ARE GHOSTS REAL? CAN THE DEAD APPEAR TO US? First, a simple
answer from the Bible: NO. Ghosts are not real
and those who have left this mortal life cannot appear to us. If
the dearly departed is a believer, why would he or she even want
to come back? No matter how much we love them or they love us -
all believers are in the blessed presence of our Lord Jesus
Christ.
If you were in heaven today, basking in His presence - would you want to come back to this world? No way! We should not even desire to pull them out of the presence of our Lord - to help us handle mortal issues here on earth, not even heartbreak from losing them. We celebrate their promotions into His presence, even though we miss them so much.
And the non-believer who dies in this mortal body? Well, Luke 16:19-31 clearly tells us that those who died in disbelief cannot come back again for a "do over." Hebrews 9:27 confirms that, "And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment."
But we can, and often we do, encounter spirits in our daily lives? Spirits, not mortals who have passed through the portal of mortal death. And we encounter both good and evil spirits. But they are not the spirits of our departed loved ones nor the spirits of our departed enemies. They are heavenly spirits created by God as angels. From what we read about angels in the Bible, we have to assume that God created billions of angels (Hebrews 12:22) before the Creation week.
Personally I believe God created the angels first, just as in the six days of the Creation He created the heavens, earth, and all that make the earth habitable to man - before creating man. Then He created man and beast on the sixth day. In other words, He prepared a home for man, with guardian spirits (Hebrews 1:14) - then He created man (Genesis 1:24ff).
Lucifer was created, it is my belief, as an archangel - for the name Lucifer means shining one, morning star. But then his beauty and desire to be like, or equal to, God took control and he fell into eternal evil, taking one third of all created angels with him. (Isaiah 14:12-14,. Jude 1:6)
In the Bible we read of only one instance where God allowed necromancy, i.e., communication with the dead. We read about it in the story of the King Saul and the Witch of Endor (1 Samuel 28:7-20). King Saul, who had banned all psychics, mediums, seers, séances, sorcerers, conjurers, and all forms of what now is known as New Age Religion from all Israel - now felt a need for a séance himself.
Saul was starting to lose control, so in desperation he disguised himself and went to the Witch of Endor by night - asking her to contact the dead prophet judge Samuel. The story of the Witch of Endor summoning Samuel is recorded in 1 Samuel 28 and is the only biblical account of anyone being visited by a deceased person. Why did God allow the spirit of Samuel to talk with Saul?
God allowed Samuel to talk with King Saul for one purpose - to give Saul the bad news of his own coming defeat and death. This does not mean that God would allow witches or mediums to speak with the dead today - only that God allowed it in this one exception. There is no biblical indication that He did, or would, allow that to happen again, for anyone.
When a person dies, his soul is taken into heaven or hell, depending upon whether he has placed his faith in Christ, or not. Would you really want to be visited by someone from the dead - to receive a message of YOUR own soon destruction?
That said, I believe we all have encounters with the spirit world. I absolutely know that I have encountered spirits, both good and evil.
In the early 1980s, before I was a Christian believer, I was very much into psychic phenomena and the paranormal world. About that time I became interested in genealogy and was tracing my family history. One thing which bothered me was the story that my maternal grandfather had committed suicide when I was six months old - for when I research it, everything pointed toward his having been murdered by someone he knew.
Circa 1985 a Filipina medical doctor family friend was interested in meeting a psychic I knew in San Diego. I invited both to my home to meet - and while they were there, I asked the psychic questions about my grandfather and recorded the session. After they left I was in my bedroom and played the cassette tape of our conversation. At the point in the recording where she began to talk about my grandfather's death, I felt a strong hand grasped my right shoulder from behind - and my bedroom went totally frigid. It was as though I was standing in a freezer. I rewound the tape and at that same spot, there was the hand on my shoulder and the icy chill.
At that time, not being a believer, I was convinced it was my grandfather trying to communicate with me from the grave. Now I know it was only a demonic spirit imitating my grandfather.
Let me pause for a short side trip. Do I believe that it was Satan himself who played this trick on me? No, for Bill Gray is not that important to Satan. He has bigger fish to fry - like going after national and world leaders, using his old "Eve Trick" on them with the question, "Did God really say that?" (Genesis 3:1-5). So the next time you hear a presidential candidate or other politician, or a religious leader, assuring us that the homosexual lifestyle, same-sex marriage, pedophilia, abortion, and other similar secular lifestyles is okay with God, that these lifestyle are not condemned in the Bible - you can be sure that is Satan speaking through those people.
Satan has billions of fallen angels, i.e., demonic spirits, which are assigned to harass people like you and me.
About 15 years ago, Dory and I had a young Filipina friend, Vicki, staying with us for a while. From the time Vicki had arrived in America to marry Mark, his mother had been doing all she could to destroy their relationship. The mother and son were very close - and she convinced her son that her psychic buddy had warned her that Vicki was being unfaithful. Nothing could have been further from the truth, but "momma knows best" and she caused them to separate. The mother was heavily into the psychic, seer, medium, and paranormal world.
One day I was working in my office at home, Dory and Vicki had gone out, and the mother-in-law called. I explained that Vicki was not home and then she and I talked for a while. I asked her if she would step back and allow Mark and Vicki to work out their marital problems alone. Vehemently she declared, "That women will never have my son." That spoke volumes.
As we were talking on the phone, I could feel evil spirits all around me in my office. Literally my office was crowded with evil spirits. No, it was not imagined, for I no idea this woman was so full of demonic beings. I felt like there were a hundred evil spirits all around me - but, believe it or not, I felt no fear, just aggravation. I knew I was safe from those spirits which could harass me, but could not enter me - for the moment I was saved the Holy Spirit took up residence in me and NO evil spirit is allowed to share that residence with Him.
Demonic spirits can, and do, harass believers - but they cannot enter us nor possess us.
The mother-in-law and I talked for about half an hour and then hung up. The moment we hung up the phone, the spirits were gone. It was her spirits of darkness I was sensing all around me.
But how about good spirits, angels still faithful to God - do they visit us? I believe they do. Let me share an instance when I believe I may have had a heavenly visitor. Most of my life I have loved walking in the evenings. I did it when I was in high school, walking with my friend, Jimmy Henson, after he got off work at the Colbert Theater in my hometown. We often walked up to the cliffs overlooking the beautiful Tennessee River and sat enjoying the view of the river and all the lights of the dam, the bridge, and the city across the river - day dreaming about the future.
All through my long career in the computer industry, wherever I traveled on business I had my long walks after dinner. So the story I am about to share with you should be no surprise - for away on business trips or at home, it has long been my habit to walk late in the evening.
It was about 11:30 PM, Friday evening, April 8, 2005, when I had an experience which left me somewhat in awe, somewhat exhilarated, and somewhat shaken. I have been a walker all of my life; love to take long walk, preferably in the evening. To the dismay of my family, I often like to walk late at night when it is peaceful and cool. I have walked in almost every major city in this country, many smaller cities, and in some beautiful countryside in England. When traveling on business, I always like to have dinner in my hotel room, then go for a walk.
That Friday evening in 2005, as I was walking, I was praying and asking God if I am doing the ministry He truly wants me to be doing. I prayed, "Lord, I believe I am doing the writing ministry You have given me, and I know that, when I write You are guiding my thoughts and my words. But, Lord, is this truly what You want me to be doing full time? Is there more? Please, Lord, help me to know that I am doing Your will."
I walked several more blocks, walking east on Magnolia Avenue, a major boulevard in Riverside, California. Suddenly a man, who appeared to be homeless and about forty years old, jumped from behind a sign and started screaming and yelling at me. He was angry and seem to be extremely agitated, screaming, calling me names. His eyes were full of fire, as though demon possessed or on drugs. I started backing up. I backed into busy Magnolia Avenue with cars streaming past me - he followed me, screaming and yelling. At one time he yelled, "Give me ten dollars." I told him, "I don't have any money." Which was true, for I never carry a wallet or any valuables when I walk.
I backed all the way across east-bound Magnolia Avenue, through the traffic, all the time telling him, "Cool it, man. I don't want any trouble."
Soon I stood on the island between east-bound and west-bound Magnolia, a wide area with trees, landscaping, and open space. The moment I stepped on the island, I felt a sudden peace, a peace of God, come over me. For a moment I just stood there. Then I approached the man and told him, "I don't have any money. But I want to be your friend." I could see his face change slightly, I could see just a bit of the anger leave. I walked up to him, put my right hand on his left shoulder, and told him, "I want to be your friend. I love you; God loves you. Can I pray for you?" And this man who, moments before, had been screaming at me, said meekly, "Yes."
I held his shoulder and prayed that God would touch this man, help him, and provide for his needs. I prayed for God to show His love to this man. Then I hugged him. He hugged me back, so tightly, and said in a small, soft voice, "This is what I really want." He wanted someone to care, someone to care enough to hug him, a homeless man, and say, "I love you." Then he turned and walked calmly away.
Was this God's way of showing me that I am doing the ministry He wants me to be doing? I don't know for sure. But I do know that God was on that highway island with me as I prayed with this homeless man. I know that His love flowed through me for this man. And I know that this man felt it also. This man felt God's love and His peace, through my touch, and through my prayer.
I called Dory and told her what had happened, then started walking home - when it dawned on me that I had overlooked something which should have been so obvious. I never thought about it when I was talking with this man. Initially I did not think about it afterwards - not until I was walking home, going over in my mind what had happened and how frightened I had been initially during this confrontation. What was that so obvious thing I missed? Odor.
One of the first things most people, including myself, would think of when considering hugging a homeless person is - will he/she have an odor? We know that a person living on the streets with no means of personal hygiene, will have an odor, both that person and his clothing. That never entered my mind until I was walking home. But as I thought about it later, I realized that this man whom I had been hugging - had no odor whatsoever. He was as fresh as a baby coming out of a bath. He had no odor; his clothing had no odor - yet, he was obviously homeless and living on the streets. Was this another message from God? Was God telling me, as He did Peter in Acts 10:15, "What God has cleansed, . . ."
Walking home this Scripture verse came to mind: Hebrews 13:2, "Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it."
You can see why I felt somewhat shaken after this was over and decided to just go back home instead of finishing my walk. I also felt exhilarated because I know that God had touched that man through me. My wife, Dory, told me, "That is all well and good. But from now on, please walk earlier in the evening." We men should listen to our wives.
Did I encounter an angelic being that evening? I cannot say for sure. But I will say this, walking in that community for many years I saw many homeless people - but I don't recall ever seeing that man before - and I have never seen him since. You decide.
My main point in writing this blog is to assure all my believing Friends that you will never see nor encounter a ghost in this life - but we all do need to be on guard against Satan's demonic spirits who will tempt and harass us, daily. And keep your spiritual feelers tuned - for you never know when you may be "entertaining angels without knowing it."
God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,
Bill
If you were in heaven today, basking in His presence - would you want to come back to this world? No way! We should not even desire to pull them out of the presence of our Lord - to help us handle mortal issues here on earth, not even heartbreak from losing them. We celebrate their promotions into His presence, even though we miss them so much.
And the non-believer who dies in this mortal body? Well, Luke 16:19-31 clearly tells us that those who died in disbelief cannot come back again for a "do over." Hebrews 9:27 confirms that, "And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment."
But we can, and often we do, encounter spirits in our daily lives? Spirits, not mortals who have passed through the portal of mortal death. And we encounter both good and evil spirits. But they are not the spirits of our departed loved ones nor the spirits of our departed enemies. They are heavenly spirits created by God as angels. From what we read about angels in the Bible, we have to assume that God created billions of angels (Hebrews 12:22) before the Creation week.
Personally I believe God created the angels first, just as in the six days of the Creation He created the heavens, earth, and all that make the earth habitable to man - before creating man. Then He created man and beast on the sixth day. In other words, He prepared a home for man, with guardian spirits (Hebrews 1:14) - then He created man (Genesis 1:24ff).
Lucifer was created, it is my belief, as an archangel - for the name Lucifer means shining one, morning star. But then his beauty and desire to be like, or equal to, God took control and he fell into eternal evil, taking one third of all created angels with him. (Isaiah 14:12-14,. Jude 1:6)
In the Bible we read of only one instance where God allowed necromancy, i.e., communication with the dead. We read about it in the story of the King Saul and the Witch of Endor (1 Samuel 28:7-20). King Saul, who had banned all psychics, mediums, seers, séances, sorcerers, conjurers, and all forms of what now is known as New Age Religion from all Israel - now felt a need for a séance himself.
Saul was starting to lose control, so in desperation he disguised himself and went to the Witch of Endor by night - asking her to contact the dead prophet judge Samuel. The story of the Witch of Endor summoning Samuel is recorded in 1 Samuel 28 and is the only biblical account of anyone being visited by a deceased person. Why did God allow the spirit of Samuel to talk with Saul?
God allowed Samuel to talk with King Saul for one purpose - to give Saul the bad news of his own coming defeat and death. This does not mean that God would allow witches or mediums to speak with the dead today - only that God allowed it in this one exception. There is no biblical indication that He did, or would, allow that to happen again, for anyone.
When a person dies, his soul is taken into heaven or hell, depending upon whether he has placed his faith in Christ, or not. Would you really want to be visited by someone from the dead - to receive a message of YOUR own soon destruction?
That said, I believe we all have encounters with the spirit world. I absolutely know that I have encountered spirits, both good and evil.
In the early 1980s, before I was a Christian believer, I was very much into psychic phenomena and the paranormal world. About that time I became interested in genealogy and was tracing my family history. One thing which bothered me was the story that my maternal grandfather had committed suicide when I was six months old - for when I research it, everything pointed toward his having been murdered by someone he knew.
Circa 1985 a Filipina medical doctor family friend was interested in meeting a psychic I knew in San Diego. I invited both to my home to meet - and while they were there, I asked the psychic questions about my grandfather and recorded the session. After they left I was in my bedroom and played the cassette tape of our conversation. At the point in the recording where she began to talk about my grandfather's death, I felt a strong hand grasped my right shoulder from behind - and my bedroom went totally frigid. It was as though I was standing in a freezer. I rewound the tape and at that same spot, there was the hand on my shoulder and the icy chill.
At that time, not being a believer, I was convinced it was my grandfather trying to communicate with me from the grave. Now I know it was only a demonic spirit imitating my grandfather.
Let me pause for a short side trip. Do I believe that it was Satan himself who played this trick on me? No, for Bill Gray is not that important to Satan. He has bigger fish to fry - like going after national and world leaders, using his old "Eve Trick" on them with the question, "Did God really say that?" (Genesis 3:1-5). So the next time you hear a presidential candidate or other politician, or a religious leader, assuring us that the homosexual lifestyle, same-sex marriage, pedophilia, abortion, and other similar secular lifestyles is okay with God, that these lifestyle are not condemned in the Bible - you can be sure that is Satan speaking through those people.
Satan has billions of fallen angels, i.e., demonic spirits, which are assigned to harass people like you and me.
About 15 years ago, Dory and I had a young Filipina friend, Vicki, staying with us for a while. From the time Vicki had arrived in America to marry Mark, his mother had been doing all she could to destroy their relationship. The mother and son were very close - and she convinced her son that her psychic buddy had warned her that Vicki was being unfaithful. Nothing could have been further from the truth, but "momma knows best" and she caused them to separate. The mother was heavily into the psychic, seer, medium, and paranormal world.
One day I was working in my office at home, Dory and Vicki had gone out, and the mother-in-law called. I explained that Vicki was not home and then she and I talked for a while. I asked her if she would step back and allow Mark and Vicki to work out their marital problems alone. Vehemently she declared, "That women will never have my son." That spoke volumes.
As we were talking on the phone, I could feel evil spirits all around me in my office. Literally my office was crowded with evil spirits. No, it was not imagined, for I no idea this woman was so full of demonic beings. I felt like there were a hundred evil spirits all around me - but, believe it or not, I felt no fear, just aggravation. I knew I was safe from those spirits which could harass me, but could not enter me - for the moment I was saved the Holy Spirit took up residence in me and NO evil spirit is allowed to share that residence with Him.
Let me emphasize that point clearly: When a person is saved and indwelled by God the Holy Spirit - NO evil spirits can possess or enter that person. Your body became the "temple of God."
John 14:16-17, "And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever - the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you."
1 Corinthians 3:16-17, "Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are."
Demonic spirits can, and do, harass believers - but they cannot enter us nor possess us.
The mother-in-law and I talked for about half an hour and then hung up. The moment we hung up the phone, the spirits were gone. It was her spirits of darkness I was sensing all around me.
But how about good spirits, angels still faithful to God - do they visit us? I believe they do. Let me share an instance when I believe I may have had a heavenly visitor. Most of my life I have loved walking in the evenings. I did it when I was in high school, walking with my friend, Jimmy Henson, after he got off work at the Colbert Theater in my hometown. We often walked up to the cliffs overlooking the beautiful Tennessee River and sat enjoying the view of the river and all the lights of the dam, the bridge, and the city across the river - day dreaming about the future.
All through my long career in the computer industry, wherever I traveled on business I had my long walks after dinner. So the story I am about to share with you should be no surprise - for away on business trips or at home, it has long been my habit to walk late in the evening.
It was about 11:30 PM, Friday evening, April 8, 2005, when I had an experience which left me somewhat in awe, somewhat exhilarated, and somewhat shaken. I have been a walker all of my life; love to take long walk, preferably in the evening. To the dismay of my family, I often like to walk late at night when it is peaceful and cool. I have walked in almost every major city in this country, many smaller cities, and in some beautiful countryside in England. When traveling on business, I always like to have dinner in my hotel room, then go for a walk.
That Friday evening in 2005, as I was walking, I was praying and asking God if I am doing the ministry He truly wants me to be doing. I prayed, "Lord, I believe I am doing the writing ministry You have given me, and I know that, when I write You are guiding my thoughts and my words. But, Lord, is this truly what You want me to be doing full time? Is there more? Please, Lord, help me to know that I am doing Your will."
I walked several more blocks, walking east on Magnolia Avenue, a major boulevard in Riverside, California. Suddenly a man, who appeared to be homeless and about forty years old, jumped from behind a sign and started screaming and yelling at me. He was angry and seem to be extremely agitated, screaming, calling me names. His eyes were full of fire, as though demon possessed or on drugs. I started backing up. I backed into busy Magnolia Avenue with cars streaming past me - he followed me, screaming and yelling. At one time he yelled, "Give me ten dollars." I told him, "I don't have any money." Which was true, for I never carry a wallet or any valuables when I walk.
I backed all the way across east-bound Magnolia Avenue, through the traffic, all the time telling him, "Cool it, man. I don't want any trouble."
Soon I stood on the island between east-bound and west-bound Magnolia, a wide area with trees, landscaping, and open space. The moment I stepped on the island, I felt a sudden peace, a peace of God, come over me. For a moment I just stood there. Then I approached the man and told him, "I don't have any money. But I want to be your friend." I could see his face change slightly, I could see just a bit of the anger leave. I walked up to him, put my right hand on his left shoulder, and told him, "I want to be your friend. I love you; God loves you. Can I pray for you?" And this man who, moments before, had been screaming at me, said meekly, "Yes."
I held his shoulder and prayed that God would touch this man, help him, and provide for his needs. I prayed for God to show His love to this man. Then I hugged him. He hugged me back, so tightly, and said in a small, soft voice, "This is what I really want." He wanted someone to care, someone to care enough to hug him, a homeless man, and say, "I love you." Then he turned and walked calmly away.
Was this God's way of showing me that I am doing the ministry He wants me to be doing? I don't know for sure. But I do know that God was on that highway island with me as I prayed with this homeless man. I know that His love flowed through me for this man. And I know that this man felt it also. This man felt God's love and His peace, through my touch, and through my prayer.
I called Dory and told her what had happened, then started walking home - when it dawned on me that I had overlooked something which should have been so obvious. I never thought about it when I was talking with this man. Initially I did not think about it afterwards - not until I was walking home, going over in my mind what had happened and how frightened I had been initially during this confrontation. What was that so obvious thing I missed? Odor.
One of the first things most people, including myself, would think of when considering hugging a homeless person is - will he/she have an odor? We know that a person living on the streets with no means of personal hygiene, will have an odor, both that person and his clothing. That never entered my mind until I was walking home. But as I thought about it later, I realized that this man whom I had been hugging - had no odor whatsoever. He was as fresh as a baby coming out of a bath. He had no odor; his clothing had no odor - yet, he was obviously homeless and living on the streets. Was this another message from God? Was God telling me, as He did Peter in Acts 10:15, "What God has cleansed, . . ."
Walking home this Scripture verse came to mind: Hebrews 13:2, "Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it."
You can see why I felt somewhat shaken after this was over and decided to just go back home instead of finishing my walk. I also felt exhilarated because I know that God had touched that man through me. My wife, Dory, told me, "That is all well and good. But from now on, please walk earlier in the evening." We men should listen to our wives.
Did I encounter an angelic being that evening? I cannot say for sure. But I will say this, walking in that community for many years I saw many homeless people - but I don't recall ever seeing that man before - and I have never seen him since. You decide.
My main point in writing this blog is to assure all my believing Friends that you will never see nor encounter a ghost in this life - but we all do need to be on guard against Satan's demonic spirits who will tempt and harass us, daily. And keep your spiritual feelers tuned - for you never know when you may be "entertaining angels without knowing it."
God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,
Bill
Click on the image to enlarge:
No comments:
Post a Comment