In my last article, we talked about Satan and his ilk and we also talked about Jesus Christ and going to heaven…IF we choose to follow Jesus Christ. We remember that it is ONLY Jesus Christ and HIM alone that will allow us to enter into Heaven. Still…we, as in you and I, must Choose whom to follow!
So now the question is, “How do we know WHO is influencing us?”
This is not a difficult thing to answer. Simply look around you and recognize all that is going on and follow those actions back to the responsible parties. So the question to that is simply, whom has made the biggest attempts at furthering what all is happening. If a crime takes place there is always, the perpetrator and a victim. Obviously, we know good from bad, because Adam and Eve ate of the “Fruit of the Tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil.”
We inherited this original sin. The question then is, “Who committed the crime, then who is the victim?” And we ask what are the circumstances of the crime. The police investigators then look to understand the crime, how it was perpetrated, who the victim is and who are the witnesses. After the investigation is complete they arrest the perpetrator and bring justice to the community and the victim. This is not difficult to understand, but the “reasons” for the crime are unclear.
If the perpetrator is honest, the answers will be something like, “I wanted this or that, I don’t like them, I don’t like being poor” and the answers could fill a long list. Have you noticed the common denominator here? How about the word “I” or “me?” All of a sudden the curtains begin to part and the truth begins to come clear, right? If Adam and Eve had never eaten of that fruit, we would never know what evil is and everyone’s efforts would be for Good only.
Isaiah 14:12-15: “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.”
1 Peter 5:8: “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.”
There is your culprit! That is where the perpetrators idea for a crime, came from. The perpetrator was deceived by Satan and his ilk to commit a crime and to hurt others. There is no other way to look at this, because the Bible is, directly opposed to any such dealings and God would never tempt you in any manner.
Therefore, if Jesus Christ, who is God, never Tempts you, then it must be Satan and his ilk! IF you truly follow Jesus Christ, there is no way you would commit such a crime or any other crime. This is because, to follow Jesus Christ in truth, means to love others and to do good to others, how could you turn and commit a crime? Unless you do not follow Jesus Christ, if you have never given your life over to Jesus Christ. The Bible is specific on this matter;
1 Corinthians 6:19-20: “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.”
If in fact and all truth, you belong to God, then there is only one way for you to live and that is FOR Jesus Christ, thus Satan’s temptations are worthless. We call on the name of Jesus Christ and tell Him of our temptations and HE delivers us, He always leaves a way out for us. That my friends, is the answer!
Ephesians 2:1-5: “And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved).”
There is your answer about following Jesus Christ, who IS God! Does this mean, if we are born-again and following Jesus Christ, that we will never Sin again? Absolutely NOT! The difference is that we who are born-again believers and followers of Jesus Christ have already had our sin forgiven. We want to come before HIM and ask for HIS forgiveness of our Sin…every Sin.
1 John 1:9: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
Born-again believers and true followers of Jesus Christ, have already been washed in His precious blood from the Cross. We choose NOT to sin, because we want to be like Him, who has never sinned! We do not take sin frivolously, we see our sin is serious, because we stand before a righteous and just Father. Sin will never be in the presence of God, therefore we ask His Forgiveness, because we want to be in His Presence forever, covered in the blood of Jesus Christ.
So where does death come from? Why are there wars and death and dying? Why are there diseases that kill children, and why is there famine? The answer is SIN…our SIN! We own that sin, we are responsible to God Almighty for our sin and the woes of this world. The instigator of our sin is none other than Satan and his ilk. It is Satan and his ilk that are the bearers of LIES, whether that be to others or to ourselves. Our actions are the result of what we think in our hearts, we bear that responsibility. The day is coming when everyone will stand before God Almighty and we will answer for our sin—for the “intent of our hearts.” Know that Satan and his ilk are already condemned to the lake of fire, it is already final…God Almighty has already said so.
If we learn this and clearly understand it, we are then found responsible for whom we have chosen to follow. Make sure you understand there is but one road, that is life. There does come a single division in that road and we must choose which way we wish to walk and one is to heaven and the other is to destruction. We know that our actions in front of others, will show them whom we follow.
That my friends, is a most serious image of people and what their heart’s intentions truly are. If we do not go to the Cross of Jesus Christ and are washed in His blood, we will NEVER see heaven. I do not say this, the Holy Word of God says it, therefore it is for you and me, directly from God.
Death as a human, is the scariest thing in our minds. We (the world) wonders if there is a life beyond this one, after our physical Death. If we, as Humans on this planet fear death so much, wouldn’t you fear death in Eternity even more? It is Satan and his ilk that deceives us and makes us laugh at death, as if it is a joke…at least until we take our last breath, that is. There is a better choice…Jesus Christ!