ghosts part two
Continuing on the study of ghosts, I am reminded of the story in Scripture that tells about Jesus walking on a lake late at night during rough weather. When He approaches the boat that the disciples were in, they thought He was a ghost, and the Bible says they were terrified. It even says they screamed with fear! (Matt. 14:22-26) If ghosts weren't real, I think Jesus would have said so then and there. lol. Even after Jesus rose from the dead and appeared to the disciples, again they thought He was a ghost and were terrified. (Luke 24:36-42)
Some things to consider in these stories is that the disciples had not yet been filled with the Holy Spirit. After they were filled with the Holy Spirit, they were no longer fearful - even under persecution. When Jesus was arrested, they had all fled and even denied knowing Jesus. In our natural state a human being is no match for spiritual things; fear is natural. But once we are born anew and have the Holy Spirit of the Living God within our hearts we will find a new sense of boldness if we build up our spirit-man. Scripture says, "God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and love and a sound mind."
I believe that people open themselves up to ungodly spiritual experiences mostly out of ignorance. Just this morning on tv Montel Williams hosted Sylvia Brown who contacts dead relatives and answers peoples questions about what happened to their dead relatives. I don't think those people are "bad"; just ignorant. Sylvia Brown thinks she is doing a good thing. That does not mean it is a good thing. A good thing would be for her to humble herself and read what the Bible says. Without the Scriptures we are truly lost and without an anchor; we are open to the wiles of the devil. The Scriptures are our safe guide and light for our path.
I have found another Jewish website that has provided me with some fantastic insight into some things, but they write on there that they believe that if a person does not strenghten their spirit by studying Scripture, when they die their spirit sometimes does not leave the body because it does not know how and is not strong enough. They say that people then have to help it along. I never heard of such a thing - and I will email her and ask for Scripture references - which she gave none of. I must see it in Scripture! I will let you know if I find anything else out on this. I know when my moms brother passed away, she had been taking a nap and woke up because she thought someone tapped her on the shoulder. She turned around and no one was there. Shortly after that the phone rang and she was told he had died. Hmmm. My mom has seen angels too. I never have. One Bible teacher, the late Kenneth Hagin, tought that there were people who became demon possessed because they sought spiritual visions instead of seeking the Word. The devil will accomodate people who are seeking spiritual experiences and don't have the Word as an anchor to their soul.
Another interesting insight is the Book of Enoch. It is not a cannonized book, but it is quoted in the Book of Jude (vs. 14). I googled it and downloaded a copy of it. It shed some hugely interesting light on the "Nephilim" mentioned in Genesis 4-8, and what was going on that caused God to send the flood. If you would like to google it for yourself you can, or I can copy and send what I have. I am quite careful about delving into these things - mostly it is best to keep your eyes on Jesus and the letters to the Churches. They will build your spirit. But this other stuff is definitely interesting! Joey and I googled to find out why the Book of Enoch was not cannonized. That is something I would like to find out more about.
Some things to consider in these stories is that the disciples had not yet been filled with the Holy Spirit. After they were filled with the Holy Spirit, they were no longer fearful - even under persecution. When Jesus was arrested, they had all fled and even denied knowing Jesus. In our natural state a human being is no match for spiritual things; fear is natural. But once we are born anew and have the Holy Spirit of the Living God within our hearts we will find a new sense of boldness if we build up our spirit-man. Scripture says, "God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and love and a sound mind."
I believe that people open themselves up to ungodly spiritual experiences mostly out of ignorance. Just this morning on tv Montel Williams hosted Sylvia Brown who contacts dead relatives and answers peoples questions about what happened to their dead relatives. I don't think those people are "bad"; just ignorant. Sylvia Brown thinks she is doing a good thing. That does not mean it is a good thing. A good thing would be for her to humble herself and read what the Bible says. Without the Scriptures we are truly lost and without an anchor; we are open to the wiles of the devil. The Scriptures are our safe guide and light for our path.
I have found another Jewish website that has provided me with some fantastic insight into some things, but they write on there that they believe that if a person does not strenghten their spirit by studying Scripture, when they die their spirit sometimes does not leave the body because it does not know how and is not strong enough. They say that people then have to help it along. I never heard of such a thing - and I will email her and ask for Scripture references - which she gave none of. I must see it in Scripture! I will let you know if I find anything else out on this. I know when my moms brother passed away, she had been taking a nap and woke up because she thought someone tapped her on the shoulder. She turned around and no one was there. Shortly after that the phone rang and she was told he had died. Hmmm. My mom has seen angels too. I never have. One Bible teacher, the late Kenneth Hagin, tought that there were people who became demon possessed because they sought spiritual visions instead of seeking the Word. The devil will accomodate people who are seeking spiritual experiences and don't have the Word as an anchor to their soul.
Another interesting insight is the Book of Enoch. It is not a cannonized book, but it is quoted in the Book of Jude (vs. 14). I googled it and downloaded a copy of it. It shed some hugely interesting light on the "Nephilim" mentioned in Genesis 4-8, and what was going on that caused God to send the flood. If you would like to google it for yourself you can, or I can copy and send what I have. I am quite careful about delving into these things - mostly it is best to keep your eyes on Jesus and the letters to the Churches. They will build your spirit. But this other stuff is definitely interesting! Joey and I googled to find out why the Book of Enoch was not cannonized. That is something I would like to find out more about.
posted by Laurie T at
11:20 AM
3 Comments:
You have a lot of very good points. I am excited to go home and look some of this up and get back to you with what I have found. A lot of witchcraft type activities have been going on lately with the Harry Potter mania and its nice to know that I am making the correct choice by staying away from it. I feel bad for the people that are getting involved with these activates and they don't understand what they are doing.
I ordered that concordance and then another book caught my eye while I was checking out. I am soo excited!
Hello - I am reading over the scriptures you gave me and I am confused on Luke 23 36:42. Does this mean that spirits are bodies that people see. He said "Touch me and make sure that I am not a ghost, because ghosts don't have bodies, as you see that I do." It seems like here he is saying that as long as the spirit has a body and can eat it is from God versus a ghost that doesn't have a body. Did I read this right? Do you think that is what Grandma saw was a spirit because she "felt" his touch?
I read in Jude and at vs 9 it says "But even Michael, one of the mightiest of the angles, did not dare accuse the devil of blasphemy, but simply said, "The Lord rebuke you!" This confuses me a little bit too. The notes that are on the bottom says that angel here means Greek at glorious ones, which are probably evil angels. Was Michael an evil angel? It also says in the notes - The “supernatural beings” here are probably evil angels. Just as the men of Sodom insulted angels (Genesis 19), these false teachers scoffed at any authority. For information on the danger of insulting even the fallen angels, see the note on 2 Peter 2:10-12.
he angels in Genesis 19 seem to be good angels. This is the story about Lot letting them inside his home and the people of the city came to his house and tried to break in to have sex with the angels. The angels told Lot to save his family and they destroyed the city the next day.
In 2 Peter 2:10-12 makes a lot of sense to me it says that supernatural beings (again it says glorious ones, which are probably evil angles) are not even to be talked down to by us. It goes back to letting God handle them. It talks about people following their own sexual desire here that he is especially hard on them. I find this interesting because gays are becoming a normal part of our society. Its very scary.
I skipped ahead to 2 Peter 3:7 It says that the “bad” people are going to be saved on Earth wondering what happened to Jesus and the will be killed in the fire just like before people were killed in the flood. I found that interesting too. I have not looked into the end of time yet. I don’t know if I am ready for it. I also read that the more we know Jesus the less attractive false teaching will be. I find a lot of comfort in this.
I read all of Jude (its very short) and it is a very good book to read. The summary says that it is a warning for Christians to fear God and that they can not do what they want and not be afraid of punishment. I hear a lot that its okay to do this because Jesus died to forgive your sins and that we are not perfect so its okay to give into temptation. That is not a way to live life! I am scared to face punishment and I need to try my best to live a fruitful Christian life instead of making excuses for being a lazy Christian.
I have to finish up tomorrow. I have volleyball tonight but I am really learning a lot and I appreciate your help!!
You last post is gone with that link. I got to look a little bit but didn't get to dig into it yet.
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