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Beware God's people, beware! Magicians, fortune telling, divination, readers of tarot cards, psychics, tricksters, hypnotists, witches, warlocks, sorcerers, and all those peddling their wares for money are deceivers, bewitching you with temptations under the large umbrella of fun and excitement hoping you will be enthralled with their supposed powers of persuasion and mind control. Should we have a dabble, even just a little if we are invited out to be involved in these ungodly activities or should we resist knowing these things are sinful? What is to resist? Before conversion I sadly and very foolishly had my fill of everything these dark arts offer. The ride was addictive and the more I went, the more I wanted. With the ability to write and convey with some authority, it needs to be said that my experiences over decades proved to be self destructive rather than helpful or enlightening. After conversion, nothing from the dark side is for me or my house and we readily shun all of it recognising it for what it is (Joshua 24:14-15). How can any of God's people fall for this evil nonsense? Perhaps the right question is — does the devil still use these deceptions to fool and deceive those who keep God's Holy days? The resounding answer is YES the devil does — anything the adversary can use, starting with the obvious then onto more and more not so obvious but subtle forms of lies and error as we mature in the faith. Truth mixed in with error is the devil's specialty because he knows our weaknesses and has supernatural understanding of the Bible. What is shocking is that those converted Christians serving God for most of their lives can easily and readily fall for these sorts of things if they let their guard down, seeing fun instead of remembering God's warnings, while some still on milk may see no danger at all and even more astoundingly do not want to learn or accept loving instruction in humility. This is tragic. Proverbs 15:5 and Proverbs 18:15.
What does God have to say about this? In Deuteronomy 18:9-14 "When you come into the land which the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominations of those (pagan) nations. There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For all who do these things are an abomination to the Lord, and because of these abominations the Lord your God drives them out from before you. You shall be blameless before the Lord your God. For these nations which you will dispossess listened to soothsayers and diviners; but as for you, the Lord your God has not appointed such for you".
Leviticus 19:31 states "Give no regard to mediums and familiar spirits; do not seek after them, to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God". We have been blessed with clear instructions by God for our protection and welfare, for magic and the occult are directly related to demons and the demonic realm. We should reject all such lying deceptions as quickly as dropping a hot potato. In fact, we should not even be found anywhere near them. Acts 8:9-24 is the first New Testament account that comes to mind when magic is mentioned. This tells us about Simon the Sorcerer also known as Simon Magus the magician who had gathered quite a following among the people of Samaria. Simon came to believe in Christ and was baptized yet his heart was not right because he wanted to buy with money the power of God. He was full of pride and ambition in himself wanting honour and adulation from others, far from a servant's heart indeed. We must not be carried away in vain pursuits that involve magic and as the apostle Peter might say "let it be not so among us".
After many comfortable years cocooned in a small congregation things are definitely changing and changing rapidly. Deception is all around us leading me to believe that the devil's time is short as he sets about in a frenzy of wicked and wiley proportions. Poor translations of the Bible such as the NIV and the NLT which omit scripture and twist scripture seem to be very common now amongst ministers over the last couple of years. Sermons and sermonettes containing error mixed in with truth are out there! One such sermon last month declared that there are no tares amongst wheat in the Churches of God while he stated this scripture (supposedly) refers to the world — I had to rewind that one to listen again and then get my husband to listen as it was that unbelievable. In another sermon the minister said that Satan is not the god of this world despite the fact that the Bible mentions this point very clearly in 2 Corinthians 4:4. Thankfully, I was not part of the Worldwide Church of God back in the 90s when great upheaval occurred resulting in a major split, and never thought I would experience what my eyes and ears currently see and hear. Is it a mere coincidence that quite a few sermons on the member's site presently refer to 1995 and the massive deception that occurred after a long lead up with subtle deception? Or perhaps the speakers are reminded of what transpired back then and how that same evil spirit is still among us today. How does one go from seeming friendly, looking the part, in a nice family atmosphere and environment to announcing the Sabbath is no longer to be kept, and to just go ahead and eat unclean meats as these have been done away with? That is how strange things eventually became less than 10 years after the death of Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong from wolves in sheep's clothing at the pulpit teaching false doctrines obviously influenced by the god of this world, Satan the devil.
We all have a choice. Thankfully yes we still do. God gives us all free will while the world sets about single mindedly in its misguided, confused attempts to take our free will away. Recently, I found myself asking would Mr. Armstrong put up with all these deceptions if he was alive today? I think we know the right answer to this question — no. Strong righteous leadership is a blessing from God. The current political leaders here in Australia are quick to point out things like "that is not my job" — maybe rightly so, but they are still trying to escape from and are shirking their responsibility and accountability. Seems like the current social, political, and economic climate is seeping into God's church with one foot in and the other out in the world. God is allowing what He allows to see our choices and whether we listen to Him or not. When leadership is weak people tend to make weak decisions. Think about Eli the High Priest and his sons in 1 Samuel 2. They came to a grizzly end because they did not take what God said seriously any more with healthy fear and awe, let their standards slip until they did what was right in their own eyes and caved in to their own lustful desires. We can read about this principle in James 1:13-15 which reveals "Let no one say when he is tempted, 'I am tempted by God'; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death".
Deceptions come in many forms and in ways that seem counterintuitive. The devil has used our love for one another as a stumbling block in a very sneaky way such that most do not suspect an ulterior motive. The jabs for COVID-19 is a big one telling us if we do not get jabbed we do not love others. Now many are waking up to the fact that these jabs were never true vaccinations with people regretting that they were confused and deceived, listening to worldly lies rather than what God has said in the Bible! Once again we must look to God for truth and not listen to what the world says, for the world is full of lies and cannot be trusted, so why are God's people still listening to what the world says? Because we are not robots, because we are human, because we lack discernment with righteous judgement which we should all be practicing now, because we cannot determine rightly the motivations and intentions from the hearts and minds of others, because we are imperfect until our change. The solution is to listen to and allow God's Spirit to lead in order to do God's will instead of our own will which is fraught with fear, worries, and cares of this life.
Then there are further "minor" deceptions from within. So many sermons begin with a joke or jokes known as "ice breakers" but mostly they are not funny, are lame and some are even bald-faced lies. This makes me very sad and puzzled why these men carry on this way yet there must be good reason for it — to wake up to the obvious deception right before our very eyes, but alas many do not see it. God's true ministers and pastors stand out by comparison and are like bright lights. In one sermon link a church member sent to me recently, the man sat there without bowing his head or closing his eyes in reverence to God, just looking straight ahead at the camera while in prayer — needless to say I had no intention to listen to even one word thereafter. The words echoing in my head are repeatedly saying "You will know them by their fruits" and "Come out of her My people". Things are changing rapidly and many are asleep, in a daze of not treating all that God says seriously like it does not matter. We are not living in perfect times, we all realise this, but there is evil and deception going on in God's Church which is very troubling. Attitudes are there trying to cause upsets with cliques forming which shut out members from joining in events as they are not invited. Admittedly this is not new and has been going on for years. The devil is using those weak in the membership to cause division, plain and simple with angry outbursts for all to see on the Sabbath. If ever there was a time for offences, it is now. When I first saw someone leave God's church over an offence it unsettled me so much that I then determined long ago by following the good example set by Daniel to prepare before an event such as could be imagined as the worst thing I could think of, so that it would not cause me to become so offended I would leave where God has placed me. No, I would not go until and unless God wanted me to leave, and He would need to show me unequivocally what to do.
Any one of us can be deceived at any time especially when we are very busy with life, juggling worldly pursuits, family, friends, neighbours, and working. This is precisely when none of us can afford to let the ball drop, so to speak. Each day, every day, the importance of Bible reading and study, fasting, combined with formal prayer on our knees with more informal prayer such as we do throughout the day while driving, eating, drinking, sitting, walking, living, and breathing always connected to our best friend GOD cannot be overemphasized enough. In addition to God's very clear instructions against involvement in any demonic pursuits such as magic and the dark arts, our conscience should be pricked/alerted in order to reject/refuse anything involved with magic and associated with sleight of hand for these are abominations in God's sight. Are we listening to our Helper, God's Holy Spirit so that we allow His power to lead us in anything and everything we do? If not, let us resolve to do so, wake up from deception that is out there all around us and take action as we need a sensitive responsive conscience rather than one that has been ignored and desensitized. Please listen to the following sermon which was given on 7th May 2022 by Mr. Ryan Hall, titled "The Gospel of Peace" which will reinforce God's instructions for some to strengthen you, while for others it could be a very timely wake-up call: https://youtu.be/LqbBvBJiSlM