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WINNING WITH THE WORD “Winning with the Word” is a weekly blog that will help you to be a winner in life by applying God’s principles for living the abundant life as found in the Bible, God’s manual for life. AN INVITATION TO YOU: To follow this blog, click here.  If this blog has blessed you, please encourage your family and friends to subscribe as well. Thank you! ______________________________________ \ Do you prefer listening instead of reading? Then click below to listen to today’s blog post: https://media.blubrry.com/winning_with_the_word/content.blubrry.com/winning_with_the_word/WWW_Podcast12132019_Is_It_Wrong_to_Use_Crystals_and_Gemstones_for_Healing_.mp3 ____________________________________________________ Back in the day when I was in high school and college and studied history, I used to marvel at the barbaric practices of people in earlier civilizations.  Surely, I thought, we are becoming more civilized as time goes on.  These kinds of practices are done and over with forever.How wrong I was! It seems as though we in the 21stcentury have regressed as a civilization. Despite the amazing advances in technology and the incredible accumulation of knowledge, we are still spiritually primitive at heart.  A case in point is the contemporary rise of the occult. For a generation that prides itself on human reason, this resurgent interest in the occult seems mind-boggling, if not downright absurd. How could a generation of educationally advanced people still engage in practices once considered associated with educational poverty? Yet it is happening before our very eyes. All around us we see signs that the human mind, despite all of its advances, is still rooted in sin. Let's consider the occult practice of using crystals or gemstones for healing, a practice sometimes associated with the false Hindu god Ganesh, the supposed remover of obstacles, including sickness. Using crystals and gemstones for healing is a practice that is widespread today and, sadly, is gaining in popularity, especially among young people.  This practice is rooted in eastern mysticism and teaches that certain crystals, gems, and stones have healing powers when placed on specific parts of the body called "chakras." Many people claim to have been healed by using gemstones and crystals. But beware! While a real healing may seem to have taken place, what the persons who uses this modality do not realize is that demonic forces have entered their bodies to inflict a deeper sickness on the levels of the soul and the spirit.  This deeper sickness often does not show up until after the false physical healing has taken place. As the old saying goes, "All that glitters is not gold." An undiscerning Christian might think, "What's wrong with using crystals and gemstones if using them heals me? After all, they're just stones." No, they are not just stones. They are conduits for demonic spirits who seek only your destruction through deception. The Bible describes Satan as an angel of light. This means that he can counterfeit healing and use it as a lure to draw a person into his deathtrap.  Just as Pharaoh's astrologers were able to counterfeit the power of God operating through Moses, so can New Age healing practitioners counterfeit healing power through the use of Satanic practices. But don't be deceived! The healing is a false healing, inflicting worse and lasting damage to your soul and your spirit. The results we get from a particular practice should not be the basis for whether or not we engage in that practice. The end does not justify the means. Instead, we must evaluate every practice by the standard of God's Word. What does God say about the practice of using crystals and gemstones? The Bible is quite clear about using any practice that attempts to manipulate the spirit world. Doing so is called witchcraft, and witchcraft is forbidden by God. Consider Deuteronomy 18: 10-12: "Let no one be found among ...