Identifying The Demons

    Have you ever felt an unexplainable weight of emotional depression?  For
no reason you felt depressed and could not get over the feeling no mater how hard you tried.  Have you ever had an argument with someone that got blown out of proportion, and you got madder and madder and your words became more hurtful and damaging then you wanted?  It was like there was a third person there adding fuel to the fire, and the argument went way beyond what you expected.  Have you ever experienced a really productive day when you were rapidly crossing off items from your to-do list when suddenly an un normal thought enter your head?  No matter how hard you tried to think about something else you were unable to forget about the thought taking control of your emotions.  Have you been ambushed by temptation that seemed to come from nowhere? If you have experienced one or more of these situations, then you have come face to face with demons.  Now you are probably thinking that's crazy.  Isn't depression, anger, fear, and temptation a normal emotion?  Not really.  Many of our problems tend to pull us towards sin that resides within each of us.  Without that inherited taste for those things outside of God's will for our lives.  We would never be tempted to grab the baited hook of immoral relationships, selfish agendas, and greed based pursuits.  But someone has to be choosing the specific bait that appeals to us and determining the right time to place it in front of us.  That someone would be demons sent by Satan.  Here are a few things about Satan. Satan is not God's equal.  Unlike God, Satan has not always existed.  He was created by God, as a creature, Satan does not posses the same things of God.  Satan is not able to be in more then one place at a time.  But his demons are! They belong to Satan's army, they are his so called foot solders). The Truth About Demons. If you are like most people, you are probably a little skeptical about the subject of demons.  LikeSatan's demons have been caricatured as comical figures sitting on our shoulders whispering temptations into our ears.  Those are outer demons.  Inner demons are the ones that manage to get inside you and make you go crazy.    Read (Ephesians 6: 11-12) Satan is not alone in his battle against believers.  If Satan is the brains behind the operation, then his demon's are his army.  They are his foot soldiers who execute his plan, to defeat all believers and turn them against God.  If out primary struggle is against these demons, then we need to learn as much as we can about them.  So we can successfully defeat them. The Origin of Demons. I have not seen in the Bible anything explicitly on the origin of demons. (but I am fairly new to the Bible)  But I have been doing allot of research and this is what I have found out.  Some people think demons were angels who chose to follow Satan in his rebellion against God.  Not all angels are demons but all demons were once angels. The Personality of Demons, Demons represent the spiritual forces of wickedness.  Read (Ephesians 6:12)  That are aligned against us.  But they are more then just forces or concepts.  They're actual beings who possess many of the same things we do.  Look at all the demon encounters Jesus came upon. ( lLuke 8:27-33)  To find more encounters look in the Concordance in the back of your Bible, because there are to many for me to list.  Demons Possess Intelligence. They are aware of what's happening around them.  They instantly recognize Jesus Christ. Demons Experience Emotions- They show fear when Jesus is around them, they know what Jesus can do to them. Demons Have Wills. Unlike inanimate objects such as jewelry, cars, clothes, etc.  Demons have desires which they act.  Like when they asked Jesus not to cast them into the bottomless pit, but offered another plan for Jesus to do to them. Demons Have Names. Demons possess all the things we do, such as intelligence, emotions, a will, and a name.  The fact that Jesus carried on conversations with demonized spirits and took action against them is enough evidence that demons are real beings rather then false knowledge of demons existence. Demons and Unbelievers. Since demons are under the authority of Satan, it only makes sense that their purpose be the same as Satan's purpose.  They assist him in building a shadow kingdom that rivals and they hope that one day God's kingdom will fall.  They are responsible for executing Satan's carefully thought out plans involving both non believers and believers.  Demons work overtime to blind non Christians from the truth of the Bible, in order to keep them from God's Word.  even though we are created in gods image.  Satan and his demons try to redirect a non Christian's desire to worship away from Jesus Christ.  By worshiping false Gods, like Baal, Asherah, Mohammed, Buddha, or Confucius they are part of Satan's plan to keep us from discovering God's exclusive way to Heaven through Jesus Christ.   Read 1 John 4:1-3,3  and  2 Corinthians 4:4.   But if you are like me you will read more.

John