THIS is not an argument. This is my view. This is what I believe and live by.

Lately I have seen so many arguments on one of my friends walls, about what is for Christians and what isn’t. She’s an amazing Christian who stands by what she believes in and shares it boldly! I admire her and love that she answers almost every comment with truth and honesty, not being afraid of what others think or what they might say back. I sometimes lack that sort of boldness. But here’s me writing on something very similar. Because I care. I care about my fellow Christians and don’t want them to have ANYTHING to do with the dark spiritual realm that is very real and and very active.

As the Bible verse says, we only have one God! There’s many Bible verses about that, but the truth remains. We have a jealous God. He wants all our praise, glory and attention. Anything that isn’t from Him, we should cast out. And THAT is a challenge in this day and age.
Many Christians don’t see that things can be harmful. But that’s how the enemy works. By deceiving, lying, stealing. Deceiving things into harmful practices. Lying that it’s okay to do so. Stealing your health, or joy, or any other things. And we can see this all around us.

Background

Before i found out about the TRUTH, about Jesus, God, Bible, Holy Spirit and all that comes with it, i dabbled in some dark places.
I was fascinated by all sorts of things, that i know now are a very big no-no in a christian life. When i was younger, i was really into spells. Like witchcraft things. You just went to library and find books and read all about them. I can’t remember now if i actually read some out. But it sure was fascinating. Especially as a teenager with crushes to guys and such, of course had to check those love spells. There was also horoscopes, fortune telling. There was plenty of websites and i knew english already plenty enough to do research internationally. As kids there was also some mentions about ghosts/spirits, and calling them “out”. It never worked. It usually just scared one or few of us. But no big results were happening.
There was also a thing called pendulum. Which is a weight (usually a ball of some kind ) on a string or ribbon. And then you sway it back and forth to get answers. There were also glass balls which you could give “assignments” to.
I dabbled into all sorts of things. And knowing, what i know now, not even FULLY knowing about spiritual world, I am glad it didn’t get much further than that.

Spirit world is very real. One very good book, which i have yet to read, is “Screwtape letters” by C.S.Lewis. It’s a book where a novice demon reports to another how the torturing of the “patient” is going. It gives a great insight into how spiritual world works. Of course, this is not full picture, but if you have no idea at all, it’s a good place to start.

Spiritual world can harm you. Both physically, but also mentally. Bad spirits/demons (or whatever people want to call them), can come into your life from many different places. Modern day and age there’s always more and more temptations. They seem innocent. Harmless. And mostly intriguing.
For example. Yoga. Most people understand as christians to stay away from yoga when there’s chakra talk involved, or aligning yourself and so forth. But even when you do yoga poses, without that, those poses are for worshiping false God’s. Yoga and according to some articles, even Pilates, are from another religion. Yoga originates from India, where there is hinduism, buddhism, and jainism. There are studios that combine yoga and pilates. But for whatever reason, often christians think it’s safe to do. Me personally, i tried yoga at one point, until Holy Spirit told me to stop. It comes from another religion. No matter if i chant even Bible verses during that, the postures and poses are meant to worship other religions/gods and can open a door way for bad spiritual influences.

Same goes with all other things. We can see it all around us. Be it tv-series with witches casting spells. Or seeing dreamcatchers around us. They are spiritual tools for other religions. Other beliefs and gods. And i hope people ask God what is good in their lives and what isn’t.
I am not perfect. Let me say this again. I am not perfect.
I make mistakes all the time. But that’s why us as Christians we have this great helper. Holy Spirit. God uses Holy Spirit to help us along the way, when we wonder off. Be it dabbling in some spiritual thing we shouldn’t have in our lives, OR other things that can take false god places. Be it spending more time obsessing over our possessions, than we spend having time with God. Or putting our friends before God. Or whatever else can take that time and focus off from the Almighty. We have a jealous God. And He often points out things I need to reduce, or where i need to refocus. Or where i need to change. It will be a lifetime of learning. I ask His forgiveness, and change. Often it’s not easy. When we find things we like, or love, or are passionate about and then God comes and asks us to stop. Or to do less of that. And it is hard. But ultimately, as our Heavenly Daddy, HE DOES KNOW BEST. He sees our future, our past and present. He knows how whatever that “it” is for you, can influence and shape us. And He just wants the best for us. Sometimes that can be hard to see. But we only see small picture.

It reminds me of a story of a man.

Man wakes up, and makes coffee and the milk was spoiled on his coffee. So he dumps the coffee and starts his day with something else. Of course it makes him grumpy. He gets ready to have a shower and hot water isn’t there. Which doesn’t help with the mood developing here. Man goes to his car to go to work, and the car won’t start. He tries to restart the car several times, but nothing. It just won’t start. So he takes the subway. He gets to work, and needs to make a copy on the copy machine, and that seems to not co-operate either. He just gets more upset with each obstacle during his day.
He finally gets home, so frustrated with his day and angry. And finally, takes it up to God. “Why did you allow this to happen to me?!!! Why me?! How did I deserve this?” And God is silent for a moment, but then answers the accuser. “Son, you only saw what happened to you. You didn’t see what i stopped from happening.” Man is suddenly quiet and listens…
“See that coffee you couldn’t have? If you would’ve had it, you would’ve burnt your tongue, and the cup was gonna break in your hand. I stopped it, so you wouldn’t get hurt. Shower you couldn’t take was me stopping you from having water boiler explode on you. Your car didn’t start, because i saw that you would’ve been in a car accident if you had driven to work. I didn’t want you to die. And the copy machine, it was jammed and out of ink, because it had electrical shortage and you would’ve been electrocuted.”
Suddenly the man is quiet. And in tears.

We all see what is happening around us. But often God doesn’t show what He keeps us from. When you have things in your life that you think might not be the best for you. Always go to God. Ask what He wants for you. When we have problems, me and Peter, we often ask each other “Have you prayed about it?”. It’s a gentle reminder to do so. Be it together or separately. We know that we don’t know best. We know the One who does.
I want to encourage you today to take a look at your life. Are things in your life growing you. Encouraging your christian walk. Are they for you or against you? Take an inventory of your life and ask God to come along. He knows best. It might be music you listen to, tv-series you watch, yoga, decorative statues, symbols or anything else. I’ve had to throw out books, jewellery and other things. Because God said so.

God knows best. Seek His will above all else.