BREAKING THE HOLD OF WITCHCRAFT.
Study Text: Galatians 5: 19 – 21.
Gal 5:19-21: Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
- Witchcraft was described as one of the works of the flesh because it works against the Spirit of God.
- All forms of witchcraft involvement will prevent a man from being part of the kingdom of God.
- We shall look into the study under two major sub-headings:
1. The Description of Witchcraft
2. The Destruction of Witchcraft
1. The Description of Witchcraft
- There are two categories of witchcraft, namely: the Fleshly witchcraft and the occultic witchcraft.
- The Fleshly witchcraft include the following activities:
1. Stubbornly pursuing someone to cause damage or destruction. Exodus 14: 22-27.
And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground: and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left.
23 And the Egyptians pursued, and went in after them to the midst of the sea, even all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his horsemen.
24 And it came to pass, that in the morning watch the LORD looked unto the host of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and of the cloud, and troubled the host of the Egyptians,
25 And took off their chariot wheels, that they drave them heavily: so that the Egyptians said, Let us flee from the face of Israel; for the LORD fighteth for them against the Egyptians.
26 And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand over the sea, that the waters may come again upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen.
27 And Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to his strength when the morning appeared; and the Egyptians fled against it; and the LORD overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea.
- Whenever you are pursuing hard on someone who has done no harm to you, with the mind of doing evil to the person is an act of witchcraft practice. We see Pharaoh chasing the Israelites and wanting to kill them at all cost. Another example was the way Harman was after the life of Mordecai and then the rest of the Jews for no good reason. I pray that every stubborn pursuer of your life and destiny shall be arrested and put to shame in Jesus name.
2. Attempting to read the mind of another person 1 Samuel 17: 28-29
And Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spake unto the men; and Eliab's anger was kindled against David, and he said, Why camest thou down hither? and with whom hast thou left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know thy pride, and the naughtiness of thine heart; for thou art come down that thou mightest see the battle.
29 And David said, What have I now done? Is there not a cause?
- Eliab was trying to predict what was going on in the mind of David, but he was totally wrong. Most of the times, we try to read the mind of others and behave unto them based on our own conclusions, this is an act of witchcraft. This does not include when the Holy Spirit revealed the mind of someone that is pretending to us. For instance Ananias and Sapphira his wife appeared before Peter with wrong and misleading information, but the Holy Spirit revealed that they were deceivers.
3. Attempting to prove your worth through the oppression of others. Esther 3: 5-6.
And when Haman saw that Mordecai bowed not, nor did him reverence, then was Haman full of wrath.
6 And he thought scorn to lay hands on Mordecai alone; for they had shewed him the people of Mordecai: wherefore Haman sought to destroy all the Jews that were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus, even the people of Mordecai.
- Haman was trying to prove the worth of his power by oppressing Mordecai and all his people and even planning to kill them, this is an act of withcraft. You can also demonstrate your superiority by lifting up others or by helping them to do what they could not do on their own, but it must be done with a heart of love and to the glory of God.
4. Attempting to influence somebody in a negative way to do something against his will. Genesis 39: 7-12.
And it came to pass after these things, that his master's wife cast her eyes upon Joseph; and she said, Lie with me.
8 But he refused, and said unto his master's wife, Behold, my master wotteth not what is with me in the house, and he hath committed all that he hath to my hand;
9 There is none greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back any thing from me but thee, because thou art his wife: how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?
10 And it came to pass, as she spake to Joseph day by day, that he hearkened not unto her, to lie by her, or to be with her.
11 And it came to pass about this time, that Joseph went into the house to do his business; and there was none of the men of the house there within.
12 And she caught him by his garment, saying, Lie with me: and he left his garment in her hand, and fled, and got him out.
- The wife of Portiphar was trying to do something very bad with Joseph, but she did not get his cooperation, and she was trying to get him cooperated at all cost. Influencing another person in a negative way like this to do the evil he or she is not willing is a form of witchcraft practice.
5. Taking what belong to someone forcefully or unlawfully. 1 Kings 21: 5-7, 15.
1 Kings 21:5-7
But Jezebel his wife came to him, and said unto him, Why is thy spirit so sad, that thou eatest no bread?
6 And he said unto her, Because I spake unto Naboth the Jezreelite, and said unto him, Give me thy vineyard for money; or else, if it please thee, I will give thee another vineyard for it: and he answered, I will not give thee my vineyard.
7 And Jezebel his wife said unto him, Dost thou now govern the kingdom of Israel? arise, and eat bread, and let thine heart be merry: I will give thee the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.
15 And it came to pass, when Jezebel heard that Naboth was stoned, and was dead, that Jezebel said to Ahab, Arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he refused to give thee for money: for Naboth is not alive, but dead.
- It is an act of witchcraft to attempt to take what belong to another person forcefully. We saw how Jezebel killed Naboth so that she and her husband can possess the vineyard of Naboth which he was not willing to give out, not even for the exchange of money.
6. Wishing that other people’s blessings are yours and your failures are theirs. 1 Samuel 18: 6-9.
And it came to pass as they came, when David was returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, that the women came out of all cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet king Saul, with tabrets, with joy, and with instruments of musick.
7 And the women answered one another as they played, and said, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands.
8 And Saul was very wroth, and the saying displeased him; and he said, They have ascribed unto David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed but thousands: and what can he have more but the kingdom?
9 And Saul eyed David from that day and forward.
- Saul became very sad when they ascribe ten thousand to David and a thousand for himself, and as a result he hated David and sought every opportunity to kill him. He would not have behaved that way if the reverse has been the case. Wishing or working to make other people’s successes and achievement to be yours, and or making your own failures or troubles to be theirs is an act of witchcraft practice.
7. Rebellion against God and the word of God or against God’s appointed authorities. 1 Samuel15: 23-24.
For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king.
24 And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD, and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice.
- Any deliberate act of rebellion or disobedience to known truth and instructions of God and His word, or disloyalty or disobedience to God’s approve authorities will amount to practicing witchcraft. This is what you do when you are aware of what the word of God says, and you go against it for any reason you might have.
8. Knowing about someone else’s glory and making moves to fight against it. Genesis 37: 18-20.
Gen 37:18-20
And when they saw him afar off, even before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him.
19 And they said one to another, Behold, this dreamer cometh.
20 Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit, and we will say, Some evil beast hath devoured him: and we shall see what will become of his dreams.
- The brethren of Joseph were aware of the glory of Joseph that he was going to be great and greater than them, so they wanted to kill him so that his dreams will not come to pass; doing this is an act of witchcraft. You are also guilty whenever you try to sidetrack other people for fear of them becoming greater or better than yourself. I pray that everyone who can vie your star and are trying to capture it, or trying to manipulate your glorious destiny, shall be exposed and disgraced in Jesus name.
- I want you to consider everything discussed above and see in which area you have been practicing witchcraft, and I will want you to repent sincerely, because no witch will be allowed into the kingdom of God.
- The Occultic witchcraft includes all activities of human beings that involve satanic supernatural manifestations.
- They are the referred to as the rulers of darkness of this world. Ephesians 6: 12.
- For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
- Their activities include one or more of the following:
1. They can monitor and manipulate people’s glory and destiny with the aid of satanic powers.
2. They can attack and oppress their subjects in various ways causing failures or set backs, disharmony or disunity, and afflicting people with different kind of sicknesses and diseases.
3. They will gather against the light and true spiritual activities. 2 Corinthians 4: 3-4.
But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:
4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
- They fight against the preaching of the gospel by resisting the gospel preachers and making the people not to respond positively to the call of the gospel.
4. They renew their covenants with Satan regularly through the shedding of blood. This may results in miscarriages of pregnancy or deliberate abortions, accidents of various kinds leading to flow of blood and loss of lives, or arranging murdering of people or mysterious things to happen that will lead to blood shed and death.
5. They place their marks and signatures on their subjects for identification. These marks can appear physically, but most of the time they exist spiritually and not visible to the physical eyes.
6. They can forcefully initiate people into their kingdom by transfer of spirits through blood relations, sex, and food either in dreams or in real life.
7. They can confer false blessings on people such as divination, protection, fortunes and wealth.
- As a child of God, you are not to be ignorant of the activities of these wicked satanic agents, and you have to be on guard against them at all times. I pray that all the manifestations of the wicked spirits in your life be destroyed by the power of the Holy Ghost in Jesus name.
2. The Destruction of Witchcraft:
- The following activities are necessary in order to effectively destroy witchcraft hold and effects:
1. Being saved and living for God in holiness. Any one that is not born again or that continues in sins belongs to the devil and can not e free from their bondages. There is an opportunity for you even now to surrender your life totally to Jesus and repent from all your sins and wickedness and the power of God will set you free totally.
2. Pleading the blood of Jesus for protection against their works and for destroying their observed works. The blood of Jesus is the greatest weapon against the devil and his agents and can not loose its power at any time. Rev 12:11
And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.
3. Engaging in spiritual warfare with the power of darkness continually while putting on the whole armour of God.
- Every child of God is in warfare with the powers of darkness and you have to keep on fighting at all times as you keep yourself in the will of God. You don’t have to be on the defensive against the powers of darkness, but must also be on the offensive by making use of the sword of the Spirit effectively.
4. Spiritual insight by the Holy Spirit and sensitivity to Him.
- We need the Holy Spirit to reveal some hidden secretes of the enemy, so that we shall not be deceived and we shall know what step to take per time. The lady with the spirit of divination who was crying after Paul and Silas could not have been detected if not by the Holy Spirit. I pray that the Spirit of God will open your eyes and give you light and direction that will result in lasting victory over the power of the wicked one in your life in Jesus name.
5. Fervency in prayer and in serving the Lord.
- The Bible says that the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. We need the combination of faithfulness unto the Lord on every side and a life of diligence and fervency in prayer to be victorious over the powers of darkness. I pray for the grace of God to be found faithful and to be fervent in your prayers at all time in Jesus name.
6. Gaining victory over your thoughts and dream life.
- One of the strategies of the devil is to tell you lies through your thoughts. He makes you doubt the love of God and His words, and gives us his own thought which we take in as our own. But the good news is that God has given us a weapon that can bring every thought that is disobedient to God into captivity. So use this weapon effectively and ensure that the thoughts of your heart are acceptable unto the Lord.
7. Effectiveness in using the sword of the Spirit.
- The sword of the Spirit which is the word of God remains one of the most effective offensive weapons against the powers of darkness. So you must develop skill in using it effectively. It can also be used as a defensive weapon against satanic sword and arrow that may be launched against us.
- It is my prayer that God will give every reader the grace to follow these principles, and the your victory shall be permanent over all the works of the enemy in Jesus name, and that all the glory at the end shall be returned unto His holy name.
