WHO IS REALLY BEHIND THE OCCULT

in #steemchurch6 years ago

The bible says " God is light and there is no darkness at all in union with him". (1 john 1:5) thats true in spiritual sense. so could the true God be behind occult? is there another force invovle?
Best among occult practices are divination and spiritism, which include (the study of star positions and how they affect people), (study of numbers), (telling fortunes by reading palm creases), and sorcery, as well as communicating with the "dead" and casting spells. These practices have a very long history, most dating back to very old Babylon, the ruins of which lie in Iraq. (Isaiah 47:1, 12, 13) From Babylon, occult practices spread around the very old world and became deeply dug in/established in many cultures and cities/people.

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Think about an event that happened in the city of Philippi in very old Macedonia. There, a small group of Christian ministers, which included the apostle Paul and the doctor Luke, met a girl who had occult powers. Note how the Bible writer Luke told about the secret source of her powers. He wrote: "A certain servant girl with a spirit, a demon of divination, met us. She used to furnish her masters with much gain by practicing the art of (statement about a possible future event)."
Yes, this girl's powers did not come from the true God, Jehovah, but from a demon, an evil spirit. Because of this, Paul and his companions refused to listen to her. Maybe you are now wondering: 'Who are the demons? And where did they come from?' Again, note the Bible's answers.


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Who Are the Demons?
Long before Jehovah formed humans, he created an untold number of smart spirit "sons of God" in heaven. (Job 38:4, 7) Like humans, they are free moral agents, and for a long time, they all remained loyal to God. But that happy situation came to a sudden end. How so?
After God created humankind, one spirit creature began to be jealous of and to want something to which he was not entitleda€‹--worship. Using a snake the way a ventriloquist might use a puppet, this evil angel flirted with the first woman, Eve, into disobeying her Creator. (GEnesis 3:1-6) The Bible calls that disobedient angel "the original snake, the one called Devil and Satan." (Revelation 12:9) Jesus described him as "a manslayer" who "did not stand fast in the truth," adding: "When he speaks the lie, he speaks according to his own desire, because he is a liar and the father of the lie."-(John 8:44)
In time, other spirit "sons of the true God" joined Satan in his fighting against authority. (Genesis 6:1, 2) They are later referred to as "the angels that sinned" and "the angels that did not keep their original position but gave up their own proper home," or their assigned place in heaven. (2 Peter 2:4; Jude 6) They came to be called demons. (James 2:19) More than that, they are decided to turn as many humans as possible away from true worship, as they did many Israelites in Bible times. (Deuteronomy 32:16, 17) (in almost the same way) today, as in the past, Satan and the demons cleverly employ religious lies.-(2 Corinthians 11:14, 15).


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Shield Yourself!

Even though evil spirits have superhuman powers, we can, with God's help, 'take our stand against them' and come off successful (in a battle or contest). (1 Peter 5:9) In order to get that help, however, we need to learn God's needed things and act on them. About the Christians in his day, the apostle Paul wrote: "We . . . have not stopped praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the (very close to the truth or true number) knowledge of his will in all wisdom and (related to religion or the soul) understanding, in order to walk worthily of Jehovah to the end of fully pleasing him."-Colossians 1:9, 10.

Those who gained that "(very close to the truth or true number) knowledge" included some people in the city of Ephesus who practiced occult arts. Note how a knowledge of the truth affected them. The Bible states: "Quite some those who practiced magical arts brought their books together and burned them up before everybody." The books, incidentally, were worth "fifty thousand pieces of silver," which was no small amount! (Acts 19:17-19) This brave example was recorded for our benefit. -2 Timothy 3:16.
Rules/basic truths That Protect

There are other things that we can do to protect ourselves from the demons. Think about the following Bible guidelines.

"Do not believe every intelligent expression, but test the intelligent expressions to see whether they start with God." (1 John 4:1) Some statements made by (people who know a lot about the stars and how they affect people), people (who can speak to the dead), ways of communicating, and witch doctors may in fact be true. For example, the (treated something like it's evil) girl in Philippi spoke the truth when she said about Paul and his companions: "These men are slaves of the Most High God, who are publishing to you the way of (saving or protecting someone from sin or harm)." (Acts 16:17) Anyway, Paul and his companions did not accept her into their company. Instead, Paul ordered the evil spirit to come out of her. Test religious statements by comparing them with what the Bible says. Acts 17:11.

"Subject yourselves, therefore, to God; but argue (against) the Devil, and he will run away from you." (James 4:7) The demons are God's enemies and yours too. Do not even become curious about their dark ways. Instead, subject yourself to God by listening to his loving commandments, which are not difficult. (1 John 5:3)

For example, God said to the very old nation of Israel: "There should not be found in you anyone who . . . employs divination, a practicer of magic or anyone who looks for signs of upcoming evil or a magician, or one who binds others with a spell or anyone who talks to a spirit medium or a professional predicter of events or anyone who asks of the dead. For everybody doing these things is something disgusting and terrible to Jehovah." (Deuteronomy 18:10-12)God's view has not changed. -Galatians 5:19, 20.


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"There is no unlucky spell against [Jehovah's servants]." (Numbers 23:23) All who want to please God need not fear the demons. In fact, those evil spirits "body-shake (from upseting)" God, aware of his very strong power, which he will eventually use to destroy them. (James 2:19) God will "show his strength in behalf of those whose heart is complete toward him," and he 'will never allow the morally right one to walk unsteadily.-2 chronicles 16:9; psalms 55:22.
"The living are aware that they will die; but as for the dead, they are aware of nothing at all." (Ecclesiastes 9:5) God's Word teaches that the dead are just dead! They should not be feared, for they can no longer harm anyone. (Isaiah 26:14) In order to fool people, the demons sometimes pretend to be spirits of the dead, which may explain why people find that the "spirit" of a before now kind person may seem different from the person they knew.

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"You cannot be taking part of 'the table of Jehovah' and the table of demons." (1 Corinthians 10:21, 22) All who truly love Jehovah will stay away from books, movies, and computer games that come from the occult or that help increase occult practices and beliefs.* "I will not set in front of my eyes any good-for-nothing thing," says psalms 101:3. What is more, occult entertainment often honors and praises violence and socially wrong behavior, which "lovers of Jehovah" reject. -psalms 97:10.
The demons have always tried to hide their true nature from humans. But they have not fully succeeded. By means of the Bible, Jehovah has exposed them for what they really area-evil and cruel liars and evil and violent enemies of people. What a contrast to our Creator, Jehovah God! As the following article shows, he loves us, always tells us the truth, and wants us to live happily forever.-John 3:16; 17:17.

Consciences varys, depending on one’s religious background and spiritual maturity. The important thing is that one maintains a clean conscience before God and does not offend the consciences of others, including family members. “We shall all stand before the judgment seat of God,” says Romans 14:10, 12.