I got saved when I was 8 years old. But it wasn’t until age 29 that I allowed Jesus to become my Lord. I knew that to be saved was a complete work, but it also meant I had entered a process of being saved from the things that stood in the way of my knowing the Lord more deeply. My spirit was reborn, yet Jesus continued to form His nature in me day after day. I was becoming who I already was, a child of God. I realized that being saved also included deliverance and healing.

Jan and I had a recent conversation about our history in healing and deliverance. We had not been taught much about healing, and even less about deliverance. Yet from childhood, we knew the stories. The Gospels are filled with instances of healing and deliverance from demonic temptation, oppression, and possession. It is part of Jesus’ message. He told the disciples to “heal the sick, raise the dead, cure those with leprosy, and cast out demons” (Matthew 10:8). 

The twelve disciples had to personally deal with demonic entities. Judas and Peter were tempted to the point of betraying Jesus, while the rest of the disciples quietly slipped away, deserting Jesus when it counted the most.

To be saved is to be fully pardoned from a death sentence, and so much more. It is a re-creation. It is a freedom we’ve never experienced. And to live free involves a life journey. 

Most of the Western Church stopped demonstrating deliverance from demons. Led by atheist psychologists in the 1950’s, we were trained to turn to science first, mislabeling demonic manifestations as a psychological/mental issue.   Instead of turning to God, the science of psychology became the main answer for human psychosis. 

Jan and I were followers of Jesus Christ for many years before we experienced deliverance from demonic oppression tied to the spirit of fear. We want more for the generations that will come after us. We can be delivered, at any age, even at the beginning of our salvation experience. We want to encourage others to expect, ask for, and receive God’s mercy and deliverance so they can live free. 

The fire of God is falling on the Church in this hour. It is a cleansing and purifying fire. It is the fire of repentance. As God’s fire falls upon us, we need to  teach and demonstrate deliverance from demonic oppression and possession. Our prayer is that many people coming to Jesus for salvation will also experience healing and deliverance.