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Yearly Archives: 2015
PA-RUM-PUM-PUM-PUMMM
God has given each one of us a special talent. Some have more than one talent, but everyone has at least one.
We are to use that talent to the best of our ability and grow it day by day.
Jesus told a parable about burying talents. The talents in the parable were coins rather than God-given abilities, but the message is the same: We are to use our talent, not bury it. At our judgment, we’ll have to give an account to God of what we did with it. He’ll expect us to have grown our talent, just as in the parable the man was expected to have invested it and gained interest. He did not do that, and we all know what happened to him when he tried to give his talent back to God.
It wasn’t pretty.
*****
I heard the song “The Little Drummer Boy” today. It tells the simple tale of a little boy paying homage to Jesus at the stable in Bethlehem. Unlike the others who arrive with expensive gifts, the boy has no gift to give Jesus and no money to buy one. Then he realizes that he does have something to give Jesus after all – his talent. He’s good at drumming, so that’s what he gives to Jesus.
He asks Jesus’ Mom if he can play his drum, and
Mary nodded.
The ox and lamb kept time.
I played my drum for him.
I played my best for him.
Then he smiled at me, me and my drum.
God and Jesus don’t want us to give them expensive or elaborate gifts. They have no use for temples or cathedrals. They don’t need Frankincense or Myrrh. All they ask is that we use our talent for good.
That’s it. It’s very simple. Even a child can understand it.
*****
We can fill our days like Martha, letting the stress and drudgery of made-up priorities overshadow our talent so that we forget what we’re here for, or we can sit like Mary at Jesus’ feet, learning about the Kingdom and sharing that knowledge with others through the talent God has given us.
We all know which choice is better; we all know which choice will make Jesus smile and gain us even more talents come Judgment Day.
Invest wisely, my friend.
Merry Christmas!
SPIRITUAL RAPE
When tempting Eve, Satan seduced her by telling her exactly what she wanted to hear.
He flattered her; he claimed to be on her side, fighting for her rights.
He promised that everything would get better and better if she would only believe what he was telling her and do everything he told her to do.
He spoke her pain aloud in words that resonated with her, and then offered her a quick fix.
Deceit is mental rape. Deceit pins you down and tries to force you to accept lies. Just like rape is a show of power rather than desire, deceit aims to fool you first, and then to rule over you.
Don’t be spiritually raped.
Jesus warned us that many would come in his name and that there would be many false prophets. Some of these would even claim to be the Messiah. He said he was warning us in advance so that when these spiritual rapists appeared, we would not only know not to fall for their cunning lies, but we would remember that we’d been warned.
Note that Jesus didn’t say: “It’ll be super-awesome, guys! Towards the end, more and more and more people will believe in God. All around the world, people of all faiths will join hands. We’ll all become one. It will be a golden age of peace!”
No, he didn’t say that. He warned us that false prophets would usher in a false peace and that their deceptive signs and wonders (performed through the supernatural power of demons) might fool even genuine born-agains. He also told us that when he does come back, he’s staying just long enough to gather the few remaining true believers and then get the heck back to Heaven.
He’s not staying here to set up a “millennial kingdom” because the millennial kingdom is already here.
******
Everything I know about God and Jesus I learned directly from God, Jesus, and the Bible. So imagine my confusion when I started to hear about the “pre-tribulation rapture” and the “post-tribulation millennial kingdom”, mostly from online forums. I knew these doctrines – now widespread and accepted by mainstream Christianity – were not in the Bible. If they were not in the Bible, they weren’t from God.
Jesus’ kingdom is here and now. “Jesus is Lord” here and now. Jesus’ thousand-year rule (in God-time) is happening here and now. When Jesus comes back at the very end of time, he’s not even touching down on Earth. He’ll be “in the clouds”, and he’ll send his angels to gather the few remaining believers just before the final cataclysm destroys Earth.
Jesus has done his run here. He has no intention of coming back as a human, not even as “king” of a global government. People who believe otherwise do not know God, Jesus, or scripture. People who believe that Jesus is coming back to set up an earthly kingdom are demonically inspired to believe so. Pray for them, but don’t be deceived.
If it’s not in the Bible and if it’s not supported by biblical reference and cross-reference, then it’s likely not true. If in doubt, ask God and Jesus yourself. As born-agains, you have that option.
Don’t be deceived. The deceived are on the broad path that leads to a false global peace and ultimate destruction. The deceived are being spiritually raped.
Don’t walk with the deceived, even if it means you walk alone.
IT’S TIME
When God says it’s time, it’s time.
Jesus told the parable about the guy who gave a party and invited all the movers and shakers.
But one by one, each of them sent back his RSVP with an excuse: Sorry, I just got married, so I don’t have time. Sorry, I’m busy with work, so I don’t have time. Sorry, I’m building a house, so I don’t have time.
But when God says it’s time, it’s time.
You drop everything and go.
You don’t delay even long enough to bury your own father (“Let the dead bury the dead.”)
You just get up and GO, like Matthew did.
When God calls you to the party, it means your time is coming. Your days are numbered. Your time is short. However you want to phrase it – when God calls, you don’t have much time left on Earth. God’s call is a reminder of that. It’s like you’ve been outside playing with your friends all day, not paying much attention to the darkness falling all around you, but now it’s almost night, and from a distance, muffled by your friends’ laughter and shouting, you hear your mother calling you from the back door.
There’s a tinge of urgency in her voice. There’s also authority.
She’s calling you home, and you need to get there before dark.
When, one after the other, the movers and shakers used every excuse in the book as to why they wouldn’t go to the party, the host told his servants to go out and invite everyone they could find. He had empty places to fill, and fill them he would.
When the Jews collectively turned their back on Jesus, God called us gentiles to the party instead.
If you’re reading this blog, you’ve likely been called.
Night is falling. Your time is short.
Will you RSVP yes or no?
You only get one invitation.
Your mother is calling from the back door.
Night is falling.
You need to get home before dark, or you’ll be punished.
When God says it’s time, it’s time.
A BORN-AGAIN BELIEVER’S DAILY TO-DO LIST
- Get up early.
- Choose to forgive everyone for everything.
- Spend time with God and Jesus.
- Do something that will help someone get closer to God.
- Eat a healthy breakfast.
- Clean up yourself and your living environment.
- Choose to forgive everyone for everything.
- Spend time with God and Jesus.
- Do something that will help someone get closer to God.
- Eat a healthy lunch.
- Earn your daily bread.
- Buy what you need.
- Choose to forgive everyone for everything.
- Spend time with God and Jesus.
- Do something to help someone get closer to God.
- Eat a healthy dinner.
- Choose to forgive everyone for everything.
- Spend time with God and Jesus.
- Do something to help someone get closer to God.
- Choose to forgive everyone for everything.
- Choose to forgive everyone for everything.
- Pray for your enemies and your loved ones.
- Choose to forgive everyone for everything.
- Spend time with God and Jesus.
- Go to sleep.
HOW TO GET HOME
As a born-again, the purpose of your time here on Earth is to do whatever it takes to make it home to Heaven. The way to get there is The Way that Jesus showed us. Here’s a summary of the four most important points that you need to take to heart AND DO if you want to make it home.
First and foremost, you must put God first and foremost. Jesus said that this was the most important commandment. If your earthly family and friends and their needs and wants are more important to you than God, then you won’t make it home. Remember Jesus saying to the guy who wanted to attend his father’s funeral “Let the dead bury the dead; come follow me”? Remember Jesus clearly defining “family” as those who do the will of God? He said: “Who is my mother? Who is my brother? Those who do the will of my Father in Heaven are my mother, my sister, and my brother.” It might come across as harsh, but Jesus meant it to sound so. He meant to shake people up and remind them what their priority should be.
You are either aligned with the world or you’re aligned with God. You can’t be both.
The world is very good at tempting us to forget about our purpose. It sidetracks us, demonizes us, perverts scripture, and even tries to redefine what it means to be a born-again Christian. God permits all this because it is part of our test: He wants to know if we truly want what we say we want. It’s all well and good to claim that you want to follow Jesus and live a “Christian life” (whatever that means), but when things get tough, do you get tougher or do you just wimp out? Scripture says that most will ‘fall away’ from God. You don’t get a third chance if you fall away this time around. Being born-again is already your second and last chance. God didn’t have to give us a second chance, but he did so out of love for us. We all screwed up the first time and fell for the lies of Satan. We rebelled against God. Don’t do it again. Always put God first, even if it means you must suffer and die for it.
Secondly, you must go out in the world and preach the Good News. You must. That’s not just a suggestion; that’s an order from Jesus, who was handing it on from God. How you choose to do the preaching is between you and God, but my advice is DON’T DO IT FOR MONEY. Freely you have received from God, freely you give. The so-called churches that have appropriated the gospel for their own purposes ALL preach for money. They water down and twist God’s Word so as not to alienate any potential customers, but they do this to their own detriment. Don’t be like them. Jesus never preached or taught for money. Be like Jesus.
Thirdly, you must endure to the end. Being born-again is not a first-class ticket to Heaven. It’s a means to getting that ticket, but it’s not a ticket in itself. The Jews thought that being children of Abraham meant they had a guaranteed ticket to Heaven, and Jesus told them they were wrong. Christians or born-agains who think their state of grace is all it takes to get to Heaven are just as wrong at the Jews who thought their Jewishness was enough. Jesus very, very clear in this regard: THOSE WHO ENDURE TO THE END WILL BE SAVED. Just because you’re in a state of grace now doesn’t mean that you’ll die in a state of grace, and those who do not die in a state of grace will not make it to Heaven.
Jesus is very, very clear about that, too, when he says that we MUST be born-again to get to Heaven. Being born-again means being in a state of grace. Grace can be lost, not by a decision of God but as an outcome of our own choices. If you consciously and persistently choose against God’s will, you will lose your grace. If you do something that might appear to be “good” in your own eyes but God says not to do it and you go ahead and do it anyway – that’s sin. God’s spirit cannot dwell in the same soul as sin. Paul spoke about it, as did Jesus. If you lose grace, there is no way to get it back. Jesus said that losing grace is even worse than not having it in the first place – the house that was swept clean is later inhabited by more and worse demons than it was the first time around. Jesus said it would have been better for that person never to have been born.
Fourth and final – you must shake people up. Jesus did it, and so must we. He said he wasn’t come to bring peace to the world but a sword that will divide families and make enemies of unbelievers. The chief characteristic of those who are unbelievers is that they are asleep. We need to wake them up. It’s better for them to hate us and maybe someday turn and embrace God, than for them to keep sleeping and never turn. If they hate us, there’s hope for them. I used to hate born-agains, and look at me now!
God put his laws into everyone’s hearts. That means every soul here on Earth today has God’s laws engraved on their souls. They all crave what we crave – to do God’s will and to go home to Heaven – but their craving is stifled by their self-inflicted pain of sin. We’re not going to shake them out of their sleepy stupor or shock them out of their self-absorbed pity by tip-toeing around and trying not to offend anyone. Remember Jesus’ conversation with the Samarian woman at the well? He didn’t hide his Jewishness or the fact that he was the Messiah, even though Samarians and Jews were not supposed to socialize in those days. If everyone who knows us doesn’t know that we’re born-again followers of Jesus, we’re doing something terribly wrong. We’re God’s representatives here on Earth, just as Jesus was. Jesus didn’t tip-toe around, not for anyone’s sake, and neither should we.
So go ahead – get spat on, be called a bigot and crazy and narrow-minded, be an outcast from your family and friends, lose your job, get driven from your hometown, and get arrested for preaching God’s Word. If you suffer all this solely for being a born-again follower of Jesus, then congratulations, my friend! You are well and truly on The Way home.
GOD MEANS BUSINESS
God means business.
The “everyone gets a gold star” mentality has no place in God’s kingdom on Earth. Not everyone is going to make it to Heaven. In fact, most people, as a result of their own free-will choices, will end up in Hell.
This is the hard-core reality that should govern everything we do every day.
Jesus spent a lot of time haranguing his disciples for their lack of faith. He nagged them and goaded them solely to remind them that God means business. It’s not enough to be Jewish. It’s not enough to be born-again. It’s not enough just to “believe” or to do “good works”.
You must have faith, and you must also demonstrate that you have faith. You do this by submitting 100% to God in everything you do. Not just a little bit, not just in some things, and not just on Sundays, but in everything, every day, all day.
Faith is trusting only in God and doing God’s will even if it is contrary to the way of the world. Faith is submitting to God for no other reason than it is the right thing to do in God’s eyes. Faith is not only knowing that God knows best, but showing that God knows best. You do this by making God-inspired choices every day, all day. Faith is lived, not just spoken about.
We all have an expiry date on our bodies. Our souls will go on, but our bodies will die. The expiry date of our body is our own personal End Of The World. This could happen at any time, even today. Where we are at that time in our relationship with God (in other words, the extent of our faith) determines where we’ll spend eternity.
God means business. He loves us all the same and he wants us all to come home, but if we aren’t submitting to him 100% in everything we do for whatever time we have left on Earth, we can’t go home. There’s no place in Heaven for rebellion against any aspect of God. It’s God’s way or no way.
Jesus showed us what full submission to God looks like. He lived The Way and taught The Way, and our job, before our expiry date arrives, is to live it and teach it just as Jesus did.
God means business. I cannot stress enough how real and how permanent Heaven and Hell are. Heaven is the best we’ve experienced and can imagine; Hell is the worst we’ve experienced and feared. We can choose our way to Heaven, or we can choose our way to Hell.
This is the hard-core truth: Most of us will end up in Hell.
Jesus said that the path home is narrow, and those who find it are few.
Not everyone gets a gold star.
God means business.
Just a reminder.
ARF! ARF!
All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.
I remember feeling sucker-punched the first few times I read that scripture.
All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.
All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.
Let’s make it personal:
All my righteousnesses are as filthy rags. All YOUR righteousnesses are as filthy rags.
All your self-motivated accomplishments are as filthy rags.
All your self-motivated kindnesses are as filthy rags.
All your self-motivated sacrifices are as filthy rags.
All your works of the world are as filthy rags.
Jesus hammers this truth home when he states that none is good but God. Any good that we do is only because God is working through us. It’s God doing the good, not us. Any attempt we make to do good on our own, without God working through us, is like firing spiritual blanks. What Jesus is saying is that without God working through us, we are incapable of doing anything genuinely good or genuinely of any value, if what we do is self-motivated. Most people would balk at this (like being sucker-punched), but Jesus is absolutely bang-on. None is good but God, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.
We born-agains are blessed to have God working through us all the time, if we choose for him to do that. He’s with us now, through his spirit, so there’s no excuse for not having him work through our fumbling fingers and tied tongues. We just have to remember to ask him. God won’t take the reins unless invited to do so, so invite him. Invite his input everywhere and always. Never do anything without his inspiration, and if he cautions against doing or saying something, heed him.
Heed him like a puppy in training. Sit. Heel. Roll over. Love your enemies. Choose to forgive. The more obedient you are to God’s directives, the faster your spiritual tail will be a-wagging. Hands down, the happiest creatures on any city sidewalk anywhere in the world are puppies out for a walk with their masters. Be God’s little puppy; be God’s good little happy puppy that heeds God alone.
All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.
None is good but God.
ARF! ARF!
HEAVEN OR HELL
Our goal is to make it to Heaven, and our way to get there is to become as much like Jesus as possible. Jesus was fully human but also fully filled with God’s spirit. Jesus was not God, but God worked powerfully through him. This was possible because Jesus freely and willingly gave his free will over to God in everything he did. Everything. Not just some things – everything. That’s what we need to do to be like Jesus, and that’s what we must do to make it to Heaven.
In contrast, the “man of perdition” that Paul mentioned, who is the same one that Daniel described and that John wrote about in Revelation, will do the opposite of what Jesus did. That’s because instead of being filled with God’s spirit, he’ll be filled with Satan’s. In other words, a human will provide the body for the disembodied “Father of Lies” himself.
I was an atheist for the first 36 years of my life. During that time, various demon spirits moved in and out of me, most of them evil. I didn’t consciously invite them in; they just showed up as a consequence of my misguided thoughts and actions. I drew them to me, but unconsciously. Now, as a born-again follower of Jesus, evil spirits are still around me, but there’s no longer any room for them in me because God’s spirit has taken up residence. No human can have both God’s spirit and evil spirits at the same time. It’s either one or the other.
As Paul pointed out, everyone who doesn’t acknowledge that Jesus is Lord is antichrist (literally, “opposed to Jesus the Christ”), which means that most of the world’s population is antichrist. The man of perdition is also antichrist, but he’s not just your regular run-of-the-mill antichrist. He’s so antichrist that he’s considered The Antichrist. This is a man who has consciously chosen to host Satan’s spirit and to consciously work in opposition to Jesus (and therefore to God), so we’re talking one messed-up dude here. You don’t become The Antichrist by mistake: you become The Antichrist on purpose.
I mention this because the spiritual landscape is swiftly changing. The people of the world are being repositioned and softened up to accept a “global” leader who will be the man of perdition. God warned us about him through Jesus, Paul, Daniel, John and others, so he’s definitely coming. As born-agains, we’ll know him when we see him, and our job at that time will be to warn others about him, and to keep showing people the only way home to God.
Here’s what we should expect of The Antichrist. He’ll be very rich and well-positioned politically and religiously. He’ll perform “miracles” and will know everything about everyone. He’ll also be extremely handsome and charismatic; most of the world will be spell-bound by him and will without hesitation die or kill for him. His hold over people will be supernatural and powerful, and no-one will be able to escape his lure unless they’re born-again. Yet, sadly, even some born-agains will fall for him.
I’ve been under the thrall of demons, so I know how powerful their hold can be. I would still be under their control were it not for God rescuing me, but only after I cried out to him. God has given us all free will and he’ll never ask for it back. He respects our right to choose and won’t force his will on us, even if it means we choose our way to Hell. But the instant we break and cry out for help, God is there.
In contrast to what the world considers to be freedom (i.e., doing whatever you want to, whenever you want to do it), true freedom is putting your free will 100% into God’s hands and asking for his help and guidance in everything you do. As born-agains, we know this is true, because we live that reality every day. We know what it is to live without God’s help, and we know what it is to live with it, and there’s no comparison between the two. I’d rather live just one more day with my will completely in God’s hands than to live forever without his help.
The Antichrist has chosen the latter path, and that’s a horrible place to be. Even the pleasures of near-absolute power will in no way make up for what happens after that cold heart stops beating, and stop beating it will. Scripture tells us that The Antichrist’s days are numbered, and that Hell is his final reward.
Hell is the final reward of all antichrists.
We need to be reminded of that every so often.
__________
Heaven is our goal. Following Jesus as a born-again is the only way to get there. The Antichrist will try to persuade us otherwise, either through temptation or brute force. He knows all of our weaknesses, and he’ll try to exploit them. He’ll try to convince us that God’s Way is not only narrow but narrow-minded. He’ll brand us bigots. He’ll outlaw God’s Word. He’ll torture and kill those who won’t comply with his dictates. He’ll even torture and kill our family and friends. He’ll promote alternative belief systems that have elements of God’s Way but ultimately are antichrist.
Don’t fall for his lies. Don’t be deceived. Don’t be afraid.
Stay your course and endure to the end, no matter what that entails.
Jesus is Lord and God is our Father. We don’t bow down to anyone else.
Remember that when your time comes.
BEING BORN-AGAIN
Being born-again can be a lonely road. Spiritually we’ve got lots of company (God and Jesus are always with us through God’s spirit, just as Jesus promised), but fellow human believers are few and far between. It can be discouraging at times to feel so alienated from the general population.
How do you resolve this dilemma? Or can it be resolved?
The good news is yes, it can be resolved, and the best way to start is to be who you are. In other words – just be yourself. If you’re born-again, be born-again. Let people know you’re born-again. They should know anyway, but if they don’t, don’t try to “hide” it to keep the conversation polite. You know what I’m talking about. Jesus said that our worst enemies will be those under our own roofs, and he wasn’t kidding about that.
He might also have mentioned that one of those enemies under our own roofs is – surprise, surprise – us. We can definitely be our own worst enemy if we choose to hide our true spiritual identity. It comes back to bite us hard, and may even cost us our grace. DON’T BE YOUR OWN WORST ENEMY. Don’t lose your grace. Stand tall in God.
The next step, after we out ourselves, is to be clear about what we believe. Millions of people call themselves “Christians”, but what they actually believe has nothing to do with what Jesus taught us. As born-agains, we must necessarily believe what Jesus taught. Believing it implies living it as well as preaching it. Jesus is our example, and our task is to mirror his example in our lives. So – don’t drink yourself into the gutter. Don’t watch porn on the internet. Don’t have pre-marital sex, and don’t marry someone who is divorced (if the divorced spouse is still alive). Jesus wasn’t preaching just to hear himself speak. He was showing us which choices to make that would lead to the best outcome for all concerned. That’s what God’s laws are all about.
Bad choices have bad built-in consequences, and good choices have good built-in consequences.
Along with living your rebirth openly and being clear about what you believe, you should also not shy away from correcting false teachings. Jesus didn’t preach to non-believers, and nor did he yell at them for being non-believers. He just let them be.
In contrast, he spent a good deal of time yelling at people who said they were believers but showed by their words and actions that they were not. These were the hypocrites, and he didn’t hold back in telling them what he thought of them, or what was waiting for them if they continued in their hypocrisy.
Keep in mind that Jesus made a clear distinction between those who purposely skewed scripture and misled people (either from pride or a hidden agenda) and those who just got it wrong and/or messed up. He didn’t yell at the woman who was caught in adultery; he gave her a second chance. We all make mistakes and have moments of weakness, and sometimes those can be real doozies. Mistakes don’t condemn us; consciously and consistently choosing what we know is wrong – THAT condemns us. We all know the difference between those who sincerely love God but occasionally mess up, and those who are just pretending to love God in order to get a paycheck or fit in with the Sunday morning crowd. If we don’t know the difference, we need to learn it real fast because that latter group – the professional preachers and Sunday-morning Christians – is the main reason driving many would-be believers away from finding God.
Living fully as a born-again follower of Jesus means to be fully open about who you are and what you believe. That doesn’t mean you should preach to everyone, but anyone who knows you should also know that you’re a born-again follower of Jesus. Jesus only preached to those who wanted to hear, but everyone who knew him or knew about him during his ministry years knew that he was a strong believer. You shouldn’t be mistaken for a Muslim or a Buddhist or an atheist. If people don’t like what you have to say or don’t want to be around you because you’re a believer, let them be. Pray for them. But let them be.
Which brings us back to the original dilemma and its resolution – how do born-agains find fellow born-agains when they are so few and far between?
The answer is: God will bring them to you. When you live your beliefs openly and fully, God will bring like-minded believers into your life (as well as believers who need to learn a few things from you, and believers who have something to teach you or remind you about). Jesus said: “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” He was including human companionship in “all these things”. We don’t need to go out and look for fellow believers; if we’re living our lives as we should be living them, we’ll just happen upon each other.
God will make it happen.
HEAVEN SIXTEEN
Acts of terror, regardless of who perpetrates them, all have the same final outcome: the reduction of freedom. This means less freedom of movement, less freedom of association, less freedom of speech, less freedom of the press, and so on. The initial gut-level response to terror is almost always fear and the desire for revenge, but the long-term fall-out is always – ALWAYS – less freedom. Think of how the Patriot Act has stripped Americans and their allies of freedom since 9/11. From this, we can assume that all acts of terror have as their ultimate aim the reduction and curtailment of freedom.
Likewise, from this, we can assume that whoever is ultimately behind all acts of terror is someone who wants to take away our freedom and thereby control us.
God gave every one of us free will and has never asked for it back. Paul said that all things are possible, but not all things are good. That’s why God engraved his laws on our hearts and set the Ten Commandments in stone, so that we would always be able to discern the good within the possible, regardless of how beguiling the temptation was to do bad. But God still permits us to do bad, if that’s what we choose to do. He does not intervene in our freedom either to do good or to do bad, but he does try his hardest to persuade us to choose the good.
That is free will.
Given this reality, it must therefore be someone who is opposed to God who is behind terrorist acts. Anyone who wants to forcefully remove or curtail the freedom of others is not mirroring God’s way and is not acting as God’s ally. In other words, they do not respect our God-given free will. We know, from Jesus, that the world is under Satan. So whoever is working behind the scenes to perpetrate terrorist acts with the ultimate aim of controlling the population is working for Satan, as are all those who willingly agree to have their freedoms curtailed in direct response to terrorism.
The New Testament mentions “the synagogue of Satan” a few times. This is in reference to “Jews who call themselves Jews but are in fact not”. Muslims call the United States “the great Satan”. These references to Satan point to power strongholds in the world at any given time. The truth is that all people, regardless of where they live or what religion they espouse, are under Satan unless they are born-again followers of Jesus. Born-agains are in God’s kingdom on Earth and have pledged their allegiance to God. Those who have not done so are defacto worshippers of Satan and thus automatically fall under Satan’s jurisdiction.
So what does this mean for acts of terrorism like the one unleashed on Paris on Friday the thirteenth of November, 2015? It means that Satan is behind these acts, regardless of who gets the finger pointed at them. It means more freedom will be forcefully removed and also willingly forfeited. It means that the world on Saturday the fourteenth of November, 2015, is less free than it was the day before. It also means Satan’s control of the world is expanding.
Satan goes by many names and wears many hats. His favourite disguise is The Invisible Man because he fancies himself to be like God. He and his minions slip in and out of people’s minds, beguiling them to act in ways that they know in their heart is wrong. Sadly, most people give into them.
The only way to win people back from Satan is to do as Jesus told us to do: love our enemies. We need to pray for the human perpetrators of terrorism as much as we pray for those who suffer from their acts. We need to pray, not curse them. If we find them, we need to imprison them, not torture or kill them. We need to give them time to repent of their acts, in the same way as God gives us time. We do not repay an eye for an eye, but nor do we just let them get away with their crime. Jesus says not to overcome evil with evil but to overcome evil with good. He also says that praying for our enemies is like pouring hot coals on their heads. So pour away, my friends. Pour away!
It may be, from all the prayers pouring out of us, that even one evil-doer may some day turn, just as I did and just as you did.
This is how we win people back from Satan and in so doing make the world safer and freer.
A BORN-AGAIN BELIEVER 