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- [00:00]
Ellie Yost
This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever find yourself playing the budgeting game? Well, with the name your price tool from Progressive, you can find options that fit your budget and potentially lower your bills. Try it@progressive.com Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates Price and coverage match limited by state law. Not available in all states.
- [00:22]
Ryan Reynolds
Hi, Ryan Reynolds here for Mint Mobile.
- [00:24]
Ellie Yost
Are you looking for a beach read this summer? May I suggest your big wireless bill? It's got suspense, mystery, a slightly flat emotional arc, and a shocking twist where you realize you've been overpaying the entire time. Fortunately, though, Mint's story is better. Every plan $15 a month, even unlimited. That's it. Happy ending, zero tears. Give it a try@mintmobile.com Switch upfront payment
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Ryan Reynolds
of $45 for three months, $90 for six months or $180 for a 12 month plan. Required $15 per month equivalent taxes and fees. Extra initial plan term only greater than 50 gigabytes. May slow when network is busy. See terms. Hello, everybody. Welcome to another episode of Christ with Coffee on Ice. I am your host, Ellie Yost. It is a joy and honor to be here with you guys today. Happy day, guys. What day is it? Oh, today is Friday. Happy Friday, everybody. Happy Friday. I'm stoked. I'm very stoked about today. And I really genuinely believe that God's goal in today's episode is not to condemn anyone, not to make anyone feel stupid or shameful. If these are like new things to you, I think the truth is like, well, one, it's been a long time since we've really acknowledged these kinds of things on the podcast. Okay? If you've been an abstract, avid listener for a couple of years now, you know that we have covered these kinds of topics before. But it has been a long time. And sometimes I'm like, I don't know God. We've already talked about this. So, like, do we really talk about it again? And I heard yes, yes, we do. Because there could be a good amount of listeners today that hasn't heard what we've talked about regarding these topics. I don't even know two years ago. It's been a while since we've talked about these things and. Or like, maybe we just need a fresh, a fresh reminder of these things and the whys behind all of it. And so anyway, I do believe that God's goal in this is just to bring clarity to the church. Like, to genuinely bring clarity to anyone who could be listening who does identify as a Christian. But some of These things are really confusing. And you've believed some of these things and you haven't really seen, like, you haven't really fully understood why these things are wrong, or you've had a completely different definition to these things, and you're like, oh, that's what this stuff is. So, like, that's all this is about. Okay, I'm not here to. To shame any parts of the church, but I do pray for clarity in the name of Jesus. And I have genuinely pleaded the blood of Christ over this episode, and I just pray that he has his way with this episode. I pray that God has his way. I pray that only his spirit speaks through me. Lord, I pray protection over this episode, and I pray that the ones that need to hear this, God, I pray that those who have ears to hear hear this, Lord. I pray every single listener has the ears to hear it. But I pray, Lord, that whoever you have this message for, that it is loud and clear and they receive it with love. That it's actually when you send us warnings, God, when you warn us, even through your word, even through scripture, God, when you warn us of things, it's actually in your love that you warn us of things. And you tell us to stay away from things or you give us clarity. It's never to shame us or condemn us. And so I pray that this message is received through the love of the Holy Spirit and nothing else. I pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen. For anybody who's listening and is new and doesn't know much about my story. I encountered the spirit of Jesus Christ three years ago in 2023. But me going to New York City was like, 2021, 2022, I don't know, somewhere like a couple years before I encountered the Lord. Okay, so I'm very much naive. I'm in the world. I don't know the truth of the gospel. Like, I grew up Christian, and I kind of understood who Jesus was. And, like, I knew that John 3:16 said something along the lines of, like, Jesus, you know, died on the cross for our sins. I did not know Jesus, though, personally. Like, I had never had an encounter with the Holy Spirit. I had never had an encounter with his love before. I didn't know him yet. Okay, so I'm doing everything of the world. I'm believing whatever. I'm just doing whatever. So I'm in New York City with a few of my girlfriends, and we decide to go to this psychic. Okay, we're walking the streets of New York, and on A sketchy corner. I don't even know. A lot of it's very blurry. We probably were drinking some alcohol, too. I don't. I think we're. I don't know, Whatever. Okay, so we're walking, we see this sign for psychic, and we're like, that would be fun. And I'm like, I've never been to a psychic before. I think maybe my friends have been to a psychic before at that point. But it was my first time. I'm like, this sounds cool. Let's do it. And at the time, like, you know, of course, any. Whatever. We all want answers, don't we? We all want answers. We all want to know the future. We all want to know what's going to happen. We all want to know if the guy that we're dating at the time is going to be our husband. Blah, blah, blah. And so we walk in and I don't know if ever, you know what? I'm going to stand on this. I believe that all of us walking into an environment like that are a little scared or there's a part of us deep down, Deep, deep, deep down. Because the truth of what Jesus says, the truth of what God says about us is that he has planted eternity in every human heart. And I do believe that deep down in all of our spirits, we know what's right and wrong. And I believe that even though I didn't understand fully what I was feeling, I knew deep down that what we were doing was wrong. Like, I knew. I knew deep down in my tummy, walking into that place, I was like, I don't know why, but there was a part of me in my spirit that was like, this feels a little dangerous, but, like, whatever, you know, I thought maybe I just felt that way because it was new. But the truth is, is like, that was my spirit, like, sending off warning. Like, being like, this is not okay. But we walk in and fortunately, I genuinely believe this is the protection of God over my life. But, like, I had an awful experience. It was so inaccurate. She was not good at her job. I walk in and she's trying to read my life and she can't. And again, I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. It could have been one of two things. Either it could have genuinely been the protection of God over my life because God knew where I would be today. And I don't know, he could have been protecting me. Maybe the demons, which we'll get into, maybe the demons couldn't read my life because God was already covering me. Or she genuinely was just bad at her job and she was just out here trying to get money and she was saying that she was a psychic and she wasn't, but it wasn't accurate at all. And so I pretty much wrote that stuff off. After that experience, I was like, alright, that was a waste of my time, that was a waste of money. This stuff seems like a bunch of hoopla. It wasn't accurate by any means. And we left. So I say all of that because I'm like, I've been there, you know, And I was naive. I didn't, I didn't know any better. And I'm grateful that the Lord had protected me where I just, I didn't, I didn't really have a ton of interest in that stuff, but I tried it. And the truth is, is that when it comes to anything of like, witchcraft, psychics, people who claim to either talk to the dead or talk to people who have passed, if they are not talking directly to Jesus Christ, which that's just a prophet. Like anyone who can hear the voice of God, which I believe all of us can. But like the prophets that we even, that we even read about in the Bible, like Samuel, who heard directly from God and anointed King David to be king of Israel one day, like, those people don't call themselves psychics, they're just prophets. The truth is, is like anyone who is speaking to anyone aside from Jesus is not talking to Jesus. They're not talking to light. And so let's just break all of that down. Let's just break all of that down. I feel like I'm already kind of getting ahead of myself. But the truth is, is that when we go to psychics, if they are not speaking directly to Jesus, they are talking to darkness. Because Jesus is the light, God is light. He is the way, truth and life. And so anything outside of that, they are not talking to who you think they're talking to. And that's the thing about the demonic is it is so. So deceptive manipulation is the foundation of how the demonic operates. They are pros at manipulating and deceiving and making things seem like something that they are entirely not. And the thing with the demonic is there's always a sacrifice. There's always something that you have to give. There's always something that you have to sign on the dotted line about whether you believe or recognize or realize that you're signing a part of you away to the demonic to receive whatever it is that they're promising you There is always a deal. These kinds of topics, they just are going to be controversial. And there are going to be pockets of the church that don't like how much attention we're giving to the demonic. You know, this part of the truth of what's happening in the spiritual realm. Like, I had gotten a couple dms where people were like, ally with love. Like, we are giving them way too much attention. And the truth is, is, like, my perspective of what I believe is that if we are always turning a cheek to this stuff, how are we ever supposed to know how to combat these things? Like, the truth is, is I believe God wants us to be educated on these things. And so that's what we're doing today. We're not. We're not giving the enemy a stage. We're not giving him a platform. I'm not giving him a microphone. If anything, like, I'm putting a spotlight on him to expose him right now. We're not giving him a spotlight to tap dance and perform and do his thing. I think that the purpose of today's episode is to equip, strengthen and educate the church. Because if we don't know, if we're not equipped, if we don't have the tools to discern and to be able to recognize when the enemy is trying to deceive us or even the people that we love, how are we ever supposed to know, like, how to fight that in the spirit that's in prayer, right? That's pleading the blood of Jesus, that's rebuking. But, like, that's a part of our duty as children of God who carry the Holy Spirit, to use this tool of the Holy Spirit and to use our sword of the truth of the gospel and the word of God to combat the enemy and rebuke his lies. Let's start from the very beginning. Okay? So the truth is, is God warns us of things like witchcraft and sorcery and psychics and all of that, okay? This kind of deception from the demonic who has deceived humans to operate this way, has been going on forever. It's been going on for so long, it's in the Bible that God warns us of these things and he speaks on these things. And if you feel like these things have been kind of gray for you as a Christian, where you're like, I didn't really know. I don't know. Like, I saw this one psychic, though, that, like, said that she talks to Jesus or she, like, talks to angels or there's, like, specific angels, there's specific angels. That, like, follow me around and, like, that's who they're talking to, is like the angel that was assigned to me. Okay, I really believe that, like, the enemy. Y' all hear me when I say this. He is going to try to sound as convincing as he can. And there is a scripture. I believe it's in Matthew, where it says, you need to test every spirit. I don't care how much they swear that they're talking to angels or they're talking to light, or they're talking to family members that have passed, or they're talking directly to Jesus or they're taught, whoever, he is going to sound as convincing as he can. And so if we are not educated by the word of God and what is said in scripture, we will fall for it. We will believe it. And so if this stuff has seemed a little foggy for you, then, hey, there's. Listen, there's an answer. There's an answer. If these things have felt funny to you, you have to do your research from biblical truth, the Holy Bible, and say, is what this psychic telling me supported by scripture? Does it say anywhere in the word of God that there are people on this earth that can still access the dead? Is it true, God, that there are people that can still talk to my family members who have passed if that is not explicitly said in scripture? And actually, God makes it incredibly clear that occult practices are something we need to stay away from. And the truth is, and we. And we're going to. We are going to find the scriptures of where this is talked about. Trust me, we'll find the receipts. Thank you, Jesus, for leaving us with the receipts that we need. This is all for our protection. Okay, guys, this isn't like God. God isn't opposed because he's trying to keep people from fun experiences. This isn't God being a big old party pooper who doesn't want us to have any fun and doesn't want us to connect with our loved ones who have passed away and doesn't want us to receive clarity about our future. That's not his goal in this. His goal in this is to protect us from spiritual deception. There is an opportunity for us to be completely deceived and lied to. So this is our Heavenly Father saying, hey, I love you. Don't believe these liars. They're going to be very convincing. There are even going to be people who say that they are talking to me, that they're going to use my name in vain to manipulate you. And so there is a scripture in Matthew where It says to test every spirit. And you want to know how you can test those spirits? You're going to say, can you confess that Jesus Christ is Lord? If there is a psychic that is saying, oh, no, no, in the name of Jesus, I'm a Christian, I'm a Catholic. Oh, I love God, whatever it is, oh, I love Jesus. I love Jesus. Yeah. Oh, Jesus, yeah, I'm a Christian. I would say, okay, I just. This is just gonna really ease me right now. Lord, give me the opportunity. I would love to do something like this, but go to them and say, okay, can you repeat after me and say that Jesus Christ is Lord? Can you confess that Jesus Christ is Lord? He is King of Kings. He is the Lord of Lords, and there is no one else more powerful than him. Like, if they can't physically repeat that back to you. Mm, mm. You are talking to demons. That person is fully influenced by the demonic. I don't believe that there's a single situation where somebody has been talking to spirits or is a psychic or in the name of Jesus, is a Christian, but then also believes that they can talk to all these other spirits and loved ones who have passed away. Like, I don't believe that there is somebody who is operating in that kind of darkness that can also confess with their tongue, word for word. Jesus Christ is Lord. He is powerful above all else. He is the most powerful. He is King of Kings. Like, I just. There's no way. So if they can't say that, then there's your answer. Here at Christ with Coffee and Ice. We obviously talk a lot about purpose here, about finding the path God has set for us. And when it comes to education, that path should lead to a future that matters. That's why when I heard about Grand Canyon University, I was so impressed. 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We can get into that too where it's like, we don't need to blame everything on Satan. But the truth is, is these things are the works of Satan. It's deception at its best. But the truth about Satan is like he doesn't usually show up looking evil. It actually says in scripture that he shows up looking. He's very attractive. Like his approach is very attractive to us. Okay. He's so manipulative. Where he's gonna. He's going to be. He is a deception of light. Like he's going to make himself seem as if he is light. And he's gonna give you all the answers. He's gonna give you everything that you need. He's going to try to deceive you to believe that he is the fruits of Jesus, but he's not. One of the biggest misconceptions is that demonic deception always looks obviously dark. But that's not true. Deception would not be deception if it was obviously dark. How could you be deceived by the devil if he was obviously wearing horns and he obviously looked really scary and he obviously was like drooling and was like, I want your soul. Like, no, he's not going to do that. He knows better than that. What makes deception deceiving is that it looked good, but it wasn't. What happened in the Garden of Eden? Eve didn't eat that fruit and then give it to Adam because they were like, that looks really nasty and evil and rotten, and it looks like it's gonna ruin all of humanity, and it's gonna cause a really weird wedge between us and God, and it's gonna make everything of what was once perfect. Now sin is gonna be introduced to the world and human like, no. What? That's not why they ate it. They ate it because it looked good. It looked good and it sounded good when the serpent came up to them, which was the devil. When the serpent came up to them and said, are you sure this is what he does? If we don't know any better or if we don't decide to take every thought captive and bring it back to our heavenly Father and say, God, is this. Is this your voice? Is this something you'd say? If we don't take every thought captive and bring it back to the Book of Receipts that our Father has given us, by the way, and if those thoughts are not aligned with what God says, that's our answer. But if we don't choose to do that, we will be deceived. And that's. They didn't do that. The serpent said, are you sure that's what he said? I don't know. And instead of going back to the Source himself and saying, hey, God, I don't know. Did you say it that way? This guy over here is asking if you had actually said it that way, and now I'm kind of doubting, like, did you? God would have been like, yeah, no, that is what I said. Don't listen to him. But they didn't. They said, yeah, I don't know. I guess you're right. That doesn't. And that looks. That fruit looks good. Eating the fruit from that tree, it looks kind of good. I don't know if I want to ask God. Here's the thing, is this could have crossed their mind, too. And I know we're all guilty of this. Come on, hear me, church. Come on. We're all in this together, okay? There is not one of us that can stand perfectly before God. Okay? We are all at fault. How many times have we been challenged with something, maybe, and we're like, yeah, I don't know. I don't. I can't remember. But I also don't really want to go to God, but guess if he tells me the thing that I don't want to hear, I'm not like, I want to have fun. I don't know. I kind of want to experience that, though. Like, I feel like I should be double checking with God. Come on, Holy Spirit, convict us right now. That could have crossed their minds. That could have crossed Eve's mind. Maybe it did cross her mind to double check with dad, but she was like, I don't know. What if he tells me? What if he told me no? Like, I have. Like, there's a chance he could be like, no, I did. I did say what I said, and you can't have that fruit. And then it's like, dang it. But party pooper. I kind of just want to experience this. Like, what's the. Like, I just want to. Just a bite. Who knows, right? We weren't there. But I do know that that feeling exists because I've done that. There have been times where I have blatantly continued to do something when maybe I knew I was supposed to double check with God, but I knew there was a chance he'd say no, and that bummed me out. The demonic deception does not always look obviously dark. Instead, it often feels comforting, empowering, spiritual healing, enlightening, loving. Okay, the enemy disguises himself in these things. And what's funny is that this supports what we've always said on the podcast, but, like, the Enemy does not have an original thought in his brain. And the whole reason why he was casted out of Heaven and just for clarity purposes, like, the devil was not just born. Like, was not just created by God, is like, like, like the Devil. Like, just like an evil guy. He was an angel. He had responsibilities. Like God. God actually had put him in a place of leadership in heaven, and his name was Lucifer before he was casted out of heaven and then became the Devil. But the only reason that he is as evil as he is was not because God created him that way. He was. He was actually an angel. But it was in his free will. Because that's the thing is God has given us free will and angels free will. He chose to go against God, and he became jealous and prideful and wanted to be God. So what Lucifer did then is he convinced all of these other angels, which are now demons. That's what demons are, guys. They're fallen angels. They all used to be with God and on God's side, and then they all got really jealous and bitter and wanted to be God. And the truth is, I feel like we just said this in a couple episodes ago. It's like, no one can be God but God. No one here on earth, no one in heaven, no one in hell can be God. And so that was not gonna fly for God in his environment of heaven, which is perfection because he is perfect. And so that couldn't live in his kingdom, that could not live in his house. So he said, hey, you're gone. I don't know what all this is about, but, like, you gotta go. This is a holy place. I'm God, you are a product of me. The pot cannot become the potter, right? We just said that a couple episodes ago. So that's what demons are, is they are fallen angels who have been casted out of heaven. And God is written in. And we read that in Revelation, like we know the fate of where they're all going. Okay? But the devil does not have an original thought in his mind because the whole problem from the beginning is that he wanted to be God and he can't. And so it's in this deception where I'm like, doesn't that. That sounds really familiar. Like that. That almost sounds like the fruit of the spirit of Jesus Christ. That sounds like the fruit of God. Comforting, empowering, spiritual healing, enlightening, loving. That's Jesus, right? But the enemy is going to make a counterfeit of everything. He's going to make a counterfeit of everything. The counterfeit of a prophet is a psychic. Like, he doesn't have an original thought. These are all fruits of the truth of what Jesus brings us through his spirit. Second Corinthians 11:14 says, Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. He is not going to be obviously dark. He's going to disguise himself as an angel of light, that him and his angels of light are following you and they're protecting you. And you got to make sure that you meet with this witch or this psychic or somebody who's reading tarot cards that can channel and talk to these angels. No, none of it is light. It's all darkness. John 8:44 says that the devil, he is the father of lies. There's not a bone in his body that tells the truth. He may use some truth as a weapon to convince us that what he's saying is fully the truth. Like, he might use facts, but ultimately the man can only lie. I think that's why a lot of people, even myself, at times have believed that they are speaking to light or that they are interacting with light. Because at first it does often feel comforting. You know, like, I mean, imagine how comforting it's got to feel and how seen and understood you have to feel. If you go to one of these people, like. Like to a psychic, and they're they're talking to your grandma, who you had a beautiful relationship with. Like, let's say that. That grandma raised you as if she was your mother. Let's say you didn't have a relationship with your mother at all and your grandma raised you. How comforting does that feel to know that she's still with you in one way, shape or form? And that's the thing, you guys, that's the thing that we need to realize, is that the enemy is so evil and rotten to his core. He has no compassion. He will use our grief. He will use our pain. He will use our emptiness, the voids that are inside of us. He will use anything he can to manipulate us and convince us that what we are experiencing is true comfort. But it's not. That is not true comfort. It may feel comforting in the moment, but that is not real comfort. That's the counterfeit. And I hate to be the person to break the news to you if this is something that you have believed, but you have not been talking to who you think you've been talking to. I'm so sorry. I am so sorry. But you deserve to know the truth. Because the truth is, is God loves you enough to reveal to you that you have been manipulated and lied to if that's what you've been experiencing. And the truth is. And like, we can find this in scripture, true is like this. The life that we live here on Earth is the life that we live here on Earth. And the life that we live in the afterlife is the life that we go and live and we move on. There also is no in between of continuing to speak to people who have moved on. There is no choice. Like, our souls had no choice coming here to Earth, right? We didn't have a choice. Where we're like, I don't really want to live here. Like, we were just born. Life is such a gift. But, like, we didn't have a choice. God just created us out of his love. It's a bless, like, thank you, Lord, for life. So what makes us think that we have power on whether we're, like, ready to move on or not? No, sorry, God's the boss. There's life here and there's life in the afterlife, and that's it. There's no in between. There's no gray area. There's no, like, middle portal ground. Whether we have closure or not, at the end of our lives, we are going where we're going, and that is the next destination is the afterlife. So there's there. There actually is no in between of spirits that need to stay around and have closure and like, continue to talk to us and stay connected to us. They're gone, they're moved on, they're gone. And honestly, something that would be really cool if that's something that intrigues you, where you're like, I want to know more about that. I think that there are some really cool just resources and even like there was a book that I was reading a couple years ago, it's called Imagine Heaven by John Berkey. And it's all about near death experiences. And it's very interesting. It's very interesting. Like, if this is something that intrigues you where you're like, what? Surely there has to be like, what do you mean? And there's even been some documentaries that have been made about people who have been interviewed from all over the world. Completely different circumstances, whether they believed in Jesus or not, where they are all having the same experience of dying and then coming back to life. And now they are here to tell the story of what they've experienced and what they saw and where they went. And in every circumstance, not a single person was like, yeah, I kind of had the choice to either hang around a little bit or move on. They went where they went and they either encountered Jesus Christ in his glory and his light, like they encountered a man of light or they experienced hell. But there was no in between of like, yeah, I just kind of like was a ghost and stayed around for a while. I know that that probably seems like a whole nother tangent, but the truth of why I went down that rabbit hole is that could be another aspect of how the enemy will manipulate. But he will convince you of anything. And so again, if we are not educated, he'll convince you of anything. He'll convince you that he's talking to your loved ones. He'll convince you that he's talking to angels in heaven. He'll convince you of anything. And the truth to like all of that stuff, like even like, oh my gosh, this episode could go on and on and on. But like talking to dead people doesn't even have to be psychics. It could be like these ghost hunting things. I. Guys, can I tell you about an era I used to be so infatuated and intrigued with ghosts, supernatural stuff. I used to be so intrigued by that stuff. It always gave me the heebie jeebies, but I don't know why. I just like couldn't look away from it. And the truth is, is that these people, they just don't know the truth of who they're actually talking to. And here's the thing. Here's the thing about these spirits that claim to be people who have passed the enemy will be as. As deceptive and convincing as he can. And so another aspect of this is, like, they will actually be very accurate about who they are pretending to be. Like, if you are the person that I was just speaking to where you had a really close relationship with your grandma, and she, like, basically, literally raised you as a mother, what could be very confusing for you right now is, like, well, wait a minute how I know it was my grandma? Because there were things that were brought up that, like, only me and my grandma ever talked about. Like, we were the only ones in that room when that conversation happened. And not to freak you out, but no, you weren't. You were not the only one in that room. The truth is, is that demons, they're very calculated, and they communicate with each other, and they spy on us like little freaking gnats. Anyone that is good at what they do is probably good at what they do because they observe and they do their research, and they. And the truth is, is demons have been doing their research. They've been doing research on your mom. They've been doing research on your grandma. And your ancestors that go back as far as they have been watching and analyzing your bloodline for decades, they know a lot more about you than you think. And I don't say that to scare anybody, but it's like, that's why they could cosplay your loved one so well, is because they were there, too. That's how they present themselves as so convincing. Because you're like, no one else in the world knows that other than my grandma. I know. I'm talking to my grandma. And so some of us could think right now, okay, what's the point of all of that? Okay, fine. Like, if it's all demonic alley, like, what's the point? The point is the enemy's only goal is to just distract us, to deceive us, and to take us as far away from the truth of who God is as possible. And so these things might seem kind of pointless, but it's, like, he's very strategic, where he's gonna start somewhere to gain our trust in, you know, the supernatural and in witchcraft and, like, this kind of dark magic. Like, all of those things. Like, he's gonna start where he can start, and then it just grows and it keeps going. And once. Once he has your trust, he's not just gonna stop there and it's not gonna be like this thing where you're like, okay, well, I'm just gonna. I'm gonna get my financial freedom or, like, I'm gonna get my relationship, and then I'm done. He doesn't stop there. He wants everything. He wants your soul. He wants your salvation. He wants to keep you as far away from actual freedom, actual fulfillment, which is through Jesus Christ as he can. And so, no, it isn't just. It isn't just like, a little bit of dabbling here and there. Like, it won't stop once you dip your foot into that kind of stuff. He's not satisfied with just a toe. He wants all of you. He wants to engulf you completely in that. Okay, I really. I should have taken notes for this episode because I feel like we've are. I have been bouncing around quite a bit. It. I really hope that it's been helpful so far, though, and it's given some people some clarity so far. I'm sorry if it's been a little zigzaggy, but the next thing that I do want to mention, okay, just to stay on some kind of track at all, is not every supernatural experience comes from God. And I think that the truth is, is like our culture often assumes, if it's supernatural, it must be God. But that isn't the truth. The Bible teaches something different. In First John 4:1, that's where it actually says to test every spirit. And then in Matthew 24:24, it says, false signs and wonders. Actually, let's go to First John really quick. Okay. First John 4:1. Ah, okay. It says, dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God. For there are many false prophets in the world. That's what we call witches and psychics. And I don't know what warlocks are, but that comes to my brain, too. I don't know. People who claim to speak to the dead. Mediums, tarot card readers, like all of this, right? People who can either speak to the dead or speak to spirits or read your future. All of that stuff spells New Age stuff. Okay? That's all under the category of a false prophet. This is how we know if they have the spirit of God. Okay? And this is what we were saying earlier. If a person claiming to be a prophet acknowledges that Jesus Christ came in a real body, the person has the spirit of God. But if someone claims to be a prophet and does not acknowledge the truth about Jesus, that person is not From God. Such a person has the spirit of the Antichrist which you heard is coming into the world and indeed is already here. So what that scripture is saying is that if that person cannot proclaim that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, that he came down in human form, he is the Messiah, came down to redeem humanity and was risen from the dead and sits on the throne at the right hand of the Father. Like if that person cannot acknowledge those things, they are not operating from the Spirit of God. And it's interesting, like this scripture just says spirit of God, capital G. Not like operating from the spirits of light or spirits of heaven. Or it's like no, if they are not carrying the spirit of God, period. If they can't confess with their tongue that Jesus is Lord, they are not who you think they are and they are not speaking to who you think they're speaking to. Matthew 24:24 says for false messiahs and false prophets will rise up and perform great signs and wonders so as to deceive if possible, even God's chosen ones. See, I have warned you about this ahead of time. In Matthew 24, Jesus is answering his disciples questions about the destruction of the temple, the trials his followers would face and his future return. One of Jesus repeated warnings isn't watch out for wars or watch out for earthquakes, it's do not be deceived. And this suggests that spiritual deception is one of Jesus primary concerns for his followers. What does false messiahs mean? I just think it's worth like let's just digest this, break it down and understand further of what Jesus is saying here. So a false messiah is someone who claims or functionally assumes the role that belongs to Christ alone. That could include someone who claims to be the Messiah, claims unique divine authority, promises ultimate salvation apart from Christ, or invites people to place ultimate trust in themselves rather than in Jesus. Throughout history there have been many individuals who explicitly claimed to be the Messiah. Now what are false prophets Biblically, A false prophet is someone who claims to speak for God while delivering a message God has not given. The concern isn't merely making mistakes. Like if somebody is genuinely a child of God and they're speaking on behalf of God, or they really believe that they had a prophetic word for somebody and they made a mistake or misheard, whatever. That's not what we're talking about right now. It's speaking with divine authority while leading people away from God's truth. What about the part where it says signs and wonders? So Jesus doesn't say false prophets will only use fake miracles instead. He warns that they will perform great signs and wonders capable of deceiving many. The New Testament also teaches that deceptive spiritual power can accompany false teaching. For example, 2 Thessalonians 2, 9, 10 speaks of false signs and wonders associated with the lawless one. This doesn't mean every miracle claim is genuine, nor does it mean every supernatural experience comes from God. Rather, Jesus calls believers to evaluate claims by their faithfulness to him and his teaching, not by how impressive they appear. Okay, so I think a really good question for us right now is to be like, okay, so like, what does that even look like now in the year 2026? Today, his warning could include discernment towards anyone. Claims special revelation that overrides Scripture, presents themselves as the exclusive source of spiritual truth, encourages people to seek hidden knowledge apart from God, minimizes or replaces the gospel, or draws attention primarily to themselves rather than to Christ. This could actually occur in religious settings, spiritual movements, or broader culture. So unfortunately, these things can actually even happen within the church. Obviously, we are talking directly about, you know, witchcraft and sorcery. The Bible clearly forbids practices such as divination, consulting mediums, or sorcery. Those practices involve seeking spiritual guidance from sources of other than God.
- [41:36]
Ellie Yost
This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever find yourself playing the budgeting game? Well, with the name your price tool from Progressive, you can find options that fit your budget and potentially lower your bills. Try it@progressive.com Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates Price and coverage match limited by state law, not available in all states.
- [41:58]
Ryan Reynolds
If you are a Christian and you believe in Jesus Christ, the only spirit you should be talking to is the Holy Spirit. One of the first spots in scripture where God warns us against fortune telling, sorcery, mediums, witchcraft, all of that kind of stuff is in Deuteronomy, which is in the Old Testament. We're in Deuteronomy, chapter 18, verse. Let's do verse 10. For example, never sacrifice your son or daughter as a burnt offering. And do not let your people practice fortune telling or use sorcery or interpret omens or omens, I don't know, or engage in witchcraft or cast spells, or function as mediums or psychics, or call forth the spirits of the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord. Again, I just think this is an incredible example of how if things have felt a little blurry for you on these things and you haven't really felt like you've had a lot of clarity on whether these things are Actually, that bad or not, I think that's about as clear as it gets. Is like, it says it in God's word that we are not to partake in those things. Deuteronomy 18, 9, 14 is one of the clearest passages in the entire Bible on the occult. And understanding its context makes it even more powerful. So the context, if we do just want to kind of break that down a little further, is so the Israelites at that time are about to enter the promised land after 40 years in the wilderness. Okay, God knows that they're entertaining a land filled with nations that practiced pagan religions. These religions weren't simply different ways of worshiping. They often involved occult rituals, divination, child sacrifice, and attempts to manipulate spiritual powers. So before Israel arrives, God essentially says, hey, do not worship me the way the surrounding cultures worship their gods. This is about remaining faithful to him rather than adopting the spiritual practices of the nations around them. So this was God warning them at that time, like, hey, these are the things that they're doing to worship their gods. And I'm telling you that, like, that is not how you're going to worship me. And that is not the way verse 9 says, when you come into the land that the Lord your God has given you, you shall not learn to follow the abominal practices of those nations. Notice the wording, learn to follow. Spiritual deception often begins with curiosity, not necessarily rebellion, which I think like that. That was me. When walking into that psychic in New York City, it's always like, you're just curious of the possibilities. You're curious of what it could do. And it usually starts with curiosity again, and also naiveness where you're like, I don't. You don't know any better. So it's not like you're actively being like, yes, I want to go against what God says. Like, you're curious and you're naive. It's a lot of just like, I'm interested. I wonder if it's real. I'm just trying it. It's only for fun. You know, things like that. God warns his people not even to adopt these practices because they would gradually shape where they sought wisdom, guidance, and power. It's not that there's an issue of trying to understand what is unknown. Right? Because that's ultimately what your motive would be in. In something like this. It's like you just want to know what you don't know. But the deception is in this is where that knowledge is being sought. Where are you trying to get that knowledge from? If you're not getting the knowledge from God. You're not getting the knowledge from something that's good. So how this particular example would relate to nowadays in the year 2026 is practices such as tarot cards, psychic readings, pendulums, oracle cards. I don't even know what that is. Fortune telling. Seeking supernatural insight from sources other than God. The Bible consistently directs God's people to seek wisdom from him rather than through these means. It also was stated in that Scripture of people who tell fortunes. So this refers to attempts to predict or reveal someone's future through occult methods. Scripture treats attempts to gain supernatural knowledge about the future apart from God as spiritually dangerous. So our question to that would be like, well, why? Because God desires his people to trust him with tomorrow instead of seeking certainty from forbidden spiritual sources. Okay, sorcery. Let's talk about sorcery for a second. So sorcery refers to using occult power, spells, enhancements, or rituals to influence events or people through supernatural means apart from God. Throughout Scripture, sorcery is associated with attempts to obtain or exercise spiritual power independently of God's authority. And our question to this now could be, well, so why is God so opposed to these things? And this is one of the most important questions. Sometimes Christians could just explain it as it's just simply evil. But there are several biblical themes to this. The truth is, is that all of these things replace dependency on God. So if you are a Christian, instead of praying, people seek answers elsewhere. Instead of trusting, they seek control, understanding. Now, obviously I mentioned that demons, you know, a lot of what they do is they observe us. They know history, they know patterns, they even know our family dynamics, right? So the example that I had used where like, they know a lot about you, and they know a lot about your family and your bloodline, and they can imitate the supernatural. Okay, we know all of that about the demonic. But one thing to know about the demonic is that they are not omniscient. Meaning, only God knows every thought, every future event, and every heart. So the demonic can see everything on the outside. But essentially, what this is is like only God knows what's inside of us. He is the only one that knows what goes through our minds. He is the only one that knows our future, and he is the only one that knows what's in our hearts. And as we already know by this point, the enemy will always make a counterfeit to anything God already has. And so there is a counterfeit versus the Holy Spirit, right? The things that we get from the Holy Spirit is prophecy, wisdom, discernment words of knowledge, dreams and visions, and all of that can be supported. You can go back and look at that in First Corinthians 12. But Satan's counterfeit includes psychic readings, Tarot, astrology, channeling spirit guides, crystals used for spiritual power, manifestation divorced from God, divination. The existence of a counterfeit implies there is something genuine God provides. And so I think that actually it is so natural for all of us to have curiosity. I think that the reason why all of us are curious about spirituality and the spiritual realm and, you know, a higher power and all of these things is because it's what we were made for. We were made to know someone bigger. We were made with a spirit, to experience spiritual things through the Holy Spirit and through God. And so I. It's not that there's an issue here of curiosity. I think that we are all supposed to have the curiosity. It's just the issue is the source. The question here is, where are you seeking wisdom from? Are you asking God or are you asking another spiritual source? It's also true that witchcraft is broader than many people realize. So when we think of a witch, we think about witchcraft. It's not like the Halloween witch where we see the witch with her hat on and she's stirring up her little, her potion. That's not always what it is. It includes attempts to gain hidden knowledge, spiritual power, protection, control, influence outside of submission to God. I think the reason that I went to a psychic or why anyone would go to a psychic was because I wasn't looking for darkness. I don't believe anyone is, you know, who walks into a psychic. Like, I don't think anyone's intentions with something like that, which is why I think the Lord really has compassion for the ones that don't. Like, we don't know. Like, if you genuinely didn't know, you're not going in there looking for darkness. Like, you're probably going in there looking for hope. You're going in there looking for closure, healing, certainty, direction, reassurance after loss, connection with loved ones. Those are deep human desires that are normal. But this is when, this is when we go back to the fact that like, the enemy actually doesn't care. If anything, he's going to use those very things to manipulate you even further. And so it's awful. I think that's genuinely what makes him so evil to the core, is that he will take a, a genuine human experience and our deep human desires and use those against us. And so the tragedy, I think, in those things is that we are Seeking legitimate needs from illegitimate resources. And that's why being educated on these things are so important. And I think if we were to even analyze like, our human behavior even further, Fear is often the doorway to these things, right? Like many occult practices, promise, protection, certainty, knowing the future, avoiding pain. But following Jesus requires trust. God intentionally doesn't reveal every detail about tomorrow because he wants us to walk by faith, not by fear, not by sight. So I think another thing that is like a huge driver of a lot of these things is fear. We're fearful of the future, we're afraid of what's to come. We're afraid of uncertainty. And so if we don't have faith in something like God, or if we haven't put all of our faith in God, that fear is still going to rule us, which then that's the doorway to things like this, taking our legitimate human needs to illegitimate resources. And I think what's also very dangerous about these types of things is that knowing the future can actually become bondage for someone. Whether you realize it or not, or if someone is told, you'll never get married, you'll have three children, you're cursed, someone puts something on your family that can become a spiritual stronghold. And so if you believe that you could end up living that life and it actually is bondage over your life. Christ calls us to let God's word, not whatever a psychic says over you, but God's word define our identity and our future. Now, I don't really want to spend the entirety of this episode talking so much about the demonic. I think we should absolutely end this talking about Jesus and the fact of the demonic, but then also the truths of Jesus, us, and the hope that we have in him. Okay, and, and I think one thing that we can recognize is like, okay, it's obvious that the demonic does have power. They have power to deliver things. They have power to perform air quote miracles. They have power to manipulate. They have power to, you know, collect information, to be deceptive. That is true, they do. And so a question that we could ask right now is like, okay, if all of these things are true and like, all of these things are actually demonic, and, you know, the devil has power apparently. Why does the devil have power? And why does God allow that demons do have real power, but it is created, limited, and subordinate to God. What's important to remember too is like, even as we're talking about this, like, invisible war that's happening in the spiritual realm behind the scenes that we don't see is like, yes, there is A war going on between light and darkness. But never once in scripture has God explained the enemy as an equal. Like this is a fair fight. Like Satan and God are equals. They have the same amount of power. Biblically, there are not two equal kingdoms battling it out. Satan is powerful compared to human beings, but compared to God, he is infinitely limited. He is not as powerful as God. And so I think that the thing that we need to remember in all of this is that if we put our trust and our hope in Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ alone and that his spirit lives inside of us, Jesus is way scarier than the demonic. We gotta remember that, like as we talk about all of these things and maybe it gets a little spooky ooky. We don't need to be spooky ooked because Jesus is way scarier and way more intimidating than the demonic. And the truth about the demonic is if we're gonna expose them a little bit further is that they are going to also do everything they can to convince you that they are scarier than Jesus and they are something to be afraid of. We have nothing to be afraid of. The scariest man there is is Jesus, considering he's the one that's overcome everything. His blood covers all of us. He is the one that holds all the power. He was the one. We remember reading Revelation. He was the only one worthy and holy enough to open the scroll and the seven seals to complete God's plan. Jesus was the only one capable of that. And so I would say he's probably the scariest guy there is. Scary as in the most powerful. And that's the man who loves you. That's the man who fights for you. That's the man who died for you, that chooses you every day. That's the man who has infinite love for you. That's the man who will defend you at all costs. Him. Listen, if there's anyone to be on the side of, if there's anyone that you'd want on your side, it would be him. So sure, Satan might be more powerful than usual, but he's not more powerful than God. And when God's spirit is living inside of us, Satan is not more powerful than us. It's through Christ that we have any authority over the Devil. A gifted musician doesn't lose the ability to play because they become morally corrupt. Their gift remains. It's simply used for destructive purposes. Similarly, demons remain intelligent spiritual beings, but they use their abilities to deceive rather than to serve God. And so that's why they have powers because actually their power was originally a gift from God, but because they rebelled and they turned from God, they. That didn't revoke their gifts. I mean, we even see that in people, right, where people are so clearly, like, gifted. They have such a gift, but they, they use it in such evil ways. And so, yeah, rebellion and the way that they turned from God did not take away their abilities, which is why they still have power. That's why they still remained intelligent, spiritual beings, and why they're capable of doing what they're capable of doing. And so that leads us to our next question of why would God allow any of this? Why would he allow if he gave these angels gifts and abilities and then they turn from him and they get casted out of heaven and now they're demons and they're running around causing all of this mayhem and trying to deceive anyone, believers or non believers. But like, they're. They're just here to kill, steal and destroy is what it says in the Bible, right? So our question would be like, why would God allow that? And the truth is, is the Bible offers several themes rather than one complete explanation on this question. One theme is because genuine love requires genuine freedom, right? So free will Scripture presents angels and humans as moral beings capable of real choices. The rebellion of Satan and other angels reflects that freedom. God could have created creatures incapable of rebellion, but instead he created beings capable of genuine love and therefore capable of genuine rejection. And so the truth is, is like, there is no genuine love without a true a choice of choosing love. But there's another side to that coin too, of genuine rebellion and rejection. God allows evil for a time, but never forever. And we know that. We are experts on that now that we've read the entire book of Revelation by this point. But one consistent biblical pattern is that God permits evil temporarily while promising the ultimate defeat. So something that we can keep our hope in is that God has always told us that evil is never portrayed as permanent. Another perspective about why God allows evil, whether it's through human beings or if it's through the demonic, is that God can bring good even from what he hates. This doesn't mean evil is good. Rather, God is able to accomplish his purposes despite it. The clearest example is the crucifixion. Satan sought Christ's death. Corrupt leaders intended injustice. Humanity committed the greatest sin in history. Yet through that very event, God accomplished redemption. As Joseph says in Genesis 50:20, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good. One thing that's really important to pay attention to also with. With the demonic and how they interact and confront and face Jesus. Is that like, one thing that stands out in the Gospels is how demons respond to Jesus. And the truth is, is they don't negotiate from equal footing with him. They recognize his authority. They obey his commands. They fear his judgment. That's why passages like Colossians 2:15 describe Christ as having disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities through the cross. So the New Testament doesn't encourage believers to become fascinated with demons. It encourages confidence in Christ. And here's a truth too. Is like the apostles in the Bible never explicitly told us to become experts on demons. And so, yes, I do think it's important for us to be educated on how they move, but we don't need to become experts on demons, okay? Our only job here is to know God's word, to pray, put on the armor of God, resist the devil, and remain steadfast in Christ. And so again, as all these other distractions and things and temptations come, like that actually is the truth of what we need to do. And I think that is how we will be able to combat the temptations of the enemy. You know, as he disguises himself as an angel of light and tries to give us these promises. We need to test every spirit and go back to the source. That is the truth, which is God's word. We need to know God's word. We need to know what the Lord says about these things in scripture. What does God say about demons? What does God say about things like witchcraft? I want to end this episode by also saying, if you have participated in any of these things, I don't want you to feel any shame. And I don't believe God wants you to feel any shame either. I think the truth of this episode, again, is like, he actually loves you enough to say, come to me for wisdom. It's okay, but from now on, just come to me for wisdom. Come to me for direction. Come to me for truth, for comfort, reassurance, peace, right? Because ultimately, I think at the core of all of our spirits and our beings is that we need those things. God created us to need those things, but he has to be the Source and the only source. And so it's in God's love that he's like, okay, I get it. I get that you want these things. I know that you want these things. But what I'm telling you is that I am the only one who is trustworthy. So come to me for these things. You don't need to seek another spiritual source. Because I have provided what you truly need. That's what God is saying here. With all of that being said, I know that was a lot. That was a lot to unpack. I feel kind of tired. But I'm very grateful for today's episode and I pray that it made sense to somebody, hopefully many. But, yeah, I think our concluding statement here is, like, the knowledge of God is good. And so, you know, we just. We just need to continue to stay educated on what God says and what he warns us against and what he tells us about these things. And it's good to be reminded that all of those needs are actually very normal. And it's not something to feel shame about, but God is just redirecting us and reminding us who actually is the lasting source of those things, which is Him. So if we need those things, we get it from God. Also, if God has kind of walked you through some of these things or has taught you some things, I think it would be really helpful to anyone else who could be tuning in to read some of those comments. And I would love to. I would love to read them as well. So let's stay interactive in the comment section of wherever you are listening. And I love you guys. I will see you on Wednesday. I'll see you next week in just a few days. And before we go, actually, could we do something really cool today? Can we show somebody how cool Jesus is? Can we walk more like him, talk more like him, be more like Jesus today? And also, let's just go to him for everything that we need. Clarity, peace, reassurance, comfort, hope. All of those things come from Christ and Christ alone. I love y'. All. I'll see you next time. Bye.
- [63:44]
Ellie Yost
This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever find yourself playing the budgeting game? Well, with the name your price tool from Progressive, you can find options that fit your budget and potentially lower your bills. Try it@progressive.com Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. Price and coverage match limited by state law. Not available in all states. Marketing is hard, but I'll tell you a little secret. It doesn't have to be. Let me point something out. You're listening to a podcast right now, and it's great. You love the host. You seek it out and download it. You listen to it while driving, working out, cooking, even going to the bathroom. Podcasts are a pretty close companion. And this is a podcast ad. Did I get your attention? You can reach great listeners like yourself with podcast advertising from Libsyn Ads. Choose from hundreds of top podcasts offering host endorsements or run a pre produced ad like this one across thousands of shows. To reach your target audience in their favorite podcasts with Libsyn ads, go to Libsynads.com that's L I B S Y N ads.com today.