Avoid the Sin of Divination

Beware of long term deception

What if I told you that no matter how much information you share with your friends about the corrupt Babylonian world system and its reach in school, college, work and church, over 90% of them won’t care until it’s too late & only then will they wonder how we allowed this to happen?

A little bit of deviation from the good, can get you more towards evil. A little tolerance of immoral behavior, can cause a region to have rampant adultery and fornication, in a few decades if unchecked.  A little leniency towards lies, can cause the entire community to be untrustworthy.

What’s the ‘little’ in your life and that of your friends and family that must not be given to evil, is not just your choice but your undeniable responsibility?

A few Bible verses to consider about the little things or little leaven of life:

1. And again Jesus said, “To what shall I compare the kingdom of God? “It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three pecks of flour until it was all leavened.” (Luke 13:20-21)
2.  When the disciples reached the other side, they had forgotten to bring any bread. Jesus said to them, “Watch and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” And they began discussing it among themselves, saying, “We brought no bread.” But Jesus, aware of this, said, “O you of little faith, why are you discussing among yourselves the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive? Do you not remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many baskets you gathered? Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many baskets you gathered? How is it that you fail to understand that I did not speak about bread? Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” Then they understood that he did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees. (Matthew 16:5-12)
3. Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough? Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed. Therefore let us celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. (1 Corinthians 5:6-8)

Observe how Jesus warned his disciples about the teaching of the  Pharisees and Sadducees but comparing how a little leaven can end up leavening the entire measure of flour its mixed up with. And yes, the disciples actually understood what Jesus said. Does everyone who profess to be a follower of Jesus take that much care to understand what the Lord has said? Not everyone but there are a few who actually do so and put his words into practice. We can confirm this by the following verses:

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’ (Matthew 7:21-23)

One of the key points of the above verses is to do the will of God who is in heaven. The Bible which is the Word of God also teaches us to observe and interpret the times and seasons because it’s finally about the coming back of the Son of Man on earth. A few verses in this light:

• He also said to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, you say at once, ‘A shower is coming.’ And so it happens. And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, ‘There will be scorching heat,’ and it happens. You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time? (Luke 12:54-56)
• “And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” (Luke 21:25-28)

Mark of the Beast?

But one may ask why are they to observe the time and seasons, if all they need to do is to be faithful to Jesus Christ? Now to answer to that is already given by Jesus himself in the following verses:

“But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap. For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth. But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.” (Luke 21:34-36)

O people of God do not be deceived! The works of darkness are showing themselves more blatantly than ever before. Kids are being exposed to sensuality much earlier than those of the previous generations. As a result there are teenagers who get pregnant when they are not emotionally nor fully physically ready for childbirth and child rearing. The entertainment is becoming more and more occult oriented than ever before but people are only pretending that they should not be bothered. And what to say of the preachers who don’t want to preach against sin?

This is the long term deception I’m talking about; that people get warned years in advance in the Bible about sin and deception and yet do not give heed to the warnings. Then one fine day when they are in either suffering in Hell or are alive in a world of darkness they wonder what did they miss that could have not landed them in such a bad state. Don’t wait to fall in that time but rather be wise enough to read the Word of God and act on it and keep yourself pure and help others to be pure for the Lord Jesus.

Christ be with you!

 

The reason the world is not seeing Jesus

​“The reason the world is not seeing Jesus is that Christian people are not filled with Jesus. They are satisfied with attending meetings weekly, reading the Bible occasionally, and praying sometimes. … It is an awful thing for me to see people who profess to be Christians lifeless, powerless, and in a place where their lives are so parallel to unbelievers’ lives that it is difficult to tell which place they are in, whether in the flesh or in the Spirit.” – Smith Wigglesworth

Resist, Resist and Resist

Resist the Devil and let him flee,
Submit to Christ Jesus in all glee.
Make God’s word your pillar of fire,
To burn away every unclean desire.

Scaring people is the Devil’s claim,
Why don’t you rebuke him in Jesus name?
Using the shield of faith fiery darts repel,
The Church true prevails against the gates of hell.

Never mingle with deceptive evil spirits,
For these are impious counterfeits.
Desire the company of God’s people true,
For they in worship and prayer help your faith renew.

Resist temptation everyday all along,
So that you praise God in holy song
Run away from each wrong and vain thought locus,
Upon the Lord Jesus Christ always focus, focus, focus.

Quick reminder: Sins cannot be hidden from God

Woe to those who deeply hide their plans from the LORD, And whose deeds are done in a dark place, And they say, “Who sees us?” or “Who knows us?” (Isaiah 29:15)

Then He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what the elders of the house of Israel are committing in the dark, each man in the room of his carved images? For they say, ‘The LORD does not see us; the LORD has forsaken the land.'” (Ezekiel 8:12)

Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them. (Ephesians 5:11)

When Stigmata had to be dealth with

A few years ago, I had been contacted by a representative of a local church and this was about a case that sounds extremely odd. There was a woman who would attend their church and perhaps still attends it. She would exhibit Stigmata while the church services would go on. This caused the church goers to be in wonder of her and the church leadership was suspecting demons at work. Because in certain types of demon possession, the affected individual also exhibits Stigmata. The people were getting too interested in her instead of praying to the Lord. So I was asked for a strategy to deal with her, since they didn’t want to directly cast her out of the prayer services, since part of the congregation believed her to be genuine. Eventually following my advice this was tackled cleanly and effectively.

Let me now give you a few definitions of what Stigmata stands for:

• Stigmata: bodily marks or pains resembling the wounds of the crucified Jesus and sometimes accompanying religious ecstasy. (As per Merriam-Webster dictionary online)
• Medicine/Medical.
  1. a mental or physical mark that is characteristic of a defect or disease: the stigmata of leprosy.
  2. a place or point on the skin that bleeds during certain mental states, as in hysteria. (As per Dictionary.com)
     

stigmata on palms

 

Stigmata on palms with blood

Now the church representative was very concerned that the Stigmata ie the bleeding wounds on the woman’s hands were of the devil. I told him not to get too presumptuous about that but let me give him my advice on it. So I decided to ask him a few questions and by this analyze the situation. So for your convenience let’s call the church representative as George. Here’s how our chat went on:

Myself: Where do the wounds show up on her?

George: On the palms, both of them.

Myself: Not anywhere else?

George: Only the palms.

Myself: Strange, because these even happen on the feet, sometimes on the forehead and even on the chest.

George: I’ve not faced this before so I’m not sure what you are talking about.

Myself: No problem. Let me ask another question?

George: Sure.

Myself: Does she belong to your denomination?

George: No, she’s from so and so denomination.

Myself: Do you suspect this stigmata that shows up in her might be a ploy to poach your existing church members in her denominational church?

George: (A bit startled) Nothing yet. She didn’t tell anyone to join her church.

Myself: Are you sure?

George: But she does attend other churches too?

Myself: Then why does she attend your church. Are you not aware that certain denominations proclaim other denominations as heretics?

George: I’m not sure but she is regular with us.

Myself: What’s the attitude of others in church towards her?

George: They are awestruck by her and are eager to see her every church service.

Myself: (Concerned) Does this mean she attracts others to Christ?

George: Can you be more specific?

Myself. Yes. By her getting the mysterious blood marks on her palms, do people at your church feel like praying more to the Lord? Do they feel like reading the Bible even more? Do they feel like fasting? Do they pray for more miracles to happen in your church?

George: (Stumped) I’ll have to check on this. This will need me to research on what’s going on.

Myself: Can I suggest a thing?

George: Yes.

Myself: Don’t put her on a position of prominence in church. Make sure that people at the time of praise and worship are focused on Christ. You are to keep track of what messages she gives the others in your church and check if it is consistent with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

George: We always focus on Jesus Christ at the church services but I will make sure people continue to focus on the Lord and not her.

Myself: That’s fine enough. I also want to ensure that somebody preaches the Gospel to her.

George: We preach the Gospel at church. I’ll make sure some woman also reaches out to her in this regard.

Myself: I also suggest that you keep track of your people. I mean you don’t want a situation that her stigmata causes people to switch over to her denomination?

George: No. We preach the true Gospel, why should people leave us?

Myself: That’s not my point. I’m not blaming your church. I’m only asking you to make sure your church is not carried away into impulsiveness.

George: What about demons? Don’t you suspect her stigmata could be a demonic manifestation?

Myself: I’d say its demonic if she abhors the name of Jesus that she ends up getting fits (epilepsy) all of a sudden on hearing the name of the Lord. Or she reacts violently and screams a lot.

George: Ok, thanks. I will keep track of the things you’ve said.

Myself: No problem. I will pray for her and your church services to not be affected negatively.

George: Thanks.

 

Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.  Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it. (1 Thessalonians 5: 19-24)

Now it took the church representative a few weeks to get back to me as to what happened. He told me he tried the stuff I told him. They made sure someone preached to the woman who got the Stigmata. The church services were done with the wholesome preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Plus the worship was purely focused on the Lord. George said the woman didn’t have any specific revelation nor prophecy to give to the church nor did she cause any people to join the other churches she would go to. Most importantly, the woman no longer manifested the Stigmata on her palms. She instead prayed and read the Bible and leads an upright life to George’s best knowledge. The people were not attracted to her but instead focused on the Lord God.

The point here is not just Stigmata, it might have been levitation in mid-air or even holding poisonous snakes without getting harmed, what should be our reaction?

1. It definitely does not mean that we consider such people as worthy of more respect than Christ.
2. It does not mean that we throw away our knowledge of the Gospel in exchange for untested visions or revelations accompanying the “miraculous” person in question.
3. It does mean that we continue to worship the Lord God without deviating from principles of the Bible.
4. It does mean that we do not worship false gods on the insistence of any person who can even perform supernatural feats.
5. It does mean that we document such cases, including the mental state of the person having Stigmata etc to be able to clearly analyze the situation instead of being clueless.
6. It does mean that if we don’t know how to deal with such cases we are humble enough to ask some other Christians who are aware of such situations.
7. Above all pray and read the Bible and do research by yourself too.

 

Verses for reflection:

• Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God,  and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and is already in the world. (1 John 4: 1-3)
• But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. (2 Peter 2:1)
• “Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruit. Do men gather grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit. But a corrupt tree bears evil fruit. A good tree cannot bear evil fruit, nor can a corrupt tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore, by their fruit you will know them. (Matthew 7:15-20)
• How is it then, brothers? When you come together, every one of you has a psalm, a teaching, a tongue, a revelation, and an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification. If anyone speaks in an unknown tongue, let it be by two, or at the most by three, and each in turn, and let one interpret. But if there is no interpreter, let him remain silent in the church, and let him speak to himself and to God. Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others judge. If anything is revealed to another that sits by, let the first keep silent. For you may all prophesy one by one, that all may learn and all may be encouraged. The spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets. For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints. (1 Corinthians 14:26-33)

You cannot trick your way into heaven

You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. (1 Corinthians 10:21)

One can never get to heaven especially if one’s feet are pointed towards hell. Having an obsession towards worldly things is not a good choice for a person who believes in Christ. So idolatry, occult, paganism, hedonism, foolish legends etc must all be totally away from your walk with the Lord God. Your aim must be to focus on the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Remember the curious case of the prophet Jonah. He tricked himself away from the will of God for Nineveh’s people and treated himself to a ship journey away from God’s plans for him. Both his trick and treat got royally deflated by the majesty of the Lord God.  The one who had to warn of God’s judgment to Nineveh, himself had to pray for mercy that he be not judged by God due to his running away from God. The Lord then saved Jonah from the gigantic fish that had swallowed up Jonah alive! No trick, No treat, but only sincere appealing to God by faith saved Jonah from that sea creature’s belly. Food for thought (or fish food), you decide!

Dear reader, are you too running away from God by partaking of the cup of ungodly or worldly pleasures? Don’t tell me, speak to your own heart and pray to the Holy Spirit to lead you into all truth. And then if you know you’re not on the right path with God, I’d advise you to seriously and without any reservations repent of all wrong doings and trust Jesus Christ fully.

And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. (Romans 12:2)

Value wisdom like your family

Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”and call insight your intimate friend, to keep you from the forbidden woman, from the adulteress with her smooth words.(Proverbs 7:4-5)

Value wisdom like your family. Treat wisdom like your own sister. For good reason too. Because a good sister keeps her brother from all obscene women. Her dauntless desire to be bold in the truth is a big deterrent to any adulteress. She will openly mock the Jezebel woman or the shameless woman who tries to induce her brother to sin. Though a seducer speaks to beguile a man into sexual immorality, the man will be very fearful of acting loose in front of his sister who will retaliate strongly. This can apply even if you think of wisdom as a brother who will not let his sister fall prey to the licentious man who only wants to use the girl. A good brother will protect his sister from all perverted men no matter what they promise.

Walking with wisdom, is not like you get a wise brother or sister walking alongside with you in the flesh. Here Proverbs 7:4-5 is about realizing the presence of wisdom around you. God tells you some warning about stealing and you believe him and avoid stealing. That is walking with wisdom. Not following God’s advice is like trying to get away from your great sister wisdom.

Some man decides he can do without sister wisdom, so he listens to the seductive voice of evil spirits and then goes into the occult. He without wisdom accepts his damnation very easily from the lying spirits. Had he walked with sister wisdom he would have given respect to her and shooed away all profane thoughts that whisper to him. O if he just would respect sister wisdom and leave the occult.

A young lady tries to roam around without brother wisdom. Voices of the world tell her ‘You will look very beautiful if you starve a little, it won’t harm you. Just think of how many men will admire you when you are a bit more thinner’. In absence of brother wisdom, she bites into the lie.So then she eats little, very little and gets a bit of praise about her looks and decides to starve a little more. This damages her health.

One fine day her old blind grandma who cannot see at all, calls her out at her place. The grandma lives with brother wisdom and the brother is quite amused to see the anorexic girl walking towards grandma. Brother wisdom gets a plan and whispers into the old lady’s mind. So then grandma says ‘O child I can’t see you at this age when I’m blind but your act of visiting me in my weakness shows me how beautiful you are’. The girl accepts her grandmother’s wisdom and wonders why she felt only being thin is beauty. As she walks out the house, brother wisdom starts walking with this girl again. The girl now leads a healthy lifestyle.

You might feel you lost out on life because you despised wisdom at some time in your life. The good news is that God can give you wisdom again. James 1:5 says that; If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.

I encourage you to be with God’s wisdom by your side. The Gospel is the greatest wisdom of God that a man can ever receive. Though it is so great, yet it is easy to grasp if a person is willing to just pay attention. Plus you have the Holy Spirit to guide you and lead you into all truth. So take time and cherish the Word of God in your life.

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