Hi there,
So as if you needed to know, when you already believe we are called to be in the world but not of the world: the Devil doesn't want you here!
The whole problem of original sin, is that we have come into conflict with Creation, when we should have been serving it, under the Mighty Hand of God. But it is not too late! If we leave the Devil, to his territory and do not keep him from being fed, he can come to rest. His desire for the world, is not based on some grand scheme to bring God down, but for self-preservation! The Devil that can rest, can acquit those whom he otherwise would have devoured, to ensure an increase in his Earth-bound dominion. The Devil measures his success, by the ease and light with which he is able to kill. But now we have him cornered: Jesus does not want to remove the dominion of the Devil from the Earth, He wants the Devil to submit to God, within that dominion.
Can the Devil truly submit, if he is shown how? Yes! What we must be mindful of, is that the root of the problem remains "sin", there is his (the Devil's) and ours (in the Devil, but not of the Devil). If we confess for ourselves and take our place in the Earth, then being of Peace, we can also show the way for the Devil to limit the conflation of sin, with iniquity. The Devil can be steered! The Devil can lean toward sin spreading or sin remaining limited. This is the power of the Holy Spirit, that our own territory on the Earth, might remain a foundation to our praise to God. God is looking for those who will worship Him in Spirit and in Truth! That is where the struggle begins.
The world is prepared to struggle, to take our territory from us, under the direction of the anti-Christ. This is a whole new level of persecution. But we are able to conquer, because we remember that the Devil's power has been broken. The fear we once felt, as men roamed the Savanna, that they would be devoured, now means nothing and has become a "joke". But the "joke" remains a problem, because men, especially like the anti-Christ, want to use this new freedom in the Spirit to oppress others. He (the anti-Christ) will diminish our territory spiritually at first, but then more, if we let him take ground (like Putin is doing with Ukraine, but much more subtly). The anti-Christ does not know what his objective is, but he knows what is foreign to the people and one of those things (one) is the Devil, so it will be that the Devil's stock in the anti-Christ for more prey will be denied. The difficulty is that that denial can extend to us, being in principle those who dwell in Heaven.
Now the anti-Christ will blaspheme those who are in Heaven, because he confuses them standing off at a distance, with a welcome of the Devil, to being to prey on man again - though he has no basis for making this connection, he simply fears as all men fear that what God has given, God can take away. The Church is able to stand firm in this, because it has known the Devil as defeated. This is the making of a defeated kingdom, since we will need to know, who actually has seen the Devil and where was he going? We have these things in spirit, now, but the time is coming, when this awareness will be throughout the World - the World will want to know who has seen the Devil and where was he going? This is the awakening of the spirit of Man, to stewardship under the Lord's rule (being rule under the fear of God, on Earth). We ought to pray that the Holy Spirit quicken these things, that the fullest fruition of them be reached.
In any case, we are saved and we have God to thank - so let us praise Him!
God bless.
So as if you needed to know, when you already believe we are called to be in the world but not of the world: the Devil doesn't want you here!
The whole problem of original sin, is that we have come into conflict with Creation, when we should have been serving it, under the Mighty Hand of God. But it is not too late! If we leave the Devil, to his territory and do not keep him from being fed, he can come to rest. His desire for the world, is not based on some grand scheme to bring God down, but for self-preservation! The Devil that can rest, can acquit those whom he otherwise would have devoured, to ensure an increase in his Earth-bound dominion. The Devil measures his success, by the ease and light with which he is able to kill. But now we have him cornered: Jesus does not want to remove the dominion of the Devil from the Earth, He wants the Devil to submit to God, within that dominion.
Can the Devil truly submit, if he is shown how? Yes! What we must be mindful of, is that the root of the problem remains "sin", there is his (the Devil's) and ours (in the Devil, but not of the Devil). If we confess for ourselves and take our place in the Earth, then being of Peace, we can also show the way for the Devil to limit the conflation of sin, with iniquity. The Devil can be steered! The Devil can lean toward sin spreading or sin remaining limited. This is the power of the Holy Spirit, that our own territory on the Earth, might remain a foundation to our praise to God. God is looking for those who will worship Him in Spirit and in Truth! That is where the struggle begins.
The world is prepared to struggle, to take our territory from us, under the direction of the anti-Christ. This is a whole new level of persecution. But we are able to conquer, because we remember that the Devil's power has been broken. The fear we once felt, as men roamed the Savanna, that they would be devoured, now means nothing and has become a "joke". But the "joke" remains a problem, because men, especially like the anti-Christ, want to use this new freedom in the Spirit to oppress others. He (the anti-Christ) will diminish our territory spiritually at first, but then more, if we let him take ground (like Putin is doing with Ukraine, but much more subtly). The anti-Christ does not know what his objective is, but he knows what is foreign to the people and one of those things (one) is the Devil, so it will be that the Devil's stock in the anti-Christ for more prey will be denied. The difficulty is that that denial can extend to us, being in principle those who dwell in Heaven.
Now the anti-Christ will blaspheme those who are in Heaven, because he confuses them standing off at a distance, with a welcome of the Devil, to being to prey on man again - though he has no basis for making this connection, he simply fears as all men fear that what God has given, God can take away. The Church is able to stand firm in this, because it has known the Devil as defeated. This is the making of a defeated kingdom, since we will need to know, who actually has seen the Devil and where was he going? We have these things in spirit, now, but the time is coming, when this awareness will be throughout the World - the World will want to know who has seen the Devil and where was he going? This is the awakening of the spirit of Man, to stewardship under the Lord's rule (being rule under the fear of God, on Earth). We ought to pray that the Holy Spirit quicken these things, that the fullest fruition of them be reached.
In any case, we are saved and we have God to thank - so let us praise Him!
God bless.
