(There is a special message at the end of this article for those who might happen to read this and do not have Jesus in their life and are looking for peace and a way to better understand the present-day insanity and confusion.)

We’ve all heard these two phrases or some variation of them over the past several years.

1)  Anything (or Anyone) but…??? This implies that an individual so disposed would select absolutely ANY alternative to the one(s) existing at any given moment, no matter how vile or senseless and destructive the consequences of their choices might be.

2)  TDS (Trump Derangement Syndrome). This rabid and virulent hatred of one individual, regardless of any rational reason(s), is not new. It has been going on for 2,000 years or so (and likely much longer, considering human nature). It has been labeled with different names, but the derangement remains the same.

So, considering just these two examples of modern-day conduct (reasoning?) and intellectual vapidity, what are we to deduce from it all?

“What has been, it is what will be, And what has been done, it is what will be done. So, there is nothing new under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9).

To understand this, we have to decide to be completely honest with ourselves; to accept Truth in the face of self-serving pride; to be willing to confront the inner weakness of our emotions, and, as we used to say back in my day, “get real.”

“Get real” used to mean accepting circumstances for what they were. This is risky, though, because if we do that, we then must make a conscious decision.

• Accept and deal with the Truth.
• Reject and continue to fabricate our own version of what we want to be true without letting the nuisance of reality obstruct our fantasies.

There is one more conundrum to deal with: Truth is reality from God’s perspective.

And His is the only perspective that matters.

If you don’t like that, well, you will have to choose #2 above.

Number 2 is called “relative truth,” and it has never, ever resulted in wise or rational decisions.

You are putting your trust in “Anything But…”

You are really trusting in your own perceived “power,” human government, a false god of your own design, your own vain imaginings, or any other number of human constructs that have failed repeatedly over history.

Trump is only one more faulty human who cannot fix this mess that has been allowed to fester, and it is now becoming apparent to anyone who is willing to choose #1 above that the world situation is now beyond human remedy.

You are buying time, and that is one commodity that is quickly running out.

“‘ Vanity of vanities,’ says the Preacher; ‘All is vanity'” (Ecclesiastes 12:8).

This may seem rather harsh and unfeeling (as truth often can be).

It is anything but.

You may be thinking that these uncomfortable facts don’t offer any hope for you or your children or grandchildren, and you don’t want to consider them, so you may be tempted to choose #2 again, and that lack of hope would be true in that “relative truth” and “desires” cannot bring about any kind of real solutions to real problems.

Perhaps you might do yourself a favor.

Get by yourself, take a moment, choose #1 above, and, in that light, consider:

• Is the world getting any better?
• Do you see human beings as being able, given the track record of history, to “fix” the current state of the world?

Truthfully, I am trying to direct your heart and mind to the only Hope there is. I have a stepson and stepdaughter and grandkids that I love beyond understanding. I want them to have a future of life and love, and I want the same for you and yours.

But it is not going to be in this sin-besotted world. Given present circumstances and their alignment with Bible prophecy, it is simply out of the question.

So, I must choose #1 if I am to be an effective influence on them.

Earlier in this article, I stated, relative to unbridled hatred of Trump, that: “This rabid and virulent hatred of one individual, regardless of any reason(s), rational or otherwise, is actually not new. It has been going on for 2,000 years or so….”

The below example is comparing Gold (Jesus) to clay (Trump and all other human “leaders”), but it is nevertheless adequate to make the point.

If you are still with me, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

I expect you know where I am going with this, so I will just go about getting there.

2,000+/- years ago, Jesus Christ was executed (from the world’s perspective) by being nailed to a Roman cross. The Jews and the Gentiles bear equal blame for this action.

That is Truth from God’s perspective.

He was hated without reason or justification, and that hatred has been ongoing for the many years since by a very large majority of humankind.

The Truth is, Jesus voluntarily allowed Himself to be murdered, even though completely innocent and sinless. No human power could have done a single thing to Him outside His will. He did this to pay the death sentence for the sins of the whole world.

That is why He came.

But it must be understood that the eternal life that can be realized from His sacrifice is only guaranteed to those who will receive His gift, not for those who reject Him.

People are usually willing to talk about God because, in so many cases, they have been lured by the world into thinking of Him in human terms, perhaps as a “white-haired kindly figure who forgives everyone because we are, after all, “only human,” or some other kind of “controllable” human construct that allows Him to be “managed.”

In the C.S. Lewis Narnia movies, the Depiction of Jesus Christ was the character Aslan, and it was said of Him, “After all, He is not a tame lion.”

When He returns as the Lion of Judah in righteous judgment, it will be clear to the entire world that, indeed, “He is not a tame Lion.”

My father used to say, when I tried to talk to him about Jesus, that he had “found something that worked for him.” How sad and terrible.

To this day, I do not know if he ever came to a knowledge of the Truth. His living years have passed, so whatever place he came to is now fixed and irrevocable.

God doesn’t “work for anyone” in as far as people trying to view Him in that light so they can “manage Him” and find temporary “refuge” from accountability to Him.

Yet, He does, in fact, work for us and continues to do so every single day, but in His own Will and by His own Authority. He is working for our good even this very minute.

“And we know that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28). Emphasis added by me.

So, who really is the focus of the blind hatred and avarice of the “Anything but” world?

It is Jesus who cannot be mentioned in a discussion about God without giving rise to an unspoken phrase as old as the Cross itself.

“Anything or anyone but Jesus.”

Why is that? When we choose #1, we find that He, and He alone, is the “real deal.”

He is the Son of God, not “a” son of God, but THE Son of God.

He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, the Only Way, and that is why He is so hated by a world that chooses #2 above.

For as long as you are still in “your living years,” you can choose to place all your Trust and Hope in Jesus, the Only Source of Truth.

That means you will need to choose #1 and “get real.”

“Getting real” shows us that the “end of days” that the Word of God has foretold in His written Word is right at the door.

You can’t save yourself, your kids, or your grandkids, and I can’t save mine either. That is the province of the Holy Spirit of God.

If you are willing, read on just a little further. If you come to the foot of the cross and receive Jesus as your Lord and as your Savior, you can begin to influence those you love by telling them the Truth of who Jesus is.

You can’t love them more or do them any higher service than that.

The special message I promised you:

For anyone who may read this article and has not trusted in Jesus Christ and therefore has no hope or peace in your life.

You can have hope. You can have the peace that Jesus has promised to all who have made Him their Lord and Savior. The peace that passes understanding.

It requires that you come before God on His terms.

And, what are His terms according to His Word?

• Genuine repentance (turning to God instead of continuing to reject or ignore Him).
• Confession of sins (that you are a sinner and acknowledge that to God).
• That you understand that the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23).
• To acknowledge to God that you are unable to pay that debt.
• Belief that Jesus Christ paid your death sentence for you on the cross.
• To believe that Jesus is the Way, the only Way, that God has established by which humans may be saved from the consequences of their sin and rebellion.

God has made it absolutely clear that there is no one who comes before Him, under His terms, that will be refused.

• No one: no race, no color, no country of origin, regardless of any previous belief system: no one.
• No matter what your past sins have been, God can and WILL forgive you because He says He will.
• Salvation is available to everyone without any exceptions.

If you put all your trust for salvation in Jesus, and Him only, you can follow that prayer up by simply saying, “Thank you, Father God, for hearing my prayer and saving me,” because we can trust Him to keep His Word. He always has. He always will.

“Truly, Truly, I say to you that he who hears My words and believes the One who sent Me has eternal life and will not be condemned. He has crossed from death to life” (John 5:24).

There are no answers and there is no hope in the world by governments, organizations, politics or politicians. There are only lies and deception. But you can have the Truth and the peace you seek.

The answers are in the Word of God—The Bible. If you ask God, with all your heart, He will hear you.

“And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13).

Pro Salvator Vigilans

To contact me: canoeman96@gmail.com

God chose Abraham to be the patriarch of what would become the nation of Israel. He chose the nation of Israel through which to reveal Himself to the rest of the world (Genesis 12 and 17).

As time passed by, God proceeded to reveal Himself in many ways, not the least of which is prophetic fulfillment and mighty miracles.

Most importantly, He chose Israel as the nation that would provide the world with a Savior, a Messiah, the Son of God Himself, to take the sins of all mankind upon Himself and reconcile fallen man back to God, thus bestowing eternal life upon all who would believe” (Isaiah 7:14; Isaiah 41:14; Genesis 3:5; John 3:16).

Rejection of these biblically revealed truths can and sometimes does fill a man’s heart with a venomous hatred toward the God of Israel and can poison his mind and heart against the only one capable of saving him.

Lucifer cares not whether someone hates God because they are atheists and mock the idea of any type of God, or whether they are globalist elitists who believe they are here to replace God, or whether they are followers of a false god and false prophet whose teachings have turned them into a mindless murderous demon-possessed death cult such as Hamas, or whether they are spiritual seekers who believe that there are many paths to enlightenment, seekers who have (2Timothy 3:5) a form of godliness but deny the power thereof.

Any road the devil can persuade people to travel, as long as it leads to hatred for the God of Israel, is fine with him.

When a man’s (or woman’s) heart becomes poisoned against God, the devil will be only too willing to lead that man or woman even further down into utter darkness.

Satan and his legions of demons know full well that Jesus is the Son of the Most-High God and the Messiah. They tremble at the mere mention of His name (James 2:19).

Even so, that does not stop Satan or his minions from attempting to deceive any and all souls who reject Jesus, leading them into dangerous places like the world of the occult, where even more lies and deceptions can be imposed upon them.

A world religion that is right now shaping up and is based on new-age occult teachings disguised as ecumenicalism will be a huge part of the antichrist’s draconian new world order during the Tribulation.

Anti-Christ means against Christ or in place of Christ.

The world of the occult is a place where false gospels abound. A place where lies are embraced as truths.

A place where demons pose as angels. A place where foolishness is presented as wisdom.

The realm of the occult is populated by demons. The deeper one dives into it, the greater the chance of becoming demon-possessed.

Putting on the Armor of God is the exact opposite of diving into the realm of the occult (Ephesians 6:10-18).

The realm of the occult is a deep pool. Many souls have dived in deep, only to drown and be devoured. Access to the occult realms is often by way of various meditation techniques.

Some souls dive deep into the occult pool and are drowned, devoured, regurgitated, and spit back out with a talking demon at the helm. Some call this channeling.

In the occult world of new-age belief systems, channeling is often admired as a sign of advanced enlightenment. The bizarre behavior of someone channeling, if observed dispassionately, looks a lot more like demon possession.

Satan has produced many counterfeit forms of enlightenment or illumination. Ironically and paradoxically, they are all attained in utter darkness, where demons are waiting and willing to take possession.

Satan’s ability to fool people is legendary, and yet, there continues to be no shortage of naïve willing converts falling for his deceptions.

Be wise or be fooled. Either choice has eternal consequences.

Reach toward the devil, and he will pull you under. Reach toward God, and He will lift you up.

When a person gives their whole heart to God, through Jesus, the Creator of life itself becomes their protector, and that person’s soul is then forever beyond the devil’s reach. Satan will continue to tempt but loses his power to corrupt.

Some deluded souls pursue wickedness on purpose and even profess devotion to Satan openly.

Many others, however, pursue wickedness naively and unknowingly, lured down a path of false enlightenment.

Satan has contrived numerous paths of false enlightenment, each one masquerading as a pathway to the truth. Eventually, however, every false path leads back to the father of lies.

The realm of the occult is a nightmarish place, and yet, many a seeker is convinced that they will find God in there.

The realm of the occult is a spirit realm, just as the realm of angels is a spirit realm. Hell is a spirit realm just past the occult realm, but deeper and further down into the darkest of all dark places.

Heaven is a spirit realm just beyond the angelic realm, extending and rising into the full presence of God’s Holiness, His eternal light, and his bountiful joy.

Characteristics, influences, principalities, and personal representatives from Heaven and Hell coexist on Earth and are engaged in a battle for the souls of men and women.

Instead of imagining that Heaven and Hell don’t exist – because Jesus says a great deal about how they both do exist – imagine if the two were completely separate.

Imagining a world of love and beauty, where life is eternal in God’s Holy presence and evil is non-existent, is a delightful prospect (Revelation 21).

Whereas imagining a world in the form of a lake filled with a dim glow of unquenchable fire and populated by Satan, the antichrist and his false prophet, demons, and everyone who ever lived that had given themselves over to every imaginable kind of wickedness and evil, all packed together, blaspheming, wailing and moaning and gnashing their teeth and cursing God continually with no let up at all forever and ever, is a mighty grim thing to imagine (Matthew 13:50; Revelation 21:8).

Jesus told His disciples to take the Gospel of Salvation to every nation on Earth (Matthew 28:18-20).

He mercifully wanted everyone to know that Hell and the Lake of Fire can be avoided.

God is so very merciful.

From the time when Jesus rose from the dead until now, as we stand upon the threshold of His return, Almighty God has graciously allotted two thousand years for that great commission of spreading the good news of Salvation by Grace to be completed.

Everyone who ever sinned should thank God that His perfect justice is tempered by His wonderful mercy.

Everyone who ever sinned is also everyone who ever lived.

If not for God’s Amazing Grace, the Lake of Fire would have to be a much bigger place.

The free will choice between a never-ending, glorious and beautiful journey or an eternal life sentence of confinement in burning darkness and misery – you would think that would be a no-brainer.

If evil did not exist, there would be no need for justice or Hell or a Lake of Fire. Heaven on Earth is all that we would have ever known.

In the Garden of Eden, God warned Adam and Eve not to eat from the “Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil” (Genesis 2:17).

Instead of trusting Him who created them, Eve and then Adam fell for the first known lie of Lucifer the devil, and as a result, we have the knowledge that good and evil most definitely do exist.

Rest assured on God’s Prophetic Word that the idea of pure good and depraved evil, each without the other, will one day become reality.

The truth is out there, and the information is available to the mortal man. It is called the “Word of God,” and it can be found in a book known as the “Holy Bible.”

Ironically, what is referred to as “new-age” in regard to occultism is really old-age and has been around for a very long time. There are plenty of new terms for old ideas, but it is the same old lies that lead souls into dark places.

In that Holy Bible is the story (1 Samuel 28) about the first king of Israel who happened to be a man named Saul.

Saul had been warned by God about avoiding the occult, but Saul did not listen.

Saul disguised himself and sought counsel from a familiar spirit known as the Witch of Endor.

Saul asked her to raise up the spirit of the prophet Samuel who had recently died, so that Samuel might advise Saul about a battle against the Philistines that was going to take place the very next day.

It appears in this story that God allowed Samuel to appear and that the dead Samuel told Saul the same thing that the living Samuel had told him.

Don’t mess with the occult. The very same occult that Saul himself, under God’s direction through the living Samuel, had outlawed in the land of Israel.

Saul had flat-out disobeyed God by seeking occult counsel l through necromancy.

The very next day, Saul was slain in the battle with the Philistines, and David then became King of Israel.

Nothing good will ever be found inside the dark realms of the occult. God forbids us going there for our own safety and our own good.

Satan attempts to lure souls into occultic participation by dressing it up with words like mystical, mysticism, and romantic song lyrics like “sailing off into the mystic.” Satan tries to make it appear benign, peaceful, beautiful, harmless, and even fun.

Like so many things in this world and in this life, it is a choice. Believe God and stay away from the occult, or believe Satan and dive in like Saul did, in direct defiance of all warnings.

There are consequences for bad choices that defy the warnings that God gives to us. Warnings for our own safety and well-being.

One choice that only good can come from is inviting Jesus into your heart to be your Lord and Savior.

Invite Jesus into your heart and into your life to be your Savior and best friend. He will never force Himself upon you, and yet, He waits for your invitation.

Jesus loves you so much that He was willing to, and actually did, lay down His life for you so that you might live forever. He laid down His precious life for you and for me and for everyone (John 15:13).

His Father, who is also our Heavenly Father, then raised Jesus from the dead. The resurrected body, like the one Jesus has, is promised to all who believe. A body that will never know death, never grow old, nor get sick (Philippians 3:20-21).

He promises us eternal life in a paradise so amazing and so beautiful and forever interesting that there are no words to describe the magnificence of it this side of Heaven itself.

“What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived, are the things God has prepared for those who love Him” (1Corintians 2:9).

Romans 10:9-10 teaches us how to ask Jesus into our lives. “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.”

We do not need the occult or anything that is even remotely associated with it.

We need only to Believe in the Only Begotten Son of God, the One who spoke Creation itself into existence. The Son of our Heavenly Father, God All Merciful and Almighty, The Holy One of Israel.

Be Eternally Blessed and become part of His Forever Family.

You will be most welcome.

In the Holy name of Jesus,

Your brother, Rick Segoine

***

All are invited to visit ricksegoine.net for free downloads of my book, From God to Eternity, or to order a paperback copy. Free downloads are also available for original gospel songs and story songs.