On a recent weekend, I had the most amazing getaway with my husband! We had not been away alone, without kids, in about 8 years! As soon as I found out we had a sitter for two whole nights, I started planning our trip. I was unbelievably excited, and I wanted it to be super romantic! After much searching around I decided to book a room at a little inn we went to 10 years ago where I first fell in love with my husband. It is a tiny town where a gorgeous river meets the Pacific Ocean. There are other little towns near by, and so I knew that we would have lots of adventures while we were there.
We got to the room late the first night, almost 9 o’clock, because we stopped to have dinner before checking in. We found a cozy restaurant with views of the river and the ocean, where we watched the sun set. It was a marvelous beginning to a romantic weekend! The room was actually a whole house with two stories. We resided mostly on the bottom floor, where there was a bathroom, kitchen, living room and bedroom. Not to mention a private deck with hot tub. The house was very old, probably about 100 years or more, and didn’t look like it received a lot of upkeep. We were excited nonetheless, because hey, we were alone!! You really can’t beat that, no matter how dirty an old house is.
It is funny because the house was kind of eerie. And when I say funny, I mean if you would have asked me a couple of years ago (before I was Christian) I would have told you that the house seemed haunted. There was just something about that old house that really creeped me out. Not to mention the Buddha statue in the back yard. The next morning we went to the inn’s restaurant for breakfast. I noticed right away an altar in the corner of the room, complete with a large Buddha statue, crystals, and other such things. It reminded me quite a bit of the alter I had back when I was a witch. There was a sign attached about wanting to spread good vibes because there is enough negative in the world already.
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Philippians 4:6
My inner alarm was going off by this point. I knew that being near the ocean there was a chance that we would run into a New Age mindset, but I thought this sleepy little town would not be affected. Oh how wrong I was. This was only the beginning of the New Age movement I would see on our trip. We visited several stores, shops, and boutiques in the surrounding towns, and every single one of them was filled with charms, idols, crystals and other New Age items.
What exactly is the New Age Movement? New Age is a mix of different spiritual and religious practices that each person chooses to adopt for their belief system. It includes things such as witch craft and the occult, shamanism, mysticism, Hinduism, Buddhism, yoga and much more. It is a way to identify who you are spiritually, and to find higher ways of consciousness and thinking, or enlightenment. It’s main purpose is to help a person to connect with their inner being, and with the universe around them. New Age promotes oneness with the universe and the earth, because they are sacred and living beings in which we are connected to, and come from. The New Age movement teaches that everyone is basically good and a part of god. God can be one or many gods, but always an impersonal force that manifests in many ways, such as nature. New Age also teaches that evil does not exist, especially Satan and hell.
There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.
Psalm 14:12
I know this all very well, because I spent a good part of my adult life heavily involved with the occult and New Age. I had no idea that I was even involved in New Age though. It started with my interest in the occult (okay interest is not really the right word. I was a practicing witch.) I became very interested in Eastern Religions and everything about them. I studied Buddhism and Hinduism as I tried to understand higher levels of consciousness and loosing myself to be more god-like. I can’t say I really knew what I was doing, but I really wanted to be connected to the higher power I knew I was a part of. It just wasn’t the Christian God. I tried meditating and placing crystals and gem stones on my chakras and opening my third eye. I tried yoga, astrology, tarot cards and reading the I Ching. I did this alongside of my normal practices of casting spells and performing rituals as a witch.
They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.
Romans 1:25
When I stopped actively practicing witch craft I still had my New Age thoughts and practices to lean on. I was ever searching for the Truth of what the meaning of life was, and why I was here. I wanted desperately to connect with whatever higher power there was out there. I worshiped the earth and practiced being a good person and taught my kids about being good people. It was so very important to me to be ‘good’ and do rack up good karma points. I wasn’t sure what was waiting for me after death – possibly reincarnation, but probably just my spirit being released back into the energy I came from.
All of this might sound a little out there to some people, but to others a lot of this (or maybe even a little) is going to resonate as truth for you. You have been searching, and you may even already be a Christian. You have never made a deeper connection with God or maybe were not sure if you really believed that Jesus is God. You have been hurt and alone for so long, that you want to find that deeper connection. And very possibly you had no idea that you had been lured in to the New Age Movement. The New Age is very seductive in its ways. It comes to you wrapped in sweet-smelling incense, the health consciousness of yoga, and the beauty of connecting with your higher self or nature. It is so very appealing! Yet I am here to warn you on how dangerous the New Age Movement is.
Once I became a Christian I spent the first few months coming to understand who God the Father is, and what Jesus had done for me. I received the Holy Spirit and He began to do a great work in me, to help me understand the will of God. So I easily got rid of many of my New Age items. It was a process, because it took me a year to realize that the yoga I had been doing was also part of the Eastern Religions and was actually a form of worshiping other gods and inviting the demonic in. I easily got rid of the more obvious items, such as Buddha statues, books on witch craft, and tarot cards.
So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
John 8:34
It has been two and a half years as I write this that I have come to a glorious relationship with Christ Jesus. He has taken all of the New Age and occult beliefs I instilled in my heart for so long, and redeemed me and filled me with the Truth I so desperately had been searching for! I can’t tell you what comfort I have in the knowledge that I was created for a purpose! By a loving God who knows me by name and loves me deeply enough to die for me. And to know I was created, not evolved from monkeys are some sea sludge (yes I seriously believed that too). And there is no more fear of death for me, but sweet joy in the knowledge that I will be with Jesus in heaven! Hallelujah!
Thanks to the gift of the Holy Spirit in my life, I have been giving great discernment and understanding of the workings of the spiritual realm. Satan meant to destroy me with his New Age deceit, but God has turned it around for my good, by giving me this gifts. I now can see how the enemy has tried to harm me and many others in this world by propagating the New Age lies. The New Age Movement brings death and deception, unlike the Truth that Jesus died to save us from death and hell. What glorious freedom we have in Christ Jesus!
So back to my vacation. In times past I would have been very charmed by the shops with the Hindu gods on the walls, and the incense burning, and the Indian music playing sweetly in the background. I would have felt peaceful and enchanted. Now I felt repulsed for the first time by these things. I could feel the demonic presence emanating from these occult and New Age trinkets and other cursed objects. It only took two steps into a building to register the evil that had been welcomed into each place. At first I was repulsed and afraid. I know how to deal with the demonic and walk in the power and authority Jesus has given me, but it was surprising and overwhelming. But eventually I just felt sad and angry. The New Age Movement has brought death to so many people, while they unwittingly fall prey to its beautifully packaged lies.
But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth.He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.
John 16:13
I wanted desperately to help these people, to bring Christ into their lives. Jesus is the only True source of Power! So as I walked through the last of the shops I prayed silently or in a whisper to bring the Holy Spirit into these places. To ask God the Father to come in with His power and authority and make Himself known to these lost souls. We need our Father so badly. We just can’t do this life without Him, and we were not meant to. We were created by Him for a loving relationship. We are so passionately loved by Him, and He wants nothing more than to bring each one of His children into His Kingdom!
If you have fallen prey to any of the lies of the New Age, then rejoice now! Rejoice? Yes! Rejoice because your freedom is now here! It is as simple as renouncing all activity you have done that has purposefully or inadvertently involved you in the occult and New Age. Then repent of these things and ask God to forgive you. Which He has already done! Ask your Father to show you anything else you have done unknowingly to practice New Age beliefs and to cleanse you of them all. Then ask Him to bring you the knowledge and wisdom of His Truth. It really is that easy! Your Heavenly Father is here to walk you through this, by way of the Holy Spirit. He loves you and is not at all angry with you for any of these practices you may have done. On the other hand, He is very saddened to see His children be lured into this horrible deception that leads to the path of destruction.
Thank you Father that you have loved us so much that you sent your only Son to die for us. Thank you Jesus for your work on the cross, and for defeating sin and death for each one of us. Thank you Holy Spirit that you live in each one of us, and lead us in all Truth and wisdom. We love you so much, and we ask for your protection from any ways that the enemy might try to deceive us from this day forward. We pray this in Jesus mighty name. Amen!
See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.
Colossians 2:8
