Sunday, January 20, 2019

beliefs and facts...

Satan is the master of deception.  Don't be fooled into thinking that "religion" is just an errant belief system because it isn't based on scientific fact.  The problems of the world stem from Satan's influence causing people to delight too much in earthly pleasures and hardening the hearts of those who come up with any number of reasons to deny God so they may continue to pursue only the things that make them feel good with the foolish belief that there will never be consequences for their actions.  Once you accept Christ, The Holy Spirit guides you "to be in the world but not of the world".  Once we are saved and belong to God, the Spirit takes up residence in our hearts forever, sealing us with the confirming and assuring pledge of our eternal state as His children.  The Spirit's presence within us enables us to understand and interpret God's Word - revealing in our minds the whole counsel of God as it relates to worship, doctrine, and Christian living.  He is the ultimate guide, leading the way, removing obstructions, opening the understanding, and making all things plain and clear.  He leads in the way we should go in all spiritual things.  Without such a guide, we are all apt to fall into error and become slaves to earthly pleasures and Satan never lets up on anyone - especially those who have accepted Christ.  

One can experience the presence of The Holy Spirit just as one can experience earthly pleasure... and that is a fact.

7 comments:

Retta said...

Amen!

Sam Finn said...

AMEN.
John 14:26

John Wells said...

Amen Sam Finn...

Joseph Quigley said...

You’ve come a long way down the path John.Bravo!

kerajinan furniture jepara said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

Well said :)

pamit said...

Here's a great book on the origins of Satan - he was not the "being" we conceive of today. I first heard of this book on "This American Life". For their 666th show, they featured Satanic themes. Super interesting.

https://www.amazon.com/Origin-Satan-Christians-Demonized-Heretics/dp/0679731180

One reviewer captures the gist of the book: "The evolution of the notion of Satan progresses from an angel who tests people for God, posing questions and proposing alternatives to the righteous in contravention of God's will, into the embodiment of evil, whether as a being or a force within one's heart and mind. Pagels explains this strictly from both Biblical and "heretical" texts, with a keen eye on political developments of the time. First, in the Hebrew Bible, Satan (or Bielzebub or by any array of names) is an angel. Slowly, he becomes the force behind sectarian disagreements, from intra-Jewish ones to opponents of Jesus' supposed vision for the Jews. He also serves as the source of evil to be found in GOYIM, or those who are not of the nation of Israel. Second, as Christianity progressively becomes dominated by gentiles, the notion of the devil's evil work moves from a) vilification of non-believing Jews, Romans, and Pagans, to b) the condemnation of those Christians who promote rival interpretations to one's own, ending in c) a question of what is in one's own heart and what causes one to sin."