Day 167: Luke 11:24–28

When an unclean spirit comes out of a man, it roams through waterless places looking for rest, and not finding rest, it then says: “I’ll go back to my house where I came from” (v. 24).

Satan is a lot of things, but creative is not often one of them. He ordinarily sticks to what has worked in the past. I’ve experienced this personally when he has attempted to return to an area in my life where he held a previous stronghold—even though he’s already been forced to leave.

Beloved, listen carefully. We were created by God to be inhabited by His Spirit. We were not created to be empty. The vacuum in every human life does not yearn to be fixed. It yearns to be filled. God can deliver us from a terribly oppressive stronghold, but if we don’t fill the void with Him, we are terribly susceptible to a relapse.

My Sunday school class has what we call VIPs—Victors in Process. Every quarter, members who need extra prayer and accountability come before our class for special notice. Throughout the quarter, they can hardly get through the door without lots of hugs and direct questions about how they’re doing. One of our recent VIPs was a beautiful young woman recovering from a fierce cocaine addiction. How wise she was to realize that she couldn’t just “get clean.” If she was going to be safe, she had to fill the cavernous void left behind by cocaine with the satisfying, liberating filling of the Holy Spirit.

I’m telling you, a second round of the same demonic stronghold can be more powerful than the first. What a frightening prospect for someone who isn’t sealed by the Holy Spirit (see Eph. 1:13; 4:30). Sure, most of us are at higher risk of oppression than possession, but the principle still applies: once we’ve been delivered from a stronghold, if we make ourselves vulnerable to it again, our second encounter may be far worse.

This is because Satan hates to lose. If he was defeated once, given the opportunity, he’ll try harder the next time. Furthermore, a second onslaught can cause such discouragement and feelings of hopelessness within the victim, she feels weaker than ever. Satan also knows that the empty space—if left uninhabited by Christ—leaves the victim with a voracious appetite. So let’s repeat this concept until it’s engraved in our cranium: victory is not determined as much by what we’ve been delivered from as by what we’ve been delivered to. It’s not enough to be swept clean and put in order. We must be filled full of God.