God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. John 4:24
Jesus said to His disciples, after His resurrection, “Look at my hands. Look at my feet. You can see that it’s really me. Touch me and make sure that I am not a ghost, because ghosts don’t have bodies, as you see that I do.” Luke 24:39
When I was a child, in the 50’s, there was a cartoon figure, ‘Casper the Friendly Ghost’, who preferred to help people rather than scare them like his uncles. Casper stands by his grave with the headstone, ‘Casper’, and starts his day by showering his invisible body and then putting on a sheet to be visible to others. He is able to pass through walls without leaving the sheet behind. He is able to become intangible and invisible and fly as a ghost. Casper is able to have things pass right through him, as well as physically affect the world around him by moving people and objects around.
I thought that Casper was fun to watch and believed that all people died and became ghosts and floated around. And just like in real life, some were evil and most were good.
I have since learned, through personal experience with the spirit world, that ghosts are not really ghosts at all, but are demons that masquerade as ghosts to deceive people into believing they are interacting with their dead relatives. Demons will not confess Jesus Christ as the Son of God, per I John 4:1-3, and neither will these friendly or unfriendly ghosts. What does that tell you?
Jesus knew that people believed in ghosts as the spirits of their dead ancestors. He used this to show them that he indeed had a resurrected, fleshly body that could be seen and touched. He could also pass through walls and locked doors just like Casper.
Today there are many different television shows portraying ghosts and the paranormal. People are fascinated with ghosts, and seek their knowledge from the other side of the grave, believing that they are indeed the spirits of their dead ancestors.
My mission years in East Africa were full of encounters with the nationals paying homage to the spirits of their dead ancestors. From birth to the grave, charms and amulets are worn for protection from evil spirits and for favor with their dead loved ones. Visits to witchdoctors to secure blessed or cursed objects were part of everyday life. Witchdoctors displayed their wares openly in the village markets as traditional medicine; while everyone knew the rituals behind the scenes were for blessings or curses.
Paul teaches us that there are different bodies for different beings in God’s creation. There is a body that is celestial and there is a body that is terrestrial. Just as there are different bodies for fish, birds, animals, and men, there are different bodies for the invisible world around us.
Paul assures us that, as Christians, we shall bear the image of His heavenly body at the resurrection of the dead. We have borne the natural body of flesh; and as a believer in Christ, we shall wear the spiritual body of the resurrection when He raises us from the grave to live with Him for eternity.
Jesus instructs us to worship God in spirit and in truth; and as you go through the Bible you learn that His Word is Truth, that Christ is Truth. He is God’s wisdom and knowledge manifested in a fleshly body that was resurrected in a glorified body not subject to death and this world ever again. This is our hope, as believers in Him: instead of dying and spending eternity without God’s Presence of love and light, we fall asleep to awake in His glorious Presence for all of eternity!
We do not need the communication with dead ancestors. We need the communication with Christ, as the Son of God, who quickens our human spirit to house His Holy Spirit, instructing us in that which is pleasing to our Lord through the voice of our conscience. The Words that Christ speaks to us are ‘Spirit’ and ‘Life’. When you read His Words, as found in the Bible, your human spirit becomes still and quiet and you are aware of His Presence in the room with you. He has passed through galaxies and planets, and walls and doors, to be where you are, allowing you to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that He is always with you until He returns for you to be where He is.
Instead of trying to understand everything you read and know, with your mind, try ‘feeling’ after His Presence with your human spirit and heart. He is not far from anyone of us when we ‘feel’ after Him. (Acts 17:27-28)
Jesus said, “touch me and make sure that I am not a ghost.” Jesus is a living Spirit and wants to live in your human spirit. And once you learn how to touch Him with your human spirit, and that He is always near to you, then you will begin to understand with your mind the ‘Truth’ that is in Christ and His Words alone. Casper and his friends will no longer hold any appeal for your thirst for truth and knowledge of the other side of the grave. You will find all that you are looking for in Christ, and in Him alone. He is the Truth, the Way and the Life, and no one comes to the Father except through Him. (John 14:6)
The world exalts the mind and knowledge. Knowledge puffs up and makes man proud and independent of His Creator. God wants us to acknowledge our need of Him for our daily bread, and daily guidance, and daily protection. When we start with our heart, and touch God with our spirit, he makes Himself known to us via His Spirit; and we soon understand the paths that we are to take each day, as He opens our understanding to His will for daily life. The fear, or reverence, for the Lord, is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge. It is totally opposite of what the world teaches us. Give your mind a rest, and start with your spirit touching His Holy Spirit; and you soon will find yourself praying in the Spirit, as His Holy Spirit directs your heart on a daily basis. Your human spirit becomes Born Again and desires the things of the Kingdom of God.
Watchman Nee said:
“How true it is that without the guidance of the Holy Spirit intellect not only is undependable but also extremely dangerous, because it often confuses the issue of right and wrong.”