In the past week, I have heard more than once people saying that deliverance is the “children’s bread.” What does that mean you might ask? There is a part of scripture where Jesus is talking to this Serapheonician woman, and she is pleading with Him to deliver her daughter from a demon:

“Jesus told her, ‘First I should feed the children—my own family, the Jews. It isn’t right to take food from the children and throw it to the dogs.’

She replied, ‘That’s true, Lord, but even the dogs under the table are allowed to eat the scraps from the children’s plates.’

“Good answer!” he said. ‘Now go home, for the demon has left your daughter.’” Mark 7:27-29 NLT

(Jesus isn’t really trying to be insulting when He refers to her as a dog because He came for the Israelites and His disciples were later charged with bringing in the Gentiles when His own people disowned Him and hung Him on the cross. The Israelites were His priority. They had to reject Him so the Gentiles could be welcomed into the kingdom of God.)

“For since their rejection meant that God offered salvation to the rest of the world, their acceptance will be even more wonderful. It will be life for those who were dead!” Romans 11:15

But what really fascinates me is how the church has conveniently left out the necessity of deliverance when Jesus Himself said it was the children’s bread and those who follow Him are His children. It is possible and extremely likely for someone to be demonized after receiving the Holy Spirit. In fact, until God delivers you either by renewing your mind and causing demons legal rights to be revoked or you or someone else casts out the demons inside of you, it is extremely likely that you have demons. They either entered through trauma, a generational curse, unrepentant sin, etc.

I know from personal experience what it feels like coming out of addiction with the spirit of addiction and without it. It is like night and day. It goes from being a HUGE struggle for weeks to only a challenge the next day because addiction will try to re-enter.

“In that day the Lord will end the bondage of His people. He will break the yoke of slavery and lift it from their shoulders.” Isaiah 10:27 NLT

 We can’t be effective in ministry and let the Holy Spirit and our spirit flow to the full potential God created us to flow if we are still bound by dark, unclean spirits. God promises deliverance but He expects His church, not just Himself, to help carry it out.

“Jesus replied, ‘Truly, truly I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.’” John 8:34, 35 ESV

               By the time Jesus said this, the disciples were already sent out and casting out devils themselves so they understood that when Jesus said, “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed,” they understood that was deliverance. If you go back to that specific sin He freed you from, it gets worse and He even warns about going back to sin He freed you from.

I know firsthand what a lack of faith and testing the waters will get you, worse bondage than before. Addiction came back with a vengeance for me. God told me to stop before it became an issue and I asked if I could keep on taking it and He told me, “Be careful what you ask for.” And before you know it, it went from a fleshly desire to sin and then it felt like hell getting pulled away from it, even worse than the times before.

But then, I was delivered from addiction a couple weeks ago and it just felt effortless to stop smoking and taking kratom. I didn’t crave cigarettes, kratom, nothing. It only came back with a vengeance the next day because it wanted back into its “home,” but I prayed to God, cried out to Him, worshipped Him, etc. and even as I was on my way to get kratom, He was right there giving me a healthy fear of the Lord so that I didn’t give addiction the authority to get back in. After that day, I haven’t felt any craving that strongly since. Praise be to God!   

I have known someone who struggled with lust badly, but they never got relief or deliverance. People tried keeping them close so they could monitor them but eventually, they left the church and their family because they were so tormented by the spirit of lust that they couldn’t take it anymore. That is how powerful some demons can get, and the more you feed them, the stronger they get. This is why Jesus tells us to “pluck out our eyes or cut off our hands” to keep sin from ruling over us (Matthew 18:8, 9). Not literally, but figuratively, wring out whatever is causing you to sin and your flesh to keep the devil from getting a hold of you.

Church is supposed to be a hospital for the broken and we are supposed to “proclaim liberty for the captives” and “release the prisoners from darkness” (Isaiah 61) just like Jesus did. As the church, we are supposed to spread the gospel, and it is so hard when we are bound by unclean spirits. For me, I can write all day long and speak comfortably with people I know about Christ but when I get around strangers, I clam up and have a hard time speaking my mind.

That is a spirit of the fear of man. I have been bound by it for most of my life because of the trauma from the violence I witnessed growing up. A healthy fear of the Lord will help get this out once and for all. I will receive my freedom from this spirit by the Holy Spirit and I working on it together. I don’t just want to speak the Word but be a doer of it.

I don’t know who will read this but consider this, Jesus didn’t just preach the gospel, He didn’t just heal, He didn’t just do miracles, He delivered people from tormenting spirits too. It is about time the church partners with the Holy Spirit and starts walking in the authority Christ gave us to help deliver people from devils, sicknesses, and meaningless lives before it’s too late. Time feels like it’s speeding up because Jesus’ return is imminent. He is longsuffering and just wants His children to follow Him out of the darkness into the light.

“Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time He may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on Him, because He cares for you. Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” 1 Peter 5:6-8