Pronounced Clean!

 

“The priest is to examine him, and if the swollen sore on his head or forehead is reddish-white like a defiling skin disease, the man is diseased and is unclean. The priest shall pronounce him unclean because of the sore on his head. Anyone with such a defiling disease must wear torn clothes, let their hare be unkempt, cover the lower part of their face and cry out, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’ As long as they have the disease they remain unclean. They must live alone; they must live outside the camp.” (Leviticus 13:43-46) Do you ever weep when you read Leviticus? If you don’t, you may be missing the point that we cannot fulfill the law and in some way, we are all unclean. We are sinners in need of a Savior. Especially if we hide and cover our sin up, we all sometimes feel alone in our sin. We have all failed and fallen short and it has left us feeling like we are less than. Or our sin left us just hanging on, pretending and feeling on the outside of the circle of love and acceptance. We all may at times feel like the person who has to run around with torn clothes outside the camp crying out, Unclean! You just can’t avoid it. There is only One who could fulfill the law. What the Israelites knew from their practices that we may not see today is that everyone experienced being defiled at some point. Could be their house, their neighbor, a family member, their cooking pot, a loved one, or decision that they made but in some way, everyone became and felt the experience of “unclean” at some point. You Have Been Made Clean I remember being a prayer minister at a healing retreat many years ago. To create a peaceful atmosphere, there was a fountain at the event where the water washed over some rocks. I watched this woman put her hand in the water and then reach down into the fountain to pick up and look at a white rock. She had brokenness in her eyes and it was as if she wished to be this rock. I felt the Lord speak to me that, like Tamar from the Bible, she felt defiled. She had some sort of abuse or molestation in her life and saw herself as unclean. She longed to be free but was not experiencing this freedom. I was nudged to go over and pray for her. As I spoke to her that the water of the Spirit has washed over her and declared her clean, she sobbed. I prayed over her abuse and trauma and I poured holy water on her while she shook and cried. God brought her truth and healing that day and let me share in His work. It was so amazing to be part of it. In our wounds, failures and sin, there is a voice that will continually accuse us and tell us we are unclean. It will attempt to isolate us and make us feel alone and like we are the only one who has experienced this, sinned, or fell short in this way. It will tell us that we are not enough and never will be enough. And whether we were the cause of the sin or not, there is a guilt that tries to hang on to us. But the good news is that our High Priest, has pronounced us clean. Whatever it is from the past that has hurt us or ways we have hurt others no longer has a hold on us. We a free, cherished and encircled in His love. Take this in, you are pronounced NOT GUILTY. Jesus took all our sin to the cross. In Leviticus, when the person was pronounced clean by the priest, they were to take a guilt offering to the priest. He took some of the blood from the offering and put it on the right ear of the one who was cleansed and on their right thumb and big toe (Leviticus 14:12-14). I love this as it is symbolic of needing to hear and receive (ear) that we are cleansed and then live it out in our lives (right thumb and toe). We have to live into our forgiveness and designation as clean, no longer condemning and separating ourselves or hiding it like it still has a hold on us. Unclean Spirits Sometimes it is our own judgements on ourselves that hold us back. I’ve even heard someone say that they could not receive Christ because “they deserve hell.’” Here is the truth, we all deserved hell. But Jesus… There is some voice that continually entices us to measure up and judge both ourselves and others accordingly. Ever notice this? Some people call it a “religious spirit.” I would otherwise call it a “performance spirit.” Let’s do more, be more, get it right, and by the way, all that stuff you did in the past, you haven’t made up for it either and I know who you really are. The clear thing about it is that it is a spirit trying to influence us in a way that is not beneficial for our spiritual growth. Like a voice that tells someone they are worthless or reminds them of their sin, there are tons of examples of spirits trying to influence people in the Bible or influencing someone and being cast out. We see Saul having an uncontrollable temper at times and trying to kill David because of suspicions and lies he was believing (1 Samuel 18:9-11). The sad thing is that if this dividing spirit did not get the best of Saul, David would have been first in battle to fight the Philistines and been able to protect Saul and Johnathan. This hindering spirit not only was trying to keep David from his call but it cut short Saul’s calling. That accusation voice we hear, the one that says we do not measure up, is not the voice of God, it is the voice of the accuser – Satan. Sometimes we live in just this world and forget that there are forces that oppose us. Forces that want to pull us back, hold us back, and keep us from all God has for us. Forces that want to steal from us, kill us and destroy our wonderful lives. There is also an example of these forces at work in Luke 13:10-11 where it says, “One Sabbath day as Jesus was teaching in a synagogue, he saw a woman who had been crippled by an evil spirit. She had been bent double for eighteen years and was unable to stand up straight.” Not only can people be physically impacted by a demonic spirit but these accusing voices, if left unchecked can cause us to be bent over. Jesus than speaks healing of this sickness to her and she instantly stood up straight and praised God. Then the leader of the synagogue became indignant because it was the Sabbath. Eighteen years of incredible suffering produced by an evil spirit and he was offended she was healed. And as this synagogue leader involved the crowd, they all failed to see the demonic at work and picked up the offense for healing her on the Sabbath. In both the situation of the cripple woman and the synagogue leader (who was also crippled inside), then also with the crowd, there were demonic forces at work influencing the situation. Ever think about those shouting to crucify Jesus? The entire crowd, demanding an innocent man’s blood, was being influenced by satanic forces. Not that we want to turn all our focus on the demonic, but we should at least be aware of its influence. Friends, Paul warns us in Ephesians 6:12 that we do not fight against flesh and blood. We are fighting against “principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” Here are some additional verses in the Bible that talk about demonic spirits influencing people: Self-Righteousness spirit: 2 Corinthians 11:15, “It is not surprising, then, if his [Satan’s] servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their actions.”

Violent spirit: Acts 19:16, “Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding.”

Deceiving spirit: 2 Corinthians 11:3, “But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.”

Mute spirit: Mark 9:17-18, “Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a mute spirit. And wherever it seizes him, it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid. So I spoke to Your disciples, that they should cast it out, but they could not.” Luke 11:14, “Jesus was driving out a demon that was mute. When the demon left, the man who had been mute spoke, and the crowd was amazed. Our answer in dealing with demonic forces is not to deny it or try to fight it with worldly powers and resources. The only answer in fighting against demonic forces lies in the Kingdom of God. This is probably why right after Jesus healing this woman that had been held in bondage by Satan for eighteen years and confronting the synagogue leader and crowd for their offense and lack of compassion, Jesus dives right in to discuss what the Kingdom of God is like. Jesus says in Luke 11:20, “But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.” Hidden Demons This does not mean that everything has demonic influence but it certainly can play a part where there is chaos, disorder, neglect, hate, rage, depression and other disruptive things going on. We are to look at the fruit of the tree to determine what is at the root. Unclean spirits do not announce themselves but you can see them by their impact. An example in my own life, when I was young, I felt stuck between a rock and a hard spot in that my dad had deep wounds. He struggled with anger he couldn’t control at times. As it was not his desire to blow up and he always felt terrible after, it seems to me to have been demonically influenced due to the bitterness and unforgiveness he held towards his father. His father had been raised in an orphanage and never been able to show him anything but hard work. His father failed to show him love or enjoyment out of life as he never knew this for himself. Because of this, my father set out to show us that life could be fun, but then, when it didn't go as planned, sometimes he lost it. Most often, when I was real young, I was able to stay out of his way when he struggled and hide. He was a good dad otherwise and loved us. And he worked out of town during the week, so we only saw him on weekends. But then at one point around 11 or so years old, I had told on my sister for making me smoke when I was caught. He was upset about it and lost it. As I went to check on my sister after, she told me she hated me, wrapped her blanket around herself and tried to light herself on fire. At that moment, I had sworn to myself that he would never hurt my family again and made a vow to myself to get in the way of his explosive anger. As I got in his way, I managed to pick up this explosive anger, blame and unforgiveness that carried demonic force behind it. After a time, I began to enjoy being rebellious and in his face. There was a force of anger and rage in me that was uncontrollable. I became afraid of myself and the rage I held when I would confront my father. Sometimes I would even black out in a rage and not remember anything. When I took hold of this anger, I thought I was protecting my family. But it also opened the door to many things in my life including a spirit of torment, addiction, despair and utter hopelessness. As a result, I hated life, hated myself and planned my death for years. I felt hopeless as I began to drink heavily and use drugs to medicate myself. Because of daily feelings of despair, I had multiple ways that I had studied for committing suicide on my 18th birthday. I figured by then my sister would be out of the house and that my dad would perhaps be impacted by my death and get help. At seventeen, drinking and using drugs, I became pregnant and it rocked my world. It changed the way that I looked at life. I no longer could plan my death as I had a beautiful baby boy to care for. I went back and took day and night school so I could graduate. I worked on my sobriety and went to AA. My husband and I married and tried, but were so young and struggling with relapses at times so we ended up divorced for a time. Then later, as a single mom raising my son, when I could not afford hospital care for my son when he needed it, I also went on to college so I could earn a living. My whole world changed around this baby boy who gave me joy and I loved so much. But at the same time, the bouts with depression did not go away. I had been through treatment several times as a teen and I would be able to be dry for some time, but then I would occasionally relapse and drink again. And I struggled with this protective anger that was demonic. Once someone in my extended family hurt my son by picking him up by the hair and I leveled them. Freedom Through Christ First, when I became a Christian, God healed me. He set me free from addiction, self-loathing, despair, anxiety, hopelessness and protective anger. One after another, I was delivered. Sometimes through working through an issue, replacing the lies with truth day after day. And other times, through an encounter with the Lord where I was delivered in the moment alone or through the use of a prayer minister. I know the protective anger was demonic because one day, after working day after day on replacing the lies of intense fear and feelings of needing to protect others to a place of trust, it just left. I felt it leave. I was reading and studying the Word and praying, and it just seemed to be tired of me seeking God and got up and left. After this, I stopped having a struggle with it being set off in anger when someone triggered my protective instincts. And later, after receiving so much, God opened the door for me to pray for others. I have had the opportunity and incredible joy to be involved for years in praying for those who have been wounded by trauma and/or struggle with depression, anxiety, suicide ideation, and even a demonic spirit. I have been able to partner with the Lord in seeing their freedom. So one point I want to make is that there are demonic forces at work that are against us. While we do not want to focus all our attention on this, we need to be aware of it. If we are not aware, it can overtake us unwittingly. We know that we will come up against this as Mathew 16:18 says that the gates of hell will try to prevail against the church.

Glistening Hope Friends, if we ignore the fact that we are in a spiritual war, how can we fight it? We will be like a child that difunctionally tries to navigate the situation by their own means and ends up influenced in ways that they did not intend (speaking of myself here). Had my family identified and understood the situation at the time, we could have found freedom from it together. Ephesians 6:11-18 tells us that the pathway to our protection and to freedom is spiritual. It tells us to put on the full armor of God, including the belt of truth, breastplate of righteousness, shield of faith, helmet of salvation, shoes of the gospel of peace, and sword of the Spirit, while also praying at all times. Reading the Word and replacing lies with truth is one of the best ways to be protected or delivered from demonic spirits. As we wrap ourselves in the truth, the enemy does not have any power to stand. The demonic forces cannot stand talking with God, praising, praying and being thankful. It just leaves no room for them. Jesus also gives examples of delivering people from the demonic by commanding the spirit out or touching and healing them. Throughout His ministry, He set people free and healed them both emotionally and physically. In His mercy and love, He sets us free. Through prayer and deliverance ministry, we can seek Him for His freedom. I have the privilege of being involved in this kind of ministry and find such joy in seeing people get set free. Jesus also mentioned that some spirits only come out by fasting and prayer. There is no person that is beyond freedom. Sometimes there is so much going on in situations with trauma and agreements that it takes more to unwind it. But it is never beyond the power of God. I once was praying with a group for the freedom of this young lady. It just didn't seem to be going anywhere. She had so much deep trauma. But as I began to speak the Words of truth of who she was over her, she was seeing more and more freedom. Then I suggested to her mother that we should fast and pray for her all night. Making the suggestion, the demonic spirit just said, "I have to go now" and packed up and left. For whatever reason, there is power in fasting as it tenderizes our hearts and makes us more sensitive to the Spirit. The Lord confronts people in Isaiah 58:4 for fasting at the same time as having strife and oppression of others and expecting their voice to be heard on high. While an example of what not to do, here is clear correlation between fasting and pulling on the power of God for deliverance. Jesus, when He came to deliver the woman at the well from tormenting lies about who she was, had been fasting. But in fasting, He was feasting on the Spirit. As, when the disciples came back Jesus said, 'I have food to eat that you know nothing of.' From Freedom to Amazing Grace There is glistening hope for each one of us. My father was, and I believe is, proud of me. As I finished school and went to college and worked hard to support my son, my dad was proud of me and the changes I made in my life. He was so relieved that I stopped drinking as a teen and was there to support me even when I made him talk through his anger struggles with counselors in front of others in treatment. He worked hard on his anger and it subsided substantially as he got older. He learned to walk away from some of the conflicting situations that would trigger him. While he went home early with cancer when he retired from work, three days before he passed on, he also came to know the Lord. He is planted in the Lord's mercy in heaven. The Lord once spoke over me the word “devout.” I heard Him say it to me so clear so I wrote it down and looked it up. Satan, with all his lies, does not get the final word of who I am, the Lord does. He does not see me by my past sin and failures but by His forgiveness. I am righteous in His eyes. All the struggles of my past are washed away by His blood. He has paid the price on the cross fully, for the brokenness in my life. Not only this, but He opens the way for me to pray for and help others along their journey of freedom. In the same way, He paid the price for you. Working at a drug treatment, I see many broken lives as people come in the door and their addiction had overtaken them. Their families have been shattered and often they have been in jail or prison. Their pain, choices and often the demonic voices have taken them down a path of hurt, regret, self-loathing, and shame. Yet, the moment they walk in the door and say yes, Jesus looks at them and says, “Today, you will be with Me in Paradise.” He doesn’t count up what they did wrong but the incredible things He has in store for them. Their past does not cut short the promises of God. His mercy stretches so wide that we can never reach the end. Here is the good news, you are new, yes you are new. You are covered under the blood and forgiven of all sin. You can't pay the price of your sin or the choices you made, but God has an incredible new life for you. He takes your ashes and creates beauty. He speaks life into the dead areas, heals us in our broken places, delivers us and sets us free from all chains of bondage that has held us back if we look to Him and let Him. He levels everyone up, whether they have been forgiven little or much. Lord, I pray that we get a glimpse of your grace in a way that extends our boundaries and our ability to love others. Not that we take advantage of grace, but that we live in the fullness of it and Your freedom. And in receiving grace, that we can give it away freely to everyone else around us. You are really that good!