MIND READING FORBIDDEN

MEMORY VERSE: Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour. 1 Peter 5:8

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Proverbs 14-15

Clairvoyance is the idea that a human being can obtain information from beyond his physical senses by ‘occultic’ or psychic means. Clairvoyance comes in different forms. There are clairvoyants who claim the ability to diagnose diseases and prescribe cures by means of occultic powers. There is water witching or dowsing. Water dowsing, also known as ‘Water Witching’ or ‘Divining’ is an interesting method in which persons use a variety of tools, such as twigs, hanging medallions, or even cut off coat hangers in order to find water underground. The process is very mysterious. A person walks around the yard carrying an apparatus and when it moves a particular way, the determination is that the water is beneath them. In certain cases, the dowser can predict the depth of the water. There are also parlor games (indoor games) like ‘pendulum’ where an object on a string or chain is hung over a person’s hand and questions are asked. The swinging of the pendulum allegedly indicates the answers. All these types of games should be left alone. These games and practices open the door of the spirit of oppression into one’s life.

Another type of physic belief is mind reading or telepathy. Mind reading is the idea that a human being can detect and read the thought of another person, or can project his own thoughts to another person. The idea that one is able read the mind of people is interesting. Many have even made fortune out of it. Who wouldn’t want to read people’s mind to know whether what they are saying is true or not? Telepathy or mind reading is forbidden by God. First of all, it destroys relationship. Actually, how many friends will you have, when they know you can read their minds? This practice destroys human continuity and fellowship. Satan, our spiritual enemy, would love to have us try to learn to do these things. The so-called extrasensory perception (mind reading, clairvoyance, etc) is the direct action of the powers of darkness - Satan and his angels and demons – bringing the information to the person who is foolish enough to seek it. If you attempt to read someone’s mind, or to foresee the future, or to gain information from a distance by clairvoyance, Satan is overjoyed. 1 Peter 5:8 says, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.” Although, Satan cannot read one’s mind, he has access to the information that you are seeking, and he can bring it to your mind, knowing that you will think that you have acquired the power to do it yourself. This way he accomplishes several things: (a) He causes you to become proud and self-centered, and even though you may be ‘doing good’ with your supposed abilities you yourself are becoming more and more self-important; (b) He is setting you, and all who believe you, up for a mighty let down.

NOTE: Most of these practices appear harmless but they are not. They open one to forces of darkness.

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FORTH-TELLING VS FORTUNE TELLING

MEMORY VERSE: There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch. Deuteronomy 18:10

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 2 Kings 21-25

Two major things happened after the fall of man. Firstly, man became Satan’s servant. Romans 6:16 says, “Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?” Everything man owned, including all God had given to him – the world and its riches, was transferred to Satan. Luke 4:6 says, “And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.” Secondly, man died spiritually. Since man could only reach God through his spirit, which is now dead as a result of sin, his fellowship with God was broken. John 4:24 says, “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” After this (spiritual) death, man began to operate from his soul and body. (Note: the soul is composed of our will, our intellect, and our emotions.) The soul is wonderful, when it is under the control of God through the Spirit, but when it is out of control it does terrible things. This is why human history is the record of hate, bloodshed, cruelty, and confusion; human beings are dead spiritually – “dead in trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1) and trying to live soulishly while being out of touch with God and therefore lost (Luke 19:10).

When Satan moved in and took over this world after the fall of man, he created a counterfeit spiritual realm, and any human being who tries to find God, or to come into contact with God, or influence God, by his own psychological efforts, by thinking, willing, or feeling, is likely to come into contact with Satan’s ‘spiritual’ world which is more accurately termed the ‘psychic’ world. One of the psychic beliefs is fortune-telling. Fortune-telling works on the premises that a human being can validly foretell the future by means of visions, crystal balls, playing cards, palm reading, Ouija boards, meditations, drugs, etc. Lurking behind the concept of fortune-telling or precognition is the idea of a fixed ‘fate’, an unchanging future that is already laid out and cannot be changed. This idea in itself is unscriptural. Christians don’t believe in ‘fate’ or ‘destiny’ but in a living God who guides all things. God knows the future, not because He foresees it but because He sees it. He is already there, just as He is in the present and in the past. The future is dependent on the free actions of free beings, and of God. The bible says, if you are willing and obedient you will eat the good of the land (Isaiah 1:19). Fortune-telling works on the premises that whether you are willing and obedient or not, if it is in your destiny to eat the good of the land you will eat it. This is a contradiction to the Bible! If Satan is able to deceive people into thinking that they can know the future, he can also make them believe that “what will be, will be”, and adopt a fatalistic attitude towards life. According to Deuteronomy 18:10-13 fortune telling is strongly condemned and forbidden in the Bible.

NOTE: Biblical prophecy is forthtelling not fortune telling. The fortune teller says, “I have the power to peer into the future, and i will tell you what i see!” The biblical prophet, on the other hand says, “I was talking to God, and He told me to tell you so, so, and so...” If a prophet of God foretells the future, he does so because God has chosen to share with him something that He, God, is going to do and there is usually a condition attached to it.

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NECROMANCY FORBIDDEN

MEMORY VERSE: And he said unto her, What form is he of? And she said, An old man cometh up; and he is covered with a mantle. And Saul perceived that it was Samuel, and he stooped with his face to the ground, and bowed himself. 1 Samuel 28:14

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Psalm 90-92

READ: 1 Samuel 28:12-19

Spiritism is the general name for the practice of attempting to contact the departed or the dead. It involves getting into contact with the ‘spirit world’, and especially with their departed relatives and friends, through the help of ‘spirit guides’ and mediums. This is also known as ‘necromancy’. The so-called ‘spirit world’ people get into contact with is a domain of demons. Human spirits do not remain in this world after death, but are either with God in His kingdom, or are in hell awaiting judgment. Hebrew 9:27 says, “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.” The person who seeks to get in touch with a dead friend or relative by spiritualism, if he or she contacts a genuine medium, will be put in touch, not with the human spirit of that relative or friend, but with a demonic spirit masquerading as the human person. I want you to know that all the details of dress, physical appearance, etc, are available to the enemy, as are secret thoughts and knowledge. A person will say: “but I know it must have been my aunt, for she spoke of things that only she and I knew about. She even called me by a pet name that only she and I used….” Friend, Satan and his helpers, demons, know about these things.

This is why you SHOULD not accept as true any story of a person who had died appearing spiritually on this earth, whether it be the blessed mother of Jesus, one of the great saints, or some person in your own family whom you love, and who is with the Lord. There are three seeming exceptions to this in scriptures. The first is the return of Samuel’s spirit (1 Samuel 28:12-19).This is, however, a special act of God, and Saul is specifically condemned for instigating it. The other two are the appearances of Elijah and Moses in the Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-9). Elijah never died, but was taken directly up to heaven (2 Kings 2:11). Although, it was said of Moses that he died ( Deuteronomy 34:5), there was something unusual about it, for we are told that the Lord Himself buried him, and that his sepulcher was unknown ( Deuteronomy 34:6). In Jude 9 we have a mysterious reference to some kind of altercation between Michael and the Devil over the body of Moses. It would seem that Moses’ body was in some way preserved, in order that he and Elijah might appear physically, not spiritually, with Jesus, in the Transfiguration. There is, of course, no prohibition against the appearance of a revived physical person, such as Lazarus, on the earth after his death, nor a resurrected person, such as Jesus after His death and rising again, or those saints that were raised with Him ( Matthew 27:52-53). The injunction is against the manifestations of spirits of the departed. Any kind of direct communication between those living on this earth and the faithful departed is strictly forbidden, and whenever it seems to occur, you may be sure that Satan is up to his tricks. No seeming visitation of a departed person to this earth should be accepted as valid, no matter in what guise it may be presented.

NOTE: We are speaking of real visitations, not dreams, or visions. God may permit one to dream about a departed person in order to bring something to your remembrance. He may give you a vision of that person in Heaven, in order to reassure you of his happiness.

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THEN SAID I, WOE IS ME! FOR I AM UNDONE

MEMORY VERSE: Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts. Isaiah 6:5

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: John 1-2

READ: Isaiah 6:1-6

After the death of king Uzziah, Isaiah had a vision that changed his life forever (Isaiah 6:1-6). He saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and His train filled the temple. He saw seraphims worshiping the Lord saying, “Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.” When the angels spoke, the post of the door shook violently. In the midst of all these, Isaiah saw himself for the first time. Isaiah 6:5 says, “Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.” The word ‘undone’ means not done or finished. You will agree with me that under-cooked food tastes awful.  I heard that some prefer under-cooked meat or chicken, please desist from eating under-cooked food especially meat as it causes food poisoning.

When Isaiah heard those thundering voices in the vision... When he saw the angels worshiping Jesus....When he beheld the holiness and majesty of the Lord, he said “woe is me, for i am undone.” This great man of God saw himself as God saw him. Although he was respected and revered by all, he was not at the level the Lord expected him to be. Friend, men maybe  celebrating you but is heaven celebrating your life? Men may recommend you but will heaven recommend you? It does not matter what men says about you, wait until you hear what God has to say about you . This brings us to this soul searching question, are you ‘done’? Isaiah was undone because of his unclean lips? Why are you undone? Is it malice? Is it uncontrolled anger? Is it envy? Is it your eyes? The moment a woman walks past you, do you start to imagine terrible things?  Is it impatience? Is it unforgiveness? Is it pride? The fact that a man is displaying the gifts of the spirit does not mean he is done. Isaiah was a fiery preacher yet by God's standard he was not done!  You can even be a choir master and be undone. You can be the youth leader and be undone. Please don’t be fooled by the gifts of the spirit. Are you undone? Isaiah did not hide his unclean lips. He exposed it to the Lord and the Lord sent an angel to burn his lips with a live coal. Although the experience wasn’t a palatable one, it had to be done. The process of becoming done may not be a palatable one but it has to be done.

PRAYER: Father, please touch me.

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WORSHIPING THE HOST OF HEAVEN

MEMORY VERSE: And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the LORD thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven. Deuteronomy 4:19

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Leviticus 22-24

There are certain things that Christians must not indulge in and one of them is astrology, horoscope reading, etc. Contrary to what many Christians think and believe, horoscope reading is dangerous. Firstly, what is astrology? It is the belief that stars, planets, sun, and moon have a mysterious influence over human beings, establishing their personalities and characteristics, and affecting the event of their lives. Astrology is different from astronomy. Astronomy is the scientific study of the heavens, naming and identifying objects in outer space, and trying to understand their nature.

Astrology is a very big business in the world. In fact, a lot of people pay to have their stars read, some even subscribe to daily horoscope. In some instances, young people have been encouraged to select their wives or husbands by their astrological sign, and there are actual cases of marriages breaking up and the parties marrying other people whose horoscopes are more favorable. One of the excuses people put up for believing in astrology is that God put the stars and the other celestial body in the sky for ‘signs’. Genesis 1:14 says, “And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years.” Although, God may use an unusual activity or manifestations in the heavens to convey a message to man like we find in the case of the Wise Men who came to visit the child Jesus because they saw His star. Firstly, the Wise Men were ‘Magi’, the nearest thing to scientist in that day not astrologers. They detected from their study of the heavens that God was about to perform some great action upon earth. This is not astrology. The Star of Bethlehem did not cause the birth of the Savior nor have any influence on His life. It was a sign only. God may, for His purposes, cause there to be a correlation between events in the heavens and events upon the earth. Astrology is erroneously saying that the activity in the heavens influences and causes the events upon the earth. Astrology is erroneously saying for example because i was born between September 23 and October 22, known as a Libra, i will be an argumentative person. How can my date of birth determine my character or nature? Astrology is a concealed form of idol worship – what the Bible calls the ‘worship of the hosts of heaven’. Deuteronomy 4:19 says, “And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the LORD thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven.” Astrology ascribes personality and power to the heavenly bodies, often under the very names of the ancient gods and goddess who were and are themselves fallen angels who have been working for the destruction of mankind for millennia. Astrology claims that these things have power to influence human lives.

NOTE: You can read your horoscope day after day and treat it as a joke, but a day will come when it will get your attention by coming true, or working out, causing you to take it a little more seriously. It will not be long before - if one is as unfortunate as many have been – one is reduced to total dependence on horoscope reading. As such leave Horoscope!

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YOU NEED A KING

MEMORY VERSE: And Moses told his father in law all that the LORD had done unto Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel's sake, and all the travail that had come upon them by the way, and how the LORD delivered them. Exodus 18:8

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 1 Thessalonians 1-3

READ: Judges 21:25 – Ruth 1:5

One of our biggest problems in this generation, especially amongst the teenagers, youths , young men and young women, is independence. Everyone wants to be independent. Everyone wants to live their life the way they want. They want to marry who they want, live where they want, go to church when they like, work when they like, do things when they like, dress how they like, eat how they like, drink what they want, talk how they like, watch movies they want, listen to songs they want, go to where they want, etc. They hate to take instruction. They hate to be accountable to anyone. They just love to be free and many quote 2 Corinthians 3:17 – “Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty”. The liberty or freedom Paul was referring to here is not independence. It is not the freedom to do what you like. It is not the freedom to challenge authority, whether at home or in the church. Paul was not advocating for lawlessness or living an i-don’t-care life.

“And where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty” means where the Spirit of the Lord is, Spirit of illumination, there is freedom from former blindness and darkness. Where He (Holy Spirit) is a spirit of regeneration and sanctification, there is freedom from the bondage of sin, and captive of Satan. Where He (Holy Spirit) is as a comforter, there is freedom from the fear of hell, wrath, and damnation. Where He (Holy Spirit) is as a spirit of adoption, there is the freedom of children with a father. Where He (Holy Spirit) is as a spirit of prayer and supplication, there is liberty of access to God with boldness. Liberty does not mean one can eat any how or eat anything one wants. A man who does not watch his diet may end up with a health condition.

Judges 21:25 says, “In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.” Because there was no king i.e. someone in the position of authority, someone in charge, a leader or a discipler, every man did what he liked. Every man was independent. They went to church when they wanted. They married who they wanted. They did what they liked. A man who lives this way will not prosper. Even Jesus whilst He was on the earth only did what He saw the Father doing not what He wanted. Any man who will prosper must have a king over him. He must have someone who he reports to. He must be accountable to someone. As mighty as Moses was, he had someone he reported to which was his father –in- law Jethro. He would report to this man, this man would give him instruction and he would follow it. Exodus 18:7 says, “And Moses told his father in law all that the LORD had done unto Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel's sake, and all the travail that had come upon them by the way, and how the LORD delivered them.” Had it been that bro Elimelech had someone he reports to like a king, he would not have left the presence of God for a pagan nation where he lost his life and his two sons.

NOTE: The independent spirit does not recognize any authority over one’s life and it leads men to take steps to their own hurt. At times, they even jeopardize the lives of people under them.

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THE POWER OF SPOKEN WORDS

MEMORY VERSE: And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom; for Moses had laid his hands upon him: and the children of Israel hearkened unto him, and did as the LORD commanded Moses. Deuteronomy 34:9

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Ezekiel 37-42

There are four categories of people whose spoken words can shapen your life. The first is yourself. What God hears you say is what He is going to do for you. Number 14:28 says, “Say unto them, As truly as I live, saith the LORD, as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you.” What you say is what you are going to get. David told Goliath “This day will the LORD deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel” ( 1 Samuel 17:46). When David said this to Goliath, all he had on him was a sling and stone but one way or the other, he got what he confessed. By the time we get to 1 Samuel 17:51, David had already severed Goliath’s head from his body.

The second is your earthly parents. The words of one’s parents, especially one’s father can go a long way in shaping one’s future. The bible is filled with several examples of men who succeeded because their father blessed them for example, Joseph, Isaac, Jacob, etc. The bible also has examples of men who struggled in life because of the words their parents spoke into their lives. A typical example is Jabez. When his mother gave birth to him, she said “you are child of pain so i will name you Jabez” meaning pain (1 Chronicles 4:9-10). From that day, his life became synonymous with pain. If your parents have said something negative into your life, you better go and apologize. If you are not in talking terms with them, you better go and make up with them. The third is your spiritual parents, your father in the Lord and mother in the Lord. Joshua became who he was because of God and his spiritual father, Moses. Joshua was known as a wise man and he became a leader in Israel because his father in the Lord laid hands on him and said some powerful things into his life. Deuteronomy 34:9 says, “And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom; for Moses had laid his hands upon him: and the children of Israel hearkened unto him, and did as the LORD commanded Moses.” Elisha also became who he was because his father in the Lord, Elijah, spoke some powerful words into his life. Both of them, Joshua and Elisha, were not lucky. They served their masters and were rewarded. They didn’t make the life of their father in the Lord hell. The fourth is the Most High God. If God says you are blessed, there is no man who can change it. If God decrees a thing concerning your life, even your unbelief cannot change it. God cancel any curse that has been placed on a man. He is God and He can do that although it will take some fasting and praying. If God curses a man, who will he run to? No one. As such, run away from anything that can cause Him to curse you like defiling His temple which is your body.

NOTE: Watch your words because they create your world.

ACTION: Start confessing what you want to happen to you.

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