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Getting somewhere requires effort, it takes
faith to push on, it's easy to screw up,
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Thursday, October 9, 2014
Destroying the devils work... People who cease to believe
in God or goodness altogether still believe in the devil... Evil is always possible. And goodness is eternally difficult.”
~ Anne Rice, Interview with the Vampire
I guess a lot of people think the Devil doesn’t exist. He’s
not there!
He’s a figment of the collective human
imagination.
Charles Baudelair, a French poet once said..."the finest trick of the devil
is to persuade you that he does not exist"
Does the devil exist or doesn’t the devil exist?
Is evil natural or invoked?
When those ISIS people cut of a person’s head
on TV for the world to see are they being evil or just acting on random chance doing something that means little
anyhow?
Most of
us are appalled by the behaviour, and most people in the world want to see them stopped and them punished for the behaviour.
Why?
If there is no evil what does
it matter?
Do we just arbitrarily
decide what is wrong and what is right?
Most of us say “no”, but if asked why we say “no” we cannot really answer.
“It’s just wrong!”
people say and get annoyed when I ask “why?”.
Why?
“Everyone knows it’s wrong!” comes the frustrated retort.
Do the ISIS people doing it know it’s
wrong?
“Yes
they must!” comes the retort again.
Really?
I think the ISIS people really think they are doing right for the world from their perspective.
This is what happens when we fail to acknowledge absolute truth.
When we fail to acknowledge what God says.
The bible says...
Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. 1 John3
What law?
God’s law!
The law God gave to Moses and upheld through Jesus. Our hope is this...
Dear friends, now we are children of God, and
what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see
him as he is. 3 All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.
There is sin and we all sin. Abraham did (he bent the truth to avoid the Pharaoh allowing
Sarah his wife to be taken into a harem), Moses did (he killed a guy in anger), David did (he had a guy killed so he could
have the guys wife).
In fact there is no-one without sin except Jesus. What does the bible say about this...
4 Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness.
5 But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. 6 No
one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.
Jesus is the one who stops sinning.
Who
stops ISIS? Armies? Hit squads?
Not really! Here’s how it’s done...
7 Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who does
what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. 8 The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because
the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.
We in the west need to wise up!
The reason we
have what we have, the reason for our ability to live correctly is Jesus.
Yet so many of us
are no better off than ISIS people. We fail to acknowledge Jesus is God. We try to ignore evil until it’s forced in
our faces then grudgingly acknowledge it. We fail to see it’s a spiritual war and try and combat it with physical techniques
when spiritually we need to take on the enemy.
The enemy is not ISIS. Those are people! The enemy is the devil who motivates their evil.
We can fight from our homes. We can pull out the swords of truth and pray in the spirit to
thwart their plans.
Will
we do that today?
Will we take the offensive in truth following Jesus into the battle?
It’s not just ISIS where evil lurks. It is hunting each
of us today!
Let’s
claim eternal protection and spiritual weapons and defeat the hidden foe.
Yes! Let’s be the power filled, spirit filled Christian God
wants us to be.
Have
a victorious day!
Thu, October 9, 2014 | link
Monday, October 6, 2014
Happy marriages, and the quality of love,Happy marriages, and the quality of love
 “To be fully seen by somebody, then, and be loved anyhow - this is a human offering that can border on miraculous.”
~ Elizabeth Gilbert, Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace with Marriage
Psalm 74 mentions “But God
is my King from long ago; he brings salvation on the earth” and as Christians we acknowledge God as our king,
Jesus as our Lord and Holy Spirit as guiding our life.
If you consider that, this makes the Christian wedding a royal wedding for those who are the adopted children
of a king.
Christians on their wedding day are Princesses and Princes who stand there in the presence
of our heavenly Father. May our Father God be given the honor and glory for establishing marriage. No other creature gets
married. It is a great mystery and reflects God’s intimate relationship with the Christian church in a form and agreement
that we of the humankind nature can understand.
Marriage is blessed and overseen by the God of the universe. This makes it special. Heavenly
beings are in attendance and while we cannot see them there are angels around and part of the celebration.
Yet what is the love that is professed and
exchanged.
1 Corinthians
13 (NIV) explains this
If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging
cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith
that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give
over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy,
it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily
angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It
always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease;
where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know
in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When
I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways
of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face.
Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest
of these is love.
It
provides a great advice for those entering and enjoying marriage. It is not addressing romantic but God’s type of love.
Romantic love is for the movies and books. God’s love is for real life!
Love is a behaviour that we choose to exercise. Paul says “Love is patient, love is kind.” Let’s remember that when stressed,
tired and lacking energy. Let’s treat our spouse with a patient, kind disposition.
“It does not envy, it does not boast,
it is not proud.”
I guess we all fail here!
How many times do we put our self ahead of our spouse? How many times do we verbalize this? Men... how many times do you disrespect
your wife in talking to other men. Women ... how many times do you undermine or point out your husband’s failures to
other women. How many times do we do it to their face?
This is not the Christian way. We should humbly trust, love, and respect our spouse.
“It does not dishonor
others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.”
Wow! Respect magnified and anger dissolved. The memory of the
incident obliterated!
Isn’t
our God great! That’s how he treats us!
Can we treat our loved ones the same way? We should!
“Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.”
Our focus should be on
the way of the Christian, the truth of Jesus, the life found in our walk with God. We need to push away the advances of the
evil one in our life and relationship. Our joy should be completed by our spouse as we do God’s will.
Lets’ build one another up!
“Love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”
We need to have
each other’s backs the way God has protects us. We need to trust the other person, build future plans and joyful occasions
that honor each other and God together.
When times are tough and the tough times always come...we should keep together and with God leading us
through the troubled times. Our joy should be in being with each other no matter what the circumstances.
Love never fails.
This is the deep truth!
God is love and never
fails!
We as we draw
near to him and to our spouse link ourselves into the unending, everlasting supply of eternal love. That’s the only
true source and connected in means we thrive and grow.
faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
Faith in God and each other is critical for a good relationship.
Hope that Jesus will come again and that we will be a part of those who joyfully join in is what motivates us, yet it is the
love that is the greatest.
Love for God, for our spouses and ultimately our neighbours, our community and ourselves.
Let’s practice it today!
PS: Congratulations
to Mike and Belle who it was my joy to marry this past weekend
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If you want to see a short blog describing a perspective on what I believe click here
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Rift in Evil
By Ken
X Briggs - Published: September, 2010
- Format: Perfect Bound Softcover(B/W)
- Pages: 208
Size:
6x9 - ISBN: 9781450250894
Available from Barnes and Noble, Amazon, iUniverse. |
Credit cards are acceptable on sites having Ken's books: 
:)
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Click
on XML Click here =>  to be told of new blogs
| Ken's book covers are displayed below. . . | |  This
suspense thriller centers on Kiara, a beautiful young woman pursued by a murderous group of people, who relentlessly and ruthlessly
hunt her and her sisters. Kiara has no idea why she is being targeted! When Kiara and her family turn to the law for help,
this fails. Her pursuers’ powers reach deeply into the political and law enforcement world. Family support for her dwindles
when they too have to flee her pursuers. Can Kiara escape the clutches of both the law and dishonest big business? With the
media broadcasting that Kiara and friends are dangerous and subversive, can Kiara clear her name and bring her pursuers to
justice?
| | | | | To purchase Kiara's Pursuer ebook
@ $1.99 kindle version click here, To contact the author contact Author@KenXBriggs.com | | | | | | | | The town of Zinaville is dropped into a spiral of evil causing a young man and a beautiful but abused woman
to launch into an investigation that unveils an evil conspiracy. A horrific mining accident results in Joshua
Robyn's father being killed. Joshua struggles both with himself and his townsfolk as he tries to make sense of an incomprehensible
situation. Is it an accident or a murder? Why is there a seeming link to evil? Why is his work environment suddenly threatening?
What is the conspiracy about and what are they trying to do? As action moves dramatically from exotic African grasslands to
the heart of North America's cities, the plot unfolds and the pace quickens. Will there be time? Why is a beautiful abused
young woman in the center of this plot? Evil tendrils tighten on their lives and the interplay between the visible
and invisible world shows opposing forces at work. Will there be a rift in evil? Will they be able to stop the
evil in time? | | - Published: September, 2010
- Format: Perfect
Bound Softcover(B/W)
- Pages: 208
Size: 6x9 - ISBN: 9781450250894
Available
from Barnes and Noble, Amazon, iUniverse. Chapters | | | | |
| Frugal Eating Advice |
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| Good advice for students living on limited $'s. Click on the image! |
May you be blessed today!
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