You’re battling a defeated enemy! prairwarur: Luke 10:17-20 And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the demons are subject to us through Your name. And He said to them, I saw Satan fall from Heaven like lightning. Behold, I give to you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the authority of the enemy. And nothing shall by any means hurt you. Yet do not rejoice in this, that the evil spirits are subject to you, rather rejoice because your names are written in Heaven. So often when I'm counseling someone, he speaks of his life as a life of struggle and even defeat. But what is our true spiritual reality? The Bible describes the enemy as ALREADY defeated! We who are walking as pilgrims in this world, fighting on a daily basis, are fighting a defeated enemy. Let that sink in! He has already been defeated ... even though throughout our entire lives we're in combat with the enemy of our souls. So when you are dealing with problems, just don't allow yourself to become discouraged … instead, grasp the reality that God intends to bring to this earth through you. Though he may try to seem powerful, the devil has already suffered his crushing defeat, at the cross of Calvary! You're pressing through painful struggles in this life, tribulations which the Lord clearly spoke of. Our enemy causes plenty of problems and pain; nevertheless if you will remember and truly realize that Satan was defeated 2000 years ago, you will press on with a deep and quiet confidence in Yeshua's victory. Nothing and no one can steal that victory from you because, now and forever, in Yeshua, you have already won!~~~~~ Worthy Devotions - G. Whitten  Zanjan: Identity of the enemy -> it's one's own self (ego). Not two thousand years ago but today, present and kicking. If it's running loose, your task is to chain it up. No one can do that for you but God shows the way. The self is subject to the Will of God *only* when you fully submit to God. Since this earthly plane isnt the world of perfection, it's difficult to maintain constancy. This is why we have to be vigilant and bring ourselves into account every day. Since the self rattles its cage, daily maintenance is required to tighten down those bolts.  Campion: Satan, Lucifer, Devil, Prince of Darkness. In Christian theology this character is said to be a defeated enemy. The story starts in prehistory when Satan leads a revolt of the angels. the revolt fails and Satan and his angels are "defeated" and tossed out of heaven. Were they really defeated if they were able to attack humanity and cost such trouble that Jesus the Christ was forced to "defeat" him again through the sacrifice of the cross. But obviously Satan is still at large attacking mankind even today. These two defeats in the past were certainly not defeats at all. The stories are simply part of a metaphorical effort to explain the presence of evil in our lives. But there is a simpler explanation --- in the words of the comic strip character Pogo "I have met the enemy and he is us." (Edited by Campion) Zanjan: Good points. These names/labels were personifications to help ancient people relate. Satan is the persona that belongs to the world, not in the Kingdom of God, where there is safe refuge. The Bible explains it by saying one can't serve two masters. Back then, most people owned a slave or were a slave so they could easily relate. When I read that, I thought of mercenaries. Given that people want to pass the buck to the devil for every one of their slip-ups, I prefer a modern analogy: One could dip their big toe in the Kingdom of God once in a while; ok, but that's not immersion - one can't call that swimming. Or the opposite, from the Kingdom of God into the world. In Christianity, are not people supposed to be little fishies and the Holy Ones the fishers? (Edited by Zanjan)  kai malon labe: Scripture never uses the term 'defeated' to describe Satan and his angels falling from heaven. In fact, Scripture teaches us that Satan was tossed out of heaven to earth where he is allowed to temp mankind. For God, who transends all times, Satan has already been defeated in his reign on earth. For mankind, that has yet to occur. As for ego, pride is one of the 7 deadly sins. Thanks, prairwarur. As usual, encouraging words of life! prairwarur: Please don't judge and accuse people, Sir Jock. It sounds like you have elevated yourself above all others, and I know that is not who you are, (at least I hope it's not), so you would not want others to get a false impression of you, would you?  I believe if there is anything our Lord Jesus would want from us it's humility. I have a good laugh at others who are so sure in themselves, and of themselves and their thoughts, and in their research, studies, and beliefs, that they can actually have the audacity to judge another. They must believe they possess all knowledge? Nothing left to discover that may prove them wrong, or to re-discover? There is "... nothing new under the sun...." IMHO true humility and wisdom is the realization that any of us can be wrong at any given time in our lives. The probabilities that one person can actually know it all, and be completely on the right track, are astronomical. Only one person in all of history possessed all wisdom, knowledge and love. His name is Jesus. This is what I call Him, but factually He would have had a Jewish name, perhaps Yeshua. Still, He knows me, He knows my name, and I know Him. There is never any confusion when I call on that Name above all names. He sees what no man can see and that's the content of our hearts. He knows our pain and He knows our struggles in life. He knows everything about us, because He created us and He waits for us to invite Him into our lives and take over our lives as we learn to die to self daily. He stands by us until we finally do, as He promised He would always be with us. Even though we cannot see Him, He is near. Nearer than you know. I enjoy reading your thoughts, when you choose to share them, and I enjoy reading all others here, too. I don't agree, but so what? Who really cares that much about my opinion, or yours, for that matter? I've grown rather numb to the opinions and criticism of others over the years, and often I feel like responding to the strongest judgments and criticisms of me with a resounding, "Who cares what you think?" But, I was raised to be a lady and to be polite in the company of others, and Jesus reminds me every day, "I washed their feet." He did this as an example of how we are to be in life. Some believe this and will repeat the humility and kindness, others will scoff.  Oh, well ........ We keep praying.  Shalom, Prair Zanjan: "There is "... nothing new under the sun...." Jesus didn't say that - it's what the Apostles thought, like most others back then.. It may have been true then, it's just not true now. If Jesus knew everything, it's obvious He wasn't telling them.  (Post deleted by prairwarur ) JacquesTrappe: translation " we don't like actually learning what the Bible says and will say anything we can to get out of being corrected "  (Post deleted by prairwarur ) (Post deleted by prairwarur ) Zanjan: Είστε ευπρόσδεκτοι να δημοσιεύσετε στα Ελληνικά A reminder for Jacques: Unlike a certain major political figure, you don't hold the Bible upside down and backward. Prair, apparently, your appeal to Jacques sense of humanity went over like a lead balloon. Yes, that IS the kind of person he is. (Post deleted by prairwarur ) JacquesTrappe: and feel free to debunk any of this: jacquestrappe's Pictures methinks it's a bit over your heads JacquesTrappe: Maybe one day I'll tell you about the night God healed my brain cancer so you can write that off too kai malon labe: Jacques, So you think you have all the answers, eh? Experience has taught me that when a person resorts to name calling, they have already admitted defeat. If one is truly learned in a topic, dialogue will prove that. Posting link after link only shows you do not know the topic you claim to know and are dependent upon others to do your thinking and speaking for you. Opinions, which is all you actually posted of your own words, matter only to the one doing the offering. I could not care less, especially when an opinion is offered from someone who obviously is ill informed and incapable of rational discussion as befitting you. I am of the mindset that facts do not care about your feelings on any topic. I have learned that your opinions are not worthy of any more of my time. Smart people learn from everything and everyone, average people from their experiences, stupid people already have all the answers. - Socrates JacquesTrappe: Funny you'd quote Socrates when the Socratic method is to draw out incorrect beliefs through questioning lmao kai malon labe: "Ever that shall be that ever has been, that which has happened once shall happen again; there can be nothing new, here under the sun. Never man calls a thing new, but it is something already known to the ages that went before us; only we have no record of older days." - Ecclesiastes 1:9-11 prairwarur was paraphrasing a familiar passage from the Old Testament, not from Jesus. I have done the same many times over the years. While it is true that Jesus never said, "Nothing new under the sun", it is not true that these were the thoughts of any apostle. As for that certain political figure holding the Bible upside down and backwards, if that is all a person comes away with from that gesture, God help them! It was a symbolic gesture letting the religious world, especially Christians, know that this president is not going to allow religious persecution to continue in this country. I know of no Christian that would confuse a symbolic gesture of togetherness with a Sunday sermon from their priest or pastor. To paraphrase our 16th president, Abraham Lincoln, 'If you are looking for the bad in someone you will surely find it.' | Religion Chat Room 16 People Chatting Similar Conversations |