A Noble Berean

  Okay, let's keep chugging along here on the spiritual warfare study.  I had no idea I'd write this much about the times we're vulnerable to Satan's attacks, but next up is... Innocence, naivete Innocence is one of the most endearing qualities someone can have.  We love it in babies and young children and the pure of heart.  But innocence with naivete can make us especially vulnerable to Satan's deceptions because we're too trusting and too uneducated in the ways of evil to know better.  Let's look at the attack Satan launched on someone who was the most innocent and naive of all, to see what we can learn from it. Deception (twisting the truth, God's character, or God's Word) is one of Satan's first (and best) tricks.  He used it on Eve in the Garden of Eden.  God had forbidden Adam and Eve from eating from one tree out of a whole garden of trees.  All the rest were allowed.  But Satan cleverly asked Eve  "Did God really say, 'You must ...

  I've said this before, but I think this stuff will get more and more out in the open as we get closer and closer to the end times: They're Coming For Your Children   (article) If you invite demons into your life, don't be surprised when they show up. And do you really think they'll care if you go "Oh, I didn't really mean it; it was just a joke"?  (Here's  my story  about why I take this stuff so seriously, how I know it's real and shouldn't be messed with.) (What would be really interesting would be to hear the stories of what happened in these families' lives in the months that followed their demon summoning.  Sadly, they won't realize how real it all is until it's too late.  And more sadly, it will be their kids who pay the price.) And how about some relevant songs from Carman, just for fun: A Witch's Invitation  - Love this one! No Monsters  - Carman knows the power of Jesus's name! Satan, Bite The Dust   - I wouldn...

  In the bad times Not only are we vulnerable to demonic attacks in the good times, but we're also vulnerable when we're in our deepest, darkest times, when the trials and tragedies make us feel broken-down, fragile, exhausted, and hopeless.  (Definitely been there!)   Satan will kick us when we're down, taking advantage of our exhaustion and weakness, trying to get us to doubt God and His Word, to give up on Him in despair, to blaspheme Him, or to act outside of His Will in some way, taking matters into our own hands.   Goodness gracious, just look at what he did to Job in the Bible!  Relentless.  And Job was a godly man who didn't invite these attacks by disobeying or neglecting God.  So imagine how much more vulnerable a less godly person would be.   [I wonder if that's why Job's friends accused Job of sin, of doing something wrong to invite God's severe discipline.  They just didn't want to believe that a righteous man coul...

  Today we're going to look at a general time we're vulnerable to Satan's attacks, when we need to be alert, discerning, and careful.  And we'll look at a few more in the next posts.   ( I looked at fear, specifically, in  the last post .  So I won't cover it here.)    T he more aware we are of his schemes, the more we can recognize and resist them.   And notice it's "schemes" -  Ephesians 6:11 :  "Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes"  - not willy-nilly, shot-in-the-dark attacks.  These are strategically-planned attacks, tailored to you. Satan (demons) knows each of us, our weaknesses, desires, hang-ups, etc.  He's been watching us our whole lives (and watching humankind for millennia).  He hears what we say, what we mumble under our breath.  He knows what we read and watch and listen to and gaze at.  He knows when we discreetly peek at something...

  (Some of these quotes might've better fit the  "hell and justice"  post, but I didn't find them in time, so I put them here.) Some Calvinists seem to think that it's most God-honoring to rejoice about hell, to celebrate the fact that Calvi-god predestines non-elect people to hell to show off his justice, for his glory.  They  sensationalize the glory of it all and say that it's better for the elect that there are people in hell.   They say that if God gets glory by predestining people to hell [they're wrong!], then it's wrong to get upset about it.      Of course, most Calvinists don't go to that extreme, but it's quite sickening when they do.   C. Matthew McMahon  ( The Two Wills of God ,  pg 349 ):  " The saints should delight in the reprobation of the wicked... We come to understand and praise God concerning the damnation of other people.  We understand that we could have been what they are.  We co...