Wednesday, August 8, 2012

A View from Mary DeMuth's Window - Beautiful Battle

I had a chance to inverview Mary Demuth about her latest work, Beautiful Battle, while I was in Orlando.  I wasn't able to get a picture due to some unforseen technical difficulties, but I am excited to share what she had to say about this book! I think this is a great tool for learning about spiritual warfare, especially for those, like me, who fall in the category of willfully ignorant.   Join me as I share a great conversation with Mary DeMuth!
What was your purpose in writing the book?  What do you hope the  take away will be for those who read  the book?
My husband and I were Church planters in southern France, and  we experienced very overt spiritual  battles.  After those experiences, I knew I had something to share with others.
Can you give us an example of one of those overt spiritual battles?  One of our daughters began acting out of character – she was in 1st grade.  We were riding somewhere when a song came on about Jesus and the demonicac.  Our youngest said in a very cold voice, “turn that off now!”  About a week later she came to me and told me she was hearing voices telling her to do things and that the voices wouldn’t be quiet.  She was being told to kick her brother, be mean to me and her dad – she would be waking up at night hearing these voices. 
At the time, she was the only one in the family that hadn’t yet accepted Christ.  A neighbor later witnessed to her and she accepted Christ.  After that, I asked her was she still hearing voices, and she said, “No, I’m just hearing one voice and it’s telling me to make wise choices.”  I knew then that she was hearing the voice of the Holy Spirit.
Do you think believer’s are aware when they are undergoing spiritual attacks?  No. Not always. Many times we experience very overt spiritual attacks.  Like us, there are many who don’t know how to recognize spiritual attack.  On the other hand, there are those who blame everything that doesn’t go right on demonic activity.    Most err on the side of not being able to recognize this…and never think about it at all.
How does a Christian represent Christ and engage in spiritual warfare?  In the new testament…Christ never engaged demons in conversation, He just told them to be quiet and walked away.  When we encounter a difficult relationship, we need to recognize that God loves that person, and the person is not the enemy. They may be under the influence of the enemy, and   we tend to battle the person and not battle the enemy.  Because we do that, we have a problem with forgiveness, and unforgiveness becomes bitterness, and that gives the enemy a foothold in our lives.  Once that happens, we lose hope, because we become isolated and the enemy steals our hope and speaks lies to us.
Is this book a teaching tool?  The primary purpose of the book is to elevate God and make Him big in our lives. So many books about spiritual warfare concentrate on the power of the enemy and God is almost an afterthought.  This book focuses on the bigness of God in our lives – His sovereignty and His goodness in our lives.
Many people view spiritual warfare as a wrestling match between God and Satan – giving them equal power.  That is a wrong view of spiritual warfare. Christ has already won.
What has God shown you in your life?  I didn’t really want to write this book, but I wanted to share with others what we’d been through and that we had come through intact, but not unscathed.
Will you be writing more fiction?  I will continue fiction, will be talking about some new ideas with publishers very soon. I have several young adult novels that I need to find a home for. Magical Realism…not totally speculative.  Havnen’t written fiction since 2004-2006.
What is God doing in your life?
I have been in a place of stripping in my life.  I had mentoring site, editing, speaking….and I was burning out.  God has asked me to let it all go and concentrate on my writing, and now instead of ten things that need my attention, it’s just a few things.  It’s really been nice to let some things go and have more time to spend with my family.                 

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