Colin Wong Supporter Founder, eBible.com

The answer, unfortunately, is YES. 

Given that your grandma was a medium, your family lived in a temple and your mother is obviously still active in praying/worshiping evil spirits, her spiritual relationships will bear presence in your house as well. Where she goes, there they are.

Spiritual warfare is real. Those of us here in the US do not acknowledge it nor understand it much, but if you live in Asia, Africa etc., it is a fact of life. Talisman, jade and other "blessed" items are dangerous because they may have demonic spirits accompany them.

Unfortunately, you are in a difficult situation. As Christians, we love and honor our parents. But when your mom brings in items to your home that dishonor God, then it dishonors you as well.

2 Samuel 6:11 talks about the Ark of the Covenant being placed in the house of Obed-edom for three months. During that period, the entire household was blessed. Spiritual presence, whether it be the Holy Spirit or demons, can and will affect your family.

If you know a local church and pastor who is familiar with spiritual warfare, then I highly encourage you to seek them and talk to them about this. The important thing is to ask them if they have engaged in actual, active, spiritual warfare. If they have never driven evil spirits out before, then they do not yet possess the gifts of spiritual discernment. Their advice will be of limited value to you.

We as Christians, all have the Holy Spirit in us, and our God is greater than any evil spirit. But unless we are trained, we may not possess the proper spiritual discernment to handle evil spirits. All church activities, whether it be teaching, evangelizing, pastoring etc require learning, practicing, mentorship, discernment, and growing in strength and understanding. Spiritual warfare is not any different, and should not be treated lightly.

Ultimately, regardless, you will need to have a talk with your mother about this. We are to honor our parents, but we are also to protect our family and honor God through our bodies, our actions, our home, and our family.

December 16 2013 • 4 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

Ted Ritchings Supporter

Hi there, I can appreciate you sharing what you are going through right now, and I can identify with the position you are in. I have some family who are into occult practices, as well. So from personal experience and what I have learned, let me offer some guidance/advice. 

Spiritual warfare is real but it is not limited to a select few. I believe it is important not to be in a panic or afraid of the demonic spirits that may accompany your family because you are in Christ! The bible makes it clear that we don't wrestle against flesh and blood, but the other thing that scripture makes clear is that we are victorious If we are in Christ. 

In my experience things are the hardest when my focus is off of Jesus and my attention is turned to the demonic, it is sort of like when Jesus told Peter to walk on the water because when his eyes were on Jesus he could walk but when he Got focused on the storm around him he started to sink. Even though he sank, the good news is that Jesus was there to pick him up and he is still there to pick you and me up if we lose focus and get distracted. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead, that parted the Red Sea, that spoke all creation into existence is at work in us. His power is immeasurable. 

God is everlasting! Now we are commanded to honor our parents and it is imperative to do, so don't let your concerns hurt your being able to witness to them and pray about all these things whenever you think about it. It is the power of God that saves people; he is fully capable of changing people and what they believe. He has an awesome track record and he loves them right where they are. Just ask him for wisdom and pray that they might have soft hearts to receive the gospel. I believe he will work on them. I'm praying for you brother, do the same for me.

Also just one more bit of advice: I would encourage you to compare any teaching you receive with the Bible because many things may sound scriptural but may be out of context or twisted. Listening to people speak or reading books is great but it is important to study to show yourself approved. Get comfortable with the Bible and approach it with prayer asking the lord to teach you 1 John 2:27. and with that said it is also important to take in teaching because the bible says… Eph 4:10 He who descended is Himself also He who ascended far above all the heavens, so that He might fill all things.) 11And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, 12for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ;… 

Thanks for reading, sorry if i jumped around alot and I sincerely hope it helps!

August 06 2014 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

Myron Robertson Supporter Seeking God's heart

The answer is obviously yes, but I have found that most often there is even more involved than we suspect in these things. I have found over the years that when faced with spiritual battles over physical things most often there has already been spiritual battles over spiritual things that I have been ignoring and most often it is things in my life, not the life of those bringing the physical things to me -- they are simply God's tool for pointing out more important things that I have not seen or refuse to see and correct.

First off you must define spiritual things properly, and we are not taught to do this according to scripture. There are constant battles among Bible teachers concerning just how much is spiritual and how much is literal. God answers this question himself in Num 12:6-8. In short, everything spoken to a prophet and recorded in scripture is symbolism. That does not mean it is without literal application as well, but all of it is symbol of something that is greater.

Jesus referred to the Psalms as law (Jn 10:34-37) and the writings of Moses -- which include a great deal of history as well as law -- as prophecy (Jn 5:46, 47). Most Christians accept the truth that Israel's journey from Egypt to the Promised Land is in some way prophecy of our journey to the Kingdom of Heaven, both personally, as a church, and even for the entire world. Paul spoke of those things that are seen and those unseen (2 Cor 4:18) and speaks of our growing ability to see the things that are unseen (1 Cor 13:11, 12). Jesus spent a large portion of the Sermon on the Mount discussing this as well. Matthew records six laws examined. We will look at one -- murder. Jesus said, "You have heard it said, don't murder, but I tell you if you hate your brother you have murdered him," (my paraphrase). Anything you do that prevents you or those around you from living and enjoying the abundant life is murder. We need to be using God's definitions, not the definition of some denomination or Bible teacher. All of it is symbol of some kind as Paul again tells us in Col 2:16, 17

Now apply this to idolatry. Eze 14:1-11 gives us the most thorough definition of idolatry according to God and it deals with thoughts and beliefs, not with statues and stones; these are only the children's toys Paul speaks of. Children's toys do have some relationship to the reality and are good learning tools; they are not the real thing. The same is true of your mother's idols. That God has brought her toy idol worship into your home may well be a judgment upon your own idol worship in the form of some false doctrine. 

Here is an example that is common in most denominations. In the book of Exodus God either tells Moses, "I will harden Pharaoh's heart," or Moses records, "God hardened Pharaoh's heart," 11 times. Only four times it says, "Pharaoh hardened his heart." The fact is both statements are true or God and Moses are both liars and scripture is not reliable. 

I don't know of any denomination and few teachers who teach this correctly. Most teach one or the other "side", both of which deny the truth of the other. Both "have set up idols in their hearts and put wicked stumbling blocks before their faces," (Eze 14:3) and neither teaches truth. Neither actually admits to calling God or Moses liars or stating that scripture is unreliable, but that is what happens when you say, "That is not really what that means." I don't know how many times I have heard that, but all those people really reveal is their own unbelief, and that they worship some god other than the God of the Bible.

We all have these idols of the heart. Most of us will not acknowledge them, refuse to cast them down when shown to us, and fight against anyone who attempts to cast them down for us. If you are not willing to do spiritual warfare against these idols you are not prepared to engage in spiritual warfare against your mother's idols. "First remove the plank in your own eye."

August 21 2014 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report