It wasn't anything physical, although I do believe we need to inform ourselves on the safe use of essential oils. No, it had to do with the thief and how I'd left my house without a burglar alarm in the past and let him come in and steal my joy and steal my peace before; the Lord was warning me not to do it again.
John 10:10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. (NKJV)
Jesus came to give us life. The thief, Satan, wants to steal that life from us. Satan's the oldest thief, he knows what he's doing and he is very sneaky. So please let me be a burglar alarm to wake up those who are asleep as I was several years ago and allowed him to steal from me.
In my early 20's I had some health issues and someone suggested I try yoga and meditation. I learned some basic yoga stretches and some breathing techniques to help me relax and I really liked the practice. I started reading information on yoga and got a tape on meditation. The idea was to empty your mind. Well I grew up in a Christian home and I knew that emptying the mind was a bad idea. So I didn't pursue yoga meditation, and I thought the yoga exercises were just that, physical exercise. But I had opened my mind to a false spirituality without realizing it.
In 2001 as my first marriage was falling apart I was introduced to Qi Gong aka Chi Kung. This is the"mother" of all martial arts. Qi or chi being the 'energy' or 'life force' that moves through the body, so they say. The meditation part intrigued me because it was about focus and visualization. We were not taught to empty our minds and so I thought it was okay. Instead we were encouraged to bring in good energy, positive energy, release any negative emotions or energy. That type of thing. How could that be bad? It was very relaxing and I was content.
The problem is these practices come from a foundation of idol worship and this false spirituality lulls you slowly into a self confidence that excludes the Creator. I was living a life of self deception really. I was full of pride. I was self sufficient, I didn't need the power of the Lord, I thought I had it all together. Not even close. My relationships suffered tremendously. I started having all kinds of physical problems, with my stomach, my digestion, my back. It got bad enough I was missing a lot of work and I finally went to a primary care physician and realized I was suffering from depression. The opposite of what the spiritual meditation promised. But in the process of these illnesses, I had gotten lazy about meditating and I quit doing it. God in His mercy used my sin to bring me out of it. It wasn't overnight, it was a process.
So too was it a process to come back to the Lord. The biggest turning point was when I had a dream, I saw Jesus, He was so beautiful. And I heard the Lord speak to me saying, "Anyone who comes to me will have eternal life". I picked up my Bible again and began to read it every day. I still do. The Word transformed me. (Romans 12:2)
So I speak from experience when I say be careful when you are researching, buying and using essential oils. The new age (which is a misnomer because it's really old) has hijacked the essential oil market in a lot of ways. And I have found a lot of blending between the Bible and false spirituality that I find disturbing. Like I said the thief is sneaky, he can be very subtle, he's not going to announce himself. He even uses scripture to lull us into thinking it's of the Lord when it's the enemy trying to deceive us. He always sprinkles in some truth with his lies or else we would see right through him immediately.
Before I go on I would like to say I am not trying to tell anyone where to buy or not to buy essential oils. Whether you should or should not use them. What I am saying is seek the Lord first and do your research.
As of this writing, the only oil company I have purchased from is Young Living, however, I will not be buying from them again because that yellow light I mentioned was Holy Spirit highlighting some things about this company that have me concerned. Such as the way they are touting the use of essential oils in the Bible and at the same time promoting new age spirituality.
Their webpage and their product guide use the following to describe some of their oil blends.
Abundance "is created to enhance the frequency of the harmonic magnetic energy field that surrounds us."
Aroma Life "pulsing with life, this vibrant blend energizes your life force."
Harmony "is an exquisite blend that promotes physical and emotional well-being by bringing harmonic balance to the energy centers of the body."
Envision "helps awaken and renew that drive to overcome fear and begin experiencing new, more rewarding dimensions."
"Sacred Frankincense is ideal for those who wish to take their spiritual journey and meditation experiences to a higher level."
On the Young Living website you find a link to the founder D. Gary Young's blog where you can read this.
"I believe that the essential oils are a conduit between us and God, and I truly believe without question that they increase our ability to communicate on a higher level than ever before. As you start using the oils, one of the first things you will notice, if you don’t have a specific ache or pain, is that your spiritual relationship with Father in Heaven will magnify over and over and over. If you use the oils for no other reason than that alone, they will change your life." To read the entire blog post click here.
There is nothing biblical to support essential oils bringing us into a relationship with 'Father in Heaven'. In fact anyone who believes they can achieve a closer relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ without the Holy Spirit of God is deceived. But then again, Young doesn't mention Jesus Christ in his blog, or anywhere else that I have seen so one must wonder what god he is in a spiritual relationship with.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying we need to check out every single place we buy from and make sure the owner believes in Jesus Christ. That would make our lives very difficult indeed. However, when I go to other websites to make a purchase, amazon, target, hobby lobby and countless other places, I am not confronted with false spirituality.
And maybe your thinking, what I thought at first, that it doesn't matter because I don't believe in that new age garbage anyway, so it won't effect me to buy from this company. That may be so. But remember, the Lord has called us to be examples for others.We are not to cause another to stumble. I've decided I don't want to take the risk of leading another person astray by calling myself a Christian and then affiliating myself with a company that promotes a spirituality the leads away from Christ.
There are alot of essential oil companies out there and unfortunately many of them have new age lingo in their marketing and some don't sell 100% pure essential oils. However, when I sought the Lord on this matter, I did find a few companies that sell 100% pure essential oils and do not promote a false spirituality. As a bonus, they are a lot less expensive than Young Living, (even at wholesale) most likely because they are not multilevel marketing companies.
Like I said, I'm not trying to tell you what to do. Wait a minute, yes I am. I'm telling you to seek the Lord first in all things. (Matt 6:33) Let Holy Spirit guide you and you will not be led astray.
Psalm 34:10 The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.
Thank you so much for this post. As an EO junkie I appreciated this more than you know. I wholeheartedly agree, we must first seek Him, in all things.
ReplyDeleteThat is good to hear. It's obviously been too long since we stopped by, I didn't know you were an EO junkie, lol. I would love to compare notes with you one day soon.
ReplyDeleteVery intriguing and interesting...thank you.
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