Tag: satan

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Cults that diminish Jesus’ divinity.

Reading Time: 2 minutes

”Long ago God spoke many times and in many ways to our ancestors through the prophets. And now in these final days, he has spoken to us through his Son. God promised everything to the Son as an inheritance, and through the Son he created the universe. The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command. When he had cleansed us from our sins, he sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God in heaven.“ Hebrews‬ ‭1‬:‭1‬-‭3‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Hebrews, chapter one, is the gold-standard verse against dozens of cults that proclaim that Jesus is just another… and fill in their own blank. A high-ranking angel, or the brother of Satan. Cults that walk our neighborhoods, knock on doors and stand around our city corners spreading lies, made up from Satan himself. Cults will give some pittance of honor to Christ, but ALWAYS diminish his divinity.

It’s one of the oldest heresies known since the first century. The early church was on constant guard and teaching against this warped theology. They will say that Jesus is the elder brother to Satan and “other churches,” have given the devil a bad rap. They will say that Jesus was also a created being, giving a false and damnable hope that humans can obtain a similar standing as a god. Folks, if Jesus was not God himself, as the Bible declares him to be so, then there is no salvation. There is no redemption or restoration back to God.

For only a sinless human can accomplish the payment necessary for our sins. Jesus became human and lived among us as fully God, fully human. Verses following in Hebrews, tell us it impossible for any angel to fulfill that requirement. Subjugating Jesus to be a created being, an angel, is an insult and impossibility for our salvation! Hebrews writes, “For God never said to any angel what he said to Jesus: “You are my Son. Today I have become your Father.”

It is forbidden to worship angel’s, because they are created servants who are supposed to be serving humans. John fell at an angel’s feet and was told not to worship, saying “Don’t do that! I am a fellow servant with you and with your fellow prophets.” (Rev. 19:10) Worshipping anyone or anything other than God is a direct violation of God’s command to worship him alone (Deut. 5:7). Jesus received worship because He is God! The Magi worshipped Christ at his birth, the disciples worshipped him after the storm, and the women worshipped Christ after his resurrection. Don’t be misled, anyone who denies Christ as God or claims that Jesus is a created being is false and should be called out as a cult.

Prayer

​Dad,
These cults, these lies are not even trying to hide what they believe! Each one will say that we are all “believers,” and a part of Your Church, but it is not true. They have caused so much harm, so much confusion, and I find it difficult that they would be allowed to continue to spread their cheap knock-off beliefs. Help us know you, know the truth, know Jesus! Give us your mercy and grace to believe and share the gospel – the good news of Your salvation! Amen.

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The human experiment.

Reading Time: 4 minutes

This truth was given to me in secret, as though whispered in my ear. It came to me in a disturbing vision at night, when people are in a deep sleep. Fear gripped me, and my bones trembled. A spirit swept past my face, and my hair stood on end. The spirit stopped, but I couldn’t see its shape. There was a form before my eyes. In the silence I heard a voice say, ‘Can a mortal be innocent before God? Can anyone be pure before the Creator?’ ‭‭Job‬ ‭4‬:‭12‬-‭17‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Job, the oldest book written in the Bible is full of mystery and presents moral, theological dilemmas that are still wrestled with, even in modern times. Job was written 400 years before the Torah, the first five books of the Law. Job predates the law, and mentions nothing about the eventual covenant with God, the laws of God nor the sacrificial system that God directs Israel to live by.

It is interesting that the first verses in Job chapter one set the stage for us to know that Job was a good guy, a righteous guy. He even offered sacrifices to God for his children, “just in case they sinned against God.” He feared God, loved God and lived a good life! Then, seemingly out nowhere there is a meeting, a checkin with the angels. What follows is a conversation with God and the fallen angel, called the adversary.

God asks Satan, “Have you noticed my servant Job? He is the finest man in all the earth.“ Satan replies, yeah, he’s only good because God has blessed him and protected him. Satan challenges God by saying, “take away his stuff and he’ll curse you.” God takes Satan up on the challenge and allows Satan to take Job’s “belongings” away from him. Belongings include his family! The scene repeats, but this time Satan challenges God by asking for permission to make Job’s physical life miserable – horrible diseases, but not allowing to take his life. Job knows nothing about the test, nor God’s faith in him to endure suffering without blaming God.

Job’s friends heard about Job’s suffering and made their way to him. At first the friends do the right thing by Job, they just sit with him and say nothing! “Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and nights. No one said a word to Job, for they saw that his suffering was too great for words.“ But soon, they just could not take. Not understanding WHY this is happening to Job, they offer their advice.

Eliphaz, possibly the eldest in the group, appears as the representative of the wisdom of the Edomites. Trying to be helpful, he shares about a vision he had. And from this vision, he concludes that there is a good and godly reason for Job’s suffering. Job has obviously sinned! Here’s the creepy part. Eliphaz gives his advice, his wisdom from a “whispering spirit,” that gave him chills in the night asking an accusatory question! Just a well placed question created a logical conclusion for this wise man. The question, “Can a mortal be innocent before God?” I don’t know about you, but this whole “truth” given in “secret” coming in a vision in the night sounds just like SATAN! Whispers, secrets and accusations? Come on. Eliphaz isn’t getting his answers from God, nor whatever experience he has had by walking with God on this fallen planet. His advice has been supplanted in his heart by the sneaky spirit of the dark!

All three of Job’s friends want to help Job, want to console him, and comfort him, but they all go down the same thought- path. Obviously Job has sinned and must repent. Obviously God is judging him and swift justice comes to those who do wrong. In their minds there is no other reason for a human being to suffer! Job’s friends seem unaware that as humans we live on a fallen planet, Satan’s domain.

Let’s answer the spirit-whispered accusation presented to Eliphaz. Can we be innocent before God? No, we’ve sinned, we are not innocent. But does that mean that we face the immediate judgement, the wrath and justice of God by being stripped of all possessions and daily physically tortured for our sin? No, we do not. Who is the one who brought the calamity and destruction into Job’s life? Satan! The good suffer, the bad succeed. The good succeed, the bad suffer. We cannot determine judgement nor eternity based on our comparison of possessions, position or power! Satan challenged God’s wisdom by trying to prove that humans are only capable of loving God back because of blessing! The experiment, give humans free will, a choice, give them autonomy and self determination – they will not choose God, they will always choose evil. The ancient challenge was that humans would not be able to love God in a world filled with evil and the ability to chase after their own lusts and desires leading to their demise and eventual destruction.

The human experience on the dark planet would seem to be a doomed experiment. Job was not perfect. Yet, without knowing anything about the test he was participating in, he passed. He did not blame God nor curse God for his suffering! God believes in us. God risks that love, mercy, grace and forgiveness will save our lives. God’s plan of redemption from our sin through the sacrifice of His own Son proves that we can and will be capable of loving Him in spite of an adversary and accuser. That we are able to love Him in spite of our brokenness and disordered desires. Our faith, like Job’s, like Abraham’s, is counted as righteousness! We are saved by grace, not of our works. We love because we know God’s goodness. We fear God out of honor and respect, not just because He can obliterate us back to the dust from which we came.

Prayer

Dad,
We were created out of dust, and to dust our bodies will return. But you infused Your Spirit within us. It is that spirit that will choose to love you. That spirit that will live forever. Thank you for loving us first. Thank you for this amazing life in this beautiful world. It is filled with wonder and wickedness, yet I know your plans for me and they are good. I choose you because you first chose me.

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The Powerful Messiah.

Reading Time: 3 minutes

“The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit in the place of honor at my right hand until I humble your enemies, making them a footstool under your feet.” ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭110‬:‭1‬ ‭NLT‬‬

This Psalm, written by David, sometime after his fall from grace, speaks of the future where Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father and is given the power to rule, reign and crush the enemies of God.

Jesus himself picks up this Psalm in a discussion with the religious leaders in Matthew 22:41-46. Jesus stumps the Pharisees by asking them who they thought the Messiah might be, “What do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is he?” They replied, “He is the son of David.” They agreed that the Messiah would come through the bloodline of David, but Jesus pressed them further when he quoted this Psalm. ”Jesus responded, “Then why does David, speaking under the inspiration of the Spirit, call the Messiah ‘my Lord’?” How can a father refer to his son as “Lord?” ”Since David called the Messiah ‘my Lord,’ how can the Messiah be his son?” So what’s the mystery, what’s the point?

One, David is prophesying about the Messiah, who will come and judge all things on the earth.

Two, it is clear that no one could figure out exactly what or who this Messiah would be. The war-language of enemies and footstool only lends itself to the idea that the Messiah would be a mighty warrior, a conquerer. The only problem with that is, as humans, we only interpret that as a world leader, bringing peace and prosperity to the people in the Messiah’s kingdom. But, do you remember Jesus saying, “My kingdom is not of this world,” in John 18:36? I wouldn’t be so hard on the Pharisees for being confused. The war-language, the battle over good and evil is far more than just bringing justice to bad actors of this world. It’s not like the warmongering doesn’t deserve judgement, because it does. And, it’s not like we don’t deserve death for our individual and collective selfish choices, because we do. What is far more powerful is that the Messiah, Jesus has conquered and made sin and evil itself his footstool – which is totally a reference to the earth itself as well (Isaiah 66:1). The Messiah has the power to create the new heaven and new earth, setting justice and God’s ways back to order.

Three, the Messiah has come to free the earth and its inhabitants from the ruler who had taken over the planet – Satan! We read the word, “enemy” as if it’s the people Jesus died for! We see the word “judgement” as though God wanted to rid the earth of people. Jesus has come to free people from sin, rescuing and redeeming our lives destined to destruction by our own choices of joining with Satan.

When Jesus returns, to fulfill the finality of all things, He brings justice and judgment to end evil and end the reign of terror on the planet from its ruler – Satan. When David wrote this Psalm, he had real enemies and Israel had real enemies as well. Those enemies were countries, tribes and people under the curse of sin as well as the spell of Satan. These groups were led and driven by ambition, gain and lust for more. Most of these countries and tribes had committed themselves to very real demonic influences, all of which God classified as idols. Behind the wooden and stone poles and statues of Ashtoreth, Baal, Chemosh, Dagon and multiple Egyptian gods there were very real demons desiring to lash out at God and destroy humanity. Even then, the enemies behind the maniacal, narcissistic men were all variations of Satan and the angels who rebelled against God. The Messiah would conquer the issue of human sin and death first. Then He will bring all evil to justice, starting with the prince of the power of the air, as Paul makes reference in Ephesians 2:2. I look forward to that day!

Prayer

Dad,
I know that evil permeates every part of the world. Evil is not an isolated, “American” problem, it’s global – every country, tribe or town has bad actors, making evil decisions. However, behind our human choices and behaviors, I also know there is a very real enemy that works to seduce and enslave us! It is that entity, that liar which is laying the foundation of enmity between us and you. Thank you for the Messiah that did not just come to save us, but will return to finally put evil, injustice, hate and destruction under His feet. Thank you that a new heaven and a new earth is coming. Your Kingdom come and thankfully your will be done! Amen.

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The End of the Personified City

Reading Time: 3 minutes

“He gave a mighty shout: “Babylon is fallen—that great city is fallen! She has become a home for demons. She is a hideout for every foul spirit, a hideout for every foul vulture and every foul and dreadful animal. For all the nations have fallen because of the wine of her passionate immorality. The kings of the world have committed adultery with her. Because of her desires for extravagant luxury, the merchants of the world have grown rich.” ‭‭Revelation‬ ‭18‬:‭2‬-‭3‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Babylon, the great city of antiquity. Bible Study Tools writes, “As Nimrod began his reign, he and his followers had one overriding goal for their new territory; they wanted to ensure the security of their community by building a prestigious landmark to make a name for themselves. “Then they said, ‘Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth” (Genesis 11:4). And includes an interesting note, “The ancient historian Josephus states of Nimrod, ‘He also said he would be revenged on God if he should have a mind to drown the world again; for that he would build a tower too high for the waters to be able to reach and that he would avenge himself on God for destroying their forefathers (Antiquities of the Jews, Book 1, Chapter 4).”

It all seems so oddly paradoxical, that the Vegas of ancient days became more than just a city, Nimrod built an alternative to God’s way – thus an option to a different salvation for humanity. What other option? The option of doing things my way, saving myself. The underpinnings of that thought, that subtle lie is this: I CHOOSE sin over salvation. Translation: God, I can save myself, if you don’t mind!

Babel, then later Babylon became the personification of the great lie, along with the great liar – Satan. Satan is the governor of Babylon. The city, the way of life, the culture and self determined religion, doesn’t just survive – it thrives in pockets all over the globe. You can see it in every “ism” that is known. Not just communism, fascism, socialism and even capitalism. ISM, might as well stand for “I Save Myself!” America struggles with five dangerous “isms”: humanism, pragmatism, materialism, secularism and relativism. All of the “ism’s” are distinctive doctrines, systems, or theories, simply beliefs on how to do life.

Babylon spawned years of tower-building philosophies of how to “out-god” God! But John, the revelator, is shown the destruction of the evil city and the systems, a “home for demons.” And it won’t happen until the end. The spirit, the arrogance, the perpetual lie will continue until the final days. As believers, we have been warned throughout all history NOT to go there, visit there and absolutely not live there and believe in the city motto: “to thine own self be true.” Remember in Shakespeare’s play, Polonius, himself was a pompous, hypocritical, and empty man. Jesus, alternatively said this, “Whoever wants to save their life will lose it. But whoever loses their life for me will find it.” Mat 16:25. The antidote to sin isn’t self, it’s Jesus’ sacrifice and we will not find it in Babylon.

Prayer

Dad,
I’ve seen Babylon alive and well, living within my own soul. I do not intend to make it my permanent home. I will choose the New Jerusalem instead, the city of God. I will choose heaven as my final destination and to do so means daily dying to self and having you, and only you SAVE me. Thank you for your grace, mercy and enduring, endless, patience towards me. Amen.

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Living right side up in an upside down world.

Reading Time: 2 minutes

“But the Lord reigns forever, executing judgment from his throne. He will judge the world with justice and rule the nations with fairness. The Lord is a shelter for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble. Those who know your name trust in you, for you, O Lord, do not abandon those who search for you.” ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭9‬:‭7‬-‭10‬ ‭NLT‬‬

David writes this Psalm after the victory over Goliath. The Psalm was a song, sung to the tune of “death of a son.” WHAT? A Bible commentary mentions this odd detail about this Psalm, “Upon Muthlabben, or, after the manner according to “death to the Son,” by which some song was known, to whose air or melody the musician is directed to perform this Psalm.” Another admits to the mystery of who this person or what this musical notation is, “To the chief musician upon Muth-labben” which has given rise to infinite conjecture. It may be either upon the death (muth ) of the fool (labben ), as an anagram on Nabal or as Gesenius, “to be chanted by boys with virgins voices,” i.e. in the soprano. Who is Muthlabben, and why did David borrow the tune to give praise to God over the triumph over the Philistines? Apparently, we just don’t know!

Yet, the content of the Psalm is clear, God reigns over all things, all nations and all people. I find it comforting and odd. Comforting that God is completely and totally perfect in judgment and justice. Odd, because that is NOT what many people believe about God! And, clearly God is maligned and misunderstood in modern culture today. God, and “religion,” is blamed for the majority of offenses and pain including slavery, oppression, colonialism, and social inequalities. It matters not that these massive atrocities are because of human sin and selfishness. Who cries and protests of the secular, darwinian, godless barbarity?

Folks proudly declare lies about God as truth and post them as yard signs and bumper stickers. My prayer, similar to David’s is, “Oh Lord, do not let the lies of Satan and humankind obscure or obstruct your goodness from those who seek you!” It’s frustrating to see or hear people call out God to be something He is not. They are 100% wrong about Him. This is further proof of the lies that Satan has permeated and perverted our understanding of God. It becomes difficult to believe and live upright in an upside down worldview. This is the contrarian, revolutionary message of Christ indeed. Jesus’ declaration of truth of who God is, clashes with culture (then and now), but it does so because it bristles against our own self determination and will to be our own god. I want everyone to see God as David saw Him – as a shelter, a refuge, a secure place and safe relationship to run to, not run from.

Prayer

Dad,
I have always found these words David wrote, thousands of years ago, to be true! No matter what I’ve done, what I feel or how desperate things look around me – you have always been my safe place. When I am sad, angry, wrong, happy, or fulfilled I can run towards you. My sin, my past, my stinky attitudes are always before me, yet I can still come to you. Thank you for that place of comfort under the shadow of your wings, that cleft in the rock.

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Division is demonic!

Reading Time: 3 minutes

“Then a demon-possessed man, who was blind and couldn’t speak, was brought to Jesus. He healed the man so that he could both speak and see. The crowd was amazed and asked, “Could it be that Jesus is the Son of David, the Messiah?” But when the Pharisees heard about the miracle, they said, “No wonder he can cast out demons. He gets his power from Satan, the prince of demons.” ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭12‬:‭22‬-‭24‬ ‭NLT‬‬

What did the Pharisees know about Beelzebub?

Not enough! This demonic confrontation was unusual because there’s a clash of demonology and theology among the Pharisees. Who knew more about both, Jesus or the religious leaders? The Pharisees may have just tossed out a simple rebuke and rebuff by casually, almost jokingly saying, “yeah, this guy obviously works for Satan!” They were all rilled up because the people were asking if Jesus could be the Messiah. Jesus didn’t think it was funny.

Jesus used the misinformation and verbal distraction to correct and teach truth on the subject. Just think about this, the Pharisees dropped the “official” title of the chief liar and slander – Beelzebub! It was used 8 times in the New Testament and it comes from an ancient combination of two words, Baal and Zebub, literally lord of the flies! In this story is the technical name of Satan, the chief of evil spirits. Well, that settles the argument about where flies come from, right? 😁

Jesus lays out some common sense truth. How or why would Satan cast out Satan? The sad observation that the demon inside this man was doing an excellent job of torturing him and keeping him bound and enslaved by being blind and mute. Why would Satan kick himself out? Jesus makes such a strong case, not only about how evil works, but why it is so effective still today. Jesus says, “Any kingdom divided by civil war is doomed. A town or family splintered by feuding will fall apart. And if Satan is casting out Satan, he is divided and fighting against himself. His own kingdom will not survive.”

Ah, it’s not just satan’s kingdom that wouldn’t survive, it’s our towns and families that won’t either. Truth boom 💥 – division is a demonic weapon. Division is just more lies from the lord of flies. Jesus zeroes in on the real issue. It’s not just mis-identifying the work of God as demonic. It’s flat out telling the Pharisees – you’re on the wrong team brothers! They said they worked for God, but Jesus being God, says “nope, they are not working for me.”

When folks start calling freedom and deliverance satanic, it makes me wonder who’s team they’re on. As believers we MUST be unified under the banner of Christ! We need to stop gossiping and heresy-hunting about every preacher, leader we just don’t agree with. We need to stop the denominational divisions and nitpicking of preferences and polity within THE CHURCH. We are all one whether some admit it or not. Like the warning to the religious leaders then, we need to quit falling prey to the ploys of Beelzebub. Get on team Jesus and behave like a united family!

Prayer

Dad,
I need to be reminded that you are coming back for the bride of Christ, the one without spot or wrinkle. I feel like we’ve got a lot of spots and wrinkle and I’m looking for the day we, as Your Church, not just look good, but behave good! Help us Oh God! We need you to judge us, purify us, prepare us for your return. Maybe that’s really what’s going on right now. As so many are exciting the Church and many are walking away from their faith, maybe this is exactly what you want to happen. I still pray, in hope, that you will pour your Spirit capturing the hearts and minds of those who have fallen for the lies and save them.

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The Apostle Paul goes deep.

Reading Time: 3 minutes

“After that the end will come, when he will turn the Kingdom over to God the Father, having destroyed every ruler and authority and power. For Christ must reign until he humbles all his enemies beneath his feet. And the last enemy to be destroyed is death.” ‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭15‬:‭24‬-‭26‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Paul goes super deep, far more than just six feet under! In written, warp-speed, he goes from the most eloquent, beautiful description of love in chapter 13, to the incredibly complex conversation about what happens to us after death!

The Corinth church was asking for some hard proof and details about what physically happens to our bodies after we die. He starts off very practical about the facts Jesus’ physical resurrection from the dead – there were witnesses! He concludes with one of the more favorite apologetic arguments: “And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world.” ‭‭1 Cor.‬ ‭15‬:‭19‬. Then moves towards answering their other questions – “but how Paul? How does this all work?

This mix of spiritual discussion with physical object lessons is so deep, the Holy Spirit had definitely been guiding his thoughts and answering his own questions while he was experiencing his club-pen time in prison. In later verses, Paul asks the questions for them, “But someone may ask, “How will the dead be raised? What kind of bodies will they have?” ‭‭1 Cor. 15‬:‭35‬. He writes, “that’s a foolish question!” But is it?

Paul clearly articulates that we are living in two worlds at the same time and seem to be completely ignorant of one of them. We have a very physical world and we also have a very spiritual world. Both are real, but one is but a dim reflection, a blurry representation of the other. The spiritual world is the real, solid and clear one – we live on and in the dim darkness of this planet. C.S. Lewis called this place, “The silent planet,” written in 1938, one of his famous space trilogy of books, Out of the Silent Planet.

In conclusion, Paul then writes about the end of all things. The end, in this context is about Christ destroying death, not in his own physical body a couple millennia ago, but in ours – humans. Paul’s take on the end times – Christ will reign until he humbles all his enemies! We know Christ’s enemy, that would be Satan. We know what the plurality (enemies) mean, and all the fallen angels that chose to rebel against God. The saddest part, is that we know there will be humans that choose to join Satan and the fallen angels in this rebellion. They will know God and God’s plan, yet still choose to rebel, choose to join the lie. Why? Their hope, unlike Satan or the dark angel’s, is that they “might” just get to spend eternity just doing their own thing, especially without God. There is no such hope in the enemy nor his evil horde – for they know it will not work. The enemy’s plan is just to take as many as possible with them to lash out at God. This is the reality of our long war and the tragedy of loss that is at stake in our spiritual and very much physical existence.

Prayer

Dad,
What an epic war, a war to usurp and eclipse all other wars. This life, this existence on our planet is just a tiny fraction of what exists in other physical worlds. Science searches for life somewhere out there in the vast universes and galaxies of outer space. And the only reason they search the heavens is they cannot believe we are alone. They cannot come to terms that we may be the only physical expression of life or humanity. We may or may not be the only ones. Or, we may be the only silent planet, the dark planet of created beings that are fallen, broken and filled with rebellion and sin. This is so wild to think about. Paul seems to go all “sci-fi” for a moment with the Corinthian churches. I love it! I know you are both my entire physical and spiritual reality. I chose you and have decided not to rebel, but to repent! I chose to spend my life here, and in all of eternity, with you.

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Pawns on a prison planet.

Reading Time: 2 minutes

“Then Herod called for a private meeting with the wise men, and he learned from them the time when the star first appeared. Then he told them, “Go to Bethlehem and search carefully for the child. And when you find him, come back and tell me so that I can go and worship him, too!” Matthew‬ ‭2‬:‭7‬-‭8‬ ‭NLT‬‬

The finality of a perfect plan that God had intended to be played out long before the earth or humans were ever created was now in plain sight. The child, the Messiah, son of man, son of God was born. Born in human contentiousness and controversy, but he was here.

Satan, the traitor, and enemy of God, a created being leading a rebellion on the planet that he was cast down to be imprisoned to and exist on. It was on this global prison domain that God created us to live and work and glorify God. For thousands of years, Satan would take every opportunity to try and make life difficult and nearly impossible for us to enjoy life and love their creator. Satan spent every resource, even a third of fallen angels with him, to thwart God’s plans – lying, stealing and killing humans just to lash out at God.

Now the son of God was living as flesh on the prison planet of this domain. And since God was here as a baby, he may have thought it would be easy to kill God before the plan was fulfilled to permanently rescue humanity. Baby Jesus was born in perfection, living on the dark prison planet, but had a long ways to go to end up on a cross, giving his own life as the sacrifice necessary for our freedom.

Every person that desired to be god themselves, would participate with this criminal, Satan. And there have been thousands of people who signed up to join him to overthrow the Kingdom of God here on earth. Each one may live in human infamy, but are waiting in isolated darkness until the final judgment, where they will be thrown into the place of torment, never designed for humans, but reserved for only Satan and his gang of demons.

This is why Herod believed it would be easy to kill God while he was weak, innocent and vulnerable. Plus, this baby, Jesus, had stolen his own self proclaimed title he had deviously clawed his way to the top of Roman rule to arrogantly flaunt – Herod, King of the Jews!

Herod the Ascalonite, the son of Antipater was determined that this baby would not destroy his own legacy. This Herod, Herod the Great, went mad with an excruciating illness and died alone in his paranoia. This Herod, another pawn on the prison planet, is now in solitary darkness, awaiting the final judgment.

Prayer

Dad,
We are living such a remarkable story on this dark, prison planet! Here we are just plodding along while the kingpin of the prison continues to plot his plans to destroy every one of us while he also attempts his scorched earth policy to enact his revenge. He knows he can’t overthrow you or your will, but he will try to destroy and drag as many of us as possible to that final judgment and eternal separation for you. Creepy! I stand with you in redemption. I want nothing to do with false claims and promises of a “god-like” existence here or in heaven. I’d rather just be your son and make you proud.

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Identify the soul-pyro.

Reading Time: 2 minutes 
“For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith. And who can win this battle against the world? Only those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God.” ‭‭1 John‬ ‭5‬:‭4‬-‭5‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Every Biblical author knew there was a real and present danger, an evil circulating among the people on this planet. Evil has a name – Satan. He is a liar, a thief and a murdered of all that is good. And, to make matters worse, that evil one commands a bunch of fallen angels, referred to as demons. The evil one cannot be everywhere at all times, and it is not all powerful or all knowing. It’s personal pronoun is LIAR. It’s biggest trick of all is too make people believe that it doesn’t exist at all.

What we would call some mental illnesses, addictions, or even mass murderers and serial killers may in fact be physical, emotional, tormented possession! The mad naked man, living in the hillside tombs, would have been diagnosed with schizophrenia and been given tons of medications, counseling and possibly even shock therapy. He wasn’t crazy or ill, he was possessed by thousands of demons all bent on destroying him. The little boy mentioned after Jesus and a few friends came down from the mountain. The whole town was frightened and held captive from a little boy who kept throwing himself into the fire and writhing about. He wasn’t mental, he was possessed! Jesus FREED both these folks from a very real enemy.

The battle, the enemy is very real. I have to constantly remind myself what the Apostle Paul told the churches in Ephesus, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” Every single time there is a schism, a spat, a division, or a war – there is something much more than mean, selfish people behind it. There’s an enemy of our soul at work in the world and if we let it or allow it – even in our churches.

The instigator of all evils is a soul-pyro starting fires of hate, gossip and lies everywhere. John admonishes us to fight evil with faith. Recognize the source and win through confrontational prayer towards who’s causing the problems. I may not believe there’s a demon behind every rock, but I do believe there’s one behind every riot! Sometimes it takes a direct confrontation to expel evil from demonic possession, but more often we can kick out evil through faith when we choose to love, forgive, dispense mercy and grace. Jesus gave his followers the authority to do both, drive out demons and overcome with love.

Prayer

Dad,
There is so much evil! There are so many places that evil seems rampant and out of control. There are so many times I struggle and can only see evil in people behaving badly. I often forget there is an enemy behind it all. Help me to see good. Help me to see opportunities to bring light to darkness, applying mercy and goodness to anger and hate. Help me in my faith to remember that you have overcome the world! Help me fight these fires with grace to extinguish the flames.

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Wrong war, wrong enemy

Reading Time: 3 minutes 
“Do not be afraid of them,” the Lord said to Joshua, “for I have given you victory over them. Not a single one of them will be able to stand up to you.” Joshua‬ ‭10:8‬ ‭NLT‬‬

​These war stories, although gory and brutal, are not the focus of the grand story God is telling in the Old Testament, but they are critical. Here’s a few things I noticed.

One: there really IS a war going on, not “wars” but a war of good verses evil. A war of Satan using men like pawns, promising them great riches and power. And all these up and coming men of worldly positions had to do was be ruthless, hungry and destroy everything that got in their way. They existed then, they still exist today. There still is A war, and men and women want to play the same game and cause as much death and amass as much control over humans as possible. These stories are not stories of patriarchal power by the way, they are about rebellion, of which men and women both clamor for.

Two: It is difficult to wade through these ancient stories where we have no comprehension or understanding of the culture at that time. We have no real sense of the brute force and unmerciful actions of these kings nor their kingdoms. And each one of these cities mentioned have their own intricate culture, a bloodthirsty DNA so to speak. The leaders created and maintained these deep cultures that ran through several generations of children, who’s little boys and girls would naturally turn into mean, nasty men and women. A couple of highlights to note: King Adoni-zedek made the first move and sent word out to all the other Amorite kings. Hoham of Hebron, Piram of Jarmuth, Japhia of Lachish, and Debir of Eglon. “Come and help me destroy Gibeon,” he urged them.

Three: God spoke to Joshua promising a win. Joshua asked God for an extraordinary miracle – more daylight to get the job done! “On the day the Lord gave the Israelites victory over the Amorites, Joshua prayed to the Lord in front of all the people of Israel. He said, “Let the sun stand still over Gibeon, and the moon over the valley of Aijalon.” The five kings fled their cities and met up to hide in the caves, “During the battle the five kings escaped and hid in a cave at Makkedah.” Joshua had men block the cave entrance until he had complete control over the cities. Then he returned and brought the five kings out for a public trial and punishment. “So they brought the five kings out of the cave—the kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon. When they brought them out, Joshua told the commanders of his army, “Come and put your feet on the kings’ necks.” And they did as they were told.” Joshua promised that this is what God would allow them to do to all their enemies.

Four: Right here there is a picture, an object lesson that is repeated throughout both Old and New Testament. “THE” enemy of God and all creation, THE rebellious one, THE liar and deceiver will find his neck under the foot of one meek, humble, innocent person far into the future – when that enemy convinced humans to crucify the messiah thinking it would crush God’s plan to finally end the war and rebellion over the entire Earth. (Gen 3:15, Ps 47:3, 1 Cor. 15:25, Eph. 1:22). Then Joshua had them spiked and displayed for all to see and later buried in the cave they had hidden in.

Five: There will be a final day of justice and there will be an end to brutality. When we see our society struggle with inequalities and misappropriated power, we want to blame men, or political systems, or even an entire race. Look deeper, follow the promises and lies behind those powers – you’ll find a puppet-master of sorts, pulling the strings of hatred, chaos and mayhem. Just make sure you know the real enemy and the very real war.

PRAYER

Dad,
One of the things I can’t stand the most, speaking as an enneagram nine, is the misplaced blame of judgment on the wrong people for the wrong problem. People are people. We are weak and imperfect. We makes mistakes and listen to lies and worse, believe liars. Help us get the story straight. Help us understand the real war and the real enemy here. It’s not each other at all. I can’t wait for your justice to be finally and forever delivered.