By Bridgette O’Hare
Matthew 7:15, Jesus tells us "Beware of false prophets, which
come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves."
Intuition.
Instincts. Perception. Insight.
Sensitivity.
Or maybe you like to refer to them as “Red Flags.”
Yes, they are metaphorical.
But we have all “seen” them flying high at some time or another. I was browsing the internet just this
afternoon when a parade of red flags began waving across my computer
screen. I won’t mention the exact name
of the site because I haven’t had the chance to research it. My instinct, however, is to not trust a site to
be grounded in God’s inerrant Word that combines the term “Christian” with
“Spiritualism” and contains a “Zodiac Messages” page.
Websites aren’t the only place these red flags are flying. They are soaring all around us every
day. I’ve read articles by Christians
and Pastors alike claiming the name of Jesus only to unnervingly lead into
their “enlightened” teaching concerning Jesus, sin, and the unseen powers that
surround us every day. I’ve been
discovering this at a disturbing rate among “Christian” Demonologists that I
have encountered lately in my research. If
you are claiming to be a Christian Demonologist and claiming that there are spirits roaming this Earth that are not
demons...then your self-proclaimed title itself is no more than an
oxymoron. I, for one, am sick of the
lying heretics who have embraced their New Age brand of self-serving
Christianity. My instincts shift into
overdrive at the first mention of ghosts and earthbound spirits and I trust my
instincts...my Sixth Sense.
This Sixth Sense is a God given gift because I know that I
know that I know I am covered in the holy blood that Jesus willingly offered
for me on Calvary. It’s real. Every believer who is truly born into the
family of God has it and should be using it and trusting it. As true Christians we are expected to be on
watch for false prophets. John warned us
of these counterfeit Christians in I John.
“Beloved, do not
believe every spirit but test the spirits to see if they are of God, since many
false prophets have gone out into the world.” ~ 1 John 4:1
One of the aspects he points out again and again states that
these fake Christians don’t have a true
knowledge of Jesus. A true knowledge knows that God’s
infallible Word renounces the existence of earthbound spirits. Demons have a true knowledge of God’s Word. (James 2:19, Luke 4:41) They’ve been exposed to it first hand and they
use it in every way they can to deceive humankind. God gave us this spiritual gift of a Sixth
Sense to use in awareness of their deceit.
I’ve noticed though, that so many people misconstrue the
spiritual gifts God offers to his children.
Please understand, we are all gifted in some way. However, we don’t choose our gifts and often
times we tend to claim gifts that are not truly ours to claim. This has become more apparent to me recently
as I have become increasingly involved in my research into the supernatural
realm. It seems that as a society we are
so fascinated by the paranormal many of us want to declare some deeper
association with it. What isn’t often
considered, and is seldom recognized, is the danger that is connected with declaring
such an association. False spirits
manifesting through false gifts give their users a false sense of reality. A false sense of what your gifts really are
can create an open door for demonic activity in your life. As I mentioned before, demons perform effortlessly
in the realm of deceit. When you open a
door, they will not just walk through it; they will run like there’s no
tomorrow! Claiming a gift that is
directly related to demonic activity is just like sending a demon a balloon
filled invitation to join the party. If
you weren’t on their radar before, you quickly become a bright, blinking dot on
their monitor. Suddenly, you are
experiencing “symptoms” that you want to believe are related to recognizing
demonic activity when what you are truly experiencing are the symptoms of
demonic attachment.
Being able to distinguish a true spiritual gift from a false
one is tricky when you want to
believe you are gifted with sensitivity to the supernatural realm. There are ways to determine if you truly have
a gift for discerning activity, but first let’s differentiate between the two. Spiritual discernment or wisdom regarding
spiritual matters is not the same as discerning actual and literal demonic
activity. Spiritual discernment is sound
judgment but sensitivity is the ability to detect actual demons, their
disposition and temperament.
Before a person with the gift of sensitivity begins to identify
the forces of evil, they will first see the positive side of their gift. It brings them closer to the Holy Spirit and
they will see His hand at work where others are unaware, because the working of
spiritual gifts is first and foremost the work of the Holy Spirit. A true gift will be able to determine what is
contrary to the Holy Spirit. The light of the Holy Spirit reveals the darkness
of Satan...not the other way around.
It’s undeniable
that false supernatural experiences are engineered by demonic design in order
to confuse and bewilder. Therefore the
gift is used to determine what is false.
It would make sense that if someone can discern demonic activity, they
also would be aware of angelic activity.
The reality that needs to be considered in all cases is that
false teaching is used by Satan to divert people from the truth. Considering that, a true gift would likely
have access to activity from both sides of the supernatural realm.
Above everything, spiritual reality is needed in the real
fight against Satan’s kingdom. All gifts
from God are aspects of the grace of Christ and His power. You
see yourself as a frontline warrior involved in a great spiritual warfare and
enlightened and equipped by the Holy Spirit while others are sleeping in a
spiritual stupor. And while we are all
warriors in the spiritual warfare that surrounds us, we aren’t all
equipped to be on the front lines.
