The righteous person is cautious in his friendship, but the way of the wicked leads them astray…

Proverbs 12:26

So I was having an enjoyable prayer session around the hours of 2am, but increasingly for about 1 steady hour there had been an increasingly terrible noise of dog fighting within the compound behind my flat that required disruption. I had to abandon prayer, open the doors and proceed round the back to see what the fuss was all about: I was confronted with a pretty gruesome sight where one big wild dog had the throat of one of the domestic ones in a death grip, steadily squeezing the life out of it. But 1st some background…..

I live in a compound with other families, some of whom have pets. Where we live there are few stray dogs that wander about the area. But there is this particular one which has marked our street as its territory (** demonic spirits are quite territorial too). One of those who dwell at the gate had taken a fondness for the stray and would often feed it scraps. The stray soon took to dwelling outside our gates within proximity to the gatekeeper. We all tolerated it as it looked harmless enough. In time this stray dog became comfortable enough to shift its place of habitation to within the premises still by the gates. The immediate effect of this was that the ambient noise level in the compound increased beyond normal as the presence of this new ‘occupant’ often tended to aggravate the other pets dwelling within the grounds. Still we all tolerated it. Unknown to us whilst we slept at nights, it soon began wandering deeper within the grounds – marking territory. For the last few nights there had been mounting confrontations between this much stronger and larger stray and the domestic pets in the middle of the night. This particular night the cacophony was so vicious and loud that no one could sleep any longer, my side of the building all awoke to see what it was all about. I was confronted with the sight of this stray strangling one of the pets to within an inch of its life.

I shooed it away, it didn’t budge. I shouted at it – it held its grip. I threw the 1st brick as a warning, it didn’t budge. Then a second. Still it wouldn’t let go!. Provoked I took the 3rd brick and stoned the aggressor directly, wounding it. Then it leg go of its grip and ran off. I ensured it was driven out of the grounds and the gates locked against it. By the time I returned inside everyone was up. Upon returning to prayer I was so irritated that I couldn’t find my rhythm anymore. So I abandoned prayer and sat to relax.

Suddenly certain points of understanding began to flood into my mind. They are as follows:

Key Revelatory Takeaways

  1. In this corrupt world, there are demonic ‘strays’ & evil spirits who have been banished from the presence of the most high and are wondering about on this earth sore and embittered. Seeking whom to inhabit, and people to dominate. Mark 5:2-13. Mathew 12:43-45 Rev 12:4. Rev 12:9. John 14:30. Mark 9:25.
  2. These stray spirits often put on on a harmless and friendly guise [Human or Inhuman] & work through vessels and means which are designed to lull us into a false sense of security as they begin to spin their devices of temptations and engagement which are targeted at luring us into their traps. [They always aim at the 3 points of temptation: The Lust of the Flesh | The Lust of the Eyes | The pride of Life]
    E.g. The serpent in the garden of Eden. Gen 3:1.
  3. Their incursion into our lives and domains often begins with our “tolerance” of them. We may fail to recognize them as a threat and even be dismissive of them at 1st. Our tolerance will often mature into ‘fondness’. ‘Fondness’ into ‘engagement’. Engagement into ‘Entrapment’. Entrapment into ‘Oppression’.
  4. The actions or inactions of our gatekeepers can have far reaching impact on those connected to them.
    Paternal patriarchs are gatekeepers in a lineage. Fathers are gatekeepers in a family. Mothers are also gatekeepers. Pastors are gatekeepers over a congregation. Chiefs/Kings and rulers are gatekeepers over a community. Their carelessness or diligence in guarding the gates against strays will produce ripple effects (positive or negative) which will flow downward toward all those within their domains. Impacting them directly or indirectly.
  5. If strays successfully gain entry, they may be docile and compliant for a time [even as long as one or 2 generations], content with raising the ‘ambient temperature‘ in the home/family/community/nation through their encoded “whisperings” “backbiting’s” “false accusations” and “victimhood displays”. Subtly turning brother against sister, husband against wife, father against son, mother against daughter, congregation against leadership. These activities generate noise – which is counter to peace and rest.
  6. Eventually they will begin to ‘bare their fangs‘ and assert themselves especially against the weaker elements in our midst. What began with tolerance will evolve into being a thorn in the flesh, ultimately maturing into OPPRESSION. What we tolerate and even abide may eventually become a point of oppression over us.
  7. As it was with the stray, one of the usual results will be OPPRESSION AND NOISE UNTIL WE ALL NO LONGER HAVE REST.
  8. We must arise and purge them from within our boundaries if we are to have rest again.
    Yet once embedded, do not expect them to yield their ground so easily without application of brute force!
  9. The march toward recovery can start with one person bearing the 3 stones. The one ‘catalyst’ must not just be a nominal professing Christian, but one who is truly living the life and has yielded themselves wholly unto the Lord. Ideally such a one has gone through the process of Death-Burial-Resurrection. The 3 stones required to drive them out of our familial territory/communal territory/ and national territory can be likened to the 3 things that bear witness on the Earth in 1 John 5:7-8. The Spirit. The Word. and The Blood. All 3 things wholly reconciled in the person of Christ Jesus must bear full and active witness in our lives in order that we may conform to the image & actions of the overcomer that Christ is in us.
    This is true at a family level, at community Level and even on a National Level.
    Anything short of this will not be able to deal with stubborn oppressors!

Pointer Questions.

  • What things have you being toying with as a gatekeeper of a family/church/community?
  • What things have our family/community/national gatekeepers entered into fellowship or tolerated that has become a point of oppression in our lives today?
  • What ‘harmless evils’ have you been feeding secretly?
  • What ‘harmless’ videos on Instagram/Tik-Tok have you been keeping close to your eye gates?
  • Whose is the loudest voice at your ear gates? and what fruit has it been producing in your heart?
  • What secret thoughts have you been pampering close to the gates of your heart?
  • What old hurts and offences have you being nursing at the gates of your lips?
  • Have you been keeping company with the unfriendly friend?
  • In what ways have you unknowingly collaborated with the hidden aggressor to the detriment of others in the church? in your marriage? in your family? and in the nation?
  • What are the habitual sins you have tolerated? and are still tolerating around your habitation?
  • Are you willing to present yourself as a vessel for God to enforce the victory of Christ and flush out the oppressor in your family? community? church? or are you ok with it being someone else’s problem?

Prayer.

May the Lord open our eyes to recognize the truth of our situations. May He unmask the trespassing strays within our families – the church and our communities. May His redeeming blood, God’s creative and Eternal word and The Living Holy Spirit bear witness in and through us this season in putting the evil trespassers to flight from all the boundaries of our lives. Through His mercies and favor may we receive the wisdom to repair all our gates! And may we finally come into HIS rest in all areas of our lives in Jesus name.

For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.

Jude vs 4.