These days, those who feature themselves as especially modern, as the most “with-it” — spiritually up to date — often use the word “universe” in place of “God.”

There is one quick adjective for this trend: “ridiculous;” for with all due respect, it is rather like using a photo of a shoe instead of a shoemaker in a family photo album. Or in a yearbook, a test tube instead of the face of a chemist.

Let’s get it straight: the universe is but a construct, a creation, as opposed to a creator. It is electromagnetism, gravity, nuclear forces (strong and weak). It is atoms and molecules. It has no consciousness. It is physicality. It is the stars above your head and the dirt under your feet.

God is the overwhelming Force behind and above all things, in ways we can’t comprehend. The universe is but one of His things in one of infinite dimensions (we have no idea how many dimensions there are, nor any idea, even, of how big our particular “universe” is).

As Kynan Bridges puts it in a book full of insights (Overcoming Familiar Spirits), “Many people all over the world are settling for a counterfeit version of faith. They go to conferences and motivational seminars to learn how to use the power of the mind to achieve success in their relationships, businesses, and careers.

“Most of this instruction seems very harmless, but it can be much more diabolical than people fathom: positive thinking, chanting, channeling, and visualizing are all methods taught at these seminars.

“They are also the tools used in the practice of witchcraft.

“I distinctly remember watching a session on the internet from a very popular motivational speaker who told the audience members to lift their hands and ‘let the universe flow through them.’ The Lord revealed to me that the people in that auditorium (all fifteen thousand of them) were inviting spirits into their lives.

“These familiar spirits would initially seem to bring blessings, but then they would begin to bring curses and destruction.

“This is the reason why you will find that many successful businesspeople who incorporate such practices to achieve success often end up with broken marriages, fractured families, and even failed health.

“Why?

“Because their success was accomplished through demonic powers.”

Did you ever note how the touch of darkness, an evil sheen — often undetectable at first, coming, initially, as shining darkness — often catapults a person into “stardom” or causes something someone does or says to viral (take off)?

That word “viral” is not without ironies (see “virus”).

Go to God for what you need.

Seek the devil for luxury.

If the latter, you will pay the price.

For you will never outwit evil spirits — unless you operate in the Holy Spirit.

(Then, you are infinitely and universally smarter.)

[resources: Overcoming Familiar Spirits]

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