We may feel condemned at times by certain cults like the Jehovah’s Witnesses, because of their dedication to the cause, but I’m convinced that God doesn’t want us to be like them. I was watching a documentary the other night about Christian ‘prodigies’ and could see that in all their talent there was so much manipulation and role playing going on by their parents. I believe from a bible perspective that control is of the devil and a form of witchcraft, and as we all know witchcraft is a sin.
“For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king.” 1 Samuel 15:23
When witchcraft is in operation someone’s will is being influenced by a stronger person. The subject’s emotions and will are over ridden and modified by another. When we manipulate someone else we are moving into the area of witchcraft. Parents can be guilty of over controlling their children and even pastors can do the same over their flock. Cults are operating in the area of witchcraft and all their zeal is often the result of their leaders’ control and not the work of the Holy Spirit.
Look at what happened in 1978 when Pastor Jim Jones took his congregation to Guyana, and 918 followers committed suicide, or the 73 disciples of David Koresh in 1993 who were burnt to death in the inferno at Wako in the USA.
In extreme cases people can be brainwashed into doing things they wouldn’t have done under normal circumstances and end up living out someone else’s dream. The reason I don’t believe this is of God is that my God is a God of LOVE and true love gives us the freedom of choice. In cults you don’t have a choice and you don’t think for yourself anymore. The ‘Jws’ are only allowed to read what their teachers tell them to read and only in their specially modified bibles.
Right from the beginning God gave the freedom of choice to man and didn’t put an electric fence around the tree of knowledge of good and evil so that Adam and Eve couldn’t eat the fruit. God loves freedom and where He is, that is where freedom is.
“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” 2 Corinthians 3:17-18
The land of Canaan in the Old Testament days was a place where God’s people were free and it was a far cry from Egypt’s bondage, as they lived out Pharaohs’ dream. The place God wants us to be in these days is a place of spiritual freedom, where we are free to be ourselves in Christ. It’s a wonderful place, a spacious and roomy place where you are free to be you and Christ is free to be Himself in you. It’s a place where you can be real. the Angels in heaven are longing to see God’s people set free, and see the glorious liberty of the Sons of God that we read of in Romans 8:19-21
The world wants to see genuine Christians too and is tired of hypocrisy. They want to see Christians who are real and full of God’s love. If you are not in the place of freedom then you are in bondage. I have found from my personal experience that even Christians can live a lie. You can have a smile on your face every day and speak lots of ‘christianese,‘ yet still be living in bondage. You can just go through the motions of religion, but it’s a miserable place to be in. Religion is hard work and very tiring. In that hard place you are living life in your own strength instead of God’s. When you are in this place Christianity is just a set of fear driven rules and tasks. Jesus Himself said that His way was not meant to be hard.
“For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Matthew 11:30
It’s interesting to note that the yoke mentioned here is that which was put onto young oxen as they worked alongside experienced cattle. It wasn’t something that could be brought off the shelf in the local hardware store or mass produced but had to be moulded to exactly fit the animal so that he wouldn’t feel uncomfortable. Jesus’ yoke is just for us alone and no other person can wear it comfortably, it’s designed to help us flow along with our loving God.
I’m afraid to say that so many Christians are not flowing with God as they should. They are trying on someone else’s yoke which is hard to wear and it hurts. The Christian walk is ‘hard yards’ for them and eventually becomes either boring or overwhelming. Gods plan is far better than this and is a place of liberty and excitement far from the wilderness of rebellion. God says that if you hear His voice we mustn’t harden our hearts. This is rebelling against His voice and that is witchcraft.
"Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts." Hebrews 4:7
For many years I thought that God’s voice was always telling me off. This is what the Devil wanted me to believe and it made my life miserable. Serving Him was hard but I didn’t want to let Him down so I kept on going. I would tell people to follow Christ and enjoy His love yet I wasn’t enjoying Him for myself. My walk was just a facade. It took the Spirit many years to show me that God wanted to bless me. He had to break me down so that He could build me up again keeping me in His love. I couldn’t relax back then as I was a driven man. The barks of the Devil were far more real to me than the whispers of God. It seemed as if nothing I did for God was enough especially in the area of witnessing. I felt condemned all the time for I wasn’t coming up to standard. I thought it was God’s standard I was pursuing but it was the enemy constantly driving me into a place of bondage. I could not enjoy God’s love for my Christianity was not a relationship at all but a set of tasks with boxes to tick off, hoops to jump through and a list that kept growing longer and longer. I was subconsciously under the control of Satan more than under the loving yoke of Jesus. I didn’t understand that Jesus was my Shepherd who wanted to lead me to greener pastures, not like the Devil who was driving me into a barren wilderness.
Praise God that I began to understand His Grace and all the treasures that come with it. I soon realised that the law with all its bondage was given by Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus. I’m not under the law anymore.
“For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” John 1:17
I began to realise that the voice that I had been rejecting was that of the Spirit for He wanted me to enjoy God’s presence. Today when I hear His voice I will not harden my heart anymore to His encouragement, His inspiration and His wisdom.
I remember the day that I was sitting on a hard pew in a Church and my bottom was sore. There was a rare cushion there that I was sitting on to relieve the discomfort. A lady came and sat next to me and the thought came to me that I must give the cushion to her. It was a harsh voice that spoke, and it kept nagging me, but there was also another voice that said “I love you and gave you that cushion because I know you have a ‘bony bum’.” (It may not have been exactly like that.) In the past I would have given it away but this time I decided to listen to the voice of love and received such a wonderful anointing as I resisted the driving of the enemy and bathed in the love of God. A new day slowly began to dawn as I came into the place where I appreciated the God’s love more, instead of constantly being driven into the wilderness of condemnation. So many of us have mistaken the voice of the Devil for that of the Spirit and live in bondage. It tells us to keep ourselves in the love of God and this takes faith. Jude 21.
When you understand the mind of Christ you will have so much more freedom.
“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” Galatians 5:1