Edward Johnson - Demonic Warfare: Exposing Demonic Traps in Your Life

T HERE ARE MANY so-called experts in demonology or spiritual warfare. However, adistressingnumberof these experts have never come face-to-face with an actual demonic attack oreven had any contact with the spiritual realm. The information they share, if accurateat all, comes from third-party sources and not actual experience.

I wanted to write this book to share my actual experiences in this realm. As a ministerof the gospel, the Lord has allowed me to witness the demonic realm up close andpersonal in order to increase my effectiveness in sharing the gospel. This is a keypoint. The demonic realm is real, but battling it is nothing to brag about. Christbrings the victory and it is His power, His victory that needs to be bragged about.The war is over the souls of men, and the demonic realm is but one battlefield amongmany.

Looking back at my life and, in particular, my childhood, it is obvious how Godhas brought me to this point. My introduction into the spiritual realm began whenI was six years old. My parents and I came home one Friday evening from a churchservice. As was our custom, I went upstairs to bathe and change for bed. After finishing,I came downstairs for a time while my parents remained upstairs in their room. Thelights were off and deep shadows played in the corners of the living room. I satdown on the couch for a time until called upstairs by my mother, but just as I reachedthe foot of the stairs, I felt a strange urge to look back at the couch.

What I saw has stayed with me ever since. A glowing man dressed in a white robe saton the couch looking back at me. Naturally, this terrified me and I ran upstairsas fast as my legs could carry me. At the top landing, I glanced back, hoping myimagination had dispelled the glowing man.

The man now stood at the foot of the stairs staring up at me.

I gasped in fear and darted to the safety of my parents room. I never told themabout this incident. I feared they would dismiss it as the overworked imaginationof a six-year-old boy.

The next incident began when I was eleven years old. For the next two years, I underwentthe most horrific and traumatic experience of my young life. Every night at somepoint I would be mentally assaulted by the most profane and evil thoughts. Profanewords would spring into my mind like a torrent of evil washing over me, lasting sometimesfor up to three hours.

Unless you have experienced something like it, you cant imagine how much in fearI lived. I hated going to sleep and would frequently wake up after a long night battle,exhausted and feeling defeated. I dont know where this obscene language and thoughtscame from. I lived in a godly house and was being raised by godly, born-again parents.I just wasnt around such foulness even at school.

I would always pull the covers over me like a shield, regardless of how hot it mightbe inside my bedroomeven during the summer days when pulling the heavy blanketsover my head made me sweat profusely. But I felt like I needed some barrier, somethingthat would ward off these attacks.

For two years, until I was thirteen years old, I suffered these nightly mental attacks.I never told my parents. I didnt want them to think I was crazy or just imaginingthings. However, it didnt stop me from thinking I was nuts! I had no friends andthe teens my age at church generally avoided me because we were poor by societystandards. My parents taught me about God and that I was to love people regardless,so I never held their avoidance of me against them. But in the end, I thought I waslosing my mind. What other options did I have?

Many years later, I can now look back on that time and realize that God was preparingme for something greater. As a child, I did not realize this. I hadnt matured spirituallyenough to make the connections. This is why it is so important to pray for your childrenand to listen to them. Be careful not to dismiss your childrens stories as an overactiveimagination or even outright lies. They may be experiencing something spiritual thatyou are oblivious to.

I struggled to write this book, because this is the first time that Im sharing myinsights and my experiences of the spiritual realm. Even though I know who I am inChrist, I suspect there are those who have never experienced the spiritual realmas I have, who will dismiss my words out of hand. Regardless, I want to share withyou my struggles and how the Lord has dealt with me over the years of my journeyand battles with the demonic realm as well as to inform about the demonic realm.

There is a battle. There is a war. It is real. It is dangerous. And to win it, weneed to be aware of it. Demonic Warfare is designed to make you aware of the realityof this war and to hopefully equip you with the spiritual weapons to defeat Satanand his minions.

T HIS BOOK IS not about the origins of demons, but you do need to be aware that thedemonicworldis the most organized system of government this world has ever seen. Lucifer, beingonly an angelalbeit a very powerful onedoes not have the same abilities and poweras God does. Therefore he is limited in the reach and scope of what he can do. Hecannot be everyone at once. He cannot deal with everyone at once. To compensate,he has organized his demonic followers to assist in his plans.

Using a horde of demons under his control, he can observe you and monitor your behaviors,relationships, likes, dislikes, ambitions, lusts, and weaknesses. These observingspirits report to their superiors, and they in turn report to Lucifer. A plan ofattack can be built around this information.

For example, I have witnessed people who testify of their health and strength, andthen days later, their health is attacked. An observing spirit picked up on it andpassed the information on. Perhaps the spirit detected a bit of pride in the testimony.Perhaps the spirit figured out that a persons faith depended upon such consistenciesto be true in their life. And a plan of attack is conceived: destroy the health,destroy the faith.

Sound familiar? Job underwent a very similar attack. Everything was going well forJob (Job 1:15). He was rich, had good health, had a healthy family, had respect,and was an upright man before God.

Satan wanted to destroy his faith in God, not because he cared anything for Job,but because Satan hates God. However, the only way to hurt God is to hurt those whomGod lovesus. If Satan could get Job to deny God, it would hurt God. If Satan canweaken your faith, then this is a victory against God.

As a believer under the protection of God, this attack cannot come unless God allowsit. This can be of great comfort to believers, knowing that we are under Gods protection.Nevertheless, God does allow these attacks.There are many reasons for this:

To build your faith

To prepare you for something else down the road

To be an example to unbelievers

To strengthen another believers faith

To learn something about yourself

To demonstrate how much you need God

To show you the power of God

There could be many other reasons for God allowing Satan to challenge your faith,but regardless of the reason, God will not allow you to undergo an attack that youare not able to handle.

There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful,who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptationalso make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

1 CORINTHIANS 10:13

This is a promise we can cling to, and it is a source of comfort when dealing withdemonic attacks.

In Jobs case, God allowed the attack against him (Job 1:12) and Job was up to thechallenge. He never once sinned against God or charged God foolishly (Job 1:22).This should be our goal when we face demonic attacks. Greater is He that is in usthan he that is in the world (1 John 4:4).