The Light in the Darkness

It amazes me how many brothers and sisters get caught up in the world. Here on Facebook and other places on the web I see posts from brothers and sisters sharing their horoscopes, apps like what mythical character are you, what Greek god did you descend from, etc. We must be careful with the things that we get caught up in. We are told not to imitate evil but what is good.

Some will say – ‘What’s wrong with horoscopes?’ Horoscope is another word for astrology. With that let’s look at a couple of definitions.

Astrology: the study that assumes and attempts to interpret the influence of the heavenly bodies on human affairs. Synonym: star divination

Divination: is the attempt to gain insight into a question or situation by way of a standardized process or ritual. It is an integral part of witchcraft and has been used in various forms for thousands of years.

There you have it, astrology (horoscopes) are a ritual that is an integral part of witchcraft. The Bible says in Deuteronomy 18:10-11

10 There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, 11 or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. (NKJV)

There’s witchcraft, also soothsayer, a person who professes to foretell events. The bible is very clear that we are to stay away from any form of witchcraft. In Galatians 5 Paul tells us that those who practice witchcraft will not inherit or partake of the Kingdom of God.

Now some will say they just use it for amusement, but Paul warns us in Ephesians 4:27 to not give place to the devil, to not give a foothold to the devil, we are not to do anything to allow evil to have any place in our lives.

This goes to those who use the apps that ask questions and then tell you what Greek god or goddess you are. Once again, this is giving the devil a place in your life. It may be very unassuming, but if you let evil creep in, if you post these alter egos, what are you telling others? What are you claiming in your post? You’re a god, or a goddess. There is only one God, and it should be the God that you are following.

These apps and posts may seem relatively innocent but that is exactly how we open the door to allow evil to creep in. In John 10:10 Jesus said ‘The thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy.’ Why give the ‘thief’, ‘the evil one’ a foothold to destroy us.

Finally, in Ephesians 6 we read:

10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. (NKJV)
We must take up our stand against the devil. It’s not like were fighting a human made of flesh and blood. We are fighting against principalities, powers and the rulers of the darkness of this age. So take your stand so that we may be able to withstand the evil in our day.

Walk in the light, the light of the world. Walk in the light of Jesus so that you may overcome the darkness of this world. Let Jesus lead you in the truth, so that your deeds may be clearly seen and that they have been done with God. I want to end with this:

16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. 21 But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.” John 3:16-21 (NKJV)

Who’s Fault Is It? – Part IV

 

God is Love! So, where is God as we go through the suffering that we have to endure in this life? He is where He always is, right there with us. He has told us ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you’ (Heb 13:5). He also said He would send us help, a counselor (John 14,15,16), to guide us through life on this earth, and help us to overcome the evil that exists. God is our protector, our trust, He strengthens us during suffering and He is our saving grace through our hope and faith in Him (1 Cor 13:7).

I have come to the conclusion that there is nothing I could have done to change what happened to me. I started making a change of lifestyle and two months later I experience a series of small strokes. Whether I had or hadn’t started the diet, exercise and healthier living, the result would have been the same.

There is no getting around the fact that evil exists in the world and there is a force that interferes with our personal lives. Some call the force Satan, others Lucifer, and still others the devil. Whatever you want to call the force, it is real and it or he causes our suffering. Especially when we are trying to good, when we are seeking what God wants us to do, when we are fulfilling our God given purpose, the evil one is right there doing everything he can to stop us.

That is exactly the reason that I experienced the recent series of events in my life. In a matter of weeks, everything was thrown at me to try and get my focus off my God given purpose. It took a little bit for me, with my wife’s help, to see the attacks against me for what they really were, and for me to re-focus my  resolve to do the good that God had planned for my life.

Some of you who read this will agree and some will disagree. I just want to say that that everyone believes in something. I believe that things don’t just happen by chance. Everything happens according to a divine plan. The same way that man cannot create anything without a plan, God had to have a plan to create the heavens and the earth. How can something come to exist from nothing. There has to be a superior mind, with a plan or plans to make anything exist. Just like the superior minds of the ‘rocket scientists’ who put man on the moon, the superior mind of God put the moon up in the heavens for man to strive for.

God loves us, and God is always here with us, every time we go through trials or tribulations. If you want a glimpse of what God is like, what Jesus is like, get a copy of ‘The Shack’. Read about the suffering of a small child, the child’s family, and a father who went searching for the truth to his daughter’s death. What the father found was a loving, caring, Father God. Don’t take my word for it. Get the book and read it, but as you read it put any pre-c0ncieved notions of God aside. If you are a church going person, put everything you have been taught aside while you read ‘The Shack’, and let God reveal to you the parts that He wants you to understand, and the parts He wants you to forget.

If you have read ‘The Shack’ or once you do read it, please feel free to post your comments about the book below. Feel free to post your comments about my take on suffering and how you perceive suffering and why we suffer.

Who’s Fault Is It? – Part III

 

Let’s look at where suffering comes from. Is it a result of our own sin, the result of the sin of others or can we say we experience suffering as a result of a fallen world. Maybe suffering is a result of all three. Maybe all three can be blamed for why bad things happen to good people.

First, let’s examine suffering we experience as a result of our own sin. Suffering, sometimes, is the inevitable consequence of breaking God’s commandments. There are physical laws of nature such as the one that says if you put your hand in fire you will get burned. The pain of the burn acts as a warning when we exercise the wrong choice concerning fire. God has created a world based upon moral foundations, or moral laws, and there is a natural connection between sin and it’s consequences. If a person abuses drugs, addiction will be the consequence. If a person drinks excessively they may eventually suffer the consequences of alcoholism. If a person drinks and then climbs behind the wheel of a car, gets in an accident and injures them self, the injuries are a consequence of the person’s choice or we might say they are the consequence of the person’s sin. Similarly, selfishness, greed, lust, arrogance, and bad temper often lead to broken relationships and unhappiness that once again can be citied as consequences of our actions.

I think that what some call God’s punishment is a law of nature that God created. God gave us a free will, and we have the right to make our own choice, and as a result of our choice we experience the consequences. When we make a bad choice we suffer a bad consequence. It is just a fact of life, a rule of nature, a way God has created to let us know when our free will is violating what He wills for us.

Now let’s look at suffering as a result of other’s sin. First, it is important to note that not all suffering is a direct result of our sin. Much of the suffering in this world can be contributed to the sins of others. Look at global and community disasters. So much suffering is caused by war and in most cases it is the result of human sin. In many countries the suffering experienced is starvation which is the unequal distribution of the world’s resources or some other human sin. It is easy to see how individual suffering is often caused by others and sin such as – murder, adultery, theft, sexual abuse, unloving parents, reckless or drunken driving, slander, unkindness, or selfishness or self-centeredness. Some estimate that it could be as much as ninety-five percent of the world’s suffering can be accounted for by the sin’s of others.

Looking at the previous two reasons for suffering that leaves a very small portion that can be attributed to the fact that we live in a fallen world; a world in which all creation has been affected by the sin of man. It is a result of the original sin of man, the sin of Adam and Eve, that suffering (thorns and thistles) entered the world (Genesis 3:18). Ever since that first sin ‘the creation has been subjected to frustration’ (Romans 8:20). Natural disasters are a result of a disorder in creation. The freedom that God gave to man does not always the answer as to why a particular individual or nation is subjected to suffering, but it does help us to explain the origin of suffering. All suffering is the result of sin, either directly as a result of my own sin, or as a result of some other person’s sin, or indirectly, as a result of living in a fallen world.

Suffering is a result of evil, of sin, in this world. Bad things happen to good people as a result of evil, of sin.

If, as they say, God is love, where is God ….

(To Be Continued)