Pressed for time? Read this first!
Your diligence in pursuit of the Lord should
be like that of a father who can not take his eyes off his newly born
child. That is true, unconditional love. If you expect to spend eternity
with God, and I pray that you do, how can you reasonably not seek Him,
right now?
A
loving Father is saying to His children, get your priorities straight.
Time is running out. Prophecy is being fulfilled before your very eyes.
Prepare yourself to enter into My presence and in the interval, serve
Me, worship Me, and obey Me. Keep the commandments, not out of fear,
which, given the consequences of judgment would be a reasonable thing
to do, but keep the commandments out of love and obey in His strength,
not yours.
Choose
this day, this moment, who you will serve. Listen.
Deuteronomy
4:39-40
39
"Therefore know this day, and consider it in your heart, that the LORD
Himself is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no
other.
40
"You shall therefore keep His statutes and His commandments which I
command you today, that it may go well with you and with your children
after you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which the
LORD your God is giving you for all time." (NKJ)
God
is calling Israel, the nation, and you the Jew, "this day"!
Deuteronomy
26:15-19
15
'Look down from Your holy habitation, from heaven, and bless Your people
Israel and the land which You have given us, just as You swore to our
fathers, "a land flowing with milk and honey."'
16
"This day the LORD your God commands you to observe these statutes
and judgments; therefore you shall be careful to observe them with all
your heart and with all your soul.
17
"Today you have proclaimed the LORD to be your God, and that you will
walk in His ways and keep His statutes, His commandments, and His judgments,
and that you will obey His voice.
18
"Also today the LORD has proclaimed you to be His special people, just
as He has promised you, that you should keep all His commandments,
19
"and that He will set you high above all nations which He has made,
in praise, in name, and in honor, and that you may be a holy people
to the LORD your God, just as He has spoken." (NKJ)
I
have quoted some of these next verses before in this presentation, but
I suggest you read them, again and again, until the truth sinks in.
Pray for discernment.
Deuteronomy
30:1-20
1
"Now it shall come to pass, when all these things come upon you, the
blessing and the curse which I have set before you, and you call them
to mind among all the nations where the LORD your God drives you,
2
"and you return to the LORD your God and obey His voice, according to
all that I command you today, you and your children, with all your heart
and with all your soul,
3
"that the LORD your God will bring you back from captivity, and have
compassion on you, and gather you again from all the nations where the
LORD your God has scattered you.
4
"If any of you are driven out to the farthest parts under heaven, from
there the LORD your God will gather you, and from there He will bring
you.
5
"Then the LORD your God will bring you to the land which your fathers
possessed, and you shall possess it. He will prosper you and multiply
you more than your fathers.
6
"And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your
descendants, to love the LORD your God with all your heart and with
all your soul, that you may live.
7
"Also the LORD your God will put all these curses on your enemies and
on those who hate you, who persecuted you.
8
"And you will again obey the voice of the LORD and do all His commandments
which I command you today.
9
"The LORD your God will make you abound in all the work of your hand,
in the fruit of your body, in the increase of your livestock, and in
the produce of your land for good. For the LORD will again rejoice over
you for good as He rejoiced over your fathers,
10
"if you obey the voice of the LORD your God, to keep His commandments
and His statutes which are written in this Book of the Law, and if you
turn to the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
11
"For this commandment which I command you today, it is not too mysterious
for you, nor is it far off.
12
"It is not in heaven, that you should say, 'Who will ascend into heaven
for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?'
13
"Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, 'Who will go over the
sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?'
14
"But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart,
that you may do it.
15
"See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil,
16
"in that I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in His
ways, and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments,
that you may live and multiply; and the LORD your God will bless you
in the land which you go to possess.
17
"But if your heart turns away so that you do not hear, and are drawn
away, and worship other gods and serve them,
18
"I announce to you today that you shall surely perish; you shall not
prolong your days in the land which you cross over the Jordan to go
in and possess.
19
"I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have
set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose
life, that both you and your descendants may live;
20
"that you may love the LORD your God, that you may obey His voice, and
that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your
days; and that you may dwell in the land which the LORD swore to your
fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them." (NKJ)
Repent
is a theme throughout the Bible. Why? I believe that repentance is the
whole issue. You can not serve the Lord and serve Satan, simultaneously. To repent is to decide that the war for your spirit is over.
It is, interestingly, given God’s power, your decision. You could
be compelled to obey but as any father knows, that sort of obedience
makes your son as a puppet, not a man. God teaches us over and over
that we must "choose."
Jeremiah
25:5-6
5
"They said, 'Repent now everyone of his evil way and his evil doings,
and dwell in the land that the LORD has given to you and your fathers
forever and ever.
6
'Do not go after other gods to serve them and worship them, and do not
provoke Me to anger with the works of your hands; and I will not harm
you.' (NKJ)
Ezekiel
14:6-8
6
"Therefore say to the house of Israel, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "Repent,
turn away from your idols, and turn your faces away from all your abominations.
7
"For anyone of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who dwell in
Israel, who separates himself from Me and sets up his idols in his heart
and puts before him what causes him to stumble into iniquity, then comes
to a prophet to inquire of him concerning Me, I the LORD will answer
him by Myself.
8
"I will set My face against that man and make him a sign and a proverb,
and I will cut him off from the midst of My people. Then you shall know
that I am the LORD. (NKJ)
Repent
literally means to "turn," to turn from what you are, in this case,
to what you could be. Ezekiel says above that anyone who "sets up his
idols in his heart and puts before him what causes him to stumble into
iniquity," and then seeks the advice of a prophet concerning
the Lord, you will receive an answer from God Himself.
Do
you have any "idols in your heart?" What is an idol except anything
that you revere more than you revere God? If you could "chronicle every
thought and action for one day," in what proportion of that
day would God be present? Said differently, if God was "auditing
your every thought and action," what would the Auditor have seen
this day? Read the following Psalm carefully. This is how well God knows
you!
Psalms
139:1-18
1
O LORD, You have searched me and known me.
2
You know my sitting down and my rising up; you understand my thought
afar off.
3
You comprehend my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all
my ways.
4
For there is not a word on my tongue, but behold, O LORD, You know it
altogether.
5
You have hedged me behind and before, and laid Your hand upon me.
6
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain
it.
7
Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence?
8
If I ascend into heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in hell, behold,
You are there.
9
If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts
of the sea,
10
Even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me.
11
If I say, "Surely the darkness shall fall on me," even the night shall
be light about me;
12
Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You, but the night shines as
the day; the darkness and the light are both alike to You.
13
For You formed my inward parts; you covered me in my mother's womb.
14
I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous
are Your works, and that my soul knows very well.
15
My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully
wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
16
Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they
all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were
none of them.
17
How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum
of them!
18
If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand;
when I awake, I am still with You. (NKJ)
Psalms
56:8
8 You number my wanderings; put my tears into Your bottle; are they
not in Your book? (NKJ)
The
following 3 verses have always intrigued me. They place in perspective
how omnipresent our God really is. How often do you think to
yourself, "God is present, the Holy Spirit is present, right this second?"
I
have stated earlier than the "breeze," when it moves a tree or
when you feel its gentle healing, comes from the root word "pneuma."
Pneuma is the root word for Holy Spirit. Never let the breeze move around
you again without acknowledging the Holy Spirit’s presence. The hairs
of your head are numbered and not one falls apart from His knowledge.
And sometimes you think God doesn’t care, He isn’t present, and He isn’t
listening. Wrong, very wrong, thinking. Understand and believe the following
verses. If you fail to repent, you fail, according to the scriptures,
to enter into God’s presence, peace and eternity.
Matthew
10:29-30
29
"Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls
to the ground apart from your Father's will.
30
"But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. (NKJ)
Proverbs
15:3
3
The eyes of the LORD are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and
the good. (NKJ)
Then God tells
us that what He sees, He will judge. Repentance is the key to reform.
Ezekiel
18:30-32
30
"Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according
to his ways," says the Lord GOD. "Repent, and turn from all your transgressions,
so that iniquity will not be your ruin.
31
"Cast away from you all the transgressions which you have committed,
and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. For why should you
die, O house of Israel?
32
"For I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies," says the Lord
GOD. "Therefore turn and live!" (NKJ)
2
Corinthians 5:10
10
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each
one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has
done, whether good or bad. (NKJ)
Acts
2:38-39
38
…Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in
the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive
the gift of the Holy Spirit.
39
"For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are
afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call." (NKJ)
Acts
8:22-23
22
"Repent therefore of this your wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the
thought of your heart may be forgiven you.
23
"For I see that you are poisoned by bitterness and bound by iniquity."
(NKJ)
Isaiah
57:15-19
15
For thus says the High and Lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose name
is Holy: "I dwell in the high and holy place, with him who has a contrite
and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive
the heart of the contrite ones.
16
For I will not contend forever, nor will I always be angry; for the
spirit would fail before Me, and the souls which I have made.
17
For the iniquity of his covetousness I was angry and struck him; I hid
and was angry, and he went on backsliding in the way of his heart.
18
I have seen his ways, and will heal him; I will also lead him, and restore
comforts to him and to his mourners.
19
"I create the fruit of the lips: peace, peace to him who is far off
and to him who is near," says the (NKJ)
If
you read only this topic, it is enough. It is the entire message. Nothing
else matters. If you decide to respond to God’s love, if you decide
that you have erred greatly up to this moment, then with a humble and
contrite heart, stop reading and start praying.
Ask
God to forgive you of every sin you have ever committed, by acknowledging
Jesus as your personal "Atoner," the Redeemer, and the One who
died for your sins. Ask for the total cleansing of your soul. Ask for
a new heart, one free from the shackles of your past, one committed
to spending whatever days you have left, seeking and serving your Lord.
Ask
to be filled, constantly, with the presence and power of the Holy Spirit,
with that refreshing, clean breeze of God that surrounds you, now and
forever. Then go, as a person dying of thirst, to His Holy Word. Listen
to what God wants to teach you. Never intentionally sin again.
And
as you commit yourself to His Hands, understand this. Satan will have
lost a lover. Satan is not a good loser. As long as you were his slave
(I doubt you ever thought of it that way), he could ignore you. You
were right where he wanted you, so why waste any energy on you. His
goal is to destroy the faith of those who dwell in the security of the
Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
If
you decide to repent, to be born again, you are changing teams. You
will have become Satan’s enemy and he has no other more important agenda
than to try to destroy your new found faith. You can not fight Satan.
His power exceeds anything you can intellectually grasp. He is the prince
and the ruler of this earth, this temporary testing ground. Only by
the power and the presence of the Holy Spirit in you can you resist
the temptation he is going to deliver to your doorstep.
How
can I speak with such certainty? First, I have been there and so has
every Christian. Listen to these verses.
Matthew
12:43-45
43
"When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places,
seeking rest, and finds none.
44
"Then he says, 'I will return to my house from which I came.' And when
he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order.
45
"Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than
himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that
man is worse than the first. So shall it also be with this wicked generation."
(NKJ)
I
say this to you with all certainty. Satan wants to own you and your
heart. Listen to God's Word.
Luke
22:31
31
And the Lord said, "Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that
he may sift you as wheat. (NKJ)
1
Peter 5:8-9
8
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about
like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
9
Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings
are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. (NKJ)
He
will stop at nothing to bring you down. I believe that Satan’s greatest
moments of joy are when he publicly defeats a strong Christian, making
that Christian look like and feel like a complete idiot. How could a
person who has been redeemed somehow fall back into the evil hand of
Satan and serve him? The answer is that we who are saved misestimate
the power of the flesh, the power of Satan. He can be rebuked, but neither
by you nor I. Only the power of the Holy Spirit is greater than the
power of Satan. Never vow that you can handle any temptation Satan can
deliver. You simply can not overcome his power on your own. Flee, literally,
from his lure sensing that the entrapment he offers is just that. It
is a trap and it is one that can ruin your life, your marriage, your
relationships and perhaps, short of acceptable repentance, your eternity.
The
Bible has a classic verse that describes this phenomenon in a very visual
way. The verse I refer to comes at the end of a very telling lesson
by Peter. You know people who have experienced this kind of temptation
and who have misled others in the process. Listen.
2
Peter 2:1-22
1
But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will
be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive
heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves
swift destruction.
2
And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way
of truth will be blasphemed.
3
By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long
time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not
slumber.
4
For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to
hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for
judgment;
5
and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people,
a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the
ungodly;
6
and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them
to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would
live ungodly;
7
and delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct
of the wicked
8
(for that righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented his righteous
soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds)--
9
then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and
to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment,
10
and especially those who walk according to the flesh in the lust of
uncleanness and despise authority. They are presumptuous, self-willed.
They are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries,
11
whereas angels, who are greater in power and might, do not bring a reviling
accusation against them before the Lord.
12
But these, like natural brute beasts made to be caught and destroyed,
speak evil of the things they do not understand, and will utterly perish
in their own corruption,
13
and will receive the wages of unrighteousness, as those who count it
pleasure to carouse in the daytime. They are spots and blemishes, carousing
in their own deceptions while they feast with you,
14
having eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease from sin, beguiling
unstable souls. They have a heart trained in covetous practices, and
are accursed children.
15
They have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way
of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;
16
but he was rebuked for his iniquity: a dumb donkey speaking with a man's
voice restrained the madness of the prophet.
17
These are wells without water, clouds carried by a tempest, for whom
is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.
18
For when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through
the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who have actually
escaped from those who live in error.
19
While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption;
for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage.
20
For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through
the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled
in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning.
21
For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of
righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment
delivered to them.
22
But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: "A dog returns
to his own vomit," and, "a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the
mire." (NKJ)
A
person reverting to the service of Satan is as one eating his vomit.
If that doesn’t clarify the situation for you, little else will! Sin
may look very attractive. See it for what it is. A trap set for you
by the expert, one who takes pleasure in your defeat.
One
of the reasons you must study those verses very carefully is that it
will help you understand how powerful the lure of sin is. Even some
of the strongest believers have fallen victim to the power of Satan.
Thank God for the Holy Spirit, the power and presence of Christ in you
as you reside in this cauldron of sin. Is it any wonder that the earth
and all the things in it will pass away? It is Satan’s domain, except
at the beginning, Eden, and at the end, Eden restored. Listen to Ezekiel's
teaching on this matter:
Ezekiel
36:33-36
33
'Thus says the Lord GOD: "On the day that I cleanse you from all your
iniquities, I will also enable you to dwell in the cities, and the ruins
shall be rebuilt.
34
"The desolate land shall be tilled instead of lying desolate in the
sight of all who pass by.
35
"So they will say, 'This land that was desolate has become like the
garden of Eden; and the wasted, desolate, and ruined cities are now
fortified and inhabited.'
36
"Then the nations which are left all around you shall know that I, the
LORD, have rebuilt the ruined places and planted what was desolate.
I, the LORD, have spoken it, and I will do it." (NKJ)
Then
Isaiah further clarifies what is coming:
Isaiah
51:3
3 For the LORD will comfort Zion, he will comfort all her waste places;
he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden
of the LORD; joy and gladness will be found in it, thanksgiving and
the voice of melody. (NKJ)
I
will offer a word of strong advice regarding Satan. Do not spend time
studying and investigating all the ways in which he manifests himself
in cults and in ideologies. Satan is not a subject to be "understood
thoroughly" but instead, flee, literally from any sign of his
presence. Listen to several quotes that make this point perfectly.
Genesis
39:6-12
6
…And Joseph was handsome in form and appearance.
7
And it came to pass … that his master's wife cast longing eyes on Joseph,
and she said, "Lie with me."
8
But he refused and said to his master's wife, "Look, my master does
not know what is with me in the house, and he has committed all that
he has to my hand.
9
"There is no one greater in this house than I, nor has he kept back
anything from me but you, because you are his wife. How then can I do
this great wickedness, and sin against God?"
10
So it was, as she spoke to Joseph day by day, that he did not heed her,
to lie with her or to be with her.
11
But it happened about this time, when Joseph went into the house to
do his work, and none of the men of the house was inside,
12
that she caught him by his garment, saying, "Lie with me." But he
left his garment in her hand, and fled and ran outside. (NKJ)
1
Corinthians 6:15-20
15
Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then
take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? Certainly
not!
16
Or do you not know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body with
her? For "the two," He says, "shall become one flesh."
17
But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.
18
Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body,
but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.
19
Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who
is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?
20
For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and
in your spirit, which are God's. (NKJ)
1 Timothy 6:9-14
9
But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and
into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and
perdition.
10
For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some
have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves
through with many sorrows.
11
But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness,
godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness.
12
Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you
were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence
of many witnesses.
13
I urge you in the sight of God who gives life to all things, and before
Christ Jesus who witnessed the good confession before Pontius Pilate,
14
that you keep this commandment without spot, blameless until our Lord
Jesus Christ's appearing, (NKJ)
2
Timothy 2:22
22 Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love,
peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. (NKJ)
See
sin for what it is. Sin is Satan’s tool to bring you down. When the
allure of sin is at your doorstep, you can analyze it, gaze at it, consider
it or flee from it. You can not, in and of your own strength, resist
it. Those who study the powers of evil are drawing near to that which
you should avoid, assiduously.
I suppose it is obvious, but if not,
understand this. False idols take on all sorts of external appearance.
Whether it is palm reading, channeling, spiritism, astrology or black
magic, it matters not. They are all efforts to have your life and
decisions directed by some power other than the Holy Spirit in you. Spiritism, mysticism and all sorts of "seers" exist today. Read these
quotations carefully. God will be very angry with those who practice
such things.
Leviticus
20:26-27
26
'And you shall be holy to Me, for I the LORD am holy, and have separated
you from the peoples, that you should be Mine.
27
'A man or a woman who is a medium, or who has familiar spirits, shall
surely be put to death; they shall stone them with stones. Their blood
shall be upon them.' " (NKJ)
1
Chronicles 10:13
13
So Saul died for his unfaithfulness which he had committed against the
LORD, because he did not keep the word of the LORD, and also because
he consulted a medium for guidance. (NKJ)
2
Chronicles 33:1-7
1
Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-five
years in Jerusalem.
2
But he did evil in the sight of the LORD, according to the abominations
of the nations whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel.
3
For he rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken
down; he raised up altars for the Baals, and made wooden images; and
he worshiped all the host of heaven and served them.
4
He also built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD had
said, "In Jerusalem shall My name be forever."
5
And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of
the house of the LORD.
6
Also he caused his sons to pass through the fire in the Valley of the
Son of Hinnom; he practiced soothsaying, used witchcraft and sorcery,
and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the sight
of the LORD, to provoke Him to anger.
7
He even set a carved image, the idol which he had made, in the house
of God, of which God had said to David and to Solomon his son, "In this
house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of
Israel, I will put My name forever; (NKJ)
Jeremiah
10:2-5
2
Thus says the LORD: "Do not learn the way of the Gentiles; do not be
dismayed at the signs of heaven, for the Gentiles are dismayed at them.
3
For the customs of the peoples are futile; for one cuts a tree from
the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the ax.
4
They decorate it with silver and gold; they fasten it with nails and
hammers so that it will not topple.
5
They are upright, like a palm tree, and they cannot speak; they must
be carried, because they cannot go by themselves. Do not be afraid of
them, for they cannot do evil, nor can they do any good." (NKJ)
Isaiah
8:18-20
18
Here am I and the children whom the LORD has given me! We are for signs
and wonders in Israel from the LORD of hosts, who dwells in Mount Zion.
19
And when they say to you, "Seek those who are mediums and wizards, who
whisper and mutter," should not a people seek their God? Should they
seek the dead on behalf of the living?
20
To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this
word, it is because there is no light in them. (NKJ)
Isaiah
19:2-3
2
"I will set Egyptians against Egyptians; everyone will fight against
his brother, and everyone against his neighbor, city against city, kingdom
against kingdom.
3
The spirit of Egypt will fail in its midst; I will destroy their counsel,
and they will consult the idols and the charmers, the mediums and the
sorcerers. (NKJ)
Ezekiel
13:9-10
9
"My hand will be against the prophets who envision futility and who
divine lies; they shall not be in the assembly of My people, nor be
written in the record of the house of Israel, nor shall they enter into
the land of Israel. Then you shall know that I am the Lord GOD.
10
"Because, indeed, because they have seduced My people, saying, 'Peace!'
when there is no peace… (NKJ)
Ezekiel
13:17-18, 23
17
"Likewise, son of man, set your face against the daughters of your people,
who prophesy out of their own heart; prophesy against them,
18
"and say, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "Woe to the women who sew magic charms
on their sleeves and make veils for the heads of people of every height
to hunt souls! Will you hunt the souls of My people, and keep yourselves
alive?
23
"Therefore you shall no longer envision futility nor practice divination;
for I will deliver My people out of your hand, and you shall know that
I am the LORD."' " (NKJ)
Micah
5:12-13
12
I will cut off sorceries from your hand, and you shall have no soothsayers.
13
Your carved images I will also cut off, and your sacred pillars from
your midst; you shall no more worship the work of your hands;
(NKJ)
Acts
19:13-20
13
Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists took it upon themselves
to call the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits,
saying, "We exorcise you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches."
14
Also there were seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, who did
so.
15
And the evil spirit answered and said, "Jesus I know, and Paul I know;
but who are you?"
16
Then the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, overpowered
them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house
naked and wounded.
17
This became known both to all Jews and Greeks dwelling in Ephesus; and
fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.
18
And many who had believed came confessing and telling their deeds.
19
Also, many of those who had practiced magic brought their books together
and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted up the value of
them, and it totaled fifty thousand pieces of silver.
20
So the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed. (NKJ)
The
following quote covers more ground than simply this subject of false
idols, but you should see this in the context of "independence from
God."
Isaiah
47:8-15
8
"Therefore hear this now, you who are given to pleasures, who dwell
securely, who say in your heart, 'I am, and there is no one else besides
me; I shall not sit as a widow, nor shall I know the loss of children';
9
But these two things shall come to you in a moment, in one day: the
loss of children, and widowhood. They shall come upon you in their fullness
because of the multitude of your sorceries, for the great abundance
of your enchantments.
10
"For you have trusted in your wickedness; you have said, 'No one sees
me'; your wisdom and your knowledge have warped you; and you have said
in your heart, 'I am, and there is no one else besides me.'
11
Therefore evil shall come upon you; you shall not know from where it
arises. And trouble shall fall upon you; you will not be able to put
it off. And desolation shall come upon you suddenly, which you shall
not know.
12
"Stand now with your enchantments and the multitude of your sorceries,
in which you have labored from your youth-- perhaps you will be able
to profit, perhaps you will prevail.
13
You are wearied in the multitude of your counsels; let now the astrologers,
the stargazers, and the monthly prognosticators stand up and save you
from what shall come upon you.
14
Behold, they shall be as stubble, the fire shall burn them; they shall
not deliver themselves from the power of the flame; it shall not be
a coal to be warmed by, nor a fire to sit before!
15
Thus shall they be to you with whom you have labored, your merchants
from your youth; they shall wander each one to his quarter. No one shall
save you. (NKJ)
Jesus
is the one who has defeated the power of Satan. Listen to the words
of James, the half brother of Jesus (Mary had additional children but
the additional children were fathered by Joseph, not the Holy Spirit).
James
4:1-10
1
Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from
your desires for pleasure that war in your members?
2
You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You
fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask.
3
You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend
it on your pleasures.
4
Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the
world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of
the world makes himself an enemy of God.
5
Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, "The Spirit who dwells
in us yearns jealously?"
6
But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: "God resists the proud,
but gives grace to the humble."
7
Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
8
Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you
sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
9
Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and
your joy to gloom.
10
Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.
(NKJ)
Jesus’
victory over death, is our victory over death as well. The only kind
of death that matters is spiritual death. Physical death is as nothing,
if it means you are transitioning to perfection, to eternal life in
a perfect place where sin does not exist. The following verses should
help you understand God's perspective on death.
Isaiah
57:1-2
1 The righteous perishes, and no man takes it to heart; merciful men
are taken away, while no one considers that the righteous is taken
away from evil.
2 He shall enter into peace; they shall rest in their beds, each one
walking in his uprightness. (NKJ)
Listen
to the point again. The righteous, when they die, is taken away from
evil and shall enter into peace. We grieve, properly, but they who die
in Christ, joyfully celebrate their redemption.
We who love God will not die twice!
We are born twice, once of the water, at physical birth and once of
the Spirit. Being born again is to be born of the Spirit.
If your spirit is to dwell in eternity
with other evil spirits, separated from those who love God and from
whom God loves, then you have completely misunderstood God’s will for
you. He would that no man perish.
2
Peter 3:9
The
Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but
is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that
all should come to repentance. (NKJ)
But
you have volition. You are in charge. Who can you possibly blame for
not responding to God’s love? Repent, I pray and respond to His love.
His eyes are upon you this moment and the eternal kingdom and His eternal
peace awaits you. The angels are standing on tiptoes to see you knock
at the door and come in.
Luke 15:10
"Likewise, I say to
you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner
who repents." (NKJ)
Your name is in the Book of Life. Do not
blot it out. It is God's perfect will that you be His child, under His
care and protection, forever.
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