapply scripture like  “turning the other cheek” when the attack is actually coming from a demon who is hell-bent on destroying him.  Why should he continue to sacrifice himself for those who abuse him in the church?  Why should a disciple of Jesus have an insatiable desire to manipulate and control others with religiosity, simply because he has an unhealthy striving for recognition, position and power?  Why should a saint live with a constant fear of being submerged by others, so that he is compelled to ascend himself above them, just to survive? Why should a overcomer in Christ Jesus be a mealy-mouthed, passive person, who breaks those in his immediate environment  with his legalistic restrictions and complaints? Why must a prophet think that he must speak words into the lives of the brethren like he was a psychic, just for the sake of power and manipulation?  Therefore, where deliverance is concerned, I go the extra mile for Jesus by creating liberating conditions within a captive’s soul—a spiritual blockade to  the re-infestation by the religious demon.

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     It is important to note that the creation of a flawless disciple is not within my domain.  As both a minister and  a counselor, I can only help a captive to become free by providing an opportunity for spiritual insight.  For me, perfection is to be demon free and to face truth every day.  It should be clear from every insight presented in Faces of the Religious Demon” that where religiosity is concerned, we can never exhaust spiritual warfare by a single approach.  This demon must be combated over and over again from various angles and perspectives.  It is so difficult to end this book because I see a new face everyday and I am tempted to sit down and write about it.  Every new face springs from a variety of sources and factors and thereby I have to assume new strategies.  I am committed to each and every captive that comes my way to examine his attitudes, his personality and his issues.

          Even though I believe that “the house is burning,”, in spite of the spiritual damage that may have occurred within an organized church, recovery in Christ is inevitable because of the words of the Lord,  No one will be able to pluck the Lord’s sheep out of His hand.  He will ALWAYS prepare a way of escape. If a way of escape cannot be found,  I personally believe that most of those who seem to have suffered irreparable damage are among those whom our Lord never knew. Among the saints, there are  also the lukewarm ones, whom the Lord shall spit out of His mouth. Every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father of lights.  God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all.  The Lord Jesus said that what is covered shall be uncovered and what is hid shall be made known.  He also said that you “shall know them by their fruit.”

     My personal testimony stands as a beacon of light in the midst of darkness in the church.  Darkness surrounded me on all sides but the Lord saw to it that darkness did not overcome me by smothering  my light.  Furthermore, I believe that the Father of lights has an appointed time when the false religious demon  that has mixed itself with the children of light shall be exposed in each and every situation. I believe that the appointed time for exposure is at hand today.  In Isaiah 49, the Lord speaks through the prophet and says that in an acceptable time, He has heard us and in the day of salvation, He helps us.  In an acceptable time, He heard me, and in the day of my salvation, the Lord Jesus Christ helped me by empowering me to  set many captives free.

     In the day of exposure, the children of darkness are stumbling everywhere, causing them to reveal themselves of their own accord.  Even though the wheat and the tare will continue to grow together until the second coming of our Lord of the Harvest, this does not mean that we will not be able to discern the tares.  There are times when the tares and the wheat are almost identical in appearance.  To break it down further, those who profess to be saved and who are not will be used by demons to hinder you.  However, if you walk in the light as Jesus is the light, you will have the victory.

      Yes, this is the time of exposure.  Lately, people who I have believed were truly saved have themselves looked me in the face and declared “I never believed.” From the Internet to my own community and even significant people among my family and friends–people who have professed the faith for years–are now revealing from their own hearts that they are still children of darkness. As I continue to  walk in the light, darkness backs up.   How does such a thing happen? Well, invariably some do have faith in His name, but they anchor their faith in a delusion, an illusion or an obsession, and end up believing that they are saved when they are not. 

 So this is the year of exposure. In 2012, if you have been deceived and you go before God and pray  ”Father, expose the darkness,” the Lord will do it. Prepare to stand strong and steady for He will blow truth at you like  a bold wind. So if you  need help to stand  under the weight of truth, give us a call at 518-477-5759 to book a telephone appointment.