Go Deep

Go Deep by Joseph W. Walker III

The enemy is truly in me. It's difficult to deal with an internal struggle because what most people see is the external manifestation. They see the anger, bitterness, low self-esteem or the emotional instability. It's easy to make judgment calls when you see a particular action.

But the real enemy is within. I remember my father telling me to sweep down the spiderwebs on the side of our home when I was a kid. I swept every wall, gate and object that was in sight. After I cleared all the spiderwebs, something interesting occurred. They were back the next day.

My dad told me that sweeping spiderwebs was a futile exercise. It doesn't matter how careful you are while sweeping—if you don't kill the spiders, you will constantly deal with their webs. We live in a world that is consumed with treating symptoms while neglecting to address the source. We can suppress a symptom, but that does nothing to eradicate the cause.

The interrogation that occurs within us is a result of the spirit that has taken up residence and is able to hide, sometimes for years, without being noticed. We aren't sure how long the man in Mark 5 had been in the tomb, but we can assume it had been some time considering the numerous attempts that had been made to tie him up or to tame him. The community had exerted much energy dealing with the outward manifestations he presented.

What this suggests is that the spirit within the man was able to go unaddressed for years. Though the community knew the man had an unclean spirit, their approach was to remedy his actions rather than deal with what caused them.

Within us all there are things that have gone unaddressed. You can know they are there but not know how to address them. This is how the enemy interrogates you. You can function at high levels an create an image while internally struggling with a spirit that constantly torments you.

These enemies within could be pornography, substance abuse, or other addictive or ungodly behaviors that threaten your destiny. When these enemies are active in your life, Satan, who is the enemy of all believers, uses your entertainment of the enemies within you to bring accusations against you.

Revelation 12:10 tells us that at the end there will be "a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night."

Satan sends the enemies and designs the struggles that come against you, and his agenda includes accusing you day and night.

The apostle Paul shed light on this internal interrogation and struggle in Romans 7:14-25. This internal war that Paul described is not unfamiliar to any of us. It's easy to point to an enemy on the outside, but the enemy is really within. This spirit attaches itself to carnality, where it is more comfortable manifesting. It dwells in your carnality to weigh down your spiritual life and hides within you in an attempt to avoid accountability. By dwelling in your carnality, this spirit is aware that you will not have strength to fight off other spirits because it will cause your carnal nature to overpower your spirit.

I am convinced that carnality works from the inside out. It starts in our mind and manifests in our members. In Galatians 5:17, Paul helps to shed light on this internal battle, stating, "For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would."

The internal struggles and interrogations we experience are quite common among believers. The assumption is often that Christians don't have these struggles. Many people go through life pretending they don't exist. It's easy to present a perception about yourself and an image to feed it. Many of the moral casualties we have experienced in the kingdom could have been prevented had people felt comfortable dealing with the enemy within them.

Maybe you are experiencing the spiritual warfare of interrogation right now. The unclean spirit is telling you, "You will never be free," or, "Accept this as your new normal."

You have to believe the report of the Lord concerning your life. When spirits have invaded your life, true deliverance can never occur unless you allow God's Holy Spirit to fill you completely, making no room for the enemy.