May 29
THE LURE OF SATAN'S COUNTERFEITS
When you enter the land which the LORD your God gives you, you shall not learn to imitate the detestable things of those nations
The lure of the occult is almost always on the basis of acquiring knowledge or power. We desire the power that comes from unusual insight and a knowledge of the unknown. We want to experience a power that is spiritual and supernatural in origin. In a sense these are God-given desires, but they are intended to be fulfilled by the knowledge and power which comes from God. However, Satan is busy trying to pass off his counterfeits for God's knowledge and power as the real thing. If he can get you to accept his versions of knowledge and power, he has a foothold in your life.
The lure of satanic knowledge and power is nothing new. God's people have been warned against it from the earliest times. The command in Deuteronomy 18:9-12 is as viable for us today as it was for the Israelites under Moses' leadership. We live in a contemporary Canaan where it is socially acceptable to consult spiritists, mediums, palm-readers, psychic counselors and horoscopes for supernatural insights and abilities.
This was clearly brought home to me while I was finishing my doctorate in a class I took on business forecasting. One of the men in the class presented a paper describing a scenario of the future he had researched. He excitedly explained that we were on the threshold of new frontiers in the mind: astral projection, telepathic images, levitation, etc. This public school principal was promoting New Age and the occult and the other class members were eating it up.
After the class had enjoyed several minutes of lively discussion I asked, "In all your exploration of your subject, did you ever ask yourself if it is right for people to get involved in it?"
"Oh, I'm not interested in whether it's right or not," he replied. "I just know it works."
"I have no question that it works," I argued. "The question we need to answer is not whether or not it works, but whether or not it's right. What you are presenting is as old as Bible history."
Prayer: Create in me a constant thirst for knowing You, Lord, and a readiness to recognize and reject Satan's counterfeits.
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