"For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them."
Ephesians 5:8-11 (NIV)
Hey girlfriends, have you heard about the following line-up that the major television networks are boasting about as shows worth seeing? Listen to these titles and the shows' information taken word-for-word from their respective network websites:
Medium (NBC)
--"Allison Dubois (Patricia Arquette) is a strong-willed, devoted young wife and mother of three girls, who has gradually come to grips with her extraordinary ability to talk to dead people, see the future in her dreams and read people's thoughts."
Ghost Whisperer (CBS)
--"Melinda Gordon (Jennifer Love Hewitt) communicates with earthbound spirits, ghosts who cling to the living because they have unfinished business that prevents them from moving beyond the familiar plane of existence that we call life. Inspired in part by the work of famed medium James Van Praagh and of Mary Ann Winkowski, a real-life communicator with spirits, GHOST WHISPERER explores the spiritual side of life and death as Melinda navigates among the dead and the living in her sometimes chilling, sometimes heart-rending and sometimes amusing attempts to act as an intermediary between the ghosts and those they haunt."
Wizards of Waverly (Disney Channel)
--"The show centers upon Alex Russo, her older brother Justin, and their younger brother Max. The three live with their Italian-American father, Jerry, and their eccentric Mexican-American mother, Theresa. The children can use magic, but according to the premise, only one of the three will keep their magic abilities once they are adults, and this will be determined by a magic competition. Alex often gets into trouble by using magic unsupervised, and learns lessons and morals relating to friends, family, and school."
Pushing Daisies (NBC)
--"Premise: A man with the ability to bring the dead back to life uses his power to solve murder cases and to reconnect with his deceased childhood sweetheart.
To decide whether these shows should be part of our weekly routine, we must hold them out against the truth and authority of God's Word. This is what He says:
Deuteronomy 18:9-12 (NIV)
"When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the LORD, and because of these detestable practices the LORD your God will drive out those nations before you."
Galatians 5:19-21 (New International Version)
"The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God."
Leviticus 19:31 (The Message)
"Don't dabble in the occult or traffic with mediums; you'll pollute your souls. I am God, your God."
2 Corinthians 11:14 (New International Version)
"...for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light."
Isaiah 8:19-20 (New Living Translation)
"Someone may say to you, “Let’s ask the mediums and those who consult the spirits of the dead. With their whisperings and mutterings, they will tell us what to do.” But shouldn’t people ask God for guidance? Should the living seek guidance from the dead?
Look to God’s instructions and teachings! People who contradict his word are completely in the dark."
Sometimes God just gets in our business. We don't know what we are playing with when we have been warned about something in His Word and basically thumb our noses at His instruction. Listen, my beloved sisters, you and I were bought with a price. If Satan can fool us into thinking any of the above shows are harmless, then he has deceived us and set us up for God's judgment. We have got to be "wise as serpents and gentle as doves," (Matthew 10:16) when it comes to what we allow to enter our minds. We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers of this dark world (Ephesians 6:11-12).
According to the authority of God's Word, none of us should be watching any show that exalts mediums, the occult, or sorcery of any kind. I lived in a country of men and women enslaved to what they believed to be the spirits of their angry ancestors. I know that no human being can come back and "haunt" us, but Satan and the demons can wreak havoc with our minds. Are we feeling oppression, darkness, and an unexplained heaviness that is founded in a foreboding fear? We need to ask ourselves if we are cuddling up to the one who masquerades himself as an angel of light, but who is doomed to hell itself.
Jesus, help us to be so wise when it comes to the kingdom of darkness. It is very real. We are children of light that You have called out of the life we once knew, the life that only brought us shame and heartache before. May we detest what You find detestable and guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, the One who died to save us from the kingdom of the enemy.