By Bridgette O’Hare
Matthew 7:15, Jesus tells us "Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves."
Intuition. Instincts. Perception. Insight. Sensitivity.
Or maybe you like to refer to them as “Red Flags.”
Yes, they are metaphorical. But we have all “seen” them flying high at some time or another. I was browsing the internet just this afternoon when a parade of red flags began waving across my computer screen. I won’t mention the exact name of the site because I haven’t had the chance to research it. My instinct, however, is to not trust a site to be grounded in God’s inerrant Word that combines the term “Christian” with “Spiritualism” and contains a “Zodiac Messages” page.
Websites aren’t the only place these red flags are flying. They are soaring all around us every day. I’ve read articles by Christians and Pastors alike claiming the name of Jesus only to unnervingly lead into their “enlightened” teaching concerning Jesus, sin, and the unseen powers that surround us every day. I’ve been discovering this at a disturbing rate among “Christian” Demonologists that I have encountered lately in my research. If you are claiming to be a Christian Demonologist and claiming that there are spirits roaming this Earth that are not demons...then your self-proclaimed title itself is no more than an oxymoron. I, for one, am sick of the lying heretics who have embraced their New Age brand of self-serving Christianity. My instincts shift into overdrive at the first mention of ghosts and earthbound spirits and I trust my instincts...my Sixth Sense.
This Sixth Sense is a God given gift because I know that I know that I know I am covered in the holy blood that Jesus willingly offered for me on Calvary. It’s real. Every believer who is truly born into the family of God has it and should be using it and trusting it. As true Christians we are expected to be on watch for false prophets. John warned us of these counterfeit Christians in I John.
“Beloved, do not believe every spirit but test the spirits to see if they are of God, since many false prophets have gone out into the world.” ~ 1 John 4:1
One of the aspects he points out again and again states that these fake Christians don’t have a trueknowledge of Jesus. A true knowledge knows that God’s infallible Word renounces the existence of earthbound spirits. Demons have a true knowledge of God’s Word. (James 2:19, Luke 4:41) They’ve been exposed to it first hand and they use it in every way they can to deceive humankind. God gave us this spiritual gift of a Sixth Sense to use in awareness of their deceit.
I’ve noticed though, that so many people misconstrue the spiritual gifts God offers to his children. Please understand, we are all gifted in some way. However, we don’t choose our gifts and often times we tend to claim gifts that are not truly ours to claim. This has become more apparent to me recently as I have become increasingly involved in my research into the supernatural realm. It seems that as a society we are so fascinated by the paranormal many of us want to declare some deeper association with it. What isn’t often considered, and is seldom recognized, is the danger that is connected with declaring such an association. False spirits manifesting through false gifts give their users a false sense of reality. A false sense of what your gifts really are can create an open door for demonic activity in your life. As I mentioned before, demons perform effortlessly in the realm of deceit. When you open a door, they will not just walk through it; they will run like there’s no tomorrow! Claiming a gift that is directly related to demonic activity is just like sending a demon a balloon filled invitation to join the party. If you weren’t on their radar before, you quickly become a bright, blinking dot on their monitor. Suddenly, you are experiencing “symptoms” that you want to believe are related to recognizing demonic activity when what you are truly experiencing are the symptoms of demonic attachment.
Being able to distinguish a true spiritual gift from a false one is tricky when you want to believe you are gifted with sensitivity to the supernatural realm. There are ways to determine if you truly have a gift for discerning activity, but first let’s differentiate between the two. Spiritual discernment or wisdom regarding spiritual matters is not the same as discerning actual and literal demonic activity. Spiritual discernment is sound judgment but sensitivity is the ability to detect actual demons, their disposition and temperament.
Before a person with the gift of sensitivity begins to identify the forces of evil, they will first see the positive side of their gift. It brings them closer to the Holy Spirit and they will see His hand at work where others are unaware, because the working of spiritual gifts is first and foremost the work of the Holy Spirit. A true gift will be able to determine what is contrary to the Holy Spirit. The light of the Holy Spirit reveals the darkness of Satan...not the other way around.
It’s undeniable that false supernatural experiences are engineered by demonic design in order to confuse and bewilder. Therefore the gift is used to determine what is false. It would make sense that if someone can discern demonic activity, they also would be aware of angelic activity. The reality that needs to be considered in all cases is that false teaching is used by Satan to divert people from the truth. Considering that, a true gift would likely have access to activity from both sides of the supernatural realm.
Above everything, spiritual reality is needed in the real fight against Satan’s kingdom. All gifts from God are aspects of the grace of Christ and His power. You see yourself as a frontline warrior involved in a great spiritual warfare and enlightened and equipped by the Holy Spirit while others are sleeping in a spiritual stupor. And while we are all warriors in the spiritual warfare that surrounds us, we aren’t allequipped to be on the front lines.
