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| The devil is Alive and Well, But... |
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As I sat in church yesterday, some thoughts zipped through my mind that had me thinking that the devil is working overtime to destroy.
In Sunday school, a woman that I knew was having problems in her life and marriage, asked to speak to the class, and she told us about her struggles with her husband. He was attending church up until about a year ago, but not since then. He is going to the bar a lot, and this woman has had about as much as she can take, and is asking for prayers for wisdom to know when enough is enough. I feel her pain and her struggles, and I immediately sent up prayers…the devil is alive and well…
Another family, who is already dealing with the pain of cancer, and the struggles associated with that, had a tragic fire in the home of a family member, where one of those members died in the fire. The devil is alive and well…
Another family, where several members are dealing with the struggles of cancer, lost one of those members last week, and another one is in the hospital with a serious, unrelated illness, in addition to the cancer. The devil is alive and well…
BUT,
A family that had a sick child in the hospital, was given a donation of money that was collected in our Sunday School class, and the total amount of the money was the same as the first bill that they got from the hospital…
We have a group of people that are working to put together the annual dinner theater, which is an outreach to our community to try to reach those that don’t have a church. We feed several hundred people in the course of a couple of days for free in an effort to show the love of God…
There is a group of people that gather each week to go around the community to help people with work that needs to be done outside in their yards or homes…
God is Alive and Well!
To those of you who don’t have a church to call home, my heart breaks for you. It is in the help that comes from a loving church that gives us hope. If there are many helping hands, then the devil is shut out. If love is freely given, then the devil can’t do his work. If God is preached and His will is lived, then the devil is out of a job. There is safety in numbers, there is strength in numbers, there is help in numbers. If everyone is for us, who can be against us? Sharing my life with other Christians within my church keeps me accountable for my actions, encourages me, gives me strength I didn't even know I had. The love of Christ shines in our church, and I am so blessed to be part of it. The devil may have a few wins, but he will never have the ultimate victory!
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| To add a comment to "The devil is Alive and Well, But..." |
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| October 08, 2007 |
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| A big "Greater is He that is in you. . . " and "Where 2 or 3 are gathered. . . " all in one blog. So true! |
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| October 08, 2007 |
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| You are truly a blessed woman of God.....All we need is a small grain of a mustard seed of faith then God can work with us. Awesome Blog Deb. |
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| October 08, 2007 |
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Gene, what you say is true...thank you.
Misse, Faith is what it is all about. Thanks for your comments. |
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| October 08, 2007 |
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Howdy Deb, Sorry to go into the "I'm a guy so I'll try to fix things" mode, but I have a suggestion for the lady with the troubled husband. I'm in recovery. I see two kinds of married men who show up: the men with a forgiving, supportive wife; and the men with bitter, unforgiving wife. The husbands with supportive wives recover the fastest. The husbands with the unforgiving wife recover the slowest (or not at all). It isn't easy to implement, but Galatians 6:1 applies within a marriage, as well as within a church. If this guy is hitting bars over church, he obviously has some issues to deal with. This also points to a situation that involves a number of people, not just him. These problems don't happen in a vacuum. I'm not saying she is responsible for his behavior (or vice verse), but she may be contributing. It's sad to see she isn't asking for prayer for how to help him (she seems to be asking for prayer on when she can give up on him). I'm not saying she isn't in a difficult situation. I'm sure she's hurting, too. Is there a Celebrate Recovery group nearby that she can start attending? I've seen situations where one spouse deals with their issues, the other spouse sees the changes and goes him/herself. Gal 6:1-6
1 BRETHREN, IF any person is overtaken in misconduct or sin of any sort, you who are spiritual [who are responsive to and controlled by the Spirit] should set him right and restore and reinstate him, without any sense of superiority and with all gentleness, keeping an attentive eye on yourself, lest you should be tempted also.
2 Bear (endure, carry) one another's burdens and troublesome moral faults, and in this way fulfill and observe perfectly the law of Christ (the Messiah) and complete what is lacking [in your obedience to it].
3 For if any person thinks himself to be somebody [too important to condescend to shoulder another's load] when he is nobody [of superiority except in his own estimation], he deceives and deludes and cheats himself. |
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| October 08, 2007 |
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| Jess, to be honest with you, this lady in my church has not given a lot of information to the church on the whole, about what is going on. For instance, I knew there were problems, since I hadn't seen him at church, and she asked for prayers around the time he left. But I never knew what was going on specifically. For her to have stood up in front of the class and asked for help, things must really have gone from bad to worse. I know that when there is a problem with a marriage, both people are at fault. I don't know if either one of them has sought counseling, or if they have, to what extent. I know others from the church have tried to reach him, but have not been able. I do know that there are some within the church who will go the extra mile to try to help them. And I am, myself, trying to figure out a way to reach out. I appreciate your thoughts and suggestions. Great biblical quote too... |
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| October 08, 2007 |
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Deb,
Just pray.... never under-estimate the power of prayer. I also want to say, that this is one of the most beautiful blogs I have read so far.
God Bless you,
Pastor Aminata |
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| October 08, 2007 |
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| Pastor Aminata, yes, the power of prayer is great, and you can bet I am and will continue to pray for all of these situations. And thank you for your kind comments! God Bless you too! |
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| October 08, 2007 |
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Pastor Tim, that is a great little story. I got a chuckle out of it. And that is a great way to think of the devil! |
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| October 08, 2007 |
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Deb
Although the devil is alive and well, the way you ended this blog tells it all. God is alive and still working in our lives. I feel as you do, if it were not for my church family I do not know how I could make it. I know I have God with me everywhere I go, but even Jesus had friends,and family to help Him along the way.
Bless you
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| October 08, 2007 |
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I posted this as a repsonse to another blog. Sorry if the tone is off for this blog: After reading the book of Job, I came to this conclusion: Satan is God's watchdog and spiritual workout trainer. Satan himself has no relevant in the Bible, other than his role. The word Satan means "Prosecuting Attorney". He doesn't even have a name we are told about. Micheal, the Archangel, is important enough to have a name and a title, Satan just has a title. I know this will come up. Lucifer is a Latin translation of the phrase "son of the dawn". It wasn't a name in the original Hebrew. I like to go fishing (I apparently don't like to catch fish, because I never manage to do so). I always look over bridges to see if any fish are in the stream. I've noticed the biggest fish are always in the swifter current. A trout has to be at least 60% muscle. Why? It spends it's entire life swimming against the current. Without the current, the trout isn't healthy. Without opposition, my life as a Christian isn't healthy either. That's what God uses Satan for. Should we be concerned about Satan? Sure we should - the Bible says so. Should we chase after him, rebuking him from our milkshakes? No, the Bible doesn't say that at all. James 4:7 says I should "resist the devil, and he will flee from you". The amplified version states that resisting the devil is "standing firm against him". That isn't chasing after him, that's standing firm. The very next verse states I should draw near to God. Full context for James 4:7 James 4:1-8
1 WHAT LEADS to strife (discord and feuds) and how do conflicts (quarrels and fightings) originate among you? Do they not arise from your sensual desires that are ever warring in your bodily members?
2 You are jealous and covet [what others have] and your desires go unfulfilled; [so] you become murderers. [To hate is to murder as far as your hearts are concerned.] You burn with envy and anger and are not able to obtain [the gratification, the contentment, and the happiness that you seek], so you fight and war. You do not have, because you do not ask. [I John 3:15.]
3 [Or] you do ask [God for them] and yet fail to receive, because you ask with wrong purpose and evil, selfish motives. Your intention is [when you get what you desire] to spend it in sensual pleasures.
4 You [are like] unfaithful wives [having illicit love affairs with the world and breaking your marriage vow to God]! Do you not know that being the world's friend is being God's enemy? So whoever chooses to be a friend of the world takes his stand as an enemy of God.
5 Or do you suppose that the Scripture is speaking to no purpose that says, The Spirit Whom He has caused to dwell in us yearns over us and He yearns for the Spirit [to be welcome] with a jealous love?
6 But He gives us more and more grace ([a]power of the Holy Spirit, to meet this evil tendency and all others fully). That is why He says, God sets Himself against the proud and haughty, but gives grace [continually] to the lowly (those who are humble enough to receive it).
7 So be subject to God. Resist the devil [stand firm against him], and he will flee from you.
8 Come close to God and He will come close to you. [Recognize that you are] sinners, get your soiled hands clean; [realize that you have been disloyal] wavering individuals with divided interests, and purify your hearts [of your spiritual adultery] |
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| October 08, 2007 |
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| God is alive and BETTER!!!! |
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| October 09, 2007 |
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Denise, yes, Jesus did have friends and family, although his main strength was God, as is mine. But without my friends and family, I might as well not be alive. Thanks for your thoughts.
Jess, as long as we remain close to God, nothing that satan tries will hurt us.
Disciple, I guess when I think of problems or bad things happening to people, I tend to relate them to satan. He is evil, and he constantly doing things to try to knock us off track. The house fire is a bad thing that happened, so whether is was set intentionally or if it were an accident, I still think that Satan caused it to cause strife to those families. And as far as illness is concerned, I think the devil is responsible for that too. Yes, God lets it all happen, and He is aware that it is happening, and it is probably all a part of His plan, and He uses it all for good, but the bad things are from the devil, not God. In the book of Job, satan asked God if he could test Job, to see just how strong he was, whether or not he would curse God with all the bad things that satan would cause to happen to him. And God allowed it...a perfect example of how satan causes evil, and God allows it, even though He has a bigger plan. |
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| October 10, 2007 |
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Deb, I agree that the Evil One is out to try to confront the saints as much as possible - but I think he has a better marketing department than God. The devil gets too much credit for bad things.
If there's good, God gets credit. It things run normal nobody gets the blame or credit (should be God's credit) but if anything goes wrong, even because somebody did a stupid thing like drink too much, then the devil gets the credit and it was only lousy human behaviour. Yes, we need to be wary of those flaming arrows but I think too many Christians are seeing bows and arrows in too many places and not allowing individual responsibility to be a part of the equation. Just food for thought - and a continuation of the topic. . . great topic. |
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| October 10, 2007 |
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It's interesting Gene, that in James 1:12 - 16 it never mentions being tempted by Satan. I actually says temptation comes from within each of us. Satan may be involved somehow, but I don't think we're supposed to focus on that. 12 Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.
13 Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am being tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone.
14 But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.
15 Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.
16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. |
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| October 10, 2007 |
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Gene, I guess I just don't want to blame God for the evil in the world, although I know He allows it for His purposes. And I do agree, that individuals make the choice to do evil or good, but isn't it possible that the devil gets a hold of people and causes them to do evil things? They make the choice between God and the devil by what they do. Now there are those things too, that we do that are considered sins but we do them out of habit, or just because we don't have self control...like getting angry at someone and hitting them. We all sin, and it is a choice we make. When we let God be our guide, we should be able to cut down on that sin quite a bit, but we will still sin. Is that choice, or is the devil trying to put a wedge between us and our God?
Jess, good bible verses to insert here. We still have the choice of whether to cave in to the lust, or whether to stand strong. If we ask God to help us in a particular area that we feel tempted in, I believe He will give us the strength and the desire to do His will, and not our own. I still think that the devil has a lot to do with the lust though. For instance, he might bring to mind lustful thoughts through a movie we are watching...we made the choice to watch the movie, but he is putting us to the test. God has given us a way out though, all we have to do is change the channel or walk out of the theater. Or do the research on the movie before we watch it to see if it is acceptable to watch. But the devil definitely has a hand in the tempting of people in this life.
That is why we need to put on the full armor of God.
Thanks guys, for both of your comments. |
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| October 11, 2007 |
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Disciple, I agree that we do have choices, and if we are Christians, satan has no hold over us, but he does have hold over some people in this world, I have no doubt about that. All you have to do is look at someone like Sadam Hussein and you can see that the devil had taken over his life. Yes, we have choices, but someone who is not saved is more open to attacks by the devil.
I don't want to give credit to satan for all the evil of the world. But should I give credit to God for evil? Perhaps evil is a part of our being, but it all started somewhere. God made us, and He made us with the capability of doing evil. If we all made the right choices there would be no evil or sin. If we all focused on God we wouldn't be where we are now, with the world falling apart. We have to acknowledge that there is a devil, and that he causes evil, or else we aren't seeing the whole picture. I believe there are evil forces out there every single day that are trying to knock us off course, especially those that are not saved. And even those that are, are under attack. There are several in my church that are going through times that are shaking their faith. Those attacks are not from God, but from the devil. God is allowing them, and those people should turn to Him for their strength, but the devil is still at the root.
Sure, sometimes God disciplines us for bad behavior by causing evil to happen to us, but that isn't always the case. And that might be the simple fact that because we did wrong, He is ignoring us and letting satan have his way. We have only to call out to Him for help and He will be there, but there are those that will not.
I appreciate all of your thoughts. And I agree, we need to be constantly in prayer, and making sure we are walking closely with God. |
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| October 12, 2007 |
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| great post! I'm learning everyday that surrounding ourselves with other loving Christians makes God's love outshine the worst the devil can throw at us. It's amazing how he works through us not just as one but in numbers. Having a church to call your home is an awesome and is a very empowering thing as a christian. It provides hope and unabounding love especially to those in need and those who are stuggling. The devil is alive and well and he tries to overcome many of those who are strong in faith. I just so happened recieve this devotion not even 10 minutes before reading your post. It said....
"For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now." - Romans 8:22
Things just ain't what they're supposed to be. Consider man's violence against man, the animal kingdom's survival of the fittest, or pollution poisoning our air and streams. And it's incredible how the earth, with all its beauty and wonder, can become a destructive force against itself through earthquakes, volcanoes, hurricanes, and floods.
The Bible says, "...the whole creation groans and suffers the pain of childbirth." See, in the beginning before man sinned, everything was in sync. There was such peace on earth that even man and animals were vegetarians. There was no killing of any kind. But now the earth has entered into a period that God likens to a mother giving birth, and, like childbirth, things will get worse before they get better.
All creation longs for things to be made right, and one day it will be--the day when Jesus returns. It will be a time of salvation and judgment. Judgment will be for those who are not right with God, and salvation for those who are. His arrival will usher in a new age of harmony and peace on earth. Won't it be great? If you're ready, yes. If you're not, no.The key question for you is, will you be ready? The only way to be ready is through faith in Jesus Christ.
God is awesome! |
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| October 12, 2007 |
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| Laura, I agree that God is awesome. And I am ready...I'll see you there! |
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| October 28, 2007 |
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Deb,
Not sure how I missed this post. I honestly think this is one of your best. The comments sure have a lot of meat, too. Well done, lady.
I am in the same camp as Gene mostly. I think that slimy enemy of ours gets too much credit. Our flesh has a difficult enough time in this fallen world and the enemy is not omnipresent. And, as you say, God is alive and well. I see His hand at work in my life and those around me (including here on this site) all the time. That gives me hope. We know that He is greater than anything this world has to offer. We just need to remind each other of that every now and then. Thanks Deb. |
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| October 29, 2007 |
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| DC, thanks for your kind comments. I don't know how you missed this one either :) But your comments are always welcome, no matter when you come into the conversation. I think as Christians, we are safe from the devil, as long as we put on the full armor of God. That doesn't mean He won't try to trip us up...and those that do not know God, are very vulnerable to what this world has to offer. I see God at work in my life as well, and that is the best hope that one can have! |
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