Expert: Michael O`Flaherty (Expert=8663) - 10/25/2005

Question
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Followup To
Question - From Roger. I do not want you to cause me any trouble- no offence. I live in Moberly MO.
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Followup To
Question -
What are your and the Bibles beliefs on ouija boards, psychics, fortune tellers, horoscopes, numerology, and talking with and to the dead either by myself or through a medium? Thank You.
Answer -
Hi!

The Bible is very clear about witchcraft and the occult:

DT 18:9 When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. 10 Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, 11 or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. 12 Anyone who does these things is detestable to the LORD, and because of these detestable practices the LORD your God will drive out those nations before you. 13 You must be blameless before the LORD your God.

2CH 33:1 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-five years. 2 He did evil in the eyes of the LORD, following the detestable practices of the nations the LORD had driven out before the Israelites. 3 He rebuilt the high places his father Hezekiah had demolished; he also erected altars to the Baals and made Asherah poles. He bowed down to all the starry hosts and worshiped them. 4 He built altars in the temple of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, "My Name will remain in Jerusalem forever." 5 In both courts of the temple of the LORD, he built altars to all the starry hosts. 6 He sacrificed his sons in the fire in the Valley of Ben Hinnom, practiced sorcery, divination and witchcraft, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the eyes of the LORD, provoking him to anger.

GAL 5:19 The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

REV 22:14 "Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. 15 Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.

In other words, those who practice such things will be thrown into hell. But there is always hope and forgiveness in Jesus. So if you are not a Christian, then save yourself from this corrupt generation. Jesus states that you must be born of water and Spirit to enter heaven.

If you are a Christian and have practiced these things, then ask God to forgive you. AC 19:17 When this became known to the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus, they were all seized with fear, and the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honor. 18 Many of those who believed now came and openly confessed their evil deeds. 19 A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly. When they calculated the value of the scrolls, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas. 20 In this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power.

In Jesus Name!
Michael
www.oflaherty.com/mo.htm
From Roger: I am in great trouble and danger. I have familiar spirits, I am obsessed with pornography, I cast spells, divine meanings and dreams, have caused others to be tempted and used and abused by Satan, have not been baptized or reborn again as I feel to do so while I sin is to make fun of God. I have however accepted in my heart that Jesus is my Lord and Savior. All my family and friends are overrun with demons as I am also, and familiar spirits. My family even have names for their spirits. There is discord, anger and much violence and unlawfullness in my family and among my friends, and much sexual and immoral acts. I try to read the bible or look things up on the computer about God and what he thinks, but I am constantly watched by demons who stop me at every turn. No one will visit me in my home who are ministers, they become uncomfortable, and two said the Holy Spirit was not present and they would not stay further. On the way into my home, someone accross the street started yelling obsenities at them and said they were going to die, that they were liars who were not of God. To say the least this upset them greatly. I am, my family, friends, are in total darkness of spiritial and moral sickness and depravity. I am at wits end. I do not know what to do at this point. I am afraid. Roger.
Answer -
Hi Roger,

Well, first off, demons can't keep you from God or from reading the Bible. This is not to say that Satan can't try to make your life miserable, but it does not sound like he needs to spend any amount of time on you since you are already in his clutches. Satan also cannot stop you from asking God to help you, or prevent you from praying to him. You should be afraid – Jesus makes that clear:

LK 12:4 "I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. 5 But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him. 6 Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. 7 Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

It all boils down to your relationship with God through Jesus. The Bible is clear on what it takes to be saved (Acts 2:38.) If you want to be saved, you need to repent of your sins and be washed through baptism. You need to be born again. In Romans 6, Paul states that by being buried in baptism, you are burying your old self with the death of Jesus so you can share in his resurrection. Jesus suffered and died in your place – he took the wrath that you and I deserve. It is only a glimpse of what hell is like – and Jesus bore all of it.

Jesus did that because he loves you and wants you to be restored to God. But it is a life commitment. If you are not willing to leave your sin and become a child of God, it would be better for you to remain as you are:

2PE 2:20 If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. 21 It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. 22 Of them the proverbs are true: "A dog returns to its vomit," and, "A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud."


I am sure there are Christians in your area that are not afraid. If you want help, tell me what city you are in. You have the choice. Jesus warned that people who become Christians will have trouble with family members who are not Christians:

MT 10:34 "Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to turn   " 'a man against his father,     a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law-- 36 a man's enemies will be the members of his own household.' 37 "Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; 38 and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

Remember that good people don't go to heaven; saved people do. You need to be saved. Save yourself before it is too late. Save yourself from hell…

In Jesus Name!
Michael
www.oflaherty.com/mo.htm  

Answer
Hi!

I would not cause any problems for you. You have to be the one who wants help. If you decide you want help, seek out an Elder at one of these churches: http://www.churchzip.com/searchresults.htm?tol=38&selectedzip=Moberly,+MO&placen. Do it before it is too late -- your very soul depends on it. Don't face God and the judgement. You need Jesus to rescue you from your life of sin. Nobody can do that for you; you have to want it.

In Jesus Name!
Michael
www.oflaherty.com/mo.htm