Fresh Manna
by Pastor Tim Burt

Have you ever felt like an inner voice, a feeling, or a sign is a sign that is telling you how your day or upcoming future is going to go? The world calls that an omen. If you choose to believe it, you could be opening yourself up to demonic activity. An omen is defined as a phenomenon or event or circumstance that supposedly forecasts a good or evil. Signs outside of what God’s Word teaches us are born out of superstition, myth, wild and over-stimulated imaginations, and even pizza dreams. And it becomes the devil’s playground because getting you to believe or have faith in things outside of God’s Word, opens your life to demonic activity!

When God created man, it became a part of man’s spiritual DNA to seek to know his creator. Consequently, every culture that does not have God’s Word to instruct them lets their imaginations fill those gaps concerning God with some form of spiritualism rooted in myth and superstition. God never wanted this for mankind. Abraham and his seed were raised up to be a light to the world concerning God and His ways. Israel was instructed through Moses to be light and influence to the nations while avoiding the worldly influences of paganism. We see it in Deuteronomy 18:9-11 (NLT) “When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, be very careful not to imitate the detestable customs of the nations living there. For example, never sacrifice your son or daughter as a burnt offering. And do not let your people practice fortune-telling, or use sorcery, or interpret omens, or engage in witchcraft, or cast spells, or function as mediums or psychics, or call forth the spirits of the dead.”

God wanted them to avoid being influenced by the pagan cultures that surrounded them because belief in them would curse their life with false beliefs. He wanted them to listen to, learn, and trust Him and His Word alone. He wanted them to influence the nations, not be influenced by them. He feels the same way today.

When we give our lives to Jesus, God fills our heart with His Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit opens up our ability to understand scripture and teaches and instructs us from within, helping us to learn and execute God’s Word in our lives. For example, let’s say one day you really have a bad attitude. As it affects your day and those around you, you start to feel the wrongness of it. You might hear this inward thought feeling like an omen that suggests, Your wife says you are always this way and you are never going to change. Your wife is going to get tired of you and ditch you and divorce you soon. If you put faith in that thought or omen, you might give up on the spot and say, What’s the use? At the same time, the Lord begins to bring to your remembrance verses on loving one another. That is God leading you by His Spirit. God doesn’t lead us by omens or circumstances, but by His Holy Spirit. Romans 8:14 (NKJV) says “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” If you listened to the Holy Spirit, you’d repent to God and then to your wife, and with the grace of God and His help, you’d change your attitude.

You might wake up one day thinking, This just feels like it’s going to be bad day. That is only a feeling but the second you begin to believe it, your faith in it is faith in the devil’s ability to make the day bad.

Never accept feelings based on nothing. Reject them and instead, say, This is the day that the Lord has made and I will rejoice and be glad in it.  Believe that you have God’s grace and favor and that will help your day be great! Pray and ask the Lord to lead you in your day! But never cave into erroneous feelings from nowhere—especially when they somehow seem to project bad about to happen! Omens, superstitions, horoscopes, fortune-telling—they are all from the same garbage can! And garbage stinks! God wants us to rise up in faith knowing that He is our help and our promise. He creates hope and expectation. Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV) “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

He’ll help us in any situation if we will believe His promises and have faith in them.

On a closing note for today, which will you believe? Some omen generated by a negative circumstance or erroneous feeling? Or will you learn to sink your roots faith deep into His promises such as this daily? It’s your choice! Choose wisely! Psalms 115:11-15 (NLT) “All you who fear the Lord, trust the Lord! He is your helper and your shield. The Lord remembers us… He will bless those who fear the Lord, both great and lowly. May the Lord richly bless both you and your children. May you be blessed by the Lord, who made heaven and earth.” 

In His Love,
Pastor Tim Burt