Vexation, Obsession, & Possession: The Extraordinary Ways the Devil Attacks
Spiritual Warfare
Today I pray against vexation of spirit. I take authority over everything that comes to torment the minds of believers. We cast down every thought and imagination that comes against the knowledge of God! I declare the mind of Christ! He whom the Son sets free is free indeed. Be healed, delivered and set free in Jesus name!
Vexation is both something that causes annoyance and the state of mind that results from being annoyed. The test-taker next to you tapping her pencil is a vexation. You breaking her pencil in half makes her feel vexation. Vexation can also refer to something that causes anxiety and worry more than annoyance.
ANGER
Is a strong feeling of vexation, an antagonistic emotion usually aroused by a sense of injury. In animals this biological response serves the useful purpose of preservation. Among humans, anger is usually considered as capable of having an ethical rating inasmuch as it can lead to vengeful actions that are disproportionate to the injury suffered or simply unlawful, e.g., murdering a man for an insulting remark. From this point of view an excessive experience of wrath, the misguided discharge of vengeance, or the objectionable damage done in rage to persons or property could result in sins that would be seriously opposed to charity and justice.
Many vexations and the resultant expressions of emotion are entirely without moral objection, or are even morally laudable. Such a situation may occur when only a vigorous display of emotion will secure attention and obedience. Sometimes, as in the classical case of Jesus' driving the buyers and sellers from the Temple, deliberately achieved and discharged rage can be virtuous and worthy of praise.
Different personality types experience anger differently. Some find that the emotion arises quickly and subsides with equal rapidity; others find that anger is more slowly stimulated and only with difficulty dissipated. Accordingly, there are different approaches to the rational control of this human emotion. Granted that psychological understanding of self and others is a basic factor in conditioning one to bear vexations with tranquillity of spirit, various vicarious discharges of energy, e.g., golf or rail-splitting, frequently assist in the dissipation of pent-up rage. Some forms of entertainment that include a degree of violence also serve this same wholesome purpose.
Ancient Christian moralists incorporated anger along with the other six in their list of capital sins. This classification indicates merely that anger is related causally to other sins, and does not imply that it is per se grievous. The anger that Paul describes as excluding one from the kingdom of heaven would of necessity have to be seriously sinful.
Like fear , anger is a basic emotion that provides a primitive mechanism for physical survival. The physiological changes that accompany anger and fear are very similar and include increased heart rate and blood pressure, rapid breathing, and muscle tension. However, anger produces more muscle tension, higher blood pressure, and a lower heart rate, while fear induces rapid breathing. Unlike the adrenalin-produced "fight or flight" response that characterizes fear, anger is attributed to the secretion of both adrenalin and another hormone, noradrenalin. Other physical signs of anger include scowling, teeth grinding, glaring, clenched fists, chills and shuddering, twitching, choking, flushing or paling, and numbness.
People use a number of defense mechanisms to deal with anger. They may practice denial, refusing to recognize that they are angry. Such repressed anger often finds another outlet, such as a physical symptom. Another way of circumventing anger is through passive aggression , in which anger is expressed covertly in a way that prevents retaliation. Both sarcasm and chronic lateness are forms of passive aggression. In the classroom, a passive aggressive student will display behavior that is subtly uncooperative or disrespectful but which provides no concrete basis for disciplinary action. Passive aggressive acts may even appear in the guise of a service or favor, when in fact the sentiments expressed are those of hostility rather than altruism.
Some of the more extreme defenses against anger are paranoia , in which anger is essentially projected onto others, and bigotry, in which such a projection is targeted at members of a specific racial, religious, or ethnic group.
12 Bible Verses about
Demons Causing Torment
Most Relevant Verses
1 Samuel 16:14-16
Now the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord terrorized him. Saul’s servants then said to him, “Behold now, an evil spirit from God is terrorizing you. Let our lord now command your servants who are before you. Let them seek a man who is a skillful player on the harp; and it shall come about when the evil spirit from God is on you, that he shall play the harp with his hand, and you will be well.”
1 Samuel 18:10-11
Now it came about on the next day that an evil spirit from God came mightily upon Saul, and he raved in the midst of the house, while David was playing the harp with his hand, as usual; and a spear was in Saul’s hand. Saul hurled the spear for he thought, “I will pin David to the wall.” But David escaped from his presence twice.
1 Samuel 19:9-10
Now there was an evil spirit from the Lord on Saul as he was sitting in his house with his spear in his hand, and David was playing the harp with his hand. Saul tried to pin David to the wall with the spear, but he slipped away out of Saul’s presence, so that he stuck the spear into the wall. And David fled and escaped that night.
Matthew 15:22
And a Canaanite woman from that region came out and began to cry out, saying, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is cruelly demon-possessed.”
Matthew 17:15
“Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is a lunatic and is very ill; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water.
Mark 9:18-20
and whenever it seizes him, it slams him to the ground and he foams at the mouth, and grinds his teeth and stiffens out. I told Your disciples to cast it out, and they could not do it.” And He answered them and said, “O unbelieving generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him to Me!” They brought the boy to Him. When he saw Him, immediately the spirit threw him into a convulsion, and falling to the ground, he began rolling around and foaming at the mouth.
Luke 9:39-42
and a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly screams, and it throws him into a convulsion with foaming at the mouth; and only with difficulty does it leave him, mauling him as it leaves. I begged Your disciples to cast it out, and they could not.” And Jesus answered and said, “You unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall I be with you and put up with you? Bring your son here.”read more.
While he was still approaching, the demon slammed him to the ground and threw him into a convulsion. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, and healed the boy and gave him back to his father.
Mark 5:5
Constantly, night and day, he was screaming among the tombs and in the mountains, and gashing himself with stones.
Luke 6:18
who had come to hear Him and to be healed of their diseases; and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were being cured.
Luke 13:11
And there was a woman who for eighteen years had had a sickness caused by a spirit; and she was bent double, and could not straighten up at all.
Acts 5:16
Also the people from the cities in the vicinity of Jerusalem were coming together, bringing people who were sick or afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all being healed.
Acts 19:16
And the man, in whom was the evil spirit, leaped on them and subdued all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.
First Samuel 16:14says, “The Spirit of the LORD had departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD tormented him.” This is also mentioned in1 Samuel 16:15–16,23;18:10; and19:9. Why did God let an evil spirit torment Saul? In what way was the evil spirit “from” the Lord?
First, the evil spirit was “from” the Lord in that it was allowed by God to harass Saul. Ultimately, all created things are under God’s control. It is likely that this evil spirit was part of God’s judgment upon Saul for his disobedience. Saul had directly disobeyed God on two occasions (1 Samuel 13:1–14;15:1–35). Therefore, God removed His Spirit from Saul and allowed an evil spirit to torment him. Likely, Satan and the demons had always wanted to attack Saul; God was now simply giving them permission to do so.
Second, the evil spirit was used to bring David into the life of Saul. This account is recorded immediately following David’s anointing as the future king of Israel. The reader would be wondering how a shepherd boy would become king.First Samuel 16reveals the first step in this journey. When the king’s servants saw the torment Saul was enduring, they suggested, “See, an evil spirit from God is tormenting you. Let our lord command his servants here to search for someone who can play the lyre. He will play when the evil spirit from God comes on you, and you will feel better” (1 Samuel 16:15–16).
One of the king’s servants referred David to the king, describing the youth as a great harp player, among other things (verse 18). Saul called David to come and found him to be a great comfort: “David came to Saul and entered his service. Saul liked him very much, and David became one of his armor-bearers. Then Saul sent word to Jesse, saying, ‘Allow David to remain in my service, for I am pleased with him.’ Whenever the spirit from God came on Saul, David would take up his lyre and play. Then relief would come to Saul; he would feel better, and the evil spirit would leave him” (1 Samuel 16:21–23).
It is important to note that this evil spirit that troubled Saul was only temporary. The final verse notes that the evil spirit came on multiple occasions to bother Saul, but also it departed from him.
A related question is, does God send evil spirits to torment people today? There are examples of individuals in the New Testament being turned over to Satan or demons for punishment. God allowed Ananias and Sapphira to be filled with the spirit of Satan as a warning and example to the early church (Acts 5:1–11). A man in the Corinthian church was committing incest and adultery, and God commanded the leaders to “hand him over to Satan” to destroy his sinful nature and save his soul (1 Corinthians 5:1–5). God allowed a messenger of Satan to torment the apostle Paul in order to teach him to rely on God’s grace and power and not become conceited because of the tremendous abundance of spiritual truth he was given (2 Corinthians 12:7).
The New Testament reveals how God can use the presence of evil spirits to reveal His power. Jesus showed His power over demons on multiple occasions; every time Jesus cast out a demon, it was an affirmation of the Lord’s authority. The account of Jesus’ casting out the demons who entered a herd of pigs indicates that perhaps as many as 2,000 evil spirits were present, yet they all feared the power of Christ (Mark 5:1–13).
If God does allow evil spirits to torment people today, He does so with the goal of our good and His glory (Romans 8:28). And, just as in Job’s case, Satan and his minions can do only what God allows them to do (Job 1:12;2:6). They never act independently of God’s sovereign and perfect will and purpose. If believers suspect they are being tormented by demonic forces, the first response is to repent of any known sin. Then we should ask for wisdom to understand what we are to learn from the situation. Then we are to submit to whatever God has allowed in our lives, trusting that it will result in the building up of our faith and the glory of God.
Evil spirits are no match for the power of God. AsEphesians 6:10–12commands, “Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”
The extraordinary action of the Devil
Satan’s other action in this world is extraordinary action, which God permits in some cases for reasons known only to Him. The Gospel speaks clearly of the character of a diabolical presence in man, who becomes like a “house” that has been usurped by an enemy and taken over. (Mark 3:22–27 mentions exorcisms worked by Jesus.) Extraordinary diabolical action is manifested in various forms that bear the names of vexation, obsession, possession, and infestation.
Diabolical vexation
Diabolical vexations that appear as physical attacks on a person are cuts, burns, scratches, punctures, writing on the skin, bites, beatings, blows that leave bruises, swellings, bloody sores, broken bones, incisions on the skin that spell words or form signs that persist for a certain time and then disappear, and illnesses with unknown causes and unknown cures. Obstacles also occur in the workplace and among affective relationships without logical explanation.
In the lives of the saints, other, even more serious, forms of vexations have been noted. Some of the saints have been the targets of stones, excrement, and feces that seemed to have come out of nowhere. Others have been hurled from their beds or down the stairs, tossed in the air or thrown down to the floor or against a wall, or dragged by the hair by an invisible hand; others have been taken from where they were and transported long distances.
In some cases, especially when the demon attacks physically, discernment is extremely easy. In these forms of vexation, the person attacked does not always manifest a repugnance toward the sacred or toward God. We have seen an example of this in the holy scripture's and in so many other saints in many different denominations and churches who have been subjected to physical vexations.
Evaluation by the priest exorcist is particularly challenging. He must listen to and evaluate persons tormented by certain symptoms or who are worn down by a chain reaction of negative events, such as misfortunes, failures, or physical illnesses, and are convinced that they need the exorcist priest. In these cases, the exorcist can assume that there is extraordinary demonic action if he can ascertain a connection between the possible effects previously described and an unexplainable aversion toward God, prayer, and the sacred.
If, together with the intensification of blessings and prayers of liberation, one sees a significant reduction of such phenomena, then one can suspect that their origin is in the extraordinary action of the devil.
Diabolical obsession
There are demonic assaults that, although they do not block the person’s intellectual powers and free will, succeed in inserting thoughts, actions, deeds or obsessive images into the mind (the imagination and the memory) that the victim is not able to expel. In these cases, the person feels tormented by a fixed idea that he knows is foreign to him and seeks to find a way to reject it. But it is so deeply imprinted in his mind and spirit that it seems to be really his.
Obsessions can take on diverse forms, levels, and intensities and finally completely dominate the mind of the person. In that case, they become very strong and prolonged. To avoid confusing them with psychiatric pathologies, some exorcists prefer to define them with the term mental or psychic demonic vexations or interior demonic vexations; others prefer the term personal demonic infestations. Nevertheless, it is possible that the action of the Devil and a real psychic illness are present contemporaneously.
Given their similarity to psychiatric illnesses, the detection of diabolical obsessions is not always easy. The majority of these cases are pathological. There are some, however, that although manifesting themselves as symptoms similar to a psychiatric pathology, have their origin in an extraordinary evil action of the Devil.
Physical diabolical vexations and possessions usually are easily identifiable by their external signs. To arrive at concrete conclusions, each case must be examined individually. As previously mentioned, a significant sign of the origin of an obsession is the presence of a block, partial or total, toward prayer, or an unmotivated hatred toward everything that is sacred , truth, light or has a reference toward the sacred.
But it is not always like this. At times persons who fast, meditate, pray and regularly receive the sacraments (and do not present the above-mentioned symptoms and attitudes) can be subjected to obsessive forms of evil origins.
We see it in the lives of the saints when they are obsessed by the thought or sensation of being damned. Therefore, it is necessary to realize that there are situations in which it is possible to make a discernment of an obsession of the extraordinary action of the Devil by observing the efficacy or nonefficacy of the blessings and prayers of sanctification and liberation.
Diabolical possession
Possession is not a splitting of the personality. Rather, it involves a temporary displacement of the person, during which a brutal and violent demonic spirit takes control. Acting from within the body, the demon makes the helpless victim speak and act as he wishes: such a phenomenon can be defined as the moment of crisis.
The Devil dominates the body of the person in order to annul his faculties of self-determination and control. The presence of the demon in the human body neutralizes the person’s ability to direct himself, so that he becomes a blind, docile instrument that is fatally obedient to a perverse and despotic power.
Thus, there are two components to the diabolical possession of a human body: the presence of the demon in the body and the exercise of his power. As such, the person possessed could be moved to another place, raised up, or temporarily changed physically.
During the crises, the person can be conscious, semiconscious, or in a total trance. In the exorcistic rite of 1952, the phenomena that accompany the possession are described as the speaking of a language completely unknown, possessing superhuman strength, bodily levitation, a change in physical features or characteristics, alteration of the voice, furious reactions before sacred objects, convulsions, loud cries, blasphemies, and the knowledge of things regarding the occult. Periods of calm can alternate with periods of crisis. The latter generally occur before sacred objects.
Prudence is necessary in determining the actuality of a possession. The possessed person is not responsible for acts committed while he is under diabolical influences. Possession is Satan’s supreme act of power, which he employs to demonstrate his superiority over man and his rebellion against God.
Regarding cases of persons who simultaneously manifest psychiatric disturbances and extraordinary phenomena, human deliberation does not have sufficient resources to justify a priori the exclusion of a probable demonic possession. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct a careful interdisciplinary examination that includes specialists in both the medical and spiritual fields. In this situation, the exorcist — assisted by medical specialists — determines the real causes and various components of the person’s illness.
In the Gospel, some cases of possession are clearly described: the mute demoniac (Matt. 9:32–33); the blind, mute demoniac who gives origin to the controversy with the Pharisees (Matt. 12:22–32; Mark 3:20–30; Luke 11:14–26); and Mary Magdalene (Mark 16:9; Luke 8:2). Four cases are described in detail: the demoniac of Capernaum (Mark 1:21–28; Luke 4:31–37); the demoniacs of Gerasa (Matt. 8:28–34; Mark 5:1–20; Luke 8:26– 29); the daughter of the Canaanite woman (Matt. 15:21–28; Mark 7:24–30); and the epileptic child (Matt. 17:14–20; Mark 9:14–28; Luke 9:37–43).
In these situations, Jesus reveals the motive for His presence in the history of men: to bring about the salvation and the liberation of man from the forces of the Evil One. He makes the Apostles and all the believers in Him who work in His name (Mark 16:17) collaborators in His work of salvation, conferring on them the power of crushing demons (Matt. 10:1–8; Mark 3:14–15; 6:7; Luke 9:1; 10:17–20).
In tormenting humans whom he hates, the Devil can feel solely a very wretched type of satisfaction because it does not diminish his torments, nor does God permit him to destroy man.
One cannot speak of a predisposition to possession, physical, psychic, or moral. Obstinate sinners are already victims of the Devil and they have no need of particular influences, whereas, once possessed, they would not voluntarily offend the Lord.
Vexation and possession are not perse a moral evil; rather, they are mental, spiritual and physical evils that God also permits for the good of the person. Some theologians point out the reasons for that divine permission: (1) for an increase in God’s glory (in this way God manifests His love and His attributes); (2) in order to manifest a truth of relationship with him, in Godly Consciousness, which is endowed with a special divine power; (3) for the spiritual profit of the upright; (4) as beneficial teachings for man; and (5) as proof for the conversion of sinners to Saints.
Diabolical infestation of a locality
The extraordinary action of the Devil that causes disturbances and nuisances in places, houses, and objects is called diabolical infestation in a locality. It also includes diabolical action on animals, which, in the last analysis is directed at man. The manifestations of such action are unexplainable noises, apparitions of objects or changes of their location, music or odd noises, phosphorescence (emission of light without any perceptible heat), odors, lights, animals that react as if they have seen someone or that are in an excited state, shadows, silhouettes, faces, and so forth.
Disturbances caused by these demonic interventions are carried out with noises or blows on the roof, pavement, walls, doors, windows, or furniture; showers of hailstones that fall as from nowhere on the roof or even in the house; noises of invisible steps, fireworks, or explosives; the clanging of chains and irons; mysterious voices, cries, laughs, or uproars; invisible bells that clamor; the disappearance of objects that are never found again or are found in the most unusual places in the house; pictures that are detached from the walls and fall without a comprehensible reason; underwear, sheets, blankets, and chairs that levitate in the air; animals (such as ravens, bats, reptiles, owls, dogs, or cats) that suddenly appear and soon vanish; sudden, intense, and untraceable burnt odors of excrement, sulfur, rotting flesh, or incense; and so forth.
If, after a vigorous inquiry, natural causes are excluded, prayers, blessings, and celebrations of Masses (authorized by the bishop) are offered in that place. If that leads to a disappearance of the phenomena or a significant lessening of them, one can suspect that their origin was truly an extraordinary action of the demon.
At times infestations of such phenomena disappear, not because of blessings and exorcisms, but rather because their demonic origin is in someone who lives in that place and the phenomena are tied to that person. Once that person changes habitation, those who continue to live there no longer notice anything and live peacefully. The unexplainable phenomena follow the afflicted party to his new domicile.
By Fr. Paolo Carlin
Fr. Paolo Carlin, of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin, is Doctor of Moral Theology. He was the chaplain of the State Police of the Provinces of Ravenna and Rimini from 2010 to 2014 and was then appointed diocesan exorcist of the diocese of Faenza-Modigliana. Fr. Carlin is a member of the International Exorcist Association (IEA, officially recognized on June 13, 2014 by the Holy See), acting as counselor, official spokesman and press officer.
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