(Insert Wizard of Oz clip "I do believe in spooks, I do, I do, I do")
I believe in ghosts...but not completely, my opinion on this topic varies from time to time. I believe there is something out there, but I'm not so sure I believe in Great Aunt Harriet's ghost hanging around the house, watching over her family.
What I mainly believe in are spirits, "familiar spirits" to be exact. A familiar spirit is basically an entity that is not of God yet presents itself as trustworthy or friendly. They may even take the form of a deceased family member to gain your trust. While these spirits may never hurt you or 'turn' their goal is not an honorable one. They are dangerous and not to be trifled with.
And yet, I also believe in intercession, and angels and God speaking to His people. My problem lies in the question "How do you tell the difference?"
I've had a few moments in my life where I've known things I couldn't possibly have known on my own, I've had dreams come true and I believe that once God spoke to me. These experiences awed me and made me wonder if God had given me a gift.
Yet the Bible strongly warns against messing with such things so I've never followed that path, I've never looked to 'enlighten' myself. The way I feel about it is, if it's of God he'll bring it to me, I don't need to seek it out. That's why when I had the following experience I was more apt to pee my pants than try to communicate with the other side:
My husband and I used to live with his grandparents in an old farm house that was supposedly haunted. Things had moved on their own, voices had been heard, presences had been felt; but I had never experienced anything but the heebie jeebies.
One morning I was lying in bed, half asleep, lounging in the early morning sunshine. I heard a voice from the door behind me, someone whispered my name. I thought it was Shane's grandmother wanting to talk to me but didn't want to call me too loudly in case I was still asleep.
"Cheryl? Cheryl?"
I answered "Yes?" and flipped over to face the door. No one was there. I thought I was dreaming since I had been in that la-la state of semi-awake. So I laid my head back down and as soon as I closed my eyes (this time fully awake) I heard it again.
"Cheryl? Cheryl?"
It was very disconcerting. I jumped out of bed and ran downstairs. Later that morning I told Shane's grandmother about it and she informed me that the same thing used to happen to Shane's grandfather. He'd get up in the middle of the night irritated that someone kept calling his name...but no one was there.
What about you? Do you believe in ghosts? Have you had experiences with the other side?
I absolutely 100% believe in ghosts. I've had quite a few weird experiences before, and I did see a ghost once. It was only for a half a second, but I knew exactly what I was looking at when I saw it, and then it was gone. I will never forget it.
ReplyDeleteI've had the whole name calling thing happen to me since I was in Jr. High. It's not a voice I can recognize and changes between feminine and masculine. I am starting to wonder if it's God trying to grab my attention.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what you believe with the added specification that Satan has a lot of "entities" on his team. I have had similar experiences to you along with some others that were more intense as well as God's voice very audibly a few times, but clearly Him (in that He spoke scripture, in context, and applied it to a specific circumstance.)
ReplyDeleteI also knew a set of sisters in high school whose house was home to more than just them, if you know what I mean.
I won't go into it any more than that because I don't want Satan to get any more attention that he already gets. God is bigger and the blood of Jesus is one thing Satan can't stand. I have the blood of Jesus with me, with my children and husband, and in my house. Anything that takes my focus off of Him is not of Him. Know what I mean?
I totally agree with you that we should not seek out these things. As a matter of fact, the Bible clearly warns against "necromancers" i.e. people who say they can connect with dead spirits.
ReplyDeleteBut I also believe, with you, that God can use whatever he wants to in order to connect with us. An interesting story in the Bible is that Saul, Israel's first king, after driving all the "mediums and spiritists" out of the kingdom, actually went to one to try to contact Samuel (who was dead). And God did allow Samuel to appear to him. Of course, this was not ultimately a good thing since Samuel did not have a good message for Saul.
The voice you heard could be an evil spirit, in which case you have the power of the Holy Spirit to tell it to go.
I will say, however, that I believe that God sometimes blesses us with the presence of our deceased loved ones. I have lost many close loved ones, some through tragic circumstances, and to be able to feel their presence sometimes is a wonderful thing. My brother was killed by a drunk driver in 1997, and every once in a while when I'm up late at night I will think I saw something (someone) pass by and I wonder if it is him. Even if it isn't, it still brings him to mind and gives me a warm feeling. I had a cousin tell me once that she would often smell her mother's perfume (Chanel) after she died.
So while we shouldn't seek those moments out, sometimes God sends us signs to comfort us.
i've heard my name called in the morning, it woke me from deep sleep and my eyes were WIDE!!! i believed it was the Lord and called right back out to HIM! i prayed and worshiped Him in my bed that morning... it was awesome !
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