Everything going on is spiritual on some level; this is not the battle we think it is. The powers of darkness are seeping out from behind the restrainer and licking at the edges of this life.
Christians are the target. Our minds are the battlefield. If the enemy can twist and confuse our thinking, he can immobilize and isolate us. If he succeeds with that, he can do even worse. Why is Satan so excited? Because for the first time, he is being given the opportunity to coerce and deceive God's own. In this generation...this last generation before Christ's return...it's open season on Christians.
What am I talking about? This sounds like heresy! No one can pluck us from God's hand! He will never leave us, nor forsake us!
Absolutely - those promises are true. But...IF IT TURNS OUT that the pre-tribbers are wrong...and Jesus doesn't come back before the Tribulation begins...we've got a lot to brace ourselves for.
The enemy is on an all-out disinformation campaign to lull Christians into a false sense of hope, and a false sense of security. Hope that they won't have to face what is coming, and security that of course nothing could effect them, they are much too wise, and besides, they're protected by God. Couple that with the largesse of the Spirit of Religion that has always owned the [C]hurch and now is playing it's massive cannibalistic endgame...and you've got a recipe for apostacy the likes of which no believer can even comprehend.
What happens - what is "apostacy?" It is a "falling away" a rejection of faith, casting out of the Holy Spirit. NOWHERE in Scripture does God say free will ends when a person gets saved. God promises to hold up HIS end of the covenant relationship, but if YOU give up, reject, or deny your end of that relationship, you are released from it. It's a "marriage." And God sets the precedent in His Word that if the unbelieving spouse wants to go, let them go. The "divorce" is accepted. God doesn't want to present a reluctant, hateful Bride to Jesus. NO one is forced to be part of that bridal dinner. Even Christians are falling away from the faith, and more will - by the millions.
How can YOU be victorious? How can you be assured of your salvation?
Confessing that Jesus Christ is your savior these days is getting harder. Recognizing the NEED for salvation is even hard for many people. We are all sinners, and we all deserve to go to hell for our sins. God is holy and just, no sin can be allowed where He is. We can't clean ourselves up, we can't try hard enough to be perfect. We can't pay enough penance to pay our own debt, and we can't talk our way out of paying it. There is only ONE WAY that our sin-debt is paid off and we are made pure so that we can be with God in heaven forever instead of banished to hell. Only one way.
From the very first moment sin entered the world in the Garden of Eden, God already knew He would be spending the next 6,000 years redeeming humanity. He decided the payment structure, He decided the timing, and He decided to let Jesus Christ - who through the great mystery that is God, IS GOD, in the flesh, die a gruesome and inhumane death, so His own blood would pay the price for you and me. And because God decided the outcome of all of mankind before mankind was even created, Jesus rose again - didn't stay dead - and was the first to truly defeat Death, and with such force and spiritual breath that hundreds of others rose with him! That's victory. That's our risen King.
And that's how we become victors too. We must keep our eyes on Jesus - He is the author and finisher of our faith, and only through Him will we be sustained and able to endure to the end as He admonished us to in Matthew 24:13.
We have to let ourselves get so wrapped up in our relationship with Jesus that worldliness falls off of us like dirty rags. So much that when we are tempted to sin, we can't bear to do it, because we are so close to His heart, and feel His grief over such willful acts. So close to Him that His love overflows in us and is seen easily by all who encounter us. We have to know Him so intimately that in every situation we can know instinctively how He would want us to reply, or behave, so that we make His name great and are adequate representatives of His name at all times.
There is no way we will get caught sleeping, or be deceived, if we are that close to Jesus.
How do we do that? READ THE BIBLE…PRAY…SUBMIT your will to His – SURRENDER every dark and hidden corner in your life and allow Him to transform your mind, so your thoughts are His thoughts. Let Him convict your heart, and repent daily. LOVE OTHERS – and FORGIVE.
It’s not complicated, but it’s very hard. Very few can do it. It’s a narrow path, and Jesus says few will find it. I don’t know how many people will find it, but I know it’s awfully easy to walk away from it, there are many distractions and fake detours. Only walking close with Jesus will keep your feet on His path.
It's all or nothing. Hot or cold. In or out. Choose Jesus, and choose to abide/remain with Him...every day. He is the only HOPE for all of us, the only peace and rest from the evil and weariness of the world.
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