People are filled with good or bad spirits! Where did the bad spirits come from? Peter gave us the answer when he said “And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was hurled down–that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth and his angels with him (Rev 12:7-9)”.
The earth is filled with these bad angels called demons. Where are they now? And what are they doing? In Matthew 4:1 The Bible records this: “Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil.” So, the demons are here tempting you and me; leading us on to do bad things. Again it is recorded in Matthew 4:24 “News about Jesus spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed, and he healed them.” This shows that demons are controlling and possessing people. Also another reference in Matthew 8:16 says, “When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick.” Jesus had to drive out the bad spirit out of those people. Another reference from Matthew 8:28 gives us the reaction of a demon-possessed person: “When he arrived at the other side in the region of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men coming from the tombs met him. They were so violent that no one could pass that way. ‘What do you want with us, Son of God?’ the demons shouted. ‘Have you come here to torture us before the appointed time?’ Some distance from them, a large herd of pigs was feeding. The demons begged Jesus, ‘If you drive us out, send us into the herd of pigs.’ He said to them, ‘Go!’ So they came out and went into the pigs, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and died in the water.” Demons are here temping us, possessing us, making us sick, miserable, and violent! Not only humans are possessed by demons, but animals are also possessed by demons!
The Behavior of Evil Spirit-Filled People
God gave us examples or behaviors that are led by evil spirits. These behaviors are inherently disobedient to God. You can see it when people use their bodies to provoke God – tattoos, piercing, provocative dressing, sexual immorality, etc. when they dishonor his method of worship (as in Exodus 20:8, or the day of Worship). The Bible said in Hebrew 4:6, “It still remains that some will enter that rest, and those who formerly had the gospel preached to them did not go in, because of their disobedience. Therefore God again set a certain day, calling it today, when a long time later he spoke through David, as was said before: “Today if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts. For if Jesus had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God.”
People who are possessed with demons also masquerade as if they belong to Jesus. The Bible said in 2 Cor 11: 13 “For people are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants – demon possessed-people, masquerade as servants of righteousness.” Also in Rev 13: 11 “Then I saw another beast, coming out of the earth. He had two horns like a lamb, but he spoke like a dragon. He exercised all the authority of the first beast on his behalf and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast. Satan has established on earth a form of worship that looks similar to God’s way of worship, but it is all deceptive.
People who are possessed with demons are always violent, contentious, argumentative, and wicked. An example from the Bible is the story of Saul in 1 Sam 18:10 “The next day an evil spirit from God came forcefully upon Saul. He was prophesying in his house, while David was playing the harp, as he usually did. Saul had a spear in his hand and he hurled it, saying to himself, “I’ll pin David to the wall.” These demon-possessed individuals are always thinking of bad things and wishing bad things to happen to others. In the book of 2 Chron 33:1, the Bible recorded that “Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-five years. He did evil in the eyes of the LORD, following the detestable practices of the nations the LORD had driven out before the Israelites. He rebuilt the high places his father Hezekiah had demolished; he also erected altars to the Baals and made Asherah poles. He bowed down to all the starry hosts and worshiped them. He built altars in the temple of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, “My Name will remain in Jerusalem forever.” In both courts of the temple of the LORD, he built altars to all the starry hosts. He sacrificed his sons in the fire in the Valley of Ben Hinnom, practiced sorcery, divination, and witchcraft, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the eyes of the LORD, provoking him to anger. He took the carved image he had made and put it in God’s temple, of which God had said to David and to his son Solomon, “In this temple and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my Name forever.” The Apostle Paul said that the acts of a demon possessed-person are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the likes. He warned us that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
You can tell when some people are possessed by evil spirits: they are disobedient, most often complaining about any and everything. They blame others for their mistakes. Quarrel most of the time and find faults with what others are doing, saying, or even thinking. They like to fight with other demon possessed-individuals. These individuals are contentious and are very suspicious of others; they think that others are inherently not good, so they have to watch out for everyone. They are envious of others and will do unkind things to secure better positions for them. They thrive on material glory, self praises, sexual intimacy and nudity, and are always securing wealth and glamour as a means of prosperity, but they are always miserable, not contented with what they have. These people act like saints in public, but behave like serpents in secret; nevertheless, they are influential, good looking and well dressed. Their behaviors and attires help to mask their deceptive ways. They are blind to any kind of self-assessment – thus they continue as if this is all life has to offer.
Be Filled With the Spirit of God!
God created us and gives us his spirit when he breathes into Adam’s nostrils. In the book of Exodus 31:1 “Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘See, I have chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability and knowledge in all kinds of crafts- to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, to cut and set stones, to work in wood, and to engage in all kinds of craftsmanship.’” The spirit of God is filled with goodness. God still continues to give us His spirit. In Act 2:1, the Bible recorded, “When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages as the Spirit enabled them.” People who are filled with the spirit of God speak to one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. They are productive and creative; they sing and make godly music, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Those who are filled with the spirit of God have love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. They are not conceited; they do not provoke or envy each other. They live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. There are no hints of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed in their lives because these are improper for God’s holy people. People who are filled with god’s spirit have no behavior of obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather are thanksgiving always to God. Find out what pleases the Lord and have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness. For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for it is light that makes everything visible. This is why it is said: “Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” Be very careful, then, how you live–not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.”
You can tell when some people are filled with the spirit of God: they are always obedient, do not complaining much about any and everything. They take the blame for the mistakes of others. They don’t like to quarrel; they are always seeking to make peace with others. They are naive and believe that others are inherently good, and prefer to give up position or rights for the betterment of others. They are meek and lowly at heart, and are happy and contented with what they have. These people are saints in private and shy in public. They are kind and are always making changes to please others. They believe that God is merciful and long-suffering towards them.
Some people will display various degrees of these good or bad signs. How about you? Where do you fall? Quickly we are ready to point out others, but do you assess yourself? Are you filled with a good or bad spirit or both? Whose spirit are you most often filled with?