08/24/2026
This time last year, I conducted a foundational assessment with a woman from Africa, and although I had experienced strange encounters before, there was something very different about this one. From the beginning, it became apparent that she was not interested in the results of her bloodline assessment. She was not interested in soul healing. She was not interested in deliverance. She was far more interested in challenging me regarding my beliefs surrounding spiritual warfare and Christianity.
She spent a great deal of time trying to convince me that because I am a Black American and a descendant of enslaved Africans, I had lost my spiritual roots. She subtly defended witchcraft and seemed particularly interested in explaining the importance and effectiveness of shamans and native doctors. She flaunted her wealth and asked me numerous questions about how long I had been doing what I do, who taught me, and where my spiritual knowledge came from.
Because I am well-versed in spiritual warfare, I was able to have the conversation with her without becoming intimidated or defensive. I explained to her that everything practiced by shamans, native doctors, psychics, and even false prophets is not necessarily fabricated. There can be information present. There can be knowledge present. There can even be results. The issue is the SOURCE.
This is why Scripture tells us, “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God.” — 1 John 4:1. The instruction itself tells us that the spiritual realm requires discernment. The question cannot simply be, Did something happen? Was something revealed? Was something accurate? Did somebody experience a result? The question must also be: What spirit is behind it, and what is the source?
I explained to her that as believers, we receive spiritual revelation and insight from the third realm, whereas those tapping into psychic abilities, ancestral worship, necromancy, divination, and other occult practices are accessing information from the second realm. Therefore, something can contain a measure of truth and still be contaminated. That is strange fire.
And Scripture establishes boundaries regarding the sources God’s people are forbidden to consult. Deuteronomy 18:10–12 specifically addresses divination, sorcery, mediums, spiritists, and those who consult the dead. So when I speak about spiritual boundaries, I am not talking about being afraid of the supernatural. I am talking about recognizing that God Himself established boundaries concerning where His people are permitted to obtain spiritual information.
I also explained that some of the herbs, plants, natural remedies, and concoctions used by native doctors have legitimate healing properties. God created the earth. The medicinal properties contained within creation belong to God—not witchcraft. Revelation 22:2 describes the tree of life and says that “the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.” We also see in Ezekiel 47:12 that the fruit would be for food and “the leaf thereof for medicine.”
Therefore, the fact that a native doctor understands the medicinal properties of a plant does not make the plant demonic. God created the plant. God created its properties. God created the earth from which it grows. The contamination happens when another spiritual source is brought into the equation.
When ancestral spirits are consulted, when powers associated with the earth, water, or other elements are invoked, when necromancy is practiced, when divination is used to read someone’s future, or when spiritual practices are employed to manipulate the outcome of someone’s future, we have moved beyond the boundaries of the Most High God.
She seemed surprised that I understood the distinction. I wasn’t telling her that everything she described was the devil, nor was I agreeing that everything was useful or acceptable. Something can produce a result and still come from a source that I will not partner with. Something can be accurate and still be contaminated. Something can demonstrate power and still be strange fire.
And we have biblical precedent for that distinction. Acts 16:16–18 tells us about the young woman with a spirit of divination who followed Paul and Silas declaring that they were servants of the Most High God who proclaimed the way of salvation. What she was saying about them was true, but the spirit operating through her was not the Holy Spirit. Paul eventually commanded the spirit to come out of her.
That passage alone should teach us something: ACCURACY DOES NOT AUTOMATICALLY VALIDATE THE SOURCE.
The conversation became even more interesting when she began questioning me about my heritage. She tried to use the fact that I am American and descended from Africans to suggest that I needed to be careful about shunning something that was a part of me. These were my ancestors. This was supposedly my heritage and my lineage, and therefore I needed to reconnect with it.
I politely let her know that I am a NEW CREATURE IN CHRIST.
“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” — 2 Corinthians 5:17.
I am quite aware that many of my ancestors participated in practices that were contrary to God. I am aware that water spirits, in particular, were worshipped within my ancestral history, and I boldly renounce and denounce those practices. My ancestry may explain where I came from naturally, but Jesus Christ determines who I am spiritually.
I am unashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and I am not confused regarding why I believe what I believe. As Paul declared in Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation.”
She even made the statement that Christianity is a white man’s religion. I politely let her know that was a lie. Christianity was in Africa long before the transatlantic slave trade. I also told her that I am fully aware that Christianity was later used by some people to manipulate and control enslaved Africans and that lies were incorporated and Scriptures were misused. However, that was man’s manipulation of Christianity. It was not what was written in the Word of God. Somebody misusing Scripture does not change the truth of Scripture.
We eventually moved on, but we never really got through her assessment results because, quite frankly, that was not why she came. At the time, I did not realize it. I simply remember thinking after we disconnected, “That was strange.” I could not understand why someone would spend money for a foundational assessment and have so little interest in the results.
It wasn’t until later, while listening to a spiritual warfare resource, that everything came together. The teacher began explaining how workers of darkness target men and women of God to determine whether they can recruit them, compromise them, or pull them over to their side. He began discussing how prominent pastors, prophets, and teachers have gone to the Marine Kingdom seeking powers, influence, wealth, crowds, and popularity. As I listened, Holy Spirit brought that entire conversation back to my remembrance.
The questions. The flaunting of wealth. The defense of witchcraft. Her fascination with how I knew what I knew. Her questions about who taught me. Her attempts to convince me that I had lost something because of slavery and needed to reconnect with ancestral practices. The entire conversation suddenly made sense.
That woman was sizing me up. She was weighing me spiritually to determine whether there was an opening.
And what makes this encounter even more powerful to me is that I know it was God who kept me throughout that conversation because, truthfully, that was not the best time for me to be hosting a bloodline assessment. I was going through a crisis in my personal life, and I was not in the highest of spirits. I was carrying some things. I was disappointed about some things. I was hurting. If there was ever a time to approach me and see whether pain, disappointment, or vulnerability had created an opening, that was the time.
But Holy Spirit kept me.
I am reminded of a quote that says, “Even in my worst state, I am stronger than the enemy.” And I understand that strength is not because I am so great or powerful within myself. It is because of who lives in me.
“Greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.” — 1 John 4:4.
She encountered me during a difficult season, but what she did not realize was that my difficult season had not changed my foundation.
There has never been a crisis that has come into my life that caused me to want to abandon God. Have I been disappointed? Absolutely. Have I wanted things to go differently? Yes. Have I cried and asked God why certain things were allowed? Of course. But I have never questioned God’s sovereignty or whether His Word was true because I was going through a trial. My relationship with God is not built upon everything going my way.
I also don’t know if you guys recall the story I shared about the warlock who was at my house working on something. He told me there was a voodoo priestess in my bloodline and said that was why I was so bold and able to do what I do without being afraid. He even told me that his demons were asking him, “Why is she not afraid?” They were trying to figure out why I wasn’t afraid.
But my authority does not come from a voodoo priestess in my bloodline. My boldness does not come from ancestral spirits. My discernment does not come from the Marine Kingdom. It comes from Jesus Christ.
Jesus said in Luke 10:19, “Behold, I give unto you power…over all the power of the enemy.” THAT is where I locate my authority.
I’ve also shared in some of my masterclasses that I have been approached by the Illuminati three times in the dream state. Three times I was given an invitation and shown what they wanted to do with my life, my influence, and my reach if I would work for them. And all three times, to God’s glory, my answer was absolutely not.
This entire experience brought something back to the forefront for me. We have become so impressed by power, influence, crowds, manifestations, titles, wealth, platforms, and spiritual demonstrations that we don’t always stop long enough to ask where the power is coming from.
There are men and women of God who look extremely powerful on the outside, but behind closed doors they are compromised. They are preaching Jesus publicly while secretly drawing power and influence from the Marine Kingdom.
Jesus Himself warned in Matthew 7:22–23 that people would say they had prophesied, cast out devils, and done many wonderful works in His name, and yet He would say, “I never knew you.”
That should sober every believer.
RESULTS ALONE DO NOT VALIDATE THE SOURCE.
Everything supernatural is not the Holy Spirit. Everything accurate is not prophecy. Everything powerful is not God. Everything that produces healing is not operating within the boundaries of God. Everything labeled “ancestral wisdom” is not something you need to reclaim simply because your ancestors practiced it. And every door promising greater influence, greater power, greater wealth, or a larger platform was not opened by God.
Some doors are invitations. Some doors are tests. Sometimes the enemy is not coming to attack you; he is coming to see if he can recruit you. And sometimes you don’t even realize you were being weighed until the conversation is over.
That woman was weighing me.
But she found no opening. 🙌🏾🔥
And what brings tears to my eyes is knowing that I wasn’t even at my strongest when it happened. I was going through. I was hurting. I was carrying my own personal crisis while simultaneously sitting in front of this woman doing ministry. I didn’t fully understand what was happening spiritually during that conversation, but Holy Spirit did.
He kept me.
Even in my worst state, I was stronger than the enemy—not because of me, but because “greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world.” — 1 John 4:4.
I know where my help comes from. I know where my allegiance lies. I know who has kept me. And I am unashamed of the Gospel of JESUS CHRIST.
The Power Pusher, LICSW
www.thepowerpusher.org
