Jesus said that "these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover." (Mark 16:17-18)

When I first visited Water of Life in Plano, I came to a service on a Sunday morning. I sat in the back and did not know what to expect. As I sat and listened, my body shook in my seat. I am sure this was fear coming out of me. God has delivered me of much fear since then.

In the spring of 2000, I had received the Holy Spirit and begun praying in tongues. I was currently attending Texas A&M in College Station, TX. One night, I was in my bed praying in the Spirit, and though I had no previous experience with a devil coming out, I instantly knew that a devil was going to come out of me. This came about because the Holy Spirit was praying through me for me. As soon as I knew this, I began to pray more fervently. Before I could consider what was happening, I had turned face down in my bed, and I was screaming out. The room was dark, but as I was screaming out I saw something fly out under my bed and out through the floor. It came from my mid-section, up and out of my mouth. It looked like a large bat with skeleton wings. I do not know what to call it, but I know it was a religious spirit. This was the first time that I knew for sure that an evil spirit had come out of me. This time in particular, and probably several times afterwards, I did not say anything myself to command a spirit to go, but the Holy Spirit said it for me. Since those days, I definitely have commanded specific spirits to come out. Most of these have been spirits of witchcraft. These have left me either by screaming with a loud voice or by tearing out of me. I have also experienced my body going numb, and I believe spirits have come out then as well. More recently I have experienced spirits tearing me as they leave.

Not too long ago, I was experiencing some pain in my lower intestines. I could feel a lump on one side of my body. The devil told me it was a hernia. I disagreed. (My mind surely did consider this, but I knew it was a lie.) The lump went away after a day or two, but the pain did not. Then the lump appeared in different place along with new pain. As I was praying in bed at night, I was addressing sorcery. As I turned in my bed, these pains shot up my sides and out of my body under my arms. This was painful, but I was grateful that they left. After that there was no pain, and no evidence that anything had been wrong.

People, mainly my family, have asked me, "Where did these demons come from?" That is a good question. The Bible says that God has sent a great army among us, but that he will deliver us from them. (Joel 2:25) We can be born with evil spirits and we can pick them up along the way, but God dealt with all of them when He raised Jesus from the dead. One thing I have learned; God does whatever he pleases, and who is going to require that he explain it?.

I want to make clear that these experiences have changed over time as God has worked in my life. I certainly will not claim at the moment that I am free of all evil spirits, but I no longer experience the same things that I saw at the beginning. There is time when Jesus will come back for a group of people that are completely free of devils. (Eph. 5:27)

posted October 13, 2007