How to know what's from God and what isn't | Orthodox vs. Charismatic Approach | Ep. 109
Many Christians today, especially those coming from the New Age, occult backgrounds, or charismatic spaces, wrestle with a vital question: How do I know whether a spiritual experience is truly from God?
In Episode 109 of the Raised & Redeemed podcast, I sit down with Fr. Ivan Shandra, an Orthodox priest serving in Toronto Canada and the host of the YouTube channel Orthodox Talks, to explore the Orthodox understanding of the Holy Spirit and the crucial gift of spiritual discernment.
As someone who once mistook many emotional or mystical encounters for God’s voice, this conversation felt deeply needed. The charismatic world often emphasizes dramatic experiences—prophecies, visions, tongues, “words from the Lord,” and instant deliverance. But the Orthodox Church approaches these things with a very different lens: one rooted in humility, obedience, and the sacramental life of the Church.
Fr. Ivan explains that the Holy Spirit is not an energy, feeling, or force, but the third Divine Person of the Trinity. We receive the Holy Spirit truly and fully through chrismation, and our entire spiritual life is about learning to cooperate with His grace. Discernment doesn’t come through emotional intensity, it comes through purification of the heart, prayer, repentance, and guidance from the Church.
We also discussed:
How to discern the Holy Spirit’s voice from our own thoughts or emotional impulses
What prophecy really means in the Orthodox Church
Why Orthodox tradition views modern “charismatic gifts” differently
The Orthodox teaching on speaking in tongues
How the Church approaches casting out demons and why healing must continue afterward
Why the deepest experience of the Holy Spirit is found in the Divine Liturgy, the sacraments, and the life of the Church—not in private spiritual highs
This episode is a grounding, clarifying guide for anyone who wants to avoid spiritual deception and grow in true communion with God.
If you’ve ever wondered whether your spiritual experiences are real, trustworthy, or aligned with Christ, I invite you to watch or listen to this conversation with Fr. Ivan.
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Coming Up Next
Coming up next: In the next podcast episode, we will be talking about modern Saints with Fr. Photios Dumont!
