Before I get into levels of witchcraft and maybe you are thinking this has nothing to do with you, please read my previous post about what witchcraft really is in every aspect. Then you will see that many of us are presented with temptations to behave in manors that truly would be considered a level of witchcraft.
Slight Review
Just in case you are not reading the previous post or you forgot, witchcraft is about imposing your desires on another person that you have no right to do. If you are usurping the personal desires of another person to please yourself for any reason, even a good reason, you are operating in a level of witchcraft.
I Samuel 15:23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king.
More Review
Witchcrafts roots is about authority, taking authority over a person(s) that does not belong to you. If you are a leader, boss, owner, parent of under age children, pastor, politician, or government authority, you have a realm of authority. Spiritually speaking and legally if you have authority you can have your will or the will of the position imposed on those that you have authority over. As an example a police officer has authority over the manner which you drive on public roads but not where you are going. A school teacher has authority to teach a child in a school setting but not over other activities in the home of the child. When we try to take authority in areas that do not belong to us, then we are beginning to be in the witchcraft arena.
Levels of Witchcraft
All witchcraft levels are wrong and things get darker and darker as the desire to be in control is wanted at most any cost or action.
Level One, Wrong Prayers
The lowest level of witchcraft is prayer. You may think how can a prayer ever be wrong? If you remember Jesus in the garden saying, “Not my will but thy will be done,” this was Jesus expressing a personal desire of not having to walk out the cup given to him, but yielding to the authority and will over his life, the will of the Father. This is a very common scene in families and churches where people under or equal in authority pray to change things to the outcome they would like rather than the outcome that the subject person or God would like.
Example of a Wrong Prayer
In a situation which is found in many of our lives, let’s say hypothetically that a person is called to be a missionary in a dangerous place, like an Islamic nation. This person has heard from God and has been confirmed from several sources. The parents of this person a very scared and worried about this person going to this field so they begin praying that something will happen to stop the mission. As an example of a prayer, “Lord I prayer that the mission board will not approve the mission.” That’s just one example, there could be many prayers for road blocks to moving to that mission field. These prayers are motivated by personal desire and fear, not faith that pleases God. I am going to move on to the next level but watch for a future post about the power of wrong prayers, yes they can have power, endorsed by God.
Level Two, Intimidation
The next level of witchcraft is intimidation. This kind of witchcraft is very blatant and present in our America society. We have groups that are formed especially to impose their will on others, even to the point of passing laws to control others. God never takes any one’s free will away from them and we should never do so either. I know of a situation where a person felt like God had told them to go to Jerusalem to pray and this person’s spouse told them that they had to take them too or they would be looking at divorce. God’s will was decreed and another person steps in and tries to change the will and actions to fit their desires through intimidation. In another common example, I was in a church that group of people were upset with the pastor so they influenced the church board to reduce the pastor’s salary, eventually forcing him to resign. I have given to situations that happen often in various ways in the homes and churches of many of us and these are Christians that have behavior that is purely witchcraft. Outside the church you see much the same with labor groups, political groups, and others of special interests, like maybe the legalizing of pot for example.
Level Three, Supernatural Powers
For myself and many others, due to the influence of Hollywood, thought that this was the beginning of all witchcraft but this is just a stronger and more desperate attempt to get your way.
Romans 11:29 For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.
People have spiritual gifts that are all from God, He is the creator of all things, and some people use their gifts for God’s will and others use their gifts for their own will, in and out of the church. Most of us have seen movies where some person is evoking the powers of a spirit or Satan himself to gain more power and control over more people and we think that if this situation was real that the power came from Satan only. If you stop and think, who created Satan? The answer obviously is God, the creator of all things and all the power that Satan or any other fallen angel has was created by God for God and is being missed used. Likewise there are people that have prophetic gifting from God for God but have chosen to use it for self-promotion and power. This third level is very easy to see how tapping into spiritual power and knowledge for personal gain is witchcraft. Again, someone playing with an Ouija board to get answers, the depths of practices in Voodoo, or a palm reader all are plainly occult but if a minister is flaunting his or her healing or prophetic gift to gain power or let’s say a large offering is operating in witchcraft at this third level. Ministers operating like this are masking their desire to make money with their spiritual gift from God. It is very scriptural to bless a minister for their service with their gifting but we all have witnessed the hype for large offerings both in person and on TV.
The Fourth Level, Sorceries
Often preaches and teachers will share about the definition of the word sorceries in the New Testament as being pharmakeia, a Greek word we get pharmacy from. Like the word wine in the Bible which is used for anything from grapes, alcoholic or not, sorceries is also used for all kinds of witchcraft, not just witchcraft using drugs. However in this fourth level I want to talk about witchcraft using drugs. Again we can think of a Hollywood movie where someone under a spell is fed some potion or drugs that keeps them in a zombie state and under the control or out of the way of the person that is controlling them. This scenario may lead us to think again, how could this be in the church? If you watch any TV you know that a large majority of the commercials today are for drugs, many of them for mood care. Whether in church, in the family, or in the work place, it is very common for people to be so stressed by situations that they have been put on medication so they can live life. Often the effects of this medication takes away much of a person’s drive, concern, and compassion for what they do, are getting Zombie like yet? We hear things about those being medicated like, seems like all he wants to do is lay around and sleep now. These people are put out of service, if not fully, partially. How many pastors are on psychotropic drugs because of the stress of pastoring and possibly of control and submission issues within the congregation? No one person put the pastor on these drugs but often people create situations that direct people to the drugs to calm the pain of what they have to deal with. The finally results is not much different than the witch secretly slipping the drug to an unsuspecting person.
Wrong Prayers and Their Power Next
Watch for the next post on the power of wrong prayers.
Flagship Apostolic 
Posted on October 12, 2014
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