Rays of Light

Ghosts are real, but they are not the displaced spirits of those who died and cannot, for whatever reason, cross to the other side. They are something far more sinister than that! I know because I grew up in a home steeped in the occult –a place where things went “bump in the night” far too often.

So you know, even though today is October 31st, this is not some spooky Halloween story. If you are looking for that, you’ve come to the wrong place. In fact, I abhor Halloween –but no lectures, I promise. No, this is not a Halloween story; it is quite the opposite. You see, Halloween exalts all that is dark and evil, but today I want to share with you a very real story of light and of triumph over evil.

The particulars of my childhood are not important at the moment, but I assure you, they were, for the most part, dark and horrific. People have, on occasion, asked me to recount the gruesome details, and I have, but for today, I prefer to jump ahead in the narrative to the first several months after I encountered the Lord Jesus Christ, and the spiritual warfare that ensued.

(To read the condensed testimony of my miraculous encounter with Jesus Christ, click this link: His Invisible Hand)

I have no doubt that the forces of Heaven and hell were engaged in battle on the day that I offered my heart to Jesus Christ, my Savior, but I’ll leave it at that. Heaven won. And though my life was changed instantly, and profoundly, in so many ways, it would still take many years to heal some of the wounds. It would also take several months to conquer some of the demons that invaded my dreams night after night. I have never used the term demons in these pages before, but in this case, the term is very accurate.

You see, even after I accepted Jesus into my life, my dreams were frequently infested with demons. Sometimes they merely frightened me or chased me, at other times, I physically wrestled with them. At first, all of the dreams had two things in common, aside from the obvious warfare; they all started the same way, and they were very difficult to escape because I couldn’t manage to awaken fast enough.

However, something interesting happened early on. One night, in the middle of a particularly horrible dream, I managed to utter the name Jesus. It was barely a whisper, but it was a big accomplishment given the level of fear I experienced during those dreams. Nonetheless, the dream, and the battle within, continued for a little while longer. It’s not that the LORD failed to rescue me when I called upon His name; He was merely teaching me how to effectively combat my enemy and to trust in Him. Make no mistake, He was watching over me every second.

Over the course of time, as I grew stronger in my faith and knowledge of God’s holy Word, I found myself not only calling upon Jesus, but doing so sooner and sooner, until at  last I was able to call upon His name at the very beginning of any such dream so that it would end as quickly as it started.

There is power in the name of Jesus!

Allow me to digress for just a moment. I have many friends who prefer to call Jesus by His Hebrew birth name Yeshua. Our LORD was born a Hebrew, and this is His true birth name. For the record, I prefer to call Him Yeshua also, and usually do. Nevertheless, I know that my LORD speaks every language, and I know that there is power in His name no matter which language it is spoken in.

Oddly, after all these years I still have one of those awful dreams ever so often. Truthfully, I had one a few nights ago. This one was so intense I woke my husband with my thrashing and shouting, “Jesus!” As always, shouting “Jesus!” was all it took; even in my dreams, my enemies are vanquished by that name.

I am writing this today, dear reader, because Halloween is upon us again. Most adults assume that this is nothing more than a fun holiday for kids. I promised not to lecture, so I won’t get into the truth behind Halloween, nor what the Bible has to say about it. I will, however, remind you that Halloween can be a very scary time for kids, especially in today’s macabre culture. If your child should, therefore, become frightened, or someone you know finds himself in a spiritual battle, please remind them that they can freely ask Jesus for help. He is as close as the mention of His name, even to those who have never called upon Him before, and He longs to show them that He cares!