"The Real Enemy"
"The Real Enemy"
The serpent was the most cunning of all creatures God had made, but why did it turn against God and humanity?
"Do not eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for in the day that you eat of it, a dying you will die".
The eating of fruit is a means to sustain one's life. It is also pleasurable. Eve saw that the fruit was good for food (sustenance), pleasing to the eye (delicious), and a craving to make calculations (empowering).
The word "fruit" is used in spiritual language, to describe something of value that is brought forth. Then we can really understand a greater depth of the human error of original sin, as to make use of what the knowledge of good and evil brings forth, as a source of satisfaction and sustenance to one's life.
Our inherent free will does have some bearing upon the actual shape of history, that can not by logical constraint, be fully His own to control. This, also with the inherently limited nature of the human coupled with survival instinct, must have been the most fundamental temptation for the devil in the first place, to bet that he was able to succeed with an empire of deceit (John 8:44).
We think of sin as robbing banks. We think of sin as maybe prostitution, lying and stealing. Would you consider fear to be sin? Would you consider bitterness to be sin? Would you consider self-hatred to be sin? Would you consider these things to be sin? The Word says they are.
I think certain sins have become socially acceptable. We are paying too high a price for these areas of unrecognized sin in the area of disease.
About 80 percent of all diseases have a spiritual root with various psychological and biological manifestations.
How has the world become such, that Christians are turning to doctors for healing instead of calling upon Jesus?
Therefore My people go into exile for their lack of knowledge; And their honorable men are famished, And their multitude is parched with thirst. Therefore Sheol has enlarged its throat and opened its mouth without measure; And Jerusalem's splendor, her multitude, her din of revelry and the jubilant within her, descend into it.
See here, that knowledge is a crucial piece of humanity's war against evil, and especially that the loss of knowledge amongst God's people had devastated them! St. Peter warned that false teachers were coming into the early church, introducing destructive heresies.
What is a heresy? It is a false teaching that opposes the direction of leadership.
Because Jesus Christ is the leader, all who represent Him should be seeking His bespoke approval through prayer. Does your church pastor pray to receive instruction from Jesus Christ about how to prepare his sermon for the day, or does he choose any topic and just say what he likes to say?
"But his citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, 'We do not want this man to reign over us.'
What could ever possess a Christian to introduce a destructive heresy? (Hint: The Seven Deadly Sins).
'Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,' said Adonai of hosts.
And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.
Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, "Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night.
"And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death."
For this reason, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them. Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has only a short time."
As long as we remain dedicated to Him, love others, and guard the truth, He can protect us. Sometimes though, the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. It doesn't take much at all really, to invoke the pride and envy of our Christian sibling where we have noticed a need for their repentance.
"But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment.
If our words are not having the intended effect, we must examine ourselves carefully. Did we speak from our own interests, that caused us to not fully represent The Holy Spirit? Did we have resentment toward that person? Were we trying to avoid a particular truth from coming to light?
"Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak."
- Serving Zion, Feb 14, 2017