Post by Cindy on Sept 12, 2015 8:25:27 GMT -5
I wanted to write about Out of Body Experiences because I was asked about it and because we hear a lot about this today. Out of body experiences are pretty common in today's world as are near death experiences, both of which are really pretty much the same thing.
Many of you know that before I was saved I was heavily into the new age and occult. Because of that involvement, I had many out of body experiences. I literally taught myself how to do it through reading new age and occult books.
The new agers and occultists today, are very careful about how they word things. I'm talking about those who write the books and do seminars etc, not the common every day person, although even they use the same words since they parrot what they've heard. There's a reason why they're so careful about how they word things and the reason, to put it bluntly, is to trap Christians. They say things in such a way that whatever they're talking about sounds like something that can be done, used, in conjunction with the Christian faith, like a supplement to it; something that will only make your faith more real, not take away from it or replace it, and certainly not a sin.
Obviously if a Christian knows the Lord personally, and knows His Word very well, then he's not going to fall for it. But let me tell you that at that time in my life, I did know God's Word, and I knew it quite well! I knew right from wrong. What I didn't have though was a close personal relationship with the Lord, and I was no longer reading/studying his Word daily and hadn't been for some time. Therefore, I got caught in Satan's trap. And this IS from Satan. Don't let there be any doubt in your mind about that!
Oh, the out of body experience may be more peaceful and loving then anything you've ever felt in your life, but it's still from Satan and it's a trap. Satan is a master deceiver, he always has been. He isn't going to show you horrible things, he's going to show you things that you want to see in order to get you where he wants you.
The whole thing of out of body experiences and near death experiences, is nothing more then what happens, or one of the things that can happen, when you empty your mind of everything - which is something the Bible cautions against. According to God's Word, we're not to empty our minds and we're not supposed to just let whatever wants to float around in our minds be there. Instead, He tells us to be in control of our minds and what's in them all the time. He tells us to be alert and on guard against anything that goes against what His Word says. Those things we're not to allow in our minds at all, for any reason.
Does that sound a little extreme to you? It does to many. As always though, the Lord knows what He's talking about. We say, "but it's only thoughts...words...they can't hurt anything". But God says differently. He says our words and thoughts have power and that His Word is the ultimate power. He tells us that it's what we think that ultimately causes our emotions and our actions. In Proverbs 15:26 we're told that the Lord detests the thoughts of the wicked...their thoughts...not just their words or actions! Isaiah 55:7 says —Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon. * In Mark 7:20–21 and other places, Jesus tells us that it's the thoughts of our hearts that make us unclean, that cause us to sin. In Ephesians 2:3 we're told —All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. * etc. (notice that the words in bold are talking of feelings and thoughts)
You know me, I could go on for pages showing you what the bible says about our thoughts and how we're to be in control of them at all times. I needed to establish this here though to show that when we are not in control of our thoughts, and allow or even attempt to force ourselves to "empty our minds" and enter another state of consciousness, that we are doing Satan's work for him. Out of body and near death experiences are simply more of Satan's deceptions to lure us away from the Lord and His Word.
Being a master deceiver, Satan again isn't going to do things that are going to look like they're obviously against God - hence the feelings of love and peace people often feel in these experiences. He is going to show you things that he knows you'll find ways to incorporate with whatever you know about God already. Remember that when he tempted Eve, he caused her to question what she knew of God and what He'd said to her. He said, "Did God really say..." He wants to twist God's Words in our minds and the easiest way to do that is to get us to do it for him, and so when you get involved in this stuff you'll find yourself asking, "did God really say"... Trying to find loopholes to God's Word. You'd be amazed at how many you can find too when you start trying to. Of course there aren't really any loopholes, but you make them up because you have to in order to justify what you're doing. So although you may know His Word says not to do something, you will make the excuse of "well, that was just for back then because they didn't understand..." or something like that.
The way it's set up is to first trap people, because we humans just love experiences, especially "supernatural" ones. After they're well and truly trapped, they begin to look at what they're doing as a supplement to their faith (if they're a christian at all). Then, as they continue on this path, they come to a point where they decide it's not a supplement but rather an extension. In other words, you begin to see the Bible as being God's elementary school education, and what you're doing now as His high school education. So you see yourself as well beyond and above ordinary "Christians". Of course eventually even that facade falls away and you "realize" that you don't need God or the bible because you can do everything yourself. That my friends is idolatry! Self idolatry.
Obviously everything I've related is from my own experiences and shows how this affects someone who at least thinks they're a Christian at the time they begin to play around with the new age or occult things...including out of body experiences.
But what about someone who has an out of body experience that isn't "trying" to have one and knows nothing about them? What if the person isn't a Christian and knows nothing about God? That really changes nothing. Out of body experiences are still tools of Satan, things he uses to draw people away from God and His Word. While the actual experience can happen "naturally" for any number of reasons, such as when under anesthesia, or when waking from sleep,(I had it happen those ways as well) that doesn't change the fact that Satan can and will use it to both pull someone away from God and draw them closer toward him instead. Even someone who knows nothing about them, even if they know nothing about God, will start telling other people about their experience when it does happen because as I said, we tend to love things that seem to be supernatural experiences. It makes us feel "special", "unique". So we tell other people and eventually do what we always do and wind up talking to others who've had similar experiences and eventually wind up involved in the new age or occult garbage. Just because the person isn't aware that Satan is behind it, doesn't change the fact that he is.
What can we do to protect ourselves? Exactly what God tells us to do. Be alert and be aware of the devils schemes (which is why I'm writing this). When we're aware of his schemes we can then avoid them by again doing what the Lord tells us to and taking control of our thoughts, emotions and imaginations. Next, I'll post some more information about the experience itself.
Many of you know that before I was saved I was heavily into the new age and occult. Because of that involvement, I had many out of body experiences. I literally taught myself how to do it through reading new age and occult books.
The new agers and occultists today, are very careful about how they word things. I'm talking about those who write the books and do seminars etc, not the common every day person, although even they use the same words since they parrot what they've heard. There's a reason why they're so careful about how they word things and the reason, to put it bluntly, is to trap Christians. They say things in such a way that whatever they're talking about sounds like something that can be done, used, in conjunction with the Christian faith, like a supplement to it; something that will only make your faith more real, not take away from it or replace it, and certainly not a sin.
Obviously if a Christian knows the Lord personally, and knows His Word very well, then he's not going to fall for it. But let me tell you that at that time in my life, I did know God's Word, and I knew it quite well! I knew right from wrong. What I didn't have though was a close personal relationship with the Lord, and I was no longer reading/studying his Word daily and hadn't been for some time. Therefore, I got caught in Satan's trap. And this IS from Satan. Don't let there be any doubt in your mind about that!
Oh, the out of body experience may be more peaceful and loving then anything you've ever felt in your life, but it's still from Satan and it's a trap. Satan is a master deceiver, he always has been. He isn't going to show you horrible things, he's going to show you things that you want to see in order to get you where he wants you.
The whole thing of out of body experiences and near death experiences, is nothing more then what happens, or one of the things that can happen, when you empty your mind of everything - which is something the Bible cautions against. According to God's Word, we're not to empty our minds and we're not supposed to just let whatever wants to float around in our minds be there. Instead, He tells us to be in control of our minds and what's in them all the time. He tells us to be alert and on guard against anything that goes against what His Word says. Those things we're not to allow in our minds at all, for any reason.
Does that sound a little extreme to you? It does to many. As always though, the Lord knows what He's talking about. We say, "but it's only thoughts...words...they can't hurt anything". But God says differently. He says our words and thoughts have power and that His Word is the ultimate power. He tells us that it's what we think that ultimately causes our emotions and our actions. In Proverbs 15:26 we're told that the Lord detests the thoughts of the wicked...their thoughts...not just their words or actions! Isaiah 55:7 says —Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon. * In Mark 7:20–21 and other places, Jesus tells us that it's the thoughts of our hearts that make us unclean, that cause us to sin. In Ephesians 2:3 we're told —All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. * etc. (notice that the words in bold are talking of feelings and thoughts)
You know me, I could go on for pages showing you what the bible says about our thoughts and how we're to be in control of them at all times. I needed to establish this here though to show that when we are not in control of our thoughts, and allow or even attempt to force ourselves to "empty our minds" and enter another state of consciousness, that we are doing Satan's work for him. Out of body and near death experiences are simply more of Satan's deceptions to lure us away from the Lord and His Word.
Being a master deceiver, Satan again isn't going to do things that are going to look like they're obviously against God - hence the feelings of love and peace people often feel in these experiences. He is going to show you things that he knows you'll find ways to incorporate with whatever you know about God already. Remember that when he tempted Eve, he caused her to question what she knew of God and what He'd said to her. He said, "Did God really say..." He wants to twist God's Words in our minds and the easiest way to do that is to get us to do it for him, and so when you get involved in this stuff you'll find yourself asking, "did God really say"... Trying to find loopholes to God's Word. You'd be amazed at how many you can find too when you start trying to. Of course there aren't really any loopholes, but you make them up because you have to in order to justify what you're doing. So although you may know His Word says not to do something, you will make the excuse of "well, that was just for back then because they didn't understand..." or something like that.
The way it's set up is to first trap people, because we humans just love experiences, especially "supernatural" ones. After they're well and truly trapped, they begin to look at what they're doing as a supplement to their faith (if they're a christian at all). Then, as they continue on this path, they come to a point where they decide it's not a supplement but rather an extension. In other words, you begin to see the Bible as being God's elementary school education, and what you're doing now as His high school education. So you see yourself as well beyond and above ordinary "Christians". Of course eventually even that facade falls away and you "realize" that you don't need God or the bible because you can do everything yourself. That my friends is idolatry! Self idolatry.
Obviously everything I've related is from my own experiences and shows how this affects someone who at least thinks they're a Christian at the time they begin to play around with the new age or occult things...including out of body experiences.
But what about someone who has an out of body experience that isn't "trying" to have one and knows nothing about them? What if the person isn't a Christian and knows nothing about God? That really changes nothing. Out of body experiences are still tools of Satan, things he uses to draw people away from God and His Word. While the actual experience can happen "naturally" for any number of reasons, such as when under anesthesia, or when waking from sleep,(I had it happen those ways as well) that doesn't change the fact that Satan can and will use it to both pull someone away from God and draw them closer toward him instead. Even someone who knows nothing about them, even if they know nothing about God, will start telling other people about their experience when it does happen because as I said, we tend to love things that seem to be supernatural experiences. It makes us feel "special", "unique". So we tell other people and eventually do what we always do and wind up talking to others who've had similar experiences and eventually wind up involved in the new age or occult garbage. Just because the person isn't aware that Satan is behind it, doesn't change the fact that he is.
What can we do to protect ourselves? Exactly what God tells us to do. Be alert and be aware of the devils schemes (which is why I'm writing this). When we're aware of his schemes we can then avoid them by again doing what the Lord tells us to and taking control of our thoughts, emotions and imaginations. Next, I'll post some more information about the experience itself.
!!
