Freely Moving About The Kingdom

I got an email today from a very dear friend. Her and my views on spirituality really aren’t that different but our beliefs are. I know that one doesn’t make a lot of sense but it’s just the way it is, it’s hard to explain.

Anyhow she sent me a link to an article written by Deepak Chopra titled “Satan’s Last Gasp”

Basically Mr. Chopra claims that Satan is getting weaker in our minds and that Satan really doesn’t exist. He even compares him to the boogie man.

Friends I can’t begin to even tell you how much that this man’s ideas on Satan scare me.

He mentions how Satan doesn’t bother atheists. Of course he doesn’t, why would he? He has them in his grasp already. Well at least until he’s ready to call them home.

Mr. Chopra also claims that evil stuff doesn’t happen to atheists because they don’t believe in God or Satan. Well Mr. Chopra let’s ask Madeline Murray O’Hair how she feels about that. Oh that’s right we can’t ask her. The queen atheist herself, along with 2 of her adult, atheist children, disappeared. They were found buried and chopped in pieces.

“In January 2001, Waters informed the police that the O’Hairs were buried on a Texas ranch, and he subsequently led them to the bodies. When the police excavated there, they discovered that the O’Hairs’ bodies had been cut into dozens of pieces with a saw. The remains exhibited such extensive mutilation and successive decomposition that identification had to be made through dental records, by DNA testing and, in Madalyn O’Hair’s case, by her prosthetic hip.”

Her one adult child who turned to Christianity is still alive today.

Naw nothing evil ever happens to atheists.

This kind of talk about Satan not existing is about as stupid as saying the devil made me do it.

We have freewill to choose. We can choose to fall into the temptations that Satan puts before us or we can choose to use the avenue of escape that God promises us will be there whenever temptations come about.

 

Here was my response to my friend via email about Mr. Chopra’s article.

Dear …..,

I know we don’t see eye to eye on some things spiritually. That doesn’t mean that I don’t love you any less and I’m sure that the love goes both ways. I also use our relationship as a mirror to examine myself from time to time because we think differently and I am blind to myself at times.

But on the article by Deepak Chopra:  I don’t like it one bit. It will make people weaker, not Satan. The more Satan is forgotten the stronger he gets. People tend to not stay vigilant against an enemy they aren’t mindful of.

Satan is not a projection of my fear or my guilt. I’m just aware of the fact that he will attack Christians at every turn. There’s nothing there for me to be guilty or in fear of there because my God is stronger and will prevail.

Yes we are responsible for our actions, not Satan, but He is still an enemy to be aware of and this article plays down his significance and his power.

Eve made a choice in the garden that was all hers and no one else can be blamed for it but Satan is the one who put the temptation there in the first place.

People succumb to greed, lust, power, etc… and it’s their fault for doing so and no one else’s but it’s Satan who puts it there for them to succumb to in the first place.

Articles like this will just lead to more people succumbing to the temptations that Satan places in front of them because they will have a false sense of security when it comes to their spiritual warfare, well being, and the power that Satan holds in this world. This is his domain, given to him by God, only for a season, but it’s still his for now nonetheless.

I wanted to preach, felt led to preach, but Satan used the Rapiers, the Fords, and others like them to drive me away from church and from seeking God’s will in my life. It’s not my fault that the Rapier’s abused us but it is my fault that I turned away from God and let their abuse lead to hate and anger that consumed me for 27 years and blocked my relationship with Him. Had I been strong enough to recognize that forgiveness for the Rapiers and Fords was the right thing to do I can’t even begin to imagine the things I could have accomplished spiritually over the last 27 years. But instead I allowed myself to succumb to Satan’s lies and into being filled with hate and malice for my fellow man and most churches in general. For that I cannot blame anyone but myself.

I’m not saying that what the Rapiers, Fords, or Kings did was right. It wasn’t, it was actually criminal and no they have not answered for it either. My forgiveness of them doesn’t make what they did right, it doesn’t mean it’s okay that justice hasn’t been served. It doesn’t even forget the evil that they did to us. What my forgiveness does is recognize what they did for what it was. An evil that they were and are responsible for but one that Satan had a very big hand in and he used it against me. My forgiveness also recognizes not only what they did but how I let it affect me and that I was wrong for letting it affect me that way. My forgiveness of them also recognizes that I’m only human, I was only a kid, and that God forgives me for letting their abuse affect me so. My forgiveness of them is a step towards a spiritual maturity that is way over due in my life.

And my forgiveness is something that Satan hates. And because of that I have to be ever vigilant of the fact that Satan is right around the corner waiting to tempt me so I can fall back into his grasp. Now if I let that happen it’s my fault, but then it’s also my fault if I do not make myself aware of the fact that Satan is waiting for the chance to do just that.

I love ya,
Clark

Filed under: March 2009
Tags: « 1 Chronicles • 1 Corinthians • 1 John • 1 Kings • 1 Peter • 1 Samuel • 1 Thessalonians • 1 Timothy • 2 Chronicles • 2 Corinthians • 2 John • 2 Kings • 2 Peter • 2 Samuel • 2 Thessalonians • 2 Timothy • 3 John • Acts • Amos • atheist • Blessings • Boogie Man • Colossians • Daniel • Deepak Chopra • Deuteronomy • Devil • Ecclesiastes • Ephesians • Esther • Exodus • Ezekiel • Ezra • Forgiveness • Galatians • Genesis • God • Grace • Habakkuk • Hades • Haggai • Hate Sin • Hebrews • Hell • Holy Spirit • Hosea • Isaiah • James • Jeremiah • Jesus • Job • Joel • John • Jonah • Joshua • Jude • Judges • Lamentations • Love • Love Thy Neighbor • Lucifer • Luke • Madeline Murray O'hare • Malachi • Mark • Matthew • Mercy • Micah • Miracle • Mircales • Nahum • Nehemiah • Numbers • Obadiah • Parables • Peace • Philemon • Philippians • Proverbs • Psalm • Revelation • Romans • Ruth • Salvation • Satan • Song of Solomon • The Cross • Titus • Trinity • Virgin Birth • Zechariah • Zephaniah »
by jcw