“Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” –Luke 12:32
“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”— 2 Tim. 1:7
“So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.”— Heb. 13:6
“There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because
fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.”— 1
John 4:18
“Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil
shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall
have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give
thee a crown of life.”— Rev. 2:10
When we read these verses we can see that we are not supposed to fear anything. God is with us.
If we believe that God is right beside us, and even in us through His
Holy Spirit, then why do we have fear? Our God is bigger than anything
in this world, and anything the devil can throw at us.
These verses above indicate that there is a spirit of fear. A demonic
entity which harasses us. It says in First John that we are tormented
by fear.
Therefore battling fear is Spiritual Warfare. It’s something we can overcome.
The first thing needs to be faith and trust in God, His goodness and His Word.
Nothing else matters.
I harp on this idea of a relationship with God. When we know Him, we
know where to turn. We can trust Him. Even when everything around us is
terrible and we are in our darkest days we can trust Him. Even though
the devil tries to get us to turn from God, and curse God, and doubt
Him. We can trust Him. And that is power. For in our weakness we are
strong when we turn to Him.
God is not against us. It is His good pleasure to give us the Kingdom. He is for us.
Say it out loud. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.
“God is with me! He wants to give me the kingdom, He is not out to get me. He is my helper, I will not fear.”
Believe it.
We can overcome fear in His Power, His Love and His Wisdom.
We can pray and know He hears. He promises that if we ask anything in His name He will do it. —John 14:14
No doubts. Trust Him. He hears and is moving.
Fear be gone! God is with me!
Love casts out fear. Confront the fear in love.
Do the loving thing.
When faced with fear, love others. Do unto others as you would have
done to you. Loving others takes your mind off of self, and onto other
people. Use the fear to fuel love. Overcome evil with good.
Remember that God loves you. If we are saved, then we are perfect in
God’s Love. Remember this. He loves through us. Let Him love you and
love others through you.
The devil threw some of them into prison. They were told to fear not. So, what did they do? How did they overcome fear?
They loved. They prayed for the guards and other inmates. They
preached the Gospel and spoke faith to the other prisoners. They
comforted the sick in prison. They helped each other. They loved, in the
midst of fear and hate, and temptations for anger. They turned prison
into purpose. That is how you cast out fear.
Love casts out fear.
Praise God. Loving Him and praising Him casts out fear. You cannot hold fear in your mind, while praising God at the same time.
We also overcome fear through a sound mind. We have a sound mind by
knowing God’s Word. By seeking Him for wisdom and understanding and
truth. By having faith in His Word. By prayer and His guidance.
We can look at how God has brought us through things in the past, and
trust that He will again. We can go and seek out the truth. Study, ask,
learn, seek answers. Fear thrives in the unknown.
We can ask ourselves, “What is the worst case scenario? Has God let
the worst things happen to me? What if He does? He will be with me
through it.”
Overcome and drive out fear through Power, Love and a Sound mind. We
can drive it out through Him, and His Word, and Faith in Him and His
Word. We trust that He is good and He is with us.
Spirit of Fear be gone in Jesus name.
Say it out loud. Cast the spirit out.
Remember times when God was with you and saw you through. Trust Him.
Remember during Covid, when the virus was everywhere and fear was
running with it? Remember when the vaccine came out and they were
forcing people to take it or lose their jobs?
Speak the truth of God’s Word into your life. Believe Him. Trust Him,
learn of Him and know He is with you where ever you go. Make Him the
focus of your life and grow in relationship with Him.
“I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”—Phil. 4:13
Believe it. Speak it to yourself in faith.
When you are facing something that is causing you to fear, or doubt.
Turn to God. Trust Him and speak the truth into your life. Tell yourself
out loud.
“I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”
He is with you. He is working in you and through you if you know Him.
If you are trying to accomplish something; know that he is with you. Trust the Word.
Are you concerned with having your needs met? Trust God. Stand on the Word. Speak this verse to yourself and believe it.
“But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.’—Phil. 4:19
What does it say? Does it say “Some”? No it says “All”. God will take care of you. Say it. and trust Him.
“So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God”— Rom. 10:17
Speak the Word of God out loud to yourself and others. Believe it.
Say
“My God shall supply all my need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”
Say it out loud and trust it. It is a fact.
Speaking the Word out loud builds faith.
Is something making you think you lost your salvation? Turn to God
and ask Him to save you through Jesus Christ and speak these words over
your fear.
“All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.:—John 6:37
If you know Jesus, He will not cast you out. You might stumble. You
might drift away, but He is with you still. Just turn to Him and ask.
“I am in Christ, and He will not cast me out.” Say it and believe it.
“And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.”—John 6:39
If we know Him, we will be with Him on that day.
Are you confused? Are demons whispering into your mind trying to get you to think God is out to get you?
Trust God.
“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”—Rom. 8:28
Say it out loud.
“All things work together for my good. I love God and He has called me to Him and His purpose for my life. He is with me.”
Believe it. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.
Your faith expands when you hear God’s truth and you trust Him.
It’s sort of like stirring yourself up, except that it is spirit. His
words are spirit and truth. They impact your soul and spirit and the
things beyond the veil. They build up faith, and when you see Him move,
your faith grows as well.
Are you facing something you cannot overcome, like addiction or some task?
“Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.”—Rom. 8:37
Say it.
“I am a conqueror in Jesus name. I will overcome through Him.”
Speak it and believe it.
Do not let the devil, beat you down with fear and doubt. Stand on
God’s Word. Believe His promises and speak them into your life and the
life of others.
The enemy comes to steal, kill and destroy.
But, Jesus came to give us life, and to give it more abundantly. (John 10:10)
“I have an abundant life in Jesus name. He has saved me and is blessing me.”
If the enemy can get you to stop trusting God, then you have no where to turn. You can believe the Word.
Even if God is causing you problems or allowing it. It is for your
good, and you can trust Him. Pray the Word. Speak the promises.
Stand on it.
(Do you have prayer requests or praises? Tell me in the comments or message me.)
We avoid deception when we are taught by the Holy Spirit
"For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but
after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears"--2 Timothy 4:3
The
scriptures teach that in the last days we shall heap to ourselves
teachers having itching ears, because we ignore sound doctrine and
follow our fleshly desires.
This is referring to the believer and unbeliever alike.
We
are perishing for lack of knowledge. We know it deep in our hearts. We
know it in our souls and spirits. Something is wrong and we seek to know
what it is. We seek anything to fill that gaping hole that can only be filled by God. (Hosea 4:6)
At the same time, we are
surrounded by people who want to be important. They think they are the
smartest one in the room and they often make sense or are so
charismatic, that they seem wise or command respect.
So
we gather around these people having itching ears and desiring to hear
from God through them, or anyone who can give us a spark of insight.
These people are shiny. They transform themselves into angels of light.
They teach works, and their end will be according to their works. They
are from Satan. (2 Cor. 11:12-15)
But, the scriptures teach that God Himself, has gifted teachers and given them to us. ( 1 Cor. 12:28, Eph.4:11.)
A
teacher from God is not the same as a teacher from man; or Satan. God
uses the base things to confound the wise. (1 Cor. 1:15-31)
But
we are so eager to fill a spot or chase after some preacher or teacher
who might not be from God.That we miss the real teachers from the Lord.
We want the pretty thing, not the rough thing. We want polished, not the
beat up clunker.
I'm not talking about learning a trade from a tradesmen. Although, we should seek to be led by God into that as well.
I'm talking about spiritual things.
So, how do we avoid the false teaching?
Jesus said that the Holy Spirit teaches us and leads us into all truth. (John 16:13)
John said that we have no need for any to teach us but the anointing will do it.(1 John 2:27)
James said, if we desire wisdom we can ask of God and He will give it.(James 1:5)
So,
how does this work? Well, first we turn to God and confess Jesus as our
Lord and believe in Him. We must be saved, have the Holy Spirit and
willing to believe what He teaches and what the Word says. (Romans
10:9-10, Romans 4:3, Gal. 3:6, James 2:23, Luke 11: 11-13, John
14:16-17)
Then, we ask the Lord to teach us and guide us. (Prov. 3:5-8)
He will open up the scriptures to you. He will open up your mind, heart and life to learn from Him.
You will see things around you and in your life that will grow you and change you and teach you.
God will lead you to the church and the teachers and preachers He wants you to have. Listen to His Spirit as He guides you.
In all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your path.
But,
this takes time.
After being saved, Paul went
into the desert of Arabia to hear from God. Then after 3 years he talked
with Peter, to make sure what he heard was correct. Then, he continued
to learn from the Spirit for 14 years as he served. Even then, he still
made sure of what he was teaching. He already had head knowledge from
his
years as a pharisee. But, he needed heart knowledge, he needed Spirit
knowledge, he needed brokenness. This takes time. (Gal.1:1-24-Gal
2:1-10)
God calls his teachers and
preachers as He sees fit. It is a burden. A calling. It's not something
you get from a few classes. It's not something you get because you are
important in the community and able to attract listeners.
Jesus said "I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me. But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one."---(John 10:25-30)
With
so many voices around us, is it any wonder that we can't hear from God
anymore? Have you heard His voice? Would you know it? Jesus says you
will if you are with Him. Believe it.
How do we hear from Him? We listen to the still small voice not the earthquake or raging fire full of fear. (1 Kings 19:11-12)
Jesus said "If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?" (John 3:12)
Do
you believe the hard things in His Word? Do you believe the crazy
things in the Bible? Do you believe in six days of creation and one day
of rest? Can you believe in talking serpents and global floods? If you
can't believe that, then how can you believe that He rose from the
dead? (Romans 10:9-10)
How can you believe He is
coming again? How can you believe He answers prayer or will never
forsake you? How can you believe there is an enemy, and how can you
believe there are false teachers? Maybe even the one who preaches to you
about works every Sunday.
He
has given us teachers. But are we listening to HIS teachers?
Like the leaders of Israel
ignored and killed the true prophets. Do religious leaders keep the
people in darkness today as well? Do we heap to ourselves teachers today thinking we are so smart, or so spiritual?
If we trust the Holy Spirit and let Him teach us we will avoid the deceptions of these last days. We will know the truth. This is how the elect avoids deception, in these days of lies. (Matt. 24:24)
By letting the Holy Spirit teach us we grow in relationship with God and we avoid heaping teachers based upon our fleshly desires. Whether we mean to or not we have a tendency to want to hear from teachers who are agreeing with what we already know or believe.
This verse is not speaking of "desires" in the sense of lusts. No preacher is telling you to commit adultery or steal or kill, or be a drunkard. No one would follow this guy. But, the teacher is teaching based upon the desires of the fleshly mind, instead of the things of the spirit. Teaching a salvation by works, instead of grace. Teaching the religion of the Anti-Christ to come. A religion that twists and ignores the Word. Teachers serving Satan instead of God. A religion of deception and control, in order to lead the people into the Apostate Church to come.
Ask the Holy Spirit to teach you. Start listening to Him right now. We avoid false teachers by listening to the Holy Spirit. He will lead us into all truth and open the Word for us. He will renew our mind. He will change us.
There really is only one thing moving behind the scenes.
What is going on in the world? Why are things like this?
Are you a conspiracy theorist or have you seen things that goes on in
history or in the news that doesn’t make sense? Things that seem to be
connected, but there’s really no rational way they could be.
Have you noticed that we always seem to head in the same direction,
like some unseen hand guides the events of the world and history.
Something you can’t prove but you can plainly see?
Have you considered the spiritual element?
Have you considered that humans have a spiritual enemy that seeks to rule over us and to dethrone God?
All those connections you cannot seem to make or that make you feel
crazy, are easily made when you consider that Satan, Fallen Angels,
Unclean Spirits, Demons, and the spirit of antichrist is working behind the scenes. It’s not just humans doing all the work themselves.
You wanna know who “They” are?
This is them.
“They” are spiritual forces of darkness in high places who direct humans to move us in a certain direction. (Eph. 6:12)
Do you see the pantheons of gods in history? Zeus, Odin, Osiris, Hades, Set?
In every part of the world?
This is them. The Fallen Angels. The Nephilim. The gods.
They have worked since the beginning of the world to bring it under
their complete control, and for Satan to be worshiped as the most high
god. (Isa. 14:12-20, Ezek. 28:1-19)
They have done the same thing, over and over again throughout history.
They corrupted Adam and Eve telling them that they would be as gods, getting them to doubt God’s Word and Goodness. (Gen. 3)
This allowed them to be able to take dominion of the Earth from Adam.
They now rule behind the scenes, and have for a long time.
Why does this matter?
Because history is one big story of these guys trying to take over and be worshiped.
It is believed the Fallen Angels came to Earth at the time of Jared in the Bible. (Gen. Chapter 5.)
They corrupted humanity, and abused all of nature. (Gen. 6)
They were with human women and giants were born to them. These were the Nephilim.
Mythology also speaks of “gods” like Zeus taking human women, and demi-gods were born.
The ancient gods were the fallen angels, and their offspring. Like
all stories it changes over time. Little details change here and there
but the core is the same. These “gods” were known all over the world.
When Alexander the Great of Greece invaded Egypt it is said he was amazed that they worshiped the same gods.
The stories of the gods are the same to some extent all over the world.
Could it have been the fallen angels?
How did ancient people come up with the same beliefs all over the world?
Ok, so the fallen angels came to earth and connected with the line of Cain.
St. Augustine says that the fallen ones in the Bible are referring to
the line of Cain corrupting the line of Seth. He rejects the idea of
fallen angels.
St. Augustine’s view became the common teaching. Helping to hide the
truth. But, one must ask. How does two human groups procreating with
each other bring out giants? And the Bible teaches there were giants.
Goliath was a giant.
I believe it was both. Fallen angels came, giants (demi-gods) were born, and the line of Cain corrupted the line of Seth.
The world was ruined.
So the Flood came and washed it all away.
Now, when you look at this story and read the Biblical texts. What
you will find is that the same corruption is going on in the world
today, as we race towards destruction.
By the time the Flood came the humans and giants under the direction
of the fallen ones, created a world wide trade system. They built huge
structures. Globally. It is claimed that they did lots of evil things.
Human sacrifice, Cannibalism, Slavery, mixing of animals and humans, if
you can imagine an evil thing, it was happening. It’s believed there was
science and sorcery of the most vilest types. Were there really ancient
aliens? Or were they Nephilim, and humans directed by fallen angels?
Could aliens be fallen angels or demons from another dimension of
existence, instead of another planet?
After the Flood only eight humans survived.
Do you think God believed that a flood would destroy angels and demons? Nope.
Do you think God believed a flood would destroy sin? Nope.
Sin is a corrupting plague.
But He washed the Earth clean, and waited to see if the corruption
came back. If it does then it must be burned. And that is where the
earth is headed. To be burned with fire.(Lev. 13:47-59)
So, what we see after the Flood, is that the whole world is united.
They are led to build a tower. This tower was supposed to unite and
protect humans from another catastrophe like the Flood.
It is believed that Nimrod was the king that led in the building of
the tower. He is a picture of the Anti-Christ to come. He was led to
build the tower by the fallen angels and demonic forces it is believed.
This tower is a picture of the New World Order being built today. It is
also a picture of the technology that is working to unite the world.
(Gen. 10 8-9, Gen. 11)
God came down and confused the languages and the people scattered over the Earth.
This is why there are different names for the gods, and for the first
king and his family. This is why the mythologies are the same, but
different globally.
Satan and the fallen angels were thwarted again. This is the second
time they tried to build a global empire to worship Satan and oppose
God.
Do you see the pattern?
From this point in history the “gods” directed humans and led them to create massive empires. To control and unite humans again.
God does not want humans united, unless and until we are finally united under Christ.
History is full of kings who claimed to be descendants from gods, who went forth to conquer and united the world under them.
Do you think that’s a coincidence?
Perhaps they really are descended from the Nephilim?
When you look at history, the Bible, prophecy, mythology, and
conspiracy with this mindset, you really see some interesting things.
Who is really behind the scenes and why?
When we look at the book of Daniel we see an image of a human, which
described global kingdoms throughout history. It shows Babylon, Persia,
Greek, Roman, and a future (or present) kingdom. But, the entire idol is
one idol. Which means that all these kingdoms are not really separate.
They are all united and they are led by Satan, the fallen angels and
demonic forces. (Daniel Chapter 2)
This is a very simple picture of the ancient world. Controlled by
empires and the “gods’. Which brings us to the time of Jesus Christ.
Jesus was killed by the Roman empire and by the religious leaders.
Both of whom were controlled by Satan, the fallen angels and demonic
forces. Paul plainly states that the “princes of this world”
crucified Jesus. He is not talking about the pharisees or Rome. he is
referring to demonic princes, described in Daniel. He is talking about
Satan and the fallen angels who are principalities and powers in high
places. (1 Cor. 2:8, Daniel Chapter 10, Eph. 6:20)
We read in John Chapter 13, that when Jesus gave Judas the sop of
bread. Satan entered into him and he went to betray Christ. This plainly
shows that demonic forces killed Jesus. They used Judas to betray, They
used the religious leaders to condemn, and they used the Roman Empire
to execute him.
But, when Jesus was crucified and rose again He broke the power of
the Fallen Angels. We see the power of the “gods” being destroyed
globally in history throughout the world.
Coincidence?
What we see from this point is the same thing as before,
Empires growing around the world led by Kings, Priests and Presidents.
We see great atrocities committed globally. We see the creation of
global economies and corporations. We see international bankers and
secret societies coming into being.
We see problems created, then solved by the same people who created
them. We see money controlling the world, while billions are kept in
poverty and bondage.
We see the world uniting constantly under new empires of commerce and ideology.
The world always heading in the same direction. More control. More connectedness.
All of it directed by those who rule behind the scenes. Those who have ruled from before the Flood.
So, when you discuss conspiracy theories, whether it’s the Catholic
Church, or The Royals, or the Rothchilds, or the Illuminati, or the
Knights Templar, or the Tri-lateral Commision, or the Bilderbergers, or
Bohemian Grove, or the Federal Reserve, or any of it.
Christmas is a time for cheer. A time when we slow down and remember the things that matter most.
It’s a time when we celebrate the birth of a King. The birth of a savior. Jesus Christ our Lord.
As has been pointed out many times, December is not the actual date of His birth. It was probably sometime in September.
But, there is a symbolic reason for the choice of December 25th
When you consider the darkness in this world, and the shadows of evil in our hearts.
When you consider that we are in bondage to our wicked ways and the demonic forces of Satan, the usurper.
When you consider the blackness of the souls that are ruling this world and the misery they impose on us.
We can see the darkness.
The cold savage darkness full of torment.
Just before Jesus was born, King Herod commanded that all babies
under two years old be slain, in order to stop the birth of the true
King. (Matt. 2:16)
Herod wanted to protect his blood line’s power.
But, the demons who really rule behind the scenes wanted to keep the world in bondage to them.
To keep the world in darkness.
And what is more dark, than rulers killing children?
It was the darkest of days.
But, a light came into the world.
On that day Joy and Love came to save us from death and raise us up to be with Him.
The light came to shatter the deep and break the power of the forces of spiritual darkness in high places.
The true King was born.
And we celebrate it in a symbol.
A symbol of the light, and a symbol of salvation.
On December 21 we have the darkest day of the year.
We have the day the light goes out.
The day the light dies and goes into the grave of death.
Then, three days later the light is born.
A picture of our savior in the belly of the earth 3 days.
Dec. 22, Dec. 23, Dec. 24
December 25th the light is born. The King is come. He is born to be
with us. He was born to die for us and rise from the grave, to set us
free. And He will return soon to destroy the darkness, forever.
The
spirit of antichrist has been working in the world since before the
Flood of Noah, even till today.( 1 John 2:18, 22, 1 John 4:1-6, 2 John7 KJV)
It has one job. To create the Anti-Christ system in preparation for the appearance of Satan's messiah, the Anti-Christ in these last days
When
you see in the Bible the world being taken over by evil before the Flood of Noah. That was the
spirit of antichrist. When you see Nimrod building the Tower of Babel
and uniting the world against God. That was the spirit of antichrist.
When
you look at history and see all the world conquerors. That's the spirit
of antichrist. When you see the idol of Daniel, showing the kingdoms of
history. That is the spirit of antichrist.
When you see the 20th
century and the struggles between capitalism and communism and fascism
for global control, and control of the mind. That is the spirit of
antichrist.
As you see the uniting of the world through torment and destruction, and fear. That is the spirit of antichrist.
The
word antichrist, does not mean against Christ. It means "instead of"
Christ. It's job is to unite the world under the Anti-Christ, and get
them to worship, another god. That god being Satan who desires to be the
most high.
The spirit of antichrist does not care about our
politics. It uses all sides to push its agenda. It works through
individuals, groups, religions and governments to gain more control and
build the infrastructure for the Beast system.
There are humans
who rule this world, and have submitted to the antichrist spirit and
other demonic forces. These humans from top to bottom are deceived
slaves.
Even good Christian people can and are used by this spirit to help push the agenda.
The
Holy Spirit and God's Word, helps us to fight these things if we are
Saved and Spirit led. Remember, Satan can quote scripture and use it to
oppress people. It is the Holy Spirit that leads us into all Truth. It
is the power of the Holy Spirit that quickens, the Sword of the Spirit.
We
are called to fight the good fight of faith against the enemy in all
its forms. But, we know we have already won, and the final victory must
be Christ's.
When they say Christ has come, do not be deceived, you will know when your Lord comes.
When they say you are an extremist. Rejoice for so persecuted they the prophets before you.
When they threaten you, and strip everything from you, and beat on the door to come in, fear not for He is with you.
Remember, all these things must happen but the end is not yet.....for He is coming...quickly.
-----
Bio: Chris Bunton is a writer, poet and blogger from
Southern Illinois. He has published in several magazines, and has
written a poetry eBook called “Against the Man” and an Addiction Recovery eBook called “Made Free: Overcoming Addiction“ a collection of dystopian short stories.“The Future is Coming” and his latest book “The Latter Days‘ is a book on Bible Prophecy and avoiding the deceptions to come.
I often run into Christians who speak of the devil as though he is
powerless and weak. That he is a defeated foe and not a real enemy.
It’s almost like they haven’t actually read the Bible.
Yes, Christ defeated Satan on the cross.
Yes, God is in complete control.
But, no where in the scriptures have I found instructions for us to ignore the enemy. or act like he has no power.
As a matter of fact the Apostle Peter says, “Be sober, be vigilant;
because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about,
seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing
that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in
the world.” (1 Peter 5:8-9)
A lion will roar, and it will cause the herd to flee. This gives the
lion a chance to devour the young, weak and infirm. We have the power
through faith to resist. But, it is an obvious affliction on those who
are attacked.
It’s not something to be ignored, or belittled.
We are told in the book of Jude to not be foolish in how we speak of
Satan, the fallen angels and spiritual forces. They have power and
authority. (Jude)
Paul says That we are not to be ignorant of the enemy. (2 Corinthians 2:11)
So, we need to know what we are facing. Not to treat the enemy as if
he is nothing or ignore him, but to face the enemy properly.
We are called to resist. But, how can you resist if you do not know anything about the enemy? (1 Peter 5:8-9, James 4:7)
So, let’s do a quick overview of the enemy.
It is believed that Satan fell through pride because he wants to be God. (Isa. 14:12-15)
At some point after his fall, he used a Serpent to deceive Eve, and get Adam to fall. (Gen.3)
Adam had dominion of the Earth. But, when he fell Satan took that
dominion. That is how he became the god of this world. (2 Cor. 4:4)
There’s a lot more to this story, but it could lead to an entire book.
So, Satan has authority in this world.
Paul plainly states it. All the Apostles state it.
When a person is born into the world they are born in a right
standing with God. They are subject to death, but not hell. Until they
commit the first sin, knowing it’s a sin. Then, they are subject to
hell, just like all humans.
It is also at this time that the person becomes a slave to Satan.
They are his children. They are his slaves to various degrees.
(Ephesians 2:2)
Here’s where some Christians will jump up and say “Yeah but he is defeated! God is in control!”
Yes, Jesus defeated the enemy on the cross. And there will be a future victory as well. (Gen. 3, Luke 10:18, Revelation)
This means that when Jesus died and rose, He defeated Satan. He set
the prisoners free. ALL the prisoners or slaves under Satan’s control
are free. But, only a few will hear the call and turn to Jesus to obtain
it.
Saints are free from the control of Satan. We are saved and cannot
lose it. But, as the Bible warns we can open doors and let the enemy
back into our lives again. We can fall under that power. Take addictions
as an example. (Matt. 12:43-45)
We can also still be impacted by Satan working through other people or nature.
All of this is plainly taught by the scriptures.
But, there will still be those who say “Yeah but God is in control!”
He certainly is.
Nothing can happen to us that God has not allowed.
We see this both in the book of Job, and when Jesus tells Peter that Satan has asked to sift him as wheat. (Luke 22:31-33)
Why? Why does God allow the devil access to us?
It seems that Satan has some kind of legal authority to ask, and
expect an answer. We can speculate on why this is. But, we do not fully
understand how things work in the spirit realms.
What we can say is that we have faith and power in Jesus Christ to
resist the enemy. We have access to the King in prayer. We have God’s
Word and promises we can stand on. We also have a relationship with God.
We know Him. We know His character, and the Holy spirit dwells in us.
So, we know that God is always good. He seeks good always. He loves
us and wants us with Him. So, no matter what happens, He is on our side,
and we can use it to grow closer to God, and grow in faith. We can turn
evil around for good.
But, how can you do that if you do not recognize evil? If you ignore
the fact that we have an enemy, how can you stand against him or turn
his attacks around for good? (Rom. 12:21, 2 Cor. 10:1-6)
If you feel that everything comes from God, then how can you call anything “Evil”?
Does God do evil?
Of course not, but He does allow things to happen. It’s our job to
have faith in Him and turn to Him. Then turn the evil for good. We use
it to save people or help people.
The scriptures tell us that the enemy possesses power. So, let’s do a
list of what this power is. And I am in know way stating that this is
everything. But, starting from the beginning of the Bible and going
through we see that the enemy has the power to…
Deceive people who are walking with God and know Him, if they are not
careful. If they doubt God’s Word, and Goodness. He can use our loved
ones to get us to turn from God. He can use nature as a cover for his
activities. We see this in Adam and Eve.
We can see in the book of Job, that Satan and his angels go about the
Earth. We see that He has the power to cause a tornado to kill people.
He can get humans to rob and kill others. He has the power to cause
disease. He has the power to get our loved ones to turn against us. He
also has the power to kill. (God would not let Him kill Job.)
The book of Job shows us that no matter what happens God is with us and we are to stay with Him. Trusting Him and His Goodness.
But, we see here that Satan is the prince of the power of the air.
He apparently has power to control the weather. Which explains why we
see ancient people all over the world making human sacrifices of babies
to gods, so they can have good weather for crops, and fertility. We see
the destruction weather and climate can cause.
He uses humans to kill, steal and destroy, obviously. How does this
control occur? It’s possible that it starts with a whisper into the mind
of a leader who then gets men to follow him. A leader whom Satan worked
to put into a position of power.
We see that he gave Job a disease. We do not know what disease. It doesn’t matter.
All of this, the destructive weather, violence of men and disease,
came upon Job and led Him into despair. So, Satan can also cause
despair. (Except for God. Job continued to trust God and lean toward
Him, and that’s what saved him.)
Job also shows that Satan can get our loved ones to betray us, or at least add to our torment.
I tell you this so we can recognize what is going on around us and
pray properly or respond correctly. We respond with spiritual warfare.
We respond with love and prayer and praise and trust in God, and His
promises. We overcome evil with good. We take the bad that happens to us
and turn it around to serve God and help and save people.
So, let’s fast forward to the New Testament.
Immediately after Jesus was baptized, the Holy Spirit led Him into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan. (Matt. 4:1-11)
This is a lesson for us. Have you ever considered that the moment you
got saved and was baptized Satan was allowed to tempt you, and sift you
as wheat?
I’m not saying he is. I’m not saying it happens to everyone, all the time.
But, the question must be asked. If you’ve never been tempted by the
enemy, or faced spiritual warfare, then whose child are you?
The temptations Jesus faced are temptations we all face, except for Christ, they were far more extreme.
We learn that we can overcome these things by faith in God and His goodness, as well as using His Word.
So, we see that the enemy has the power to tempt us, and try to get
us to fall. But, we can resist and if we fail we can turn to God and
confess it to Him. (1 John 1:8-10)
We also see that Satan has power over the nations of the Earth. This is confirmed in the book of Daniel. (Dan. 10)
Paul also speaks of how the enemy has power in high places. (Eph. 6:12)
When we look at the ministry of Jesus we see that there are unclean
spirits and demons that work in peoples lives. and we are called to wage
war against them.
We also see that his greatest earthly rival was the religious leaders.
Jesus plainly said they were the children of the devil. (John 8:44-47)
So, we can say that Satan used religious leaders to kill Jesus and
persecute the Church. He got these religious leaders, to use the
governmental powers, to kill people, and impose laws upon them to
destroy their freedom.
The Bible also says that there are false brethren, false teachers, and false prophets. (2 Cor. 11:26, 2 Pet. 2:1)
All of whom are probably listening to Satan.
Since he is the god of this world, and has power over the disobedient
children. and he has power over nations, governments and religious
leaders.
Then, we can say that the empires seeking to conquer the world, are
doing it by his authority. That when they oppress people and persecute
saints, it is by Satan’s authority, throughout history and even today.
Ok?
We see from Jesus’s ministry that the enemy can cause a friend to
betray us and deny us. Even in the face of death. Even to betray us to
people who will kill us.
Friends and family.
The Bible teaches that saints will be betrayed unto death by those closest to us. (Luke 21:16)
History teaches it.
We see saints dying the most horrific deaths for Christ, caused by the devil.
The enemy will attack and tempt our family in order to get them into
terrible situations simply to hurt us. But, we turn this for good and
tell them about Christ.
All of the apostles and saints around the world have faced
persecution. And there is more to come. That is the reality, even though
we might not face it in our current time.
So, as you can see the enemy has power. We are not called to belittle
it, but to stand against it. We are not called to fear it, but to turn
it around for good.
It is a tactic of the enemy to get believers to not wage war, by making us think he has no power.
Now, understand that through Christ we have power and authority over
the enemy. Through faith we can stand on His Word. We are overcomers
through Him who is in us.
But, if you think there is no enemy you won’t exercise that power.
People crack jokes and say “The devil made me do it.”
Well, maybe he did. Maybe instead of joking about it, we need to wage war and make sure of what is going on.
Maybe there is a devil behind every bush. Maybe it’s a roaring lion.
God is with us, but we are called to wage war. If we are saved we are free from Satan but we are still in a war.
God is with us. He protects us. Nothing can touch us unless it is allowed, and we can overcome it.
This life is just a moment. Every terrible thing only lasts for a second compared to eternity.
And when we die we go to be with the Lord. (2 Corinthians 5:1-8)
There’s no need for fear. There is no need to be focused on the enemy.
But, we are called to wage war.
We are called to turn to God and focus on Him, and we shall overcome.
Is it complaining against God? Or complaining about life? or
complaining all the time? Or is it actually speaking the truth against
false things? Sometimes the Holy Spirit shows us things that are wrong,
and we don’t know how to properly deal with it.
I have been involved in Christian Ministry for over 20 years. I’ve
been to churches where the members are silent about the most ridiculous
ungodly activities and projects, because they do not want to be accused
of murmuring or complaining.
In the book of Exodus Chapter 4 and Numbers 17, we see that the
Israelites are murmuring and complaining against the Lord, and He
expressly condemns it.
Some Leaders in churches use this verse and others as a tool to stop
ALL dissent in a church. According to these leaders, the flock are
supposed to accept and silently go along with everything the leadership
does. They are supposed to be silent in the face of abusive behaviors,
and the latest fad that does nothing for the Kingdom.
That is false. Sin in leadership, is still sin. Does God support sin?
The scriptures speak of false teachers, false prophets, and false brethren. (2 Cor. 11:28, Gal 2:4, 2 Peter 2)
We are supposed to be wary of such things. That means we should rebuke and stand against it.
As the latter days get closer and closer things will get worse and
worse. Believers need to stop being silent about the direction their
churches are going in.
When the Holy Spirit reveals that something is not right. Your duty
is to pray and ask the Lord, whats wrong. Pray for the people, and study
the Word to make sure you are correct. Sometimes, it’s better to just
pray, than to confront. Or speak out.
But, when the Lord leads you to speak out, do it in the right way, with love and respect.
You will probably be rejected and ignored, or even attacked. You
might be accused of causing division or murmuring and complaining. You
might be treated as a troublemaker, and never asked to do anything in
the church.
Yes…these are Christian people who do these sorts of
things to other believers. There are people in churches who are about
controlling things not building the Kingdom.
Understand that “Murmuring and Complaining” in the book of Exodus,
was a specific thing. They were saying that they wanted to go back to
Egypt. They spoke of all the good things of Egypt.
You have to understand what this really is.
It’s like if God delivers a man from alcohol abuse.(Egypt) and the
man constantly says that his life was better as a drunk. He misses the
parties, and fun. Even though God is moving him to a good place.
That’s what murmuring and complaining is. It is not speaking against
false brethren or leaders, or opinions on how to spend money. If
leadership must twist scripture to maintain control, then that should be
a red flag. You need to know this because churches in these last days
will be ran by false brethren and teachers. Look at China today. The
legal above ground churches are all ran by pastors who are taught in
government funded colleges and are government sanctioned, not God
ordained. The churches from God are underground. In China, if you speak
out against false doctrine they call the secret police and you find
yourself beat. That is where we are headed globally.
Real murmuring and complaining is against the work God is doing in
us. It is a tough work. It is a battle between spirit and flesh. The
flesh wants to go back to Egypt, but the Lord is taking us to the
Promised Land. The journey is hard. We might lose jobs and homes, and
friends, and family, and reputation and everything that we hold dear.
But, we are gaining the Lord. He is our promised land.
The minute He saves us we have Him. IF we really have Him. Then He works in our lives to change us.
The Israelites refused to confess Him as Lord and trust Him. It’s not
about the Law. Joshua and Caleb were not saved because they obeyed
rules. They were saved because they trusted in God alone for salvation.
They did not trust in their own strength, but in His. They believed His
promises. When we complain about the Lord, we are doubting Him. It
destroys faith in us and others.
We are called to abide in Him. That is a relationship.
When we cry out to God, He comes running. But if we are not willing
to really give ourselves to Him, then we are not saved. The Israelites
refused to trust that God was good and doing good things. This is the
same lie Satan told Eve in the Garden. He got her to doubt God’s
goodness, and promises.
So, understand that murmuring and complaining is about a specific
thing in the scriptures. It is not a blanket term to be used to silence
people. In the book of Acts, murmuring led to the creation of the
deacons. (Acts 6:1-8) So, as I said the Holy Spirit could have stirred
some of the people to notice something was wrong, and used it to help
the early church, and the deacons were formed. In today’s churches if
someone said that the widows were being neglected, they would be called a
complainer. They would have to speak to 5 different committees and then
go before a business meeting, and then just maybe they might get
something fixed. At least until the next committee takes over. Unless of
course, they are a member with money. (James 2:1-9)
In Phillipians, it says “Do all things without murmurings and disputings:” (Phil. 2:14)
In context, this is referring to two things. God’s working in our lives, and our appearance before the unbeliever.
“Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my
presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own
salvation with fear and trembling.For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” (Phil. 2:12-13)
God’s
work in our lives can be hard. If we are not careful it can open doors
for a spirit of bitterness. Where we become snarky and talking trash
about the hardness of the battle between the flesh and spirit, or the
changes in our lives.
This phrase “work out your own salvation
with fear and trembling” often leads people to wrongly assume it refers
to a works based salvation doctrine. but it’s actually referring to
dealing with the work God is doing in our lives. Like a child whose
parents have decided to move to another city for work. The child has to
work out how to deal with this, while not becoming angry and bitter.
They have to work out how to deal with the loss of a school, and friends
and a life they had. Major changes happen when we really turn to God,
and we need to work out how to deal with it and not become bitter.
This bitterness can lead to murmurings and disputing with others in
the church. So Paul goes on to explain, that we should be of one mind
and not murmuring and disputing in front of those who we are trying to
help, and lead to Christ. Again, it is not a blanket verse to silence
people from speaking out when something is wrong. It is an admonition to
do it properly, at the right time, and in the right way, when possible.
Course, understand that control freaks and oppressors, also control all
the means of speaking out.
We can see in the next verses that Paul’s admonition for us to not murmur and dispute is to avoid driving people from Christ.
“That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without
rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye
shine as lights in the world;
Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the
day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.”
(Phil. 2:12-16)
Our murmuring and complaining doesn’t hurt God. But, it can drive
others away from knowing Christ. Because who would want to join a group
that is so un-happy? And again, it comes back to false leadership.
Leadership should solve things properly. Not just silence dissent.
Leaders who do not treat people rightly, are actually engaging in the
thing they seek to stop. Hiding it, doesn’t fix it. It is fixed through
love, and a proper answer that heals.
Not only does complaining drive people away in church situations, but
also in your own life. Nobody wants to be around that. If every time you
come around it is always negative or complaining. No one will want to
be around you. Drive that demon out.
A final word on murmuring and complaining is that when you do it, you
are driving away your blessings. The tongue has power. You can speak
the promises of God and believe them and watch Him work. or you can
speak negative, complaining words, and watch it work. Both will reap a
harvest. If you constantly speak negative things about yourself or
others, do not be surprised if it doesn’t become true in your life.
We reap what we sow.
As we get more and more into the latter days we need to get rid of
the false beliefs and teachings we have clung to. God will do it if we
don’t. Scripture says that we are to judge ourselves lest we be judged
with the world. In these last days, the things we have done or not done
can come back to haunt us if we refuse to see it and confess it to the
Lord to change it. This goes for entire churches, not just individuals;
as it shows in Revelation. So, when we see wrong things in the church
we need to speak out about it. This is judging ourselves as a body. It
is not complaining. (1 Cor. 11:31-32, 1 John 1:9-10, Rev. Chapters 1-3)
As we move into these latter days we are going to face tough times.
We will see that the things we complained about and disputed over,
really do not matter. When you can barely afford heat, new carpet won’t
matter. When you have to quietly meet in a hidden basement because of
persecution, having the latest sound systems and praise music, won’t
matter any more. There are believers all over the world, who have
nothing. While we bicker and destroy peoples faith because of opinions
on a building or types of paint, or views on doctrines.
Only God will matter, as He leads us through the dark dry desert in those days.
Don’t be like Lot’s wife, who desired the fine things and life of Sodom.(Gen. 19)
Understand that the Bible is full of these warnings for a reason. It
is not about murmuring and complaining. God can handle your complaints.
It’s about looking back after putting your hand to the plow. (Luke 9;62)
It’s about never confessing Him as Lord, and never having a
relationship, and never knowing Him. It’s about not trusting Him. The
Israelites in the wilderness did not trust Him.
If we do not know Him. We cannot trust Him. We cannot abide in Him. (John 15:4)
Our complaining is a reflection of our feelings toward God and His
promises. It drives people away from Christ and us. It drives blessings
away.
Turn to Him and trust Him.
—–
Bio: Chris Bunton is a writer, poet and blogger from
Southern Illinois. He has published in several magazines, and has
written a poetry eBook called “Against the Man” and an Addiction Recovery eBook called “Made Free: Overcoming Addiction“ a collection of dystopian short stories.“The Future is Coming” and his latest book “The Latter Days‘ is a book on Bible Prophecy and avoiding the deceptions to come.
The early church had three things that helped them grow and take over the Roman Empire.
First, they had the Holy Spirit. They were saved and filled with the Holy Ghost, who led them and guided them in their work.
If your church never speaks of or teaches the Holy Spirit. If they do
not listen to or operate through the Holy Spirit. That should be a big
red flag. Especially in these last days.
Second, the saints of old were willing to die for what they believed.
They faced terrible persecution. They were fed to lions, crucified and
burned. They faced it with joy. This led the people of Rome to see that
they really believed, and therefore the Gospel might be true. The early
church put their money where their mouth is, so to speak.
Now, many have faced death for what they believe. But, the difference
is that the early church saw death as a door to going home to be with
the Lord. Their belief was real. Our attitude towards death is to be
different than the world’s. We see death as an escape from this world,
and being with Christ. (Phil. 1:21-30)
We get saved, and the Holy Spirit works in our life. We see that God
is real and we trust Him. This leads us to see death as a gateway to new
life. We are going home.
The third thing is love. The Holy Spirit works in our life and
develops love in us. It is a love that defies our fleshly reason. Love
that speaks against our corrupted nature.
The early church grew because of this love.
The ancient world was harsh. It is said that over 90% of Rome were
slaves. We could say the same about modern America. These slaves were
totally controlled by their masters. They had to ask permission for
everything. They could be fired (Killed) for no real reason. Every
aspect of their lives was controlled by the master. They were considered
a reflection of the master (business)
I say this, to make the connection between conditions then and now.
They were very similar in spirit. The same Demon or Spirit that ruled
behind the scenes in Rome, still rules today around us.
These slaves had nothing of their own. It was all owned by their master. (Bank/State)
So here comes the early Christians. They acted weird. They had faith
which made them willing to die spiritually and physically to this world.
They showed crazy love, not abuse. It was so much different than the
world around them. Not because they stopped sinning, but because they
loved and had faith.
They had church gatherings where they shared food and money to help
each other succeed. They sold everything for this cause. They jumped in
with both feet, loving each other and the cause of Christ.
The other slaves were drawn by the Holy Spirit to be a part of this.
They wanted to know what this was. Of course some wanted to take
advantage, but many were for real. And even those who wanted to take
advantage were loved and got saved because of how they were treated in
comparison to how the world and the system treated them. They saw the
Holy Spirit working, they saw the faith, they saw the love. Real love.
Jesus said, “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”—(John 13:35)
Our success as believers comes through the Holy Spirit, Faith and
Love. It comes from God. We cannot do any of these things without Him.
We cannot love the way we should without Jesus. Without the Holy Spirit
growing and molding us.
Our success in this life as believers comes through the love and
support we give each other by the power of the Holy Spirit through
faith.
We see someone hurting and we help. We see someone fallen, and we
help them rise back up because the Holy Spirit leads us to show love to
them. We do this to everyone.
But, how much more should we help other saints?
Our love for our fellow saints shows whether we are even saved or not.
When we see someone who goes to our church hurting, suffering, fallen
or in need; do we help them or ignore them? Do we cast them aside
because they fell or do we go to them? Do we support them in ministry,
business and life? Or do we ignore them because they don’t measure up to
traditions of men? I shouldn’t even need to post bible verses to prove
it.
Shouldn’t the leaders of the church be leading the church in love? To
help others? to support the saints in life and in their ministry work
for Christ? Not to be seen of men or to look good because you’re
supporting the latest fad. But, to help those people Jesus speaks of in
Mathew 25. It’s easy to love children in need. But, our love is supposed
to be big enough to love the prisoner. To love the enemy.
This love can only come by the Holy Spirit. Course, if your church
doesn’t really believe in the Holy Spirit, that could be a problem.
All saints are gifted for service. Our service comes by the Holy
Spirit working through us and developing the fruit in us. Is that
happening in you or in your church? Does all your church love terminate
on a few “obedient” people?
Do you have little cliques in your church? Groups of people who
control everything and no one else can get inside or be a real part of?
Are you a respecter of persons? Like James spoke about; embracing the
rich while destroying and ignoring the poor or lower class? (James
2:1-9)
Is that love?
Real love is shown in Christ, when he died for those who hate Him, and forgave them.
Love is explained in First Corinthians chapter 13.
Love is shown throughout the Word.
Love is shown in how God has loved you.
Love is shown by doing unto others what you would have them do to you. (Luke 6:31)
We are to overcome evil with good. (Rom. 12:21)
Loving others, is good and is a form of spiritual warfare. When we
see evil such as poverty, or oppression or disease, we respond with
love. We don’t victim blame. or make unrighteous judgements. We help.
When evil is done to us we turn it around for good, by faith and love
with the Holy Spirit.
We are saved by Grace,through faith. Not by works. (Eph 2:8-10)
We are not saved by Love. We are saved by God’s love and grace, but
not our own. However, our love for the saints and others is a reflection
of what God has done for us. It is a reflection of Jesus. It is the
Holy Spirit working in and through us.
We win the fight of faith through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit in
us. Our love is through Him. All our failures work to lead us and grow
us in Him if we turn to Him. These failures and hurts teach us to love,
and have faith in Him. (Rom 8:28)
We succeed in Him.
Bio: Chris Bunton is a writer, poet and blogger from
Southern Illinois. He has published in several magazines, and has
written a poetry eBook called “Against the Man” and an Addiction Recovery eBook called “Made Free: Overcoming Addiction“ a collection of dystopian short stories.“The Future is Coming” and his latest book “The Latter Days‘ is a book on Bible Prophecy and avoiding the deceptions to come.
