“Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18).
We make many choices in life. We must live with our choices, good or bad. The best choice to make is to accept Jesus Christ for salvation. Once we’ve done that, we need to choose to follow Him. How do we do that? Scripture is our guide, and the Holy Spirit is our navigator. We must choose to do God’s will instead of Satan’s will. Satan has always wanted mankind to fail. He’s the master of deception. He first deceived Eve in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve had a lovely life there. They had food, water, and the presence of God was all around them. There was no disease or death. It’s hard to imagine just how beautiful it was before Satan’s lies were harkened to and all of creation fell. Adam and Eve knew God, and they only had to obey one law.
“And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die” (Genesis 2:16-17).
That seems simple enough. Today there’s still only one path to salvation, but Satan’s lies have corrupted that. “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6).
There is no other way to salvation than to accept the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. God spoke plainly to Adam, who should have spoken plainly to Eve. Scripture speaks very plainly to us, and we need to pay attention to it. Had God’s one rule been followed, life would be very different today. But Satan entered, and by deceit, he talked Eve into disobeying God. He convinced Eve that God had deceived them, that God didn’t have their best interest at heart. God said they would die if they ate the fruit of the tree of knowledge, but Satan twisted God’s words.
“And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:4-5).
Ever since that day, death has been part of life. It’s always smart to take God at His word and obey Him. Satan’s tactics haven’t changed. He uses lies and deception, and he only wants evil for humans. Pride caused his fall, and pride is a sin. God loves sinners and will forgive all sin.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
We like the forgiveness part but forget that encountering Jesus should change our attitude toward sin. When a prostitute was brought before Jesus for Him to condemn her to death, she found forgiveness in Him rather than condemnation. He asked her, “Woman, where are those thine accusers? Hath no man condemned thee? She said No man, Lord, And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more” (John 8:10b-11).
All those who accused her left, and Jesus forgave her, but He told her to sin no more… change her lifestyle. We need to pay attention. All who come to Jesus find forgiveness, but then we need to turn away from the sin.
Pride is a sin. Pride causes us to think we know more than God. Oddly enough, we dedicate a whole month to the pride of sin. Satan’s pride caused his eviction from the realm of the Heavenly angels.
“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 height of the clouds; I will be like the most High” (Isaiah 14:12-14).
Pride will always cause destruction. Satan thought he would exalt himself above God, but pride never works out. “Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit” (Isaiah 14:15).
Satan has led weak-minded people, who are easily deceived, in rebellion and sin ever since he deceived Eve.
Satan hates us, but many people today follow his will instead of following God’s will. God is love, and Satan is the opposite of love. Satan’s pride tries to destroy people, and many follow his lies. We are coming to the end of days, and Satan will try to thwart God by possessing a man who will deceive many people into taking his mark. It is the Holy Spirit living in Christians that restrains this man of sin from coming forward. That man of sin is a follower of Satan, and there are many candidates for the anti-Christ living today.
“Even him whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders. And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved” (2 Thessalonians 2:9-10).
We can see the deceit that is permeating the world today, not only in the secular world but within the congregations that claim to be Christian. Brothers and sisters, don’t be deceived. God loved the world enough to offer His Son for our redemption, and Jesus willingly gave His life for us. If you call yourself a Christian, then believe God’s word and follow His directions in life. Don’t take pride in sin of any kind, but live life according to Scripture. Do God’s will, not Satan’s will.
Our first step in not following Satan’s will is to accept Christ for eternal salvation. The next step is to become a living sacrifice. “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service” (Romans 12:1).
That is reasonable. God gave His life to purchase your salvation, so the least you can do is to live your life to honor Him. We can’t do anything to earn salvation, but we can thank God by living for Him.
“Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him” (James 1:12).
God doesn’t set evil before you in order to tempt you. “Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: but every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed” (James 1:13-14).
Did God set Satan in the Garden in order that Eve would yield to temptation? No. Temptation came because she allowed herself to be in a situation where Satan could tempt her. Satan will tempt you into sin if you follow his will instead of God’s will. Instead of standing upon God’s words, Eve listened to Satan’s twisted version of God’s words. His lies distorted God’s truth, and she believed Satan’s lies. God only speaks truth, but even today, we listen to Satan’s voice telling us that God is wrong. Instead of standing firmly on God’s truth, we listen to the lies of Satan. That’s when, like Eve, we become confused, and Satan’s lies begin to sound reasonable. From that, we get a perverted view of creation, marriage, and life in general.
The secular world cannot be expected to understand and obey God, but there’s no excuse for Christians to follow Satan’s will instead of God’s will. We have Scripture. Christians get mocked and laughed at if we don’t join in the ways of the world and yield to the temptation of sin, but we are to follow Scripture as our guide. There are no advantages to sin. When God’s ways are rejected, disease and death follow. Anger flares up, and guns get blamed for the violence that surrounds us in this life. It’s not guns but sin that causes a trigger to be pulled. Statistics say that 24% of US women will have an abortion by age 45. That’s a sad commentary on the moral state of America. There shouldn’t be any abortions. Babies are murdered, and it’s called “a woman’s right to choose.” That choice comes before a baby is created.
Brothers and sisters, we need to be leaders in choosing God’s will over Satan’s will. We need to require public schools to teach morals instead of promoting sin. We have the instruction book for a life that honors God. If we read it and apply it to our daily living, we will honor God Almighty. Walking in sin triggers God’s judgment, and as sin increases, it becomes more acceptable. As people embrace Satan’s will instead of God’s will, we draw closer to the ultimate judgment… the Great Tribulation. The people who have accepted Christ’s shed blood for salvation will be taken directly to Heaven in the Rapture before that time of God’s wrath upon an unbelieving world that follows Satan.
“Behold, I shew you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed” (2 Corinthians 15:51-52).
But all who reject Jesus Christ, embrace sin, and walk in the path of Satan will face horrendous judgment, but it will be their own choice by rejecting Christ. Demons will rule, and pure evil will have nothing to stop it.
Accept Christ’s sacrifice for your redemption today because tomorrow may be too late. Then follow God’s will, not Satan’s will.
God bless you all,
Nathele Graham
ron@straitandnarrowministry.com
All original scripture is “theopneustos,” God-breathed.
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