As I have mentioned before, it's not enough to know about God and Jesus and how loving He is and How through Him, we no longer are condemned to hell. That's wonderful; but that's not enough. It's incomplete. What the Western culture presents is a watered-down Gospel, one that does not fully express the raw and powerful love of Jesus Christ. I can't cover everything but I will try to give you the most comprehensible view of Christianity for what it really is. It's difficult to cover everything since, as a Christian, you are always moving forward; you never stay stale and there is so much to serving God that just seven or eight, or twenty basic things. I hope, however, that through viewing and reading this, you see God not as a weak and hurtful God, but a Sovereign and all-powerful God who restores you in every way. It's not enough to have lukewarm or half faith; you need to strong, deep, and complete faith in what God says He is doing, according to the Word. Joshua 1:8 exemplifies the important of appropriating the Word: This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.
4. Where we last left off, we were discussing the Bible and how the Word of God is powerful when utilized in faith and spoken in confidence. Moreover, the Bible is a weapon. A weapon of mass destruction against the forces of darkness. Hebrews 4:12 says, For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. We have covered that; however, it's not just enough to know it. You have to say it. In Matthew 4, Jesus went to the desert to fast. During that time, the enemy (Satan) tempts Jesus and how did Jesus overcome the enemy? He spoke the Word. Ephesians 6:17 says, Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. The word word originates from the Greek word rhema, which means to speak. So, God gave us the Word so we can speak it. When God created the earth, He didn't think it, He spoke it into existence, just as we are to speak the Word of God into existence. It's just enough to know the Word of God and for it to flow in your heart and spirit. It is only powerful and practical when you say it because only when you speak it when it is concrete and God begins to move.
5. You know that God exists and that He loves you. Next, you should know that satan exists and he hates you. Just as much as God loves you, satan hates you. But because satan is so lowly and does not even deserves to be mentioned, we will now refer to him and the evil one. When I say that the evil one hates you, it's not the type of hate when you exclaim, oh! I hate that store/artist/band/colour/etc. The evil one's hate is hate in every essence of the word in extreme measures. In fact, the evil one hates you so much that he never wanted to live. In John 10:10, it says, The enemy comes only to steal, kill, and destroy. The evil one tries to destroy you from the moment you are conceived. He tried to convince your mother to abort you, that you are no significant enough to be born (God, on the other hand, sees you as so significant that there is a reason why He created you). If the evil one can't stop you from being born, perhaps he can stop you from serving God. If he can stop you from serving God, you will go to hell (in specifics later). But God doesn't want you to spend eternity in a place that is not with Him. Then, if you get saved, you become a potential threat because you officially become part of God's family. To stop you from being a threat to the evil one, he desires to limit you--to only go so far in life. You can be saved, he couldn't stop that, but even in your salvation, you can be limited. The evil one doesn't want the best in your life like your Heavenly Father does. Ultimately, the enemy wants to contain you; like being imprisoned within 4 walls, the enemy wants to keep you in that spot, never moving forward, and never achieving anything in life. How does the enemy contain you? First, by ignorance. He wants you to keep you ignorant of the Word. If you know the Word, then you know how to defeat him, and the enemy doesn't want you to discover victory over him because that means the game is over for him. If the evil one can keep you thinking wrongly of the Bible or never learning anything, then you will never claim your dominion over the enemy. The enemy hates to be defeated because, as mentioned before, he wants to destroy your faith, and if you discover words from the Word that fuels your faith, you discover the key to eternal victory over the evil one. Secondly, he can keep you contained is by offence. Offence is not permitted in the body of Christ. Proverbs 17:9 says, Whoever covers an offense seeks love, but he who repeats a matter separates close friends. If you fester that offence, that hurt, you can't keep moving forward because that offence breeds more negative feelings, which puts a wall between you and God, thereby allowing the enemy to come in and screw you over. What you must understand is that the enemy can't do anything unless God gives him permission. You ask yourself, why would God give the enemy permission to ruin your life if God is a loving and merciful God? Well, God only allows the evil one to enter if there is something that breaks the holy protection of the Holy Spirit. Usually, it's a sin. When you sin and you don't forsake that sin or simply cover it up (thus entering into habitual sin), the evil one can come because sin stops the outpouring of God's protection and blessing. With no protection, the evil one can come and jack you up. Once you repent (completely turn away from the sin; forgive and forsake), God's protection once again comes upon you and the enemy cannot hurt you...though that doesn't mean he won't try...Just because God is with you and He protects you doesn't mean the enemy won't try to mess you up. He won't be successful, but he'll try. One thing that the enemy is is persistent. He will not stop. He is also not original. He will come with the same thing to hurt, destroy, and mess you up because he knows what your weaknesses are. The enemy has, metaphorically speaking, a filing system that organizes what your weaknesses are. He has studied you long enough to know what makes you stumble and he will use it, pinpointing it the target, sure that it will cause you to fall. But rejoice, because you have all the necessary tools to overcome and defeat the devil--the Word of God. See why he wants to keep you contained by ignorance? If you know what you know, then he's certain he's defeated and that means YOU can help save more people and bring more people into the kingdom of Heaven and that makes the evil one incontrovertibly raged. 1 Peter 5:8 says, Be sober [aware], be vigilant [alert]; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour. He looks to see who he can ruin. Don't let that be you. Know your weapon--the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God. (Isaiah 54:17, Hebrews 4:12). And lastly, the enemy can keep you contained by a distraction. He is going to use everything to distract you from your life. And usually, that distraction comes in the form of a person: your family, your friends, your peers, even your pastor. When you spend time with a person long enough, subconsciously you adapt their way of thinking quickly, which then molds your way of thinking. Eventually, this person can lead you believe certain things about the Bible that will not influence your way of living. Proverbs 23:7 says, As a man thinks in his heart, so is he. Translation: as man thinks, that's what he does. Surrounding yourself with people who will lead you down a good and godly course is crucial; otherwise, it will corrupt you. The enemy will do all he can in his (limited) power to make sure you never succeed or get anywhere in life. The enemy hates you, so hate him back. Just the fact that he wants to completely destroy should arouse your holy anger and give him what he truly deserves: eternal defeat. Go on, yell at him.
6. You know that God exists and He has a kingdom: Heaven. You should also be aware that the evil one exists and has his own domain: hell. First of all, I have many people asking me, If God is so loving, then why would he make hell? Okay, God did not make hell for people; he made it for demons and the evil one himself. But, since God gave free will, we decide whether we want to spend eternity in paradise or in eternal torture. Hell, believe or not, ladies and gentleman, is real. Let's look at this physically. The evil is called the prince of the earth (Jesus is called the King of all, which means that everything the enemy does goes through him, just so you know), which means that the earth is his domain but under God's dominion. Hell, depicted in cartoons, is shown as a fiery furnace engulfed with flames. The earth's core (more specifically, the inner core) is hotter than 5505 °C approximately. The inner core is surrounded by a thick layer of liquid, then a sheer shell of unknown substance (that seems to be stronger than steel) that covers the inner core's "entrance". In Russia, scientists conducted a study and dug into the earth 14 km deep and heard eerie, shrieking noises that seemed to sound similar to screaming of intense and unimaginable pain. When the scientists listened to the screaming, it appeared to be human souls in agony. The scientists were completely astonished to discover that their findings affirmed the belief of hell. If you don't believe me and continue with the absurd belief that either there is no life after death or we all go "somewhere", then die. No, seriously, die, and you will realize the truth about heaven and hell. Unfortunately, it will be a final destination; you will be there for eternity. It may be difficult to wrap your mind around forever, but you will be there, and you will go there based on your own pride. Sounds harsh? Doesn't mean it's not the truth. Think the recordings are a fake? Go listen to it (find it yourself on the internet, you sissy). You can't fake that type of agonizing and painful shrieking. God never intended for His creation--as all of us, unsaved or saved, are His creation--to end up in eternal pain. Now, in hell, you just don't feel or experience pain. It is pain. The smell is worse than death itself; the screaming is constant, never ceasing; and people gnash their teeth and bang their heads and they plead with Jesus (because Jesus went in hell for 3 days after His death to bring back what is rightfully His, therefore bringing EVERYTHING back in Christ's hands) to help their loved ones receive Him because they don't want an eternal imprisonment; they don't want their loved ones to go to hell. In fact, every single person in hell wants their loved ones not to go to hell. Now, how do I know this? Simple: Jesus, through supernatural transportation, brings your spirit (since we are all spirit; this body is simply a shell--more on this later as well!!) into hell and you experience it first-hand what it is like there for eternity. I can't express how deeply and passionately I want everyone to go to Heaven. I don't want you to go to hell. Perhaps I have never met you. Perhaps you are reading this from another country, another continent, another hemisphere, and I just want to know, that even though I don't know, I don't want you to go to hell. It is a place where you cannot change. The small time here on earth makes all the importance of forever, because the time here determines where you will spend forever. Romans 8:9-11: You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you. If you surrender your soul to Lord Christ Jesus, the only One worthy of serving, and admit that you are sinner but want Him to enter your life, you will spend eternity with Him, in paradise. Don't make the mistake of being proud, refusing to acknowledging that there is damnation; make the decision to serve Him and you will never be the same again. How? Because I was just like you, and my life will never be the same. And if you make the decision to make Jesus the Lord of your life, your life will be forever changed.
To be continued...xo
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