PenCC

Playing with the Devil
Altered State of Mind


Ephesians 4:27
and do not give the devil a foothold.

1 John 3:10
10 This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister.

There are too many believers in the church that have no conviction about devilish activities. Many have adopted the worlds philosophy , to each his own, so as not to offend anyone.

The world says there is no harm in smoking a little weed, getting drunk or buzzed, or doing anything if you don't take it seriously. Many think if you approach an activity as entertainment you are not opening yourself up spiritually. That mentality plays into the hands of the devil.

Everything starts in the mind.

Romans 8:5-8
Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6 The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. 7 The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. 8 Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.

We must guard our minds, otherwise we leave the door to our soul open to demonic influence.

If you watch the tele-evangelists like Oprah, you will hear about the benefits of yoga and meditation. Its everywhere, buy the tapes and learn the path to inner peace and relaxation, escape the stress of life, blah blah blah.

People see no harm in it because they are unlearned about the spiritual aspects of meditation and its connection to false religion.



1. Meditation

The Stages of the Buddhist Path

In general, any virtuous object can be used as an object of meditation. If we discover that by acquainting our mind with a particular object our mind becomes more peaceful and virtuous, this indicates that for us that object is virtuous. If the opposite happens, for us it is a non-virtuous object. Many objects are neutral and have no particular positive or negative effect on our mind.

There are many different virtuous objects of meditation. By relying upon a qualified Spiritual Guide we open the door to practicing Dharma. Through the blessings of our Spiritual Guide we generate faith and confidence in our practice, and easily attain all the realizations of the stages of the path. For these reasons we need to meditate on relying upon a Spiritual Guide. We need to meditate on our precious human life to realize that we now have a special opportunity to practice Dharma. If we appreciate the great potential of this life we shall not waste it by engaging in meaningless activities.

We need to meditate on the sufferings of humans and gods so that we develop a spontaneous wish to attain permanent liberation, or nirvana. This wish, known as `renunciation’, strongly encourages us to complete the practice of the spiritual paths, which are the actual methods for attaining full liberation.

Clearly no dependance upon Christ for anything. The early church faced a similar problem called gnosticism. Gnosticism is about intellectual ascension. Getting to a higher plane of understanding, gaining knowledge. Christ is seen as a stepping stone to a great understanding.

CHRISTIAN MEDITATION- No Blending with Eastern MysticismEastern-- meditation is very dangerous, to say the least, because it draws people away from God by encouraging them to look inwardly to themselves rather than to God. Additionally, the kind of meditation we are talking about right now is intimately tied to Eastern philosophies which run counter to biblical teaching. Not only that, but the notion of emptying one’s mind opens up the possibility of demonic deception, manipulation, and yes, even possession.


The Word says to resist the devil, not play with him. Have nothing to do with the devil or his ways.

What is happening in society is people are placing the word Christian in front of all kinds of devilish acts to make it more palatable to the believers. We are slipping into the abyss without even knowing it. Soon it will be too late. Corruption has already entered the modern church, but as individuals, we are to make sure this corruption does not enter us.

DO NOT engage in this behavior, DO NOT condone it, HAVE NOTHING to do with it.

The mind is a gateway to our soul and meditation opens that door to evil forces.

Chanting and posturing will not satisfy your need for peace and release from stress.

There is only ONE that can give you rest and peace from the troubles of life. His name is Jesus. Trust and obey, there is no better way.

2. Hypnotism

Question: "Should a Christian ever get involved with hypnosis/hypnotism?"

Answer: Hypnosis is problematic for a Christian for several reasons:

The fruit of the Spirit is self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). As we follow the Spirit’s lead, He will give us the power to better control our own selves. Hypnosis involves the transfer of control away from ourselves to another person.

Galatians 5:22-23
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self- control. Against such things there is no law.

2) We are to yield ourselves—body, soul, and spirit—to God. Romans 6:12-13 gives us the formula for overcoming sin: “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness.” It’s about control—as Christians, we can let sin control us, or we can let God control us. The scriptural formula leaves no room for hypnosis (yielding ourselves to a fellow human being).

3) Hypnosis leads to an altered state of consciousness in which the mind is very susceptible to outside suggestion. That susceptibility is what the hypnotist needs in order to modify the behavior of his subject. However, the word susceptible should concern us. Scripture says to be watchful and “self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). The hypnotist is not the only one who wants to modify our behavior; Satan also wants to do some modifying, and we should be wary of giving him any opportunity to make his suggestions.

4) Hypnotism is often promoted as a simple way of “refocusing” ourselves and finding the answer within us. As believers in Christ, our focus is to be on our Savior, not on ourselves or anything else (Hebrews 12:2). We know that the answers do not lie within us (Romans 7:18); the solution we need is found in Christ (Romans 8:2).

Romans 8:1-2
Life Through the Spirit
1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.

5) Many of the techniques used in hypnosis are shared by mystical, philosophical, and religious systems, including the occult. The “father of hypnotism,” Franz Anton Mesmer—from whose name we get the word mesmerize—was himself a practitioner of the occult. His method of inducing a trance was very similar to the way a medium conducts a séance. Hypnotism, along with yoga and Transcendental Meditation, has always been linked to spiritual darkness.

The newfound respectability of these practices has not changed their underlying nature.

Oprah endorses these practices of self enlightenment. She had spirit week on her show and claims to be some kind of expert on spiritual matters.

She uses rationalization and human analysis to form her opinions and no one is ever allowed to challenge her on her show.

People follow her like a pied piper, following her to their death.

She is not alone, she just speaks what is popular and what the society is wanting to believe.

The world wants no accountability to Jesus, they are OK with God because their version of God makes Him very permissive.

Have nothing to do with hypnotism or anything that can be linked to the dark arts.

We are to follow Christ and have self control over our actions and behaviors and not give control of our bodies and minds to another.

3. Drug use--pharmakos

Galatians 5:20
idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

The term "pharmakos" later became the term "pharmakeus" which refers to "a drug, spell-giving potion, druggist, poisoner, by extension a magician or a sorcerer."[4] A variation of this term is "pharmakon" (φάρμακον) a complex term meaning sacrament, remedy, poison, talisman, cosmetic, perfume or intoxicant.[5] From this, the modern term "pharmacology" emerged.


Strongs Concordance:
Cognate: 5333 phármakos – properly, a sorcerer; used of people using drugs and "religious incantations" to drug people into living by their illusions – like having magical (supernatural) powers to manipulate God into giving them more temporal possessions.

Much of Hindu belief and practice grew out of the use of Soma, a god, plant, and drink which is the focus of the Rigveda[1]. The continued entheogenic use of drugs such as Cannabis is not uncommon among various Hindu sects. Cannabis is connected with the god Shiva who is said to have rested in the shade of the Cannabis plant on a particularly hot day. In gratitude Shiva gave the plant to mankind. Often the drink Bhang is drunk in Shiva's honor, it is a tea typically cooked with milk, spices, cannabis leaves and flowers. The leaves of the Kratom tree have also been used traditionally as an ingredient in a tea with mild stimulant and opioid properties.
This is a carving of Shiva that was found when the river level dropped. There were several of these carvings in the river. Hindu’s have many gods and all of the gods need to be pleased by making daily offerings. This is why you will find Hindu businesses decorated and often a shrine somewhere in the store. The dump trucks and even the elephants will have ornaments on them.

1 Peter 1:13
Be Holy
13 Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming.

Drug and alcohol abuse is playing with the devil. Drugs used to alter the state of mind is a part of occulted worship.

Edger Allen Poe, the writer of the Raven and Tell Tell Heart, was an opium addict. His dark horror stories were written by the inspirations he received when his mind was altered by the drug. None of his stories are positive. All of his stories revolve around death and darkness.

Because of his popularity you may think he died wealthy and popular. Just the opposite, he died alone in the gutter, overdosed on opium. His writing did not reach the public until after his death.

It is not by chance that Peter tells the church to remain alert and sober. Drug and alcohol abuse were common, even in his day, in pagan worship.

Anything that alters the mind, drugs, alcohol, prescribed or otherwise, is to be avoided.Trying to escape the problems of life by getting high or drunk just opens the door to making things worse.

There is no direct commandment against alcohol but there are lots of verses condemning drunkenness. Its a very fine line between sober and buzzed that gets crossed too quickly.

Think of your soul as having layers. Every time you engage in these reckless activities a layer of your soul is pulled away. In time, your soul will be eventually unravelled and that is when demon possession and destruction will take place.

The more exposure there is, the weaker you become, until it is too late.


Conclusion

Genesis 4:7
If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.”

Do you use anything to alter your mind ? How do you cope?

An altered mind is a dangerous thing.
Pot or dope is not OK.
Getting buzzed on alcohol is not OK.
Taking prescribed meds to get buzzed is not OK.

There is deliverance from all of these.

Do you seek relief from the stresses of life from a bottle or from God?

That is the real issue, what or who do you turn to?

Don't have to be an alcoholic or addicted to street drugs to need prayer.

Prayer for peace and/or deliverance