The Devil Attacks On All Sides

Now is the time for all Christians to take their calling seriously and straighten up and fly right. Over the course of time, I’ve seen all sorts of outlandish material float before my eyes. There is always, it seems, some new wave of Christianity. The latest is something called “modalism” in which Jesus and the Holy Spirit are dispensed with to be replaced by One God. Well, there are three People in the Godhead, whether you like it or not and the Bible supports it, too.

But, the devil, who hates God, all Christians and humanity in general, is working on deceiving as many as possible. In order to usher in his own one-god in which he will take the throne on (albeit, a very tiny throne), he has to alter the very word of God. The Bible. So many new translations are coming out and most are erroneous. Sins that are blatantly listed in the King James Version are omitted in other versions. This way, the sinner, who wants to continue to hold onto his sin, can hold up his new age bible and say, “See…it’s not in the bible. I am not sinning.” I had used an NIV for many years until I discovered that there were errors in it. I watched an YouTube video on the comparison of the NIV and the KJV. I got my NIV and my KJ and followed along with the speaker as he went verse by verse as to how the NIV totally changed and, in some cases, stated the exact opposite in the KJV. The King James is the most reliable translation we have but I am not going into the how’s and why’s of it here.

The One that the devil hates the most out of the trinity is Jesus Christ because Jesus defeated him on the cross. Although, it could be said that he hates all three equally, but I would not be surprised if he does not have a particular loathing of Jesus. You will notice that atheists will attack primarily Christians because of Jesus, but you won’t hear them shouting about Muslims, Hindus or any other religion. Nope, it’s Jesus they are aiming at.

Now is the time to put aside laziness and to spend more time in prayer and Bible study no matter what you have to do to make it happen, because you are fair game for the devil and he will have no problem leading you astray at the first opportunity. It’s time to clean up your act and repent of your sins. God is not a person to be fooled around with. Humanity has no idea what is coming their way. Jesus is not the one you see in Renaissance paintings. He something entirely different. A Being that can create an entire universe by just speaking it into existence is not to be fooled around with.

So, stop even the “little sins” you think are so little, like cursing and drinking to excess, complaining (God hates constant complaining. Read Exodus if you don’t believe me), backbiting, arguing, holding grudges, etc. We must be holy as God is Holy. (1 Peter 1:16) Don’t give the devil a chance; not one millimeter of foothold in your mind. Be vigilant!

It is time for real, heartfelt repentance and cleaning up one’s act. Because you see, as the devil increases evil on this planet, if you are not doing your job and allowing the Holy Spirit to clean you up and instruct you, you will be easy prey and can fall away. The very last thing you ever want to hear is Jesus telling you He does not know you. (Matthew 7: 21-23)- “Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in Heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy Name? and in Thy Name have cast out devils? And in Thy Name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me ye that work iniquity.” This is in the parable about false prophets. But it is also present in parable of the ten virgins. (Matthew 25:1-13)

Don’t think you are covered just because you accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior if you are still living your old lifestyle or you got sprinkled at birth and are still living a life that is the opposite of what God wants. You have to repent, be baptized and receive the Gift of the Holy Spirit because without the Holy Spirit you can’t do anything to please God. You may as well be in the field with Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 4. God gives us the gift of the Holy Spirit so that as long as we yield to His instruction we will overcome and grow in the Grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ. It is so we cannot claim the work as our own. It is God’s work within us because we are way too egotistical to be allowed to claim anything as our own except our sins.

You must yield and submit to His authority and stop trying to do it all on your own because that is pure arrogance which is of the devil. You’re basically telling God He is not powerful enough to do the job and you can do it better. To continue on in your own way is flat out rebellion and we all know God’s stance on that! The devil and all his angels are examples of what happens.
“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and the Power of His might. (Eph. 6:10) In fact the entire book of Ephesians is a good ground-work book for all Christians as as is the rest of the Bible. Over and over, Paul and the other writers emphasize change. “This I saw therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind.” (Eph. 4:17)

I write this because I care about my brothers and sisters in Christ and I see dangerous things on the horizon and revolting satanic influences that have crept into the Body of Christ. Let us be of One Spirit, the Holy Spirit, and like good soldiers fight the good fight. “Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” (Eph. 6:11)

I’ve had many of my own battles and attacks from the devil. It got to the point where my signature on one of my emails is now: “Tossed by the waves but not sunk. (author unknown)” I’m still standing.

Advertisements

If It Does Not Further The Kingdom of God, I Will Not Dwell On It.

I used to have a sign on my bedroom wall that read: “This Does Not Exist In The Kingdom Of God.” I put that up so whatever bad or stressful situation I was in at the time, it was a reminder that it won’t exist in God’s Kingdom. All that will be gone, permanently.

Things are getting tough. People need to see God is the Ark of Salvation that they need to run to. I think we need to become extremely focused. People will become more frightened as Satan unleashes more evil into the world and the planet descends into deep darkness. Those of us who are being trained to be stalwart soldiers of Christ must stand against the evil and be beacons of Jesus’ Light to others. We must train them to be strong in the faith. Be strong in the Lord and the Power of His might! (Eph.6:10)

We need to cut all unnecessary concerns from our life and have a laser-like focus on the Lord and His instructions. How did Jesus conduct Himself? When Jesus spoke in a derogatory manner, He was either addressing the Pharisees, the scribes, and/or Sadducees, who knew exactly who He was. (John 3:2) He knew what was in their heart and He knew they hated His presence because they didn’t want to give up their positions, nor give up the adoration of others. Their pride reached Luciferean heights. Matthew 23:1-39 says it all. But you will notice He says it to their face because back in Matthew 22 verse 41 it states that they were there. Since they also wanted to keep tabs on Him and what He was talking about, you can bet they sent spies in among the crowds to listen to what He said and to report back. So, on other occasions, you will read of Jesus deriding the Pharisees because He knew that their spies were there. Jesus was firm but did not flail or stomp around. The only time He let loose was when He overturned the tables at the temple. But He had good reason. There were practices going on there that brought dishonor to the Name of God and Jesus was having none of it.

But how did He speak to the rest of the crowd? Lovingly, He instructed them in the way they must go. Starting in Matthew 5 we see examples of this. So what do we need now? We need Hope for the future. When the world comes crashing down, you need to know Who you can count on beyond a shadow of a doubt. The Bible must be the one book we all go to. We don’t act wildly or irrationally because that is not of the Spirit of God. We are calm and God-centered because we have Christ dwelling within us and you shall know us by our fruits. Fruits of the Spirit being love, joy, peach, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance. (Gal. 5:22) You can be strong in the faith and firm without losing control of yourself. You don’t have to shout and scream like a wild banshee. It would turn most off, anyway.

As the world becomes increasingly dark, we will stand out even more and we will be persecuted for belonging to Christ. But look up for the return of Jesus Christ is coming. This world will cease to exist as the Kingdom of God takes over. Everything will come to a grinding halt. The Kingdom of God is eternal. Satan’s world is very temporary and he knows he is running out of time. “Be strong and of good courage…” (Joshua 1:6) “Only be thou strong and very courageous..” (Joshua 1: 7) “Have I not commanded thee? Be strong and of good courage; be not afraid, neither thou be dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.” (Joshua 1:9) You can put your name right in there. In my case God would be saying, “Have I not commanded you, Christine? Be strong and of good courage; be not afraid, neither be dismayed, Christine; for the Lord thy God is thee, whithersoever thou goest.” The same goes for you.

So I have to contain my thoughts and not get pulled aside by things not of God. God says that those who put the Kingdom of God first will have all those other things added. (Matt 6:33) Meaning, whatever you are concerned or worried about He will handle. God is really good at His job. We are to focus on Him because the devil wants to pull us down by having us focus on the problem and, thereby, lose faith in God.

“Fight the good fight of faith,lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.” (1 Tim6:12)

God Is THE Judge

We are instructed in Romans 12:18-“If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.” And in Mark 7:3 and Luke 6:41 it says- “And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?”

Lately I have seen and read about churches pointing the fingers at other churches and members criticizing other members for a variety of reasons and most of the time it is doctrinal. Some are leaving churches because the pastor does not address current event issues enough. I actually read that in the news. Jesus never said to do that. And realize that the church is the Body of Christ. HE is the Head of the church. Yes, there are cults out there masquerading as Christian; heretical ones that don’t even preach the gospel of Christ and we should stay away from them. But be careful what you say. Even if the person is not doing what you think they should be doing doctrinally, be careful not to pass harsh judgement on that individual or on the entire church. Because you do not know when that person might repent. And you might not even hear about it. So here you go, keeping your judgement passing, resentment and, in some cases, outright hostility against another while they have completely changed and have been forgiven by God but you won’t know it. So, this puts you in a lot of danger because God will judge you just as harshly as you did that individual. If you don’t like that person now, what are you going to do when you find out they are in Heaven or have been changed in the blink of an eye when Jesus returns? [Keep in mind if you refuse to repent you might not be there at all.] Yes, if a brother is committing a grievous sin we are to go to him, humbly with gentleness and bring it to his attention because you might help him to stop sinning and thus saved him. Matt 18:15-“Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.”

We are COMMANDED to love one another. It was not a suggestion Jesus made depending on your personal beliefs or whims. He died for EVERYONE, not a chosen few. If you are harboring resentment and hostility you are clearly not loving. This can fester and lead to a greater sin: hate. And that can quench the Spirit. Well any sin grieves the Holy Spirit.

And you can’t do this by yourself. You first must take your unholy attitude to God and repent of it and ask Him to help you to love all others and see them as He does. This does NOT mean we embrace things that are clearly an abomination to God. If He says it is wrong, it is wrong. No amount of howling from our current abominable and heathen society, which wants Christians to be conformed to them, not Christ, will change that. And we must stand firm on that.

When you see strife, the devil has made his way onto the scene. There should be NO strife. It’s not going to exist in the Kingdom of God so why should it exist in any of us? Satan wants nothing more than to destroy the church and he will work on individuals to make sure it gets done. He knows you all too well and has studied you a long time. He knows exactly what traps to lay to ensnare you. He knows what appeals to your ego.

I have learned recently that even if I personally don’t agree with a particular doctrine of a particular church, I am to love them anyway and harbor NO ill feelings or judgement against them. Who am I to judge? God does not have a problem with laying my own sins bare and He will have no problem doing it to you. Anne Graham Lotz had a Bible study not too long ago on the Book of Daniel. In the back of the workbook that went along with the videos, she listed a whole bunch of sins that we need to take a look at. I even wrote about it in one of my posts and listed them, too. She did it because God would NOT go forward with her on a job she had to do UNTIL she did as He requested and took a look at her sins. When she began to write them down, she realized (with the Holy Spirit telling her which ones they were) how many she had to repent of. We need to do the same. We need to do a “Spring Cleaning” of ourselves, especially with the Holy Day coming upon us which celebrates Jesus Christ’s sacrifice upon the cross for all of mankind and His resurrection which has enabled us to be called sons/daughters of God. John 3:16

I have come to really love peace. I love God’s way of living and feel bad for those who reject Him. I hate strife. It does no one any good under any circumstances and does more damage than good. It is definitely NOT approved of by God. You do not want to be guilty of doing irreparable damage or bringing dishonor to another. I learned that from Beth Moore’s study on the Patriarchs. She asked, at one point, about bad experiences we have had and to write about it as long as it did not bring dishonor to another. That really stayed with me and I learned a lot from her that had nothing to do with the actual study. (I’m now going through her study on the Book of Daniel.) How often do we bring dishonor on another in our judgement passing and finger pointing? What does God think of all that? I may not know His exact thoughts but I can tell you He would see us as immature and wrong in our attitude.

You do NOT want to face God with a lot of garbage and sin on your heart that you have been harboring. I have a healthy fear of the Lord and don’t want to do anything that displeases Him and saddens Him.

So let us take our calling seriously and get rid of all the garbage we’ve been dragging around. Go to our Father, confess your sins and be forgiven. Start fresh and free of the crippling burden of sin. Have a joyous Resurrection Sunday! Be blessed in all you do.

GOD

I never had a relationship with anyone like I do with Him. We have been through a lot together over the years. He’s seen me through a lot of ups and downs. Sometimes I think it was more down than up but that’s from my perspective, not His. I don’t think anyone has consumed me like He does or has captured my heart like He has. There is no one who loves like He does. There is none like Him. I am still learning about Him and will probably never really know Him completely until we stand face-to-face.

I have not been without fear, worry or apprehension in my life; those things that rob the soul of joy and happiness. After all, I am still human and have to live in this shell until it is time for me to go home or Jesus returns. If anyone has seen the movie “The Polar Express” (which I had taken my granddaughter to when she was younger.) you will be familiar with this one scene. The train is flying across an icy lake and heading toward a mountain. The little boy is at the very front of the outside of the train, flattened against it by the speed of the train. His eyes are wide and he is clearly terrified but behind him is the conductor who is perfectly calm and smiling. I think the ice was cracking, as well. When I saw that I immediately saw myself as the little boy and the conductor as God. I totally identified with that one scene. [Note: I may be a little sketchy on the details of the movie since its been a long time since I’ve seen it.]

I had to be told to accept God’s love for me. Mainly because I grew up in a loveless and abusive household. I had no idea what it was like to have a loving family because mine was far from it. God separated me from them for thirty years in order to save me from them. When I saw them again, they were even more unloving than I remember. So, it happened when I was going to college and had taken an art class. One of the women in the class worked at a Christian retreat. Out of the blue, before class had started, she came up to me and said, “You have to accept God’s love”. I was floored. I knew she was delivering a message from Him and it was not the last time she delivered one, either. I wish I had the sense to get to know that woman at that time. It was right after that she said she had something for me. I went over to where she was sitting and she took a cross out of her handbag and gave it to me. It was a cross made of two nails. I had seen “The Passion of the Christ” when it had come out and had bought online a single nail on a leather cord. When that woman gave me the cross I took the nail off and intertwined the two pieces together and put it around my neck. My art teacher had asked me to take pictures of some of her work out in the parking lot and so off I went to do that. It was not until after I had finished taking those pictures that I realized what I had around my neck. All three nails.

Another time a church I was attending planned on going to a weekend retreat at the very same place that the woman worked. I had mentioned it to her one night in class. She looked at me and said quite seriously “God wants you there.” Again, I was taken aback. Yes, I did go and the church had to pay for me because I was too poor to afford it myself. So why did I have to be there? It was the weekend of Pentecost. Although nothing was remarkably learned from the pastor, (who later I discovered had some serious spiritual problems) there was something that happened that was very subtle. When I had gotten up on that Sunday morning (and after breakfast I had gone for a walk) I suddenly felt very different. I felt as if my entire past had been wiped clean and this was the beginning of something new. I didn’t appreciate it as fully as I do now but there was definitely a change.

Over the years I have spent a lot of time alone with God. I had driven up the mountain to be alone with Him off this logging trail. I would take my Bible, water and some food with me and sit on the tailgate of my truck and read. Then I would walk around among the towering pines and talk out loud to Him as if He was walking alongside me. I miss those times dearly as the mountain is now farther away. Or I would go to a nearby park and spend time with Him there. All those are precious memories to me now and the flowers and leaves I had picked are pressed into the back of a journal I used at the time.

I would say to anyone who feels they are too busy to talk to God (prayer) that you are missing out on one of the most important things you could possibly do. Nothing should come in the way of talking to Him and you will only get to know Him by spending time with Him. If you plan on spending eternity in Heaven, you need to be with the One who loved you so much He died for you. So what’s your excuse?

Is There Hope?

I haven’t written in a while. Well, I think last year was my last post. I had intentions of starting off the new year with a post about God. But things got in the way and time flew by…. and here I am.
Things have certainly spiraled out of control recently as everyone who has a pulse knows. The shooting in Florida was horrendous, but what makes it even more horrific are two things: 1) The FBI and the local law enforcement had been repeatedly warned about this guy who did the shooting. REPEATEDLY. Local law enforcement had received 23 phone calls about him with the warning he was dangerous and could possibly shoot up a school! What does it take for those who are supposed to uphold the law to finally act on it? 2) Maybe we should ask the FOUR deputies who were outside the school while students were being slaughtered. Maybe we should ask them why they did NOTHING. If I was a parent of one of the kids that was shot, I’d be launching a protest rally in front of the police department and demand answers and also the local FBI field office. All of them should be fired. It just makes my blood boil to think they stood by and did nothing. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/after-parkland-a-flood-of-new-threats-tips-and-false-alarms/ar-BBJzqSA?li=BBnb7Kz

Chicago has the strictest gun laws but it is still a battle field because criminals don’t get their guns through legal channels. If every gun was confiscated from those who have licenses to carry, there would still be shootings.

The world being out of control is proof enough that man cannot govern himself. He never could and never will. He’s an epic failure. But there is One who is really good at governing man and that is the One the world rejects. But have no fear, He is returning. Things are going to get worse. The Bible states it will be so bad that no other time in history will compare to it. None. That includes the holocaust. Satan is ramming his agenda down everyone’s throat and if you do not have the Spirit of God, you will be held captive by him. While the army of darkness is marching across the planet there are those who are trying to tell people there is hope. There is a bright future but it’s not run by man…or satan. It’s run by the One who created the entire universe and everything in it.

People have no idea what life would really be like under Christ’s rule. They don’t know what real freedom is. They don’t know what real peace is. They can’t imagine a world where there is no fighting, no strife, no hunger, greed, poverty and all the other vile things we live with today. They can’t imagine it because they don’t know God. They haven’t a clue as to Who He is. Or What He is. He’s not a guy. He is a Being that is a self-sustaining life source the likes of which you can never imagine. He is Life. He is Power. He is magnificent and He is pure love. All the false gods of this world cannot compare to Him. It is ridiculous to compare a stone statue to Someone like Him. When He returns, people will FREAK OUT because they have never seen anything like this.(Plus He is returning with ALL His angels, too. It will be quite a sight, I promise you that!) They have no idea that Someone of this magnitude is headed their way. Jesus is not some skinny, long-haired guy. Look in the Book of Revelation for a description or even the first chapter of Ezekiel. Any of the prophets that encountered Him immediately fainted and had to be revived. Some could not even talk, like Ezekiel who was speechless for seven days afterwards. I think I’d be speechless, too. My mind would go into vapor lock and I’d probably faint, too, if He suddenly appeared right behind me while I was typing this. (When He really does return, I’d be changed in the blink of an eye into the same life form He is. Pure Spirit. Pure everything. I can’t wait.) I’m so sick of this world. Fed up with the whole lot.

On March 31st, 2018 Christians are going to go out in-mass soul winning across the globe to try and get people to see there is hope, that they have a chance of a new life with Jesus Christ and that they can live in a world the likes of which is beyond everyone’s imagination. Christians will be going out to tell others that God is extending to them a personal invitation and that Jesus paid for all their sins on the cross. They can be free, truly free. And they can experience a relationship with The One and Only who has my heart.

Remember this: He loves you. Satan doesn’t.

Sidebar

I am still formulating my next post in my head but this occurred today which needs to be mentioned. The FCC has repealed net neutrality. What that means is that now ISPs can block you from streaming content on YouTube or Netflix. It also means that you can get charged for wanting to watch certain videos. It also means that Netflix and YouTube can be charged more to make sure they stream at the same speed, which means the cost will be passed onto the consumer. I am only mentioning Netflix because it is mentioned in the article as well as YouTube.

ISPs can block access to certain sites. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/analysis-fcc-repealed-net-neutrality-%E2%80%94-heres-what-that-means-for-you/ar-BBGI9jB?li=BBnb7Kz

What does that mean to you and me? Well my very first thought was that eventually access to Christian sites will be blocked, my pastor might not be able to upload his sermon videos and Satan is going to make sure that the Word of God is silenced as far as what is on the Internet is concerned. He is, after all, the prince of the power of the air. I am not even going to begin to imagine what is going to be allowed. It is causing quite a bit of uproar and people are rallying and protesting.

Although there is a lot of sinful trash on the web and even a deep, dark web out there, the Word of God must go on. Needless to say, none of this has caught God by surprise and He will make sure His Word gets out there no matter what Satan tries to pull. It will, I hopefully pray, invigorate Christians to become more invested in Jesus Christ than ever before. Let us all rise up like the mighty army of God that we are!

Is Anyone Else Out There Experiencing Spiritual Attacks From The Devil?

I know that’s a wild thing to ask but I am curious because I have been experiencing spiritual attacks since I wrote the last two posts. In addition, I have had physical ailments flare up really bad and so far two bizarre incidents have happened that I have no explanation for. So I am curious if anyone else is having a rough time. Please comment below this post and let me know.

Things have gotten beyond crazy in the world and it’s escalating. President Trump’s announcement to move the U.S Embassy to Jerusalem made me think that Luke 21:20 is on the horizon in the not too distant future. If anyone thinks we have a lot of time left, they better think again. The world has gone totally barking mad. Satan has made large inroads in some of the churches and in some cases he is firmly planted.

No one wants to think of the bad things and hope they are not really happening but they are. It’s horrifying to think of what lays ahead and the Christians in this country will experience persecution in the most strongest sense. Christians in the rest of the world are being brutally and savagely killed so don’t think you are going to escape, cupcake, just because you’re an American. Don’t think you’re going to lift off the earth in some rapture while the rest of the Christians on the planet are being slaughtered. Persecution has already begun here and will continue to escalate.

I know a lot are stressed out about the holidays with shopping, gift giving, parties and being with relatives they can’t stand. That all needs to be put aside and to soldier-up. Speaking of that…. You know in the Book of Revelation where the two witnesses are killed and left in the street for three and a half days? (Rev. 11:10) And the people give gifts to each other? Well…back then when the Apostle John was recording those visions, there were NO Christmas. I conjecture that the time of the year when those people would be giving gifts to each other is Christmas. Something to think about. People normally don’t give each other gifts when their perceived enemy is killed.

I know my posts are not all hearts and flowers. In fact, I write some depressing things. But the light at the end of the tunnel is Jesus Christ. I don’t want anyone to be blindsided by what is going to come upon them swiftly. Our hearts have to be made ready. I just feel this urgency to call out to all my brothers and sisters to stay vigilant and stay close to God.

People’s behavior is going to become more irrational because of demonic influence. I dread thinking of it when the Bible says that it will be the worst time in human history that there ever was. That means it will be much worse than the Holocaust, if you can even imagine that! I’ve seen enough documentaries on it to make my hair stand on end, thinking of what lies ahead. The sinfulness of man will increase exponentially. I had heard that now in Australia pedophiles will join LGBT community to demand their rights. How sick is that?! Since when is it okay to sexually abuse children? Sick, sick, sick. And in France there is a debate about lowering the age of consent to 12!! The article made me sick to my stomach. So when Jesus returns He is coming back furious and rightfully so. He is going to turn this planet upside down and wipe it clean as one would a plate.

I have an idea for my next post and it will be about God. Something positive for a change, right?