By Jennifer LeClaire
To everything there is a season
—and this is the season where
witchcraft gets heavy, demonic
imaginations target minds and
infirmities inflict bodies.
Of course, Jezebel and her
witchcrafts can creep onto the
scene any time of the year. But
the month or so between Lent
and Easter often brings with it an
onslaught of spiritual attacks
from every direction, and it
grows more intense until it finally
breaks after Resurrection Day. It’s
like clockwork.
What’s going on? Mary worship
seems to empower the Queen of
Heaven, also known as Jezebel.
When Mary is lifted up to a place
where only Jesus belongs, it
unleashes demonic activity in
that territory. As demonic activity
increases, people report feelings
of oppression, fatigue, strong
warfare against the mind that
makes you feel like quitting, and
even physical manifestations for
which doctors can’t find a
reason.
I’ve been getting hit with all of
these things since Lent began,
and am sounding the alarm so
that you can rise up and battle
against what is battling against
you, in the name of Jesus. Please,
pay close attention and
remember that we aren’t
warring against flesh and blood,
and the weapons of our warfare
are not carnal. This is a spiritual
battle against a spiritual foe that
must bow to our spiritual
weapons.
1. Gird the loins of your mind.
The first step in any battle is to
gird up the loins of your mind. 1
Peter 1:13 says, “Gird up the
loins of your mind, be sober, and
rest your hope fully upon the
grace that is to be brought to
you at the revelation of Jesus
Christ.”
The battle really is in the mind—
or at least it starts there. Last
week, a friend of mine who had
a stroke many years ago began
manifesting with post-stroke
symptoms out of the blue. The
enemy was working on his mind,
trying to convince him that what
he had been delivered from was
returning. Meanwhile, a lump
manifested on the back of my
neck that itched and burned like
fire, followed a few days later by
ear pain so bad that I could
hardly think, the feeling of knives
in my throat when I swallowed,
and rocks in my stomach all at
once. I finally broke down and
went to the doctor. My vitals
were normal. No sign of
infection. I am convinced every
bit of it was witchcraft.
2. Guard your heart. The
Amplified version of 1 Peter 1:13
says, “brace up your minds; be
sober (circumspect, morally
alert).” Jezebel and her
witchcrafts work to draw you
into sin. When you are under
heavy attack, your soul gets
weary. Jesus can offer rest to
your soul, but Jezebel wants to
provide you a different way of
escape through sin. Jezebel
works to seduce you into idolatry
or immorality (see Rev. 2:20).
When you feel like you are
getting hit from every side, guard
your heart.
The Preacher said, “Keep your
heart with all diligence, for out of
it spring the issues of life. Put
away from you a deceitful mouth,
and put perverse lips far from
you. Let your eyes look straight
ahead, and your eyelids look
right before you. Ponder the path
of your feet, and let your ways be
established. Do not turn to the
right or the left; remove your
foot from evil” (Prov. 4:23-27,
NKJV). Don’t run into temptation
when you are under attack, run
for cover—run to Jesus.
3. Cast down imaginations.
Imaginations don’t always work
to push sickness on you or tempt
you to sin. Sometimes the devil
just wants to overwhelm you
with witchcraft imaginations so
you’ll give up and go hide in a
cave with a bag of potato chips,
a bowl of ice cream, a big pillow
and the TV remote control. If the
Holy Spirit dwells in you, then so
does the fruit of self-control. You
can choose by your will to “cast
down imaginations, and every
high thing that exalteth itself
against the knowledge of God,
and bringing into captivity every
thought to the obedience of
Christ” (2 Cor. 10:5, KJV).
But it’s up to you. Nobody can
cast down those scary, hurtful or
otherwise wrong thoughts for
you—and nobody can replace
them with “whatever things are
true, whatever things are noble,
whatever things are just,
whatever things are pure,
whatever things are lovely,
whatever things are of good
report” (Phil. 4:.
4. Cast your cares on the Lord.
I’m not saying you don’t have
legitimate problems or concerns.
I know all about legitimate
problems and concerns. But
mature spiritual warriors
understand the balance between
taking responsibility and casting
your cares on the Lord (see 1 Pet.
5:7; Ps. 55:22).
Witchcraft imaginations totally
skew your perspective—making
monumental issues out of
something God could fix with a
wink. Cast your care on the Lord.
Keep your eyes on Him. Pray for
what you think you need—then
believe He’s got your back. When
you do, He promises to care for
you and give you perfect peace
(see Is. 26:3).
5. Speak the Word, use the Name
and invoke the Blood. You have
three powerful weapons at your
disposal—spiritual weapons that
are mighty through God to pull
down strongholds. It’s hard to
effectively wield those weapons
when you are wallowing in
condemnation, self-pity, fear or
some other harmful emotion.
Snap out of it! Get the Word of
God in your mouth because it’s
your spiritual sword (Heb. 4:12).
Speak the Word to your problems
because the Word of God always
accomplishes its purpose (Is.
55:11). Bind the enemy’s
operations in the name of Jesus,
and loose the opposite of what’s
manifesting in your life with the
power of life that’s in your
tongue. And plead the blood of
Jesus over your mind (Rev.
12:11). You’ve been bought with
a price—spirit, soul and body.
Your soul includes your mind.
I could write a book on spiritual
warfare strategies against
witchcraft—and maybe I will. But
there is tremendous power in
these fundamentals if you will
apply them. The challenge is
often discerning that we’re
under attack. That’s where
relationships with other mature
Christians are helpful. They can
often see what we can’t—and
they can help us battle what’s
coming against us. So when you
are under spiritual assault, don’t
isolate yourself and let Jezebel
beat up on you with her
witchcrafts. Run for cover. Run to
your own company. Run to Jesus.
Amen.