WARNING: This Blog Post requires PARENTAL GUIDANCE.
I believe the Bible from cover to cover.
I believe Satan is who the Bible says he is. He used to be God's # 1 angel named Lucifer, but he didn't like being in the #2 position behind God, so he rebelled against the Almighty and convinced one third of the angels to rebel with him. God's judgement was to condemn him to hell with his fallen followers and he became who we now know as Satan.
He is God's enemy and ours too, but don't let that lead you into the mistaken belief that he is anywhere near God in power. He was and is thoroughly conquered and so very tiny in comparison to God it's barely worth mentioning.
In fact, I don't like talking about Satan because I feel he's a waste of my time when I could be talking about how wonderful God is instead. But since I am engaged with a war against Satan, it would be foolish of me to completely ignore him. I must know something of his strategies if I am to stand against him on a daily basis.
Satan has always had a few basic tricks:
** Have people completely unaware that he exists. OR
** Let people know he exists, but lead them to believe he is bigger and stronger than he actually is. (remember he's the "father of lies") OR
** Have people obsessed and afraid of him.
One of the reasons I believe (and many Christians share this belief) that we are living in the generation known as the "End Times" or "Latter Days" is because Satan is no longer subtle. And employing temptation usually requires subtlety. But right now Satan doesn't just tempt and deceive us, he will reach right out and try to grab us in bold and brazen ways to get us involved in a life of sin and open rebellion against Jesus as deeply and quickly as he can. The days of guerrilla warfare against Satan are over. This is a straight up, head to head fight. And if you aren't prepared for that, you will get sucked in and trampled under in the Fight.
I've heard about people who participate in festivals that depict the past. They dress up and re-enact some historical event or time period. This is particularly popular in England, which is understandable because they've got a LOT of history. I was browsing through websites that make and sell period clothing. One of them was in the UK and all about different types of corsets that women wore in the Victorian era. Even though we have new cloth materials now and things like whale-bone isn't used anymore, corsets still look terribly uncomfortable.
As you know, advertising on the Internet is geared towards whatever interests a person. Your browsing is "watched" then any items that might be of interest to you are placed somewhere for you to see so that you will buy them. Buy, buy, buy. A lot of these invitations to "buy" will come directly to our personal email INBOX.
Because I had been looking up "period clothing" I got some emails with period clothing, period jewelry and even some period weaponry (even though it's doubtful I'll ever have a need for an authentic two-edged sword). But when I opened an email to see a woman wearing a corset that covered her mid-drift and NOTHING else, my attention was momentarily snatched. I wondered what Queen Victoria would think of that email and those massive breasts?!
I don't go to Twitter very often. I usually just give a Tweet to notify my "followers" I've done a new post on one of my blogs.
But I was there on January 1st in order to update my password, security settings, profile info etc. I noticed I had several new "followers", so I was reading through the list to see if there was anyone I should "follow" back. I went to look at the profile of one new "follower" and discovered their covering photograph was a completely explicit photo of a woman being sodomized. Everything was shown. EVERYTHING.
I don't think it will come as a big surprise to you if I admit that I've never witnessed sodomy. But what I do need to admit and what disturbed me most about these two encounters is how small an initial reaction they got from me.
The woman in the corset is understandable because I've seen naked breasts many times. So after making the "Tsk" sound & deleting the email, the matter was over. When I saw the Twitter sodomy photo I paused for a moment to be disgusted, then clicked the "block" button, sent in a "report" to Twitter and considered that matter closed too.
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| Jesus Washing Feet |
It wasn't until several hours later, when I was having an in depth conversation with Jesus and He pointed out that I needed to be "cleansed" of these two events, that I actually gave them some deeper thought. That's when I started to ponder how they fit into Satan's strategy. And even though they seemed not to have made much of an impact on me, my brain still records everything, so they are in there and I did need to be "washed" by Jesus. (The Lord and I also discussed some other things in relation to this topic that I will leave for another time)
Now men and women are very different sexually. No big surprises there. But one big difference is how we get aroused. For women it seems we need to be more emotionally motivated, but for men visually seems to be enough. So as I was talking to Jesus about all this I was wondering how I would be reacting if I was a man. It felt to me as if Satan had reached right out through the computer, grabbed hold of my collar and said "LOOK. SEE. SEX. You want it. You 'gotta' have it!"
No more subtle temptations. Satan is bold, brazen and is going to grab you if he can get even the smallest hold on you somehow. I wonder how many men are currently hooked, trapped and in bondage to pornography, good Christian men, because they didn't see that first attack coming.
I don't have any clever point to make. This Blog Post is about one thing: Warning you! Be ready. Satan is going for you. Especially if you are a Christian! Especially if you are a married Christian. Destroy your marriage and maybe he can destroy your entire family and on and on it goes.
Now I'm riled. Now I'm angry. Now I'm ready for a "THOSE ARE MY BROTHERS and SISTERS. GET YOUR HANDS OFF" fight! No wonder for days I've been running into the Bible verse, "Zeal for your house consumes me."
I have prayed for you. I will continue to pray for you. Put on your "armor of God" (Ephesians 6) and wear it at all times. But mostly remember that God's grace, available because of the blood Jesus spilled is always sufficient". Always available. And because of that you cannot be beaten. You are forgiven. Satan is NOT the one in control. That's just another one of his lies.
The Bible tells us two things have tremendous power: 1) the blood of the Lamb [Jesus] and 2) our testimony. We don't lose when we sin, we lose if we stop getting up after we sin. Repent. Learn from your past. Keep marching forward. You are destined to win! Our Eternity is guaranteed. Just like Satan's is. Except he will spend his eternity in the Lake of Fire prepared for him and his angels. He will not be getting the inheritance of cherished children.
If you belong to Jesus, there's no way to sin yourself away from Him, or out of heaven or out of his love and protection.
"I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever" (Psalm 23)
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| Jesus Walks on Water Saves Peter |
Remember, if Satan is throwing all he has at you it's because 1) he knows you will cause him trouble and 2) that Jesus loves you. If Satan knows these things, maybe YOU should know them too.
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| David's Victory Over Goliath (after sling shot about to cut his head off) |
And here's even better news. Jesus is ready to "grab" you even more than Satan is. Except the Lord's methods and motivations are very different. His power is as unlimited as his mercy and love. And God doesn't just want to be in control, He IS in control. And always has been.
I realize I have a need for that double-edged sword after all. At least according to the Bible.
"Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. ... Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." (Ephesians 6:17)
Love Laura-Lee
