becomes a stronghold for the enemy’s manipulation of behavior
and lifestyle. Demonic oppression diminishes the peace, joy,
and freedomwhich Jesus died for us to experience.
The second area of darkness manipulated by the enemy
is personal brokenness. By brokenness I am referring to
episodes of mental, emotional or physical wounding that
remain hidden or unresolved in an individual’s memory.
These are episodes of pain that we are unwilling to acknowl-
edge as real or are unaware of how to resolve. As a result,
we tend to “stuff” them away and try to forget about them.
Again, anything we hide away becomes by nature darkness
and an environment for Satan’s influence. A young woman
was brought into my office suffering from agoraphobia. She
was unable to go out into the commu-
nity without being overcome with fear.
Even as she came through my door, I
could see her physically trembling. She
hid her face in the shadow of a hoody.
As we talked with her she reluctantly
began to tell us of an event when she
and some cousins had disobeyed their
parents, which resulted in a cousin’s
death. She had assumed personal
accountability for this tragic event and
was unaware of the forgiveness avail-
able to her. Her 18 years of life since
the accident were characterized by
broken relationships and depression.
As we prayed with her she accepted
Jesus as her Savior and Lord and con-
fessed her sin, asking for forgiveness.
We proclaimed her forgiven in Jesus’
name as the tears flowed down her
face. Then she began to shake again and threw back her
hood, this time revealing a glowing smile. I see her regularly
around town, living normally, free from the oppression of
darkness. The enemy seeks to “devour” God’s beloved
creation, seeking to “kill, steal and destroy” wherever he
can find access (1 Peter 5:8, John 10:10).
The third area of darkness which I have observed is that of
generational sin and curse. The scriptures instruct us that
God “visits” “the iniquity of fathers on the children and the
grandchildren to the third and fourth generations...”(Exodus
34:7). My observation confirms that various characteristics
of parents are passed on through following generations.
“Like Father, like son,” “the fruit does not fall far from the
tree,” and “a chip off the ol’ block” reveal that this tendency
is evident to many in our culture. I understand that to be a
pre-disposition to a particular sin that is transmitted to
future generations, opening a “back door” for the enemy’s
influence. Abram’s sin of deception was transmitted to his
sons — Isaac, Jacob and his sons, even to Joseph.
In a camp setting, a young woman sought me out, desperate
to get free from a sin pattern with which she struggled. She
confessed to a problem with lying. She had repented, sought
forgiveness and counsel, and had others pray for her. She
had even been to a deliverance counselor, and believed she
had been freed from demonic control. Yet the pattern was
back. I felt prompted to ask if anyone else in the family dealt
with this issue and she quickly acknowledged it was rampant
in the family, who were prominent in
her home church. As she again repented
and sought freedom, we asked God to
break the generational transmission
of this sin into her life, to close any
“ancestral gateways” used by darkness
to gain access to her life. We com-
manded any demonic presence to
leave her, and asked the Holy Spirit
to cleanse and fill any areas of her
being that had been defiled by demonic
activity.
The strategy of the enemy is to gain
access to any darkness resident in a
believer’s life and to use it as a means
of keeping him from a full and fruitful
life in Christ. The remedy we are given
is to expose the darkness, bringing it
to the light of truth. We must repent
of denying or hiding past experiences, however painful or
humiliating they may seem. Repent also of any sin attached to
them, inviting God to bring His healing and freedom to all that
is broken or in bondage, and His truth to any lies or deception.
Jesus came to free the captives from darkness, and we must
not be ignorant of the devil’s schemes to use darkness as his
tool to keep God’s people from fullness of life in Christ. “If we
walk in the light as He is in the Light, we have fellowship with
one another, and the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin.”
(1 John 1:7). Light always overcomes darkness. Let us walk as
children of light, free from the manipulation of darkness.
— Pastor William Shobe
Dodge Center SDB Church, MN
SR October 2015
9
SR
“we must not
be ignorant of
the devil’s schemes
to use darkness
as his tool”
