sleep paralysis, part 3

I figured rather than making the last entry even longer, I would just finish up my thoughts in a new entry.

So, I don't know what your impressions are of what you've read up to here, but you've obviously come this far, so you must be intrigued.

Either that, or you are very, very confused. Go back and read the two entries before this.


. . . good? Everyone on the same page now?

(sorry, sometimes I get a little silly. . .)


Could I be wrong about all this? Of course. Do I really believe that I have had encounters with some kind of evil spiritual being(s)? Yes, I do. And I don't think that SP is the only way that this happens. It's all about how aware we are of the world around us, and it works both ways. We can begin to see the hand of God in many things. . . so doesn't it make sense that we can also see the hand of evil working in the world as well? We can choose to see the Painter's hand in the sunset and the Composer's musings in the birds, but can't we also see the deception of the master of lies in the media? Can't we chalk up the confusion of religion, denominations, and belief systems to he who wants to keep everyone from knowing Truth and Love?

Far too often we as Christians jump all over the workings of God in life (which is not a bad thing) and ignore the presence of His opposition (which is a VERY bad thing). We fail to realize that we are truly in the midst of war.

I don't remember what book it was, but I read this idea that thoughts come from three places: the Holy Spirit and the forces of God, the Devil and his army, and within ourselves. To me that is such a freeing idea, because it means that EVERY THOUGHT THAT CROSSES OUR MIND IS NOT NECESSARILY LEGITIMATE. If we are able to sift through our thoughts and figure out "Will this bring me closer to God and further His will or not?" about everything that we think, we should be able to live a fantastic life. Unfortunately, that's not always an easy task, especially when we are dealing with a very powerful fallen angel. Think about it: he knows what Heaven, God, Jesus, and eternity are actually like. He used to reside there!!! The best deception is made by one who is familiar with what they are lying about, because they are able to put in enough of the truth to seem believable and yet leave out details or misrepresent parts of it so that ultimately the entire picture is distorted.

Another little caveat- Satan orchestrated the death of Christ! Isn't that kind of mind blowing? And he thought he had won. . . but Christ rose three days later, and we now can grab onto that victory! (PS, very interesting website)

All of that to say this: we fight an incredibly strong enemy. How thankful and humbled I am to serve an all-powerful God who has already won this struggle for me!


. . . so back to SP. It started when I really started pulling away from God in a major way. Looking back at it now, I think it was happening either as celebration for them and/or as a way to drive me deeper and further from Him (which it did). Things started to change once I moved down here, and I figured the SP episodes were behind me, but no such luck. I don't really know what to make of the ones I had this fall/early winter except maybe to dissuade me from taking those first steps back into growing in my faith. But I strongly believe God allowed/wanted the one a few months ago to happen right along with the timing of my exploring spiritual warfare and taking huge strides towards aligning my life with His will so that I can accomplish what I'm supposed to do with my time here on Earth. And (I may have already said this) the most recent episode I think is a desperate attempt to again just scare me off and hamper my progress towards the goal.

Unfortunately for him, I've already had more than enough of a taste of God's power to know with whom I will align my life. I'll endure SP as long as I have the opportunity to turn it around and use it for His glory.




I hope that, at the very least, you have begun to look at some of the things in your life a little differently. I don't know when (if ever) I might have SP again, but I do know that joy of the Lord is way bigger than any struggles or trials I will have in this life.