Counterfeit Guidance

Counterfeit Guidance – Freedom in Christ Bible

The lure of the occult is almost always based on the desire for knowledge and power. Actually, knowledge is power. For example, imagine the power we would have if we knew what events would happen before they occurred. We could become millionaires just by betting at the race track. We could manipulate world events and have incredible political power. If someone knows something will occur before it happens, it means that person has access to some kind of power that can arrange future events. Satan sometimes appears to have this kind of power because he manipulates people who listen to his deceiving spirits and then act on the suggestions given to them.
Everything Satan does is a counterfeit of Christianity. Clairvoyance, the power to perceive what our normal five senses cannot perceive, is a counterfeit of divine revelation. Precognition, the ability to know something will happen before it occurs, is a counterfeit of prophecy. Telepathy, the ability to communicate from one mind to another by extrasensory means, is a counterfeit of prayer. Psycho kinesis, the manipulation of physical matter without the use of physical means, is a counterfeit of God’s miracles. Spirit guides or deceiving spirits are counterfeits of divine guidance. Why would people want a spirit guide if they could have the Holy Spirit as their guide instead?
Our finite longings for the infinite were intended to be met by the knowledge and power that comes from an intimate relationship with God. However, Satan tries to pass off his counterfeits as the real thing, and he will gain a foothold in our lives if he can lure us into the deceptive world of physic knowledge and power. Moses’ words of warning in Deuteronomy 18:9-13 were as applicable for us today as they were for the Israelites under his leadership. We live in a contemporary Canaan, for in our culture it is socially acceptable to consult spiritists, mediums, palm readers, psychic counselors and horoscopes for guidance and esoteric knowledge.
Since Satan has the capacity to deceive the whole world (see I John 5:19), it is possible for him to manipulate future events, but he never does so perfectly. Only God can prophesy something and guarantee that it will come to pass. This is one way that we can know whether a prophet is true or false. “If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the LORD does not take place or come true, that is a message the Lord has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously” (Deuteronomy 18”22). False prophets, psychic counselors and spiritual mediums may have superhuman knowledge, but if they do, they are getting their information from Satan, and it is never completely accurate. Since they seem to know more than what is humanly possible, gullible people may listen to them and be deceived by them.

I thought this was very interesting in light of our recent elections. Satan has the capacity to deceive the whole world, millions and millions of people. The best way to keep Satan’s thoughts out of our minds is to keep Christ’s thoughts in them. Although Satan can fill our hearts if we allow him to do so, how much more can the Lord fill our minds with his thoughts? Satan’s thoughts may be able to penetrate a leaky helmet, but we have the very mind of Christ within us.
Have a great day in the Lord!