It’s been awhile since I’ve written. Last time I talked about the history of the children of Israel and how they became compromised by what they were exposed to after they entered the Promised Land. Here is what’s been stirring in my heart lately:
I think we can all agree that we are in a battle of good versus evil. Obviously, God and the Kingdom of Heaven is the good and satan and the kingdom of darkness is the evil. But here is something that’s been stirring in my mind. Our culture has done a really good job of discrediting the kingdom of darkness. Some churches don’t even believe there is a heaven or a hell anymore. They represent the devil as a red guy with horns and a pitchfork. Believe me…this is not what satan looks like. If Eve had encountered that in the Garden of Eden would she have been persuaded or deceived? I doubt it.
When evil is dumbed down or reduced to the category of liars and thieves it presents an impression that there’s not much danger. Liars and thieves are bad, don’t get me wrong, but evil goes SO much farther than that! It’s much more insidious than that.
There are several scriptures that I want you to consider:
Proverbs 4:20-23 says, “My son, give attention to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your sight; keep them in the midst of your heart, for they are life to those who find them and health to all their whole body. Watch over your heart with all diligence. For from it flow the springs of life.
The word “keep” in the line that says, “Keep them in the midst of your heart” literally means to hedge about (as with thorns), to protect, attend to, observe, preserve, take heed (to self).
The word “watch” in the line that says, “Watch over your heart with all diligence” means to guard, protect, maintain, obey and preserve.
This in intentional…this doesn’t just happen by happenstance. God is telling us something very important here and sometimes I feel we don’t see the seriousness of what He’s saying.
Then look at this verse: “Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good.” (Romans 12:9) The word abhor in the Greek means: to detest utterly and comes from a double root 1. Off and 2. To hate i.e. odious. Romans says to utterly detest evil. This is not just “not liking” something, this is something way more…
Then it says to “cling to what is good”. The word cling means to glue, to stick, cleave, join self, keep company. Both of these words, “abhor” and “cling” are intentional and deliberate. They don’t just casually happen.
I feel like the church, as a whole, has not done a very good job of combating society’s influence of diminishing evil. Rarely do we hear sermons on sin and the devastation it brings. Seeker friendly services want to keep people coming every week. “Let’s not make people feel too uncomfortable or they may not come back”, but is this truly loving people? Jesus said the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23) We have accentuated the point of the “gift of God” part, but don’t really talk about the “wages of sin” part. I feel we have done believers today a disservice.
Here is what I’ve been noticing. We have evil around us every day. Our kids see it at school and on tv. You can’t watch any program anymore without certain sinful aspects as a part of every episode. It has become common place. We go to movies that stir up the adrenaline because we like the feeling of “being on the edge of our seats” but at what price? What are we being exposed to for that rush? Remember the movie The Exorcist? Did you know this movie was based on a real life incident? And it happened in St. Louis, MO? Read the link below if you want to know more.
‘The Exorcist’: The Real-Life Story Behind the 40-Year-Old Horror Classic (yahoo.com)
But scripture does not hold the same standard, it does not support subjecting yourself to evil, and for a good reason. Stepping over the fence and walking just a little bit on the dark side doesn’t look very bad and may not cause much of a ripple in your heart and mind but if you realize where the full effect could take you it’s not a pretty picture.
It always starts out small. Let’s take porn for an example. I was just listening to a podcast the other day by someone who was caught in the porn industry and ended up being sex trafficked. Here was her observation of the people she was forced to be around: Everyone started out with watching regular porn; a guy and a girl in a normal sexual relationship. Seeing that stirred up emotion and everything else that goes along with it. But eventually just seeing that wasn’t enough, more was needed to produce the feelings desired. The steps down the spiral had begun. Eventually it went to viewing multiple people having sex together, or seeing a violent rape, or children being sexually used, or even sex with animals.
When the first steps are taken, you have no idea that in time more would be needed to accomplish the same result. It’s the same with drugs. My daughter has run calls on people who needed WAY MORE medication to knock out the pain because their body was used to so much on a regular basis. It’s like that with all sin.
Not fully knowing the realm of evil creates a complacency of heart, as you aren’t aware of what you need to safeguard against. It’s easier to grow careless when you don’t realize where that first step will eventually take you. It’s harder to draw a line in the sand and create a hard boundary when you don’t know where the full result of evil goes. I’ve heard it said in sermons, “I don’t want to glorify the devil so we aren’t going to talk about him”. While I understand that view (somewhat) I also know that if you can’t recognize the enemy it’s hard to resist. We need to fully understand where those first steps over the fence take us. We need to know that satan is not content with us playing around just over the boundary. There is a goal to take us into that snare. Take a look at this scripture from Joshua 23 that references this:
Joshua 23:6-13
“Be very determined, then, to keep and do everything that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, so that you will not turn aside from it to the right or to the left, 7 so that you will not associate with these nations, these which remain with you, or mention the name of their gods, or make anyone swear by them, or serve them, or bow down to them. 8 But you are to cling to the Lord your God, as you have done to this day. 9 For the Lord has driven out great and mighty nations from before you; and as for you, no one has stood against you to this day. 10 One of your men puts to flight a thousand, for the Lord your God is He who fights for you, just as He promised you. 11 So take great care for yourselves that you love the Lord your God. 12 For if you ever go back and cling to the rest of these nations, these which remain with you, and intermarry with them, so that you associate with them and they with you, 13 know with certainty that the Lord your God will not continue to drive these nations out from before you; but they will be a snare and a trap to you, and a whip on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land which the Lord your God has given you.”
The Lord was warning the Children of Israel that if they did not “take care for themselves, to Love the Lord God” that the end result would be a snare and a trap. In my opinion, that is love. That is full disclosure of where joining up with those practices would take you, and that is exactly what happened, as they ended up in Baal worship right along with them. They gave their daughters in marriage and fell into the same behaviors as the nations they conquered.
Disney has done a good job of normalizing witchcraft (which is stepping over the boundary) as there is a witch or other Greek mythology that is taught in almost every Disney movie made. Hercules is packed full of Greek gods using their names. These gods were worshipped and on some level still are. I can’t find the link right now, but many of the Greek gods names were associated with Baal and Moloch, the name was just changed according to the country of origin, same god, different name, same practices. The book series Harry Potter, I’ve heard, has real spells in the books that children read as they read the story. Here is the description from a website explaining the story line:
So, there’s this kid named Harry Potter and he lives with his terrible, abusive relatives named the Dursleys. When Harry turns 11, he finds out that he is a wizard and he has a spot at a magical boarding school waiting for him. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is the home Harry has always lacked. While there, he makes friends like Ron, Hermione, and Hagrid, and learns about his magical powers and identity. He finds a place to belong.
The seven-part series follows Harry’s adventures as he furthers his magical education, grows up, and fights the second-coming of Lord Voldemort, the evil wizard who killed his parents and tried to kill Harry when he was just a babe.
How much is too much guys? To me, any step over the line of what God says is too much. If our children are learning through entertainment and pleasure anything about the occult, then how will they readily recognize it as a danger? Take a look at the link below and how cute they make these books sound. Each one is about a witch.
13 Witch Books for Kids of All Ages | Brightly (readbrightly.com)
As I take a look at scriptures like Deuteronomy 18:10-12 I don’t see where God takes any of this lightly. It says, “There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, one who uses divination, one who practices witchcraft, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who casts a spell or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For whoever does these things is detestable to the Lord; and because of these detestable things the Lord your God will drive them out before you.
Fantasia, the 1940 Disney cartoon is all about a sorcerer using his magic wand to create cute scenes in the movie. But if it’s in cartoon form does that make it ok?
God drew hard lines in the sand about what was right and what was not. I wonder if we have taken those hard lines away and muddied the boundaries through movie and books that expose us to the very things that God said to stay far away from. I believe He gave us those hard boundaries for a reason that we don’t fully understand.
If you are interested in hearing more about the occult, listen to the link below. This is the testimony of two different people, both born in blood line families that have come out and accepted Christ. They don’t get too graphic but their testimonies are very telling.
Jessie Czebotar, born in a blood line family (part of the illuminati), and was being groomed from the time she was 4 years old to become the queen mother when she was older. She witnessed (from the age of 4 mind you) 1,000 human sacrifices a MONTH! She had her first encounter with Jesus, while still in the system, at the age of 5 and another encounter at the age of 10.
John Ramirez shares a lot about his life growing up in the occult and having a father that was a Satanist, and what all he encountered, as a high priest himself, in the occult. It is not hard to listen to and really gives glory to God and they pray to lead people to Christ. I encourage you all to watch it.
Of course, I don’t want to saturate myself into learning everything there is to know about satan and His realm. I want to focus my attention on the kingdom of God and learning all I can so I can grow and mature. I want to focus on my relationship on Him, but if I don’t know and recognize my enemy, then I am vulnerable. I lived most of my life like this.
I was raised going to church every week but was very, very ignorant of both. I was enticed by “spiritual” things as a child. I understand why now, I was prophetic but I had no one to train me up as my parents were religious but not really believers at that time. As a child I got involved with Ouija boards and séances. I spent time trying to develop my ESP powers and somehow God kept me from going fully in. But believe me; I spent a lot of time also repenting from all of this stuff when I realized what doors I had opened in my life. Thank the Lord He sent me to someone who knew very much about the occult and deliverance. I spent two evenings a month for almost a year getting prayer about many aspects of my past, closing doors and renouncing things I had “willingly” invited in.
For those of you who read the link above about The Exorcist, all of that young man’s problems started after his aunt introduced him to a Ouija Board. I am so thankful God protected me from the full affect of it, unlike the poor kid that the movie was based on.
I heard an interesting comment today that said satan doesn’t care if you go to church. He doesn’t care if you love God, as long as you’re not a threat to him or getting in his way. What I have come to know is the dark realm takes their dedication way more seriously than most Christians. Are we leaning into Jesus’ last words to His disciples from Mark 16:17-18? He said, “These signs will accompany those who have believed; in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; they will pick up serpents and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” (I find it interesting that Paul actually did get bit by a serpent and flung it into the fire in the book of Acts and he didn’t die which made the people on the island want to worship him like a god. Acts 28:3)
Guys, if we are doing the things listed above, then we are a threat to the devil. If we just consider our walk with God going to church on Sunday and calling it good, then sadly to say, we probably aren’t much of a threat.
On another note, unfortunately, the occult also specializes in “brotherhood”, the family you never had which if you’ll remember, was part of the Harry Potter description above. It literally says, “Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is the home Harry has always lacked”. If you’ll also notice, groups like Free Masonry and other “secret” societies also focus on brotherhood. They stand with each other and support each other and offer favors to each other in ways that the common folk don’t get. It satisfies a need in your life, it fills the void of loneliness. Unfortunately, they do a better job than a lot of churches. And you may not know this, but Free Masonry eventually takes you to the occult. I had it in my family and knew members at the 33rd degree level. That is where it takes you. The Shriner’s, Knights of Columbus, many of them all have the same thread. They do good works for the community, The Shriner’s have a hospital and offer free or discounted services, so on the surface it all looks good, but when you go deep it’s a different story.
It’s everywhere guys. We need to start knowing what’s what. I hate to always be exposing and sharing what I’ve been sharing lately, but I have felt led by the Spirit to do so and I feel someone needs to. We need to know what to avoid and how to navigate freely in the world that we are trying to share Christ with, without falling into the pits that are all around us. If we have open doors in our lives from generations before us, it’s our responsibility to repent, close those doors and draw the blood line of Jesus as a barrier between our past generations and our future.
We need to know how to direct our kids through life with wisdom, staying away from those danger zones and training them to recognize when compromise is present.
Like I mentioned earlier, I spent a couple of years addressing issues from my past that were still affecting my present. There is freedom from this. Jesus DID pay the price on the cross and He purchased freedom for us from the devils snares, but we need to apply it. Satan is a legalist. He will access and keep on accessing what we have willingly participated in until we tell him to stop and break the contract with him. This is done through prayer. I am willing to pray with anyone wanting to start this process. I am not the same as I was in those years when I was just doing good to keep my “suitcase of crap” zipped and hopefully out of site. It would burp open at the most inopportune times. I was vulnerable and broken but God healed me and today I am free from those things. Of course there will always be something new to address, but from those things I am free. Thank you Lord!!
I want to encourage you to please consider your lifestyle. Think about areas that are compromise in your life. Ask the Lord if there are past generational situations that you need to close off. Your kids are worth you fighting for and doing the work of giving them less for the enemy to work with. If you have allowed your kids to see or learn things that the Bible says is a clear “no”, repent, pray over your kids and cut that influence off. It all makes a difference.
I did a Bible study years ago on repentance and renouncing and the differences between the two. If you want a copy of it to go through, let me know and I’ll get it to you.
In closing, I just want to say that there could be some rocky days ahead. Exposure to some of what I have referenced in the last few months IS going to come to the light. You will discover that there have been things going on, despicable things going on that turn your stomach and you may have sleepless nights. I did when I went on this road of discovery. God is getting ready to blow the lid off of this and it will look ugly. Please don’t suffer through it alone. I will pray for anyone, I will talk to you if you desire. I didn’t really have anyone to help me process and it would have been helpful.
I’m here for you if you want it. I Love you all…
Rants Ramblings and Reflections 