DEMONIC POSSESSION

• Extreme strength
  ^{Mark 5:3-4 who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no one could bind him, not even with chains, because he had often been bound with shackles and chains. And the chains had been pulled apart by him, and the shackles broken in pieces; neither could anyone tame him.}

• Blasphemy and cursing
  ^{Colossians 3:8 But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth.}

• Frightening facial expressions, threatening words or gestures
  ^{Two Demon-Possessed Men Healed: When He had come to the other side, to the country of the Gergesenes, there met Him two demon-possessed men, coming out of the tombs, exceedingly fierce, so that no one could pass that way. Matthew 8:28}

• Self destruction
  ^{And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” Mark 9:22}

• Physical anomalies surround them
  ^{Revelation 13:13 He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men.}

• A lack of gratitude, unreasonable demands, without empathy.
  ^{Job 41:24 His heart is as hard as stone, Even as hard as the lower millstone. Job 41:34 He beholds every high thing; He is king over all the children of pride.”}

• An obsession with controlling the afterlife (the future).
  ^{_ And the person who turns to mediums and familiar spirits, to prostitute himself with them, I will set My face against that person and cut him off from his people. Leviticus 20:6
  _There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer,or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritualist, or one who calls up the dead. Deuteronomy 18:9-11
  _Now it happened, as we went to prayer, that a certain slave girl possessed with a spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters much profit by fortune-telling. Acts 16:16}

• Arrogance of self will
  ^{For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation On the farthest sides of the north; Isaiah 14:13}

PREDATORS Use FAST Persuasion: (tips by Gavin de Becker in “The Gift of Fear”)

1. They use words like “we” when there is no “we” trying to tie themselves to you to gain your trust that you are in this together. They try to build intimacy that hasn’t been earned over time.
2. They use charm and niceness causing you to believe that niceness means goodness when they are not good, but have evil intent.
3. They will give slight accusations about your character, body, or other cloaked insults to try to get you to prove you are not any of their accusations. Don’t fall for that.
4. They give unsolicited promises out of the blue.
5. They discount your “no” and won’t accept it. They lean into and then invade your boundaries.
6. They will appear from nowhere and suddenly are a part of you.
7. They act too interested in you. You may take it as a compliment but they are mining for information that makes you vulnerable.
8. They talk too much and give too many unnecessary details. They have to convince and “sell” you on their story when it is full of lies.
9. They stay too long.
10. They do you unsolicited favors with the intention of having you feel you now owe them something.

Summary: True Trust Takes Time! There are no shortcuts. Trust your instincts. Predators take “time” out of the equation.

VIOLENCE:

“Those men who are the most violent are not at all carried away by fury. In fact, their heart rates actually drop and they become physiologically calmer as they become more violent.”
― Gavin de Becker, The Gift of Fear: Survival Signals That Protect Us from Violence

ANGER:

What upsets people the most is not what actually happens, but when their expectancies are violated. When you have a more realistic and mature expectancy set, you won’t be setting yourself up for anger if everything doesn’t go smoothly. ~Dr. Phil

Anger is associated with pride and entitlement.

DEMONIC ANGER

Demons feed on people’s anger.
https://spiritualdirection.com/2021/03/25/anger-feeds-the-demons

Satan is aroused when people curse and blasphemy. It gets his attention. He smells “blood in the waters” and he searches out his prey.
* Job 3:8 May those curse it who curse the day, Those who are ready to arouse Leviathan (a sea monster, Satan, who dwells in a sea of people).