“People all over the world — including many dedicated Christians — are struggling in cyclical patterns of defeat,” writes Christian author Kynan Bridges.
“They are silently crying out, ‘Why do I keep going through this issue time and time again?’
“They spend a large portion of their lives struggling with various sins, difficulties, and types of spiritual bondage. It might be continual conflict in their marriage, a prolonged inability to conceive, incessant financial difficulties, a sense of being mired in the past, or any one of a number of other issues.
“They constantly live with frustration, worry, anger, or a sense of hopelessness, thinking there is no way out.”
Over the years, says Bridges, he has come across such patterns countless times, and in pleading for insight to the Holy Spirit, arrived at the understanding that the root of many bad cycles, of “being stuck in the mud,” of various forms of failure and oppression, is often in what the Bible calls “familiar spirits”: dark entities who for one reason or another roost on or infest us, hiding in our being just as a vagabond might try to hide in a basement cubbyhole, attic, or secret passageway.
“These evil spirits are called ‘familiar’ because they are attached to specific individuals, families, bloodlines, or places,” adds the author. “The Bible makes reference to generational curses or generational iniquity and the presence of sinful patterns in people’s lives.”
The reason such spirits are “familiar” is that “they have closely watched us or our families, and the reason why some people struggle with the same type of affliction over and again is that the spirits have been assigned to that particular family line and are instructed to watch its members.”
And so it is that we are making Bridges’ book, Overcoming Familiar Spirits, available: It is highly readable. And there is much in it. The subtitle: “Deliverance From Unseen Demonic Enemies and Spiritual Debts.”
Intriguing — and useful — to say the least.
How many suffer, blindly.
Fatigue. Discouragement. Financial woe. The same old same old, when it comes to problems.
Addiction. Loneliness. Division.
Anger.
Oh, anger!
The list is long.
And torment?
“Contrary to what many people believe, spiritual warfare is not some mystical or ethereal activity that takes place in a distant dimension,” Bridges comments. “Rather, the battlefield of spiritual warfare is in the mind. Most of what the enemy attempts to do to bring God’s people into bondage involves our thoughts. As we seek to become free of familiar spirits and keep them from gaining a foothold in our lives, we must be sure we understand where the spiritual battles are fought and won.”
[resources: Overcoming Familiar Spirits]
