Verse of the day: Leviticus 19:26, 31 “You shall not eat anything with the blood, nor shall you practice divination or soothsaying. 31 “Give no regard to mediums and familiar spirits; do not seek after them, to be defiled by them: I am the LORD your God.”
Although today we have many liberties in Christ, we, as born again believers, and ambassadors for Christ, must be very careful about how we exercise our liberties. The Apostle Paul put it this way in 1 Corinthians 6:12, “All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.” In 1 Corinthians 10:23 he again wrote, “All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful; all things are lawful for me, but not all things edify.” In considering this, there are things we are to avoid because they are just demonic in nature, and other things because they may give the wrong impression of who we are as Christians. My wife, who is from India, and I, enjoy many of the Asian statues and artifacts, from an artistic point of view. However, we avoid buying them and displaying them in our home because many are used in the worship of pagan gods. This is not to say that we cannot have them and display them, for it would not be sin to us if we are not using them for worship, but we choose not to, because in certain Asian cultures they mix Christianity with their other religions, and include Jesus in their worship of many gods. In an effort to not cause confusion, and communicate clearly that we only worship the one true God, we choose to stay away from displaying them and simply enjoy them when we see them in the store or visit the museum. In this passage, God clearly tells Israel that they are to stay away from practicing those things that were part of pagan worship, and demonic in nature. Today, there are things that we do, that we may be able to get away with doing because we are not using them as a method of worship, and we are not worshiping pagan gods; however, there are other things that we, as born again believers should steer clear of. Turning to fortunetellers, psychics, horoscopes, tarot cards, and palm readers, are all evil practices that communicate a lack of faith in God. Why? In seeking answers by these means is to say that God is not able to answer that which He clearly told us He would answer in His time. In Leviticus 20:27, God ordered that every man or woman who was a medium or psychic be put to death. In verse 6 of this very chapter, God said that He would condemn those who turn to mediums and psychics. In Deuteronomy 18:10-12, the Lord said, “There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, 11 or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. 12 For all who do these things are an abomination to the LORD, and because of these abominations the LORD your God drives them out from before you.” If this was an Old Testament command, why would we as Christians avoid it today, even though we have many liberties in Christ? The bottom-line answer is that these practices involve demonic activity. In Acts 16:16-18, we have an account of the Apostle Paul exorcising a demon from a slave girl who was possessed with a spirit of divination. The account reads as follows, “Now it happened, as we went to prayer, that a certain slave girl possessed with a spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters much profit by fortune-telling. 17 This girl followed Paul and us, and cried out, saying, “These men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation.” 18 And this she did for many days. But Paul, greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, ‘I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.’ And he came out that very hour.” One of the reasons that King Saul died, was that he consulted a medium for advice, and did not seek counsel from the Lord (1 Chronicles 10:13-14). As God’s children, we are to seek God’s guidance, and trust Him alone. Isaiah 8:19 tells us, “And when they say to you, ‘Seek those who are mediums and wizards, who whisper and mutter,’ should not a people seek their God? Should they seek the dead on behalf of the living?” James 1:5 also tells us, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.” God has all the answers we need about life and the future. He will answer prayers and guide us by His Spirit, using His Word, in His time and in His way. We need not show a lack of faith, and trust, in God, by turning to Satan and his demons for those answers.
Today, God extends an invitation to you to accept His gift of salvation (Rom 6:23). Will you accept it? Anyone who calls on Jesus, by faith, in repentance, confessing your sins, will receive eternal life. Do not put off calling on Him, and receive Him and His gift of salvation today (Rom 10:13).
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