IS A PYTHON SPIRIT TRYING
TO SQUEEZE THE LIFE OUT OF YOU?
Have you ever been accused
of not being a good Christian? It could be a python spirit. The Bible tells us that
our enemies are not people, but evil
spirits that work in people, many times through the words they speak. We learn
about python spirits in Acts 16.
Paul and other disciples
went to Philippi and “now it
happened, as we went to prayer, that a certain slave girl possessed with a
spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters much profit by
fortune-telling. The
same followed Paul and us, and cried, saying, ‘These men are the servants of
the most high God, which shew unto us the
way of salvation.’ And this did she many days” (vv. 16-18a). This doesn’t sound
like such a bad thing, right? “But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the
spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her” (v. 18b).
Why did this woman’s words grieve Paul so much?
Because “the spirit of divination” is a “python spirit.” She wasn’t a follower
of Jesus yet. What she was really pronouncing
is that Paul’s group said they followed Jesus, but they had very unreligious
ways about them. And she was telling everyone.
This
woman’s income depended on keeping things as they
were. If people believed in this new unreligious message, she would be out of a
job, and her owners would be at a loss. Her
mission was to speak up loud and long, bringing as much negative attention and
criticism to Paul and the disciples as she could.
Many
good Christians are walking by the Spirit,
but have been attacked and accused in the same way Paul was. It is not a foible
or coincidence. It is by design to knock us down, make us feel bad, and doubt
ourselves. People don’t like it when we don’t fit their ideas of how a
Christian should talk and act. The men who were making money off the woman in
Acts 16 were so mad, they riled up the city leaders, saying: “These men, being
Jews, do exceedingly trouble our city, and teach customs, which are not lawful
for us to receive, neither to observe” (vv.20-21). The merchants got Paul and
Silas thrown in prison.
Someone
once told me I wasn’t “friendly enough.” Other times I’ve been accused of being
too negative when I was only speaking the
truth. How many good Christians have been told by an abusive spouse that they are not being loving enough? Or how about this
one: “You’re a Christian. Aren’t you
supposed to be more forgiving”? These statements
could easily be the words of python spirits. Think about it.
A
python is a snake that wraps itself around its prey and squeezes the life out
of it. Python spirits try to constrict us and make us conform to religious
rules that aren’t necessarily the Bible for the situation. They squeeze and
squeeze, trying to wear us down. They want us to be quiet, while they spout off
in any way they want to. Like the serpent in the Garden of Eden, they are
talking spirits and say ridiculous things like: “You shouldn’t raise your voice;
Be nice; Just ignore the problem; Don’t
offend anyone.”
Jesus
offended people all the time with truth versus religion. He broke religious
rules and chose to commune with God instead of being moved by what others would
think or say.
The Lord shows us
spiritual matters so that in our everyday life we are not ignorant, and demons
can’t take advantage of us. Second Corinthians 2:11 tells us: “Lest Satan
should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.” One of
the devil’s devises is to use the python spirit to accuse us.
But we know those
snakes, and we resist them. James 4:7: “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
And we rebuke them. Isaiah 54:17: “No
weapon that is formed against thee shall
prosper; and every tongue that shall
rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and
their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord.”
We continue to
walk by the spirit, boldly. Romans 8:14: “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.”
Philippians 2:13: “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Luke 9:1 “He gave them power and authority
over all devils.”
We cut off serpents’ heads; That’s what we do.
Love, Carolyn
FREE
DOWNLOAD - WINGS: BEING BOLDER AS A CHRISTIAN - Today thru Tuesday, April
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In this sample book
I’ve chosen chapters specifically about being bolder in our Christian walk. The
true stories show the different ways God has to help us be bolder but not
annoying in the challenging situations we encounter daily. Chapters include:
SPEAKING FAITH,
CHASE THE DEPRESSION OUT,
NO MORE TOIL, DON’T GIVE UP,
DIG AND DUNG
TELLING THE DEVIL WHERE TO GO
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