THE NAME ABOVE EVERY NAME

The person who opened my door was a demon.

There was a recurring nightmare I had been having ever since I was a little child.  I would wake up in the middle of the night and discover that someone, some invisible person, was pressing me down on the bed.  I would start struggling, but no matter how hard I fought, I would not be able to overcome him. 

Initially, I was afraid he would some day choke me to death.  But later, I realised it was simply oppressive and not life-threatening; so I stopped struggling.  After a while, my adversary would leave me alone, only to revisit me some other time.

An open vision

This continued for the better part of thirty years.  There was neither rhyme nor reason behind these attacks.  My oppressor might leave me alone for weeks or torment me night after night.  Then one day, after I had just met the Lord, he attacked me again. 

I was reading a book far into the night.  So as not to disturb my wife, I was in the spare bedroom.  Much later, I switched off the bedside lamp and dozed off.  I could not have slept for more than ten or fifteen minutes, when I heard someone open the door.  I opened my eyes to see who it was and was shocked.  The person who opened my door was a demon.

I had never believed demons existed.  As far as I was concerned, the devil himself was one big joke.  I used to make fun of my Christian colleagues at work.  They attributed all kinds of things to the devil, which I thought was nonsensical.  But then there I was, on my bed in my flat.  I was not asleep and I was not dreaming.  My eyes were wide open.  Somebody physically opened my door.  He did not pass through the wall.  And when I looked to see who it was, I discovered it was a demon.

Scent of a demon

How did I know it was a demon?  Everything about it was exactly how I had been led to believe a demon would look like.  If I could put my finger on it, I would say it bore a striking resemblance to Darth Vader of the Star Wars films.  It was tall; the head practically touched the lintel of the door.  It was all black, with a head but without a face or eyes.  It was covered in what seemed to be like shredded rags.  And, wait for it; it had an acrid body odour, reminiscent of rotten eggs. 

Does a spirit smell?  Don’t ask me because I don’t know.  One thing I know; the one I saw did.  Does a spirit have to open a door to enter a room?  I have absolutely no idea.  But the one I saw opened the door.  Indeed, it was in his opening of the door that I was awakened.  Can you see a spirit in an open vision with your naked eyes?  I don’t know.  What I know is that I did. 

The demon I saw had no legs.  It seemed to glide on hidden wheels.  I was mesmerised on my bed as I watched it coming towards me.  I was so scared; I couldn’t even move my lips.  It came slowly until it got to my bedside table.  Then it started to shrink in height gradually until it disappeared completely into the floor.  Once it disappeared, I noticed a familiar scene.  Somebody started pressing me down on the bed.  Then I decided to cry for help.

Our strong tower

The first mistake I made was in trying to form a complete sentence.  Instead of just shouting “Jesus,” I tried to say “in the name of Jesus.”  But I discovered that something or someone was also impeding my tongue.  By the time I struggled to get through “in the name,” I found I could not continue. 

The second mistake I made was to start all over again instead of continuing from where I had been stopped.  But this time I succeeded.  On getting to “in the name of Je..,” I heard a loud whoosh, and for the very first time, my oppressor quickly released me and literally ran away.

I became momentarily crazy on my bed.  I started shouting.  I started boasting, even though I was addressing someone invisible: “You can’t do me anything.  You can’t touch me.  I have Jesus.”  Then I started laughing hysterically.  I had suddenly discovered practically the power in the name of Jesus at the late age of forty-one. 

It was like boasting because you now have a fearsome bodyguard.  Or you discovered that your brother is the new world heavyweight-boxing champion, so nobody dares threaten you again in the yard.