Bondage to Evil Is Just That—Bondage.
In the wee hours of last Tuesday morning, I had a dream… a terrible dream. It was so horrifying that I woke up, prayed, and went back to sleep. Over the five intervening days, I sought clarity—was it mere noise, was it an attack, or was it from God? Is there a message worth articulating?
Had I been more obedient and attentive, I would have arrived at the answer sooner. But I now feel a release from the Lord to share the dream and its interpretation.
The point of view during the dream was that of a powerful politician in Washington, D.C., a woman, perhaps third in the line of Presidential succession. Now—just to be clear—I don’t ever identify as female. But this was the perspective I had during the experience.
I was in darkness. It wasn’t night; the darkness was spiritual. I hated it; I could sense the powers that ruled over me hated me as well.
People around me hated me too, but the evil that had control over me gave me control over them. That’s why they hated me.
I possessed great power, but the source of that power controlled me. Whatever sense of self I had was progressively disintegrating. That disintegration terrified me.
Despite these soul-killing realities, I loved the darkness and the power it imparted. I loved the invisible entities that controlled and hated me. I loved the power I exerted over others. I loved that they feared me. Yet, I knew my masters hated me and that I was headed toward destruction.
I was spinning around like a pinwheel; I abhorred what I was becoming but drew energy and purpose from my obsession with power and the wealth it attracted. I was pursuing freedom for myself but knew that I was in terrible bondage, aware that I would never be free.
I had made a Faustian bargain, and I was already in hell because of it. There was no relief; I had no peace; I masked my own terror by causing others to fear me.
I loved it because I hated it; I hated myself for loving it. There was no escape. I was caught in the gravity well of a black hole. Everything I knew, all that I used to be, was giving way to darkness, pressure, and pain.
I then awoke. “Father, what is this? Who is this?
God, please help that person…”
I tried to forget the experience because I needed more rest. Later that day, I began to seek the Lord concerning its meaning.
The apostle John wrote, “We know [positively] that we are of God, and the whole world [around us] is under the power of the evil one” (1 John 5:18, Amp.). Paul wrote that our struggle isn’t against people but against ranks of powerful demons (Eph. 6:12) and that the weapons we must use against them are spiritual (2 Cor. 10:4). The use of these weapons results in the “pulling down of strongholds” (Greek ὀχύρωμα, ochyrōma: castle; fortress; prison; mental fortification; logical foundations for an argument or understanding in general).
Paul also wrote (1 Tim. 6:10) that “the love of money (avarice, greed) is the root of all kinds of evil” and that those who err in being controlled by it have “pierced themselves through with many sorrows” — the allusion being that of falling into a tiger pit and skewered upon many spears, unable to extricate one’s self.
This is also why Christ warned us not to exercise tyranny over others (Matt. 20:25-28, Amp.): “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles have absolute power and lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them [tyrannizing them]. It is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your [willing and humble] slave; just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many [paying the price to set them free from the penalty of sin].”
Feeling completely out of control, those in control try to consolidate their influence. They tighten their grip on power, only to see it slip through their fingers. Desperation leads to compromise, deception and betrayal. The cycle of degradation deepens and accelerates until their demonic puppetmasters have no further use for these… victims. They are cast out, thrown away, and even killed for all of their effort.
I can say terrible things about them. I can blast them on social media. I can doomsay and predict disaster concerning them.
But will I allow the Spirit of the Lord to fill me with compassion for them? Will I allow a bit of travail in my soul for their eternal destiny?
Will I pray for them? Will I bless them in the Name of the Savior, Who died just as much for them as He did for me? Will I turn from my own judgmentalism and bitterness and cry out with a broken heart for this person who is precious in God’s sight?
Yes.
Father, set that person free through the revelation of Your Son.
Pour out Your Spirit upon her (and them all) so she (and they) can receive and respond to that revelation.
Let Your Word pierce the darkness and usher her out of that darkness, that demonic stronghold.
Bring her to Jesus—I ask this not for my sake, but for hers….and for all of them in the nation’s capital and in darkness who are held captive in this bondage.
“First of all, then, I urge that petitions (specific requests), prayers, intercessions (prayers for others) and thanksgivings be offered on behalf of all people, for kings and all who are in [positions of] high authority, so that we may live a peaceful and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This [kind of praying] is good and acceptable and pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who wishes all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge and recognition of the [divine] truth. For there is [only] one God, and [only] one Mediator between God and mankind, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom [a substitutionary sacrifice to atone] for all, the testimony given at the right and proper time” (1 Timothy 2:1-6, Amplified Bible).
Jeffrey C. Ady, Ph.D.
February 13, 2021