I just received the first round of edits from my editor. The first stage is a developmental edit where she points out all the things that don’t make sense, all the plot holes, all the inconsistencies, and what I should do to make the story tighter and more enjoyable. This is only the second time I’m working with this editor and she’s really good. If you are a writer and you’re looking for someone who’ll tear your work apart prior to publication you need this woman. Seriously, she’s ruthless, which I think is great.

Anyway, so I’m in the middle of making tough decisions about the book. One of which is the issue of witchcraft and how far we as Christians believe in it. In Bondage, Savannah has a spell cast over Rhys who is a Christian, and when she tells him about it years later he doesn’t believe it ever worked on him. There are Christians who believe that witchcraft does work on Christians and that we need to daily pray against it. There are Christians who don’t believe that any power of the enemy can work on them at all. Then there a lots of people in the middle who ask questions like ‘why then do some Christians need deliverance after getting saved.’

Personally I don’t believe that any power of the enemy works on us as Christians. The Bible says no weapon formed against us shall prosper and I wholeheartedly believe that. But I also believe that if a Christian is not living right they give the enemy a loophole to exploit. The Bible talks about Joshua the high priest who stood before God and the devil was at his right hand to resist him. Just in case we wonder why, the next verse tells us that Joshua was wearing filthy garments. So I guess the devil felt like he had the right. But the good thing is God rebuked the devil on Joshua’s behalf. This can all be found in Zechariah 3:1-10.

There’s also the story of the devil instigating David to number Israel (1 Chronicles 21:1, 2), which shows that a Christian can be under satanic influence; and the story of Job, whereby God removed the hedge around Job and the devil was able to afflict him.

The Bible tells us how we can overcome the power of the enemy. Submit to God and then you can resist the devil (James 4:7) & put on the whole armour of God so that you can withstand all the wiles of the devil (Ephesians 6:11). I guess there is no straightforward answer to this question. People from places like Africa and Asia are more likely to believe in the reality of the devil’s power because they see it more. In the UK, we’re kind of oblivious to it’s existence most of the time–unless you go to a church that likes to talk about deliverance.

In summary, the devil uses fear, so if you’re not afraid of him and you put your trust in God and live right there’s nothing he can do to you. Purity is power. In Bondage, Rhys doesn’t believe he is under the spell because he is a Christian, but Savannah has experienced a lot of Satanism through her involvement in a music industry cult so even when she becomes a Christian she is afraid that the spell is still in operation, because she knows just how real the power of the devil is. She doesn’t want Rhys to love her because of a spell she cast when she was younger. My dilemma now is whether to cause her not to believe in the spell anymore and not care about it (would that be too drastic of a change for her?) or let her be afraid and seek for a way to reverse the spell.

Anyway, I have revealed enough. No more tidbits.

God bless x