My Encounter with Satan -
A testimonial teaching concerning
Satan and Evil Spirits!

You are here at number 2 (The Enemy of Mankind).

The Enemy of Mankind and/or
My Experience with the Devil, Himself

I have heard some pastors/people say that the devil is just a toothless lion making loud roars and that he is dumb. They probably have developed this notion because of the devil's misconceived idea that he could overthrow God! But, for the leaders of a church to say these things to an unlearned audience plants the wrong idea about Satan in their minds! These leaders are unknowingly being used by Satan! Neither Jesus, the disciples, nor the angels ever said these types of things about the devil. The Devil is the "Master of Deception" and a formidable enemy.

Jude 1:9
Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.

Michael, the warring archangel, treated the devil with respect! If you don't think the devil is a formidable enemy and has caused a formidable problem, then why did God have/need to send His own Son to defeat him and take care of that problem? We must understand that the devil knew full well what he was doing in the garden with Eve, and he knew full well what he was trying to do when he was tempting Jesus. Satan is the most intelligent creation of God. He knows and understands so much about God and His Word that he actually thought he could be as God and dethrone Him.

If you think I am glorifying the devil too much, or raising the devil up too high, then let me share a truth! If you downplay the devil and his powers, then you have down played the Lord, what He did, and the whole Bible. If you maintain that the devil is just a loud roar with no clout and not the Master of what he does, then you're saying the Lord didn't do much, that He didn't overcome much, that it really didn't matter! Our Lord overcame a formidable enemy! Everything that is despicable and against God (and us) in any way originated in the devil! Wake up Church, he is your enemy. Don't play like he isn't there!

This article's purpose is not to teach the authority of the believer over the powers of darkness but to enlighten us concerning Satan's METHODS OF DECEPTION. A clearer picture of Satan's personal abilities and activities is what the Lord is after here. When the Lord revealed that I was to talk more about the devil, He showed me two sentences on the same line! The first sentence said something about Jesus and the next sentence said something about Satan. God put both sentences on the same line for a purpose! I know from what I've learned that there is not enough taught about Satan in the churches. Satan loves the thought, "Don't talk about the devil, you are glorifying him, you are detracting from Jesus." I can tell you, if you don't talk about the devil, then you have detracted from Jesus! He is the reason Jesus had to come! The truth about the devil is in Jesus! Satan is still here and the only things Jesus took from him were "the keys of death and hell!" Jesus said He was the Way, the Truth, and the Life and He came to show us the way to live, through example. He showed us, by example, how to defeat the devil!

If you are called by God for a specific purpose, then I can tell you that you will not fulfill your purpose completely unless you learn how to recognize & deal with Satan. There are many ministries who appear to be doing great on the surface, but the devil is grinning from ear to ear. Believe me, some of them even do spiritual warfare!

Speaking of grinning, I encountered a man who said he saw the devil and laughed at him. Then the devil laughed back! I must tell you that this is not good and, knowing a little about what this man does in his ministry, I understand why the devil laughed back. In reality, the man should be seeking God as to why the devil is laughing at him!

To move on, the Lord once told a member of this ministry, "The unspoken truth is a lie." It took some time for me to understand that particular truth, and it has driven me to go ahead with some writings that I probably wouldn't have done otherwise. One of the truths I haven't spoken much about is my experience with the devil, himself.

In the 70's, I was a young man who went to church much the same as the average person goes to church. I had concluded that the devil was kind of like "Mother Nature," so to speak, that Jesus had defeated him and therefore he was not that great of a problem anymore. But I have learned - You will never win a war if you don't know your enemy! If you are mistaken about his abilities, you won't win! Jesus knew His enemy and his devices!

My encounter:

I have mentioned in other articles the seven-day experience God gave me in 1980. On the eighth day I surprisingly experienced this "so called force" that I had so flippantly concluded to be like Mother Nature. I was delivering feed to a feed lot in the evening, as I so often did in those days. I felt something evil and was trying to discern where it was coming from. I turned and 'felt' it move from a nearby grove of trees to within about thirty feet of me. It then took form before my eyes. The devil (in his spiritual form) was standing there next to the fence, looking up, clinch fisted, and speaking into heaven! He was talking to God directly, with all of His might and with all manner of cursing! His words were going up to heaven from earth! He was in a rage towards God, and evil was radiating from his being in all directions. I became very sick and weak all through my body just from being in his presence. Those words of cursing God were permeating my whole being. Those words were so powerful in my mind that I thought they were becoming my thoughts. I kept saying in my mind, "God, these are not my thoughts, I have never spoken words like these!" I kept hanging on. I went into a half crouched position for protection. I didn't think I was going to live! I thought I was losing my mind! My chest knotted up and I could hardly breathe.

Since I had become baptized in the Holy Spirit I had been told the enemy didn't like being around praying in the Spirit. I tried that, but it was a joke (not to belittle a gift of the Spirit). I did everything I could think of that I had been taught by other Christians, including using the name of Jesus, all seemingly to no avail!

What happened then? To be honest, I don't know. I only knew I wanted out of there! I managed to climb into my truck and eventually made it home. I was shaken as I've never been shaken, with a headache, body ache, and in bewilderment of what had happened. I was so weak that when I moved my body shook. I didn't know what to think! But there was one thing I came to understand right then! The devil is very powerful (especially with thoughts), a person, a personality with a mind, and is the original source of all evil, just like the Bible reveals. My heart cries out when I think of people in hell, not because of the fire, but because I know that gross evil force has consumed them and there is no way they can get away from it. That evil emitted by Satan is grossness of the highest and broadest level. There is no way to describe it in words. You don't want to go to hell because of the issuing evil, let alone the fire that is there.

After years of the Lord's teaching I have come to realize much more about what happened that day and why I had this particular experience. I had previously believed it was because he understood more than I did about what God had done with me in the previous week! God had laid some foundational truths in me. He had spoken about Himself through the Holy Spirit and had revealed end time events, etc. Did I understand all this? NO, but Satan did! He knows the Word. He knows it better than we do, and he always comes (according to the parable of the sower) when God does something/anything with us! For years this had been my only idea of why he was cursing God, but the Lord has given me a deeper understanding! (The glass that had been causing me to see dimly has been shattered)

Why was he cursing God?

Looking again at what happened, it is apparent that the devil was not raging at me. His eyes and rage were not fixed on me, but on God. He became upset because God exposed him to me. He had been incognito, and he knew God was starting to teach me about him!

You see, Satan had been present during all of the previous week, countering (just like he did with Eve) those things God was saying and revealing to me. The enemy was using thoughts he knew I would most likely accept. He was giving me thoughts of, "You're losing your mind. Lying, deceiving saying things like, "God doesn't do this any more, it's of the devil." Who do you think you are to think God would speak to you? (haughty) These things are of the devil because confusion is of the devil. You better find someone who knows something about all this, etc. (religious)!" I could go on and on here.

Anyway, I was unaware that these thoughts were coming directly from the enemy of mankind. I was unaware that Satan was on the scene! I was unaware that we are in a battle for our own minds. Satan was cursing God because he had been exposed! He had come within about 30 feet of me and that was where he was doing his "thing." God had shown me the evil that was coming out of the grove. Satan was unaware that God was letting me feel that evil. He was thinking he was not noticed, just like he had been unnoticed all week. But when he was materialized in the spirit, he knew God was exposing his presence to me and he flew into a rage. He was HOT about being exposed.

He didn't manifest himself so I could see him. He is the master deceiver and he never does this unless it's to his own advantage. He never normally wants to be exposed in any way, except to those who worship him. I was becoming sick from being in his raging presence, not just his presence. He was out of control of his own emotions which, by the way, is a sign of a spiritual influence in humans, Christian or non Christian. A few days after this experience, God told me, "I have shown you all things."

I learned from this experience that Satan is a thought giver, but I didn't have any idea of the picture that surrounds that fact. So when God was dealing with me about thoughts again, He said, "Not all the thoughts in your mind are yours!" This really upset me. I actually rebelled and said something like, "No way. All the thoughts in my brain are mine." Of course I was wrong.

Satan's greatest deception:

I've heard some people say they believe in Jesus but they don't believe in the devil. This is a great error because Jesus came to destroy the works of the Devil. These people are implying that Jesus isn't who He really is by saying that He didn't do what He said He came here to do. They are unknowingly under the devil's greatest deception, the idea that he doesn't exist.

Some Christians say if you don't mess with the devil, he won't mess with you. They don't understand the truths that are in the book of Job, that Satan goes to and fro in the earth seeking whom he may devour. He is not Mr. nice guy saying, "If you don't bother me, I won't bother you!"

Some people do not think everyone can actually encounter Satan because he is not omnipresent, like the Holy Spirit. Let me give a little more insight as to the picture of the true situation with Satan. I will start by saying that there is very little time and distance in the spirit realm! You may know this but do you understand it?

II Peter 3:8
But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

To be honest with you, when I had the experience of going to heaven, I pushed it aside or back in my mind; the enemy was telling me it didn't really happen. He was using logical suggestions that appealed to my logical mind and my flesh. My carnal thinking was keeping me from accepting that this event actually happened because of the lack of understanding of the spiritual realm. If we look at Jesus' explanation of the parable of the sower in Matthew, we see that the enemy wins and makes "things" unfruitful, if we don't understand.

...23 But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

The fact that I had been to heaven was not fruitful (as it should have been) because of my lack of understanding. So the Lord had to deal with me directly about it. He said very clearly, "I want you to tell them you have been to heaven." I was still resistant, so the Lord reminded me of what happened at the end of that experience. He had said to me, "Go back and tell them." I could not deny what He had said, so I started to talk about being in heaven. I was doing it out of obedience; not out of my understanding!

Now you may be wondering why I went through all this in my mind. You see, I had the experience while I was driving a vehicle. I had already experienced open visions, closed visions, night visions, and dreams. I had experienced the devil, and later I even had an open vision of the power of the will of man while I was driving. I thought I had experienced a vision when I was taken to heaven, so I was having trouble accepting that I was actually there. The enemy had an open door to my mind because of my lack of understanding (like the parable of the sower reveals). He was rendering the experience practically unfruitful to me and others by using thoughts that I would most likely accept, negative to the experience.

The Lord has since given me the understanding of how it happened! When we have the full understanding of things it places us on solid ground so the enemy has no openings. I talk freely about it now because I understand Time Line. God wants you to understand 'spiritual things,' so the enemy can't toss you to and fro like he did me. So, how could this happen while I was driving a vehicle?

II Peter 3:8
But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

Presenting a picture:

Using the equation 24 hours in heaven = 1000 years on earth, we see that my three day experience in heaven took .7 of one second of our time. So we can see that I was only gone .7 of one second while driving my vehicle. We must understand that I also traveled across the universe to heaven and back in this .7 of one second.

I have presented this to you so you can understand there is little time and distance in the spirit realm. This man and I had traveled a great distance across the universe to where the Bible says Heaven is, had our experiences, and returned in less than a second of our time! This paints a picture of how it is possible for Jesus to say so much can happen "in the twinkling of an eye." It brings to light the reality of what He said about Satan 'coming immediately,' in His explanation of the parable of the sower in the book of Mark.

It is possible for Satan to visit every human on the face of this earth, in fulfillment of what Jesus said here because time and distance are practically nonexistent in the spirit realm.

Using the population of the world at the end of 1998, Satan can spend 1.343 minutes with every person on the earth every 24 hours ! And just how much can Satan do in a minute, being incognito? Think about this? And then subtract those he knows he doesn't have to visit very often and look at the time it would allow toward those few who may be a threat to his cause! Know this, Satan is no dummy. He knows those people who are chosen by God for a particular purpose. He spends a lot of time with them and their minds, unknown to them.

Jesus revealed that the enemy comes in while men sleep. He said this right after the parable of the sower.

Matthew 13:25
But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.

The wheat is the seed of the Word, and the enemy plants weed seeds right along with the good seed, 'immediately,' and moves on to the next victim! He comes in 'unawares.' He did it with Eve! He did it with Judas! John 13:26,
Jesus answered, He it is, to whom I shall give a sop, when I have dipped it. And when he had dipped the sop, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. 27 And after the sop Satan entered into him. Then said Jesus unto him, That thou doest, do quickly.

Satan did it with Peter!

Matthew 16:21
From that time forth began Jesus to show unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day. 22 Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee. 23 But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.


Satan beguiles us in our minds!

The Bible says Eve was beguiled in her mind. Looking at synonyms for beguiled we see a broader picture of what Satan can do to our minds by giving us the right thoughts, at the right time, in the right circumstances.

delude - To tone down what God meant = Oh, it'll be all right - He didn't really mean that, He meant this.

hoax - What Satan presented to Eve was a hoax, unknown to her.

trick - He was able to trick Eve because she didn't really understand what God meant and that Satan would come! (Parable of the sower)

captivate - He captivated her thoughts - first by getting her attention.

charm - Satan can be charming; remember he is an angle of light.

distract - Satan was able to distract Adam and Eve from what God said.

divert - He diverted her thinking!

allure - He allured her with the attractiveness of the fruit.

attract - He got her attention.

entice - He tried to entice Jesus by offering Him the kingdoms of the world! He enticed Eve with the promise of knowledge!

seduce - He had seduced Eve's mind when she gave in to what he said.

tempt - He successfully tempted Eve, but not Jesus, because Jesus knew God's thought behind His word. Jesus also knew Satan was real. Eve was unaware of the enemy.

bait - Satan baited Eve's mind!

tantalize - That apple looked good.

fascinate - I'm sure Eve was fascinated with the thought of being like God!

bewitch - hypnotize - mesmerize - spell bind - immerse - curse - enchant - possess - captivate - occupy

Jesus knew where Peter's thoughts had originated. Jesus had just revealed 'the plan of God' to Peter (Peter had 'heard the word', like in the parable of the sower) but because of the lack of understanding, the cares of this world, and the type of love we as humans understand, Satan used Peter and came at Jesus' purpose. Satan and all evil spirits come against what God is doing as a top priority. Everything else they come against is secondary!

Satan uses what he already has in you to come against the truth, or what God wants to use you for - your true purpose. (You will see this picture more and more clearly as you read future articles about spirits.) Satan couldn't use or get control of Jesus because he had nothing in Jesus!

John 13:26
Jesus answered, He it is, to whom I shall give a sop, when I have dipped it. And when he had dipped the sop, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. 27 And after the sop Satan entered into him. Then said Jesus unto him, That thou doest, do quickly.

At that point Satan came into control, in fulfillment of this scripture's picture:

Proverbs 5:22
His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins. 23 He shall die without instruction; and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.

Judas' own iniquities (lawlessness, sins) already performed (already in him), allowed the enemy to come in legally, take control and keep him prisoner! When God speaks about Satan, He says:

Here is what happened after Satan had moved on and Judas gained control of his thoughts!

Matthew 27:3
Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, 4) Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that. 5) And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself.

Have you ever gotten angry or emotional and did something, then after it was over you wondered why you did it? You wished you hadn't! You weren't really in control of your own thoughts, were you?

There is one more account I need to emphasize at this point. It's the record of Jesus' temptation. When Jesus dealt directly with the devil, He used the law and said, "It is written!" What He really did was to speak truth in all of his temptations. Jesus said the truth sets us free. Here we see the truth keep Jesus free!

Matthew 4:3,4
And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

Satan had just tempted Jesus' with a care of this world - the flesh!

Matthew 4:5-7
5) Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.

Satan has just encouraged Jesus to tempt (test) God! Of course Jesus knew better. In my experience, I didn't! The day I had my first visions, those of Russia, the Middle East, the Glory of the Lord, etc., Satan was there (unknown to me) pumping thoughts into my mind. He wanted to get the credit and throw me off course by telling me all this was of the devil! I walked to the south end of the hill and below me was an oil well, of which I was the pumper. It was not running and I had a thought I didn't realize wasn't mine. I said, "God, if this is of you and not of Satan, crank up that oil well!" Had I known the enemy had spoken to my mind and had I known the truth of God's word, I would have spoken to Satan and said, "It is written, I should not tempt God." Am I wrong? Well here is God's audible answer to me, "Tempt the Lord, thy God, not unwisely!"

Matthew4:8-10
Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and showeth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.

Satan had just tempted Jesus with all he could offer! You will notice that Jesus used the Word correctly and didn't twist it to make it mean something for personal gain. He knew what God meant when He said it and that is why it is so important to learn what God meant in His Word. If we don't understand what God meant, we are open bait for the devils' deceptions! That is just a fact!

I will be writing a lot more about thoughts and spirits and their ability to control our thinking in other articles in this section. But to close this article, let me say this to you. Any time God does anything, the enemy always comes to give interpretation, to corrupt, to delude, to confuse, to add to, to kill, to steal, or to destroy what God did or said. That's what he did in the garden with Eve and that is what he does with US!

3. How Simply Does the Enemy Use the Thoughts of People Against God's Purpose?