The Ding Dong Principle
Deliverance impacts different people differently. Almost everyone reports a greater level of peace, a closer walk with the Lord, a greater awareness of the workings of the Enemy, and a different perspective on the world. Other people report that it is associated with all that, plus physical healing, removal of voices, a reduction of anxiety and fear, the replacement of anger with acceptance and love, in short, better emotional and physical health. Most of the time this happens instantaneously.
As time goes by people begin to notice that the deliverance also seems to have some impact on the way other people respond to them; mothers and daughters find that their relationship is different, a greater level of appreciation and acceptance between parents and children occurs. This may take some time to be realized.
I can’t predict what will change. We are such complex creatures; a combination of physical, psychological, and spiritual factors all of which are influenced by friends, family, history, and environment. Sometimes, though, we discover that parts of ourselves that we hope will leave do not leave as quickly as we might wish. Sometimes we hope that all our issues are demonic so that we can remove them in an afternoon. Unfortunately, there is still a lot of “us” thereafter deliverance. The Bible calls this “the flesh.” The flesh is our greatest challenge. It consists of habits of mind and behavior.
Corrie ten Boom wrote about what she called “The Ding-Dong Principle” in her book Tramp for the Lord. Thank you, Kathy, for sending me this.
“In Holland, we have many churches with belfries. The bells in the steeples are rung by hand, with a rope that is pulled from the vestibule of the church.
One day a young Flemish girl, who had repented and received deliverance from lust and impurity, came to me while I was speaking in one of these churches.
‘Even though I have been delivered,’ she said, ‘at night I still keep dreaming of my old way of life. I am afraid I will slip back into Satan’s grasp.’
‘Up in that church tower,’ I said, nodding toward the belfry, ‘is a bell which is rung by pulling on a rope. But you know what? After the sexton let’s go of the rope, the bell keeps on swinging. First ding, then dong. Slower and slower until there’s a final dong and it stops.
‘I believe the same thing is true of deliverance. When the demons are cast out in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, or when sin is confessed and renounced, then Satan’s hand is removed from the rope. But if we worry about our past bondage, Satan will use this opportunity to keep the echoes ringing in our minds.’
A sweet light spread across the girl’s face. ‘You mean even though I sometimes have temptations, that I am still free, that Satan is no longer pulling the rope which controls my life?’
‘The purity of your life is evidence of your deliverance,’ I said. ‘You should not worry about the dings and dongs, they are nothing but echoes.’
Demons seldom leave without leaving behind their vibrations-dings and dongs. It is as though they give the clapper one big swing on the way out, scaring us into thinking that they are still there. They know that, even though they have to flee at the Name of Jesus, if we grow fearful over the remaining echoes, other demons can come in and take their place.
The same is true for forgiveness. When we forgive someone, we take our hand off of the rope. But if we’ve been tugging at our grievances for a long time, we mustn’t be surprised when the old angry thoughts keep coming up for a while. They’re just the ding-dongs of the old bell slowing down.
The Bible promises that after we confess and renounce our sins, God cleanses us from them by the blood of Jesus. Indeed, He says, ‘Your sins and iniquities will I remember no more’ (see Hebrews 8:12). However, we can do something God cannot do. We can remember our old sins. These are the dings and the dongs of our past life. When we hear them, we need to remember that through Jesus’ sacrifice on Calvary, Satan can no longer pull the rope in our life. We may be tempted. We may even fall back occasionally. But we have been delivered from the bondage of sin, and even though the vibrations may still sound in our lives they will grow less and less and eventually stop completely.
Once Satan has been cast out of the house of your life, he cannot return as long as you walk in obedience. Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. However, that does not prevent him (or his demons) from standing outside the house and yelling through the windows, saying, ‘We’re still here!’
But, hallelujah, we know Satan for who he is-the prince of liars. He is not still here-he has been cast out. So, whenever you hear one of those old echoes in your life-one of the ding or dongs you need to stop right then and say, ‘Thank You, Jesus. You have bought me with Your blood and sin has no right to sound off in my life?”
Deliverance returns your ability to choose. It does not determine your choices for you. You can choose to sin, or not sin, believe the Enemy’s lies, or not believe the Enemy’s lies. It is your call.
Deliverance is an amazing ministry. I walk away from every session astonished at God’s grace and love for us. I just say, “Wow. God is so good.
