Long before I was a pastor, I worked as a police officer assigned as an intelligence agent in an Organized Crime unit. Our most important discoveries were finding the connections between groups of criminals and the organizations they represented. Some of those discoveries would lead to the taking down of a crime family.

The beginning of the trail of discovery might happen with a simple car stop initiated by a minor motor vehicle violation. The car stop would lead to the arrest of a suspect, and through the course of our investigation, it would be discovered that our single suspect was connected to a larger crime organization.

The same is true regarding spiritual warfare. It is all about discovering spiritual connections between spiritual forces. These demonically motivated groupings need to be discovered and disempowered by the power of the Spirit. That is the essence of spiritual warfare.

We cannot assume that the discovery of a single sin is an isolated event. There’s always a connection. It reveals a connection to spiritual forces that can be traced back to the devil, the father of lies. Investigating sin and the bondage it creates requires that we follow the trail of lies that are used by hell to create bondage in humans.

Jesus said to a group of Jewish believers, “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32). Knowing the truth will take us on a journey where we will discover the connecting lies of the enemy. Those connections are the trail spiritual warriors will follow. It will lead them to encounters with darkness where the Lord will offer His freedom to the oppressed and deceived ones who have been held captive by the lies of hell.

These discoveries will lead us into previously undiscovered territory where demonically empowered connections will be revealed, all connected to its author, the devil, who is the father of lies. It’s a journey of spiritual warfare where we will see the oppressed set free and where joy, not depression, will transform people’s lives.