Posted in Musings

The part of this book that hit home the hardest was a description of "The Prisoners." It was here that I saw myself so clearly and it made me weep

"Trailing behind these first divisions was a multitude of other Christians who were prisoners of this army. All of these captive Christians were wounded, and they were guarded by smaller demons of Fear. There seemed to be more prisoners than there were demons in the army.

Surprisingly, these prisoners still had their swords and shields, but they did not use them. It was a shock to see that so many could be kept captive by so few of the little demons of Fear. If the Christians had just used their weapons, they could easily have freed themselves and probably done great damage to the entire evil horde. Instead, they marched submissively along.

Above the prisoners, the sky was black with vultures named Depression. Occasionally these vultures would land on the shoulders of a prisoner and vomit on him. the vomit was Condemnation... Again, I wondered why the prisoners did not simply kill these vultures with their swords, which they could have easily done.....

Sometimes the weaker prisoners would stumble and fall. As soon as they hit the ground, the other prisoners would begin stabbing them with their swords, scorning them for their weakness. The vultures would then come and begin devouring the fallen ones even before they were dead. The other Christian prisoners stood by and watched this approvingly, occasionally stabbing the fallen ones again with their swords...

As I watched, I realized that these prisoners thought the vomit of Condemnation was truth from God. Then I understood that these prisoners actually thought they were marching in the army of God! This is why they did not kill the little demons of Fear or the vultures- they thought these were God's messengers!...they felt that those who stumbled were under God's judgment, which is why they attacked them the way they did- they thought they were helping God!

Even worse than the vomit from the vultures was a repulsive slime that these demons were urinating and defecating upon the Christians they rode. This slime was the pride, selfish ambition, etc. that was the nature of their division. However, this slime made the Christians feel so much better than the condemnation had that they easily believed the demons were messengers of God. They actually thought this slime was the anointing of the Holy Spirit....

Then the voice of the Lord came to me saying, 'This is the beginning of the enemy's last-day army. This is Satan's ultimate deception. His greatest power of destruction is released when he uses Christians to attack one another. Throughout the ages he has used this army, but never has he been able to use so many for his evil purposes as he is now. Do not fear. I have an army, too. You must now stand and fight because there is no longer any place to hide from this war. You must fight for My kingdom, for truth, and for those who have been deceived.' "

The story continues as he describes the battle that takes place. What impacted me so profoundly was my realization that I was a prisoner just as he described. When I saw myself in this light it helped me tremendously so that I was able to pick up the sword and shield that were there and begin to fight what I now know to be of Satanic origin. I no longer want to be a prisoner at the back of Satan's army. I have been freed to fight! And fight I will.