The Spirit Realm is Real

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Hey, welcome to Self Talk. It's me, Dr. Ray Self. This is episode 242. Hard to believe we've done that many episodes of Self Talk. Today I'm talking about something supernatural. The supernatural realm that is here, it's around you, and it's affecting you. It's affecting your life. It's affecting your success, your health, your happiness, your family, your job, your money, and you must be aware of it. This is an important show. Pay attention. The show is sponsored by my ministry, the International College of Ministry, now enrolling at icmcollege.org. Check us out. Don't forget to subscribe and like, and do all the things that help the show progress. I appreciate you joining me, Self Talk with Dr. Ray Self. Let's get going. 

Okay, folks, I want to read a scripture to you starting out, then we'll pray. The, the verse is uh, Ephesians 6:12. Let's go into the word of God. Ephesians 6:12, written by Paul, says, "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." Now, Paul is saying there's a battle going on. There's a fight going on. And the fight that we have as Christians is not against the natural. Flesh and blood means what is natural, what is normal, you know, flesh and blood, us people. But our battle is against the supernatural, principalities, powers, rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. That is our fight. And the reason Paul says that is we have a battle. Of course, he tells us to put on the full armor of God so we can stand firm against these enemies. But not to be aware that there is a supernatural realm that is around us is just foolish. To be aware of that is really critical for your health, your family, your job, everything about you. This realm is a sup– there's a supernatural realm and a natural realm. Now our normal tendency is we just live in the natural. What I can see, what I can touch, what I can feel. You know, it's just that that's the natural realm. But Paul's making it clear that there's another realm that is attacking us and, and fighting us. So, it's important to be aware of the two realms. 

Now, in the spirit realm, there are spirits. There's the Holy Spirit, which is the good guy, and there are the other spirits, which are the bad guys. And these bad guys, they want to steal, kill, and destroy. They're out to hurt you and your kids and your job and your wealth and your health. However, the good news is we have been given authority over this realm. The Bible says very clearly in James, if we submit to God and resist the devil, he will flee from us. Also in the book of Luke, he says, “I've given you authority over snakes and scorpions and all the power of the enemy.” So, we have power within us. We have the Holy Spirit within us, which is the power to defeat this dark realm. But you must be aware that there is a dark realm and not ignore it. Now, I don't want to focus on the dark realm. These demons that are all around us. I don't focus on them. But I do want to deal with them. You know my last show is talking about whatever you focus on will control you. Well, my focus needs to be on the Lord, on Jesus, on the Holy Spirit, on His word, on what is pure, what is lovely, what is of good report. That's my focus. However, not to deal with demonic influence is silly and ridiculous, and dangerous. Paul said a little bit later in that same chapter, " Do not be ignorant of the schemes of the enemy.” Satan is out to hurt you. There is another realm. 

And it, to me…now sometimes with the spiritual gift of discernment, you can discern, which means become aware of these dark forces supernaturally. But even if you do not have the supernatural gift of discernment, you can tell when these dark forces are operating because things are happening that don't make sense. Things are, the negative is being magnified. There's things coming against you. Back in the old days, people say, "Oh, it's just bad luck,” or “It's Murphy's Law,” or “How unfortunate." And what we're calling bad luck or Murphy's Law or uh, bad karma, so many times is demonic influence. And it's important to be aware because when you're aware of it, you can take authority. You can rebuke this influence. You can stand against this influence and use the name of Jesus, the name above all names, and you can take care of these demons. You can cause these demons to flee from your home, to flee from your life, to flee from your children. You can be free of this, but if you ignore them, it's just, it's, it's, it's not smart. It's not smart to ignore them and let them to continue to wreak havoc in your marriage, in your job, in your finances, and in your health. Well, that's why Paul warned us that we have a battle, and it's not against normal things. It's against the supernatural.

So, you know, how do you know? Well, when it's just weird, and it's beyond explanation. “Why does this keep happening to me? Why do I keep feeling this way? Why am I misinterpreting things? Why are these things– why do these things keep happening to me? It, it seems like I'm cursed.” Well, it's a demonic attack. And you know, one of the greatest attacks in your life is the attack against your purpose and your call. And I've taught on this for years. You have a purpose. You have a call from God. You have a call to something great, something beyond your– exceedingly abundantly better and greater than you could ever think or imagine. And because of this call of God on your life, Satan will attack you. And he uses his demons to attack you. And they attack you with, with weapons like shame, guilt, condemnation, confusion, uh, frustration, dark thoughts, thoughts of worthlessness, fear, anxiety. All these things are not from God. And they're, they're demonically influenced. 

You know, there's a big argument, well, can Christians have demons? Can…blah, blah, blah. Let me tell you something. Whether Christians can have demons or not, actually, I think they can. I don't think you can be possessed because you have the Holy Spirit, but you can definitely be attacked. I see Christians and pastors and, and every pastor in the country will tell you, "Yeah, do demons attack us? Absolutely, they attack us. Do they come after us? Yes, they do.” But to be aware of them and to have an awareness of them and what they're up to is just plain smart. In the same chapter where these verses are, we read, Paul talks about putting on the armor, armor of God, so we can stand firm against the schemes of the enemy. So one thing is to be aware of the supernatural realm around you. Another thing I want to talk about, very important, we're coming, as I'm recording this podcast, we're getting close to this horrible holiday called Halloween. Halloween, high holy day for the Satanist. Should you practice Halloween? In my opinion, no. Absolutely not. And let me just get practical with this. I know it's fun for the kids to get dressed up and, and go get candy and all this kind of stuff. I get it. You know, I get– I did it when I was young. But let me tell you something. Demons look for invitations. They look for open doors. When you put skeletons and demonic influence and demonic symbols outside your house, you are opening up a door for demonic attack. I know it's just fun. You put these ghosts out, and all this creepy stuff, but all this creepy stuff is like a magnet to demonic influence. It's really interesting. I've seen a couple of videos just recently, one of them by uh, one of them by a former Satanist, another by former witches, and they will tell you, you know, these are Satanists that converted to Jesus and a former witch that now is a Christian. And they will tell you how evil Halloween is and all the curses and assignments. This one witch, I was– a former witch, I was listening to an interview with her. She talked about how the witches would go into the stores where they sell the costumes and place curses on all the costumes. They would go around the neighborhood and place curses on every house that had this demonic stuff in their yard. They would even go into the stores that sold candy and place curses on the candy. And it is a very demonic holiday. 

Listen, we're to give no place to evil. And so, you know, I don't want you to be freaked out about, about it, but why would you want to put things in your house that are demonic that give invitation? To the devil? Now, I've done a lot of deliverance ministry in, in my, in my day, and I've seen this time and time again that demons seem to be attracted to certain objects. It's almost like demons are looking for an open door or an invitation. And so what, in my opinion, is, that these demonic symbols that we people put out as decorations to me, if I was a demon, I would be looking at that and go, "Oh, here's a place that I look that I'm welcome to come into." And to me, it's just, it's just dangerous. It's dangerous. Could you get away with it and nothing happened? Absolutely, you might. But it's also dangerous because the demonic oppression, the demonic, uh, attack that could happen because of all this is very, very possible. You can dismiss this if you want, but I wouldn't do it. If you, if you look up uh, on TikTok or YouTube, some of the interviews with these witches and former Satanists who have now got saved, and they will tell you their version of Halloween, and it is absolutely creepy. So, I don't believe you should celebrate it. I don't believe you should get involved in it. Uh, and if you do, and I know you've got kids and they're looking forward to it, try to do it, you know, dress them up as, as a Disney princess, and try to stay away from the demonic evil side of it, okay? And then pray over your kids, you know, pray protection over your kids, the name of Jesus over your kids, and you'll probably be, probably be okay. But demons look for open doors. 

They look for uh, weaknesses. They look for sore spots. They look for uh, wounds. They look for a weakness in your personality. They look for a weakness in your, your family. And they attack in weak areas. It's so sad. If you've ever been into a, a nursing home, in so many nursing homes, you can just feel a demonic presence in the nursing home. And to me, it's because there's, there's elderly people there who are very vulnerable. Demons love to attack in vulnerable areas. Not only are they looking for invitations to come into your house, but they're also looking for vulnerability, for wounds. Maybe you, you suffer with uh, uh fear of rejection or fear of abandonment. And of course, obviously, that's where they're going to attack you. Uh, maybe you've gone through a lot of uh, abuse and rejection in your life. That's where they're going to attack you. But when you're, when you're aware of their schemes, and you're aware of the spirit realm that is around you, you can resist it. This way you can go, “I will submit to God. I'll resist the devil, and I will flee– he will flee from me.” And again, Paul said, do– we not– “We do not battle against flesh and blood. We battle against principalities and dark forces.” So to be aware of this. 

Now, the good news is you have victory over all of this. You have victory over all of this in the name of Jesus. At the name of Jesus Christ, every knee will bow. The name of Jesus Christ is very powerful. You have the Holy Spirit in you. The Holy Spirit in you is greater and more powerful than any demonic spirit out there. But if you do not take the authority and use the authority that has been given you, these demons will eat your lunch, so to speak.

So, the important thing is, what I'm trying to get around to is, don't invite them into your home. Don't do things that make them feel welcome. But if you do sense demonic influence, like things are happening that shouldn't be happening, things are going wrong that shouldn't be going wrong, there's, there's confusion, there's shame, there's uh, it seems like everything is cursed, nothing is happening correct, your finances have just dried up, you're getting sick for no reason, there's strife for no reason, all these things are happening. Then you've got a demonic attack. And once you know you're being attacked by that, you can go into warfare mode. You can say, "In the name of Jesus Christ, I rebuke every assignment against my family. I renounce every assignment against my marriage, against my ministry, against my finances, against my body. I claim the name of Jesus. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, I rebuke you, Satan. I rebuke this attack upon me. I rebuke this attack upon my family. I command you to go. I command you to get out now in the name of Jesus Christ, and you will never return.” You take authority. You cast the demons out. You tell them to go. You rebuke them. You renounce them. And you also, you, you renounce and, and ask forgiveness for anything you've done that invited them in. But if you know they're there, you know, after you've renounced and repented for your part in the equation, rebuke them. Get them out. Resist them. And he will flee from you. You've been given authority. Mark 16, “These signs will follow those that believe: in My name. They will cast out demons.” You have the ability to fight and to overcome this demonic influence. 

So yeah, Halloween is a time when demons are flying around like flies. It's like you just put a bunch of honey out in a hot summer day, and the flies are coming. Well, that's what Halloween does. It attracts a lot of demons. So if your kids are involved in it, pray for them. Pray protection over them. Pray the name of Jesus over them. I know you don't want– you want them to get their candy, I get it. But pray for them before they go out. That's the, le– the least you can do. And it's important that you do that. And claim the name and the power and the authority of Jesus Christ over them. But in your life in general, there are dark forces that are trying to do things bad to you, your marriage, and your kids. But the good news is in the spirit realm is the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit is a thousand times greater than any demonic spirit. And you have the Holy Spirit. And the– those that are led by the Spirit are the sons of God. Allow the Holy Spirit to control your life. Allow the Holy Spirit to do what He does. Be saturated in the word of God and let the Holy Spirit flow through you and around you, and you've got nothing to worry about because you're protected. You're under the, the covering of God. But if you do not know who you are and exercise your rights, then these trespassing demons will attack you. But if you enforce your rights as a Christian full of the Holy Spirit, you've got nothing, you've got nothing to be concerned about. But this other realm is real. But the power in you is more real. The Holy Spirit in the name of Jesus Christ. Use that name. Use the power within you, and victory is yours. Amen. Amen. 

This is Dr. Self. I know this is kind of a heavy show, but I hope it has blessed you, and I hope it has helped you. Amen. Amen. Well, thank you for listening again to episode 242. I'm Dr. Ray Self. I, I appreciate you. I, I want to pray for you right now. Heavenly Father, I pray for everyone listening to the show. I pray, Father, that nobody would be condemned, but maybe some people would be convicted by you. Father, I ask for special protection over all the listeners to the show and their family for this season, uh, that, that seems to just invite more demonic activity. I thank you, Father, for the name above all names. I thank you for your protection, for your anointing, uh, for the covering of the name of Jesus Christ. So Lord, bless everyone listening to this podcast today. Let them flourish in all they do. Let them be blessed coming in and blessed going out, blessed in the city, and blessed in the country, Father. And I thank you, Father, you've given us authority, the authority of the name of all names, Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Thank you, Lord. In Jesus name I pray. Amen. Amen.

Well, that's it, folks. Thank you for listening to Self Talk with Dr. Ray Self. Uh, please check out the website for the show. That's where you can subscribe, get on the mailing list. Uh, give me a review. That really helps more– us get more downloads. We had a great increase last week. I want to thank y'all for that. Uh, the website for the show, the easiest way is through this link, icmcollege.org/selftalk. icmcollege.org/selftalk. Amen. Amen. Thank you so much. Tell your friends about this show. God bless you. Thank you so much.