Sir Edmund Hillary was the first person to conquer Mount Everest (along with his Sherpa helper Tenzing Norgay) but he didn't beat it on his first try. His first attempt was a failure. But after that failure, he said, "I will come again & conquer you, because as a mountain you can’t grow, but as a human, I can.”
Think about that spiritually. Satan is a powerful and huge, like Mount Everest, but like Everest, he also can't grow. His fate has long been sealed. His bag of tricks is supernaturally powerful but also utterly revealed by God. Now consider what God says about us. "Like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation." (1 Pet 2:2)
Unlike Satan, we CAN grow. Unlike Satan, we CAN be destined for perfect glory. And unlike Satan, we have a Tenzing Norgay on our side of unfathomable power. The only way we can lose is if we don't try.
"For the entire Law is fulfilled in in this one word: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."—Gal 5:14
Filtering by Category: Satan
What should I do it a trusted leader turns out to be a fraud?
Growing as a Christian, it can be damaging to your faith to realize that some trusted Christian (even leader) you know turns out to be a fraud. It might make you feel stupid, like you were tricked, and it might also make you think that the leadership was also foolish.
Satan is all about damaging your faith. Be vigilant, but realize in Matthew 13:24-30, God told you to EXPECT this trick by Satan. In fact, He flat-out warned us that there is a harvest, and the good wheat will have a lookalike weed (called a tare) among it. That weed is sown by Satan himself! So how can you be on the lookout so that you're not so hurt? Simple! "But when the wheat sprouted and bore grain, then the tares became evident also." (v26)
Look at the fruit that people produce. It can be good, bad, or non-existent. But don't be discouraged. That's what Satan wants.
It's only a struggle if you fight it.
Yes or no: Some people just need to come to their senses! What if you were working for the enemy and didn't even know it? God says that we should be "with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will." (2 Tim 2:25-26)
That's a scary thing! How can we make sure that we're not Satan's unwitting POWs? God explains 3 verses before by saying, "flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart." Embracing unrighteousness—even just by refusing to fight it—can lead to us being held captive by Satan to do his will.
It's not a struggle with sin if you're not fighting it. Flee it. Fight it. Don't be captured by it. And if you have friends who are captive to Satan, fight for their freedom, but don't let them snare you for Satan. :)
Many antichrists.
Spirit of the Antichrist
BQ: There's a lot of sensationalism around the "antichrist" in media. Apparently, people like to think of the antichrist as a big bad boogeyman, a single event and thing to make scary movies about an apocalyptic killer. "Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared; from this we know that it is the last hour." (1 John 2:18) Oh boy, now there are multiple ones! What!?!
Q: What is the spirit of the antichrist and how can it be overcome?
A: 1 Jn 4:3, 1 Tim 4:1, Eph 2:1-2, then
1 Cor 10:13, I Peter 5:8-9, James 4:7
The spirit of the antichrist is all over, taking captive all those who are not in Christ, and yet it can't take a single person who doesn't want to be taken. Let's rescue those who respond to a helping hand reaching into the darkness to pull 'em out!
(PN5)
Do demons possess people today?
BQ: Demons! Unclean and rotten spirits. Lots of people have been asking me about 'em these days.
Q: Are demons still running amok and possessing people? When will it ever stop?
A: Zech 13:2, 1 Cor 13:8-12, 1 Pet 5:8, 1 Cor 10:13, Rom 6:16
Of importance, "and I will also remove the prophets and the unclean spirit from the land." Satan still walks the earth, and indeed more people follow him as the end draws near, but we have the perfect and complete words of God now, and resurrections, prophecies, etc. have ended. The power to cast out demons is gone, but so are they.
These days, people willingly serve Satan (1 Jn 2:18; 22, 2 Jn 7) and exhibit his spirit so perfectly that demonic possession would be redundant—and demoniacs were cleansed to show the power of God, anyway. The only thing we need to worry about is whether or not we're truly serving God, or if we're deceiving ourselves.
(PN40)
What is the spirit of the antichrist?
BQ: There's a lot of sensationalism around the "antichrist" in media. Apparently, people like to think of the antichrist as a big bad boogeyman, a single event and thing to make scary movies about an apocalyptic killer. "Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared; from this we know that it is the last hour." (1 John 2:18) Oh boy, now there are multiple ones! What!?!
Q: What is the spirit of the antichrist and how can it be overcome?
A: 1 Jn 4:3, 1 Tim 4:1, Eph 2:1-2, then
1 Cor 10:13, I Peter 5:8-9, James 4:7
The spirit of the antichrist is all over, taking captive all those who are not in Christ, and yet it can't take a single person who doesn't want to be taken. Let's rescue those who respond to a helping hand reaching into the darkness to pull 'em out!
(PN5)