Strange Dark Encounters
You are a god over all the billions of lives within your body. Even though you are one life, each of your cells receives most of the attention and nutrients they need. The system is not perfect as there arises disease and death at times, but most cells are able to live a healthy useful life.
Even so it is with us in relation to the One Life permeating the universe.
It has been said that evil entities do not use their own ideas, but merely copy those from the workers of light and corrupt them.
This is indeed a true principle and it also applies to the influence and possession of evil entities.
It is interesting that Jesus himself was possessed by a spirit. Here is the account.
“And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him. And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost.” John 1:32-33
The Spirit of God just did not come and go with Jesus, but remained upon him.
Also Jesus tells us that his Father was actually in him:
“Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.” John 14:10
Here we see that Jesus was possessed by his “Father” which dwelt “in” him and was the one who gave power to do the mighty works.
So we have evidence that the good guys can possess as well as the bad. What is the difference?
Being possessed by the Spirit of God or a divine being occurs through free will to the benefit of both parties.
The possession of an evil entity usually occurs against a person’s free will. I say usually because every once in a while, there comes along a person so foolhardy that he freely gives himself to possession.
Even when a possession occurs against free will the disaster can usually be traced back to free will decisions that opened the door to the problem.
There are two problems that are derived from the so-called evil spirits. The first is attacts and the second is possession. Attacks are centered on often innocent disciples seeking to do the will of God, while possession happens to the foolish who opened the wrong doors.
Here are a couple examples of attack on the innocent. This first is from the diary of my great great Grandfather, Wilford Woodruff
“The prospect in London at that time was the darkest it had ever been in since entering the vineyard; but the Lord was with us, and we were not discouraged. On Sunday we met with the Saints three times at Brother Corner’s, read the Book of Mormon, gave instruction, and broke bread unto them. We had a good time, though there were only about half a dozen present. I felt the spirit bear testimony that there would be a work done in London.
“Having retired to rest in good season, I fell asleep and slept until midnight, when I awoke and meditated upon the things of God until 3 o’clock in the morning; and, while forming a determination to warn the people in London and by the assistance and inspiration of God to overcome the power of darkness, a person appeared to me, whom I consider was the prince of darkness. He made war upon me, and attempted to take my life. As he was about to overcome me I prayed to the Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, for help. I then had power over him and he left me, though I was much wounded. Afterwards three persons dressed in white came to me and prayed with me, and I was healed immediately of all my wounds, and delivered of all my troubles.” Wilford Woodruff By Matthias F. Cowley, Page 130
Here is another account by an early Mormon apostle in England.
“Saturday evening,” says Heber C. Kimball, “it was agreed that I should go forward and baptize, the next morning, in the river Ribble, which runs through Preston.
“By this time the adversary of souls began to rage, and he felt determined to destroy us before we had fully established the kingdom of God in that land, and the next morning I witnessed a scene of satanic power and influence which I shall never forget.
“Sunday, July 30th (1837), about daybreak, Elder Isaac Russell (who had been appointed to preach on the obelisk in Preston Square, that day), who slept with Elder Richards in Wilfred Street, came up to the third story, where Elder Hyde and myself were sleeping, and called out, ‘Brother Kimball, I want you should get up and pray for me that I may be delivered from the evil spirits that are tormenting me to such a degree that I feel I cannot live long, unless I obtain relief.’
“I had been sleeping on the back of the bed. I immediately arose, slipped off at the foot of the bed, and passed around to where he was. Elder Hyde threw his feet out, and sat up in the bed, and we laid hands on him, I being mouth, and prayed that the Lord would have mercy on him, and rebuked the devil.
“While thus engaged, I was struck with great force by some invisible power, and fell senseless on the floor. The first thing I recollected was being supported by Elders Hyde and Richards, who were praying for me; Elder Richards having followed Russell up to my room. Elder Hyde and Richards then assisted me to get on the bed, but my agony was so great I could not endure it, and I arose, bowed my knees and prayed. I then arose and sat up on the bed, when a vision was opened to our minds, and we could distinctly see the evil spirits, who foamed and gnashed their teeth at us. We gazed upon them about an hour and a half (by Willard’s watch). We were not looking towards the window, but towards the wall. Space appeared before us, and we saw the devils coming in legions, with their leaders, who came within a few feet of us. They came towards us like armies rushing to battle. They appeared to be men of full stature, possessing every form and feature of men in the flesh, who were angry and desperate; and I shall never forget the vindictive malignity depicted on their countenances as they looked me in the eye; and any attempt to paint the scene which then presented itself, or portray their malice and enmity, would be vain. I perspired exceedingly, my clothes becoming as wet as if I had been taken out of the river. I felt excessive pain, and was in the greatest distress for some time. I cannot even look back on the scene without feelings of horror; yet by it I learned the power of the adversary, his enmity against the servants of God, and got some understanding of the invisible world. We distinctly heard those spirits talk and express their wrath and hellish designs against us. However, the Lord delivered us from them, and blessed us exceedingly that day.” Orson F. Whitney, Life of Heber C. Kimball, p.128-132
Then here is what happened to Joseph Smith during his first vocal prayer as a teenager:
“I kneeled down and began to offer up the desires of my heart to God. I had scarcely done so, when immediately I was seized upon by some power which entirely overcame me, and had such an astonishing influence over me as to bind my tongue so that I could not speak. Thick darkness gathered around me, and it seemed to me for a time as if I were doomed to sudden destruction.” Joseph Smith History 1:15-17
An attack does not take away free will but it does have the effect of discouraging the faint of heart from moving forwards.
An actual possession, on the other hand, can take away free will. This violates free will you say. In many cases yes and this is allowed to happen at times just as a violation of free will on a physical level happens – such as a kidnapping. God does not come down and stop the kidnapper or rapist because it violates free will. The teachers of light teach free will and we work toward maximum free will, but unfortunately in this world there are many cases where much free will is hindered.
It is the work of the true servants to restore free will to all who can embrace it.
Now some think that we cannot be influenced by evil entities but this is probably incorrect. Hitler was obviously evil and influenced millions.
Good spirits in bodies also influenced many – George Washington and Abraham Lincoln are good examples.
If a spirit in a body can influence others then why cannot a spirit out of a body do the same? It can. All of us have the power to receive communication from sprit to spirit. Millions already actively do this and all others have the ability if they chose to develop it.
Of course, we all want to live our lives free of kidnapers, rapists and murderers on the physical plane and to do this we take intelligent steps to protect ourselves.
We also want to live free from negative effects of spiritual attacks. To do this we must not turn our will over to any other person but live according to the highest we know and seek to love our brothers and sisters as ourselves. One must also cast out all fear and have faith in the goodness and love of God.
In battling evil, excess is good; for he who is moderate in announcing the truth is presenting half-truth. – Kahlil Gibran
Aug 5, 2010
To search the website, containing millions of words, replace the word “search” with the word or phrase you want to find and place the entire line in the Google search box.
“Search” site:freeread.com
Join JJ’s Facebook group HERE
Easy Access to All the Writings
For Free Book go HERE and other books HERE