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Day
two of question and answer week comes from a reader who was once a
practioner of Wicca. She asked me what could someone do to break free
of Wicca and other religions that deny the diety of Jesus. She said
that when she left Wicca and turned to Christ she faced a lot of
opposition both spiritual and physical.
My answer won't be Wicca
specific because in reality there's little difference between leaving
Wicca and leaving anything else including never having belief in
anything or anyone in your life. It all comes down to realizing what
you're going to be facing when you turn away from what you had done
before in your life because those things have power over you.
Now, that power comes from the prince of this world. Remember in Ephesians 6:12 (ESV) Paul writes "For we do not wrestle against flesh and
blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic
powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the
heavenly places." So someone who is a Christian will be fighting these forces of evil every single day.
Now,
if you were a Wiccan or in any other "religion" that denies Christ, you
were part of the spiritual forces of evil that were doing your best
(knowingly or unknowingly) to defeat Christ and His people. If you
accept Christ you've suddenly become a turncoat to those who for years
thought they had you under their control to do their bidding to destroy
Christ. Now you're not only someone standing for their enemies but
you're someone that can show the world that you can turn away from
those demonic forces and stand tall against them!
Don't you think that would get their knickers in a twist?
There's
no way that the "forces of evil" are just going to whistle a happy tune
and leave you alone. They feel twice the anger at you because you've
essentially betrayed them. You're a more dangerous weapon against them
for the Lord because you know their ways and you can say things that
will reach the people still trapped in what you escaped. These forces
will likely attack you spiritually with feelings of depression or
despair. You might even see spirits or physically feel attacked by
things unseen. Spiritual warfare is very real and at times like this
you're likely to see some of the worst of it.
They'll also attack
through the people they still control around you. You'll likely lose a
lot of friends who will suddenly turn on you and attack you. They'll
say you're an idiot or fool or stupid or worse and they might even do
things to try and harm you physically, emotionally or financially. You
have to realize that these people are still under the control of the
forces you've renounced when you turned to the one true God. Sometimes
they don't even realize why they're doing the things that they're doing
to you. You need to pray hard and expect to see this.
Find a
good church and get in with God's people so that you can talk to them,
study with them, pray with them and most of all get wise council from
older believers in Christ. When you come alongside strong Christ
followers you'll discover that you will have more weapons in your bag
to face the enemy when they come (and they will.)
Never take off your armor. Never underestimate your enemy. Never forget God is ruler over all. Remember that James 4:7 (ESV) says "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the
devil, and he will flee from you."