Hi Jane:

With your permission, I would like to share some things with you. I would like to explain to you some spiritual principles. What is the world? The world is "I want it and I want it now!" Welcome to America. So much temptation around us. It is hard to say no to anything around us when it is so available. I struggle with this with my computer. I want the fasted most efficient machine. Of course a little out of reach since a super computer cost several hundred million dollars, but it won’t keep me from trying.

The Bible teaches us that Satan is real, as real as God is real. The Bible teaches us that (Isaiah 14) Satan was the most powerful and intelligent of all beings God created. Satan was given charge of guarding the throne of God. The Bible also teaches that God created music through Satan. He led the choirs of heaven. The Bible says however that Satan became enamored with his beauty, he became proud and at some point decided guardian of the throne of God wasn’t enough, but wanted the throne itself. This resulted in a civil war in heaven and eventually Satan and His followers, a third of the angels, were thrown out of heaven. They now dwell in what the Bible calls the second heaven, the space above the earth’s atmosphere. He is called now the spirit of the prince of the air and the god of this world, and indeed he is. He controls governments and the flow of money. Without a sovereign act of God you cannot become wealthy in this world unless you sell your soul to do so. This is why Jesus said in Matthew 16:26-27,

"For what will a man be profited, if he gains the whole world, and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels; and will then recompense every man according to his deeds."

I have shared all this with you, Jane, to say to you that Jesus loves you and has a purpose and plan for your life. How do we come to know His will and plan for our lives? Well it starts as we shared in our last Bible study by spending daily time with Jesus in His word and seeking Him daily. Jesus’ will and plan for your life, Jane, was determined and recorded in God’s book in heaven before the world was created.

"I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; wonderful are Your works, and my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth. Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; and in Your book they were all written, the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them." (Psalm 139:14-16)

The way we come to know His will is through obedience to Him. Jesus tells us in John 14:21 that if we will obey Him He will reveal Himself to us. We can, however, also miss Jesus’ will and plan for our lives. How? Through disobedience. Note why the Israelites in the Old Testament where not able to enter the promised land recorded in Hebrews 4:6 "Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly had good news preached to them failed to enter because of disobedience." Then the writer of Hebrews warns you and I in Hebrews 4:11 "Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall through following the same example of disobedience." When we are obeying Jesus, we are entered into his rest.

This is where Satan comes into the picture again. God’s plan for our lives comes through obeying Him and waiting upon Him to bring it to us in our obedience to Him. Satan, however, comes along and tells us, "Hey! You don’t have to wait! I can give it to you now!" Satan said this to Adam and Eve in the garden. Adam and Eve bought the lie and when they yielded to Satan, man’s dominion of the earth was transferred from man to Satan and man has been plunged into misery and death ever since. That is why now the bible calls Satan the god of this world (2 Cor 4:3-4).

This, however, is also why Jesus came: to regain man’s rule of the earth. How? Through his absolute obedience to His Father in heaven, even to death on a cross. When Jesus returns He will establish this rule and Satan will be no where to be found (Rev 19-22). Early in Jesus’ life Satan came to Jesus and offered Him the world if He would just bow down and worship Him (Matthew 4, Luke 4).  He offered Jesus a short cut through sin. Jesus, however resisted this temptation and went the way of the cross. Through Jesus’ death not only did he defeat Satan and what he accomplished in the garden of Eden, but our salvation as well. Now the Bible says that Jesus resides in heaven, on the throne of God with perfect joy until his enemies be made a footstool under his feet.

Jane God has a plan for you and gifts for you, but the only way you receive them and come to know that plan is through obedience. The Bible states in John 10:10 "Satan comes to steal, kill and destroy. . ." Satan has a plan for your life also, to kill and destroy you if possible. How does he do this? First by drawing us away from Jesus as our source and seducing us to look to him as our source. Satan will offer you anything you want, but his gifts, temporary gifts, come with a price: they lead to death and destruction, misery and sorrow and if not repented of, eventual eternal spiritual death—Hell.

Jane, you and I are in a spiritual battle, the battle ground is our souls themselves. Satan wishes to steal this from you, to destroy you. Every time you yield to him and his ways, a little more of you comes under his control. Pretty soon, if not stopped and turned away from, you will lose yourself.

How do people become demon possessed? Well Hollywood shows us dramatic movies of people asking the devil to posses them. This is one way, the direct way. However, what most people don’t know is that the primary way a person becomes demon possessed is through sin. When we give ourselves over to the lusts of our flesh, outside of God’s intended order like in marriage between a man and a woman for life, this opens a doorway to our soul and a demonic force can then enter, and believe me it will. This is what is meant by Ecclesiastes 10:8 "He who digs a pit will fall into it, and whoever breaks a hedge a serpent will bite him." When we repeatedly sin, the hedge, God’s protection around us, it broken and a serpent, a demon, can come in. Once that happens, that person finds that they seem to no longer be able to say no to whatever it is they have given themselves over to. Their will is now bound and they can’t say no to it. This is because when a demon possesses us, it is in that area of our wills we did not control and gave over to sin. That demon now controls that area of our will. That is why when a person gives themselves over to drugs, once hooked, even if they want to, without God’s help, they can’t stop. They are now in bondage not only to the drug, but to the demon of drugs also. The same is true when we summon Satan rather than Jesus through prayer. God says in his word that to communicate with Satan or demons is absolutely forbidden and an abomination to God. Notice what God’s word says on the subject:

Leviticus 20:6 "As for the person who turns to mediums and to spiritists, to play the harlot after them, I will also set My face against that person and will cut him off from among his people."

Leviticus 20:27 "Now a man or a woman who is a medium or a spiritist shall surely be put to death. They shall be stoned with stones, their bloodguiltiness is upon them."

Deuteronomy 4:19 "And beware, lest you lift up your eyes to heaven and see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, and be drawn away and worship them and serve them [astrology], those which Yehovah-your-Elohim has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven."

Deuteronomy 18:10-13  "There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, one who uses divination, one who practices witchcraft, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who casts a spell, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead.  For whoever does these things is detestable to Yehovah; and because of these detestable things Yehovah-your-Elohim will drive them out before you.  You shall be blameless before Yehovah-your-Elohim.  For those nations, which you shall dispossess, listen to those who practice witchcraft and to diviners, but as for you, Yehovah-your-Elohim has not allowed you to do so."

Jane, Jesus’ death has paid for our sins, and when you confessed and repented of this activity, Jesus forgave and cleansed you, but I wanted to share here what God says in his word about the matter so you will be strengthened to never turn to the occult again. What does God say in the New Testament about this issue? He says the following:

Revelation 21:8 "But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and fornicating persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death."

Sorcerers are people who summon demons to do their bidding. Note what God says to a person who does not repent, turn away from this kind of activity: "their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death." Jane, the more a person involves themselves in this kind of activity, the harder it is to become freed of it, not impossible, but very difficult, because once a person gives themselves over to this, Satan considers that person His property and will not let that person go without a vicious fight.

Jane, I have written this letter to you to encourage you to not play and even touch this activity. when someone approaches you to entice you to do this, what you need to do is run for your life!!!! and avoid it like a plague. If you need an answer to something, seek Jesus and His Word. Jesus said in His word:

"And when they say to you, ‘Consult the mediums and the spiritists who whisper and mutter,’ should not a people consult their God? Should they consult the dead on behalf of the living? To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn." (Isaiah 8:19-20)

"He who is of God hears the words of God." (John 8:47)

He loves you and cares about your needs. God the father has only put his seal on Jesus:

"Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man shall give to you, for on Him God the Father has set His seal." (John 6:27)

If you don’t feel your faith is strong enough to get an answer from God, take Your need to your Christian friends and ask them to seek the Lord for you about the matter. We love and care about you and will go to battle in prayer for you until we have the answer you need.

Jane, to look to any other source but Jesus for the answer to your needs is an abomination before God. It is an abomination to Him because He knows it will destroy you. He loves you. Through Jesus’ death and shed blood, God says to you that you have no past (Ps 103:12, Is 43:18, 1 Cor 13:5), that you are cleansed of your sins (1 John 1:9). In God’s eyes you are as pure as His Son Jesus because He only sees you through Jesus’ blood which makes you as pure in His eyes as Jesus is. You ARE in the center of God’s will right now. Draw near to Jesus, seek Him for the answer to your needs. He loves you, and avoid like a plague anyone who would lead you to do otherwise. They are not your friend, because what they are encouraging you to do will lead to hell. Jesus said,

"Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber.... Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.... If anyone enters through Me, he shall be saved and shall go in and out, and find pasture." (John 10:1-9).