Witchcraft
is the control of others, imposing one’s will upon them, usually for
a negative result. It is bondage to the victim.
Four areas of human resources used to produce a spiritual result:
domination, intimidation, manipulation, and emotional blackmail.
I Domination
Pharisees are an easy example to use, as those who desire to build
their little kingdoms, rather than the kingdom of God- and they did
indeed use domination of the people in the time of Jesus. The Pharisees
do not approach the Lord from a pure, selfish heart. Some people don’t
have a concern for what the Lord wants, but are far more interested
in what they want. This self-centered attitude has destroyed many
churches, and taken down many men of God. People will use charismatic
witchcraft to get their way in the local body, many of them are troublemakers
who travel from one church to another if they can’t get what they
want, and they leave in their wake a large number of innocent victims
who are confused and hurting. Most are Jezebel spirits who wish to
control and manipulate others. The idea is to destroy the work of
God, and establish Satan’s (or man’s ) plan.
examples :
the message that only the pastor, or designated minister, is “anointed.”
You are nothing, and need to depend on them to make decisions for
you.
people who inappropriately complain, or challenge, the ways of the
church and wish others to conform to their ways. critical of others,
unless there is agreement with them.
A pastor requires “dancing before the lord” a to be considered spiritual.
You are really dancing before the pastor, to please him, and get his
approval.
any list of harsh demands by leadership to make people submissive,
and dependent
somehow you get the feeling that the church owns you, and you need
to sacrifice everything for it, including putting your family second
to the needs of the church
II Intimidation
They make people feel small or insignificant, and to cause those onlookers
to feel they must join in or else they are ignorant, and somehow siding
with the other side.
The Holy Spirit guides people into all truth. The Holy Spirit reveals
truth to people, and when we usurp His authority, we step into charismatic
witchcraft and will use intimidation. People get into witch hunts
in an attempt to intimidate their prey, replacing God with themselves,
in the guise of defending the truth through this intimidation.
Intimidation comes from a position of authority, and the usage of
that authority to accept what is said or done, or condone what is
said or done.
example: The Pharisees try to show up the Lord by using their authority,
as if their authority was “better” than the authority that Jesus walked
in.
use of guilt, or threat of rejection, to make people submit
exposure to the congregation as hell bound, if you do not pay your
tithes.
III Manipulation
Manipulation: the use of a position or a power to dictate how the
outcome will end, removing the Holy Spirit from being the convictor
and Judge, and manipulating to build one’s own fame or kingdom.
More witch hunts come from someone’s interpretation rather than the
whole context of Scripture, and when pride and the human factor is
added, there is certainly much manipulation used. It is done with
the smile on one’s face, as they misquote Scripture, and misuse Scripture,
to justify their hunt.
They exegete the Scriptures correctly, and then turn around and misapply
them, the results are still the same, and the witch hunts continue.
examples:
many modern preachers on TV twist scripture to manipulate people out
of their money, and promise miracles that never happen.
forced artificial worship- to get approval of pastor or others.
using supposed spiritual gifts to manipulate others.
lying…..:the holy spirit is telling me that you must do this
the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to cast a stumbling block
before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols,
and to commit fornication. this was meant to trick them into sin,
so they would be punished
appealing to the flesh of the congregation to promote carnal behavior
(example: appeal to desire for money, sex, etc)
misuse of scripture to manipulate people into giving more, or behaving
a certain way.
IV Emotional Blackmail
A man is asked, “Do you still beat your wife?” Any answer given without
a context or a genuine knowledge of the person will APPEAR to be evasive
or allow unjust conclusions which all are meant to be based upon an
appeal to one’s emotions.
Emotional blackmail always has an appeal to the emotion with the implied
intent that the one using the emotion is “right” simply because they
make the accusation, after all who could possibly doubt their integrity.
example: “Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence,
and given to the poor?” Judas Iscariot wanted to have some extra money
in his pocket, and to be able to justify himself and his desires he
appealed to emotions in order to hopefully accomplish his desire.
Therefore Judas appeals to emotions with a seemingly idealistic and
correct approach to the poor. Judas implies wrong doing for what Mary
has done for Jesus in hopes that he may get the money into the treasury
bag which he controlled so that he could rob it. Judas is just one
example of using the emotion to manipulate and intimidate and dominate
to get one’s desire.
Recently people have claimed to be hurt by others and their language
is sad and their writing styles evoke much emotion for the reader,
the poor unsuspecting reader. The appeals are to the heart to feel
sorry for that poor hurt person. Howbeit, those very same people who
desire you to feel their pain are also the very same ones who were
using charismatic witchcraft to intimidate and to dominate, hurting
others. And they are now using it in the form of emotional blackmail.
These same people claim to be born again some 25-30 years, and in
the next breath claim they are “weaker” brothers and sisters in the
Lord, and offended at another’s godly actions, and expressions straight
from the Scriptures. This is what Judas tried, and what has torn apart
many churches.
more examples
witch hunts – the seekers are the witches, the designated witches
are the victims
forcing someone to undergo deliverance.
Christian curses put on others in order to “heal” them of something
they do not have
using a word of knowledge to falsely identify someone as having demons
to embarrass them
anyone who disagrees with church practices has “demons,” and should
be shunned as unsaved
Note:
Knowledge is power. Be alert to the behavior of others. Just because
someone is important does not mean they are honest or someone you
should trust. You first submit to God, ask for his guidance, then
look around and evaluate who else deserves your allegiance. Do not
submit to illegitimate authority. Not every person in authority is
a godly person. This includes the church atmosphere. Satan has invaded
the church, so beware of false teachers and prophets. Check what everyone
tells you with the Bible, and see if they are twisting the scriptures.
If they are, reject them.
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