← Stay True with Madison Prewett Troutt
Stay True with Madison Prewett Troutt
Spiritual Warfare and Breaking Demonic Strongholds with Jonathan Pokluda
00:58:11
Loading summary
Transcript101 lines
- [00:00]
Madison Pruitt Trout
How do you identify spiritual warfare?
- [00:03]
Jonathan Paluda
What is deliverance? Is that something that I need? Is that something that everybody needs? Exorcisms? Generational curses? What does that have to do with the spiritual realm? All right, this is heavy. So we're diving into the deep end right away.
- [00:19]
Madison Pruitt Trout
Is God testing me right now? Is this God, or is this the enemy?
- [00:22]
Jonathan Paluda
Is my anxiety the result of a demon? This is key to spiritual warfare.
- [00:29]
Madison Pruitt Trout
What are some practical ways that we can operate as believers to combat the spiritual attack against us?
- [00:36]
Jonathan Paluda
Some of you need to move away. Some of you need to go in the liquor cabinet and pour out the bottles.
- [00:42]
Madison Pruitt Trout
Can a demon or a. An evil spirit come upon you? When those lies come, immediately I just begin to speak the truth of God's word.
- [00:51]
Jonathan Paluda
Lord, would you cancel any satanic assignment on my life right now? Foreign.
- [01:02]
Madison Pruitt Trout
What's up, guys? Welcome back to another episode of Stay True podcast. I'm your host, Madison Pruitt Trout, here with my friend Jonathan Paluda. Jp, what's up in the house?
- [01:14]
Jonathan Paluda
Do I have to say Madison?
- [01:16]
Madison Pruitt Trout
No, you can say Maddie.
- [01:17]
Jonathan Paluda
Okay. All right.
- [01:17]
Madison Pruitt Trout
Mad Maddie.
- [01:19]
Jonathan Paluda
Mad dog.
- [01:19]
Madison Pruitt Trout
What do you normally call me?
- [01:20]
Jonathan Paluda
Maddie.
- [01:21]
Madison Pruitt Trout
Maddie.
- [01:21]
Jonathan Paluda
Okay.
- [01:22]
Madison Pruitt Trout
And J.P. has been on the podcast before, and you guys loved when he came on the podcast. We did. I think it was questions. Christians are scared.
- [01:31]
Jonathan Paluda
Oh, that's right.
- [01:32]
Madison Pruitt Trout
To answer.
- [01:33]
Jonathan Paluda
Right?
- [01:33]
Madison Pruitt Trout
And the thing about jp, you guys, is that he's not scared to speak the truth about anything. He'll go there, like, well, we're going.
- [01:41]
Jonathan Paluda
To go there on this episode that was in Waco. I forgot. And now I'm, like, sad.
- [01:46]
Madison Pruitt Trout
And now he's in Tennessee and it's snowing outside, and he's like, what's happening?
- [01:49]
Jonathan Paluda
And nobody cares. Like, I'm like, guys, it's snowing. And no, nobody, nobody has said one word about the snow. I'm like, yo, it is snowing outside.
- [01:58]
Madison Pruitt Trout
And it's full on.
- [01:59]
Jonathan Paluda
It's just like a Wednesday.
- [02:00]
Madison Pruitt Trout
Our backyard is white covered. I actually haven't even been outside, But Grant and JP went and got coffee this morning. And JP's like, why is no one talking about the snow?
- [02:10]
Jonathan Paluda
I went and got coffee.
- [02:11]
Madison Pruitt Trout
Yeah.
- [02:11]
Jonathan Paluda
Grant watched me drink my coffee and eat my breakfast burrito because he's fasting. These guys see, I'm not. When I spend time with them, then I just feel convicted because they.
- [02:23]
Madison Pruitt Trout
JP is literally the best. So he is pastor of Harris Creek Church, which is where we were at for two years. Grant was working as a young adult pastor under JP's leadership before they abandoned me. No, abandoned I. Whenever Grant first felt. And I talked about this a little bit on the last one that you were on, but whenever Grant first felt called for us to move to Waco and work at Harris Creek Church, I was like, waco, Texas? I just had never, like, thought about Waco, Texas. But who knew it would be, like, such an. It was just such an amazing blessing.
- [02:57]
Jonathan Paluda
And so I gotta say this. Like, I just. Like, that was one of those things where you're always trying to, like, God, are you with me? You know, it's like, you could do anything if, you know God's with you. You're like, all right, we can, you know, charge hell with a water pistol. And so you're always looking for that evidence that God is with you and him moving the two of you to Waco, and especially you, because, like, I had, you know, I knew Grant and we had history, but that you were like, sure, I'll move to Waco, Texas, with tears.
- [03:26]
Madison Pruitt Trout
I had tears. But you were a trooper, honestly, so I had tears. But what was so cool was my mindset at first was like, I'm gonna be a good wife. I'm gonna submit to my husband. I'm going to serve him. This is all for him. Like, God's gonna do something through him and Waco. And what's crazy is Grant and I talk about this a lot. Like, Waco was. I mean, God used it in my life in a tremendous way of just, like, I mean, being under your leadership, learning from you and Harris Creek. Even, like, from a communication standpoint. Like, I mean, JP Is the best communicator, one of the best communicators I've ever been around, and even just, like, learning. Teaching the word, learning how to communicate. But your character, your family. Monica, his wife Monica, Literally the best. So it just. The whole Waco season now, there are parts that were really hard.
- [04:15]
Jonathan Paluda
It's hard to travel from Waco in this place. It's really hard to travel a lot.
- [04:18]
Madison Pruitt Trout
I was driving to Dallas, like, two times a week.
- [04:21]
Jonathan Paluda
Yeah, it's wild.
- [04:22]
Madison Pruitt Trout
It was pretty crazy.
- [04:23]
Jonathan Paluda
Thank you. But I feel like. Yeah, it's truly. Thank you.
- [04:25]
Madison Pruitt Trout
Oh, no, thank you.
- [04:26]
Jonathan Paluda
Okay.
- [04:27]
Madison Pruitt Trout
And as.
- [04:27]
Jonathan Paluda
As we're on the compliment bandwagon, this girl's gonna be an amazing mom. I mean, this is a woman of God right here that is gonna raise this baby. I'm so pumped.
- [04:38]
Madison Pruitt Trout
Uncle JP Come on.
- [04:40]
Jonathan Paluda
Uncle jp.
- [04:41]
Madison Pruitt Trout
Uncle JP I am so excited you're back on the podcast because so many people have a lot of questions for you. And he actually does this Thing Instagram every Friday called Friday Q and A. And people just send you a ton of questions. And like I said, he answers real truthful, full of conviction, and it's super helpful. He also is an author and you have a new book out, which actually, I think when this podcast comes out, it's coming out like a day or so ish before your book comes out. But you can pre order it and we'll include the link and everything, but it's called your story has a villain.
- [05:18]
Jonathan Paluda
Dun dun, dun, dun, dun, dun.
- [05:21]
Madison Pruitt Trout
Your story has a villain. If you didn't know, guys, your story has a villain.
- [05:26]
Jonathan Paluda
It does.
- [05:26]
Madison Pruitt Trout
And I'm so excited about it because it's all about the topic of spiritual warfare. And I do feel like there are a lot of questions and confusion around spiritual warfare. Satan demons, you know, how powerful are they? Can they get to me? How do I identify spiritual warfare? What are ways to defeat it? So we're gonna be talking all about it, and I' palms honestly, I have a lot of questions that I'm excited to ask you, but I'm. What made you want to write this book? Like, what? How did we even get to this point to write a book on Satan demons?
- [06:01]
Jonathan Paluda
Yeah, it was born out of curiosity because I was like, what? I want to know more about the spiritual realm, which is, like, foundational to the Christian faith. You're like, we believe there's a God. We believe in heaven. We believe in hell. We believe there's an enemy, that he can do things. People are like, oh, you know, spiritual warfare. Satan's attacking me. We have these different thoughts, but I'm like, what can he do? And so this, like, classic example is if somebody's like, you know, I'm gonna go to church tomorrow. I'm gonna get my life right? I'm gonna get all these things in order. They wake up in the morning, they get dressed for church. They get in their car, they turn the key, and it's like, click, click, click, click. And like, the car doesn't start. Like, oh, man. Hashtag spiritual warfare. And I'm like, well, what did demons do? Did they run? How did they run down your car battery? Did they take out your alternator? Like, did they have to pop your hood? Like, what? What can the enemy do? And that truly, that specific question kind of led me on this journey of reading theologians and really searching the scriptures, reading commentaries, looking at the languages. Like, what do we actually know about how the enemy works and what he can do? Do I need to be afraid? There's like deliverance is a big word right now. It like is that is what is deliverance? Is that something that I need? Is that something that everybody needs? Exorcisms, generational curses? And then you have an entire generation dabbling with manifesting crystals. You know, is it positive thinking? Like, what does that have to do with the spiritual realm? And what happens is we call ourselves people of faith, but we end up really superstitious and we're walking around like, oh man, karma. I don't want, you know, someone to get me. What goes around, comes around trying to think through, all right, what is true of the things of God, what is consistent with God's word and what is whack and like out there and otherworldly and the enemy. And so those curiosities really sent me on the journey of studying this for three years and writing this book. Your story has a villain and you know, the punchline is it does like all of us have an enemy who's after us and he seeks to steal, kill and destroy. And you know, Christ has come to set us free and to reconcile us to God and he came so that we might have life in him. And really that's also the punchline is like, if you live a spirit filled life, if you follow Jesus, if you do not give the devil a foothold, you're good.
- [08:34]
Madison Pruitt Trout
That's so good. Because I think what is a temptation to kind of fall into one of two categories when it comes to Satan and the demonic world and all of that is either we give Satan too much power and it's like Satan is, you know, more powerful or on the same playing field as God. And it's like, okay, you know, does, you know, what control and power does he have over me? Like if I'm, if I'm constantly struggling with depression, anxiety, does that mean that I have a demon? Does that mean Satan has control over me? You know, and, and we can really wrestle with those things. Right? But then there's the other category and temptation, which is like, oh, the, the spiritual realm isn't real. Like it's. We only what we see is what' real. Like, you know, there, there is no demon, there is no Satan. And kind of like that's been one of Satan's, I think, you know, biggest lies that he's planted in so many people, especially you know, in the non believing world, is that he is not real and that it's just like a funny fictional character.
- [09:37]
Jonathan Paluda
Yeah, there's CS Lewis said there's two error about that we make about the Devils. And he says one is to give them too much credit and is to believe that they are involved in everything. Everything wrong is. Is cred. And two is to not think anything of them. And it's exactly what you said. And so there's a couple interesting things about that. One, he says the devils, because we think of Satan as like, almost like a God. I think there's a lot of error in Christianity today that we think of Satan as an opposing God to God. And that's a theological error of dualism, where it's like equal and opposing forces. Like there's God and there's Satan, and they're at war and they're equal forces. Satan is just a demon. He's just a fallen angel, and he leads an army of fallen angels. Revelation 12 tells us that one third of the angelic realm fell with him. And so he's here as a demon leading demons. And so I think there's a third error, and that is to believe that there is a devil, an accuser, a Satan. The scripture calls him, 2 Corinthians 4, verse 4, calls him, Listen to this, the God of this world. So if I. A trivia question. If someone says, hey, Christian, who is the God of this world? We're going to say Jehovah, Yahweh, Jesus, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the Trinity. But the scripture says the God of this world is actually Satan, which is wild because we worship the creator of the heavens and the earth, the God of everything. But the little G God of this world, the scripture says, is Satan. My Presley, you love this. She was like. I always thought when you said little G God, like, you were like, talking in slang, like, he's like a little.
- [11:19]
Madison Pruitt Trout
G. He's like a little G. She.
- [11:22]
Jonathan Paluda
Told me that the other day.
- [11:23]
Madison Pruitt Trout
I cannot.
- [11:23]
Jonathan Paluda
I was like, no, no, like the. Like the lowercase G. God of the God of this world. And so I think the third error is to believe that there's an enemy, but that that belief has no implications on how we live our lives. Like, we don't really think about it. And in fact, if I'm going to err toward one of those, I'm going to sit in the position that the spiritual realm has implications for everything we do. And so, like, somebody says, well, is my anxiety the result of a demon? I would say it always is, in one sense at least, in that you're not going to have anxiety in heaven. So because of the fall in Genesis 3, sin enters the world because of temptation. Satan, you know, tempted Adam and Eve to eat the fruit, the forbidden fruit that they weren't supposed to eat. And when sin entered the world, then anxiety entered the world and cancer entered the world and depression entered the world. So at least in that sense. And then when somebody says, well, do I have a demon? Even that is interesting because we are like, do I have a demon? Am I possessed? Well, possessed means that a demon actually has you, that you're. When you. So if I say I. I possess this microphone, it's that I'm holding the microphone. I have the microphone. And so we. We often think that there's like a demon in us. Like, you know, like. Like there's a demon in my body that's controlling everything I do. And in reality, I think it's the. The spiritual realm. We're constantly being tempted by demons to do things that dishonor God. And so there's the. The unholy trinity is the flesh, the world, and demonic forces. And so the demons lure our flesh with the things of this world constantly. That's the struggle that we're in. Ephesians 6 says our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against rulers and principalities and authorities in the spiritual realm. And so I do think that the spiritual realm has implications for every decision that we make. So that's the side that I would err toward.
- [13:34]
Madison Pruitt Trout
I love that you gave that third point of view, because I think that's actually probably where a lot of Christians fall is. You know, we do know it's real, and we do know Satan has power, but he's not on the same playing field as God. But yet we're not putting on the armor every day. We're not praying every day. We're not equipping ourselves. We're not constantly relying on the Holy Spirit. And we don't know how to fight. We don't know how to identify the spiritual warfare. And that is one of the biggest questions that I think a lot of people ask is how do you identify spiritual warfare?
- [14:07]
Jonathan Paluda
Yeah. Yeah. So, you know, the. I wanted the book, your story has a villain. I wanted it to be called Behind Everything Broken, because that's what I was thinking. Like, Satan is behind everything broken. The enemy. There's evil behind everything broken in the world.
- [14:22]
Madison Pruitt Trout
So true.
- [14:23]
Jonathan Paluda
And so if in that sense that, you know, you, God feels far, you're not connecting with him enough, sin is interesting, you're enticed, maybe you're given over to it. You know, like you're continuing like a dog to his vomit to go back to pornography or drunkenness or sexual promiscuity, or looking in the mirror and hating yourself or starving yourself or cutting yourself or any of those things. Like, all of that is the work of the enemy. And it's not necessarily exclusively the work of the enemy. So we're trying in our minds to put this in a nice clean category. And it's like, no, those three things are. The unholy trinity is always working or often working together. Where it's the enemy is working with my flesh, which has an appeal for the world, which is being baited to me by the enemy, which is appealing my flesh, which desires the world. And that thing is always. Is often I'm trying not to use never and always, but often working together to lure me out of right relationship with God. Now, we know that we have a right relationship with God because of the work of Jesus Christ, because of what he did for us through his Son. So when I say lure me out of right relationship with God, what I really mean is a feeling, a sense that God seems far, that my quiet time is not good enough, that my prayer time is not enough, that I'm not feeling enough. My emotions aren't there. My emotions aren't following the actions. So we sit in that place of what feels like less than. So if I was to ask your listeners and viewers, you know, how many of you feel like you're missing out on something in the things in the realm of God right now? I bet you most of them would say me, like, I feel like there's more to be had of God. And some of that is often the work of the enemy just to keep us discouraged. Like, that's what he's trying to do, is rob us of courage.
- [16:21]
Madison Pruitt Trout
That's so good, because I think for a lot of people, we have a hard time differentiating between what is our own mind and thoughts and intrusive thoughts and what is of the enemy. It's like, oh, if I'm having this feeling or this thought, is that me? Like, did I do something wrong? I think it even can fall into multiple categories. I think it also. Sometimes we're like, wait, is this from God? Is God testing me right now? Like, is God, you know, Or. Or is this the enemy? Is this God or is this the enemy? And I would love for you to dive into that a little bit because I think that's such an interesting thing that we can, even as Christians overthink a lot, is I can't tell if this is me, if this is God, or if this is Satan.
- [17:09]
Jonathan Paluda
Yeah, okay. All Right. This is heavy. So we're. We're diving into the deep end right away. So let me just say that and test these things and get your Bible and search the Scriptures and see if what I'm saying is true and consistent with the Scriptures. Don't take my word for it. That's what I'm saying. And so first you have to understand that God is sovereign, even over Satan. Right? And there's, you know, Paul says, three times I prayed that he would remove this. But it says he allowed this messenger of Satan to torment me. Wait, like what? It says that he sent an evil spirit on Saul. Like what? Job? Satan is having a conversation with God. You know, he's like, hey, this guy, you know, he will leave you. And God's like, no, he won't. I'll show you. And it's like, what? And I'll give you another one. If that's not enough, I'll give you another one. Jesus, right? The one we follow. Where Christians or Christians, little Christ, Christ followers. Jesus goes to Peter and says, satan has asked me to sift you like wheat. To which I'm like, if I'm Peter, I'm like, well, did you tell him? No, but that's not what he doesn't. He's not like. So I told him, no, don't worry. He says, so I will pray for you. Okay? Now listen. What did he pray? He prayed that Peter's faith would increase, that he would have faith. This is key to spiritual warfare. The scripture tells us that anything that does not come from faith is sin. Faith is the key to overcoming spiritual warfare. In Ephesians 6, he's going over the armor of God and he says, the shield of faith which extinguishes the fiery darts or fiery arrows from the enemy, that the way that we overcome temptation is with faith, trusting in God. So if we define faith, trusting in God, your goal as a follower of Jesus is it's to grow your belief in God. That you trust in God, that you wake up and that you know that God is for you, that he's good, that he loves you, that he controls all things. You do have a villain. He hates you. He hates your children. He hates your family. He hates your marriage. Long before you even met the person you're going to marry, they have a demonic strategy against you. Okay? But you, all you need to do is remain close to Jesus. As I walk through the valley. Psalm 23. As I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will not fear, for you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me, okay? So I'm going to lean into God. I'm going to grow my faith. I'm going to trust God more. So while the enemy hates you, you need to know he's not in any way afraid of you. He's not in the slightest bit intimidated by you. I mean, when you see angels, they're fallen demons or fallen angels. When you see angels in the scripture, it's almost always followed by like, get up or fear not. Because these guys are terrifying creatures. They're strong, right? So he's not in any way intimidated by you. He's terrified of God. And So I said, Second Corinthians 4:4, he's the God of this world. Well, First John 4:4, okay? Says, Greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world. And so your greatest opposition to any demonic forces or satanic forces is to remain close to God through Christ, to yield and surrender fully to his spirit. And so in that question of, hey, how do I know if it's my thoughts or the temptation or the devil? What's he doing? Where does that stop? Where does that start? You can't know. And it's not even clear lines, like, your thoughts are often influenced by the enemy. I mean, they're whispering to you. And let me say this here, Mattie, when I say the enemy, Satan has most likely never been anywhere near any of us. So when we're like, hey, Satan's tempting us. Satan's not omnipresent. He's, like, in one place at one time. And it's the spiritual realm, so it's different than the world that we live in. But he's not focused on us. I mean, he's working in where there's wars, he's working in places of great evil. He's working with political powers. And so we have some demonic force assigned to us, trying to manipulate us away from the things of God, to rob us of joy that the Holy Spirit has us. But Satan is leading an army. So in the same way that I might say, you know, Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine. Well, he didn't. He's not there in Ukraine. He's never been anywhere near there. He's not firing a gun or launching a missile. He's just leading an army to do so. And that's what Satan's doing. Satan is leading an army against God's people, and so they can whisper lies to us. That's his language. His native tongue is, he's the author of lies, the father of Lies. He's the deceiver. And so they're constantly trying to tempt us with the things of this world. And really, when you go, this is why it's so dangerous to dabble in the things of a cult, but really just to willfully sin, because the scripture says, then you give the devil a foothold and he's going to climb you like a tower and try to take over your life.
- [23:00]
Madison Pruitt Trout
Okay, so good. I love that. And I think it's really helpful because a lot of times we do use that language of like, Satan, Satan is tempting me. Satan is in my head right now. Satan is in my mind right now. And I love that you were also talking about how his native language is lies. Like, he's just constantly, like, the enemy is constantly lying and his demons are constantly lying. And I would love to kind of jump practical really quick. And then I have a couple more deep questions. But for those listening who right now, maybe they're like, okay, I'm hearing all of this, and I know my story has a villain. I have an enemy. I'm feeling, you know, really aware that there's a target on my back. But now what do I do? So can we get practical for a second? What are some practical ways that we can operate as believers to combat the spiritual attack against us?
- [23:56]
Jonathan Paluda
Yeah, yeah. So Ephesians 6 is your chapter, and so we would just turn there. And often, if you've grown up in church or like in Sunday school, you're taught, you know, to put on the belt of truth, to put on the breastplate of righteousness, to put on the helmet of salvation. I'm. I struggle with that language, right? Because I'm like, how? I can't see it. What is it? How do I know if it's on? What does that even mean to put it on? And so I'm just. I'm a guy that I wrestle out loud, and I want to wrestle these things to the ground and understand them as much as I can. So when Paul's writing that he's in on house arrest in Rome and he's very likely chained to a Roman soldier, or at least has seen lots of Roman soldiers, but it's very likely that he's chained to a Roman. Roman soldier. And so he's looking at his armor as an illustration to really address the markings of a follower of Jesus. And when it says put on the armor of God, it's not talking about any one article. Even though he begins to go through this, like, list, he's really. It's it's like you have to wear the whole thing. It's an all encompassing kind of all or nothing language. And so he starts to walk down that and he's like, so we have to be positioned in the truth, right? We want to operate with an understanding of truth. And so like in the world right now. So, you know, the God of this world, we talk about little G, God of this world, lowercase G. God of this world. The satanic mantra. The mantra of the Satanic church is do as thy will. So the position of Satan is selfishness. It's you should seek pleasure for yourself. And so this is why people ask me about masturbation. They ask me about, you know, these things, like all the time. If you're operating in selfishness, pure selfishness, you're feeding a satanic spirit. Be careful. And that's why I would say trust yourself the least when you really, really, really, really want something. Because we're all master justifiers.
- [26:02]
Madison Pruitt Trout
That's good.
- [26:03]
Jonathan Paluda
You know, we're all going to try to figure out how to work that angle. And Satan's going to come and say, yeah, you know, God wants you to be happy, so you should explore those feelings. Well, God wants you to be holy and he wants you to be joyful. And he knows that sustaining happiness only comes through a right relationship with him. And so Satan wants you to feed your flesh apart from God so that you can find temporary happiness, moments of happiness, fleeting pleasure, apart from God. So you leave God and you continue to pursue the things of the flesh. Like some of you, you gotta end that relationship. Like, you're giving the devil a stronghold. Like some of you, you need to delete that number. Like, some of you need to move away. Some of you need to go in the liquor cabinet and pour out the bottles. You know, some of you need to throw away the vape. Like, some of you need to stop hanging out with that group of friends that are leading you to the club and to the places that are giving the devil, giving the devils a demonic stronghold in your life. And you're not, you think it's not a big deal, but it is. You think listening to Drake is not going to impact your, your dating life, but it can, you know, if you, if you feed your heart that stuff over and over and over. And that's what I was going to say. All wars are fought over real estate. Okay, Like I shouldn't say all. Most battles are fought over real estate. There's a spiritual battle over the real estate of your mind.
- [27:32]
Madison Pruitt Trout
Wow.
- [27:32]
Jonathan Paluda
And so the Enemy is trying to get you to live in the place of lies. And, and God wants you to know the truth. Jesus says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. And he says, then the truth will set you free, and then they will know the truth and the truth will set you free. And so, you know, in this today and age, it's like, well, there's her truth and his truth and my truth and their truth. No, there's absolute truth, you know, and you want to find it and operate it and be positioned in it. So that's one way that you would battle the enemy. And then we can, we can continue to walk through those quickly, but be aligned with righteousness, the breastplate of righteousness. So just, like, do what's right, you know, like, just do the things of God. Like know the. Know what the scripture calls you to do, and just do it, no matter what it costs. Share the gospel. Feet fitted, ready with the gospel of peace. Pick up the shield of faith. That is to, to stand firm in faith. We talked about that already. I say internalize your salvation. Meaning, like, reflect on the reality that Jesus has saved you. Reflect on the gospel daily. Operate with the word, the sword of the spirit, the Bible, which is the word of God, he says, and then never stop praying. He kind of ends that whole thing, wrapping it up in prayer. Prayer is how we access the armor of God. Every good soldier is in constant communication with their commander in chief. And so we want to pray consistently, talking to God. And so I think that's what it looks like. To put on the armor of God is really to live the Christian life. And as we live the Christian life, we are then protected from the enemy's lies and, and temptation.
- [29:13]
Madison Pruitt Trout
I love that we were actually having this conversation before this podcast how I'd never heard Ephesians 6 put like that. And I. And I'm so glad you shared that. Okay, so you're talking about putting on the armor of God. If you stay filled with the spirit that is your. And you're walking out, a true Christian walk, you know, you are gonna be able to defeat the enemy's lies.
- [29:34]
Jonathan Paluda
Yeah.
- [29:35]
Madison Pruitt Trout
A question I have is if you are a Christian and you have the Holy Spirit in you, can a demon or an evil spirit come upon you, come in you? I mean, I don't even know the right language, but I think that is a question that, I mean, I've wondered that a lot of people have wrestled with is like, if I'm around someone that has a demonic spirit or I enter into a Place where there is evil going on. Can those spirits jump on me?
- [30:08]
Jonathan Paluda
Yeah. Yeah. I think our English prepositions fail us because we try to create. What will typically happen is like, well, if you're filled with the spirit, you can't be filled with a demon. And the two things can't dwell in the same house. And. And you know, am I possessed or am I oppressed? And I would say after three years of study, I'm not sure. And, like, that's okay. Because what I do know is that demons can and do and will come after believers. And your best defense is live. Like. Like, okay, in Acts 19. This is crazy. In Acts 19, there's these sons of a Jewish priest. They're known as the seven sons of Sceva. So Sceva is a Jewish priest. He has seven sons. And they're going around and they're doing ministry in the name of Jesus. Like, they're casting out demons in the name of Jesus. And so they say they go up to people and they're like, hey, in the name of Jesus Christ, who Paul preached and he says, come out. And it says that a man who is possessed by a demon turned on them. And the demon said, hey, Jesus, we know Paul, we've heard of who are you? And he beats them, and he beats them and he like. And he rips their clothes off. And it says they leave naked. And the seven sons, seven men leave naked and bleeding because they've been so badly beat up by one man who had a demon. Now, why did that happen? Because they were pretending to know Jesus when they didn't really know Him. You know who knew Jesus? The demon did. And so if you go through this world pretending to have a relationship with Christ, you are completely opening yourself to being whipped, conquered, devoured, stolen, killed, destroyed, John 10:10 by demonic forces. And so the solution is to have a real relationship with Jesus. And as you have a real relationship with Jesus, you don't have to then be concerned about, am I possessed? Am I oppressed? Am I being influenced? Do I need deliverance? And listen, you can right now. Like, we can do it right now on Stay True podcast right now. This. This could be life changing. Just. Just repeat after me. God, you have created me in youn image. You've sent yout Son, Jesus Christ to die for my sins. You've raised him from the dead. Father, would you give me the same spirit that raised Jesus from the dead? And Lord, would you'd cancel any satanic assignment on my life right now in the name of Jesus by the Blood of Jesus. Father, would you bind any demonic forces coming against me in the name of Jesus, by the blood of Jesus, would you set me free and help me to walk in righteousness? God, would you give me the courage to end relationships that I need to end? God, would you give me the courage to delete phone numbers that I need to delete? God, would you give me the courage to throw away things that I need to throw away? Would you give me the courage to not go to websites that I shouldn't go to and help me to walk in righteousness in Jesus name. Amen.
- [33:21]
Madison Pruitt Trout
Amen.
- [33:22]
Jonathan Paluda
And you can, you can go back and hit, you know, the 32nd back button and you can pray that again. You can pray that tomorrow you can continue to walk in that prayer. But I'll show you, Maddie, the. The greatest tool that we have that comes from Ephesians 6 is the, you know, often people say the only offensive weapon that you see there, the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. So, like, what is a temptation that the. The devil may, may throw at me or one of your listeners? Like, what's something, a lie that he might say?
- [33:54]
Madison Pruitt Trout
Like, you're not good enough.
- [33:56]
Jonathan Paluda
Okay, so we'll just, we'll just say that or that, that I'm not good enough. I would just be like, I'm not good enough. And that's why, you know, Romans 10:9 says, if I confess with my mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in that Jesus is Lord and believe in my heart that God raised him from the dead, then I will be saved. I'm not good enough, but I have an amazing savior. Genesis 2 says that I've been created in the image of God, so I'm not good enough, but I'm made in the image of God, and so I'm his. And because he's my designer, I am good enough. 2 Corinthians 5:19 says, he's no longer counting my sins against me. Romans 8:1 says, There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ. And so you defeat those lies with the truth. What's another one that he might say, how might he might tempt me today? Like, to sin or to do something.
- [34:42]
Madison Pruitt Trout
What about that? You can have both God and the world. You can have one foot in, one foot out.
- [34:47]
Jonathan Paluda
Yeah, he says that First John 2:15. Do not love the world or things of the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. Matthew 6:33. Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be added. So I don't want the world, I want all of God, right? And so we can keep going like, think of other things. What's just the temptation of God, Your audience.
- [35:10]
Madison Pruitt Trout
If I were to get blank, then I would be content and happy. Or if I were to do this.
- [35:16]
Jonathan Paluda
Yeah, says he says, godliness with contentment is great gain. First Timothy six With food and clothing, we should be content with these. Matthew 6 Look at the the birds of the air. You know, they have nowhere to to store, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Do you not know that he loves you more than than these? You know, I think with that comes anxiety. Who by worrying Matthew 6 again, who by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Philippians 4 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition present your request to God, and the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:8 Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy. Think about these things. You know, again, the battle's fought over your mind. Let's say he says, you should get drunk. And you could say, well, the scripture says, do not get drunk on wine, but instead be filled with the spirit. First Peter says, be sober minded. Let's say he says, you should look at that. You know, give yourself to that image. It's just a, it's just something God created. Matthew 5 says, Anyone who looks at someone lustfully has already committed adultery with them in their heart. Job 31 says, I've made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at another person. Let's say he says, hey, it's no big deal. You sleep with your boyfriend, it's not a big deal. Y'all are going to get married. You know, you're engaged. You should sleep first. 1 Corinthians 6 flee sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, right? Do you not know your body's a temple of the Holy Spirit? Hebrews keep the marriage bed pure and undefiled. So it's like we combat these lies with the truth. And your listeners may be like, yeah, but you're a pastor. Like, you got to memorize those. Listen, I've got a two year degree in art from a college you've never heard of. I'm dyslexic. I'm ADD Like, I, I don't. My memory is not better than yours, right? We memorize rap lyrics And Taylor lyrics and all the things like, you've got to have the word of God on your heart. And it's not. I'm not trying to. It's not meant to be a weird flex if it's meant to be. Like, hey, you can do this. You can defeat the enemy with the truths of God.
- [37:30]
Madison Pruitt Trout
Yeah. So good. And Jesus gave us that formula in Matthew chapter four. And so what JP is sharing and going through right now, Jesus showed us.
- [37:41]
Jonathan Paluda
Say that. Tell him that.
- [37:42]
Madison Pruitt Trout
Yeah, so it talks about in, In Matthew chapter 4, Jesus is being tempted by. By the enemy and Satan shows up. I mean, he's like, there.
- [37:50]
Jonathan Paluda
It's Satan himself. Not just. Not some snaggletooth demon like it is. It's Lucifer.
- [37:55]
Madison Pruitt Trout
It is he. Yeah, he didn't send out the army on this one. He showed up at this one and he said, Jesus hadn't eaten 40 dinner last night. Grant watching us eat chewies right in front of him. And. But again and again, Satan is, is tempting Jesus. And every single temptation that Satan throws at Jesus, Jesus is responding each time with truth. And when I read that scripture, I'm reminded of, you know, Satan is cunning and, and all that, and he's sneaky and he. He lies and he schemes. But he's consistent. Like he. And he's not creative. Like, he's so consistent. And every single time. What's also interesting is that Jesus is responding inconsistency too. Every single time. He's responding with the truth. He's not trying to engage with the enemy. Huh. Like, well, let me think about that. He's like responding with the word of God. He's quoting Deuteronomy each time to each lie from the enemy.
- [38:53]
Jonathan Paluda
I mean, he literally quotes. So Satan tempts Jesus four times, and he responds four times with memory verses, like different scriptures, individual scriptures from Deuteronomy, from memory. And I just think, man, if the only way that I'm going to overcome the enemy's temptation today is quoting from Deuteronomy, a memory verse from Deuteronomy. Like, how am I going to do, you know? But that's what he does. And he does. He models that for us. And a lot of people wrestle with like, hey, do I talk to Satan? Do I say, the Lord rebuke you, Satan, I rebuke you, Satan. And I would say respond with scripture, like, that's why you want to memorize the scripture. That's what Jesus did is he's like, here's the truth. And so you can say, here's the Truth. And you respond with scripture and then talk to God and say, lord, would you set me free? Would you help me, Help me resist temptation. Like, here's an example. Like a lot of you right now, you're struggling with loneliness. You're thinking, man, nobody's asking me out. My friends are having fun without me. I wasn't invited to the party. Like last night. I sat home by myself, like, what's wrong? And you just, you're combating those feelings of loneliness. Well, Deuteronomy 31, verse 6 says, the Lord will never leave you. The Lord will never forsake you. And so the reality, the truth is that you're never going to be lonely if you have a relationship with Jesus and you're filled with his Holy Spirit, you know, the creator of the heavens, the earth, life is so short. You're going to be with God forever and ever and ever and ever in his kingdom. And you can look forward to that. And that's the party you're not going to miss out on. And you want to fill your mind with that truth so that your heart doesn't despair.
- [40:30]
Madison Pruitt Trout
So good. And I think just very practical thing that you guys can do with what we're sharing is find your trigger points. Find where the enemy often comes after your mind. The things that you're often tempted with, the things that you often are stumbling into. Maybe for you it is sexual sin. Maybe for you it's comparison, maybe it's body image, whatever it is. And find a few verses that you can memorize that you can have in your mind and in your heart. Because we don't always have a physical copy with us, you know, of our Bibles, or sometimes we don't even have our phones. And we need to have it so memorized and written on our hearts and on our minds that when those lies come, we can combat those with the truth of God's word. And so when the enemy begins to tell you, like we were talking about earlier, that you're not good enough or that you'll always be alone, that no one loves you, no one wants you, that sin is the only option that you have to. You have to give in to sin. Whatever you're feeling, you have to follow it. When you start hearing those lines or those lies, you immediately just begin to speak truth. And that's something that's been so helpful for me, is that when those lies come, immediately I just begin to speak the truth of God's word. And then I ask, like, I'll begin praying, like, I'll Ask the Holy Spirit, like, help me right now, because honestly, I'm believing some of these lies. Like, I am believing these lies. And I think that is also something that can be hard, is that it can feel like sometimes that even when we're doing all the right things, that it doesn't get better, you know, or that. That it doesn't go away. Like, say, you know, the lies are coming and I'm in a funk and I'm kind of just down. I'm feeling really, really anxious. I'm really struggling with self confidence or confidence in general. And say that I have spoken the scriptures, I've confessed it to a friend, and I've prayed, and I'm still feeling the same way. It can feel sometimes like Satan has more power than God and that lies have more power than truth if we're being just completely honest. And I would love for you to speak into that, because I know I've felt that in times, if I'm just being super honest and vulnerable with you guys, you know, in moments where I'm like, I know the truth. I know that the truth will set me free. I got the verses memorized, I got the word, you know, and there's still moments where I feel really, really defeated and discouraged. And even when I do all the, like, quote unquote right things, it feels like nothing's working.
- [42:58]
Jonathan Paluda
Yeah, you're gonna feel all kinds of ways. So the world we live in has fallen. And so really great people get cancer, really amazing godly women get cheated on. You know, some super holy people walk out the front door and shrapnel from a plane or a meteor, you know, falls and hits them on the head and they die. Like, all kinds of crazy things happen. That's my point. Because you say, why? Like, why do good things happen to bad or why do bad things happen to good people? I was like, one, there's no good people. The scripture tells us no one good. Not even one. We're all sinners, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Two, because the world we live in right now is broken and we think God is slow. And the scripture tells us that the Lord is not slow in keeping his promises, as some understand slowness. He's patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. Second Peter, right? And so what does it look like for us to wait on the Lord? Paul says, three times I begged God to remove the thorn in my flesh. And I think it looks like just looking at your Feelings, acknowledging them, saying, all right, this is how I feel. But now I'm going to think, right? My feelings may not change, but my thinking, I can change my thinking. I may not be able to change my feelings. I may feel down, and I may not. The sun may rise and set with me feeling down, but I can change the way I think.
- [44:34]
Madison Pruitt Trout
That's good.
- [44:35]
Jonathan Paluda
And so I can take every thought captive, he says, and make it obedient to Christ, right? Resist the devil and he will flee from you. He may not flee from you today, but if you continue to resist him, Hebrews says, until you have resisted to the point of shedding blood, which is what Jesus did in the garden. He said, let this cup pass from me. And he resisted the enemy to the point of shedding blood. He literally shed. He sweated blood, like blood came from his pores. And so for us, like, that's what it looks like for us to resist the devil, knowing that we may feel down, we may be tempted to despair. But our thinking, we're going to continue to think on the things of God. And that might be the test. And that test, it might be 12 months, it might be 24 months, it might be 36 months. How long are you willing to be tested? But most likely, let's just say it's 36 months. That's a long time. Three years, most likely. In the midst of those three years, you're going to laugh, you're going to eat ice cream, you're going to see a beautiful sunset. You might even experience the ocean. You might sit and have a great meal with friends. So there's grace in the Midst of those 36 months of suffering that you can, you're going to experience those things, too. Take those in, fill your heart with them. And while your emotions might be down, make sure your thoughts are up and you're in the scripture, just so you know, that's not just me making this up. It says, think about the things of God. Set your minds on heaven, renew your minds. Romans 12:1 and 2 do not conform any longer to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. And so there's all of this scripture that while the enemy is fighting over the real estate of our minds, we have control of that. And do you know who controls what you think? You do. And if you're like, no, I don't. I'm not in control. Intrusive thoughts, that's not. I would just say, hey, think about this for a second. Close your minds, think about a Yellow school bus. Close your minds. Close your eyes. Close your eyes and think about a yellow school bus. Think about. Think about a yellow school bus. Yellow school bus. You see it? Yellow school bus. Says school bus on the side in black. Yellow. You just did it. You just controlled your thinking. That's what happens. And you can do that. You can say, man, think about the cross of Jesus. Think about the empty tomb. Think about the things of God. And you can all do that. But I would just say this, if I may, to your. It's like there's a God. There really is. Life is short, and there's a real temptation to make it all about this world. Vanity. What do people think of you? To live in insecurity. And I love the platform that God gave you because you guys are like, well, Maddie's beautiful and she has worldly things and whatnot. I know them. Like, you see the Maddie through the camera. I see the Maddie at dinner last night with her husband. I see the Maddie fasting right now. I see the Maddie that was up 6:00am this morning, you know, watching a prayer service. I'm like, she is leveraging the things that God gave her to bring as many of you to know him as she possibly can. That's a life well lived. And I'm just. I'm telling you, whether you realize it or not, right now, there is a God. And if you're like, I don't know if there is, ask him. Say, God, if you're real. Show me. Show me tonight, Lord. Show up in a dream. You know, I want to know if you're real. And he will. And that God allowed his son, Jesus Christ to die for your sins and raised him from the dead. And the same spirit that can raise people from the dead is available to you. And that Holy Spirit is infinitely more powerful than any spirit of this world. That's what you need to know.
- [48:24]
Madison Pruitt Trout
Amen. I love that you're bringing it to that, because as we're wrapping up, that was something I wanted to really hone in on. And first of all, thank you for everything that you said. It was very kind, and it is. It's so true that no matter what you have and no matter what your life looks like, it's all about, how are you stewarding what you have and are you giving God the glory for it? Are you continuing to look through the lens of this life is temporary and none of this is. It doesn't belong to me. My body doesn't belong to me. My relationships don't belong to me. My Money doesn't belong to me. My job doesn't belong to me. It's all yours, Lord. You are the Lord of my life. And that's something that I want to do, and that's the way I want to live. That's my prayer for you guys, is not even just praying the prayer of, lord, I make you my savior. Thank you for saving me. But also, lord, I make you the Lord of my life. You are my everything. I don't want to have one foot in, one foot out. I don't want to be a comfortable Christian. I want to go all in. Because even what you're saying, there is a target on your back. There's an enemy that is after you. And some of the biggest ways that he gets us is by keeping us comfortable and is by keeping us living in this place where we're so consumed with ourself. And I think a lot of times we're anxious and we're depressed and we're discontent and we're struggling with different things because we're so consumed with ourself. Not always, but sometimes it's because we're so consumed with ourselves. And it's when we fix our eyes and our thoughts on him and on Heaven that that begins to flip the script and we just begin to speak truth and we begin to say it out loud, and we begin to renew our minds with that truth. But I would love to end really just encouraging and empowering everyone listening, that though there is an enemy, though there is a villain, we have victory in Jesus Christ. And it's not something to be fearful of. It's something to be aware of that you have a villain, but it's not something to cause you to shrink back. And I love that you shared that story. I think it's the passage in Scripture. Is it. Is it Luke 22, where Satan has asked to sift, has asked to sift Peter like wheat. He has demanded to sift him like wheat. And that is the reality of all of our lives, that Satan is asking to sift us like wheat. He is demanding to have your soul. He wants your soul. He wants you. He wants your family. He wants the generations that will come after you. He wants your impact. He wants your joy. He wants all that you are. And I love that Jesus's response is that he's praying for you, that he's praying that our faith will not fail. So he's not just promising to take it all the way. He's not just promising that life is gonna magically get easier, but he is our intercessor. And he stands between the gap and he is interceding for you and for me. And we get to have confidence in that and we get to have. That gets to grow our faith and our hope. And it talks about in revelation that we overcome by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of our testimony. And so we get to have this confidence and this authority in knowing that we have victory in Jesus and we have his spirit living in us. And I'd love for you to just kind of end with kind of a charge to them and an encouragement to them of how we can live in that place of victory and how we can live out in that place of authority. You know, not, not, not cockiness, not like, you know, oblivion of like the enemy can't ever get to me, but from a place of, of realness and awareness, but also faith and confidence in God.
- [52:05]
Jonathan Paluda
Yeah, when I was brand new believer, it's a crazy story. I was a brand new believer and, and I didn't have new believing friends, so I was still my friends from the world. And we were out at a bar and they had all like, had too much to drink and, and I don't know where I was on that as my memory. I was sober and whatnot. But I was just figuring out how to navigate the things of the church. And one of my friends, and he's like the littlest of my friends, and my friends were rough. Like we were, you know, go out and get in fights and whatnot. And, and so one of like the littlest of us finds he's had too much to drink and he finds the littlest guy in the bar and he does what dudes do and he was just like, what are you looking at? And they like get all this, you know, two little guys get all chest to chest and, and they're gonna fight and whatnot. And I go up and I, I separate them and I'm like, hey, I'm gonna take him home. He's had too much to drink. I'm sorry. You know, and I, I kind of put my hands on their chest and separate them and like, I'm a big guy, right? Like I'm 6 7, 250 pounds. Like, you know, the Lord just made me and I have no athletic ability whatsoever, so. But I. So a waste of height, but I'm a big guy. I can be intimidating. And I separate them and this little guy just like slaps my hand and says, don't you touch me. And I was like, whoa, bro, I'm trying to help you. Like, and when he does that, all of our friends circle him. And they're bad dudes. Like, they're on the creatine. You know, they're drinking protein and stuff. I mean, they're. They're huge guys. And so, like eight of eight of my friends circle him up. And. And I'm like, this is not gonna go well for this guy. And I separate him again. I was like, hey, I'm gonna take him home. And he slaps my hand again and goes, I told you, don't touch me. And I was like, dude, who are you? Like, what are you doing right now? You're about to get killed, you know? And he. And he pulls out his phone, does the craziest thing I've ever seen, taps a name, and the guy's like, hello? And he goes, hey, you here? He goes, yeah, I just pulled up. He goes, great, I got something I want you to take care of. And he hangs up. And. And I was like, what was that? Like, did you just call Batman? Like, who. Who was that? You know? And. And. And I just remember the confidence in this little guy's face as he's surrounded by 10. Because me plus eight, plus the one 10 guys that are about to just devour him. And he just didn't waver. He was like, you here? Good. Okay. And. And we went outside. So I didn't want to. I was like, guys, we gotta go. We go outside two of the biggest, hugest, like, Rock the Rock, like Dwayne Johnson looking dudes I've ever seen. And. And I just remember the confidence in that guy's eyes, you know? And there was a theologian who said how much courage I would have if I could hear Jesus praying for me in the other room. And he goes, whether I hear him or not, he is praying for me.
- [55:09]
Madison Pruitt Trout
Yeah.
- [55:09]
Jonathan Paluda
And I should operate in that courage. Greater is he who is in me than he who is in the world. First, Peter 5 says that we're to stand firm and resist the devil, the enemy, your enemy. The devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, and he will flee from you. And so that's what I want you to be encouraged by. Like, literally to have courage. Is that as you walk, like the doubt in your mind, it's not of God as much as you think it is. It's of you. You think, well, gosh, but I'm not following. But I really love him. But I. I love the party. I love These things I, I love to look a particular way. Listen, God is real, God is true. God loves you. He's crazy about you and he controls all things. And if you just believe that, that's a really powerful equation. There is a God. He is good, he is all powerful and he loves you. If you add that all together, you're going to walk in that confidence. It's not confidence in you, it's confidence in him. That man in the bar, he didn't have confidence in himself. He had confidence in his huge friend.
- [56:21]
Madison Pruitt Trout
His backup.
- [56:22]
Jonathan Paluda
His backup. If God is for us, who can be against us? That's what the scripture says. And so if God is for you, who can be against you? And God is for you walk in that truth. That's what I would say.
- [56:34]
Madison Pruitt Trout
So good, man. That's so good. And when you read through the gospels, highly encourage you guys to. To read through the gospels. I'm constantly in the gospels, but every single time a demon came before Jesus, literally the demon would fall before Jesus and say, you are the son of God and would be trembling and shaking and like, please don't, don't cast me out. Like, the demons are scared of God. I love that you, you talked about that earlier in this podcast. And so you just remember who your God is. And I think Priscilla Shire said it a long time ago like, remember who your daddy is. And I'm like, amen. That is true. Because when you know, like you said, who is for you and who was on your team, then you ain't worried about. You ain't worried about your opposition because you know who you got on your team. And so, man, this was such a good podcast, man. I'm so grateful for you and so grateful for your wisdom and your time. I'm excited about this book and the way it's going to impact a lot of people. I'm going to link this for you guys in this episode, wherever you're watching it. YouTube, Spotify, Apple, you'll be able to see the link in the show notes and you can go and get your own copy. Super, super grateful for you. Thank you. For you.
- [57:48]
Jonathan Paluda
Thanks for having the conversation. Yeah, we love you guys a ton.
- [57:51]
Madison Pruitt Trout
Really grateful, so much. And as always, guys, be sure to stay you and stay true. We love.