Tag: Satan

Satan hates us


Have you ever wondered why he hates us? I used to, until I started really studying the Bible. He hates us because we are made in God’s image. He was kicked out of Heaven because he rebelled against God, so anything that God loves, he hates. But, that isn’t the only reason…God created man, Adam, from the earth, from mud and then gave him something that no angel has…an eternal soul! Angels are spiritual beings and therefore are immortal, but they can’t have a relationship with God like we can. Our relationship is on a deeper level and it is one that angels don’t have access to, and that is another reason that we are hated by Satan.

Love is another reason. God loves us, his creation, not just because we are but because we are made in His image. He loves us in a deeper way because of our image of Him inside each of us. God loves all of His creation, the Earth, the animals, humanity, and the angels too, but humanity holds a special place that we can’t understand fully until we are in His presence. When Lucifer rebelled against God’s authority and wanted to place his throne on the mountain of God, it likely broke God’s heart.

Why would it cause God pain? Because, until man was created, Lucifer was the most perfect of His creation in the angelic race of beings! Giving humanity and angels alike the choice or the ability to choose to serve Him, to love Him, was a risky thing to do but it was also the right thing to do. Because service and love cannot be forced or required to be genuine and true, they must be given from one being to another. It also cannot be earned, but given as in a gift of service or the gift of love to one another.

Love is the reason that God does anything that He does. He created us because of love, His love for us, His love of Creation itself. He created the angels for all of these things too, but Satan (Lucifer) wanted more and did not want to serve God. He wanted to be worshipped and that was and is not his place. Satan is not omnipotent nor is he omniscient, God is.

God sent His Son, Jesus (Yeshua), to the Earth to provide a way for all of us to be saved from the punishment for our sins. He did that on Calvary when He chose to give His life for ALL of us, not just a select few. Yes, there will be many who will choose not to know Him because they are stubborn or because they think that they can’t be saved. If you will believe in Jesus and His path for salvation for you, it doesn’t matter what you have done, you will be saved. The prayer of a sinner who is repentant of his sins will always be answered, even if it is on a cross or on his death-bed. It doesn’t matter if you have time to be baptized or not, if you repent of your sins and ask for Jesus to save you then you will be saved.

God’s creation, from the farthest stars and galaxies to the smallest of atoms, groans in anticipation for the day that all will be made right again. One day, it will happen. For some, it will be a great day of reunion with family and friends. For others, it will be a day of judgement and pain. The greatest pain will be that you had a chance to accept Jesus in this life and you chose to throw it away because of stubbornness and pride. Please, reconsider and seek Him out while there is still time to do so.

Where does your strength come from?


To many people in this world today their strength comes from themselves and their own actions. It comes from their ability and their job or from their family and the strength that they gain from them. But, what happens when one of those is not able to strengthen you or keep you going? What do you turn to then?

Where do you look for strength and compassion when just one of those pillars cracks, when something goes wrong in your life? The people that we depend upon and the strength that we depend upon in life usually are just as weak as you are, spiritually and physically! We are weak, some of us are physically strong but without spiritual strength and our dependence upon Jesus for our strength in Him you will not be able to stand.

Not only to be able to stand up in the morning, which is not the strength that I am referring to, but the spiritual strength to stand against the sins which can drag us down. Standing against Satan and his demons and the temptations which are placed in our way every day, that is what spiritual strength is for! You can’t get it from a job, your family, your bank account, your friends, none of these worldly things can provide for you spiritually!

Yes, they can give you advice, but is it Biblical advice? Did they get it from God or their own mind or their own experience? What good will that do you? Your own advice and experience has not really helped, so why would you listen to them? God knows you and He knows what today had in it and what tomorrow has coming. He will be with you through all of these problems and pain and He will give you the strength to get through today and tomorrow and the next day.

Life is always one day at a time, one minute or hour at a time. Days don’t go by any faster for you than they do for me. The problems that we see each day, the pain that we feel each day are ours, but we don’t have to handle it alone because God is always available and He is with us no matter what or where we may be.

Seek God through His Scriptures, especially in the Psalms, Ecclesiastes and Proverbs. These three books have more wisdom in them than all of the “self-help” books combined. Learn of God’s ways, not just the way that He guided the Israelites but also the teachings of Jesus in the Gospels. He loves us, all of us, so much that He sent His Only Son to die on a Roman cross for the atonement of ALL of humanity’s sins, not just a few but all of them.

He will strengthen you in all of your problems and give you the wisdom to get through them. He will do this, not because He has to but because He wants to help you with your life. The lost keys, the misplaced bills, the bad grades or the forgotten birthday. He will get you through them all and give you wisdom in all that you do, IF you will trust in Him and follow His teachings for your life every day.

The message of Jesus


Have you ever HEARD the message of Jesus?

Jesus said for us to believe in Him (and the atonement provided by His death and resurrection), and we will have eternal life. Repent of your former sinful life and allow the Holy Spirit to transform you into a likeness of Him. Are these things possible? Yes, if you have faith like a little child. One who trusts their father completely and without reservation. That is the kind of faith that it takes to live or rather to begin to live this life in Jesus Christ.

Are all Christians like this and do they have this kind of faith? The real and truthful answer is “NO”. All Christians or at least those who claim to be Christians, don’t have faith which would measure up to this standard. Many of them believe that they do and that they are true Christians, but when persecutions come or real trouble comes into their lives, the true person will show through. Hardship, pain, disease, financial loss, or loss of a family member will bring the real person out so that all will see. Sometimes, that is why we are allowed to go through trouble and trials.

In order to bring out the beautiful person that God knows is in there and the one that He needs for you to be for the duration of your life, sometimes He allows those trials. They can come in the form of a disease or the loss of a loved one. Sometimes the trial comes through the loss of a job or something which disables you. However it comes, treat it as Paul did and “count it all joy”. Look at the trial as a test in and of your faith then seek out God and His Wisdom through His Word. Pray deeply and fervently every day if need be so that you can get through this time. He will give you the strength and the wisdom to do so, and He will provide the comfort during your suffering too.

There are many people today, young people, who are turning away from God and religion which is their choice. It is the wrong choice but it is the one that God allows us to make. If He has something for you to do, then He will bring you back eventually if you will listen to His voice in your life. Our God, the One Who created everything and did all of the miracles in the Old Testament and the New, is an AWESOME God! Don’t turn away from Him, if you have given your life and your heart to Him then seek Him out in His Word!

God loves each of us and wants the best for us. Many cannot see this right now, because God doesn’t reward us the way the world wants to see rewards. Everyone sees reward as money, fame, a house, fancy cars, etc. but God doesn’t always reward us this way. Our reward, in many ways, waits for us in Heaven not here on Earth so we can’t use it or touch it until we die in this life and are born into eternity. Many people don’t look at this as a reward so much as a “bait and switch” game. Satan will do that, but God doesn’t.

“Seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all of these things will be added (given) unto you.” Matthew 6:33

Why all of the fuss?


It seems that every day I hear about more disgruntled people being disenfranchised in one way or another. Marginalized by society or insulted because of some post on social media or a news program. Worse yet, many of them seem to be intent on ruining the very culture and country that has allowed so many to enjoy freedom of speech in the first place! What has happened? What is happening in our country and in the world at large?

It seems that very little good news is heard in the media today, but I guess that is because good news doesn’t get the traction and the audience that the network needs. Nobody wants to hear about a miracle which occurs in a child’s illness that the doctor can’t explain except to say that he knows it wasn’t anything that medicine or treatment did! Don’t get all upset, that illustration is just hypothetical! I haven’t heard of a child in that situation lately.

My point in all of these words is that all the news agencies and media outlets concentrate on mostly bad news. How many murders or rapes there were today in some city. An earthquake has killed thousands in Nepal and the aftershocks aren’t making it any better. I pray for all of these tragic people and their stories, they aren’t just statistics or numbers. Why? Because, even though these tragedies are happening…God loves them and is there with them through it all.

Some are going to ask at some point, “Why didn’t God do something about this?”. He could, but would you give the glory to Him for stopping it or would you chalk it up to a natural phenomenon? Satan is enjoying all of the killing and rapes and the dying people in disasters. Not because he enjoys death, but because many of the people in these situations may not even know God or even know about Him. They are ones that he has snatched away from God, at least in his twisted way of looking at it.

God gives us the evidence that He exists and it is all around us, but most people just see the creation rather than looking for the Creator. Many even worship the parts of His creation like the stars (astrology), or man-made gods which are just made of steel or wood. Some think that we should worship our own abilities and think of ourselves as “gods”.

Man-made gods such as money or fame or even a statue of someone are just things. It would be like someone bowing down to a concrete block and worshipping it, how stupid is that! The same goes for the stars, what can they do except shine like God intended for them to do? God is the Creator, Jesus gave His life for us so that we could have eternity, the Spirit of God (even a tiny portion of Him) comes to live in your heart and life when you become a Christian. He gives you the ability to be a Christian and to do things that you can’t do on your own.

I don’t mean that you can fly or touch someone and heal them. God Himself does the healing, the most that we can do is pray and have faith that it is His will to do what will bring Him Glory so that people can see that He is God. Faith in Him comes from our belief in Him, if you don’t believe in Him then you won’t have the faith to truly believe. Yes, it seems to be a catch 22 but God calls those that He wishes to call. Those who will listen and do His will and purpose in their life for Him!

Christianity is not a social club and it isn’t an exclusive club either. Seek Him out in the Bible, pray that He will give you the faith to come to Him. Don’t close your heart and your mind to God because when you see a baby or a butterfly you are looking at His handiwork. Life is precious but fleeting. Our lives are not very long, especially compared to eternity. Consider this and seek Him while you can.

Reflection on Mothers Day


For me, celebrating Mother’s Day is a time of reflection which brings some lonely feelings into my life, but it also brings back good memories as well. My own mother died about seven months after Mother’s Day in ’95, so this year marks the twentieth year that I can’t say or do anything for her. All that I have are my memories, and that’s OK.

Mother’s Day is a celebration of our mothers and their life and sacrifice for each of us to be here. Many of our mothers and fathers have sacrificed much so that we could go to school and have things that helped us to get through life. Why did they do these things? Because of love. Love makes a difference in every life, whether you realize it or not.

The love of our parents and grandparents helped us to become the people that we are today. Our love of our children today will help them to be the person that they are meant to be. The difference between us and those who would destroy our culture and our way of life is that they don’t have love in their life. Love makes a difference in all ways and in all situations and the best place to find real love is to look for it from the Author and Creator of it, God Himself.

He loves us, each of us, so much that He sent His Son to Bethlehem as a baby to be raised as a human, to live and die as a human, but since He had God’s nature in Him He was able to live a sinless life. A life of complete obedience to God’s laws and to His commands.

This love is what prods each of us to seek out something that we know is missing, yet we don’t know what it is. We try to fill that spot with drugs, or sex or money but none of that satisfies because none of them fit. The Holy Spirit of God is the only One that fits in that space, that empty part of you that all of us have. Even if you don’t want to believe in God, you feel that empty feeling. You know that there is something missing, but you don’t want to believe that it is God Who can fill that spot in your life, Who is the One that is supposed to fill that empty space.

Mothers are the best reflection of a loving God on Earth, at least the ones that actually love their children. Seek God out so that He can show you the love that He has for you through His forgiveness and the eternal life that you will have in Him. If that is something which you don’t want to do or can’t understand why to do it, I understand. I will be praying for all who visit here anyway.

Thanks for stopping by.

Why can’t we see each other?


We seem to be blind to the problems around us. As long as things are going our way and each one of us gets the stuff that we want, whether we can afford it or deserve it, no one cares about others anymore. Particularly when the others around you have different skin color or have a culture that is different from yours.

I didn’t say “race” for a reason…we are all part of the human race! We have different cultures, some are radically different from ours. We have different religious backgrounds and some of us don’t have a real “religion” at all, which also causes problems between those who believe one way and those which believe another way.

Even Jesus said that there are two roads, the broad way which leads to destruction and the narrow way which few people find. Think of some songs that you have heard, “Highway to Hell” and “Stairway to Heaven”, they show the possible amount of traffic that we might encounter depending on which direction you go. If you truly take the Bible as the literal Word of God, then we are all descended from one couple, Adam and Eve. That being part of your belief then we can’t be different races at all, but truly brothers and sisters removed by generations of course but still related.

Why can’t or won’t we see this as the truth? What makes it so hard for us to learn about this and understand it? One word and one person specifically, Satan. God is in charge and it is true that Satan has to ask permission when he wants to torment a child of God. But if you don’t belong to God and you haven’t asked Jesus to come into your life then Satan doesn’t have to ask for permission about you at all!

Truly, if you don’t belong to Jesus, then by default you are in Satan’s camp whether you worship him or not, because you are not on the side of God. I know that this is going to upset some people, but it is the truth. You can choose to ignore it if you wish, but whatever happens in your life, is truly by your choice alone. Nobody else is responsible for your fate if you choose to refuse a call from God.

Seeing each other as people, not as hyphenated people or a different race of people but seeing each other as God’s creation and how He sees us. This is something which is hard for us to do. Culturally we have real problems seeing other cultures as people. We want to put a label on each other, whether it is a degrading label or a “racist” label. It is just how we have become over the last few thousand years or so. All of this is learned behavior and we have learned and passed it on to our children and grandchildren.

Please, pray for a revival in  your life and your church. If you don’t believe in God or Jesus, seek them out in prayer and in the Bible. Our country needs Christians to be active in prayer for it and for a revival of faith in our country. See each other as God sees you, His creation and His children that He has given everything to, all you have to do is ask Him for the strength and the faith to claim that which is yours.

Percentages and prayer


Christians, according to Wikipedia, make up about 2.2 billion people in the world. To be fair, they quantify this by adding that these are “nominal Christians”, those who may or may not be Christians but they go to church occasionally.

So, according to this, “nominal Christians” make up about one-third of the whole world’s population. Where does that leave us as the body of Christ? Do we have that much influence? According to this same reference, America is made up of about 80 to 90 percent nominal Christians. If they were all in church on any given Sunday, our churches would be packed…but they are not. According to Webster’s Dictionary, nominal means ‘in name only’. A pretty dim statistic for a faith that makes up a third of the world’s population.

Just as you can’t be ninety-five percent pregnant, you can’t be 95 percent Christian either. You either are or you are not, there is no middle ground and no line that you can stand on. Being a nominal Christian seems to mean that you claim it only so far as the claim itself will take you. In today’s world, being a Christian is becoming very unpopular, even in America where we are supposed to have tolerance for religious beliefs.

Of course, today that tolerance has become very weak and frail and almost non-existent among those who don’t believe in God or the Bible and don’t even mention the name of Jesus. Yet, we are supposed to tolerate their lifestyle or anything that they are trying to get us to allow in society.

Christians need to pray about this situation, not because it seems that we really don’t have the numbers that are assigned to our faith but because those who claim it truly need to be Christian in more than just name only! Prayer can bring this about and those of us who are Bible-believing and churchgoing Christians NEED to humble ourselves before God and ask for His forgiveness and His Spirit to move in the churches…ALL of them, regardless of the denomination.

Satan and his fallen angels believe in God and they know Him and Jesus too, they choose not to serve them. The same is true for those “nominal” Christians, they know about Him, they just want to live their lives without Him in their life until they decide to let Him in. This is a very dangerous way to live, because you are not given tomorrow by guarantee. Your soul, like th farmer in the parable, may be required tonight, then where will you be? He thought that he had a life of leisure to look forward to, he had plenty and he had decided to enjoy it. But…when your time is up, according to God’s timetable, then there is no amount of negotiating that will extend your time, no amount of money will affect the outcome either.

Your decision to follow Jesus and serve Him has to be made during the time that you have, today preferably, because you don’t know what is coming tomorrow or even tonight. Give your heart and your daily life to Jesus, become more than a nominal Christian! God needs us to be Christians which read the Bible and pray daily. The kind that make the demons tremble because we are children of God, made in His image and destined to reign with Him! That is the type of Christian that we all should be!

Life, healing, comfort, hope


The title says most of what our lives in Christ are supposed to be. We have eternal life through Jesus Christ Who has saved us from an eternity away from God and His Love. We have healing by His power and by His grace toward us through Christ, not because we deserve it but, again, because He loves us. We have comfort in His love and His grace because of the promise of eternity, not because of a promise of riches or an easy life on Earth. The comfort that we have is in knowing that eternity is sure through the sacrifice which Jesus made to cover our sins and to give us His righteousness. We have hope because of all of these because of the Life, death and resurrection of Jesus! No other name, given among men is worthy to be praised than His name, Jesus! Why? Because of the things that He has done for us because of His love for us, each one of us. Not because we deserved it or earned it because you and I can’t earn salvation and we certainly don’t deserve it on our own!

Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, no one comes to the Father but through Me.” John 14:6 He is the Author of life, our Creator and Redeemer and since He is also part of the Trinity and God, then He can’t lie! No part of the Bible is a lie, many don’t believe it or they believe parts of it, but the truth is that even Satan believes all of it! He knows that it is true, because he has been here testing, tempting, trying the servants of God from the beginning.

Give your heart and life to Jesus because life without a point or a purpose is meaningless and empty. Hell won’t be empty throughout eternity because of unbelief and rebellion from the followers of Satan and all of those who have decided to do things their way instead of listening to the Word of God and giving their lives to Him.

Hope, comfort, healing, restoration, and life are gifts given to us by God at some point in our lives, specifically when we determine that He is truthful and that He is the One that He says that He is.

Think on this. Pray about it if you have questions. Seek Him in the Bible and learn of His ways because He loves you!

The healing power of God


Anger, resentment, fear, impulsive rage are all emotions which Satan uses to begin a rip or a split in a community or a church. All of these can be overcome by God’s Awesome power to heal, but NONE of them can be overcome by our own strength or our own will. Consider these verses in His Word and think about what they are saying to all of us:

  1. “… But You are God, ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, abundant in kindness …” (Nehemiah 9:17)
  2. “The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in mercy.” (Psalm 103:8)
  3. “But You, O Lord, are a God full of compassion, and gracious, long-suffering and abundant in mercy and truth.” (Psalm 86:15)
  4. “Return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness …” (Joel 2:13)
  5. “The Lord is gracious and full of compassion, slow to anger and great in mercy. The Lord is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works.” (Psalm 145:8)
  6. “The Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting …” (Psalm 100:5)
  7. “For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him … But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him.” (Psalm 103:11,17)

God loves each of us as I have said before in a post or a sermon as some call these words here. One of the main attributes in all of the verses above is His patience with us and His kindness toward us. His mercy and the fact of His character being “slow to anger” are also mentioned. The Lord is merciful and His mercy and His love for us is everlasting, meaning that no matter what we do or how we act or feel toward Him or His actions, His love and mercy will endure for eternity.

Satan is always quick to use any tool that he can to break a church or a community apart, especially if he thinks there might be a revival coming soon, or even if there is one coming at all! Our community and our nation NEEDS a revival of faith in God and in the power of Him Who has called us out as Christians. We are supposed to be different from the world around us! Not the same nor are we to be melded into the world enough that we can’t be seen as different because of the One that we have in our hearts!

God loves each of us, no matter what we have done or said to each other or about each other or even about Him! His love is not fickle like ours. One little word or even the tone of your voice can set off a chain reaction between friends or church members that can tear a church and a friendship apart. Come back to God in prayer and fasting, repent of your thoughts and ways which you know are against Him. This world needs Christians to stand up for Jesus and what the cross means to each of us and what it should mean to all who need hope and healing.

Have you spoken to God today?


Many people laugh at the notion that we can speak to God any time that we wish to. His line is never busy and the reception is great. The problem is with the believer or with someone who isn’t a believer. Some Christians aren’t sure if their prayers get past the ceiling regardless of getting them to God. In many ways we short-circuit our own prayers and our prayer lives. We hold grudges against someone from our past or we are angry and resentful toward a family member or a friend, for whatever reason it might be. Any of these so-called “little sins” will take the power out of your prayer life, cutting the line of communication between you and God.

That doesn’t mean that He doesn’t care about you any more, but you have to repent of whatever it might be which is getting in the way and ask forgiveness for it. God loves you and always has, but just as hurt feelings can injure a relationship here and now, even “little sins” can interfere with your walk and your prayer life with Jesus and God. You have heard the term “quenching the Spirit” before, and that is exactly what is happening when sin comes into your life and blocks your access to be effective in the Kingdom with God.

The thing is, God wants to hear from you and this is what most don’t understand either. But as it says in the first book of the Bible, “God walked in the cool of the evening in the Garden.” While it is true that this was the time that God found that Adam and Eve had sinned and broken the only rule that He had given to them, I feel sure that God had come like this before. After all, He was the only Teacher that they had and since they were formed as adults Who better to teach them about their world?

The same is true for us, although we have many teachers today. We begin life with our parents, then we are in school for such a long time with others (it seems), all the while we are learning from everything and everyone around us. While we should be learning from God’s Word at this point. Sure, it is hard for young minds to understand, especially some of the books in the Old Testament. But, the wisdom is there and the evidence of God’s love is there too.

Don’t discount God or His Word as something that is only for Sunday. Being in His presence every day is what Jesus meant when He said “seek ye first the Kingdom of God and its righteousness and all of these things will be added unto you.” It doesn’t mean that we have to read our Bible constantly during the day, but the day seems to go better when you begin the day with it and pray for the day before you start your day.

Consider it, learn about God, seek Him especially when things aren’t going good but also when it is and thank Him for it. Our lives aren’t very long and if we wake today then we have the day to do as much as we can do for God, regardless of what we are doing.