THE PIT FALLS

There are two dimensions God wants us to be aware of. First of all, his existence as the creator of life and the world.  And the second one is Satan.  Satan is not acting alone, he uses his demons. (Revelation 12:7) When the devil was thrown out heaven, he got really angry.  He decided to go after the most precious thing  of all God’s creation on earth, and close to his own heart –  a Human Being.

When you get to know the character of God which is based on love, justice, forgiveness and judgement, you also have to know the character of Satan, for he is just the opposite.  God Almighty is got your best interest at heart , the devil is against you.

The biggest enemy you’ll ever encounter as a human being is not another human or another creature, but Satan. The devil hates humans, and he’ll do anything to harm.  Jesus said, he is the father of lies.  Every lie and evil thought in our minds is planted by Satan. The Bible says, The Devil has been sinning from the beginning. Jesus came to destroy the devil’s work and save mankind from his control. I John 3:7-10

It is true, that it is so easy to be controlled by Satan.  We all go through that.  Some of the tactics he uses are manipulation and disguise.  We learn, that he is a master of disguise, to make someone believe they’re doing the right thing, when actually they’re in the wrong.  All the pitfalls we fall into are planted by Satan, for example, false beliefs, lack of faith, drug issues, selfishness, hatred, etc.  But to sum it all, every kind of sin. In addition to this, as I mentioned in the earlier post, Satan also targets the core of our being, for example, our desires and weaknesses.  He wants people to stay on his side, and he also goes after those on God’s side. He also makes us focus on our disappointments, failures, problems, so that we lose our joy. The Almighty God, on the other hand, wants us to enjoy life by  avoiding Satan’s pit falls, and  focus on doing the right thing.

When we fall into his pit, it is difficult to get out of, unless a person turns to God, through Jesus.  Jesus is the only one who can rescue mankind from Satan’ s control. The bible says, if you’re in Jesus the devil cannot harm you.  What does this mean? The Holy Spirit says, when we live our lives according to the Bible, we get into God’s protection.  I can talk from my own experience, when I turned to God my life changed for the better, and I thank God for the transformation.

EMPTINESS

What makes a person who seems to have it all, but would feel like they’re empty at times?  We see it all the time in film stars, pop idols, and in our homes.  Some call it middle life crisis.  Normally, it is a feeling of emptiness.  God who created us knows us inside out. The feeling of emptiness starts at an early stage, as children.  When children feel it, they try to fill it with game activities.  So, they play and laugh a lot.

When we get older we examine ourselves even more.  Thus, we try to fill our lives with more activities. We realise that we need a marriage, children, a job, and money, of course.  Once we acquire a piece of this and that, for some reason we still feel unsatisfied.  We thought the marriage which started with lots of love, for some reason, it becomes a struggle.  That’s why every married person comes to a point and says, marriage is difficult. Why?  Because dealing with an imperfect person is not easy.  And when it comes to raising our children, because of their imperfections, obviously a parent would struggle sometimes.

And when it comes to our jobs, we end up dealing with imperfect people, and that’s becomes a struggle, too.  And when it comes to money and so many other things, as King Solomon said, it is like chasing after the wind. Ecclesiastes 1:17.  It comes and goes. So, when it comes to those who have lots of it, they get sucked into it and it becomes a trap.   Once it becomes a trap, the more they become addicted to it.  And with addiction there comes all kinds of stress to the rich, as well as the poor.  Solomon was the richest man in the world, he went after he wanted, at some point he called it madness.  This is someone who knew God, and his wisdom, and then he messed up big time.  After a while he examined his life, the negatives and the positives, sometimes he lost it,  and he then realised that nothing surpasses God’s wisdom and plan.

It is funny how sometimes we lose interest in things quickly.  I remember going to a friend’s party.  She decided to have it in one of those posh hotels.  Well, one of those expensive ones in London.  So, out of her good heart she invited a group of Christians. It was good, because we wanted to have fun, as well as, loving the Lord.  When I got in that hotel I was overwhelmed by its interior beauty – golden taps, marble floors, and beautiful carpets.  I thought this was a place to be.  We danced and had a good time.  After the party I kept on thinking about the hotel. The more I thought about it, the more I talked about it to my friends.  When I decided to go back again, I took a friend with me, but for some reason, I didn’t have that wow feeling  I had before.  Why? I got used to it, which is so much in our human nature.

God Almighty made the heart to be the centre of our being. The physical one, as you know, controls our whole body. But the spiritual one is also crucial, and this is where we feel the emptiness.

Jesus said, ‘in me you’ll have life. I am the bread of life’. John 6:33-40. You have to remember Jesus like God Almighty knew a human being in detail. God knows whatever we do or run after, nothing, I say it again, nothing will ever fulfil as Jesus does. When a person has Jesus in their hearts and obey what he says they have life to the full.  He said, ‘I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full’. John 10:10