As any of my friends can attest, I often have really insane and vivid dreams. And I have a real knack for remembering them too. The other night, I had one I’d like to share with you.
It was Christmas time, and my sisters and I were at home with the Christmas tree. I unwrapped a gift, and it was a doll with long hair. As I examined the doll and the box it came in, I realized that it was not a doll, but a demon. The demon came to life, and began to become a burden on me. I tried to ignore it, but as I did, the burden got heavier. We tried getting rid of it, but nothing would work. We threw it away, and it came back. We tried destroying it, and still it could not be destroyed. We tried to burn it, break it, chop it in a million pieces, but still it would not be broken. Every time we tried to get rid of it, it would taunt us.
I finally gave up on destroying it, and decided that if we were going to live with it, we would have to contain it. So I grabbed the doll by the hair and held it against the staircase. I tied the doll’s hair in knots to the stair railing, and watched it try to break free. My sisters and I walked away from it, finally unbothered by the demon trying to break free.
The dream moved forward a few days, and suddenly I was with some our youth at campus ministry. I saw them being chased by the very demon that had tormented me. It had managed to escape the knot, and was now going after our kids. The youth came to me asking me what they should do about this demon, and I suddenly remembered. I told them to take authority over it and call on the name of Jesus. I told them to call it out, speak out loud, and tell it that it must leave in Jesus’ name. Tell it that we are sons and daughters of God, and that this demon has no place in our lives, and it must go. They were scared to do it, so we practiced. They called out upon the name of Jesus, and took refuge and authority under his name. The demon instantly became a flat little piece of paper, and blew away in the wind.
I know I have insane dreams. But let’s look deeper. When I woke up, I realized that in my life I have forgotten to call upon the name of Jesus.
Jesus’ name is so powerful that every lie and every fear must bow down to it.
If I am facing difficulty and experiencing anxiety, why don’t I remember to call upon the name of Jesus? Sometimes calling out the lies and fears and spirits that plague us can be frightening; naming them out loud makes the struggle feel more real. But when we take authority with Jesus’ name, it reminds us that his victory is real too. Jesus’ victory is more real even than our struggles, and gives us freedom from the bondage that holds us captive.
If we try and ignore the lies and fears, they will only present themselves differently and more powerfully. We need to call out what they are, and banish them in Jesus’ name. Jesus went through extraordinary measures to set us free from bondage- coming as a child, living, dying, and rising again- so we need to take advantage of the gift of freedom he has already given. If we do, we will discover that the freedom we have been offered is greater than any fear we might have had in the first place.
“At the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Phil. 2:10-11