IS EVERY PROBLEM A DEMON????

By Dr. Henry Malone

This is a good question to ask and even a more important one to answer. The New Testament tells us that we as believers have to struggle with three things:  1) the world  2) the flesh  3) the devil. I John 2:16  Yet we often confuse them in our mind. We lack a clear understanding of what is the devil, what is the flesh and what is the world. I am sure you won't get a complete understanding about all these things from this short explanation, but perhaps this will help.

The world is the world system in which we live. It is the darkness cloaked in our society, social structure and accepted moral standards. All of these change and differ from country to country, even from community to community. Many times our personal family has put us in a world system that continues to reach out to draw us back into darkness. The world system is based on money. Money is the motor that makes the world system go around.

Our flesh is the nature we were born with which is separated from God. Our flesh can range from the sewer (no morals) to high society where everything is controlled by the right social order. Our flesh can be cleaned up and look good or it can be released and look ugly. Our flesh does not seek God or the things of God. So our fleshly desires can range from good to bad but it will never be Godly. The flesh must be assigned to the cross in death. No man's life apart from Jesus is acceptable. We must have a new heart given to us by Jesus in the new birth. 2 Corinthians 5:17

Now what about the devil? Satan and his kingdom are manifested in many ways. His great delight is for us to get in the ditch and call everything that happens a demon. A good example is calling every sickness a demon. Not every person who has a sickness has a demon. I realize that all sickness has its origin in darkness and sin but not every specific sickness is demonic. For example, you can go outside in the extreme cold and not be properly dressed for the weather. You can get pneumonia. This case of sickness is not a demon, but it is a person's ignorance or neglect. I had a person come up to me and ask me to cast a demon out of them. She weighed 400 pounds and wanted a demon of fat cast out of her. This was not a demon. It was a work of the flesh. She needs to find out what she is trying to soothe with food and needs to practice self-control, a fruit of the Spirit. I had a woman ask me to cast a K-Mart demon out of her. She could not seem to pass up a K-Mart store without wanting to stop and spend money. I told her, "There is no such thing as a K-Mart demon. You need to get your flesh under control." Yes, she did have a stronghold that caused excessive spending, but it is not a K-Mart demon. The Body of Christ needs balance today.

Let's learn how to discern between the world, the flesh, and the devil. This discernment will help us all to grow in the Lord.