Magic Powers

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Before I was saved I semi-believed in the possibility of having or acquiring magic powers. When I “evolved” through my various religious beliefs (Seventh-day Adventism, Mormonism, New age Movement) that idea gained strength and to my way of thinking back then, was much more than just a possibility.

 Many of today’s Christian congregations seem to have gone through a similar path of “evolution”. It isn’t just the “name it and claim it” people anymore (remember how “we who knew better” used to snicker at their absurdities?) but it is entering into many denominations and spreading like a bad case of the flu, so that even people who seemed to have a firm grip on the truth are being led away into this parallel Christianity which is a cheap imitation of the real thing; a false religion.

I’ve touched on the topic of the falling away previously, but I haven’t really explored it from the angle of us having the power to transform ourselves from one thing to another.

Every new year we all make new year’s resolutions and quickly discover just how much power we do not possess over ourselves. So what about having the power to become saved, and thereby also the power to become unsaved? Do any of us possess such power? This reminds me of Simon the magician:

Act 8:9  But there was a man named Simon, who had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, saying that he himself was somebody great.

Act 8:10  They all paid attention to him, from the least to the greatest, saying, "This man is the power of God that is called Great."

Act 8:11  And they paid attention to him because for a long time he had amazed them with his magic.

Act 8:12  But when they believed Philip as he preached good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.

Act 8:13  Even Simon himself believed, and after being baptized he continued with Philip. And seeing signs and great miracles performed, he was amazed.

Act 8:14  Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John,

Act 8:15  who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit,

Act 8:16  for he had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

Act 8:17  Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit.

Act 8:18  Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money,

Act 8:19  saying, "Give me this power also, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit."

Act 8:20  But Peter said to him, "May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money!

Act 8:21  You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is not right before God.

Act 8:22  Repent, therefore, of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you.

Act 8:23  For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity."

Act 8:24  And Simon answered, "Pray for me to the Lord, that nothing of what you have said may come upon me."

With Simon it is said “he believed” but we know that there is more to being saved than simply believing. The Holy Spirit must enter into the heart of the believer and it is God, not ourselves, who changes us into His new creation from the inside out. It is much like the pattern He has shown us in nature by the transformation of a caterpillar into a butterfly. He made it so, not the caterpillar, although it is the caterpillar that makes the chrysalis in which this transformation occurs. So is that power in the caterpillar or in the Creator who made it so?

The book of Job has many such questions to help us understand just how puny our powers really are.

Job 38:31  "Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades or loose the cords of Orion?

Job 38:32  Can you lead forth the Mazzaroth in their season,

 or can you guide the Bear with its children?

Job 38:33  Do you know the ordinances of the heavens?

 Can you establish their rule on the earth?

Job 38:34  "Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, that a flood of waters may cover you?

Job 38:35  Can you send forth lightnings, that they may go and say to you, 'Here we are'?

Job 38:36  Who has put wisdom in the inward parts or given understanding to the mind?

Job 38:37  Who can number the clouds by wisdom? Or who can tilt the waterskins of the heavens,

Job 38:38  when the dust runs into a mass and the clods stick fast together?

Job 38:39  "Can you hunt the prey for the lion, or satisfy the appetite of the young lions?”

Job 38:40  when they crouch in their dens or lie in wait in their thicket?

Job 38:41  Who provides for the raven its prey, when its young ones cry to God for help, and wander about for lack of food?

These are good questions to ask myself next time I think I have power to save myself or others, or cause myself to lose my salvation somehow. Should this make me angry at God because He has reserved the power for Himself alone; to give or not give as He chooses? Or should that knowledge humble me (as it did Simon the magician)  before Him, knowing that His power is also merciful and can save me from the destiny of annihilation that I deserve?

There's a huge difference between having a religion and having a transformed life in Christ.  When I was SDA, Mormon, etc, I could come and go from one religion to the next as I pleased. When God changed me He closed a door behind me. Praise the Lord for He is all powerful and all merciful and gracious and He alone is Holy and can make holy through His power alone.

Maturity in Christ Part 2

1Pe 1:3  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
1Pe 1:4  To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,
1Pe 1:5  Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
1Pe 1:6  Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:
1Pe 1:7  That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ

We all go through difficult times, it is a part of life. Even people "on top of the world" so to speak, who seem to have it all: fame, fortune, universal love and acceptance, etc, etc, etc... have problems, can't hold on to their spouses, go to rehab, or even kill themselves with booze, illegal mind altering substances, or sleeping pills.

Some people blame God for their inability to believe in Him because...

Fasting

 Lyn posted a very good analysis on fasting on her Saved by Grace blog. I read the entire article by Gary Gilley. He makes some excellent points about where Pastor Piper goes wrong...but I really hoped he would touch on what Jesus said about demons and "prayer and fasting" but he never mentions it :(

Good article none the less, if we think we are getting direction from the Lord it always, always, ALWAYS needs to be checked with what the Bible actually says (and/or doesn't say), and must humbly turn back to the right way when shown the error of our ways. I hope that Pastor Piper and many of the others mentioned will realize they are holding to (and teaching) falsely and putting God's stamp on it. The most dangerous lies (and of course the devil knows this) are the ones that lead us gradually off course. God won't lose those who are His, but we can go through much unnecessary harm, and also bring harm (possibly prevent others from being saved? Not sure about that, but I personally do think that is possible, God warns us about false teachers, and Jesus tells the Pharisees that they prevent people from entering the kingdom and make them into devils)....So many lies and only one true way, let's be sure we stay on it by God's truth keeping us strong and keeping our feet on the right path:


Link to "Fasting and Direction"

End Times Religion

For whatever reason my youtube videos won't go full screen, therefore if you'd like to view it that way, watch it here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDBoBhIqfwQ&feature=related

I need to keep reminding myself of the devil's subtlety and craft. He's been doing this a long time, he knows how to keep us distracted, and how to dilute the truth. The last two minutes of the clip are especially good at giving a visual of "taking pieces of the truth to form the lie" ... it seems so harmless... don't we WANT everyone to get along? Yes, on the TRUE foundation, not on the shifting sand, not singing and holding hands while we watch people dance through the wide gate. Sobering thoughts.

One of the pastors mentions that we need to stay on Israel's side and to do everything possible to protect her, and pray for her. I agree that we are to pray for her, but only God can, and will, protect her. We are not to meddle in that with guns and bombs. God will perform such a miracle that there will be no denying of His love for her. It is not by our might, but through His will.

I also posted this two hour film on the emergent movement:

http://susanflutterbys.blogspot.com/2012/03/real-roots-of-emergent-church.html

see the two hour youtube video here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=UfLjAh-mWso

That Woman Jezebel

 

Something striking that I notice about this sculpture is that although the woman is made to look beautiful, there is something very masculine and androgynous about her. The same could be said about our "statue of liberty"...the intense look of the face and it's strong and subtly angry features, the posture, and the position of the shoulders to the collarbone, seem to lend it a "masculine air". Interesting that Michelangelo often used male models for his artwork of women and simply "added breasts" ...do a search on his works and you can see this is true.

Link to image

This series of videos has some startling information about "that woman Jezebel" that when seen together show us a portrait of a "spirit of deception" that has taken a deep hold on modern society. From terms such as "Mother Earth", Gaia, Venus, Diana, Lilith, we see the strong female "liberated woman" of today who has control over her body, her finances, her destiny, her men, and even in positions of power over many men, women in high leadership positions of today's government systems. Mrs. Obama also is much more active and visible than "first ladies" of the past. The fact that Jackie Kennedy was as forward as she was (much more so than first ladies previous to her) led some to criticize them at the time, though many more idolized her...

What does the Bible tell us about the spirit of Jezebel?
Rev_2:20  Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.
(also do a word search on Jezebel and read about her interactions with Elijah in 1 and 2 Kings.)

I knew much of what is said in these video clips already, but it helped me to organize my thoughts about what I already knew, and filled in some gaps of info on this that I didn't know, and helped me better understand how far we are in God's timeline here on earth....

Rom 13:11  And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.
Rom 13:12  The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.
Rom 13:13  Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.
Rom 13:14  But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.

New Breedism

 On Herescope (excerpt):

The whole NEW BREED concept is totally unscriptural. The only way they can attempt to prove their false doctrine is to twist, misquote or allegorize the Scriptures. According to the "prophets" all believers are not a part of the NEW BREED because it is reserved for a special quality of Christian in the last days. But Praise God, the Bible refutes this fallacy. On the contrary, it gives all believers the following assurance:

1. All believers are equal in Christ. Galatians 3:28.
2. All believers are new creatures. II Corinthians 5:17.
3. All believers are made righteous by faith, that is of grace. Romans 4:16.
4. All believers are of the seed of Abraham. Romans 4:16.
5. All believers were baptized into one body. I Corinthians 12:13.
6. All believers are members of the body of Christ. I Corinthians 12:14.
7. All believers are part of the ELECT. I Peter 1:2.
8. All believers are a CHOSEN GENERATION. I Peter 2:1, 2.
9. All believers are "born again." John 3:3, 15.
10. All believers are lively stones and a holy priesthood. I Peter 2:5.

The word BREED is not found once in Scripture, much less the term A NEW BREED.[17]

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That second picture with the knight holding the child reminds me of Arthurian legends....

 When King Arthur was born, Merlin took him away and raised him in secret...

http://mortimerjordan.com/T4/Language%20Arts/kingarthur/legend.html 

The Bible tells us that our hope is not in this world, yet the "new Christianity" will have it's adherents believing that Jesus is going to set up His kingdom on this earth, but as Herescopes blog also shows, the way they reshape what the Bible says, has some strange connections with Hitler's philosophies and the New Age doctrines as well. 

We must be wise as serpents while gentle as doves.

The Coming Holocaust

Chris White talks about 2012 and the "age of enlightenment" and that Christians will be (and are) perceived as standing in the way of a spiritual evolution into the new spiritual age of enlightenment, a golden age of utopia. Chris believes (and I do also) that many people will want to get rid of those old fashioned and outdated "dinosaurs" (us Christians) who are not in compliance with their agenda. We stand in the way of their "progress". Many "Christians" will be fooled, but they are not "of the elect". The elect will even go to their deaths still proclaiming the truth about Jesus.

And then there is this one (there is so much that I agree with Chris White on about this) he tells why he believes "The Truth Movement" is telling us what it is telling us...partly because they can't hide what they are doing anyway that they may as well tell us in a way that suits their purpose. That picture with Jordan Maxwell holding the paper with Is/Ra/El  I had seen that before, but I couldn't remember where, ok now I know. They try to discredit Jesus and the God of Israel by that bogus kind of etymology and they hope that you won't figure it out....it also ties into those false stories about Jesus and Mary Magdalene such as in the Da Vinci Code and the Jesus Tomb, etc...anyway, here's the clip:

"Here Come the Unicorns"

I don't fully agree with Gerald Celente, I personally believe he is behind a move for a revolution in America, and I never support a revolution, unless you are talking about the revolution to seek Jesus and accept our sinfulness and confess it before God. However, I do agree with him in that many people would rather pretend nothing bad is happening, and that's even worse than wanting to fight against this junk.

We need to acknowledge the truth, and we need to be penitent and remorseful. We need to humble ourselves and pray. The fact that there is a huge cover up regarding the Fukushima reactor meltdown and the fact that they are not testing the water, and not blasting the truth about what is really going on, should have us concerned, not apathetic and looking for imagined rainbows and happy faces drawn over the sad truth.

2Chronicles 7:14  If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

This takes honesty and confession and commitment to the truth,
not hiding our heads in the sand.

The Sinister Side of Butterflies

Do Butterflies even have a sinister side? I believe that everything that God made good, the devil can put his little twist on it to make it not good. The fact that the butterfly is a perfect allegory for our transformation in Christ has been hijacked by the New Age movement to depict our transformation into our "higher self" or "higher consciousness", which they say is a different way of saying the same thing. No...it isn't. Their way substitutes our ability for God's ability to transform ourselves into some more enlightened being. Jesus restores us and makes us whole. He does elevate us, pulling us out of the mire of our sin. What that means is something completely different from what the world teaches about being higher and elevated, etc.

Quote (excerpt):

The delicate, iridescent butterfly emerging from the pupa shroud that claimed its former self is an abiding and haunting symbol of transformation. Of an evolutionary process, of a new life, unimaginable to the old. Of the true self, encrypted with the false, bursting out in full glory at the appointed time. Little wonder, then, that the image is a graphic metaphor for our own life and destiny.

(please see the article here ):


And another article states that what it calls the transformational cells change a caterpillar into a butterfly naming these cells "imaginal cells":

Quote (excerpt):

At a certain point in time, the long string of clumping and clustering imaginal cells switches gears from simply being a group of like-minded cells into the programming cells of the butterfly. They literally reach a critical mass of influence where the caterpillar’s destiny is altered to become a butterfly.

The pictures on this page show the beginning of the physical transformation the caterpillar undergoes, and certainly connotes a temporary state of chaos.

What is happening amid this clump of goo is old caterpillar cells transforming into wing cells, into antenna cells, into digestive tract cells, and so on. A new consciousness being born…

Many people believe that this story is highly symbolic of what is occurring in our world today, and how a more evolved experience is on the horizon for humanity.  Imaginal cells are clustering all over the globe, resonating at a higher frequency and bringing the light of a new consciousness to mankind.
We can see it tangibly by the countless people that are stepping out of their societal roles and doing things to help the collective good. We see it by innumerable organizations that are popping up with the sole mission of making the world a better place.
We can see it by books like A New Earth becoming international bestsellers for the first time in history. We can see it by mainstream icons like Oprah Winfrey taking this type of content and bringing it to the masses in unprecedented ways.

(please click here to see the article ):


I've noticed that I try to take the credit for making myself "good" when in actuality IF there is any good at all, it is only if God makes it so. I've also noticed that the world, the media, etc, encourage me at every turn to elevate myself into my "higher self", to make myself good. Every world religion wants to take the credit for teaching people how to try to be good, or accept "the fact" that we ARE good (remembering that Jesus said ONLY GOD IS GOOD), that we can somehow make ourselves good, or have "imaginal cells" that will magically transform us into something marvelously good....and then, the words of Jesus remind me that those who are the least will be the most in His kingdom, and He wasn't talking about a feigned humility to appear humble and holy. He was talking about a sincere humility that confesses the fact that we are horrible sinners in need of forgiveness. Even many Christian churches (at least in name, some don't even quote the Bible, or do so very casually and superficially) have adopted a new gospel according to Oprah and Dr. Phil. They say: "You can make yourself good, if you really try...by believing in YOURSELF". Jesus said "Only God is good" and God the Father at Jesus baptism said to "Hear Him" (Jesus) ... so who should we believe? Who do we listen to? Oprah and Dr Phil, and countless pastors that are parroting their message? Or do we listen to Jesus?