There’s a story in Acts, where Paul and Silas were in Macedonia. A lady with a spirit of divination followed them around for many days. She was a slave who her owners used to make money through fortune telling. “She followed Paul and us, crying out, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation”” (Acts 16:17). What this woman was saying about Paul and Silas was in fact true, as they were men of God who were proclaiming the way of salvation. Despite the truth of her message, something about the spirit operating in her caused Paul to become extremely annoyed. He turned to her and addressing the spirit, commanded it to come out of her and the spirit obeyed. Once the spirit left her, she was set free, but her owners were angry because she could no longer tell fortunes. Their means of income through her fortune telling was no longer available to them.

Paul and Silas were dragged before the magistrates, accused of disturbing the peace, beaten and thrown into prison. Paul’s response brought freedom to the woman, from the spirit of divination which operated in her. Her owners didn’t view Paul’s intervention in the same way that he did, as her bondage brought them financial gain. Divination is the practice of seeking knowledge of the future or the unknown by supernatural means. The bible makes several references to divination and in Leviticus 19:26 says, ‘you shall not interpret omens (divination) or fortune telling. Verse 31 also says, “Do not turn to mediums or necromancers; do not seek them out, and so make yourselves unclean by them: I am the Lord your God” (Leviticus 19:31). There are other places in scripture where divination is referred to as witchcraft.

In Jeremiah, he warned the people about listening to false prophets, who were not sent by God. “And the Lord said to me: “The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I did not send them, nor did I command them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a lying vision, worthless divination, and the deceit of their own minds” (Jeremiah 14:14). These false prophets stood in direct contradiction to the words, which the true prophet Jeremiah spoke to the people. He had been sent to warn Isreal of the judgment of God due to their sin and immorality. While Jeremiah prophesied of destruction to come, the false prophets told the people that no harm would come to them. Their false prophecies of peace, gave the people a false assurance that they could carry on living in sin. The devil is a copycat who always tries to mimic the things of God through deception.

Most diviners and people who practice false prophecy, do so through the means of familiar spirits. These are demonic spirits that operate through mediums, sorcerers, necromancers and psychics, who use these spirits to contact and communicate with the dead. These spirits give these mediums information and intelligence about people related to their lives, past history and also about dead relatives. Many have been deceived by these people into believing, that they have special powers and abilities which are good and are given by God. The spirits operating in them and false prophets are demonic and are of the kingdom of satan. The woman in Acts 16 had information about Paul and Silas which someone could assume came from God. It was the Holy Spirit in Paul who discerned that the spirit in her was of the devil.

“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1).

A.P.-Y.

In Proverbs 6, Solomon spoke of attitudes which the Lord hates and seven which are an abomination to him. They include, a proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that plans wicked schemes, feet that are in a hurry to do wrong, a false witness who speaks lies and a person who creates disunity within a family or community. James also cautioned us about negative behaviours and warned against the consequences. “For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind” (James 3:16). Earlier in the chapter, James warned about taming our tongues, which is described as an unruly member of the body. Everything under the sun can be tamed, except the tongue which is like set ablaze like a wild fire. What disturbed James was that members of the church use their tongues to release both blessings and cursing.

“From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so” (James 3:10). James spoke about having godly wisdom which required meekness. He warned against bitter jealousy and selfish ambition which sometimes led to lying. This kind of prideful behaviour was not characteristic of the wisdom from God, but was unspiritual and demonic. Where there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there is disorder morally degrading practices. “But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere” (James 3:17). The seed of righteousness is spiritual maturity is sown in peace by those who are peacemakers.

James continued to warn in chapter 4 against worldliness and strife. “What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don’t they come from the evil desires at war within you” (James 4:1)? He said that when people had desires which were unfulfilled, they committed murder. Covetousness also led to fights and quarrelling. People were covetousness about things which they did not have because they didn’t pray and ask God to provide. Sometimes people do pray and ask God for material things, and didn’t receive at times because their desires for it wasn’t pure. James called for a separation from the world and secularism as a love of the world created a separation from God. God wants our hearts to remain pure so that the Holy Spirit can live in us. God has given us his grace to remain humble as God hates pride.

Both Solomon in the Old Testament and James in the New Testament, outlined attitudes and traits that are not pleasing to God. We are not perfect and we sometimes struggle with bitterness, resentment and forgiveness. The reality is that as long as we are alive, there is an opportunity for someone to offend us. Offence is a choice, it is a spirit and we choose whether or not to hold unto offences, grudges and ill feelings. Envy, pride, anger, arrogance, lying, slander, backbiting and malice are all evil works of the devil. When we experience offences, we need to pray for those who offend us and where possible speak the truth in love. God will not hear our prayers when we harbour bitterness in our hearts. We all have weaknesses and shortcomings and often fall short of the glory of God. As he is merciful and forgiving, we have to forgive others and continue to walk in love.

“Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded” (James 4:7-8).

A.P.-Y.

In Genesis during creation, God spoke to the earth and commanded it to bring forth vegetation, plants and fruits. The earth responded to the voice of God and yielded plants, vegetation and fruits with its seeds. God also spoke to the earth and commanded it to bring forth beasts, livestock and every creeping thing of its kind. God then created man in his own image and likeness, both male and female. “then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature” (Genesis 2:7). God created a garden for man to live in and rivers also flowed out of the earth. “And the gold of that land is good; bdellium and onyx stone are there” (Genesis 2:12). Man was placed in the garden to work and to keep it and was commanded not to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

God caused Adam to sleep and from his rib, created the woman who Adam called bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh. After the fall, Adam and Eve’s eyes were open and they were ashamed. God discovered their sin and as a consequence, the serpent was made to crawl on his belly and eat dust for the rest of his life. The punishment for man was that the ground was cursed and he would produce food with pain. He would have to work hard and sweat in order to eat, until he returned to the dust (earth), from which he was taken. Adam and Eve were driven from Eden and an angel was placed to stand guard at the entrance. They produced children and the first murder happened between their sons Cain and Abel. After Cain killed his brother, God asked about his whereabouts and Cain denied knowing where he was.

“And the Lord said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to me from the ground” (Genesis 4:10). Cain was also cursed from the ground, which had opened its mouth to receive Abel’s blood. God promised that when Cain worked the ground, it would not yield its strength and he would be a fugitive and a wonderer on the earth. Cain lamented that his punishment was greater than he could bear, as God had driven him from the ground. He was also worried that someone would kill him because of his sin, but God promised to protect him. Later on in Genesis, God was sorry that he had made man because of the sin and wickedness on the earth. God flooded the earth and spared only Noah and his family who had found favour with him.

There are many references to the earth and the ground in Genesis and at other times in scripture, the earth is spoken of as an active participant in the creation and sustenance of life. We came from the earth as God commanded, including every living creature, plants and trees. Seeds that fall to the earth, die, regenerate and then come back to life. It’s interesting that people are buried when they die and reference is made in the bible to the earth giving up the dead. David also spoke of the earth yielding her increase as a blessing to God’s children. The earth belongs to God and its fullness and we can speak to the earth and command it to yield the blessing of Abraham to us. The earth has been given to us and we are no longer under the curse, but are the seed of Abraham. We command the earth to yield its strength to us and to produce a bountiful harvest.

“And the trees of the field shall yield their fruit, and the earth shall yield its increase, and they shall be secure in their land. And they shall know that I am the Lord, when I break the bars of their yoke, and deliver them from the hand of those who enslaved them” (Ezekiel 34:27).

A.P.-Y.

In Mark 2, Jesus healed a paralytic man who was brought to him by his friends. He was teaching at his home and so many people gathered to hear him, that the door was blocked off. When the man’s friends realised that they could not get near Jesus, they removed the roof of the house and lowered him down. Jesus forgave the man of his sins and commanded him to arise, pick up his bed and return home. “And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all, so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this”” (Mark 2:12)! After he healed the man and finished teaching, he went near the sea and the people followed him. Jesus called Matthew who was sitting in a tax booth and he followed him.

He went to Matthews’s house for a meal and other tax collectors and sinners were there with him. The Scribes and Pharisees were puzzled about Jesus’s choice of company and grumbled about this. He heard their grumbling and said to them, that the healthy don’t need a doctor, but the sick. In other words, he had not come to save those who were already righteous, but he came to save the sinners. Jesus experienced a lot of criticism during his ministry and the religious leaders of his time were unhappy with his methods. Of great concern to them were the people who Jesus chose as disciples. Matthew was a tax collector who would have betrayed his people to work for Rome and collect taxes.

At another point, Jesus went to Zacchaeus’s, house who was also a tax collector. Zacchaeus was intrigued by Jesus and climbed into a tree to get a good view of him. Jesus saw him and when he went to his home, Zacchaeus not only repented and was saved, but sold half his goods and fed the poor. He also pledged to repay anyone who he had defrauded fourfold. “And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost”” (Luke 19:9-10). The people also grumbled about Jesus going to Zacchaeus’s home, as they viewed him as a sinner. He did not allow the opinions of others to stop him from doing the work of his father. Jesus focused on reaching those who were lost and in need of salvation and healing.

I once heard a minister say that God often deliberately places the righteous among the wicked. Most Christians think that the best thing is to be surrounded by other believers. Yes, it is important for believers to fellowship together to strengthen and encourage each other. There is also a mandate for us to be among the unsaved, in order to shine our light within the darkness. We are called to shine in our places of employment, schools, universities and communities. If Christians stay with each other and never associate with the unsaved, who will lead them to Christ? The friends were willing to sacrifice and go to great lengths to get their paralytic friend to Jesus. Not only was he healed, but his sins were forgiven. How far are we willing to go in order to win the lost for Christ? Ministry within the four walls is mostly preaching to the converted. There is a greater harvest field ready and waiting in the marketplace who need to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ.

“Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest”” (Matthew 9:37-38).

A.P.-Y.