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By Brian Schultz
I was raised in a Christian home by godly parents who gave me a strong belief in God. They taught me the difference between good and evil and that God was the author of all that is good and Satan the author of all that is bad.
When I was 15 years of age I started to question everything that my parents had taught me. I knew God was calling me to Himself because I was unable to escape the tug on my heart. However, I was unwilling to submit to Him; I wanted to take my time and consider all my options.
When I heard God’s Word preached at church, my heart would become a little softer and a little closer to doing what I knew was right.
One evening I was watching TV, so I was the last one to go to bed. When the program ended I became aware of a presence in the middle of the room. I didn’t know what it was but I didn’t want to go near it. I walked around the edge of the room to turn the TV off, then down the hall to my bedroom.
When all the lights were out and I was in bed, I was aware that the presence had followed me and was on my desk. Because it hadn’t done anything, I wasn’t worried and soon fell asleep.
I was startled awake by a man’s deep voice loudly calling my name. Now I knew for sure something was there. I hoped it would go away, so I lay still and drifted off to sleep. But the voice startled me out of my sleep again. I realized it wasn’t going to go away and I had no idea how to make it leave. What would I do if it physically attacked me? I was terrified. I seemed to be completely at its mercy.
I knew God was greater than this thing. But not being a Christian, I knew I had no right to come to God and ask Him to take care of the situation. Oddly enough I was still not willing to make a commitment to Him. I did the next best thing; I went to wake up my father and have him use his connection with God to fix the situation. He had successfully dealt with this sort of thing with others.
But my dad paid little attention to me. He told me to go back to bed. I was surprised and worried. He was supposed to be my safety net, but he didn’t seem interested. Reluctantly I went to my room. Fortunately, there were no more voices that night.
The next day was Saturday when the family went shopping. I stayed home. I thought I would take my mind off the strange happenings by listening to some music and playing a video game. A few moments later a new encounter began. This time I was able to see the being. When he called my name I looked up and he shot off to the other side of the room. I thought I would ignore him or drown him out with my music. I turned up the music and continued to play my game. When I did this a few more of them appeared. When the music was at full volume, there were now 15 or 20 of them all calling my name in a frenzy. I noticed one bigger than the others standing still. He was outside my window staring in but not taking part. It was obvious that he was directing the whole thing. When I looked at him he took off but returned a few seconds later.
I thought to myself, This encounter is organized and effective. I was terrified. I turned off the music and the game and went out for a walk. The voices and sightings stopped immediately. But I was in great distress. How could I get out of the situation? I saw two possibilities. First, since there was no place to hide from such beings, suicide seemed the only way out. But I wasn’t willing to take my own life. Anyhow, it would forever give the evil ones full control over me to torment me for all eternity in hell. The second solution was to accept Jesus Christ as my personal Savior. For some reason I still didn’t want to do that either. So I thought I would wait until I thought of a third solution.
That night the whole process was repeated. This time when I told my parents they talked with me for a while. They explained that if I did not accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior they would not cast those beings out because the Bible tells us if an evil spirit is cast out and the place it occupied remains it will return and bring others with it. The condition of the person will be worse. (See Matt. 12:43-45.)
I was almost ready to make my decision for Christ. My parents did not pressure me; they left it up to me. The next day was Sunday and for the first time in my life I was eager to go to church. I felt an evil presence around me until I stepped into the church building. I knew it was because God’s presence was there. For the first time in two days I felt completely safe. I stayed in the church as long as I could and eagerly returned in the evening.
When we arrived home after church my parents began to talk to me about the matter. They explained that music is a form of praise and God and the angels are drawn to it. In Psalm 22:3 we read that our holy God “inhabits the praises of His people.” Satan, too, wants praise. He wants to be God and is trying to imitate Him. He desires the praise of people and my music was glorifying to him. The evil ones thrive on it. Now I understood why their activity increased while the music was playing. It drew them in!
My parents asked if I was ready to make a commitment to Christ. This time I did not hestitate. I repented of my sins, asked for God’s forgiveness and asked Him to cleanse me with the blood of Jesus. I then turned the control of my life to Him.
Our next step was to take authority over Satan and his demons and cast them out. I realized I could no longer keep that record in my bedroom. I insisted we take it to the refuse dump immediately. My mother and I went down there together to finish in action what we had begun in faith—getting Satan’s stronghold out of my life.
I started to throw the record in the dumpster but stopped. I wanted to make sure that no one else would get a hold of it and go through what I did. I also wanted to emphasize to Satan that I was done with him. I broke the record and stepped on it to show that the hold of music and Satan were now under my feet because I was in Christ. (See Eph.1:22.) My mother and I shouted the victory and praised God all the way home!
I am grieved when I see Christians, both young and old, listening to secular music. Even after I share my testimony with them, they insist that it is a matter of choice that they are entitled to make.
Remember God is holy and Satan is evil; the two don’t mix. We will follow one or the other. God warns: “I call heaven and earth to witness against you, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you and your seed may live” (Deut. 30:19).
Yes, God gave us a choice to make, but He also gave us the answer. He said, “so choose life.” This word was given to us as a command from God Himself and if we are in direct disobedience to Him, we will suffer the consequences (results). I implore you to choose life so that you and your children may live the life of freedom that God intends for you!
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