We live in a world where spiritual reality for the most part goes unperceived. This place is more often sensed than known. This makes it difficult to ascertain and even if documented, it is inevitably doubted.
The hesitancy to adopt spirituality into a secular framework is not so much because physical laws are not followed (physicist would admit there is much to discover still). It is more so because to admit that physical laws intersect with spiritual realities creates an implication that spiritual laws must also intersect with our individual selves. This implication could lead us back to the Bible being real and not just a fairy tale, now that part makes people uncomfortable. But this article is not about going into a bunch of arguments in support of the Bible. My purpose is not to convince the skeptics (sometimes a roast needs to cook until it is done). This is rather to empower those who do not find it a challenge to embrace the spiritual aspects of reality. Those who have no issue understanding that the Bible provides many clear examples of Spiritual Reality.
1 John 4: 2-4 Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God. And every spirit that confesses not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world. Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.
As Christians, it needs to be very clear in our minds. That before Salvation we are under the influence of the Spirit of the Antichrist. There is no in-between.
We have the Spirit of God living in us or the Spirit of the Anti-God living in us. The Spirit of Anti-Christ in the world tells us, “There can be Unity and Peace if you accept this and that as not being a sin.” Also, “Since your Bible is so old and written by Nomadic Shepherds it is only reasonable to adapt to the Modern standards…” Just a little compromise will fix all the problems of the world. The same old lie, over and over again… The same lie that lives on and is the Spirit that empowers those who have not found Salvation in Jesus Christ. That Spirit is the Anti-Christ Spirit.
I am with the mind of Paul. If Christ resurrection was not a monumental historical event and the Bible as it was written is not the Word of God, that what is the point of belief anyways? I’m not stupid and the Apostle Paul certainly was not stupid. We believe because we have found good reason to, not because we are naïve or intellectually inferior. Because the Sprit of the Living God had such a monumental impact on our reality that it is not difficult to see its supernatural sovereignty despite the circumstances driven by the Anti Christ in the world.
1 Corinthians 15:14 And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty.
Alright lets go a little but deeper. I’ve noticed lately a “Christian movement” amongst women that have attempted to normalize the shame of sexual relations with those that are not of their spouse. Now this is something that the Bible makes amply clear we all should be ashamed of. No matter the sex.
The idea of soul ties came up in this group I was eavesdropping on. If you are not aware of this concept. It is the idea that we build emotional soul ties with people that can by either Godly(your homegroup, your church, and family) or ungodly(out of wedlock sexual partners and other unholy alliances). The contention that was threaded thru the comment discussion was that pastors would use this concept against their congregants in an abusive way. Well. Believe it or not, this is biblical.
Genesis 34:3 His soul was strongly attracted to Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the young woman and spoke kindly to the young woman.
The passions risen in Genesis Chapter 34 are just a glimpse of the influence sexual connection has upon us as humans. It can be the strongest glue if honored and can create the mightiest internal suffering if abused. Emotional soul ties in my mind, call it seritonin connection or whatever is a very real thing.
Once when helping someone cut soul ties with their old boyfriends and someone they once associated with who was a practicing high witch. That very night two of these ex-boyfriends and the high witch messaged this person out of nowhere on Facebook. Even after having not communicated with some of them for years. That is a pretty good correlation if you ask me.
God warns us in many different parts of the Bible about the dangers of sexual immorality and even if we repent and turn back to him, that the consequences of our sins often remain. So we need to be careful when we tell new Christians that God will take all the consequences of your sins away. This does not mean that he cannot, but it does mean that he always will in our timing. This is why it is so important for us to flee from immortality, in our worldly wisdom we can not perceive the true costs of our sins. Worse still is if we believe in our own pride we got away with our sin… what is there to stop it?
Proverbs 5 3-6 Though the lips of the forbidden woman drip honey and her speech is smoother than oil, in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a double-edged sword. Her feet go down to death; her steps lead straight to hell. She does not consider the path of life; she does not know that her ways are unstable.
Here we see an example of a soul tie that leads straight to hell….
Now let me assure you that this has nothing to do with the sexes. Let’s look at the verse again from Proverbs just above. Now change every pronoun of the feminine with a masculine pronoun. Then if you really want to feel like you are enlightened replace them with neutral pronouns. Can you not see that God describes clearly to us the behaviors of people who will tempt us into a life of shame.
Sadly, we have become so desensitized to sex after Freud decided all mental neurosis was a result of sexual repression. Are people really happier and having more sex than ever before? Well, the mental health crisis sure has not gone away. Yet we want to avoid admitting that our sinful ways could not be as positive as we thought they could be so that we can save our dignity.
Before an all Holy God our dignity means nothing. Our feelings mean nothing. Freud means nothing. If we place our feelings in a higher position than God’s Rules for Reality, should we be surprised if things don’t turn out how we think they should?
Proverbs 5: 21-23 For a man’s ways are before the eyes of the LORD and the LORD examines all his paths. The iniquities of a wicked man entrap him; the cords of his sin entangle him. He dies for lack of discipline, led astray by his own great folly.
Still, the Anti-Christ Spirit wants us to believe this Bible is an old book of foolishness. The Anti Christ Spirit is the very Spirit who speaks through the forbidden person as they tempt us into and give us permission to sin. Maybe we were once that person doing the tempting, to the determent of others.
Now, I promised this article is not about judgment but about empowerment. But incorrect perceptions of God must be dismantled. The popular belief that God does not take our sins very seriously is one of the lies that must be dismantled. Going back to Proverbs we can see how we can be led to believe by nice words that our sins bear no consequence.
Proverbs 7:18-19 Come, let’s drink our fill of love until morning. Let’s enjoy each other’s caresses, for my husband is not home.
The truth is that we should be deeply ashamed of our sexual sins before God. Not for the sake of others but for our very own sake. This does not mean that it is not difficult to bring these things before God. It can be brutal and shameful, but it is of the utmost necessity. That is if you want to have the relationship with Christ that he wants you to have with him.
One thing I have learned about God’s power is that no one can force his hand. That sometimes it can feel like a long wait between our sins and his redemption. But I do know that God’s mercy on us sure appears to be lubricated by our tears, regret, and repentance.
In response to the Pastors above pushing too hard on the Spiritual Warfare prayers and fancy words, I think some of that can do a disservice especially if new believers think that a little prayer can wash away the consequences of years of sins. It is most important that a Pastor points the individual to trust that the rewards of repentance are a deeper intimacy with Christ. It does not mean that God will give you an instant spouse, house, and winning lotto ticket.
The Spirit of God does not normally work that way in my experience, unlike how the world does. It has a reserved potency. It reminds me of that of a mountain stream or waterfall.
The type that when you jump into the ice-cold water causes you scream and lose your breath. Causes you to walk on water like how Jesus did. For a Pastor speaking into you Deliverance is but the mist of the waterfall or stream touching your skin. Though if we listen closely a good Pastor they will always gently remind you to jump in the stream. All the Pastor can do is remind us and implore us into the swift stream that being the Spirit of God.
In the end, it is our responsibility to not see the Pastor as the one asking for us to step into the water. But that God is actually the one telling us to plunge ourselves in that ice-cold water. He is the one telling us to let the Pastor go.
For your life decisions were your own and God will give you grace. But your problems are not the Pastor’s responsibility to fix. What God is first looking for, is a change in our hearts. If our position about a specific situation does not change, our hearts are unable to change, and therefore God will not change our circumstances.
Psalmn 6:6 I am weary with my moaning; every night I flood my bed with tears; I drench my couch with my weeping.
Our deliverance from our past sins is deeply dependent upon our ability to accept that everything about our sins was wrong. That the wisdom of the world or its sins of pleasure will not supplant God’s standards. It is difficult to find and even I know there have been times where I have taken pride in my sins. Though I found that if I pray for him to help me feel regret for them, that he will help me learn to regret them and seek true forgiveness.
When we mix the Spirit of God with the Spirit of the World we will always come to disappointment. For they are not the same. To choose one is to be uncompromised to the other.
2 Corinthians 6:14 Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?
Manifold Mountain 