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Once I was prescribed Celexa to help me through my weepy period of menopause. Looking back I wish I had just relied on God to get me through this emotional roller-coaster ride. Instead, the drug opened my mind up to the paranormal world with visions and “words.” In essense I become a channeler. Being a Christian, I thought God was using me in a special way by the guidance I thought I was receiving. Instead I was listening to the enemy.
Today it is easy to come across those who say they are receiving visions and words from the Lord on a daily basis. I was there once and it is very seducing, but it is usually deception.
Deception by divination will usually lead to pride and paranoid delusion. Because of the nature of the evil one, and the grace of God, warning signs will come. If unheeded, this road leads to destruction.
Coming back to biblical teachings involved throwing myself on the mercy of God for my pride and rebellion. I had to pray that all abilities not from God be completely removed. And they were!
Here is an interesting comment from Bob Dewaay:
Divination is forbidden not because it does not work, but because it does. It works to put people in touch with spiritual forces and secret knowledge. … The evil spirits who dispense this information intend to keep people from coming to God through Messiah. They also seek to deceive Christians into thinking that what has been provided through Christ is insufficient. They are very good at what they do.
Prescribed psychotropic drugs are not the only danger. This is only one way that a person can open themselves to deception. There are many ways. There is the impartation of false anointings, drugs, alcohol, eastern meditation, repetition of word, hypnosis, visualization (very occult) , and the seduction of today’s hypnotic music. The church is being bombarded with all these deceptions and spiritual influences and they must be rejected instead of being accepted.
Please also be warned that the terms paranormal and metaphysical both mean….occult.
Okay now for the feature article:
How should a Christian respond to evidence of paranormal activity?”
Answer: The word paranormal can be defined as “the occurrence, or perception of, an event without scientific explanation, or other purportedly supernatural phenomena.” Paranormal activity is an encompassing term that includes not only ghosts and hauntings and demonic activity, but also includes other unexplainable phenomena such as unidentified flying objects (UFOs), and extrasensory perception (ESP), to name just a few. With the proliferation of movies and television shows that in one way or another sensationalize paranormal activity, it is clear that many are indeed fascinated with this realm. In fact, a 2007 low-budget movie titled Paranormal Activity went on to become one of the most profitable movies of all time. How then, should Christians respond when we read about supposed hauntings and other paranormal occurrences?
A common misconception is that disembodied spirits can remain on earth or perhaps come back to “haunt” or otherwise interact with us. However, nothing in the Bible supports this belief. Rather, “man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). But the Bible does make it clear that there are spirit beings—angels and demons—which operate in the heavenly realm. The angels serve God. They are ministering spirits who are sent by God “to serve those who will inherit salvation” (Hebrews 1:14). Demons, on the other hand, are fallen angels under the control of Satan, and they roam the earth looking to destroy God’s children (1 Peter 5:8). They are cunning and wise and keenly aware of our weaknesses and our propensity to desire that which will satisfy our fleshly desires. Worst of all, they can masquerade as “angels of light” or as “servants of righteousness” (2 Corinthians 11:14-15). Regarding the immensity of Satan’s earthly “operation,” the apostle John reminds us that the “whole world” is under his control (1 John 5:19).
Now, some of the paranormal activity we read about today could very well be hoaxes perpetuated on a public that is all too eager to believe. In some cases, well-meaning people could be innocently mistaken as to what they think they might have seen or experienced. There is probably a logical explanation for much of what gets passed off as “paranormal activity.” However, if there is genuine evil spiritual activity occurring, it would have to be the work of demons. Either way, however, when Christians read or hear of such activity we should not be intrigued by it or drawn to it; rather we should use it as a solid reminder of the spiritual battle that is the Christian life and the one against whom we struggle. “Our struggle is not against flesh and blood,” but, rather it is against the “powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 6:12 emphasis added).
Many people are no doubt intrigued by tales of ghosts and hauntings. Yet, if getting angry can give the devil a “foothold” into our lives (Ephesians 4:27), how much more so would a fascination with the “dark forces” of this world that he controls? Jesus Christ came to earth to destroy the devil’s work (1 John 3:8), and it took His death to accomplish it. Our response to paranormal activity, at least as it pertains to any sort of demonic activity, is to be reminded of the evil which ultimately led to our Savior’s great sacrifice. Beyond that, Christians should avoid any and all contact with the paranormal.
http://www.gotquestions.org/paranormal-activity.html
*note *
I selected the photo because this is what I saw in a dream when I denounced and rejected what I was receiving. Satan was exposed and he left and so did the oppression.
The Sermon on the Mount spoken by Jesus is found recorded by Matthew in chapters 5-7. Jesus exposes sin, explains how how we are lead lives pleasing to God, says that the way is narrow, and that we need to put His words into practice. If we do not wisely build on the foundation of God’s Word, then we are building on sand. But this is not what the world wants to hear.
“The ‘Jesus’ the World Loves.”
From the Berean Call….
Let’s start with how one comes to a true knowledge of, and relationship with, Jesus Christ. It begins with a simple understanding of the gospel that Jesus is God, who became a Man in order to save mankind from everlasting separation from God that resulted from man’s sin. Jesus satisfied the perfect justice of God by His once-and-for-all payment for the sins of humanity through His death on the Cross. His resurrection from the dead assures the salvation of all those who acknowledge before God their sin and their hopelessness in saving themselves, and who by grace through faith accept Christ’s sacrifice on their behalf and His free gift of eternal life. This is how one is reconciled to God and born again spiritually. This is how one’s relationship with the biblical Jesus Christ begins.
Although that relationship is supernatural in that every true believer in Christ is indwelt by God, it nevertheless progresses, as any good relationship does, by getting to know the person with whom one has a relationship.
The primary way a relationship with Jesus develops is by reading the revelation of Himself given in His Word. This is the only way to obtain specific information about Him that is objective and absolutely true. In addition, not only is the content of Scripture inspired by the Holy Spirit, but that same Spirit of Truth is given to believers to understand that content. How then could those who profess to follow God’s Word come up with erroneous ideas about Jesus? Regrettably, many are getting their information about Jesus from sources outside the Bible or second hand from those who claim to be teaching what the Bible says about our Lord.
“Not to be alarmist, but it looks a lot like Satan is in charge right now. The enemy has a subtle way of using even the proper scenery and props to obscure the main character. The church, mission, cultural transformation, even the Spirit can become the focus instead of the means for “fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith” (Heb. 12:2)…… The story behind all the headlines of the Bible is the war between the serpent and the offspring of the woman (Gen. 3:15), an enmity that God promised would culminate in the serpent’s destruction and the lifting of the curse. This promise was a declaration of war on Satan and his kingdom, and the contest unfolded in the first religious war, between Cain and Abel (Gen. 4 with Matt. 23:35), in the battle between Pharaoh and Yahweh that led to the exodus and the temptation in the wilderness. Even in the land, the serpent seduces Israel to idolatry and intermarriage with unbelievers, even provoking massacres of the royal family. Yet God always preserved that “seed of the woman” who would crush the serpent’s head (see 2 Kings 11, for example). The story leads all the way to Herod’s slaughter of the firstborn children in fear of the Magi’s announcement of the birth of the true King of Israel.
“The Gospels unpack this story line and the epistles elaborate its significance. Everything is leading to Golgotha, and when the disciples-even Peter-try to distract Jesus away from that mission, they are being unwitting servants of Satan (Matt. 16:23). “The god of this world has blinded the minds of unbelievers”-not simply so that they will defy Judeo-Christian values, but “to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For we do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus’ sake” (2 Cor. 4:4-5).
“Satan lost the war on Good Friday and Easter, but has shifted his strategy to a guerilla struggle to keep the world from hearing the gospel that dismantles his kingdom of darkness. Paul speaks of this cosmic battle in Ephesians 6, directing us to the external Word, the gospel, Christ and his righteousness, faith, and salvation as our only armor in the assaults of the enemy. In Revelation 12, the history of redemption is recapitulated in brief compass, with the dragon sweeping a third of the stars (angels) from heaven, laying in wait to devour the woman’s child at birth, only to be defeated by the ascension of the promised offspring. Nevertheless, knowing his time is short, he pursues the child’s brothers and sisters. Wherever Christ is truly proclaimed, Satan is most actively present. The wars between nations and enmity within families and neighborhoods is but the wake of the serpent’s tail as he seeks to devour the church, employing the same tried and tested methods: not only martyrdom from without, but heresy and schism from within… toward what can only be called, tragically, ‘Christless Christianity.”’
[Excerpt from Christless Christianity by Michael Horton]
Thanks to “A Twisted Crown of Thorns” blog by Michael Acidri
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