Has anyone ever taken the time to watch an entire episode of ‘Crossing over with John Edward’? I would be inclined to rename this cult tv show – ‘the show where a guy speaks to dead people who have absolutely nothing to say to the living because they are dead.’ In watching an episode most of the interactions follow the same formula - people acknowledge each other – ‘your great-grandmother (who used to have piles) ‘s second husband (with the squint)’s step daughter’s best friend’s dog acknowledges you. And then everyone cries. And that’s pretty much it. Do we really need some guy to tell us that the people who we love but who are no longer with us in the physical world acknowledge us? The least he could do is tell us that great uncle Samuel buried treasure under the oak tree next to the river and that the combination for the lock is 65492.
Now of course this leads to the next, far more compelling and complex question, how does he know all this stuff? Now this is where things get interesting...
So I have a theory. We are all born gifted. We all have the capacity to do the phenomenal, the super natural. And here I refer to ‘supernatural’ as things beyond what we think we are naturally capable of doing. I would love to say that my supernatural gifts include being able to do a flick flack, the ability to add in my head and the patience to fix an old car, but alas, no. Now, some people do have these abilities and isn’t that a glorious thing? What if everyone was gifted like me – the world would be full of people who can nap at the drop of a hat, who can roast the life out of a chicken, who cry easily during Sta Soft adverts and who speak in weird voices on behalf of their pets. Even the thought of a society of Emilys just caused an uncomfortable mock charge in my stomach.
So luckily God made us ‘fearfully and wonderfully’ different. We are all wired differently and we all pretty much spend our whole lives trying to work out how we should be using our gifts, some people never really figure this out (here I refer to anyone who studied a BCom or became a lawyer, with tongue firmly in cheek). Unfortunately, in this delightful world of ours many people find it far easier to use their gifts for bad rather than good. If I was born with even the vaguest sense of business acumen (which tragically I wasn’t) I would probably rather own a huge multi-national corporation than start a free trade hemp farm for villagers in Azerbaijan. If I had the skills of negotiating I would far rather negotiate myself into a sordid amount of money than use my skills to the betterment of the voiceless. I’m starting to realise that perhaps it’s a good thing that I was born with none of these skills because I may then have turned out to be the dictator of a small African country (which, incidentally, is my boyfriend, Stephen’s, long term goal). It’s tragic really that all the things I’m good at don’t really pack a financial punch, but oh come the day when salaries are based on exercise avoidance.
Some people are born really strong and have the physical IQ to be able to run and catch a ball at the same time, or run for a kilometre without having to vomit in a bush, again, giftings that were left off my list. So these people can either become incredible sportsmen, or fire-fighters, or policemen or assassins. All these jobs require physical finesse and acute spacial ability and a certain psychological discipline (which is completely beyond me) but not all of these jobs are good. Not everyone learns that it’s better to try and find a cure to cancer than it is to invent the products that create cancer.
At this point you’re probably yawning to yourself and thinking that I’m stating stuff that you’ve known since you were six when your mom told you that you’re probably never going to be able to fly but that you’re really good at running. So I will return to my initial premise – supernatural gifting.
I have been the very unfortunate receiver and witness to the pure destruction that results in people meddling in the occult. The very frightening thing about all this magical tomfoolery is that it will always leave someone hurt, anxious or frightened. Or all three. Now I don’t for a moment doubt that all that stuff is very real and very dangerous and anyone who thinks otherwise needs a serious reality check. It’s bad, bad, bad. So bad! Have you ever heard of someone going to a witch doctor in order to put a blessing on someone else? I didn’t think so. I speak purely from my experience in witnessing what mild flirtations in this field can do to people, how predictions of the future can rob them of their present as well as their sanity at times. No one should ever be granted the supernatural power to hold sway over another person’s life, you put yourself in the position of God if you feel that the promptings given to you are coming from some undefined voice from ’the other side’ and no one is God.
So yes, just as there are giftings in every other field under the sun, some people are born with a six sense, an ability to see beyond the physical. Just as one has the choice whether to become a lawyer for criminals or a lawyer for the poor so too can one choose to use ones intuitive promptings in service of God or in service of oneself.
This weekend I met a Christian prophet. It was a profound experience for me. I have always felt that God doesn’t stop people with an intuitive link to heaven from sharing their gifts with others but I have never actually seen this kind of work in action. An important thing to know about prophesy (and which differentiates a true prophet from the others) is that they only confirm what you already know in your heart is true, what God has already revealed to you. This prophet prophesised over me and I will not go into the details of what he said to me because they are sacred and are between me and God but he began his prophesy by looking at me and saying, ‘Emily you are surrounded by music.’ Anyone who knows me well knows that music is everything to me, if music and my voice were taken away from me I would cease to be me and God knows this so what Julian said to me was merely a confirmation of what I already know to be true – I experience God through music, have done so since I was a child.
When I left the meeting with Julian there was not a trace of hurt, anxiety or fear in me. I was filled with a sense of wonder and love and sheer exultation because he had told me and affirmed what I already know is true. He spoke on behalf of God and as a result I was completely overwhelmed by the intimacy with which his words were shaped. Only God could have left me feeling that free, loved and blessed.
So yes, lots of people have an ability to access that which is unseen, but who are they doing it for? And how does it affect those around them? We are all actually born with the gift to hear God, some of us use science and logic to drown out His voice or others silence Him for us with their abuse and destruction. We all have the right to visit the heavenly realm, ‘to cross over’, when ever we want to, that is Jesus’ constant gift which perpetually reveals itself to us. All a true prophet really ever does is confirm what God has already revealed to us. Do not ever corroborate that you are unworthy of being in control of your life and your spirit by asking others to ‘cross over’ for you because you do not know who they are crossing over to.
Jesus is our greatest gift and here even I can claim this gift. He was sent from heaven, he crossed over, to be with us, to teach us and to confirm what we already know to be true about God (but which we sometimes need to be reminded of). His death was our gift and His resurrection was our greatest gift – in opening the divide between heaven and earth he promised us that we will never have to have someone cross over for us, the gift of heaven is for everyone, all we need to do is pray. And so I would encourage you that the next time you feel tempted to go to someone with ‘giftings in the supernatural’ turn to yourself instead, just as you wouldn’t allow someone to marry the person you love on behalf of you, do not allow the words of others to supposedly speak on behalf of those on the other side. God is always there and always listening, all you need to do is trust that you have the gift of hearing Him.
'When people stop believing in God, they dont believe in nothing - they believe in anything.'
GK Chesterton
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