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Tools of the devil |
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This is a Bible study on the Tools of the devil. Click here for a printable Bible Study Guide.
Everyone is tempted by the devil to sin. Temptation is not sin in itself, as even Jesus was tempted. Sin is born when one yields to the temptation offered to us by the enemy. God gives everyone the power to overcome any sin. We can overcome any and all sin through Christ Jesus.
God promises everyone that He has made a way for us to escape any and all sin.
All the tools of the devil can be overcome the same way by submitting yourself to God, by resisting the devil, by quoting God's written word, by commanding the devil to get away from you. God promises us all that if we submit ourselves to Him that the devil has no choice but to obey our command through the power of Christ Jesus. Don't quote the enemy; quote Jesus - "Get thee behind me, satan" (Matthew 16:23; Mark 8:33; Luke 4:8).
Don't give into the tools of the devil. Stop quoting the enemy with the "I can'ts" of life. Start quoting God. When you are quoting God - "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" Philippians 4:13 - you are not quoting the enemy. If you are praising God, worshiping God, abiding in Christ, you will not have time to even think about the enemy. Believers - the children of God - hold the power over sin, not the enemy. The enemy cannot force anyone to sin. The enemy has limited power; he can only tempt us with sin. The choice to sin is ours alone. One commits sin all by themselves when one yields to the temptation of sin. You can't blame anyone for your sin. Sin is a choice you make all by yourself. And just like you choose to sin, you can choose not to sin. It is that simple. Stop giving the enemy power over you. Stop the enemy today. Tell the enemy today that you choose not to yield to his temptation to sin. Tell the enemy today that you choose God, you choose to submit yourself to God, you resist the enemy and tell the enemy by the power of Christ Jesus in you that he must flee from you !!
Are you ignorant of the devil's devices? Don't be, learn them, know them, be on guard for them, resist them, and defeat the devil. God promises that if we submit ourselves to God and if we resist the devil, that the devil will flee from us (James 4:7). As believers, we must know the devil's devices, the tools that the devil uses, so that the devil cannot take advantage of us and so that we are not deceived by satan. Always remember that satan, the devil, is always seeking, searching out those who he can deceive, trick, destroy and kill (1 Peter 5:8). The main goal of satan, with all his tricks and devices, is to separate us from God for all eternity. Satan is the enemy of God. Satan, the devil, is the adversary, the enemy of all believers of Christ Jesus. Being our enemy we must arm ourselves every day, we must know the devil's tricks and tools, the devices satan uses to trip us up and uses to deceive us and uses to try and destroy our relationship with God. Some of the tools of the devil are: hate, selfishness, pride, unforgiveness, ungodly thoughts, lying, uncaring, tempting God, blaspheming God, false doctrines, fear, defeat, false guilt, idolatry, worry, false love, covetousness, shame, false glory, material possessions, fame, and sin.
Hate is a tool of the devil. God is love, and the devil is hate. The Holy Scriptures tell us all that people who hate do not know God, because God is love.
Hate is of the devil, when we hate we are of the devil, not of God. We are not to hate anyone. We are to hate unrighteousness and sin, as God does. God does not hate the ignorant unrighteous person, the sinner, but God hates the sin. God hates sin, not the sinner. When we follow God, we live in righteousness, because of God, because we love God more than sin. When we do not follow God commands, we are an enemy of righteousness, the enemy of God.
If we love one another, when we have faith in God, God dwells in us. God does not live with sin. When we attach ourselves to sin, we detach ourselves from God. God says that we cannot live in sin and live in Him. If we hate, God cannot and will not dwell in us. If we hate we cannot know God.
If we say that we love God, but hate anyone, God says we are a liar. Why? Because God is love.
Hatred is a very serious matter with God. Are you a murderer? God says if you hate anyone that you are a murderer, and no murderer has eternal life.
God says if you hate, you are a murderer, and no murderer has eternal life. Salvation is available from God for all sinners. Forgiveness of all sin is available to all people, even murder. God will forgive all people with all sin, who come to Him by faith in His grace to save them from sin and death. Even a murderer can receive eternal life by the grace of God through faith in Christ Jesus to salvation (Ephesians 2:8). God says that we are all saved the exact same way, by faith in Christ Jesus, His only begotten Son, to the salvation of their souls.
The devil uses the 'hate' tool every day, with multitudes of people, to drive a wedge in between them and God. Hate separates you from God. Hate distances you from God. Remember the main goal of Satan is to separate us from God, and one of the devil's tools is hate. So do not hate anyone, love everyone as God commands, so God can dwell in you.
We must purposefully love every day. We can love one another because God loves us. Through Christ we can share the love of God with others. Through Christ we can love our enemies; through Christ we can love everybody.
With the power of God we can do all things. When hate and hateful thoughts come into our minds, we must refute them, tell them to go away. Hate does not live in us, God lives in us. As children of God, we know that we are the temple of God and that there is only love in God's house, because God is love.
We must never forget we are the children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. God is love and as His children we must represent God in everything we do and say.
Selfishness is a tool of the devil. If you are selfish you are not serving God, you are serving yourself. If we put our trust in self, in ourselves, if our focus is on ourselves, we do not look toward God in our lives. Selfishness blocks our view of God. Our life must revolve around God, not revolve around our self. God is the center of our universe, not our self. If all we think about is ourselves, there is no room for God, we push God out of our lives, when we focusing only on ourselves. Selfishness is another tool of the devil. If satan can get us to look inward, to ourselves, to occupy our minds with what we want, to occupy our lives with self, there is no room for God. Remember the goal of satan is to separate us from God. In order to truly know God and have God dwell inside of us, we must give up 'self', our selfishness and give ourselves completely to God. Until you can totally give yourself to God, to His control completely, surrender all to God, you cannot know God. We must give full control of our lives to God. We must seek God’s will. We need to focus on God’s will in our lives, not what we want, not 'self'. Only when we remove self-centeredness, can we see God, and truly know God. When we finally realize that God is Enough, we can release, let go of our self-will and seek God’s will. We need to take the 'I' and 'me' out of our thoughts and concentrate and diligently seek His way and His plan, God's plan for our lives.
Do you think of yourself more highly than you should? We do not own ourselves, we do not own our lives, we do not own anything, God does - we are the Lord's.
We are not to please ourselves above others, put ourselves above everyone else, and definitely we are not to put ourselves above God.
We are to lift up our neighbors, not ourselves. We know nothing by ourselves. Everything we know, everything we are is because of God. Only God knows everything.
No one is better than anyone else. God says we shouldn't think that we are better than anyone else.
All people receive what they have, who they are from God above. We didn't create ourselves, we didn't make ourselves - God did. Everything we have, everything we are we owe to God. Live in love that is not puffed up. Love does not seek its own way, but the way of the one it loves.
Don't boast of yourself, only boast in the Lord.
We are living a lie, if we think we are anything without God. God is everything, we are nothing without Him.
We are to be humble not puffed up with pride. Pride, selfish pride is not a good thing to have, God resists the proud.
We must come to God as a little child, because a little child puts all their faith in their father. A little child knows they cannot lift up their selves, their father lifts them up. A little child knows who keeps them safe, heals their pain, and brings them joy. A little child is humble and puts all their trust and faith in their father.
Pride is a tool of the devil. Pride goes along with selfishness. When we have pride we cannot see God, because our self love gets in the way. Pride cripples us into seeing only our own self, our own needs, our own wants, our own desires, our own reasoning, and our own importance.
Prideful people do not seek God. Prideful people do not think about God. Prideful people think about themselves.
Prideful people think only about themselves.
Pride precedes destruction. Destruction follows pride. Pride comes before the fall. I do not want destruction of any kind in my life, I will avoid pride.
The pride of life is not of God, but of the world.
Don't let pride even come out of your mouth.
Realizing pride does NOT come from God, but that all pride comes from the devil, and that pride is not of God, helps us make the decision to live without pride in our lives, and to cast all pride out of our lives, in the name of Jesus. Pride is a tool of the devil because it works on everyone. No one is exempt from feeling pride and from becoming prideful. (No one is exempt from sin, but the children of God are empowered by Christ to rebuke and overcome all sin, the salvation by Jesus sets us free from all sin and death). The greatest leaders of past and present have been tricked by the devil into pride, into believing that they alone were responsible for their great success, their high position, their wealth and riches, their health, and were turned by the devil into believing that they had power by themselves. Some of these leaders are so deceived by the devil that they even believed themselves to be god. No one is exempt from pride. We must all be aware of pride. We must guard our hearts, through the help of the Holy Spirit, against pride. Prayer of repentance and protection from pride:
Unforgiveness is a tool of the devil. Unforgiveness hurts you, not the person that you choose not to forgive. When someone hurts you, you have a choice to forgive them and you get better, or do not forgive them and you get bitter. Unforgiveness turns into bitterness, a bitter heart and a bitter person. The devil uses the unforgiving and bitter person every day. Forgiveness, forgiving others closes the door, the access that satan uses to attach himself to you, satan uses your bitterness to control you and bind you to him. When you practice forgiveness you disconnect with satan and connect with God. When you forgive others you become a threat to satan. The devil cannot succeed through a person who forgives others. The devil trembles when he sees the weakest believer on their knees in prayer to God, forgiving others and asking God for His forgiveness of their sins of unforgiveness. The devil knows in order for God to forgive us that we must forgive.
So, if the devil can convince us not to forgive someone, the devil has won. If you do NOT forgive, the devil wins. Unforgiveness hurts you, not the one that you have not forgiven. Remember satan is the original con artist. He will convince you that there is no way that you should ever forgive that person for what horrible thing that they did to you. Furthermore, the devil convinces us to carry unforgiveness with us throughout our lives, and carry unforgiveness to our graves, to the eternal grave of damnation the devil has made for himself and made for those who cannot forgive. God is very clear on the matter of forgiveness. God will not forgive anyone, who does not forgive everyone. You are NOT forgiven by God, unless you forgive others.
There are no exceptions regarding forgiveness with God. Forgiveness is not an option with God. Forgiveness must be from our hearts, not just from our lips.
God knows everything. God knows what is in our hearts. God knows if we have truly forgiven someone.
We can't just forgive some people, we must forgive all people for all things. It doesn't matter what they did.
Forgive everyone.
Forgive all, as God forgave us.Yes, we can forgive all people for all things, because God forgave us.
If you still say that you cannot forgive someone for something that you think is unforgivable, remember, God is bigger than all your problems:
We can forgive all people for all things, because with God all things are possible. It does not matter what the circumstances are, we are to forgive all people for all things.
God says - no excuses, no exceptions, no option - forgive. If you cannot forgive someone, ask God for His help and ask God to give you a forgiving heart, so you can forgive everyone for all things. You cannot go forward in your spiritual walk with the Lord until you forgive everyone for everything. Yes, through the mercy and grace of Jesus Christ my Lord, I have forgiven everyone for everything, and God my Father has forgiven me of all my sins, everything.
How can I pray for forgiveness? Please Note: This prayer of forgiveness is a model, an example for you to use. Pray to God in your own words and from your whole heart. Forgive every person by their name and say what their offense was and that you have with all your heart forgiven them. Prayer to forgive those who have hurt you:
When you are saved, the Holy Ghost inside of you will convict you of those you need to forgive. For more information see - FORGIVENESS
Additional note: We are to forget as well as forgive. Too many believe that they can forgive but they will never forget what was done to them in their past. This is not biblical, as we are to forget the past. When we carry our past with us and hold onto it and revisit it we are not forgetting and we are not moving forward. Let the past remain in the past, quit bringing it into the present, it is over, done, finished.
Our thoughts can be a tool of the devil. We are to guard our thoughts, just as we guard our heart and guard our faith. We can control what we allow our minds to think about - good things or bad. How can my thoughts be a tool of the devil?The devil knows how powerful your thoughts are and he will do anything to get control of your thoughts and infuse them with his evil. We need to guard our minds like we would any precious treasure. We need to pay attention to every word that we listen to and everything we see. Yes, this includes what we hear on our radios, and other music players, and what we see on our TVs and at the movies and theatre, and on the internet. When we are saved, we become a new person, and our minds need to be continually tuned into Christ.
Remember the first commandment, we are to love the Lord thy God with all our mind, this includes our thoughts.
We are to be spiritual minded.
God is NOT in the thoughts of the wicked.
Our thoughts are to be obedient to Christ.
If we commit our works to the Lord, our thoughts will be established. We must be on our guard daily against the devil, to guard our thoughts. Since our thoughts come from what we see and hear, we should be extra careful with what we expose ourselves to in our lives. Evil and inappropriate images and sounds need to be removed from our lives. Where is the one place, where we see the most images and sound in our lives? That's correct, the television. Most television today is not of God. Most television today is anti-God. There are very a few godly stations on the television. Is this really surprising? Remember the world is the enemy of God and television is made in the world. So we should throw our televisions in the garbage? For some people, yes, they should. If the television makes you sin, yes you should throw it in the garbage. Through cable and satellite, you can receive hundreds of stations on your television. Some programs are straight from the devil himself. If you cannot control yourself and watch the sinful programs, yes, you need to throw out your television. Same goes for your computer and the internet.
God says:
If anything makes you sin, God says to get rid of it immediately, in order to avoid hell fire. Though, you don't need to pluck out your eye, simply get rid of the thing that causes you to sin against God, your television. Why do some people think it is okay to watch sin? Why do we think we are immune from the sin, just because we are watching it, because we are not participants? But aren't we participating in sin, when we watch sin? God says we are.
Those who sin do not live in the doctrine of Christ, and don't have God. Those that live in the doctrine of Christ, have both the Father and the Son. Do not let those who do not live and share in the doctrine of Christ, bring any other doctrine into your house. Because if you do let others in your house and share their false doctrine with you, that is not the doctrine of Christ, you are partners in his sin, you are sharing in his sin. If anything comes into your house and brings other doctrine, than the doctrine of Christ, don't let it in your house, if you do you are a partaker in its evil deeds.
Do not be deceived by the devil, God says watching sin is sin.
What is sin? Sin is not of God. All sin is sin. All unrighteousness is sin. We are to be perfect like Christ. We are to walk in His ways. Jesus Christ would not watch filthy programs on television or the internet. If you cannot control what you watch, if you cannot turn off the television or internet, get rid of it. Jesus Christ would not watch a television program where they repeatedly blasphemed God and made fun of God, made jokes about God, heaven, or God's holy word. God forbid that we do! God gave us the Holy Spirit to live within our hearts to direct us away from evil, convict us of sin. That strange, sick, uncomfortable feeling you have when you see sin that feeling is the Holy Spirit convicting your spirit, telling you "hey, wake up, this is sin, this is wrong and you should run away from it, now". If you do not feel the Holy Spirit directing you away from evil, you need to be saved, you need to ask Jesus Christ into your life. Ask Jesus to be the ruler and guide over your life, to help direct you from the evils of satan. For more information see - SALVATION Our lives and our thoughts are extremely important to God. Every part of our lives are important to God. God loves us and wants us to spend eternity with Him in the Paradise of Heaven, not eternity in hell with the devil.
Lying is a tool of the devil. We talked earlier about how the devil lies, now we are going to look at when we tell a lie. The devil knows God is truth, and we know that the devil lies and tries to trip us up to tell lies. The devil loves it when he can get us to lie, even a 'little white lie'. People who lie are called liars. There is NO truth in the devil, none at all. The devil is void of truth. Nothing the devil says is the truth. All the devil can do is lie. Lies are always from the devil. Lies are never from God, because God cannot lie. (Titus 1:2)
Satan is the father of lies.
We have all heard “oh it’s just a little white lie”, this is a quote straight from the devil himself. There is no such thing as a ‘little lie’. The devil tries to con us, convince us, that "little lies" don’t really matter. But God says little lies do matter. A 'little sin' is still a sin. A 'little lie' is still a lie. The devil knows that if you will tell a ‘little lie’, that he can get you to tell more and more ‘little lies’ until you are telling really big lies.
Lies can destroy your life. Friendships end over lies. Marriages break up over lies. Businesses fail due to lies. Lies hurt people. And the devil knows this, that's why he tries to convince us that 'little lies' don't really matter. It is just a little lie, it doesn't hurt anyone, well God says something different. God said lies do matter, they are wrong, lying is sin, even the little ones. God never said it was okay for us to tell lies, not even little lies. God tells us not to lie. In fact, it is one of the 10 commandments:
For more information see - DO NOT LIE God said, “Don’t lie to anyone”. There are no exceptions listed. He didn’t say “Thou shalt not bear false witness against your neighbors, except little lies”. No, God didn't say that. There are no exceptions for lying in God's Holy book. God told us not to lie. God said it, so that settles it. I think lying is probably one of satan’s favorite tools, because he can use it on almost anyone. People who tell the truth come to the light. Truth is from God.
The devil loves tying people up in bondage of their own lies. Yes, when you lie, you are tied down to that lie, you are in bondage. And the more lies you tell, the more satan ties you in bondage. Do you feel weighed down? Heavy, tied down? Do you tell a lot of lies? That weighed down feeling may be the ties of bondage from your lies. Do you want freedom? Tell the truth.
Jesus is the truth and the truth shall make you free from the bondage of satan and from lies. How perfect is God! How simple for us are His ways! All we need to do is believe the truth, tell the truth and we are released from bondage, we are set free. I take God's scripture literally. I believe with all my heart that this scripture tells me to tell the truth and I will be set free, but there is another meaning to the verse. By knowing Jesus, who is the truth, we are set free from our sins. When we know Jesus, when we are saved, we are free from the bondage of the devil. The devil does not have any authority over the children of God. The devil may still tempt us to sin, after we are saved, but we have the power and authority as the children of God, to rebuke the devil, send the devil away, and not sin. Being tempted by the devil is not sin, but yielding to temptation is sin.
Jesus is the truth.
Jesus is the only way to Heaven. Jesus is the only truth. Jesus is the only life. No one can go to eternal life in heaven with God the Father but by Jesus. Only through believing in Jesus Christ the Son of God can we receive remission from our sins and become the children of God and receive eternal life in the kingdom of God. This one single scripture blows huge holes into the false religions and cults of today, who say you don't need Jesus, or Jesus was just a good man. There is no other way to God but by Jesus. The world cannot see the truth. Believers know the truth.
Believers have the Spirit of truth inside us.
The word is truth.
Unrighteous is not truth.
Rejoice in the truth.
The world around us celebrates lies, promotes lying, and encourages others to lie. We are to stand with Christ separate from the immoral world system around us. We are to live, exist, remain in the truth, under all circumstance and at all costs.
Don't lie, speak the truth with everyone.
Walk in Truth.
God wants His children to have abundant lives, joyful lives, peaceful lives; this is why He guides us and leads us in His ways, in His truth.
"It doesn't really matter" is a tool of the devil. The devil has a lot of sayings and thoughts that he projects into our minds, one of which, most of us has heard, ‘It doesn’t really matter’. It’s kind of an all around phrase that satan can use for a number of evil things. It’s used to pacify us, in order for us to do things that God doesn’t want us to do, to do evil things of the devil. Never forget Satan’s main agenda, he wants to separate us from God. When he convinces us to do something that we know we shouldn’t be doing, it puts a wedge between God and us, which is the whole purpose of Satan. What we must know and what we must remember is that it all matters a great deal to God. We matter so much to God, and yes it, whatever it is, really does matter to God. This includes everything about us: what we do, what we drink, what we eat, where we go, who are friends are, what we say, what we think, what we see, what we hear, where we live, where we work, what we wear, and what we feel. Everything in our lives, everything about us is important to God.
Everyone matters to God. It all matters to God. God wants the very best for us and cares for us more than anyone else does. God cares for you.
When one of the devil's phrases goes off in your mind, recognize it and tell the devil to get away from you, that you are not listening to him anymore. Tell satan to go away, like Jesus said in Luke 4:8 "Get thee behind me, satan".
Tempting GOD is a tool of the devil. I believe the devil enjoys breaking all of God’s commandments, but he uses this one on us all the time, probably without us even knowing, tempting God. Do you tempt God? Are you sure? We tempt God, just like the devil did to Jesus in the wilderness, when we ask God to prove himself. We tempt God, if we say ‘If you are really God, you would do this or that.’ This is tempting God. Or when we pray, 'God, if you do this one thing for me, then I will do this for you', this is tempting God.
God tempts no one. When you are tempted with evil, you are being tempted by the devil.
Blaspheming GOD is a tool of the devil. This is another one of the 10 commandments that is broken every day. Blaspheming God is rampant in the world today. Blaspheming God, taking the name of the LORD thy God in vain, almost seems like it is one of America’s pastimes.
Blasphemy is another tool the devil uses to separate us from God. Some people say that they do it without even realizing it, which the devil really loves, because though their ignorance the devil wins again.
Did you know in biblical times people were put to death for blaspheming God? How times have changed. Today you can’t go anywhere without hearing God’s name blasphemed. In biblical times, people were stoned to death for blaspheming the name of the LORD God.
Did you take the name of the Lord in vain today? Are you sure? When you say the words “Oh my God” are you praying or worshiping God? If not, you are taking the name of the Lord in vain. You are using the name of God irreverently. You are blaspheming. Whenever you use the holy name of our Lord inappropriately, or as a swear word, you are blaspheming. God's holy name is not to be used as an adjective to describe our clothes! When you use the name of God, other than in reverence, worship and prayer, you are blaspheming and taking the name of God in vain. God is our Heavenly Father, our most precious God, our Saviour, the Lord Almighty, Creator of everything, Jesus Christ who died for our sins, so we can live in His loving care forever. God’s holy, beautiful and precious name is being used as an adjective to express delight or dismay about everything from the color of someone’s car to the smell of food. Taking God's Holy name in vain is appalling and needs to be stopped.
We need to educate each other.
Just like then, today, people promote and applaud blaspheming the name of the LORD every day. There is no reference or awe given for the name of the most High God, the Creator of all things. People say they believe in Him and love Him, but yet blaspheme His Holy name daily.
We need to stop being foolish and disrespectful.
We need to grow up and realize what we are saying.
Only the adversaries, the enemies of God blaspheme His Holy name.
Don’t be like the devil, don’t blaspheme God?
The unforgiven sin.
Unbelief is the unforgiven sin, the sin that God will not forgive, the only sin that keeps anyone from the salvation of God, keeps people from receiving eternal life, and from spending eternity with God. If we believe in God and love God, we are unable to blaspheme His Holy name, because the Holy Spirit of God living inside of us will never permit it.
Redefining God is a tool of the devil. The devil wants to redefine who God is and place doubt in your mind of who God really is and what He is all about. Since the beginning of time, the devil has tried to redefine God. In the garden of Eden, the devil set out to redefine God is in the minds of Adam and Eve. God told Adam and Eve that He was God, He revealed Himself to them in love and truth. God told Adam that he could eat of every tree in the garden of Eden, except one tree, the tree of knowledge of good and evil. God banned the eating from this particular tree, because He loved Adam and Eve and didn't want them to die, because if they ate of the fruit of that tree, they would surely die (Genesis 2:15-17). The devil tempted Adam and Eve, redefining God, stating that God really didn't mean what He had told them, stating the opposite of what God had told them in truth (Genesis 3:1-7). The devil redefined God, who He was and what He said, in the eyes of Adam and Eve. Adam and Eve yielded to the temptation presented by the devil, they both disobeyed God and they both committed sin against God. The devil has been redefining God, tempting man with his definition of who God is and what God really says, since the beginning of time, and the devil will continue to redefine God until he is finally cast into the lake of fire for all eternity by the hand of Almighty God (Revelation 20:10). How does the devil redefine God today? The devil redefines God by placing doubt in the hearts of men, tempting men with thoughts that God is love and will surely not send anyone to hell. The devil redefines God through false teachers and false prophets who spread false doctrine and lies about the truth of God. The devil redefines God by tempting us with thoughts to commit sin and that sin is okay, God doesn't expect anyone to live in His commandments, God doesn't expect anyone to be pure and sinless today, God loves you and you can live in sin and live anyway you want to and still be received by Him when you die. The modern day redefining of God that the devil is using is the lie that we are god, human beings themselves are god, that there is no one master god of the universe, that god is simply within ourselves, our own spirit is god, we are gods. The devil redefines the word of God by tempting people to believe his lies, today just like he did with Adam and Eve, the devil tells mankind, surely God meant something else.
Cults are a tool of the devil. Any promotion of other doctrines is a cult. The doctrine of God is the gospel of Christ Jesus and all other is false doctrine.
We can't choose what satan throws at us, but we can throw it back. Doctrines of devils are cults. We are not to participate in other doctrines, only the doctrine of God.
All cults have the similar things in common.
Do not be deceived - the head of all cults is the father of all lies - satan. "Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it." John 8:44 There have been cults in this world for thousands of years, and there will be cults in this world until the end of it. We know about many cults that have come to disastrous ends, like those who followed Jim Jones. The horror and useless death of those women, men, and children is the reality of the end of all cults - death. The innocent of that cult are with the Lord, but the guilty who chose to believe in the contrary teachings of Jim Jones are forever separated from the one true living God.
Only the Holy Bible is the inspired word of God.
Prove everything by the word of God. All things written and everything spoken should be confirmed, verified by the word of God to be true. The word of God is the final word. There is no higher authority than God's. The word of God is the truth, and the only truth.
If God said it that settles it. God's word is written for everyone to understand. No one person can say that they alone have the correct interpretation of the word of God. A cult will pervert the word of God, and then say that only they have the only correct interpretation of the word of God.
When we receive the salvation of God we receive the Spirit of God, living inside of us teaching us and guiding us. No one is a greater teacher than God; the Holy Ghost reveals things, secret things to us. Cults teach that you are unable to learn the truth about God without their guidance, but the Scriptures tell us that "Ye need not that any man teach you" 1 John 2:27. You have ears, you are able to hear God all by yourself, "If any man have an ear let him hear" (Revelation 13:9). Anyone who tells you that you cannot know Scripture without their help does not know the truth.
Anyone who changes the Scriptures, in any way, will be removed from the book of life. No one is allowed to add to or take away from any word of the word of God. No one is allowed to change the truth of God. Perverting the word of God is very serious, God says if anyone removes from or adds to His word, that person's name will be removed from the book of life - which is required for entering the kingdom of God and receiving eternal life.
If you follow the teachings of a cult, you have attached your life to their sins, and you too will receive their reward of eternal death, separation from God for all eternity (2 John 1:10-11).
How can I know if my "church" or "religion" is a cult? If your 'religion' is based on the doctrine from the Bible and can be proven by the Holy Bible, the word of God, it is not a cult. Every word must align itself with God's truth. If everything that is taught in your church matches to the doctrine of the word of God, then your religion is not a cult. Partial truth is still a lie. If your 'religion' cannot be proven with the Holy Bible, the word of God, it is a false religion or a cult. If any part of your 'religion' does not match and align with the teachings of the Holy Bible, the doctrine of Christ Jesus, the word of God, it is not of God, and is false, is a false religion, and therefore a cult. For more information see - RELIGION
God's word is truth.
Faith based publications are a wonderful tool to help teach and lead others to God. The problem arises when religious sect place the importance upon their publications over the Word of God, substituting their words for God's Word. The children of God have no greater resource, no greater written word than the Word of God found in His Scriptures. We should never study anything more than the Holy Bible; we should never place importance on any written material over the Holy Bible. We should never promote any written word greater than we promote God's own Word.
The Word is God.
The word of God stands today as it did thousands of years ago; it is relevant today just as it was yesterday. We change, but God does not change.
The word of God is living and lives forever.
God said:
Don't be deceived with lies.
Hold on to the word of God.
Study the word of God.
Fear is a tool of the devil. The opposite of faith is fear. If you fear you are not abiding in faith. If we allow fear to enter our lives it can destroy our lives. Fear of the unknown, fear of people, fear of illness, fear of being hurt, or fear of fear. Fear can be a crippling disease that can grow and manifest itself and take over your life. It will stop you from enjoying your life and living the life God has planned for you. Fear is not from God. Fear is from the devil.
God is so good to us that instead of fear He gives us power, love and a sound mind. Who would accept fear given from the devil, instead of power, love and a sound mind from God? Well, unfortunately a lot of people do. When the devil gives you fear, you must not accept it, rebuke the fear and rebuke the devil. God promises all His children, that if we submit ourselves to God, and we resist the devil's fear, that the devil must flee from us.
Remember we cannot control what the devil throws at us, but we can throw it back. If you are faithful to God, then the devil will pursue you.
God gives us the power to resist the devil. You have authority through Jesus Christ to refuse to be defeated by the devil. We can overcome the devil, because Christ did. Use the power that you have. When the devil puts fear in your path to glory, just tell him: "In the name of Jesus Christ, I rebuke the devil's fear" "Fear has no place in the temple of God and I am the temple of God"
With God for us who can be against us? No one, because God is greater than all things, including the devil. If you have received the gift of God, eternal salvation, and remain steadfast in the faith, you are given the power and strength of God Himself to overcome the devil and anything that he can throw at you.
God loves us so much and says we are not to fear anything or anyone, except Him.
The devil will try and control us by our fear of things. The devil knows the only one thing that we are to fear is our Lord God, so if he gets us to fear other things, he has made us sin for him, and has us in bondage to him.
Satan holds those who will fear in bondage and for a lifetime if he can. If we forget who we are in Christ Jesus, that we are made the children of God through faith in Him, then we make ourselves targets of the devil and susceptible to his trap.
When we are saved, we receive the Spirit of adoption into the family of God, we are children of God and therefore we are not under the laws of sin anymore, not under the spirit of bondage to fear.
With the help of God you can release and end fear in your life, because with God all things are possible (Matthew 19:26; Mark 10:26).
God is love and there is no fear in love because perfect love casts out all fear (1 John 4:8, 16). God has given us all perfect love, His love, through acceptance of His free gift of salvation through faith in Jesus.
When we hold onto God's unwavering love, all our fear will melt away.
Fear nothing and be faithful until the end and you will receive a crown of life. When we remain steadfast in faith in God, we are unable to stand in fear; and, when we remain steadfast in fear, we are unable to stand in faith. We either have faith or we have fear, the one cancels out the other. Fear is the polar opposite of faith. Fear is doubt in God. Where there is fear, there is no trust in God to handle the situation. Faith is from God, fear is from satan. We have the power to choose, either faith in God, or fear. Fear is doubt.
Want to remove your fear, then trust in God, have faith in God. Faith in God, trusting in God removes fear. This world, even satan, can do nothing to you, if you stand in faith to God. The devil is the enemy of God. God is the enemy of satan. Every child of God is the devil's adversary, his enemy. Satan uses fear to cripple and eventually devour his adversaries. Fear is an extremely effective tool used by the devil to bind people to him. Anyone living in fear is in bondage to the devil. The chains of fear can be broken, through faith in Jesus Christ to salvation. Fear only has power if you give it power. Like with all the tools of the devil, fear does not work on you unless you let it. If we believe in God and His word, then we do not believe in fear from the devil.
The devil uses fear to control people, because he knows it works. If the devil can get you to fear, he knows that you must release your faith. When you hold onto fear you have let go of faith. When you hold onto faith you cannot hold on to fear. One must be let go in order to hold onto the other.
"I can't" is a tool of the devil. Negativity, defeat, the ‘I can’t’ addiction, this is another favorite tool of the devil; one that satan slips into our lives sometimes without us even noticing. Some of the "I can'ts" are "I can't feel better", "I can't get well", "I can't stop my addiction", "I can't be a good spouse, or parent", "I can't find a better job", "I can't quit sinning", "I can't quit smoking", "I can't quit overeating", "I can't quit hurting", the list goes on and on. "I can'ts" slip into our lives one day and grabs hold of us, hooks down deep inside and doesn’t leave. You cannot believe in God and hold onto the ‘I can’ts’ in your life. Everyone who says ‘I can’t’ does not know who God really is. To really know God, to understand who God is, we must get rid of our self-will. The self-will we use when we use the words ‘I can’t’. We must replace ‘self-will’, or our ‘I will’ with God’s will. When we say to ourselves ‘I can’t’ we are saying that we don’t believe that God can. When you say the words "I can't", you are saying, you don't believe God can? The same God that created everything in the universe, the earth, the moon, all the stars, the heavens, the trees, all the animals, and created man and woman, breathes life into every human being, you don't believe that God can do all things, everything. You think God can't solve your problems? You need to think again, because God can do anything. God is not the problem. God is not the problem with your problems you are. You are the problem of your problems. When you say ‘I can’t’ you are doubting that God can.
When you say ‘I can’t’ you are saying you don’t believe the Word of God --- because the Word of God clearly states:
Not some things, not a few things, but ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE WITH GOD. Quit holding onto satan’s lie of ‘I can’t’, because God can! Remove "I can't" permanently from your vocabulary. Replace the "I can'ts" in your life with "with God all things are possible". With God I CAN If it’s not from God it’s from the devil. So where does ‘I can’t’ come from – the devil. No you can’t, but with God you can. We are not alone, believers have the power of God in our lives now and in everything we do, we now have God by our side helping us do anything, helping us do all things. Negativity comes from satan, not from God. Worthlessness, hopelessness and self-pity all comes from the devil, not from God. Defeat comes from Satan. Victory comes from God. The Word of God states: “All things are possible with God”
The Word of God doesn’t say “All things are possible, except - - Joe’s addiction to smoking, or - Sue’s addiction to overeating, or - Bill’s addiction to alcohol.”
The word of God, clearly states "WITH GOD ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE." Every harmful addiction was created by the devil and can be overcome by the overcomer, through the power of Jesus Christ. Jesus battled your addiction on the cross, and HE WON! All you have to do is claim your victory through Jesus!! There are no exceptions, no limitations – “All things are possible with God” Praise God!! Hallelujah !! That means everything you are struggling with can be overcome, through Christ Jesus. Every addiction known to man can be stopped by the power of God. All you have to do is claim it. The victory has already been won - all you have to do is claim it. But that is really the problem isn’t it, our claiming our victory. Our saying with all our heart that we want to stop our sinful addiction, accept our freedom. So say it now, out loud and claim it: "All things are possible with GOD", and "I can do anything with GOD". "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me"
The next time you are tempted by the devil to say "I can't" , don't. Don't quote the devil, quote God's scripture:
Write down this scripture and put it somewhere you will see it every day, put it on your refrigerator, in your car, by your bed. Memorize it and keep it in your heart. Quote it every time you feel the urge to say "I can't". Soon you will notice that you will be saying "I can" to everything in your life. I can overcome through Christ who strengthens me! Say it, claim it, do it, I can overcome! Satan loves to see us defeated, but we, believers are not defeated. We are believers and victory is ours through Christ Jesus!! For more information see - ADDICTIONS
Sin is a tool of the devil. All sin has consequences. There is no sin acceptable or permitted by GOD. So, the last tool of the devil we are looking at today is the biggest - SIN. Sin was the first tool used on man. Of course all the tools of the devil are sin; we cannot forget 'sin' as a tool of the devil. For some reason, when people are saved, over time they begin to invent or develop their own religion which allows or permits certain sin. Maybe not big sin like murder, but small sin. These people convince themselves that "everyone sins" and even that God expects "everyone to sin" that's why he gave us prayer and forgiveness and repentance. This couldn't be further from the truth of what is in the word of God. There is no such thing to God as 'big sin' and 'little sin'. God says all unrighteousness is sin (1 John 5:17). God does not see one sin lesser than another. God does not say anywhere in His word that any sin is okay. God does say over and over throughout His word that we are not to sin. Awake to righteousness and sin not - 1 Corinthians 15:34 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not - 1 John 2:1 How is that possible not to sin, you say? Everyone sins. There is no one who is without sin. This is true, even after we are saved are still in a sin-prone flesh body, but even that fact does not permit sin. That is not an excuse to purposely sin. Though the power of Christ when we are saved - we can overcome sin, we have the power of GOD inside of us to say no to sin. Sin will happen in the life of every believer, but we are not to purposely seek out sin, think on sin, dwell on sin, we are not to purposely sin just because we are saved. Sin is not the lifestyle of the believer. Believers hate sin, we detest sin, we are made ill by sin. Believers forsake sin, repent of sin, rebuke sin because we love God more than sin. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. James 4:7 Though the salvation of God we have power over the devil, we can resist the devil when we submit ourselves to God, and God promises that when we do, that the devil must flee from us! Sin has no power over the children of God - because Jesus Christ has set us free from sin. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. John 8:36 For more information see - Sin
False guilt is a tool of the devil. Many people can forgive everyone, but themselves. Many people just cannot forgive themselves. Guilt plagues these people year after year, and no matter how hard they try, they are unable to forgive themselves. Why do we have guilt? Is all guilt the same? Is guilt always from God? The Holy Spirit convicts us of sin against God, so that we will repent of our sins and seek God's forgiveness and be reconciled to God enabling us to live in His will, but not all guilt is from God. The devil will do anything to separate you from God, to interrupt your relationship with God, to damage your walk with God, and he uses false guilt, because it works. You can discern true condemnation and guilt of sin from God, apart from the false guilt given to you by the devil. How do you know if your guilt is real or false? From God or from satan? In order to discern and resolve guilt, you must first know what it is that you feel guilty about. You need to be specific when dealing with guilt. Is guilt is a result from a particular sin, or combination of ongoing sins in your life. To diagnose and remove your guilt, you must know what it is. Second, what have you done to resolve your guilt? Have you repented from that sin and asked God for His forgiveness? God promises that if we confess our sins, that He is just to forgive our sins. God alone forgives our sins and removes our guilt, when we with a repentant heart seek His forgiveness. If you have never repented of your sins, and have not asked God to forgive you of your sins, then the Holy Spirit is still convicting you of your sins. Get right with God today. Repent of your sins and ask God for His forgiveness, and then receive His forgiveness and say goodbye to guilt. If you have not repented from your sin, and if you have not asked God for His forgiveness, then the guilt you are feeling is from the Holy Spirit, who job is to convict you of all sin against God, and to bring you to repentance to receive God's forgiveness. Third, have you received forgiveness from God, then you need to forgive yourself. Many people have misplaced guilt, still feel guilty of forgiven sins, because they refuse to received forgiveness from God. God forgets our sins, and so should we. Forgiveness is forgetting. Don't talk about it and don't relive it, just forget it. When guilt tries to creep into your life, guilt of a sin that God has forgiven you for, just don't go there, because there is nothing to be guilty for, because your sins have been forgiven. Guilt felt over forgiven sins is NOT from God, but is false guilt. False guilt is from satan, used to separate you from God.
How can we tell the difference from conviction of sin by God versus guilt falsely accused of us from satan? There is a difference between the conviction God gives for sins we commit against Him, and false guilt accused of us by the devil. The central difference is that conviction of sin from God reveals our sins and God gives us a way out (which is forgiveness through repentance); while the false guilt accused of us by the devil has no basis (since God has forgiven us for it), no resolution (the devil never gives peace) and the only way out given by the devil is death (the devil has no hope and cannot give anyone hope). Many people still feel guilty after they have received forgiveness from God for their sins. This misplaced guilt is NOT from God and we must refuse to accept it. God promises that if we submit ourselves to Him and resist the devil that the devil will have to flee from us (James 4:7). God promises and gives all His obedient children power over the devil. If you have repented from your sin and if you have asked God for His forgiveness and if received His forgiveness, then the guilt you are feeling is false guilt. Why is this false guilt? Because God promises to forgive all our sins when we ask Him through genuine repentance.
The devil is the accuser and he will accuse you of everything that you have ever done for all your lifetime, if you let him. We don't have to let the devil accuse us of anything in our past. If we have repented of our sins, and asked God to forgive our sins, then all our sins are forgiven, case closed. God is faithful and just to forgive all our sins (1 John 1:9). All the promises of God are true, and He promises to forgive all people for all sin, if we repent of our sins and ask Him by faith. God cannot lie (Titus 1:2), but the devil is the father of lies and cannot tell the truth (John 8:44). Why does the devil accuse us of past forgiven sins? Because it works. False guilt separates us away from God. If we feel guilty, then we do not feel worthy of God's love. The devil's ultimate goal is to separate us from God for eternity. If we feel guilty, ashamed, unlovable, unworthy, then we will avoid God and the things of God. If we feel guilty, then we will not seek God, we will not read God's Word, we will not fellowship with Christ, we will not pray, we will not go to church; but, we will alienate ourselves from God and the things of God. Separation from God leads to eternal death. No one receives eternal life unless they are attached to God through a working salvation, an active current faith relationship with God. If you are not with God today - here in this world, then you will not be with Him in the world to come. Who you serve today, will be exactly who you serve for eternity. No one can switch masters after they die. The sins that God forgives are forgiven forever, and God will never bring them up to you again (Psalm 103:12). Since your sins were forgiven by God, you can know that the guilt you feel over them is NOT from God, but is false guilt from satan.
What do we do with false guilt from satan? First, we must recognize that it is false guilt from the devil. Second, we must refuse the temptation presented by the devil to us to dwell on past sin, we must reject the devil's lies and we must refuse to go there. Third, we must resist the devil, we must resist falling into false guilt. God promises us that if we resist the devil, that the devil must flee from us (James 4:7). Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come, God alone has supreme power, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth, and God's power is greater than the devil (Matthew 28:18; Revelation 4:8, 19:6). Through Christ by His salvation, as the children of the Most High God, we have the power of God to reject the devil's influences and lies on our life and we have the power to resist, reject and rebuke the devil. Our power through Christ is greater than the devil's power (1 John 4:4).
Loneliness is a tool of the devil. Loneliness can make good people do things they would never do otherwise. Like preying on our fears, the devil uses loneliness to get into our lives. Loneliness can distort reality and make you see things, believe things, that aren't real. Loneliness can persuade you to make a permanent decision for a temporary problem, which is never right. There are multitudes of people in this world who are lonely. Loneliness can lead to making the wrong choices in our lives, following the wrong people, engaging in things we normally would not. Loneliness can affect our sound judgment and choices. Loneliness can persuade you to make a permanent decision for a temporary situation, and can lead to serious problems. Loneliness can lead to addictions and chemical dependencies, through a false sense of escape and relief. Loneliness is a tool of the devil uses because it works. The devil uses loneliness to manipulate desperate, confused people at their most vulnerable and weaken condition, tempting them to do things against their better judgment and against the will of God. The devil uses loneliness every day to trick people into sin, into the bondage of sin, and into following him. The devil will use every means and every situation in our lives to take us down the wrong path and take us away from God. Loneliness is vanquished out of our lives when we remember who we are in Christ Jesus. The children of God are never alone. God is always with us. As soon as we say His name He will make His presence known to us. There is a cure for loneliness, His name is Jesus Christ. By receiving the salvation of God we rid forever our sad case of loneliness. God promises never to leave us, never to forsake us and to love us always and be with us everywhere we go and in every state and through every season we find ourselves. Jesus Himself promised to be with us alway, even until the end of the world.
The children of God are never alone, because we have God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, who are One (1 John 5:7) with us and in us, helping us, guiding us, being our friend, loving us, all the days of our lives, in this world and in the next. There is no peace inside of loneliness, there is no peace outside of God, for only God can give peace, because He is the God of all peace. Our God of peace has everything under control in this world and in the next. Our God of peace will soon rid us of the devil and all his evil (Romans 16:20). Even the devil knows his days are numbered, and soon he will face the wrath of God for all the harm he has done to God's people. The devil knows he will not win in the end. At the end of all things, God wins.
God loves you. God desires you and longs to be near you. God wants to take all your loneliness away forever. God desires to give you peace, His peace, a peace that passes all understanding, a peace that cannot be found in anything or anyone on this earth, a heavenly peace, God's peace.
Let you requests be made known to God today, ask Him for His peace in your life, ask Him to forgive your sins. Tell Him that you don't want to be lonely anymore. Tell Him that you are sick and tired of being sick and tired, and He will give you peace, He will give you rest. He will give you salvation. God will save you from loneliness. God is patiently, lovingly, waiting on you today, to come to Him in faith and ask Him to help you today. Prayer for salvation and to rebuke loneliness:
Offence is a tool of the devil. What does it take to you offend you? Someone else's personality, dress, religion, tone, manner? We are so easily offended today, especially those within the church. It is astounding the number of Christians who have become so offended with something that was said, or not said, done, or not done at their church, to the point that they cut themselves off from the church all together. How it must sadden and break God's heart to see His own children so easily discouraged, and so easily offended. Many people are offended by the Word of God. Many people are offended by other believers of Christ. Many people are offended by the church. Many people are offended by the name Jesus. Many people are offended by words said or not said. Many people are offended by things done, or not done. Many people are offended by God. In John 6, Jesus is teaching the truth of God to His disciples, and He knew their thoughts, and He knew they were offended by His words, and Jesus said, "Does this offend you?". This was a statement revealing the condition of their heart that He saw in them. If the very Word of God, given to men by the Son of God, brought offense to men, it should be no surprise that today, people are offended. Was Jesus to blame for offending others with the truth of God? Did Jesus sin? Of, course not. Those being offended by the truth of God was not Jesus' fault; He wasn't to blame for their offense in the Word of God, because they chose to become offended by the truth. Why does the truth offend so many people? Because, the truth of God, the Word of God, cuts to the heart, the marrow of our soul, and exposes our sins before God (Hebrews 4:12). People are offended by the truth of God because it exposes sin in their lives. Even, the disciples of Jesus, the followers of Christ, said, "This is a hard saying; who can hear it?" (John 6:60) It is so hard to take the truth, who can bear it? It is easier to be offended and walk away from the truth, than it is to face the truth of God, and live by it. What did the disciples do in response to Jesus' words? Many of His disciples were offended and they left, they walked away, and walked no more with Him.
This happens today, all across the world, many of Jesus' disciples leave the church because they become offended - they leave the faith, and walk no more with Him. Did all leave? No, because NOT all of Jesus' disciples were offended (John 6:67-69). Jesus asks us today, "Will you also go away?". And like Simon Peter, we must answer Him and say, "No, I will not become offended in You, I will never go away from You, because You, Jesus are my life, You alone have the words of eternal life, AND I believe and I am sure that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God" (John 6:67-69). Why is offense one of the greatest tools used by the devil today, especially in the church? Because it works, we become offended so easily (especially in the church), and offense is so effective in separating anyone from God. I've known people who have let some offense 20 years ago, separate themselves from the church and from intimate fellowship with God. Get over yourself! It is not about you, it is all about God. Offense is something we produce within ourselves - we become offended. Offense is our choice; to become offended by the words or actions of others is our choice alone. The blame of offense is our own to bear. Offense is NOT someone else's fault, but becoming offended is our own fault, because we choose to become offended. Sin is always our choice, no one else's. The devil lays out the temptation to sin, but we sin when we yield to the temptation. Many people like to blame their offense on someone else, or even the church, or even God, but none are to blame for your becoming offended, except yourself.
The greatest offense is to be offended in God Himself. How dare them! I can't believe they did that! I can't believe they said that! That is offensive to me! I am offended! The church has let me down! I thought they loved me! I thought God loved me! God has let me down! God has offended me! These are lies from the devil himself, because God never offends and God never lets anyone down. The devil is the father of lies (John 8:44), and serves up his lies every day, every hour, every minute. The lies of the devil are floating around everywhere the saints of God are on this earth, including our churches. Remember, the devil is shameless, wicked and desperate, the enemy never sleeps and never stops, the devil is a roaring lion walking about the earth, seeking all he can devour (1 Peter 5:8). Can the devil be inside our churches? Of course he can, if we let him. The devil uses offended people, especially in the church. Offended people are the devil's greatest messengers. Is the devil using you and your offence? The devil's best tools are people who are offended, because they bring doubt, discouragement, hate, confusion, strife, worry, pain, and suffering, not only to themselves but to others and into the church, and the unbelieving world. Within the church, offense spreads like a wild fire, devouring and damaging anything in its path. The longer someone chooses to remain offended, the deeper the roots of offense bury themselves into that person. Many offended people 'rather die' than ever step foot into any church again. The sad part is, if they choose to continue on the path of offence that they will die in their sin of offence. Offended church people are the best of satan's preachers, spreading rumors and hatred toward God's people and His church. As with all sin, offence is sin against God. Offense is serious because offense quickly hardens the heart. Just like all sin, if not repented of, offense can lead to eternal separation from God, which is the devil's ultimate goal for all of us (Romans 6:23). What can we do about offense? Realize its source and have no part in it. Offence is NOT from God. Submit to God, resist the devil, and refuse to be offended in God or in the things of God (James 4:7). How do we counter offense? Love - with the love of God we can counter any offense. If we learn nothing but love from God we know how to live in God's will. God is love. With God's love we can do all things (Luke 1:37), including not becoming offended. Love casts out all fear, including fear of offence (1 John 4:18). Love is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, which is what offense is mostly about (1 Corinthians 13:1-8). You might say, "But you don't know the circumstances of 'my offence', you don't know what happened to me". I may not know what happened or your particular offence, but I do know God and I know His word, and your offence doesn't really matter because it does not promote the love of God or His Kingdom. God knows all the circumstances of "your offence" and God teaches forgiveness to all people for all things. You don't have to move in with your offender, you don't have to marry them, but God says you do have to forgive them. Remember, your offence only matters to the devil, he is the one keeping it alive, and the devil is the only one who benefits from any offence. Don't give the devil any props; don't let him see you slip in your faithfulness to God. Loving God is all that really matters. How do we avoid being offended in God? By remaining devoted to God and His Word, loving God, placing God above all things in our life (including being offended), trusting in God to keep us in His love and in His loving arms, we can avoid all offense. Ask God to prevent you from becoming offended. Many people never ask God for His help, "ye have not because ye ask not" (James 4:2). Every Sunday they trod off to Church and every Sunday they come home offended. Try something new ask God for His help next Sunday, He will not let you down. God promises that we will not become offended, if we abide in Him, because He is void of offence so are we as long as we abide in Him (John 15:7). On purpose we love God and on purpose we choose not to become offended, no matter what happens around us, we will stand faithful with Christ Jesus. No one but Jesus has the right to be offended anyway, He is the one who took our sins on His cross. Any offence we might think we have can never compare to His. Jesus is not offended with me, so by His example and with His love I will not be offended by anyone either. Nothing is more important than remaining in the love of God and showing His love through us to others. Remember also that there is no perfect church on this earth, and people will disappoint, but our faith is not in our church or other people, our faith is in God who we love with all our hearts and trust with our life to the salvation of our souls. I love and fear the Lord, and because of this, I will not be offended in any way regarding God and the things of God or in anything. Nothing will keep me away from serving and loving my Lord God, no offense, no stones thrown, no words, no deeds, the Lord is my strength and my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do to me (Hebrews 13:6). The Lord is my shield, and through faith and trust in Him, I will deflect the arrows of the enemy, quench all the fiery darts of the wicked and rebuke all offence (Psalm 28:7; Ephesians 6:16). Offense doesn't stand a chance, when we stand beside God. Our only offence should be with the devil and the ways of unrighteousness. Satan was an offence to Jesus and satan is an offence to me (Matthew 16:23). Through the power of Christ Jesus, I can always have a conscience void of offence toward God and men (Acts 24:16), because I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Philippians 4:13), including living offence free! Praise the Lord!!
Distraction is a tool of the devil. Distraction is a very successful tool of the devil. The devil uses distraction to keep us away from God. Why are we so easily distracted from God? We are blessed with so many modern conveniences today, much more than even our parents had, just a generation ago. We have microwaves to cook our food faster, fast food restaurants on every corner, food delivered directly to our door, shopping for anything on any day at any time, convenience of buying virtually anything from the internet or over the phone and having it delivered to our door, ability to talk to anyone from anywhere, banking from home, working from home, instant coffee, instant food, instant information, the ability to access global information from almost anywhere. Although with all these modern conveniences and timesavers, we are a generation without any time and with a higher level of stress than ever before. More people take more medications for stress and anxiety than any other time in the history of the world. Diseases that generally occurred in older adults are attacking younger people and children at ever increasing numbers. Why is distraction a tool of the devil? Because distraction leads to separation from God. We don't have time to read God's Word, we don't have time to pray, we don't have time to go to church, we don't have time to promote the Kingdom of God. If we have all these timesavers in our lives, why don't we have any time for God? Our parents and grandparents didn't have all our modern conveniences, but somehow they had more time, and they always made time for God in their lives. We have computers that are equipped with technologies and components that would once have to be placed in huge room, but now fit into the palm of our hand. Hardware at speeds and storage capabilities not even thought of a decade ago. We have software that enables anyone to perform more tasks with unlimited creative avenues. The ever changing internet world takes us on a never ending journey to places, information and people, than we would have never seen befor
Is it all good? Can too much information ever be bad? How do we stop the overflow of information from damaging ourselves? How can we possibly manage all this information? How do we turn it off? Can we turn it off? Not all the distraction is bad, but not all of it is good either. Television, the internet and gaming systems must be used in moderation and balance, with caution, and kept under control. Every minute of every day is filled with noise, computers, telephones, cell phones, television, radio, meetings. We are overworked. Our minds are overworked with too much information. We work even after work, when we get home. We work when we should rest. After a long day at work, we fight traffic and we come home and get right back on the computer, turn on the television or radio, talk and text on the cell phone, enter the chat rooms and social media sites, and we continue with distraction. We are obsessed with busyness, when what we really need is rest. We are obsessed and addicted to the latest electronic gadget and gismo. We feed on new technologies. We become information junkies. It is all consuming and so overwhelming. We try, but there is no way to keep up with all the new technology and information, being formed daily. We need to turn off all the electronic gadgets and distractions and rest. We need to turn off our distractions and turn on - renew - our attraction for God and His Word. What we all desperately need, is not the newest electronic gadget, not the latest video game, not set up on the latest 'see me' website, but what we really need is to rest in God and let God refresh our soul and renew our spirit. The rest that God gives is like none other found, because only God Himself can give His peace, the Peace of God, a peace that passes our understanding, a peace that is not like anything of this world (Philippians 4:7).
God promises rest to all who call on Him.
Distraction is not necessarily bad things we are doing. We can get caught up with our family, our careers, even our church work to the point of distraction. God wants us all to work, and He wants us all to work for His Kingdom, but not to the point of placing other things above Him. Our priority must always be focused on God and His Kingdom. Seek ye first the kingdom of God (Matthew 6:33). Distraction is a tool of the devil because it works to separate us away from God, which is the devil's ultimate goal. The devil uses distraction - good and bad - to derail us, to sidetrack us, to place our foot on his path, to push and pull us to his side, to move our focus away from God. If we are distracted away from the things of God, then we are not obeying God. When we step away from God through distraction, the days turn into months and the months turn into years, until we are so far away from God and His will, that we do not hear God's voice call to us anymore. We must guard our heart, guard our faith, stand fast in God's promises, stand in His Word, remain in the faith, fellowship with God, pray to God, seek and love God every day on purpose.
A prayer to remain focused on Jesus and rebuke distraction:
Ignorance of GOD's truth is a tool of the devil. The devil uses our ignorance of God's truth to trip us up, to trick us into believing lies.
We must study God's word. How can we know what is God's truth, unless we study it? God warns us all, beware that we also don't fall from our faith, being led away with the error of the wicked.
Who do you listen to for the truth? Where do you go to find the truth? We must be very careful where we go to find the truth, especially the truth about God. If we do not know what is written in God's word, then we will easily be deceived. No one is exempt from being lied to, and anyone is capable of turning from the truth.
Just because someone professes that they know God, does not mean that they are known by God. Just because someone has a spiritual or religious title, doesn't mean that they are acting under God's authority.
Just because someone knows the right words to say, quote's scripture, looks the part, does not mean that they are teaching the truth of God. There are many false teachers, false prophets, in this world today, disguised as faithful followers of God, whose purpose is to take people away from God.
How to spot false teachers and false doctrine: There are many ways given in God's Word as to how to spot false teachers and false doctrine.
False teachers put glory on themselves and their teachings. False teachers are self promoting, saying, listen to me, and learn from me.
False teachers promote other doctrines, saying their doctrine is either in addition to or in replacement of the Word of God, they give new teaching, new revelation, that supersedes or explains God's word better. God specifically states that no one is permitted to add to or subtract from His truth, the word of God. The Word of God is complete and needs nothing from us.
False teachers lead with fear. They scare people into coming into their organization, and they promote fear as a way of controlling and keeping their members. The love of God casts out all fear (1 John 4:18). We are to fear nothing that man can do to us (Philippians 1:28).
False teachers promote that you must be taught the Word of God by them. False teaches say you should not read the Word of God by yourself, but must be instructed as to the meaning by them. God says He will instruct us, that we need not anyone to teach us His truth, because we are all capable of learning the Word of God from God Himself.
False teaches promote rules, procedures, schedules, which by following these traditions of men, they will never complete or fully justify, keeping their followers in a permanent state of submission, unworthiness, dependence, fear and confusion.
False teachers are very successful, because many people like to be told what they can do to become righteous, instead of knowing what God says about His righteousness. Many people like to be told what the Bible says, instead of reading it for themselves. Many people like to be told what they can do for God, instead of asking Him for themselves. Many people like to accomplish tasks, check off lists, have certain things to do, and to fulfill missions and goals. Many people like to look righteous, even if they don't know what they are doing. Many people like to belong to something, even if it is wrong, or they completely don't understand it. Many people would rather have friends than be alone, not matter what the cost. Many people like to be told they know what is right, even when it contradicts the Word of God. Many people like to be told that they know God, that they have salvation, or have a future with God, than pursue a relationship with God themselves. Many people are afraid to go against the teachings of their family, their culture, their spouses, their community, or their friends; they would rather face an eternity alienated from God than face a season on this earth without their "friends or family".
False teaches demand complete and utter devotion of their followers to every word that they teach. No one is allowed to think outside of or contradictive to their false teachings. Promoting that only through their teaching and their knowledge can anyone truly know God, that only by coming to them can anyone be saved, because they alone know the truth about God, and that all other people outside their teachings are forever lost. Depart from false teachers and false doctrine. Run from them, do not associate with false teachers, pray for them as they are without the knowledge of God. For more information see - Other doctrines
When you don't know what is in GOD's word for yourself - you will believe anything. If we do not know what is in the word of God, we are most likely to believe anything. The devil uses our ignorance in the truth of God to persuade us to believe his lies. The devil uses his lies, which sound good, which sound like the truth, to tempt us into sin. The devil has twisted and perverted the Word of God since the creation of mankind. Why? Because it works, because we are so easily persuaded by our own selfish pride, because we do not listen to God, we do not mediate and read the Word of God, because the devil knows that "we err not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God". The foundation of most false teachings in this world today began with the Word of God. People don't join new religions because they sound bad; they join because they sound good and because they look good. If we stay focused on Christ by growing in faith, if we study and mediate on God's word, we will know fact from fiction and will not be led away from God's truth.
God desires that we keep His words; this is one outward expression of our love for Him. If we are to keep His words, we must know His words. God gifted us with His Words so that we might learn from Him how to live in God and live for God. We are made perfect through God's word, none other. We are to embrace instruction from God, yearn for it, need it, covet it, pursue it, desire it, and love it. Love it! Learn it! Live it!
We can resist the devil by knowing who the devil is and what the devil uses to trip us up. By knowing satan's ways, his methods, his tools that he uses to trick us into believing in him instead of believing in God, we can avoid falling for his lies, and we can resist the devil, with the power of God through salvation. No one goes into war without knowing their enemy. No one goes into battle without knowing the weapons of their enemy. Knowing the traits and tools of the devil can help us to avoid them and defend our lives against them. What are the traits of the devil? What are his tools? What does the devil us in his war against us?
Who is the devil?The devil is the opposite of God. God is good and the devil is evil. The path to God leads to eternal life and the devil's path leads to eternal death. God saves and the devil destroys. Knowing this principle, it is easy to know the traits of the devil. God is good; and the devil is evil.
God is true; and the devil is false, the devil is the father of lies.
God is love; and the devil is hate.
GOD is truth; and the devil is lies and deceit.
GOD is life; and the devil is death.
GOD is Spiritual; and the devil is carnal.
GOD is righteousness and the devil is sin and all unrighteousness.
GOD is Holy; and the devil is unholy.
GOD is freedom; and the devil is bondage.
We either serve self and the devil, or we serve Christ. We are OF whom we serve, either servants of God or servants of the devil.
God says no one can have two masters; we either serve one or the other, God or satan. God says that we are the servants of whom we obey. Those who obey God are the servants of God and those who obey satan are the servants of the devil.
Only those people who have faith in God, serve the Lord Jesus Christ will receive the reward of inheritance into the Kingdom of God.
If we serve the devil, serve the lusts of our flesh, serve sin, we will reap death and receive the reward of the wicked for the wrong we have done, NO MATTER who we think or say we are.
GOD is for me; and the devil is against me.
People of this world may fail me, but I know that my God will never fail me. God is for me. God is always on my side, I abide in Him and He abides in me!! Hallelujah!!
The end of unrighteousness is death. All unrighteousness is sin.
All people who love sin, cannot cease from sinning, who love unrighteousness, covetous, are the cursed children of the devil and will receive the reward of unrighteousness which is eternal death with their father, satan, separated from the presence of God for eternity. All unrighteousness is sin and the wages of sin is death.
God says that the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23), which means if you follow after sin all your life the price, or the wages you will receive at the end for your life devoted to sin is death, that is eternal death, which is separation away from God for all eternity. Obeying sin, serving sin, and following sin leads to only one place, death and hell, eternal separation from God. Sin always has consequences.
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Truth about the devil and his tools of destruction