Ever notice how someone close to you came across somebody new in their life and all of a sudden things changed? Remember when it was a change for the worst?
Today's question: How / why do we get demonically influenced / infected? (pt1)
Let's think practically for today.
Influence according to Google is:
"the capacity to have an effect on the character, development, or behavior of someone or something, or the effect itself"
What we see here is 3 things:
1. Influence can come from the outside
2. Influence can be exerted on others
3. Influence can come from within & effect the person / thing doing the influencing
Back to our example. Why is it that your friend or close family member starts to act like the person they've been spending time with? Influence. They rub off on one another and unless there's a balance the influence will go more strongly in a particular direction (whether good or bad).
What does this have to do with spirits (demons)? In 1 Cor. 15:33 it says, "Don't be fooled: Bad company corrupts good character." Intrinsically I understood what it meant, but it wasn't until I was around people who had a "certain type of influence" which was stronger than what I was bringing to the table that I realized what deep effects this can have. (You can also increase your influence by fueling the source.)
Understand demons don't always influence us to do extremely horrible things like commit terrorists attacks. It could be something as simple as hurting someone's feelings to exert a form of control over the individual.
This is the practical aspect which you probably already knew. Tomorrow we'll look at part 2 and go beyond the surface.
I mean, whose parents didn't tell them to "pick your friends wisely" in a matter of words. Or how about this favorite: "If (friend's name) does it, are you gonna do it too?" Maaaaan, parents loved that one.
No comments:
Post a Comment