Troubles of the World are tossing us like a storm upon the sea.
Satan and his army is at work and attacking us on every side.
He is tearing up homes and breaking up families.
We all hear and see how he is fighting, warring , against the household of faith around the world.
(Ma. 5:10)
We need to love one another.
(Eph.3:17)
Richard's article helped me to realize that we can never isolate ourselves from other human beings.
All though we carry our own burdens daily, our Lord strengthens us to reach out to others through the power that works in us.
In the beginning Satan tore out the heart of two parents who had to continue to love one child after he killed another child, his brother.
It hurts bad when we lose our love ones by any means.
Family against family
tears at the soul.
Families today are suffering for loss of children
and even babies by violence. Yet, God is our strength.
In my opinion satan has definitely targeted the household of faith to destroy and to tear down the Kingdom in which Grace and Mercy dwell: everlasting life,
that God has offered to us through the sacrifice of his Son on Calvary. The Gates of Hell
shall not prevail against it.
(Kjv Ma. 16:18)
(Online__Darvaza)
In the past were crucifixions, now Mass shootings in the church. Lord, help us.
Death and Satan teamed up for the Crucifixion of Jesus. Satan thought if he stirred the rulers to take Jesus' life, he, himself, could depend on death to hold him in the ground. Well, we know how that turned out. (Lk.24:39)
On the cross Jesus said, "They know not what they do."
We must continue to pray.
That is what Jesus did.
As we recognize the "War" let us put on the whole armour of God ( Eph. 6:13)and prepare ourselves for the battle.
The poor man cried, the Lord heard him and delivered him out of all his troubles.
( Ps. 34:6)
I am praying that I stay close enough to the Lord so that Satan can't squeeze in between us and separate us.
We think mainly of Jesus dying on the cross as the Passover Lamb. But how about all the other animal sacrifices that the law required? If we look closer, we can see what all Jesus fulfilled that day. This Passover day started when the sun went down and Jesus and His 12 gathered together for the Last Supper.
After midnight they went into the garden of Gethsemane from there Jesus was betrayed by a friend, Psalm 41:9 and more, taken to Annas and then Caiaphas, and then early that morning to Pilate to be judged where no fault was found in Him.
At the same time, a priest was selected to carry a wooden beam on his shoulders up the ramp to light the fire of the altar of sacrifice. The first Tamid lamb was brought up and tied to the altar and inspected to make sure it did not have any blemishes.
Jesus was nailed to the cross and stood up on the 3rd hour 9 AM, Mark 15:25, the first Tamid lamb was sacrificed and put on the altar of sacrifice on the 3rd hour 9 AM the first hour of prayer. All the sacrifices of the people were placed on top of the first Tamid lamb. The 2nd hour of prayer is the 6th hour, noon, Matthew 27:45 Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour.
The 3rd hour of prayer coincided with the evening sacrifice, at the 9th hour 3 PM when the last Tamid lamb was sacrificed and put on top of all the sacrifices of the people done that day. This was the exact time Jesus cried out and said it was finished Mark 15:34John 19:30.
God told Abraham to sacrifice his son and just before he did, God provided a ram for Isaac, and on that day the 14th of Nisan God provided Himself another Lamb, His only begotten Son sacrificed for us. Jesus also carried the wood for his sacrifice. Jesus fulfilled all the sacrifices, not just down to the day, but to the very hour itself.
As it is written,"All Scripture is given by inspiration of GOD,and is profitable for doctrine,for reproof,for correction,for instruction in righteousness:That the man of GOD may be perfect,thoroughly furnished unto all good works.
As you know,our enemy"is wiser than Daniel;there is no secret that they can hide from him".Paul Apostle warned,saying:Put on the whole armour of GOD,that ye may BE ABLE to stand AGAINST the wiles of the Devil.
Think you(and many)also know that the MAN of sin,a Jewish MAN,son of perdition,will manifest himself very soon as messiah and God( John 5:43-47and 2Thessalonians 2:3-4and9-12,and mainly Revelation 13:11 and so on),so we all MUST be careful.Get ready.
However,the prophecy of Ezekiel is very clear:Ez.28:7-10-->7 Behold,therefore I will bring strangers upon thee,the terrible of the nations:and they shall draw their Swords against the beauty of thy wisdom,and they shall defile thy brightness.
8They shall bring thee down to the pit( Revelation 20:1-3),and thou shalt die the deaths of them that are slain in the midst of the seas.(peoples,and nations,and multitudes of all tongues-Re.17:15)
9Wilt thou yet say before him that slayeth thee,I am God?but thou shalt be a MAN,and no God,in the hand of him that slayeth thee.
10Thou shalt die the deaths of the uncircumcised(he's a Jewish MAN)by the hand of strangers:for I have spoken it,saith the Lord GOD.
Re.12:9-12-->9And the great dragon was cast out,that old serpent,called the Devil,and Satan,which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth,and his angels were cast out with him.
10And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven,Now is come salvation,and strength,and the kingdom of our GOD,and the power of His Christ:for the accuser of our brethren is cast down,which accused them before our GOD day and night.11And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb,and by the word of their testimony;12Th
Here's below is what JESUS said to John in Patmos through His angel (in fact an Archangel- Revelation 1:12-13)
Revelation 21:3-8
3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven(heaven? Ephesians 1:3-8 and Philippians 3:20-21) saying, Behold, the TABERNACLE of GOD is with MEN( Revelation 11:15-18), and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and GOD Himself shall be with them, and be their GOD.
4 And GOD shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. --> Come up hither,
5 And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.
6 And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.
7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his GOD, and he shall be my son.
8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.
Dear Brothers and Sisters , how do wild animals treat the most vulnerable members of their herd ? The elderly , the sick , the disabled or deformed ? Those that can't function in the usual expected way ? They abandon them to their fate ,or they may even turn on them and kill them themselves , it's called survival of the fittest . Are we just animals , the cleverest evolutionary step on the ladder ? We are not , we are created in the image of our God and we are all His children , even those who don't believe are still His children . We are not to treat the most vulnerable people in the way that animals do to their own kind . This world and the people of it seek to denegrate and dehumanise the most vulnerable in society , accusing them of being worthless scroungers who should be trying much harder to be as useful and productive as everyone else when they are not like everyone else . They are weaker in some way and need our help , they are our brothers and sisters and God is watching us , seeing how we treat our weaker members . Are we like Cain ? Will we reply to God ' am I my brother's keeper ' when He asks us about our treatment of others who are weaker than us ? Would we dare say that to our God ?
Thank you Brother , I had never considered that the devil was lying when he said that to Jesus . You could say that he usurped humanity when he first lead us astray in the garden of Eden . It's now up to us as enlightened Christians to recognise his whiles and not allow him and this world to overpower us and lead us away from our Saviour . Those who are atheist are ignorant of his ways and just like Adam and Eve , seek his worldly wisdom so we can consider ourselves wise , wise enough to explain creation and everything in it in the guise of ' science ' which is the modern name for knowledge . Science and technology seek to explain away all God's awesome works and wonders , people are snared in this way , not wishing to have a benevolent God to rule over them and show them the right way to live and love . People don't want any boundaries on their behaviours , they see no reason for them as they think that humans are nothing more than the highest form of animal . They don't realise that God created us and created us in His own image , we are His children , not animals . So we shouldn't behave like animals , killing and eating each other up , physically and metaphorically . Cain's reply to God is ' am I my brother's keeper ' animals think that way , survival of the fittest , humans are brothers and sisters under our Father . We are to love and care for each other better than we do our own selves . Jesus is the perfect example of this behaviour and we should be seeking to emulate him as much as we possibly can in our behaviour towards each other .
Thank you Brother for your reply to me . I am aware of the daily sacrifice it's also in Leviticus chapter 6 verses 8-13 , I didn't know that it was called the Talmid , Im ignorant of the Jewish names for things so thanks for enlightening me on that . Any more information you have would be of great interest to me , I don't know much about Jewish names and traditions etc so would enjoy learning more , thank you .
I am praying for your son in Jesus' Mighty name! I also have a son, 20 y.o., please, pray for him too! Let us both agree and I believe, there will be an answer soon. I BELIEVE! Stay well, keep your hope alive at all times, the Lord is always faithfull! - your sister in Christ,
Concluding thoughts for now on the enemy of our souls.
I will attempt to wrap this up for now; although admittedly this is a subject which could easily call for many more postings. God in His infinite yet mysterious plans allowed for a created being to usurp 1/3 of the angels; and to deceive most of mankind throughout history. ( Matthew 7:13-14). Through the offspring mentioned in Genesis 6 he produced numerous giant beings (I can't see it being any other explanation) and therefore only Noah and his family were saved at the flood as it seems all the rest of mankind was corrupted genetically and by default morally beyond repair. (see Genesis 6:9 on Noah being "perfect in his generations"). He also later attempted the same thing on a more limited scale after the flood; resulting in Israel wiping out all the giants (with Goliath being the last one in the surrounding nations Israel had to conquer). Satan continued to attempt to wipe out all of God's people by the ordinance of Haman to wipe out all the Jews which was thwarted in Esther; the Holocaust and will almost succeed in Armageddon when half of Jerusalem is taken before Christ returns. He is the god of this world and Jesus didn't argue with him having control as a "usurper" type leader of all the Kingdoms of the world. Satan also will be given the limited short space of the last half of the Tribulation to more or less control the world but again he will fail to totally destroy the earth because God Himself makes the time short (see Matthew 24:22). Again; God is the one who allows these things; including the "strong delusion" He sends to decieve all those who didn't LOVE the truth but enjoyed unrighteousness ( 2 Thess. 2:11-12 rough translation). Once again at the end of the Millennium he has the final stand; which ends in his judgment cast into hell; and a mass of people as the sand of the sea; amazingly perishing despite seeing Christ on earth and living a utopian existance in the millennium.
I do not believe Joseph or Jesus had anything to do with the crucifixion crosses, Jesus had been 3.5 years in His ministry. There is something else you may be interested in studying that relates to the binding of Isaac which is the Tamid. The Tamid is the morning and evening daily sacrifice of Exodus 29:38-42. It parallels the day Jesus was crucified not just the day but to the hour of that day and I feel Jesus fulfilled it. They saw the Tamid/daily sacrifice as a kind of reiteration of the sacrifice of Isaac.
You may know about the Tamid and if so let me know. If not, I will try to get back to you soon maybe tomorrow with more on it.
Man is incapable of knowing how Holy and Just God is and we're also incapable of knowing how evil man is apart from the restrainer.
We see a picture of the evil of man in Revelation when the nations take up war against the Lord.
Also look at the evil condition of their heart here in Revelation 16:9-11 while being tormented.
Also see Psalms 2:1-12.
Romans 11:33 states. "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!
God gives life and he can take it!
The trouble with atheist is that they don't believe God gave life!
They have no understanding of deity.
See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand.
For I lift up my hand to heaven, and say, I live for ever.
If I whet my glittering sword, and mine hand take hold on judgment; I will render vengeance to mine enemies, and will reward them that hate me. Deuteronomy 32:39.
Hello Brother Adam , I believe that you are a Christian so I shan't talk about why we die because you already know that . When you and I were born we were not Christians , we spent some part of our lives as atheists . Remember what we were afraid of ? The same thing atheists are still afraid of , death . A lack of faith in , and knowledge of , God , is a terrible way to live . To live and die in darkness and ignorance is terrible , nothing to look forward to other than death . That's what atheists are facing every day , they watch their loved ones die and see their own end approaching . No wonder so many of them live for the pleasures of this world , because they have nothing else to look forward to .
We know that nothing at all would even be alive if it wasn't for the grace of God , we know that God is kind to atheists every day . Life is God's gift , He is the source and sustainer of it and He can give and He can take away as Job says .
God puts a difference between His children and the atheists . We are in a covenant relationship with Him , they are outside of that . Christ is the door . As long as we are in Christ we need not fear the death of our bodies . Atheists live in faithless fear , insecurity and misery . Desperately trying to fill the void that can only be filled by the Truth . Here are some references that illustrate what I'm trying to say . Exodus chapter 23 v 31-33 , Ex Ch 34 v 10-17 , Lev Ch 20 v 22-26 , Deut Ch 10 v 17-19 , Deut Ch 20 v 10-18 , Deut Ch 32 v 39. Ezekiel Ch 18 v 32 , Eze Ch 33 v 11, Luke Ch 13 v 1-5 . John Ch 17 , Jesus's prayer and finally , what does God want for all of us ? Deuteronomy Ch 5 v 29 . Atheists do not accept God's Sovereignty , they think that they have ' rights' . They don't realise that anything and everything that they have had in the past , have today and will have tomorrow , is only because of God's mercy and kindness . They think they do things themselves and can create their own lives and destinies etc .
Ultimately; whether it be Armageddon or the final Great White throne judgment; or the individual demise of every person outside of the faith since Adam fell; the fate of unregenerate man is horrible beyond imagination. The biggest problem is that we don't know who Christ is; the eyes of those under Satan's power are blinded ( 2 Corinthians 4:4). Once we can see clearly we will be on our face; so it is better to do it now than under compulsion at judgment. The righteous also are constrained but by His love to praise and worship the Lord. The Holy Spirit when we are fully surrendered will fill our entire being with praise.
For now; it wouldn't surprise me a bit if an atheist would have less of an issue with say capital punishment as many who call themselves Christian. The Antichrist himself is called the "lawless one" and indeed at least one atheist I met was from a worldly standpoint a very "moral" person. What the law does is serve as a "schoolmaster" ( Gal. 3:24) to bring people to faith.
This explains why it is possible for the vilest sinner (such as possibly occured with Jeffrey Dahmer) to change. As Christians we shouldn't have a double standard we can exact justice to protect the innocent but still have an attitude of unconditional love and forgiveness which wouldn't be comprehended by an atheist.
Anyway another good point is that Christ never said the adage that God helps those who help themselves. If there was any other way certainly God would not have allowed His son to go through the suffering on the cross; or turn His back on Him at that instant of time. This shows sin is DEADLY serious.
Also of course 1 Corinthians 11:30 shows that even God' speople can have a shortened life living in disobedience. God delivered a man over to Satan so that at some point before death he would repent (apparently the man came to his senses and eventually was restored to fellowship). Better to make it to heaven through fire than hell.
Romans 5:12 says Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
The fact is that we are all born with Adam's sin and hence at enmity with God. Our hearts are as Jeremiah 17:9 says "desperately wicked." No one does good ( Romans 3:10-12 and in Psalms); and we are estranged from the womb ( Psalm 58:3). So the first issue is the thought that anyone is "good" which inevitably comes from comparing ourselves to another "worse" person like Hitler (unless we are that bad ourselves and we can't appeal to anyone worse; in that case we probably wouldn't want to concern ourselves with doing good deeds. Our deeds also; BTW are evil; even our best deeds as "filthy rags". ( Isaiah 64:6). This "grace Gospel" as it is known is obviously taken from Romans as a primary source but reflects many scripture verses. Or as someone once said "a hundred percent sinner needs a hundred percent savior" (can't seem to find this entire phrase quoted by anyone).
Now death; of course in the law comes in two ways; MURDER or justifiable killing whether to exact a punishment "a life for a life" (part of Deuteronomy 19:21). It also is involved with the wars and conquests of Israel with the admittedly hard verses about exterminating entire peoples including women and children in certain circumstances. The understandable aspect of this is when the descendents of the Nephilim (or angels with women producing giant hybrid offspring) were exterminated; being an aberrant being without and eternal soul perhaps the proper interpretation of Isaiah 26:14. That is a deep study; but no doubt this is easier than explaining extermination of human beings. Those nations which were conquered had common practices of child sacrifice with idol worship; therefore it could have saved the children from a worse death. Genesis 15:16 shows how God waits until iniquity is full before utter destruction.
The Devil took JESUS up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth Him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And said unto JESUS; "All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it". Luke 4:6
Was it /is it true? Do you believe in what the Devil said to JESUS? The Devil is the father of lie, understand? John 8:44-45. Who delivered the kingdoms of the world to him?
What the Devil shewed to JESUS was no delivered to the Devil, he USURPED.
The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy... John 10:10
First I must say that questions as such"why God kills or asks others to kill, despite "do not kill",are made by many atheists that were members of the SDA,but now turned demonic atheists.
They well know the letter of the Bible and now use it in their demonic posts to deny GOD and to contradict His Word.In fact they are killers,killers of souls.
They know that when GOD said to the people of Israel through Moses," do not kill", it had already passed around 2500 years(two days and half of GOD's work),and the commandment was exclusively for the people of GOD,Israel. It was given in the OT, not in the NT,very different of the OT. See, GOD was creating a new environment for His seed, descendants of Abraham, when He brought His people out of Egypt. GOD separated His people Israel from the midst of the Gentilic peoples, from the midst of the idolaters and murderers peoples, actually He divided waters from the waters- Genesis 1:6-10-and then appeared the dry land-Israel.
Now see,around 2500 years before GOD's commandment Cain had killed Abel.Who commanded Cain do it?It was not GOD,so who? It was the father of Cain,the Devil,a former Cherub,former ruler of Eden,also father of the current atheists and false Christianity and others adherents of devilish religions.
In the other hand,after GOD brought Israel from Egypt and placed the people in the Promised Land,there GOD established the Law and rules to discipline the people and free them from all the SATANIC influence they carried with them from the Gentile, specially from the Egyptians and their satanic idolatries.Desobedience, i.e. witchcraft,it would be punished in the Promised Land,even to the death penalty(Compare: Luke 12:4 and Deuteronomy 32:39.By the way,GOD IS GOD).
This battle started when the Cherub which GOD have placed as a ruler of Eden(now called SON OF PERDITION and MAN OF SIN,the Devil and Satan)planned to USURP GOD's creation and to create a specific world for he himself- Matthew 4:8-9.
Simple rule for a Christian is to know he is not obliged to answer every atheist. Now as a believer understand the verse "Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people." (He.2:17) Without shedding of blood there is no redemption. God did not spare His own Son and his death for for the redemption of all mankind. A Christian is one who believes in his death and resurrection. His faith and works are not apart from him but is in him "Without me you can do nothing." Thus we die to the world so we may live with him forever. From this what do you think of Godly kill? He did it because He is Love. And this kill released man from his bondage to sin and death. So the kill the atheists talk about and what God speaks of are entirely two different things.
Now what is a Thanksgiving dinner without a turkey? Turkey lives off little creatures and these little 'critters; on something else.
Laws of nature show every life-form lives off another. This is at the bottom level. Whereas the Son made himself as an intercessor for the world so whoever partook him in faith has abundant life. As God made manifest His love we are to place ourselves even as he did. This is shown in the example of Seth stepping in place of Abel who was murdered by the wicked Cain.
Hello, I'm reposting this question I've had previously for new input. It's the question atheists often ask and I don't feel I have an adequate response for.
Atheists often ask why God kills or asks others to kill, despite "do not kill".
The world generally views people dying as "bad" and people living as "good", even if its extremely wicked people.
How do you defend God and the Bible when someone asks this question?
"I will cry unto God most high; Unto God that performeth all things for me. He shall send from heaven, and save me" (Ps.57:2-3) For a week my face was swollen up and my sinus and cavities hurting me day and night. In the middle of the night I touched my sore spot and prayed for deliverance. I thank my Lord for healing me and now I can say with the Psalmist, "He performs all things for me. May his Name be praised. Amen
As it was in days of Noah,so it will be in the days of the Son of man.They ate,drank,married,gave in marriage,until the day Noah entered the ark,the flood came and destroyed them all.So"This was the"modus vivendi" in Noahs'days.
We would say it was the same 'modus vivendi' of society in recent times,say around 1950-1985,it was similar to society in the days of Noah.It was common to eat and drink with development of large malls around the world at that time,it was common the celebration of weddings,existence of strong family ties,but as time went by,it began to deteriorate morally as in the time of Noah,when the sons of GOD mixed their seed with seed of the evil ones,giving rise to a corrupt and evil society- Genesis 6:2-3, due to the proliferation of adulterers and adulteresses.And the punishment came,yes,the flood came and only 8 people were saved by the Ark.
Comparing the society of Noah's days with a posterior society of Sodom and Gomorrah,at the time of Lot,let's see the differences,according Scriptures:
Luke 17:28-30 reveal:
28 Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;
29 But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.
30 Even thus shall it be in the day (in the current time) when the Son of man is revealed.
society of Noah's day..........................society of Sodom/Gomorrah
they ate and drank ..............................they ate and drank
they married and gave in marriage ....they bought and sold,they planted and built
Men of Sodom were wicked,immoral exceedingly,and sinners before the Lord- Genesis 13:13.There was no marriage,society was polluted of prostitutes,sodomites/ effeminate(gays),society was infested of prostitution and great sinners. The same occurs today. Lot was vexed with filthy conversations seeing and hearing their unlawful deeds- 2Peter 2:7-8 & Jude 1:6-7.
The enemy of our souls has a problem (actually as sick as he is a lot of issues) but I am focusing on one in particular. He can't stand humans; in reality even those who do his bidding but is out of necessity offering many temporary pleasures to turn men away from God and in reality; of course put people into bondage. Since he can't stand God; Christ or His holiness as well as human beings the last thing he wants is to see someone be drawn to Christ's mercy and salvation through God's love. No doubt that sickens him. Some say his primary motive is to have us in hell with him. Since he hates us already having our company there isn't going to make him feel better; and of course he will be too busy suffering himself to care anyway. It may give him pleasure for now; since he misses out on such suffering until the confinement period of the Millennium is over and the final conflagration occurs; to think of men in constant agony. What he really wants as from the beginning is worship. His motive is simply overthrow of God and heaven which his demented mind still thinks can be attained; but at the same time he probably knows better since his time is short. Daniel 8:10 even seems to suggest he tramples on some of his own demonic horde when cast out of heaven in the Tribulation; likely enraged that they couldn't fight hard enough to keep his position up there any longer.
The whole Satanic mantra (Such as Aleister Crowley's "do as thou wilt") in a nutshell explains all of the enemy's tactics.
The devil only wants to serve himself. He will use his best tool music (read Isaiah 14 or Ezekiel 28) to delude the masses.
He doesn't rule over hell; at least after the cross as souls now go straight to heaven and not remain in the paradise under the earth. His contracts with people can't hold water with the shed blood on the cross of His atonement. 1 Corinthians 15:56; Romans 6:23). Christ conquered sin at Calvary.
Satan's machinations: The soul and the spirit realm
Slavery in all it's ugly reality from the 1800s in particular in the USA is something most citizens in our nation haven't seen in the better part of 200 years. Sadly with the uncontrolled child slave labor and sex slavery today it may be closer to our backyard than we think. The reality of this should teach us a lesson in regard to how we in the spiritual dimension are basically OWNED and controlled by either Satan or Christ. This is how a book like Philemon could be written; it wasn't that cruelty was to be exonerated (as shown by other verses on the subject of slaves and masters) but it was that our spiritual state superceded whatever our earthly position happened to be in a particular time; culture or nation. John 8:33 shows the myopia of the Pharisees stating that they were never slaves despite the obvious biblical precedent from Egypt in particular as well as Babylon to some extent. The bigger problem; of course was being a slave to sin which means a soul is being held captive by Satan. It also means a soul is estranged and in enmity with God ( Romans 5:10). God is merciful and longsuffering; but that doesn't last forever without repentance.
There are many ways Satan will come after our soul but they all pretty much amount to the same thing. There are myriads of other faiths besides Christianity and the true God of the Jews in the Old Testament but they all lack definite assurances of a good afterlife; or any individual that has overcome death. They can only use methods of man in reality; whether war or conquest; philosophy; wisdom; etc. We see the same tactics of cults especially in tandem with polytheistic idol worship; these include "Kundalini" experiences; "sweat lodges"; mushrooms and other psychodelic methods of having a "spiritual" experience.
New Age no doubt uses seduction and enchantments to entice men to commit fornication; along with other "darker" spells to inflict harm.
Having explored with gravity the situation of those afflicted with emotional problems of darkness and depression we also have to look at other things such as anger; and euphoria. I cannot emphasize enough this point that I am about to make; there is NO love like God's and what His saints will share in heaven and on the new earth for all eternity. Of course Satan will stop at nothing to find ways to circumvent God's laws particularly related to marriage to find a "soulmate" on earth. Without going once again into the subject of what is considered a legitimate marriage; I will leave it at this; a marriage in the Lord is part of God's community and Christ's body on earth. While the struggle with desires of the flesh isn't something unusual; the fact that many who already in theory should be having their needs met are looking to find grass that's greener elsewhere is a peculiar trait to human beings. Somehow we think that we can shortcut God's plan; looking at Abraham and Sarah we see how well that worked when she pushed Hagar on him after the fact. The fact that some seem to find better success finding their future spouse in a bar than even an online "Christian" dating service is telling; and it seems a foreign concept to expect the Lord to provide someone simply by obediently attending church (although the demographics in my church for example are more to old folks like myself).
Looking beyond trying to find love in all the wrong places; we often forget that our other emotions (jealousy; rage; anger and other bad fruits) often get in the way of reaching out to others for a viable friendship so that anything more is snuffed out at the inception. Again; it is our own deception that makes us think we can change someone after we marry them. I would STRONGLY advise premarital counsel in the church to avoid what happened to me (a divorce after 25 years of marriage).
In today's society an often soft fabric of emotionally immature individuals CAN be some advantage over the proud generations of parents and especially the grandparents from two generations ago. We see many young people brought up in church and perhaps having some childhood faith going strong into the world; but if they survive long enough they come back to their senses. The problem is of course that many are drawn into a church that appeals to their emotions or worse tickles their ears.
Of course we have the enemy taking advantage of both sides as he always does; being loyal to no one but himself but gladly pitting his subjects against each other; and if we aren't paying attention; his enemies as well.
On a personal note; I lost a friend about 13 years ago to suicide. She was bipolar; and seemed to have a viable testimony of faith. She was joyful to be around on her emotional high but I saw her once in an extreme low. Sadly she decided to stop taking medication and she was found dead a few months later. I won't detail it since where I lived someone may be familiar with it in regard to where she was found. What I will say is that in her case her emotions dictated what she felt was her necessity to stop taking meds (perhaps rationalized in her mind). I feel it is necessary to state this here because some will give advice to give everything to the Lord and quit taking medicine. I would just go to scripture and say that we should go to the physician (at that time the priests) to verify healing. This also shows that some need to have supervision; especially anything involving substance abuse or mental illness. I am certain some have in fact been able to get off medicines; but the best way we can help others at times is to make sure we are doing the best to take care of ourselves with God's guidance.
That being said; there is no doubt the enemy is behind the insane number of suicides in our nation today.
Satan's machinations: PART TWO (further study on Satan's affect on us as individuals)
Part Two: The battle of the mind.
In my last post; I ran out of space again; but was getting into the verse where Jesus told Satan to get behind him when Peter was stating that basically going to the cross was not fit for Jesus to do. This shows how Christ expects us as His disciples to rely totally on the Spirit to allow the flesh to be dead. Luke 4:8 is the other verse where Jesus says this to Satan after the temptations in the wilderness. We see a difference between Peter then and after Pentecost as Jesus foretold after he denied knowing him. In all fairness since ALL the disciples ran off their fear for their lives superseded their love for Christ. This truly shows how only trust in the Spirit of God will enable us to face death with courage should it be in the time and place God has chosen. As I have said before it is the end of a life of obedience that Christ and in fact all the Disciples except for John met their fate; the spiritual man grows and matures through self denial and service to that point.
Our thought processes are determined merely by our old man at birth. Thus characteristic behaviors and routines develop which tend to linger with us even post salvation. There are; of course the affects of nurturing vs cruel parents; abundance or poverty in youth which the Lord is aware of but also weigh in on the enemy's game plan. Of course with the mind along with everything else the enemy attacks us with the easiest thing to do is be determined to TRUST God and reject any thought which isn't captive to His (God's) will ( 2 Corinthians 10:5); compare with 2 Timothy 2:26. We learn to recognize the enemy's patterns after hopefully only a few similar assaults at our weakest points. We learn to discern the Spirit of God which is outside of self from Satan's devices; which always appeals to the flesh and exalting self. RUN IF IT GOES AGAINST SCRIPTURE!
Thank you, brother, After the first resurrection, their judgement and rewards, Revelation 20:4 and after the 1000 years is the day of judgment for the rest of the dead. Daniel 12:2John 5:28-292 Corinthians 5:10Revelation 20:11-15.
This is our hope, and the promise God has given to us 1 Corinthians 15:51-58, those who are not the chosen and faithful in the first resurrection sleep in death until the day of judgment for all who have lived, Revelation 20:11-15.
Dear Brothers and Sisters I am reading Genesis at the moment and have just read the account of Abraham taking Isaac to offer him as a sacrifice to God . As I read where Abraham chopped the wood and laid it on Isaac's back for him to carry , I of course thought about God Himself giving His Only Begotten to atone for our sins but another thought struck me . What was Joseph's occupation ? Mary's husband was a carpenter . I don't know this for sure but I can imagine that he would have been compelled to do work for the Romans and I wondered , is it possible that Joseph made wooden crossed for the Romans to crucify people on ? Is it possible that Joseph made the cross that his wife's son was crucified on ? Many believe that Jesus too was probably a trained carpenter , is it possible that Jesus made his own cross ? If anyone has any thoughts on this it would be good to hear them .
Troubles of the World are tossing us like a storm upon the sea.
Satan and his army is at work and attacking us on every side.
He is tearing up homes and breaking up families.
We all hear and see how he is fighting, warring , against the household of faith around the world.
(Ma. 5:10)
We need to love one another.
(Eph.3:17)
Richard's article helped me to realize that we can never isolate ourselves from other human beings.
All though we carry our own burdens daily, our Lord strengthens us to reach out to others through the power that works in us.
In the beginning Satan tore out the heart of two parents who had to continue to love one child after he killed another child, his brother.
It hurts bad when we lose our love ones by any means.
Family against family
tears at the soul.
Families today are suffering for loss of children
and even babies by violence. Yet, God is our strength.
In my opinion satan has definitely targeted the household of faith to destroy and to tear down the Kingdom in which Grace and Mercy dwell: everlasting life,
that God has offered to us through the sacrifice of his Son on Calvary. The Gates of Hell
shall not prevail against it.
(Kjv Ma. 16:18)
(Online__Darvaza)
In the past were crucifixions, now Mass shootings in the church. Lord, help us.
Death and Satan teamed up for the Crucifixion of Jesus. Satan thought if he stirred the rulers to take Jesus' life, he, himself, could depend on death to hold him in the ground. Well, we know how that turned out. (Lk.24:39)
On the cross Jesus said, "They know not what they do."
We must continue to pray.
That is what Jesus did.
As we recognize the "War" let us put on the whole armour of God ( Eph. 6:13)and prepare ourselves for the battle.
The poor man cried, the Lord heard him and delivered him out of all his troubles.
( Ps. 34:6)
I am praying that I stay close enough to the Lord so that Satan can't squeeze in between us and separate us.
Pray for me.
We think mainly of Jesus dying on the cross as the Passover Lamb. But how about all the other animal sacrifices that the law required? If we look closer, we can see what all Jesus fulfilled that day. This Passover day started when the sun went down and Jesus and His 12 gathered together for the Last Supper.
After midnight they went into the garden of Gethsemane from there Jesus was betrayed by a friend, Psalm 41:9 and more, taken to Annas and then Caiaphas, and then early that morning to Pilate to be judged where no fault was found in Him.
At the same time, a priest was selected to carry a wooden beam on his shoulders up the ramp to light the fire of the altar of sacrifice. The first Tamid lamb was brought up and tied to the altar and inspected to make sure it did not have any blemishes.
Jesus was nailed to the cross and stood up on the 3rd hour 9 AM, Mark 15:25, the first Tamid lamb was sacrificed and put on the altar of sacrifice on the 3rd hour 9 AM the first hour of prayer. All the sacrifices of the people were placed on top of the first Tamid lamb. The 2nd hour of prayer is the 6th hour, noon, Matthew 27:45 Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour.
The 3rd hour of prayer coincided with the evening sacrifice, at the 9th hour 3 PM when the last Tamid lamb was sacrificed and put on top of all the sacrifices of the people done that day. This was the exact time Jesus cried out and said it was finished Mark 15:34 John 19:30.
God told Abraham to sacrifice his son and just before he did, God provided a ram for Isaac, and on that day the 14th of Nisan God provided Himself another Lamb, His only begotten Son sacrificed for us. Jesus also carried the wood for his sacrifice. Jesus fulfilled all the sacrifices, not just down to the day, but to the very hour itself.
God bless,
RLW
Greetings in Christ JESUS our Lord and Saviour
Thank you for your reply.
As it is written,"All Scripture is given by inspiration of GOD,and is profitable for doctrine,for reproof,for correction,for instruction in righteousness:That the man of GOD may be perfect,thoroughly furnished unto all good works.
As you know,our enemy"is wiser than Daniel;there is no secret that they can hide from him".Paul Apostle warned,saying:Put on the whole armour of GOD,that ye may BE ABLE to stand AGAINST the wiles of the Devil.
Think you(and many)also know that the MAN of sin,a Jewish MAN,son of perdition,will manifest himself very soon as messiah and God( John 5:43-47and 2Thessalonians 2:3-4and9-12,and mainly Revelation 13:11 and so on),so we all MUST be careful.Get ready.
However,the prophecy of Ezekiel is very clear:Ez.28:7-10-->7 Behold,therefore I will bring strangers upon thee,the terrible of the nations:and they shall draw their Swords against the beauty of thy wisdom,and they shall defile thy brightness.
8They shall bring thee down to the pit( Revelation 20:1-3),and thou shalt die the deaths of them that are slain in the midst of the seas.(peoples,and nations,and multitudes of all tongues-Re.17:15)
9Wilt thou yet say before him that slayeth thee,I am God?but thou shalt be a MAN,and no God,in the hand of him that slayeth thee.
10Thou shalt die the deaths of the uncircumcised(he's a Jewish MAN)by the hand of strangers:for I have spoken it,saith the Lord GOD.
Re.12:9-12-->9And the great dragon was cast out,that old serpent,called the Devil,and Satan,which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth,and his angels were cast out with him.
10And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven,Now is come salvation,and strength,and the kingdom of our GOD,and the power of His Christ:for the accuser of our brethren is cast down,which accused them before our GOD day and night.11And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb,and by the word of their testimony;12Th
Greetings in Christ JESUS our Lord and Saviour
Here's below is what JESUS said to John in Patmos through His angel (in fact an Archangel- Revelation 1:12-13)
Revelation 21:3-8
3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven(heaven? Ephesians 1:3-8 and Philippians 3:20-21) saying, Behold, the TABERNACLE of GOD is with MEN( Revelation 11:15-18), and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and GOD Himself shall be with them, and be their GOD.
4 And GOD shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. --> Come up hither,
5 And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.
6 And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.
7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his GOD, and he shall be my son.
8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.
I will attempt to wrap this up for now; although admittedly this is a subject which could easily call for many more postings. God in His infinite yet mysterious plans allowed for a created being to usurp 1/3 of the angels; and to deceive most of mankind throughout history. ( Matthew 7:13-14). Through the offspring mentioned in Genesis 6 he produced numerous giant beings (I can't see it being any other explanation) and therefore only Noah and his family were saved at the flood as it seems all the rest of mankind was corrupted genetically and by default morally beyond repair. (see Genesis 6:9 on Noah being "perfect in his generations"). He also later attempted the same thing on a more limited scale after the flood; resulting in Israel wiping out all the giants (with Goliath being the last one in the surrounding nations Israel had to conquer). Satan continued to attempt to wipe out all of God's people by the ordinance of Haman to wipe out all the Jews which was thwarted in Esther; the Holocaust and will almost succeed in Armageddon when half of Jerusalem is taken before Christ returns. He is the god of this world and Jesus didn't argue with him having control as a "usurper" type leader of all the Kingdoms of the world. Satan also will be given the limited short space of the last half of the Tribulation to more or less control the world but again he will fail to totally destroy the earth because God Himself makes the time short (see Matthew 24:22). Again; God is the one who allows these things; including the "strong delusion" He sends to decieve all those who didn't LOVE the truth but enjoyed unrighteousness ( 2 Thess. 2:11-12 rough translation). Once again at the end of the Millennium he has the final stand; which ends in his judgment cast into hell; and a mass of people as the sand of the sea; amazingly perishing despite seeing Christ on earth and living a utopian existance in the millennium.
I do not believe Joseph or Jesus had anything to do with the crucifixion crosses, Jesus had been 3.5 years in His ministry. There is something else you may be interested in studying that relates to the binding of Isaac which is the Tamid. The Tamid is the morning and evening daily sacrifice of Exodus 29:38-42. It parallels the day Jesus was crucified not just the day but to the hour of that day and I feel Jesus fulfilled it. They saw the Tamid/daily sacrifice as a kind of reiteration of the sacrifice of Isaac.
You may know about the Tamid and if so let me know. If not, I will try to get back to you soon maybe tomorrow with more on it.
God bless.
RLW
Man is incapable of knowing how Holy and Just God is and we're also incapable of knowing how evil man is apart from the restrainer.
We see a picture of the evil of man in Revelation when the nations take up war against the Lord.
Also look at the evil condition of their heart here in Revelation 16:9-11 while being tormented.
Also see Psalms 2:1-12.
Romans 11:33 states. "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!
God gives life and he can take it!
The trouble with atheist is that they don't believe God gave life!
They have no understanding of deity.
See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand.
For I lift up my hand to heaven, and say, I live for ever.
If I whet my glittering sword, and mine hand take hold on judgment; I will render vengeance to mine enemies, and will reward them that hate me. Deuteronomy 32:39.
God gives and he takes away.
God bless.
We know that nothing at all would even be alive if it wasn't for the grace of God , we know that God is kind to atheists every day . Life is God's gift , He is the source and sustainer of it and He can give and He can take away as Job says .
God puts a difference between His children and the atheists . We are in a covenant relationship with Him , they are outside of that . Christ is the door . As long as we are in Christ we need not fear the death of our bodies . Atheists live in faithless fear , insecurity and misery . Desperately trying to fill the void that can only be filled by the Truth . Here are some references that illustrate what I'm trying to say . Exodus chapter 23 v 31-33 , Ex Ch 34 v 10-17 , Lev Ch 20 v 22-26 , Deut Ch 10 v 17-19 , Deut Ch 20 v 10-18 , Deut Ch 32 v 39. Ezekiel Ch 18 v 32 , Eze Ch 33 v 11, Luke Ch 13 v 1-5 . John Ch 17 , Jesus's prayer and finally , what does God want for all of us ? Deuteronomy Ch 5 v 29 . Atheists do not accept God's Sovereignty , they think that they have ' rights' . They don't realise that anything and everything that they have had in the past , have today and will have tomorrow , is only because of God's mercy and kindness . They think they do things themselves and can create their own lives and destinies etc .
Ultimately; whether it be Armageddon or the final Great White throne judgment; or the individual demise of every person outside of the faith since Adam fell; the fate of unregenerate man is horrible beyond imagination. The biggest problem is that we don't know who Christ is; the eyes of those under Satan's power are blinded ( 2 Corinthians 4:4). Once we can see clearly we will be on our face; so it is better to do it now than under compulsion at judgment. The righteous also are constrained but by His love to praise and worship the Lord. The Holy Spirit when we are fully surrendered will fill our entire being with praise.
For now; it wouldn't surprise me a bit if an atheist would have less of an issue with say capital punishment as many who call themselves Christian. The Antichrist himself is called the "lawless one" and indeed at least one atheist I met was from a worldly standpoint a very "moral" person. What the law does is serve as a "schoolmaster" ( Gal. 3:24) to bring people to faith.
This explains why it is possible for the vilest sinner (such as possibly occured with Jeffrey Dahmer) to change. As Christians we shouldn't have a double standard we can exact justice to protect the innocent but still have an attitude of unconditional love and forgiveness which wouldn't be comprehended by an atheist.
Anyway another good point is that Christ never said the adage that God helps those who help themselves. If there was any other way certainly God would not have allowed His son to go through the suffering on the cross; or turn His back on Him at that instant of time. This shows sin is DEADLY serious.
Also of course 1 Corinthians 11:30 shows that even God' speople can have a shortened life living in disobedience. God delivered a man over to Satan so that at some point before death he would repent (apparently the man came to his senses and eventually was restored to fellowship). Better to make it to heaven through fire than hell.
Romans 5:12 says Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
The fact is that we are all born with Adam's sin and hence at enmity with God. Our hearts are as Jeremiah 17:9 says "desperately wicked." No one does good ( Romans 3:10-12 and in Psalms); and we are estranged from the womb ( Psalm 58:3). So the first issue is the thought that anyone is "good" which inevitably comes from comparing ourselves to another "worse" person like Hitler (unless we are that bad ourselves and we can't appeal to anyone worse; in that case we probably wouldn't want to concern ourselves with doing good deeds. Our deeds also; BTW are evil; even our best deeds as "filthy rags". ( Isaiah 64:6). This "grace Gospel" as it is known is obviously taken from Romans as a primary source but reflects many scripture verses. Or as someone once said "a hundred percent sinner needs a hundred percent savior" (can't seem to find this entire phrase quoted by anyone).
Now death; of course in the law comes in two ways; MURDER or justifiable killing whether to exact a punishment "a life for a life" (part of Deuteronomy 19:21). It also is involved with the wars and conquests of Israel with the admittedly hard verses about exterminating entire peoples including women and children in certain circumstances. The understandable aspect of this is when the descendents of the Nephilim (or angels with women producing giant hybrid offspring) were exterminated; being an aberrant being without and eternal soul perhaps the proper interpretation of Isaiah 26:14. That is a deep study; but no doubt this is easier than explaining extermination of human beings. Those nations which were conquered had common practices of child sacrifice with idol worship; therefore it could have saved the children from a worse death. Genesis 15:16 shows how God waits until iniquity is full before utter destruction.
Was it /is it true? Do you believe in what the Devil said to JESUS? The Devil is the father of lie, understand? John 8:44-45. Who delivered the kingdoms of the world to him?
What the Devil shewed to JESUS was no delivered to the Devil, he USURPED.
The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy... John 10:10
First I must say that questions as such"why God kills or asks others to kill, despite "do not kill",are made by many atheists that were members of the SDA,but now turned demonic atheists.
They well know the letter of the Bible and now use it in their demonic posts to deny GOD and to contradict His Word.In fact they are killers,killers of souls.
They know that when GOD said to the people of Israel through Moses," do not kill", it had already passed around 2500 years(two days and half of GOD's work),and the commandment was exclusively for the people of GOD,Israel. It was given in the OT, not in the NT,very different of the OT. See, GOD was creating a new environment for His seed, descendants of Abraham, when He brought His people out of Egypt. GOD separated His people Israel from the midst of the Gentilic peoples, from the midst of the idolaters and murderers peoples, actually He divided waters from the waters- Genesis 1:6-10-and then appeared the dry land-Israel.
Now see,around 2500 years before GOD's commandment Cain had killed Abel.Who commanded Cain do it?It was not GOD,so who? It was the father of Cain,the Devil,a former Cherub,former ruler of Eden,also father of the current atheists and false Christianity and others adherents of devilish religions.
In the other hand,after GOD brought Israel from Egypt and placed the people in the Promised Land,there GOD established the Law and rules to discipline the people and free them from all the SATANIC influence they carried with them from the Gentile, specially from the Egyptians and their satanic idolatries.Desobedience, i.e. witchcraft,it would be punished in the Promised Land,even to the death penalty(Compare: Luke 12:4 and Deuteronomy 32:39.By the way,GOD IS GOD).
This battle started when the Cherub which GOD have placed as a ruler of Eden(now called SON OF PERDITION and MAN OF SIN,the Devil and Satan)planned to USURP GOD's creation and to create a specific world for he himself- Matthew 4:8-9.
GOD BLESs
Simple rule for a Christian is to know he is not obliged to answer every atheist. Now as a believer understand the verse "Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people." (He.2:17) Without shedding of blood there is no redemption. God did not spare His own Son and his death for for the redemption of all mankind. A Christian is one who believes in his death and resurrection. His faith and works are not apart from him but is in him "Without me you can do nothing." Thus we die to the world so we may live with him forever. From this what do you think of Godly kill? He did it because He is Love. And this kill released man from his bondage to sin and death. So the kill the atheists talk about and what God speaks of are entirely two different things.
Now what is a Thanksgiving dinner without a turkey? Turkey lives off little creatures and these little 'critters; on something else.
Laws of nature show every life-form lives off another. This is at the bottom level. Whereas the Son made himself as an intercessor for the world so whoever partook him in faith has abundant life. As God made manifest His love we are to place ourselves even as he did. This is shown in the example of Seth stepping in place of Abel who was murdered by the wicked Cain.
Atheists often ask why God kills or asks others to kill, despite "do not kill".
The world generally views people dying as "bad" and people living as "good", even if its extremely wicked people.
How do you defend God and the Bible when someone asks this question?
Luke 17:26-27
As it was in days of Noah,so it will be in the days of the Son of man.They ate,drank,married,gave in marriage,until the day Noah entered the ark,the flood came and destroyed them all.So"This was the"modus vivendi" in Noahs'days.
We would say it was the same 'modus vivendi' of society in recent times,say around 1950-1985,it was similar to society in the days of Noah.It was common to eat and drink with development of large malls around the world at that time,it was common the celebration of weddings,existence of strong family ties,but as time went by,it began to deteriorate morally as in the time of Noah,when the sons of GOD mixed their seed with seed of the evil ones,giving rise to a corrupt and evil society- Genesis 6:2-3, due to the proliferation of adulterers and adulteresses.And the punishment came,yes,the flood came and only 8 people were saved by the Ark.
Comparing the society of Noah's days with a posterior society of Sodom and Gomorrah,at the time of Lot,let's see the differences,according Scriptures:
Luke 17:28-30 reveal:
28 Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;
29 But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.
30 Even thus shall it be in the day (in the current time) when the Son of man is revealed.
society of Noah's day..........................society of Sodom/Gomorrah
they ate and drank ..............................they ate and drank
they married and gave in marriage ....they bought and sold,they planted and built
Men of Sodom were wicked,immoral exceedingly,and sinners before the Lord- Genesis 13:13.There was no marriage,society was polluted of prostitutes,sodomites/ effeminate(gays),society was infested of prostitution and great sinners. The same occurs today. Lot was vexed with filthy conversations seeing and hearing their unlawful deeds- 2Peter 2:7-8 & Jude 1:6-7.
The enemy of our souls has a problem (actually as sick as he is a lot of issues) but I am focusing on one in particular. He can't stand humans; in reality even those who do his bidding but is out of necessity offering many temporary pleasures to turn men away from God and in reality; of course put people into bondage. Since he can't stand God; Christ or His holiness as well as human beings the last thing he wants is to see someone be drawn to Christ's mercy and salvation through God's love. No doubt that sickens him. Some say his primary motive is to have us in hell with him. Since he hates us already having our company there isn't going to make him feel better; and of course he will be too busy suffering himself to care anyway. It may give him pleasure for now; since he misses out on such suffering until the confinement period of the Millennium is over and the final conflagration occurs; to think of men in constant agony. What he really wants as from the beginning is worship. His motive is simply overthrow of God and heaven which his demented mind still thinks can be attained; but at the same time he probably knows better since his time is short. Daniel 8:10 even seems to suggest he tramples on some of his own demonic horde when cast out of heaven in the Tribulation; likely enraged that they couldn't fight hard enough to keep his position up there any longer.
The whole Satanic mantra (Such as Aleister Crowley's "do as thou wilt") in a nutshell explains all of the enemy's tactics.
The devil only wants to serve himself. He will use his best tool music (read Isaiah 14 or Ezekiel 28) to delude the masses.
He doesn't rule over hell; at least after the cross as souls now go straight to heaven and not remain in the paradise under the earth. His contracts with people can't hold water with the shed blood on the cross of His atonement. 1 Corinthians 15:56; Romans 6:23). Christ conquered sin at Calvary.
Slavery in all it's ugly reality from the 1800s in particular in the USA is something most citizens in our nation haven't seen in the better part of 200 years. Sadly with the uncontrolled child slave labor and sex slavery today it may be closer to our backyard than we think. The reality of this should teach us a lesson in regard to how we in the spiritual dimension are basically OWNED and controlled by either Satan or Christ. This is how a book like Philemon could be written; it wasn't that cruelty was to be exonerated (as shown by other verses on the subject of slaves and masters) but it was that our spiritual state superceded whatever our earthly position happened to be in a particular time; culture or nation. John 8:33 shows the myopia of the Pharisees stating that they were never slaves despite the obvious biblical precedent from Egypt in particular as well as Babylon to some extent. The bigger problem; of course was being a slave to sin which means a soul is being held captive by Satan. It also means a soul is estranged and in enmity with God ( Romans 5:10). God is merciful and longsuffering; but that doesn't last forever without repentance.
There are many ways Satan will come after our soul but they all pretty much amount to the same thing. There are myriads of other faiths besides Christianity and the true God of the Jews in the Old Testament but they all lack definite assurances of a good afterlife; or any individual that has overcome death. They can only use methods of man in reality; whether war or conquest; philosophy; wisdom; etc. We see the same tactics of cults especially in tandem with polytheistic idol worship; these include "Kundalini" experiences; "sweat lodges"; mushrooms and other psychodelic methods of having a "spiritual" experience.
New Age no doubt uses seduction and enchantments to entice men to commit fornication; along with other "darker" spells to inflict harm.
Having explored with gravity the situation of those afflicted with emotional problems of darkness and depression we also have to look at other things such as anger; and euphoria. I cannot emphasize enough this point that I am about to make; there is NO love like God's and what His saints will share in heaven and on the new earth for all eternity. Of course Satan will stop at nothing to find ways to circumvent God's laws particularly related to marriage to find a "soulmate" on earth. Without going once again into the subject of what is considered a legitimate marriage; I will leave it at this; a marriage in the Lord is part of God's community and Christ's body on earth. While the struggle with desires of the flesh isn't something unusual; the fact that many who already in theory should be having their needs met are looking to find grass that's greener elsewhere is a peculiar trait to human beings. Somehow we think that we can shortcut God's plan; looking at Abraham and Sarah we see how well that worked when she pushed Hagar on him after the fact. The fact that some seem to find better success finding their future spouse in a bar than even an online "Christian" dating service is telling; and it seems a foreign concept to expect the Lord to provide someone simply by obediently attending church (although the demographics in my church for example are more to old folks like myself).
Looking beyond trying to find love in all the wrong places; we often forget that our other emotions (jealousy; rage; anger and other bad fruits) often get in the way of reaching out to others for a viable friendship so that anything more is snuffed out at the inception. Again; it is our own deception that makes us think we can change someone after we marry them. I would STRONGLY advise premarital counsel in the church to avoid what happened to me (a divorce after 25 years of marriage).
I have seen how uncontrolled rage can destroy.
In today's society an often soft fabric of emotionally immature individuals CAN be some advantage over the proud generations of parents and especially the grandparents from two generations ago. We see many young people brought up in church and perhaps having some childhood faith going strong into the world; but if they survive long enough they come back to their senses. The problem is of course that many are drawn into a church that appeals to their emotions or worse tickles their ears.
Of course we have the enemy taking advantage of both sides as he always does; being loyal to no one but himself but gladly pitting his subjects against each other; and if we aren't paying attention; his enemies as well.
On a personal note; I lost a friend about 13 years ago to suicide. She was bipolar; and seemed to have a viable testimony of faith. She was joyful to be around on her emotional high but I saw her once in an extreme low. Sadly she decided to stop taking medication and she was found dead a few months later. I won't detail it since where I lived someone may be familiar with it in regard to where she was found. What I will say is that in her case her emotions dictated what she felt was her necessity to stop taking meds (perhaps rationalized in her mind). I feel it is necessary to state this here because some will give advice to give everything to the Lord and quit taking medicine. I would just go to scripture and say that we should go to the physician (at that time the priests) to verify healing. This also shows that some need to have supervision; especially anything involving substance abuse or mental illness. I am certain some have in fact been able to get off medicines; but the best way we can help others at times is to make sure we are doing the best to take care of ourselves with God's guidance.
That being said; there is no doubt the enemy is behind the insane number of suicides in our nation today.
Part Two: The battle of the mind.
In my last post; I ran out of space again; but was getting into the verse where Jesus told Satan to get behind him when Peter was stating that basically going to the cross was not fit for Jesus to do. This shows how Christ expects us as His disciples to rely totally on the Spirit to allow the flesh to be dead. Luke 4:8 is the other verse where Jesus says this to Satan after the temptations in the wilderness. We see a difference between Peter then and after Pentecost as Jesus foretold after he denied knowing him. In all fairness since ALL the disciples ran off their fear for their lives superseded their love for Christ. This truly shows how only trust in the Spirit of God will enable us to face death with courage should it be in the time and place God has chosen. As I have said before it is the end of a life of obedience that Christ and in fact all the Disciples except for John met their fate; the spiritual man grows and matures through self denial and service to that point.
Our thought processes are determined merely by our old man at birth. Thus characteristic behaviors and routines develop which tend to linger with us even post salvation. There are; of course the affects of nurturing vs cruel parents; abundance or poverty in youth which the Lord is aware of but also weigh in on the enemy's game plan. Of course with the mind along with everything else the enemy attacks us with the easiest thing to do is be determined to TRUST God and reject any thought which isn't captive to His (God's) will ( 2 Corinthians 10:5); compare with 2 Timothy 2:26. We learn to recognize the enemy's patterns after hopefully only a few similar assaults at our weakest points. We learn to discern the Spirit of God which is outside of self from Satan's devices; which always appeals to the flesh and exalting self. RUN IF IT GOES AGAINST SCRIPTURE!
Thank you, brother, After the first resurrection, their judgement and rewards, Revelation 20:4 and after the 1000 years is the day of judgment for the rest of the dead. Daniel 12:2 John 5:28-29 2 Corinthians 5:10 Revelation 20:11-15.
This is our hope, and the promise God has given to us 1 Corinthians 15:51-58, those who are not the chosen and faithful in the first resurrection sleep in death until the day of judgment for all who have lived, Revelation 20:11-15.
God bless,
RLW