What is your life? It is even a vapor...

Jas 4:14  Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
I've been talking a lot about Satan recently, about how real he is and how we have to resist him, and you  know what? Satan doesn't like that kind of talk.
Talk about attacks. I really didn't expect to be attacked viciously but he knows us, Satan knows us inside and out, he knows our weaknesses, he know the things that bother us the most, he knows how to manipulate us expertly. You think he doesn't? The next time you have a really, really bad day try to pick it apart a little and see why it turned out that way. What were the circumstances that created that bad day? Were they seemingly random? Were they perhaps orchestrated somehow? You know the awful thing, Satan loves to use seemingly innocent things to attack us so we don't attribute it to him at all.
The thing is, God will take the attacks Satan enacts and use them to teach us, to chastise us, to put us in a fire to purify us. When we are being fiercely attacked it's like we are being dropped into a vat under which is the hottest fire is burning wildly. Instantly we begin to melt and the impurities in us begin to separate from what is pure.  Burning. If you've ever been burned you know how it feels. If you've accidentally touched something that was a bit too hot you instantly pull your hand back, right? Depending upon the temperature of what you touched the severity will vary. Extremely hot and all it takes is a few second touch to burn your hand very badly, just slightly hot and you might get a red stinging mark for a bit. When we are in the fire being tried it feels AWFUL! It's is PAINFUL in a whole different way. Depending upon what impurities are being pulled out, the temperature will again, vary.
If Satan attacks and your whole world seems to have been rocked and nothing feels right or good in anyway, if your entire existence is twisted and turned until you feel completely out of sorts, it's a good bet you are in a really, really hot vat, that fire is burning wildly.
The thing is, the attack put you on the defensive as it brings out the worse in you. All the impurities are rising to the top and boiling out and you can't stop them. Suddenly you see yourself in a whole new light and yet because this is a huge trial, it's not something you want to see. You want to somehow excuse your behavior away, you want to somehow be right, to become vindicated for what you are going through. To have to admit you might be wrong, that this awful thing in you is against all you want to stand for in Christ, isn't easy.
Truthfully, I still don't want to admit it.
I want to rail and fight, I want to be understood, to be justified. I want to accuse and be given a sympathetic ear. What is happening isn't right. And NO some of it is just downright WRONG but we are supposed to put up with being despised, put out, ignored, regulated to last place, abused.  We are supposed to allow those who would wound us to do so and turn the other cheek so they can wound that one too.  Right?
As you can tell my attack is ongoing, I'm in the middle of it right now and it's so incredibly hard to even write this because I feel so conflicted.
I recognize the attack and yet it's so hard to yield to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. Recognizing the impurities in yourself is NEVER easy, never.
This verse popped out at me as I started this study tonight-
Jas 4:14  Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
Our lives are so fleeting, we do not know what tomorrow will bring. We do not even know if we will be here tomorrow. Yet people make plans to do things that are weeks away, we have to plan, right? Yet in all reality our lives are fleeting. And sometimes our plans come to pass, other times they don't.  Our lives are but a vapor that exists for such a short period in the grand scheme of things. We need to comprehend this more fully, I NEED TO. 
God please help me, I'm so conflicted, help me deal with what is going on in my life right now. Please help me to accept the chastising, to understand the burning flame is only there to work out the impurities in me of which there are so incredibly many.
Help me.  In YOUR LOVE! By YOUR GRACE! Please Lord by YOUR MERCY.

Resist the Devil

Any Star Trek fans out there might remember this…

"Resistance is futile."  The alien entity, the Borg, wanted to take over all humanity converting them into Borgs. When they met with an enemy they would tell them that resistance was futile, to give up, that resisting would only prolong their suffering, inevitably they would be assimilated.  The story however was that resisting was necessary, if they didn't resist then they definitely would be assimilated if they did resist they had a fighting chance.

Truthfully we MUST resist the Devil.  He's NO science fictional Borg character, but a REALITY in all our lives. The Devil is our enemy and he wants to assimilate us, and no, he doesn't want us to resist.

In fact he doesn't even want us to believe that he is real at all.

Because he works from a spiritual realm it's easy for him to get away with deceiving people into believing he doesn't exist.

People don't really even want to admit there is a spiritual realm. This is all there is, they'll tell you. What you can see, touch, hear, taste, and smell,  that's it, end of story.

Let me ask you a question- if it's a completely windless environment can you feel the air? Can you taste the air? Can you see the air? Can you smell the air? Can you hear the air? Yet take that air away that you cannot taste, see, smell, touch, or hear and what would happen to you? You'd die from something you know exists but cannot truly hold, see, smell, taste, or hear. But, you  say, you can feel the air  and all the other things that it's not like the spiritual at all, but it is. The spiritual realm exists and we are called to have FAITH, to believe without seeing. Not good enough? You have to see to believe, well, that's your prerogative as well as everyone else's. We all have to make the choice to have faith or not. But you can't tell me that faith itself doesn't exist. You can equate faith with the people you know. Do you have to have faith in others? You have faith that the people providing your home electricity will keep doing so, don't you? You have faith that fresh food will turn up at your grocery stores, that's why you go there time and time again. You say that you have proof of those things, but the truth is, if you didn't have the faith in those things you wouldn't expect them, would you? If your electricity only came sporadically at best you'd not have faith in it, you couldn't trust that it would be there. If you went to the store and only once in a while found fresh food there, would you trust that there would be fresh food there? No. You have faith in things. You have faith in people until they betray that faith, and then sometimes you can come to have faith in them again, but sometimes you can't.  If a person constantly lets you down do you have faith in them, no.  But you know what it means to have faith in someone, in something's. In the ideal world we could have tremendous faith, but this isn't the ideal world so when we place our faith in things of this world we are often let down.  Having faith in God, in HIS truth, in HIS love is something that can NEVER let you down.

People say God lets them down all the time, but that's not true. God promises us salvation through our Savior and a new world with that salvation. God does NOT promise us good health, happiness, money, here and now.  We are told to trust that He will take care of us, and HE will, He will take care of our eternal life if we place all our faith in Him.  We cannot get all caught up in this world, that's what Satan wants us to do. He wants our focus on the here and now, not things eternal. If he can get us blaming God, or not believing in God based on our life here and now then he's won the victory over your eternal life, and you've made his job incredibly easy. If you don't believe in him, all the better because you HAVE to believe in Him if you believe in Jesus Christ. Jesus came and died for us and His Father brought Him back to life for us, all to get victory over Satan and the sin he ushered into existence.

He's REAL. Satan is as real as Jesus Christ and we are told to RESIST Satan even as we are to SUBMIT to God.

Read this--

Jas 4:1  From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?
Jas 4:2  Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.
Jas 4:3  Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.
Jas 4:4  Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
Jas 4:5  Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?
Jas 4:6  But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.

Jas 4:7  Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Jas 4:8  Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.
Jas 4:9  Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.
Jas 4:10  Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
Jas 4:11  Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge.
Jas 4:12  There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?
Jas 4:13  Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain:
Jas 4:14  Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
Jas 4:15  For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.
Jas 4:16  But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil.
Jas 4:17  Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.

Sobering words, yes? Words we need to study and take to heart!

By the grace and mercy of God, more tomorrow!

Deceived by miracles

Rev 13:14  And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.
Rev 13:15  And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.

Deception through MIRACLES.
Power to give LIFE.

Does this sound like a harmless entity?

We'd love to be able to trust in miracles, wouldn't we? We want to witness miracles, we want to partake of miracles, we love the idea of real miracles occurring, miracles that are irrefutable. We want miracles that even the most skeptic among us cannot help but believe. We do, don't we? Maybe you consider yourself a skeptic and that's not altogether a bad thing, is it? Being skeptical keeps us from being hoodwinked, right? The Catholic church believes in miracles and goes to great lengths to prove the validity of any miracle, right? True miracles are things we see everyday, right? The miracle of life, the miracle of our existence. Yet we mean something different than these common miracles when we discuss miracles.  Jesus went about performing miracles, didn't He?

Joh 2:11  This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him.

Joh 2:23  Now when he was in Jerusalem at the passover, in the feast day, many believed in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did.

Joh 6:2  And a great multitude followed him, because they saw his miracles which he did on them that were diseased.

Act 2:22  Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know:
Act 2:23  Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain

Jesus did MANY miracles, so many we haven't even been told about them all.

Joh 21:25  And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen.

Real miracles. Blind men, blind from birth, were given their sight back! Just imagine you knew that man, perhaps you grew up right near him and saw him as a child blind, saw him as a teenager blind, you interacted with him, talked with him, walked with him, helped him, felt sorry for him as he became a man unable to see and therefore so incredibly limited in his life. Then Jesus comes along and the next thing you know is that man is no longer blind!  Can you let yourself imagine it!? Try!  He can see you! For the first time He looks upon you and when you speak he recognizes your voice and calls you by name, his joy boundless. "Look! I can see! I can see! I see YOU! It's a miracle!"  What would you think in that moment? Would you believe it was a real miracle? What other choice would you have? Seriously, what other choice, especially when that man tells you how he was healed. You couldn't doubt him, he was seeing!

Real miracles beyond the miracle of life and all that entails. Do you believe in them? Could you believe in them? You'd have no choice not if your life was touched by a miracle such as described in the previous paragraph.  You'd immediately believe that miracle was God sent, wouldn't you? Of course you would. And yet we read this-

Rev 13:14 And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do…

Deceived by miracles.

So you tell me, can we trust miracles? We want to because we do NOT want to believe that Satan can work miracles. We want to believe that ONLY God can do miracles, especially miracles of healing, surely He alone would do something that wonderful.  People do NOT want to believe that Satan, using His deceptive power honed to perfection, will work miracles we deem good- such as healing. The truth is, most people who believe in God do not want to believe that Satan is just as real as God. The Evil One has done a remarkable job at marketing himself so that the blinders he has crafted for people- yes, even God fearing people- fit perfectly about our eyes so that there isn't a glimmer of light that can enter in around them. Not a single bit of saving truth can penetrate those blinders. In fact the show going on behind the blinders suit us just fine, soothing us, lulling us into a false sense of security so that we WILL be deceived and ultimately the realization will come that it was a deception we chose, not one that was forced upon us. We choice deception when we turn from truth, whatever that truth is that is being presented. When we make the choice to accept some truth, but not all, we are NOT going to be SAVED! Jesus is the TRUTH! And if we reject any of HIS truth, then we are rejecting HIM.

No, people do NOT want to believe that they could be rejecting Jesus, especially those who claim to know Him and be known by Him. They want to hold fast to their blinders and keep them on tight to their eyes lest their delusions become apparent and they are forced to realize that there is truth out there they have rejected. They love their blinders because Satan has tailor made them to meet every desire they have- keeping them very comfortable in his masterful deception.

Deceived by miracles.

If we aren't willing to hold fast to all God's truth now, what makes us think that we'll be able to tell Satan's miracles from God's?

How many of Satan's miracles have been labeled God's already?  Not something you want to think about, well keep those blinders on,  the price you are paying for them is your eternal life, forsaking our loving Savior, Christ Jesus.

Deceived by miracles.

Mat 24:24  For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.

GREAT SIGNS, GREAT WONDERS all meant for DECEPTION! And ONLY the VERY ELECT will NOT be deceived!

Only those whose eyes are NOT blinded by deception will see.
Only those who live in the TRUTH of our SAVIOR, all HIS TRUTH will not be deceived.

Remember this…

Luk 10:25  And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?
Luk 10:26  He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou?
Luk 10:27  And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.
Luk 10:28  And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.


What shall I do to inherit eternal life?
Jesus ANSWERED- What is written in the law? How readest thou?
And the man summed up the entire MORAL law written on the two tablets of stone by saying--
Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all they heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind, and thy neighbor as thyself.

Did Jesus rebuke the man? Did Jesus tell him that it would no longer be necessary to keep the moral law? It was a PERFECT opportunity to do so.  Did Jesus say that He'd come to replace the law, just believe in Him and forget about the law? Did Jesus tell Him that the moral law would not save him? Why not? Why didn't He? That's what people love to say isn't it? That the moral law is the law of the old testament and no longer valid. But that's not what Jesus said at all.

Jesus replied by saying THOU HAST ANSWERED RIGHT, THIS DO AND THOU SHALT LIVE.

Why would Jesus say that if it weren’t TRUE?  Was it only a valid answer until Jesus died?  If that's the case wouldn't Jesus have said so? Perhaps adding, that's right, do that and live, BUT also remember things are going to change after I'm gone. 

We have to LIVE IN THE TRUTH of our SAVIOR, not the lies people make up so that it's easier for us to pretend we belong to God, all the while we go about living selfishly only serving self even as we help others to serve our own egos.

By the GRACE of our LORD, more tomorrow!  We cannot let ourselves be DECEIVED! We cannot wear the blinders Satan has tailored made for us! We have to RESIST the DEVIL!

Jas 4:7  Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

RESIST the DEVIL.   Yes, the Devil is very, very real and eager to please -- himself by lying and deceiving all who do not truly love Christ Jesus more than they love themselves.

Please LORD HELP US! SAVE US! TEACH US! LOVE US ALWAYS!

By YOUR GRACE.

Happily blinded by Satan?

Do you need proof that Satan rules this world?  Just read or watch the news. We have NO difficulty reporting the atrocities that people commit, announcing them all too eagerly  to the world. I still remember hearing this little tale- not sure when or where. A long retired police officer took a much younger officer aside to talk with him. They were discussing the horrors that are common in our world today and the much older officer sighed heavily and spoke sadly telling the younger that a lot of the horrors today were common back in his day too, the only difference being the police officers were not allowed to talk about them, not to reporters, not to anyone. They made not talking about the horror a part of their duty to protect the decent public from the morally corrupt around them. They felt it would do much more harm than good to discuss the awful things people could do to each other and to other living things. 

Are things worse today? Yes, I think they are and that's because there stopped being a need to protect people from horror. And when we stop protecting others a lot of time they fall victim to the fear that comes into their hearts, fear of living in such an awful world. Some will argue that we don't need to be protected we need to be informed and that information will protect us against the horrors, but really, seriously does knowing about the evils that occur day in and day out protect you? Can you know about evil without constantly being barraged by it? Why do we have to broadcast the evil more and more? What good does knowing every sick thing that takes place in the world? Is it enough to say there was a murder without getting the gruesome details of that murder? Is there enough to say there was a kidnapping without discussing every bit of torture that occurred to the victim of the kidnapping? Do you know what I’m saying? But that isn't what's happening and it's not going to start happening now, the floodgates of all things gruesome and horrifying has been open and it will not close, it cannot close the evil flowing through those gates is only growing more and more forceful.

Satan will blind us to his devices if he can. As long as we're blind to his handiwork we are his. If we CHOOSE blindness, God will allow us to be blind. God will not force us to see, God does NOT use force.

How many people are right now walking the earth happily blind to Satan? Spiritually blind? Living in the darkness yet they believe they are in the light? 

How many of those same people actually believe in God?  I think it's fair to say, a lot of them. No, not as many as in days past, but there is a strong belief in God in our world. Yet the God they are believing in ISN'T truly the God of the Bible, the God of old, the God from everlasting to everlasting, God the Father. A lot of them believe it is God, but they are caught in yet another great lie of Satan's- they don't believe that Satan is really, really, real. They regulate Satan to fablehood. They reduce him to a minor nuisance. They've taken him and resigned him to the corner, they've swept him under a rug, they've put in a closet, locked him in the attic, they've cartooned him, made a comedian of him, they've let him become scary movie fiction, horror book characterized. And they've labeled those that believe Satan to be a real enemy - as being crazy, being off their noggin's, looney toons.   With Satan taking on such a role they've unknowingly removed God from His role and replaced Him with a false god. Don't be fooled, if you think that can't happen!

Remember this--

Rev 13:11  And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.
Rev 13:12  And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.
Rev 13:13  And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,
Rev 13:14  And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.
Rev 13:15  And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.
Rev 13:16  And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
Rev 13:17  And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
Rev 13:18  Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.

Mat 24:24  For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.

More on this tomorrow… ALL BY THE GRACE OF GOD!

Please LORD bless us, help us to comprehend our need to worship YOU and ONLY YOU and none other! Please LORD don't let us be deceived! We want to be among Your elect, please LORD! Satan will deceive ALL but the very elect, don't let us be deceive all by YOUR grace, YOUR righteousness, YOUR LOVE!

We are under attack...

1Ch 21:1  And Satan (G4566) stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.

Satan
G4566
- Definition:
1. adversary (one who opposes another in purpose or act), the name given to
a. the prince of evil spirits, the inveterate adversary of God and christ
1. he incites apostasy from God and to sin
2. circumventing men by his wiles
3. the worshippers of idols are said to be under his control
4. by his demons he is able to take possession of men and inflict them with diseases
5. by God's assistance he is overcome
6. on christ's return from heaven he will be bound with chains for a thousand years, but when the thousand years are finished he will walk the earth in yet greater power, but shortly after will be given over to eternal punishment

 Satan

The prince of evil spirits.
The adversary of God and Christ.
Incites apostasy from God.
Incites us to sin.
Uses wiles.
Idol worshippers - under his control.
He has evil spirits he uses to harm people.

He's every horrifically bad thing you can ever imagine.

If you witness any evil it stems from HIM.

People will tell you that you can commit evil without Satan, but that's not true. He is the FATHER of lies, He is EVIL, He is all that is EVIL! The origin of all evil is Satan. You can trace every evil to Him. Eve said she was beguiled and that began the reign of Satan on earth. Do you think Cain was not influenced by Satan? He was!

Gen 4:6  And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?
Gen 4:7  If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.

If thou doest well.
If thou doest not well.

Good and evil.  We are confronted with that choice every day of our lives! You may not think so, but we are. 

It's a HEART goodness, and a HEART evil, NOT the superficial good which is evil only prettied up.

Cain had the choice to make, none could make it for him, just as NONE can make it for us. God SPOKE to Cain. God told Cain that he needn't be upset so much so that it was easily worn upon his features.  Don't be upset just because I did NOT accept your sin offering, you can STILL rectify this, there is still room to do what is RIGHT.  However, if you are CHOOSING to not rectify this, if you are CHOOSING to not make a proper offering then sin is right there ready to take over you. 

God didn't condemn Cain outright when Cain did not offer a proper offering. God is a sympathetic God, a compassionate God. God didn't want Cain to sin. God was telling Cain that he would always be the firstborn and Abel under him.  Did Cain listen?  No. We know he didn't. That sin lying at his door was encouraged by Satan. 

We have to realize that Satan instigated all evil and his on going legacy is evil. Do you think He isn't thrilled when we follow in his ways? How do you think he felt about Cain's sin?

We know Satan has 'devices', that he has 'wiles', these are FACTS.

Satan used the serpent and BEGUILED Eve and once he'd done that there was NO stopping Him from corrupting every single human begin he could and can.

This is how bad it became on earth--

Gen 6:5  And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
Gen 6:6  And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.

Satan was ruling earth then and he's ruling earth now.

EVERY imagination of the thoughts of mankind's heart was ONLY EVIL CONTINUALLY.

EVIL.

We are so intent upon believing that man is evil in and of himself without any influence, but that simply is NOT true! Man consents to evil, man chooses evil over good.  We are ALL subject to the influence of Satan- our ONLY protection is found in CHRIST.

 People tell us blaming Satan is a cop out so that we don't have to take the blame for our own actions.  We still have to take the blame for the choices we make.  We are still accountable for every thing we do whether we ask for forgiveness or whether we don't, whether we sin or sin not, whether we let lust be conceived in us or not.  We choose!

We aren't using the fact that the origin of ALL our sin is Satan to escape our own guilt, that's impossible.  We can't escape, we are guilty and in need of forgiveness  every single time we sin! Yet knowing that Satan is influencing us to sin lets us prepare, let's us don our armor against Him! We don't wear armor if we don't think we are being attacked, right?

By the GRACE of GOD may we recognize our need of protection from our SAVIOR through the HOLY SPIRIT! May we recognize we are UNDER ATTACK constantly!!!!!!!

Please God, help us! Save us! ALL BY YOUR GRACE, YOUR LOVE!

Satan has DECEIVED the WORLD!

2Co 2:11  Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.

Satan was very REAL to the disciples.

They did NOT imagine Satan to be some imagined fable.  He wasn't just a story book character to them.  He was a real force, a real entity, a real being that influenced their lives. They didn't stuff him into some corner and pull him out for story time. Satan was and IS the enemy of Jesus Christ and therefore he is OUR enemy as well just as he was the enemy of the disciples.

Satan's devices.

This force for evil has his evil devices and we cannot allow ourselves to be ignorant of them.

Do you believe in the Word of God?
Do you believe in the LORD Jesus Christ?

If you believe… then you HAVE to believe in Satan, the REALITY of this EVIL being who is intent on destroying any one who would be Christ's.

2Co 11:3  But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

2Co 11:14  And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.

1Ch 21:1  And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.
1Ch 21:2  And David said to Joab and to the rulers of the people, Go, number Israel from Beersheba even to Dan; and bring the number of them to me, that I may know it.

Job 2:3  And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause.
Job 2:4  And Satan answered the LORD, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life.
Job 2:5  But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face.
Job 2:6  And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life.
Job 2:7  So went Satan forth from the presence of the LORD, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown.

Zec 3:1  And he shewed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him.
Zec 3:2  And the LORD said unto Satan, The LORD rebuke thee, O Satan; even the LORD that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?
Zec 3:3  Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the angel.
Zec 3:4  And he answered and spake unto those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment.

Luk 22:31  And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat

Joh 13:2  And supper being ended, the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him

1Co 7:5  Defraud ye not one the other, except it be with consent for a time, that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again, that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency.

Eph 6:11  Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
Eph 6:12  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

1Pe 5:8  Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour

Rev 2:24  But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine, and which have not known the depths of Satan, as they speak; I will put upon you none other burden.

Rev 12:9  And 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.
Rev 12:10  And 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.
Rev 12:11  And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.

Rev 13:6  And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.
Rev 13:7  And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.
Rev 13:8  And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

Read that last verse again-

And ALL that dwell upon the earth shall worship him (SATAN), whose names are NOT written in the book of the  LIFE of the LAMB slain from the foundation of the world.

He's real all right and he's dedicated to stealing from God all the people he can. If you think you are immune to him, think again and think hard because your eternal life is at stake.

Satan has LULLED the majority of the world into believing one of his greatest lies- that we don't REALLY die.

How many people do you know believe that our loved ones who die are in a 'better place'? Do you believe it? It's a LIE. It's a lie that goes all the way back to Eve in the garden with the serpent.

Gen 3:1  Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
Gen 3:2  And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
Gen 3:3  But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
Gen 3:4  And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
Gen 3:5  For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

The serpent said unto the woman--  YE SHALL NOT SURELY DIE.

Did Eve die?

Yes. She might not have died right there on the spot, but God did NOT say that would happen. God did not tell Eve and Adam that if they ate the fruit of the forbidden tree they would die instantaneously.  He said they would die.

Gen 2:17  But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

Gen 2:17  but of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil you may not eat, for in the day that you eat of it, dying you shall die.  (LITV- Literal translation of the Holy Bible)

DYING you shall DIE.

Before they ate of that fruit they weren't subjected to death, they ate from the tree of life and death would not come to them. They were covered in the Righteousness of God, and because they were covered by GOD they could eat from that tree of life.

Satan LIED to Eve!

YE SHALL NOT SURELY DIE.

This is a lie the majority of people believe.  They believe that when a person dies they keep living in a different form. They believe they shift from flesh to spirit and that spirit knows EVERYTHING. The spirit LIVES in heaven and yet, like God, that spirit person knows EVERYTHING that goes on. That spirit can be happy … because there are no tears in heaven, right?  Heaven is a good thing where only good can happen. So, they believe this and then they believe that the spirit person can look down on them and see all their pain, all their heartache, all their grief, and all that they see does NOT make them cry or feel bad, or grieve themselves because that is NOT allowed in heaven, right?

Satan has DECEIVED the WORLD! 

Remember this-

Rev 13:8 And ALL that dwell upon the earth shall worship him (SATAN), whose names are NOT written in the book of the  LIFE of the LAMB slain from the foundation of the world.

Mat 24:24  For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.

And remember this-

1Pe 5:8  Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour

Satan isn't sleeping, he's devouring, he's ravenous, he's craving YOU and ME! We are being HUNTED and this is NOT a stupid horror show, this is REAL life!
Satan has weaved a HUGE web of deceit and he's caught almost the entire world in that web and you know the really, really tragic thing… most don't even realize they've been caught!

Please LORD, please help us to NOT be ignorant of Satan's devices! Help us NOT let Satan get an advantage over us! We are living in perilous times! We are living in a nightmare and we pray that we will wake up to YOUR SOON COMING! PLEASE LORD, SAVE US, KEEP US, PROTECT US, LOVE US!

All in YOU and YOUR RIGHTEOUSNESS!

Amen!

His Existence at Stake

Our Savior,  the ONLY Mediator between God the Father and Mankind, the One who paid our ransom through the Sacrifice of His life, and of His possible existence--

Yes, through the Sacrifice of His possible existence.

Do you comprehend that?

God with God from everlasting to everlasting, God who took on human flesh was BOUND by that flesh! Jesus did not become a God with power among us. His power came SOLELY from God the Father.

Joh 12:49  For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak.

Joh 14:10  Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.

Joh 14:24  He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me.

Joh 10:30  I and my Father are one.

Joh 17:25  O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me.
Joh 17:26  And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.

HE did NOT speak of Himself- but the FATHER told Him what to say.
The FATHER dwelled IN HIM,  and the FATHER IN HIM did the works!

Just as we are to have the FATHER'S love in us, and have JESUS in US,  Jesus and His Father agree in ONE. 

When we accept our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and He is IN us, it's a very REAL SPIRITUAL existence, yet that did NOT make us ONE being and no longer two separate entities. I am still ME, and Jesus is still JESUS.  The Spiritual power that exists beyond our flesh has us agreeing as ONE. The power we get from our God through the Holy Spirit is given to us to do HIS works, the works the FATHER would have us do.

The FATHER had the power and gave that power to HIS flesh bearing Son.  Jesus did NOTHING of Himself.

Joh 5:19  Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.

The FATHER lived in HIM and Jesus revealed the FATHER to us through HIS LIFE!

Our Savior was willing to risk becoming human and being subjected to temptation, fierce temptations beyond anything we can honestly imagine. He risked His existence.  If He'd died in sin He would never have been raised by His Father from the grave. He would have lost all humanity. Humanity would have ceased to exist at that point.

Did Satan ever accuse God of Jesus NOT being an acceptable atonement for mankind? No. Why? Because it wouldn't have been true and Satan knew it.

Satan did ALL in his power to get our Savior to sin, would he have even tried if it were impossible for Jesus to sin? NO!  Jesus was not a stone statue. Jesus was not God with God, but God in human flesh with God. That human flesh made it possible for our Savior to sin should He have chosen to do so. Satan knows this, we have to realize this. It was a REAL SACRIFICE. It wasn't God playing around making up tricks to appease Satan. This was a REAL SACRIFICE, and a REAL possibility that our Savior could have lost His OWN existence. There would have been NO excusing the sin, no reset button pushed, no do-overs, no try again and let's get it right this time. If our Savior had succumbed to temptation the power of sin would have been such that our Savior's existence along with our own would have been gone forever. THIS was the REAL SACRIFICE MADE!  He risked His entire existence and His existence was so far beyond anything we can possibly imagine that just trying to understand seems all but impossible. We are allowed enough to comprehend the depths, the heights, of the mercy given to us so that we can throw sinfilled selves at the feet of our Savior and beg Him for forgiveness, for HE ALONE is truly WORTHY of being able to forgive us our grave sins, He who gave so much and was under NO obligation to even give us a second glance.  Oh THE LOVE! The INCREDIBLE LOVE of our GOD and SAVIOR!

May we know this LOVE and be one with the Father, with the  Son, and with the Holy Spirit, in the LOVE that they alone can give to us- may we as individuals become four that agree as one, and as a collective as many as possible agreeing as one with our God the FATHER who is in heaven, from everlasting to everlasting.

Our Savior gave it all, He gave up His possible existence when He died on the cross and totally depended upon the Father to raise Him from the dead.

We can never forget this, never!



Amen.