The Story Between God And Satan

THE STORY BETWEEN GOD AND SATAN

If you haven't been able to piece it all together, there's a history between God and Satan that's rather sad, because Satan wasn't supposed to be such a bad egg like he is. Ezekiel wrote about all the love God put into the creation of Lucifer; "Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, 'Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created...'" (Ezek. 28:12-15).

The devil sounds like he has every reason to be an obedient creation to God, but something went wrong; terribly wrong. Iniquity was found in him (Ezek. 28:15). What was that sin? Pride. His beauty was so bright, it corrupted his mind (Ezek. 28:17). As we who read the bible know from Prov. 16:18, pride goeth before a fall, and how great was Satan's fall! According to Luke 10:18, Jesus spoke as an eyewitness that he fell like lightning, and that's faster than I would ever want to fall down! As Isaiah said of Satan after his fall, "Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms; that made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners?" (Isa. 14:16-17).

So you might next want to know how this sin manifested itself in Satan, that God came to notice it, and that answer is in Isaiah's book; "How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High." (Isa. 14:12-14). Satan didn't even have to speak his sin, it was read in his heart by our omniscient God, and immediately God dealt with the devil and his sin!

Now many, if not all who read this, have heard of the fires of hell, but remember that part of the gospel where Jesus talks about hell, and where "...their worm never dies"? Look in Mark 9:43 - 44; "And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched." If you want to see another reference to those worms, look now into Isa. 14:11; "Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee." Are there any volunteers to be in hell where the fire is never quenched and there are worms? Believe it or not, all who disbelieve in Jesus till their final breath.

So now the story becomes ugly for you and me. We didn't want a part of what happened between God and Satan, but the devil brings it to us. He started with some of the other angels, and you can find them in 2 Pet. 2:4; "For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;". Satan goes after people, too, such as novices at Christianity who get into positions of leadership too quickly and then become proud, as is written in 1 Tim. 3:6; "Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil." So while we're trying to follow Christ, we have to be careful Lucifer doesn't drag us into the mess he's in. And then there's false teachers; they teach everything and anything unScriptural, even up to denying Christ who bought us, and them, too. They exploit who they will, walk after the flesh...how many have been exposed for molestation, homosexuality, and adultery and fornication?  There are also the covetous who do religious work for personal gain. These are all spoken of in 2 Pet. 2:1 - 22. The devil has many devices; he wants us to think we can thrive independent of God; but in the end, it will prove to eternal damnation.

Other ways the devil tries to steal souls is the idea of worshipping demons and false idols, and this has been since the Old Testament, as when the people were warned in Exod. 20:3 - 6; "Thou shalt have no other gods before Me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me; and shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love Me, and keep My commandments." From one end of the bible to the other, man is warned about false god and demon worship. Even to Rev. 9:20 - 21; "And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk: Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts."

Oh, who can count the devices of the devil? Idolatry, suicide, fortune telling, astrology, witchcraft - all these works of the devil are told of in the bible, and from the time God warned up to even now, people do these things. Exod. 20:13 has it that "thou shalt not kill", and yet people will believe the thoughts demons put in their heads that suicide will release them from some great guilt, or from serious problems they have.

Yes, Satan and his evil angels are determined to drag as many human souls to hell with them as they can. Here is a passage from 1 Tim 4:1-3; "Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth."

So understand that Satan is our enemy, just as he has made himself God's adversary. Actually, his very name means adversary, and the name "devil" means slanderer. We never went to him to pick a fight with him, he came to us to take our souls. See in 1 Pet. 5:8; "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:"

Satan uses his workers, besides himself, to try to fool you. They will imitate God's disciples as if they were His, too, so they have to be observed in order to discern if they be of God or of Satan. As it is written in 2 Cor 11:12-15; "But what I do, that I will do, that I may cut off occasion from them which desire occasion; that wherein they glory, they may be found even as we. For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works."

And so Satan and his demons try to trick us and use us, because he knows it is the will of the Father that all of us would be saved, but as he is God's adversary, his will would be that none of us get saved. He wants us to worship him (Matt. 4:8 - 9), he wants us to worship false gods and idols (Rev. 9:20), he wants you to believe perversions of the gospel and bible (Gal. 1:6 - 7), and really wants you not to believe in the bible at all so that he can lie to you in all ways, because he is the father of lying (John 8:44). He seeks to eat us up as a roaring lion (1 Pet. 5:8), knowing that sating his appetite on each soul is against the will of our loving Father.

So long as we believe, however, Satan cannot have us. John 3:16 guarantees it to the true believer, and Jesus Himself said nobody can take us from His hand in John 10:28. Jesus, in His death, defeated Satan by nailing our sins to the cross (Col. 2:13 - 15). And God has given us armor, that we may stand against the Devil and his demons (Eph. 6:11 - 19), who are not mere flesh as we are. We can resist the devil (James 4:7) because God is in us (1 John 4:4)! Let me emphasize Eph. 6:18 in relation to putting on this armor properly, "... Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit...".

Now the devil is by no means done and giving up. He will test the world with his antiChrist (2 Thess. 2:8 - 9). Rev. 13:11 - 17 has more trouble for men in the Tribulation, that mankind must worship or die and submit or starve! But for those who resist this terrible trial, and don't take the mark of the beast, nor worship his image, they will never hunger or thirst, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes! (Rev. 7:14b - 17) Satan will lose his war with God in heaven (Rev. 12:7 - 10), and Jesus will rule both in Jerusalem according to Rev. 20:2 - 4, "And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season. And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years." and in the new Jerusalem over all His believers (Rev. 21:1 - 7).

And so this is the story, from beginning to end, of God and Satan, and how we got caught up in it all. Though we suffer trials and tribulation, believing in Jesus through it all, we will enjoy eternal bliss with Christ Jesus!

Oh, But Politics And Religion DO Mix!

OH, BUT POLITICS AND RELIGION DO MIX!

I can just imagine hearing many out there reading the title and saying to themselves, "Oh, no, he can't be serious!" - but I am! All who claim to be Christians have an obligation to demonstrate their belief by voting with their Christian faith, and not because the candidate is good-looking, a smooth talker, or promises change for the better without naming exactly what that change is. Even then, we must look at their history, and their friends, and judge their words. Look at Dan. 7:25; "And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time." As the antiChrist shall seek to change times and laws, don't some politicians try to do that already?

The bible has it that Moses was advised by Jethro, his father-in-law, to elect godly men. Jethro was a priest in Midian, and owned a flock. Let's see what all is written in Exodus about this: "And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses sat to judge the people: and the people stood by Moses from the morning unto the evening. And when Moses' father in law saw all that he did to the people, he said, What is this thing that thou doest to the people? why sittest thou thyself alone, and all the people stand by thee from morning unto even? And Moses said unto his father in law, Because the people come unto me to enquire of God: When they have a matter, they come unto me; and I judge between one and another, and I do make them know the statutes of God, and his laws. And Moses' father in law said unto him, The thing that thou doest is not good. Thou wilt surely wear away, both thou, and this people that is with thee: for this thing is too heavy for thee; thou art not able to perform it thyself alone. Hearken now unto my voice, I will give thee counsel, and God shall be with thee: Be thou for the people to God-ward, that thou mayest bring the causes unto God: And thou shalt teach them ordinances and laws, and shalt shew them the way wherein they must walk, and the work that they must do. Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens: And let them judge the people at all seasons: and it shall be, that every great matter they shall bring unto thee, but every small matter they shall judge: so shall it be easier for thyself, and they shall bear the burden with thee. If thou shalt do this thing, and God command thee so, then thou shalt be able to endure, and all this people shall also go to their place in peace. So Moses hearkened to the voice of his father in law, and did all that he had said. And Moses chose able men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people, rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. And they judged the people at all seasons: the hard causes they brought unto Moses, but every small matter they judged themselves." - (Exod. 18:13-26).

This explains what I feel is one of the three great mistakes of America, because not everybody votes using their belief in God and the advice of the Scriptures. Do you see the qualities that Jethro names to Moses for the men he should elect to be judges over God's people? Jethro said, "...thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness..." And Jethro also said, "...thou shalt teach them ordinances and laws, and shalt shew them the way wherein they must walk, and the work that they must do." So from this, we should understand that Jethro's counsel to Moses was to elect godly men, educated in God's laws and hateful of corruption and perversity. This is good advice; it is godly advice. Moses heeded it. Shouldn't we?

Moses elected men that he had to teach, because God's laws and statutes weren't available on paper, nor on a CD, nor on a website. However, in this day and age, we should be electing church-going Christians, educated in godliness. People who go to Christian churches and who are believers that will behave as godly men and women and execute their elected positions with godly values. They will be the same kind that Jethro spoke of, God-fearing, truthful, and hating covetousness. But even more valuable to our country and people they will be who are instilled with obedience to God's laws and statutes. Imagine if we voted with our Christianity; the media would be hurting for news! They wouldn't have any politicians to write about for any type of corruption or perversity, or any other form of wrong doing. And would this be a bad thing, seeing as some forms of media only survive on gossip and exposing the evil done by the ungodly?

So what would you look for when choosing a nominee for a political position? Most logically, you would choose the more godly of the candidates. Now all of us are human, so it is quite natural you're not going to find a perfect candidate, but you can educate yourself on each candidate's stand on issues and then choose more wisely the best candidate for the position. Are they Christian? Are they pro-abortion ((Exod. 20:13 ("thou shalt not kill.")? Pro-abortion is like offering a child to the god Molech in Lev. 20:1 - 5! Do they have a perverse or ungodly history? Are they known for a past position wherein they caused debt and thereby put taxpayers or a business into a position of paying interest ((see Exod. 22:25) "If thou lend money to any of my people that is poor by thee, thou shalt not be to him as an usurer, neither shalt thou lay upon him usury.") Using the ten Commandments and God's statutes of the bible, you can pick the best candidate for each position of authority in your city, state, and country, and thereby strengthening it with God-given values.

Consider what happened with our schools. We, as a country, allowed an atheist to change our entire public school system by allowing God to be taken out of our schools. What happened? Almost immediately, God was replaced by guns, and Columbine high started the sad parade of media-covered school shootings and killings of all sorts. Who was in authority over what happens in the schools that allowed God to be taken out? An unChristian person, I submit to you, was given the office of authority, that they took God out of our schools. An ungodly person was allowed to have that office of authority, and so long as God is kept out of schools, it seems apparent to me that guns and drugs will be in His place, or until a godly person puts Him in one of His many rightful places in our country. A majority of people elected this person into that position. A majority should recognize the consequence of the ungodly decision and vote out the incumbent and replace them with a godly person who will reinstate God into the public school system.

Finally, I submit to you for consideration this; that in the final analysis, politics will be swallowed up by what is written in the bible. That in the end, after the white throne judgment, we will be under a theocracy, whether any be Christian and accept Christ's rule with great joy or whether any be in rejection of what is written in Rev. 22:5 and Dan. 7:27. ("And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.") Rev. 22:5), ("And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey Him.") Dan. 7:27). I accept Christ's rule with great joy!

WHY YOU SHOULD NEVER CELEBRATE HALLOWEEN

WHY YOU SHOULD NEVER CELEBRATE HALLOWEEN

Halloween's origin is not Christian; it is of a Satanic druid holiday. It is an unconscious approval of Satan worship, a partaking in that which is evil, which we are instructed in Scripture not to do. 1 Thess. 5:22 has it, "Abstain from all appearance of evil.". To dress your children up as ghosts and goblins and devils and such is teaching them approval of it! Witch covens and Satanists have an annual worship service of the devil on that evening, including a blood sacrifice! The Celtic druids chose this night to celebrate everything wicked, evil, and dead. They gathered arounda acommunity bonfire and offered sacrifice, and the celebration remained the same even after the Romans conquered the Celts.

The Druids considered the oak trees and mistletoe and hours of midnight and noon as sacred, and practiced divination, which is also a violation of God's laws. Deut 18:9-12 has it, "When thou art come into the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination unto the Lord: and because of these abominations the Lord thy God doth drive them out from before thee."

Trick or treating and Jack-o-Lantern carving and display, these too are associated with Halloween. The candy and fruit given at Halloween are of a pagan tradition concerning that if wicked spirits came to your door, they were satisfied with being fed, and so would not scare people as they would if nothing was offered. The Jack-o-Lantern was born from a false theology that a man named Jack died one day and couldn't enter heaven or hell, and so he was doomed to wander in darkness with his lantern until Judgment Day. What a terrible, evil hogwash! Christians trust that Jesus our Savior died for our sins, His blood paid for all our sins at the cross, and we don't have to wander nor wonder until Judgment Day. Anyone who has read Rom. 8:1-6 knows it reads this: "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace."

These Druids were false teachers, spreading folklore such as that men's souls do not perish, but rather transfer from one person to another after death. Many people believe they existed in a former life. This is unscriptural: according to Heb. 9:27, "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:" They also believed that on Halloween, the wicked souls were allowed to inhabit the bodies of animals. It is written in a tract by Rev. D.A. Waite that the Roman Catholics accepted this "Halloween" in the early 700s, and thus it came to America and has been established to this day.

So what other warnings and accounts against Halloween should I bring to mind for you? Acts 19:18-20? ("And many that believed came, and confessed, and shewed their deeds. Many of them also which used curious arts brought their books together, and burned them before all men: and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver. So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed.") Lev. 19:31? ("Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God.") Or how about Eph. 5:11-12? ("And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret.") While it is a shame to speak of these things, it is done in the open every Oct. 31st, as soon as darkness falls, and some adults dress up as all manner of creatures and things before the night even falls!

So I tell you therefore that bible reading/believing true Christians will not participate in any way, not by displays nor by teaching their children to participate in any manners related to this annual wicked and evil concept. If you have done this in the past, unaware of all these things you have read today, repent, turn away from practicing, for we have a forgiving God to those who confess all sin. Rather, teach your children 1 Cor 10:31, wherein it is written, "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God."

I OWN You!

I OWN YOU!

While going through life, after becoming a Christian, one must come to a point where we learn we no longer are free to do with ourselves as we please, but rather that we are not our own; we are owned! That's right, we who are Christians are bondservants! 1 Cor. 6:19-20 tells us distinctly that we are not our own, and that we were bought with a price, and further tells us our purpose in life, which is to glorify God in our body and our spirit, because they belong to God. In other words, act like and think like you belong to Him. Obey His commandments, and you're glorifying Him.

Now one might wonder where the term came from, but Christians were first called Christians in Acts 11:26. The disciples were in Antioch at the time, and there was where they first received the title.

There may be some out there who read this and think they don't like this concept of being owned, but we all are, regardless of whether we want to accept it or not. Gen. 2:7-8 and 21-23 gives us good reason; He made us! God spoke the world into existence, but He formed man from the dust of the earth; how special is that? All who believe in creationism that is documented in the bible understand by this passage that we are decendants of that first living soul, and that every one of us He made. Melchizedek in Gen. 14:19 also recognized that God possesses, or owns, all heaven and earth.

Now in knowing that the Lord made us, He can also destroy us! He thought about it in Gen. 6:7, and, except for Noah, who found grace in His sight, we almost didn't exist for very long! Think that was a one-time almost? Check again, because in Gen. 19:24-26, He totally destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah with fire and brimstone, and Lot's wife looked upon it, and she was destroyed to for her disobedience! If one were to think He wouldn't bother with only one person, guess again! Acts 12:21-23 explains that even if one offend Him, He can destroy them! If He should choose to give mercy and not destroy, He could also allow affliction to overcome an offensive person, such as in Acts 13:8-11, where a sorcerer was caused to be blind.

But let not your mind settle on these things of the disobedient, for all who accept Christ as Savior and believe in the Father have good things to look forward to. First of all, He saved us! That's right; we deserve death for our sinfulness, but John 3:16-17 clearly gives us the joyful good news that Jesus came to save us from our sins, and we only need believe on Him! God didn't send Him into the world to condemn us, but rather to save us. Now if you don't understand the need for being saved from death, Rom. 6:20-23 explains that sin creates a debt to be paid in blood, in death, but Jesus paid that debt, and so as a gift from God, we have eternal life through Christ Jesus. No other stipulations apply.

As God owns us, we should also understand we are to be His obedient servant, just as Paul proclaimed to be in Rom. 1:1. As believers in Christ, we willingly do His will, understanding that living as He wants of us gives us forgiveness and eternal life. This leads us to owning grace, Rom. 8:1; "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." Okay, what's that mean, exactly? Let not sin own you (Rom. 6:14, 16-18). Learn what sin is, and don't do it anymore. This involves reading the bible and going to church, as when you go to a GOOD church, the pastor will answer questions that arise from reading the word and also orchestrate a good bible study plan for anyone who will attend. As your pastor gives you Christian truth, and you learn it over time, guided by the Holy Spirit, you apply it to your lives, and you become servants of righteousness.

At this point you may be wondering where I'm going with all this being owned by God, but trust that it's all good. Rom. 8:13-17 explains that if we kill the deeds of the body, and live and walk in the Spirit, we are then adopted by God, and when we are adopted by God, we are His children, and thus joint heirs with Christ of the Father's kingdom!

So now as you understand that it is good, yea, even fabulous to be owned by God, that we should inherit the kingdom, let us with emphatic joy shout, "Amen!"