The Dead:
 

The Bible strickly condemns attempts to contact the dead:

Leviticus 19:31 - Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them: I [am] the LORD your God.

Isaiah 8:19 - And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead?

Leviticus 20:6 - And the soul that turneth after such as have familiar spirits, and after wizards, to go a whoring after them, I will even set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his people.

But what should one do if they sense that the dead are trying to contact us???

Can the dead be a "messenger" from the grave? Some have proposed that the early church thought it at least possible because of their response to Peter after he had been miraculously released from prison:

Acts 12:12-15
12 When he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose other name was Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying. 13 And when he knocked at the door of the gateway, a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer. 14 Recognizing Peter's voice, in her joy she did not open the gate but ran in and reported that Peter was standing at the gate. 15 They said to her, “You are out of your mind.” But she kept insisting that it was so, and they kept saying, “It is his angel!”

What would you do if you sensed that a departed loved one was trying to communicate?

Re: The Dead:
 

It his Angel is different then someone coming back from the dead!
THe dead can not contact the living plain & simple, God has placed boundaries on life here & nowhere does it state that disembodied spirits of dead people walk around trying to say "yoo hoo" to their loved ones.
If anything like 6that were to happen, I would recognize it as demonic as the dead can not contact the living.

Re: The Dead:
 

That's the answer I've always heard and believed.

I'm asking this because of some things that have happened in the past few months. My mother died 5 years ago and I've made no attempts to contact her whatsoever. However, there have been several occasions wherein I've been thinking about her, or "felt her", .... and another person bring her up shortly after or the next day.

This past occurance was interesting. I was alseep and thought I heard my mom call my name. It woke me up and for just a second, I forgot she was dead because it was so vivid. I couldn't sleep. So I went down stairs to get something to drink, check the doors, etc. The next day my girlfriend, Christina, brought up my mom and asked a few general questions about her and if I had any favorite pictures of her. I asked her why she was interested and Christina said, "I don't know. I was just thinking about your mom and some of the things you'd mentioned. I wanted to know if you'd mind if I put up a picture of her in the family picture frame?"

This has happened maybe 5 times within the past six months or so. That's an average of almost once a month. Yet she's been gone for over 5 years now. The only "experience" I had regarding her "spirit", if you will, was the morning after she died. She died just two days shy of my son's first birthday, which she was so looking forward to. I held her hand and prayed with her as she died. In my prayer, I prayed that God would allow her to visit with my son overnight so she could have some time to say goodbye (my son was with a baby sitter while I was at the hospital all night). I stayed in a hotel with my grandmother, my aunt, and my then wife the night she died. The next morning, we were talking about the events of the night before and a hush fell over the room. It was like she just walked in. Everyone had goosebumps and my aunt said, "It's like she's still here." No sooner had she said that did the baby sitter knock at the hotel room door to deliver our son to us before we had to leave the hotel and head back to Dayton Ohio. I took that as confirmation that God allowed my mother to visit with Noah (my son) that night and that she was saying goodbye before leaving this realm and going to Heaven.

But like I said, things have ramped up maybe the past 6 months or so with "sensing" her presence and others bringing her up, thinking about her, or asking something about her. I've also felt like she was praying for me in Heaven. It's just strange. I was thinking... the next time I feel her... would it be a "sin" for me to ask if she is trying to tell me something???

I know, it sounds strange. It was just a thought.

Re: The Dead:
 

It is an interesting subject. I would have loved to have felt my mom or dads prescence after they died but I only felt loss and grief.

My father died when I was barely in my teens. When I was engaged to be married I had a very vivid dream where I was in a shopping mall with my fiance' and as usual we had seperated for me to go to electronic stores and her to go clothes shopping. The mall was crowded and suddenly I ran into my dad. I was very excited and told him I was getting married and he had to meet my future wife. I was trying to lead him back to where my fiance' was but the crowd was so thick I could not make any headway. It was a very frustrating dream but one easy to figure out. In thinking about it afterwards I thought it was funny how in my dream it did not seem all that weird that my father who had been dead for 8 years was all of a sudden in a shopping mall.

Re: The Dead:
 

The dead can't communicate to the living either

Re: The Dead:
 

Beware. There IS such a thing as demons attempting to delude Christians. We are in a "spiritual warfare".

The Holy Spirit can use a picture or vision of one who has died to impress something to us that we may not otherwise receive. That does not mean its the person speaking.

Re: The Dead:
 

Is it possible that you are just thinking about and missing your mother more than normal?

You definitely want to beware of thoughts of making contact as MTD says, there are demons out there attempting to delude Christians. They use what is dear to our hearts against us.

Life is short. You will once again see your mother.

Re: The Dead:
 

I'm so sorry for your loss. It's hard to describe the sense of grief and loss to someone who hasn't experienced the loss of a parent.

Your dream was very interesting. Do you believe it was "just a dream" or have you interpreted it as something more significant?

Re: The Dead:
 

Okay... if your right... I'll sweep your mansion for 10 thousand years. If I'm right... you sweep mine? lol

Prax... I believe the Bible tells us many things about salvation. But I don't believe it tells us EVERYTHING about the supernatural, death, or the afterlife. I think we read about hints, see glimpses, and shadows of various things. And I think that's intentional on God's part. It keeps those content with the basics where they need to be... and it inspires those who want to know to dig deeper and contemplate the possibilities.

Moses and Elijah... both dead... visited Christ on the mount of transfiguration.

Yes... I believe that Elijah died. I don't believe he was wisked away not to face death. Here's a link explaining why...

http://ezinearticles.com/?Did-Elijah...th?&id=3085984

Re: The Dead:
 

Michael... you don't believe in disembodied realities. How can you believe in demons and angels... and deny the reality of the human soul that lives on after death???

Re: The Dead:
 

Riiiggghhhhht. The God of Illusions. lol

Re: The Dead:
 

You know the Baptism of Jesus Illusion. :heeheehee

Re: The Dead:
 

The Father spoke as the man Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son, was baptized.

No illusion there.

Re: The Dead:
 

Jesus Christ spoke as the Father. For He said He could do nothing on His own. Good stuff Aquila.

Re: The Dead:
 

:thumbsup

Re: The Dead:
 

Never the less... all of this banter doesn't answer the original question.

If this happens again... would it be a sin for me to ask to see if my mother is trying to communicate something to me? I'm not seeking it out. No ouiga boards, seances, etc. If it happens again, I might just sit back on my couch and say, "Mom, if that's you. I want you to know that I love and miss you. If you're trying to communicate something to me... let me know what it is. You have my attention."

Re: The Dead:
 

I wouldn't. If you do that you open yourself to a deceiving spirit & could end up losing your soul!

Re: The Dead:
 

That's OT. It's okay now. ;)

Re: The Dead:
 

Good point... that's pretty important. lol