The lies of Satan.
I have found that when things go wrong in my life I am tempted to be either angry at myself or at God.
Angry at God: Why did this have to happen? I thought you loved people. How can you let this pain go on and on. What kind of God are you?
Angry at me: I am just useless. I'm always doing the wrong thing. I don't belong. I have made so many mistakes that I feel awful about myself. Why did I do that when I want to follow Jesus? Why am I so weak? Where is my faith? I thought I was trusting in God?
I remember Joyce Meyer saying, "Ask yourself where your thoughts are coming from."
So, I ask myself. The answer is definitely not God. It could be me alone, but I don't think so. I now think a lot of depressing and sinful thoughts come from Satan.
"And the tempter came and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread." Matthew 4:3 When Satan tempted Jesus in the wilderness, he spoke to him. Jesus came to earth to live as we must live. Satan speaks to us also.
When Eve was tempted and fell, it was through Satan speaking lies to her. Satan was the one who put the thought of betraying Jesus into Judas' heart. "During supper, the devil having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, to betray Him..." Johns 13:2 He does the same to us.
Peter said, "Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 1 Peter 5:8
How can we be alert if we don't understand how the devil works?
I'll write more on this subject in the next blog.
When Eve was tempted and fell, it was through Satan speaking lies to her. Satan was the one who put the thought of betraying Jesus into Judas' heart. "During supper, the devil having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, to betray Him..." Johns 13:2 He does the same to us.
Peter said, "Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 1 Peter 5:8
How can we be alert if we don't understand how the devil works?
I'll write more on this subject in the next blog.
1 comment:
SPIRITUAL SUICIDE BY STEVE FINNELL
In 1955 James Warren Jones founded the "People's Temple" (purportedly a Christian congregation)in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Jonestown , Guyana November 18, 1978. Jim Jones and 900 of his followers committed mass suicide. Jim Jones had previously proclaimed to his people that they did not need the Bible. He told them all they needed was him. He then ripped the Bible and threw it to the ground.
The authority for the "Peoples Temple" was the tradition set by the church, Jim Jones was the church authority. Had the followers of Jim Jones accepted the Bible, and the Bible alone as their authority, there would not have been a mass suicide. The spiritual suicide came first.
Following man-made tradition can lead to spiritual suicide.
1 Timothy 4:1-3 But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, 2 by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron, 3 men who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth.
Jim Jones was a liar when he told his congregation they did not need the Bible. Are men telling the truth when they says church tradition is the final authority for faith and practice? Do men teach truth when they assert that new books of revelation are from God and they supersede the authority of the Bible.
Do church catechisms, creed books, statements of faith, so-call books of new revelation from God, and other books written by men, annul, displace, supplant or supersede the authority of the Bible?
Mark 7:7-8 'But in vain do they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men. 8 Neglecting the commandments of God, you hold to the traditions of men."
Those who deny that God's word is found in the Bible and the Bible alone have a tendency to invent their own doctrines.
2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is inspired by God....
Was Jim Jones inspired by God when he said his followers did not need the Bible? There are those who claim church catechisms are the evolution of God's word, are they inspired by God? When men announce that their new books of revelation annul or supplant the Bible, are they inspired my God? If you honestly believe that creed books should be the authority of your church congregation, are you being inspired by God?
TRUST THE BIBLE AND THE BIBLE ALONE AND YOU WILL NOT HAVE WORRY ABOUT COMMITTING SPIRITUAL SUICIDE!
(All Scripture quotes from: NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE)
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