{"id":9805,"date":"2017-08-17T00:11:34","date_gmt":"2017-08-17T00:11:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spiritdaily.org\/blog\/?p=9805"},"modified":"2017-09-01T12:17:07","modified_gmt":"2017-09-01T12:17:07","slug":"antidotes-to-bedevilments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spiritdaily.org\/blog\/antidotes-to-bedevilments\/","title":{"rendered":"Antidotes To Bedevilments"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n

While anxiety and confusion are usually the first signs of evil, the devil also likes to do two things in a special way. He likes to lie and create fear.\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

For Satan is a supreme liar, and will whisper into your ears discouragement, disparagement, false notion, umbrage, anger, false memory, exaggeration. He can also make you hear something other than what a person is saying.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

As far as anxiety, that’s a form of fear. The devil makes you dread for the future, for your job, for your health, and for your family; and especially he wants you to fear him.\u00a0He wants you afraid<\/em> because his minions are parasites; they use fear to energize and materialize their disembodied existence; they revel in and feed off anxiety, anger, and fear.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

St. Francis de Sales wrote, \u201cFear is a greater evil than the evil itself.\u201d <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

There are certain circumstances that are especially dark, where the devil seems to have us in a stranglehold, and here we remember the prophet Daniel.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"ImageThe Old Testament describes how an angel had to vie with a major demon — a<\/span> principality, the prince of Persia — for two weeks, before getting the breakthrough and assisting the prophet; it took the intervention of Michael.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

That breakthrough was effected, at least in part, by<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0a\u00a0fast<\/em>.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

For\u00a0<\/span>twenty-one days<\/span>\u00a0<\/em>Daniel abstained from meat and wine. That’s all: meat and wine.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

When we’re faced with an onslaught, when we’re butting our heads against a wall, when we’re stalled spiritually, waiting for an angel, spinning wheels, or under real duress — possibly ill — this is a potential means of breakthrough, of deliverance: Three weeks of simple abstention.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

“In those days, I, Daniel, had been mourning for three entire weeks.\u00a0I did not eat any tasty food, nor did meat or wine enter my mouth, nor did I use any ointment at all until the entire three weeks were completed.\u00a0On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, while I was by the bank of the great river, that is, the Tigris,\u00a0I lifted my eyes and looked, and behold, there was a certain man dressed in linen, whose waist was girded with\u00a0a belt of<\/i>\u00a0pure gold of Uphaz.\u00a0His body also\u00a0was<\/i>\u00a0like beryl, his face had the appearance of lightning, his eyes were like flaming torches, his arms and feet like the gleam of polished bronze, and the sound of his words like the sound of a tumult” (Daniel<\/em> 10).<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Call this the “Daniel Fast”: it brought intervention, direct heavenly intervention, despite a stronghold (“principality”) as there are principalities over aspects of our lives as well.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"Image<\/strong><\/span>\u201cDo not be afraid,\u00a0Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble\u00a0yourself before your God, your words\u00a0were heard, and I have come in response to them.”<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Call it also the “Victory Fast.” If you are stymied, if you are butting your head against a wall, if there seems to be no exit, cast out all fear and pave the way for the truth of your destiny by showing discipline and humility — two keys to happiness (here and hereafter).<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

[resources: spiritual warfare books <\/a><\/span>and Freed and Healed By Fasting<\/a><\/span>]<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While anxiety and confusion are usually the first signs of evil, the devil also likes to do two things in.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[1139,1138,1141,1140,1142],"class_list":{"0":"post-9805","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-spiritual-warfare","7":"tag-book-of-daniel","8":"tag-daniel","9":"tag-demon","10":"tag-ecil","11":"tag-prive-of-persia","12":"entry"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/spiritdaily.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9805","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/spiritdaily.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/spiritdaily.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spiritdaily.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spiritdaily.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9805"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/spiritdaily.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9805\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/spiritdaily.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9805"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spiritdaily.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9805"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spiritdaily.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9805"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}