While those two major incidents were simultaneously occurring, someone took it upon themselves to use the top of my driveway without my permission while I was at work, and tow a large U-Haul box truck up my driveway and in doing so, left some dug up asphalt for me to fix. Tire tracks were in my yard and I just stood there shaking my head and nearly in tears. It was just another "fix and expense" because upon me going to my neighbors to find out what I could from those I knew didn't work in the day, I realized the person in question vacated the place without warning. They hadn't lived there long enough to even know the names, but I knew it was going to be left up to me. It is not fixed at this time but it will have to be done before the winter settles in! If THAT wasn't all bad enough, and also DURING all of the above, water began to collect in my front yard and in the drain. It began to get stagnant and draw gnats and mosquitoes. The more it would rain, the more I'd see collecting. I noticed my neighbor's yard collecting water as well. The neighbor who lived briefly between the two of us and who should have been responsible for my driveway fix, quickly abandoned the house and nobody had been mowing or doing any kind of upkeep for a little over two months. I couldn't see if water was collecting due to the thickness and the amount of grass covering the yard and the drain pipe. As you can imagine, the grass was THICK and tall. I surmised the collecting water was due to the unkempt yard thereby blocking the flow of the drainage pipe running under all of our driveways. I'd soon come to find out that it wasn't. I came home from work one day to find my front yard dug up by the water meter manhole. I called the water company and they said they had a report of a "possible" water main leak which they found under my yard. The leak is fixed and I thank the goodness of the Lord for it not being my responsibility because I would not have been able to afford such an expense. However, the yard is still dug up and although it's the responsibility of the city to level out, seed and fix back to semi-normal, it's not done yet and the longer it takes, the muddier it will become because of rain. During this whole time, dealing with all the trials and tribulations, the dynamics at my job began to change as well. Stress was everywhere I turned and everywhere I looked. It was overcoming me. I'm human. It felt like it was just too much for me. But that was just it. It WAS too much for ME but it WASN'T too much for the Lord!!! I had to surrender all of it to Him, giving away all of my control that I was ABOUT to pursue and let Him take care of it all. And so I did!
I go through this from time to time where I want to do things in the flesh. I know full well that I can't get the Lord's will by doing things my way. It's the human nature that sneaks up though. Many people that have crossed paths with me or who have seen the many, many trials that I've been through, know that I'm seemingly hit hard with several at a time. They also know who I pull my strength from because while I had to look for cars on my own, every step of the way I'd hear people tell me, "How much do you have to spend?" When I'd tell them, inevitably, I'd hear nearly the same thing from everyone, "Oh? You aren't going to find anything too good for that amount. Unless it's an OLD car." I KNEW the enemy was using the words of others to try to plant doubt in my head but each time, I'd proudly look at each one and say with more confidence than ever before, "Yes, you are right. I won't be able to find anything for that amount, but the Lord WILL! He's got something out there for me, waiting for me with my name on it. I will do my due diligence to find it, and I'll wait for it to be shown to me." And when the car was presented to me, and I felt the leading of the Holy Spirit to go back to the place that was laid on my heart more than once, and that I never heard of before, a few of those people wanted to see the car. When I showed them, telling them the story, and the YEAR of the car, they couldn't believe it!!! I gave ALL the glory to the Lord verbally out loud because it was HIS blessing to me! Was it easy? Absolutely NOT. I need to get one thing fixed on it, as to be expected on a used car, but I even took it to my mechanic, who is a devout Christian, for him to check out before I bought it and I'll take it to him when I save a little extra. Every time I get in it, I praise the Lord and thank Him for His goodness! I've been in the wilderness and the desert for a long time while the Lord continues to use me, sharpen me and strengthens me. I asked for this journey and I've been a willing participant for the most part. I still battle just like we all do, but I never lose faith! I never lack the trust. A dear elderly friend said to me recently, "God sure has neat little ways of taking care of you while He's sharpening you up! They may be odd and unconventional compared to others, but it's amazing how He looks after you! God moves in and takes care of everything in just the right time! And gives you even more of a testimony to share!" AMEN!
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You see, as believers, we are qualified to share in the inheritance of the men and women of faith who have gone before you. Colossians 1:12 tells us just that, "and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of His holy people in the kingdom of light." The reason we're qualified is because of Christ Jesus, who secured our redemption. Our redemption was literally a legal transaction where Jesus traded His blood for our life, paying our sin debt in full. He purchased our deliverance from bondage, from the kingdom of Satan on this earth and translated us amazingly into His own domain. That's LOVE. Since this transaction has taken place, we are recused, redeemed, restored and forgiven! You can remember with Adam's transgression in the garden of Eden, he unfortunately sold mankind into slavery, lock, stock and barrel. And since that time, all of humanity was held hostage by the kingdom of darkness by Satan and his minions. It was a pretty hopeless situation because the only real, foolproof way to undo what had already been done, was for mankind to redeem or ransom what was since lost. But our Lord Jesus came to get it all back! Isaiah says in Isaiah 59:15-16, "So truth fails, And he who departs from evil makes himself a prey. Then the Lord saw it, and it displeased Him That there was no justice. v16) He saw that there was no man, And wondered that there was no intercessor; Therefore His own arm brought salvation for Him; And His own righteousness, it sustained Him." In essence, what Adam did in the garden, Jesus completely and totally undid on the Cross! Adam essentially sold us out into sin, but Jesus rescued us and brought us life in Him!!!
I've learned the hard way, since the beginning of my walk with Jesus Christ, that Satan doesn't waste any time shooting his fiery darts of doubt and fear at an unsuspecting, and sometimes unprepared, persons mind. If we don't immediately take captive those false thoughts of doubt and fear and give it to JESUS, laying it at the foot of the cross, then we are literally choosing to let go of the hand of Jesus in that very moment, whether we realize it or not, and we begin taking a slippery walk with Satan. Notice how just ONE thought, one thought that we might ASSUME is harmless, turns into a full blown conversation with the devil. Until we seek the LORD in that most vulnerable moment, we'll ultimately continue to open ourselves to the attacks of Satan. He will also continue to plant more seeds of confusion, fear and doubt within our minds and hearts for as long as we continue to choose to listen to him and his babbling nonsense. This is why it's so important to never, and I mean NEVER, allow a seed of doubt or fear or confusion to take root in your thoughts. Once it's taken root, it takes up residence. Once it resides there, it spreads its roots deeper into the soil that is meant for truth and peace and faith and strength. Remember that the KIND of SEEDS you allow to be planted will grow into your heart and you will become a product of the seed. A seed of peace, produces a peace. A seed of fear, produces fear. Much the same way that an apple seed produces an apple. It can't produce a watermelon.
The devil is currently extremely busy striving to deceive, confuse and destroy as many souls as he possibly can before time ends, and he has so many devices at his disposal in order to achieve his goals. He IS darkness. He IS sin. He IS hatred. He IS lies. He IS confusion. He IS evil. Please remember this one statement: EVIL NEEDS ATTENTION TO SURVIVE!!! Without attention, it can't continue. All kinds of evil in this world survives only because there is much attention given to it and, in turn, that same attention is unknowingly given to Satan himself. This attention feeds the fires of Satan's agenda. Again, as a reminder, Paul noted that we disciples should ultimately behave in a particular way so as to not give the devil an opportunity to succeed. It is sometimes through our weakened and sinful actions, and behaviors that the devil finds his success and the last thing we should ever desire is to be his vehicle!! 2 Corinthians 2:11, "lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices." The devil has many diabolical ways of which he will try to tempt us and lead us astray or simply delay our interest and/or obedience to God’s will. So the more we know about how he operates, the better prepared we will be to ensure we are able to recognize his works of iniquity and to be able to thwart his efforts. Doubt is something that many don't think much about nor do they feel it's as destructive as it is, but it's becoming more prevalent in our society today. There are more efforts being made by unbelievers, and those who vehemently oppose God and His ways, to plant the seeds of doubt and to cause all men to doubt the existence of God, the authority of God, that character of God, and the word of God. While they are trying to accomplish this fete, some of the believers are being effected by these same efforts because they start falling prey to Satan's devices and begin to question God's word, His character and the authority. By that, I mean, the things God forbids, and calls us to turn from, the godless are calling "intolerant" which then makes some believers create their own "god" and begin to "accept" some things that God CLEARLY prohibits. Dangerous and a soul-killer.
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| Satan IS Defeated! |
Another part of the divide and conquer scheme is to completely silence the testimony of us and squelch the teaching/preaching of the Gospel, but then, he ultimately wants to sever and stunt the spiritual growth of believers in Christ! If he can succeed in stunting the spiritual growth of believers, he will also be able to convince them to believe there's more ways to God the Father besides through His Only Begotten Son Jesus Christ. He will convince them that "every" person has the "right" to marry who they want (or love who they want - inferring homosexuals). He will be able to convince them that nobody is responsible for their actions. He will be able to convince them all religions are correct in doctrines. He will be able to convince them life is a "choice" and people have the "right" to carry a life full term or abort. He will be able to convince them that "religions" of pure hate and evil are truly "religions of peace." He is sitting back in his hot flaming bed laughing while he watches the show unfold! The devil is a mighty being that vehemently and openly opposes God. So in rebellion, and as a feeble attempt to "get back at" God, he tempts God's children. We have found that even though he was beaten at the cross by Christ, he still has the power to influence men for evil. The Bible calls him "the wicked one," "the devil," "a murderer," "a liar, and the father of lies," "an adversary" "who seeks to devour," "that old serpent" and "accuser of our brethren". Satan's primary goal is to blind the hearts of mankind to the truth as evidenced in 2 Corinthians 4:4, "whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them."
This is so important to grasp and understand that the exact moment you made your decision for Christ and believed on Him, accepting His free gift of Salvation, Satan suffered an immediate and tremendous defeat. He lost your soul forever. But in his lying eyes, that wasn't bad enough. What was worse than losing your soul forever, was that he lost it TO JESUS CHRIST!!! So, Satan is extremely angry now. From now on, he's going to tempt you, try to mislead you, confuse you, try to plant doubts and fears in you, and try to lead you right back into sin. Don't be alarmed though because he can't rob you of your salvation, and he need not rob you of your assurance and victory either. Now rest assured, he will do everything in his LIMITED power to sow seeds of doubt in your mind as to whether your conversion is a reality or not, whether your salvation can be lost, whether you need to do "works" to EARN your way. You can't really argue with him because he's the devil and he is going to try to discourage you, to divert you; he will seek to dilute your testimony; he will attempt anything to destroy your relationship with Christ and your influence upon others. You don't want to try to argue with Satan because your best argument will always be God's WORD!!! The living Bible! Scriptures. TRUTH! That's all you need and it's a waste of time to battle the very one that's already been defeated!!! You ask "How can I overcome him? What can I do? Which way can I turn? Is there any escape?" 1 Corinthians 10:13 gives us the answer. "No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it." God says clearly in this verse that He has made a way of escape! He won't trap us. He won't trick us. He won't sabotage us. Now remember this: temptation from the devil is not a sign that your life is not right with God. It is actually a sign that you ARE right with God. Temptation is not a sin. Giving into the temptation, acting upon the temptation is the sin. God NEVER tempts His own children. He never causes, nor will He EVER cause, His children to doubt. All doubts and temptations come from the devil himself or in some instances, from our own evil desires. But never from our Father in Heaven! Satan can only tempt and is the only one that does tempt. However, although he can tempt you, he can never compel you or force you to yield TO the temptation and act upon it. Remember also that Satan has already been conquered and defeated by Christ. His power has been and IS made useless in the life of a fully trusting and yielded Christian who is completely dependent upon God. That's GREAT news!!!
Satan will strike at us the hardest when we have found a victory in the Lord! When we're full of joy and praise from victorious elevation! The devil is sly and knows those areas where we're especially vulnerable to his attacks especially after we have "come down" from a great spiritual high. Look at Jesus, for example. He came to be baptized by the most famous evangelist of the day, John the Baptist. John clearly and unabashedly recognized him as the Messiah. So as he was being baptized, Jesus actually heard God's voice from heaven, and the Spirit descended on Him. Now THAT is quite the spiritual high that we couldn't argue about! But, with that spiritual high, what happened next? Jesus went directly into the wilderness and was tempted for 40 days by the devil. The devil does not tempt at random. He's specific. He's cunning. He tempts as part of a comprehensive strategy to entice us to sin. Being relentless, he may use that strategy over and over until he tries to wear us down and with hopes of us finally giving into temptation. He knows our emotions are especially vulnerable following a spiritual high time. Perhaps it's a possibility that we've let down our guard. Satan isn't stupid, defeated, but not stupid. Even though he cannot create anything new, he will always use the tried and true methods of your past! God is the only one that can create newness and go forward because God doesn't want us living in our past because He knows who dwells there!!! Tempting is the devil's main tool for keeping us from fully knowing our Father. He and his invisible demons recognize our strengths and weaknesses so it would be foolish for him to continually attack us in an area where we are strong! He also knows that the more we resist his nasty little wiles and ways, the stronger we'll ultimately become in Christ as a Christian. So with knowing that part of us, he'll repeatedly hit our vulnerable areas to keep us in bondage to our fleshly desires.
This world is feeding the fires of Satan's agenda daily! I'm watching a falling away occur in the Church. I'm seeing many Christians becoming complacent about what the Bible actually says. I'm witnessing many who are now saying the bible isn't "literal" but rather theoretical in nature and it can't be taken literally for THIS day and generation we live in! 1 John 5:19, "We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one." God's word, His commandments, His instructions, His character is the same as it has always been! He doesn't change. He can't change. He IS the Great I AM! People change the meanings to fit their own agenda and guess who's behind that? RIGHT! Satan and his little demons. There are many ways Satan is setting up the agenda and each one is being fed by a lost and lonely world. We talked about divide and conquer. We talked about doubt and fear and confusion. We talked about the "right" to love and marry whomever one wants. We talked about abortion and the "right" people have to decide who lives or dies. There is also an agenda against religion. A Religious war if you will. I am seeing this more rampantly in the past few years as other "religions" rise up and gain strength. It's a high priority of Satan to spiritually deceive people, thereby gaining access and control over their lives. Be careful which doors you open because he's always lurking around the corner hoping to find an access point! He's got various methods that he employs in order to achieve this objective, all of which are aimed at eroding the true faith in God and His Son Jesus Christ and replacing it with superstitions, or at supporting and perpetuating the superstitions and false religions of the deceived people. There are many, many categories that I can think of that Satan will and does use and it's quire exhaustive. Mental, psychological, spiritual, emotional, political. The list is endless. Let's take a look at a few of those ways and methods he uses:
1) False prophets - In his most disguised form, Satan attacks the church in such a disguised form by infiltrating the church with false prophets who pretend to be apostles of Christ. More and more we are seeing this occur. 1 John 4:1 says that "many false prophets are gone out into the world." The Bible also reveals in 2 Cor. 11:14-15, "And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. 15 Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works." These false prophets are utterly distorting the pure Word of God! They are also falsifying it by way of new translations that completely and vilely deviate from the original text. A false Christian church is a powerful tool in the hands of Satan to deceive many! Millions of naïve people are exposing themselves to damnable heresies without ever putting them to the test by discerning the spiritual powers that are at work in the preaching, in the 'religious shows' and in the literature that are being presented to them.
2) Occult powers - A more ostensible revelation of Satan is by means of occult or mystical practices. The power of Satan is marketed and promoted by way of the New Age Movement, the Human Potential Movement, and related occult and mystical practices such as spiritual channeling, shamanism, magical powers, transcendental meditation, yoga, fortune-telling, psychic powers, astral projection, holistic healing, extrasensory perception, clairvoyance, etc. All of these are forbidden in the Word of God! But Satan still won't associate it openly with his name and/or his kingdom to ensure that people can still be more easily deceived and swayed into becoming unfaithful to God while practicing the forbidden. People all over, and even now inside of the church, are being dangerously influenced to open themselves up to these powers and "cosmic" wisdom, and to freely draw on these resources. Eastern meditation is one of the most popular methods of effecting an altered state of consciousness, which leads to an openness to occult powers, cosmic wisdom, spirit guides and demons. Which in essences is also one of the most dangerous, deceptive methods!
3) Satanism - The direct revelation of Satan can only be made to highly deceived, morally decadent, and spiritually degenerate people due in part to the inherent repulsiveness of the idea. Yes, there are many out there who have this revelation and the lack of morality! It's a growing fungus among the worst of the worst. In the past, these direct revelations were confined to small groups of people, but during the past two decades their numbers have vastly increased in the world as the world becomes more cold and distant and godless. To these specific worshipers, Satan and his demons reveal themselves in all their abomination, vileness and bloodthirstiness. They demand animal or human sacrifices from their worshipers, as well as the murdering of certain persons. There is no shortage of willing participants. Think of the "promises" of fame and fortune and you get the idea. These people live for the moment and for what they can get here. They think nothing about the eternal residence!
4) False religions - In a more direct way, humanity is deceived by the non-Christian religions to worship idols that are simply disguised demons. A very frightening statistic. The Bible says that the idols to which the heathens sacrifice, are demons, 1 Cor. 10:19-20, "What am I saying then? That an idol is anything, or what is offered to idols is anything? v20) Rather, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to have fellowship with demons. Anyone participating in these sacrifices has fellowship with demons." The heathens don't know that Satan has deceived them, yet, neither do compromising, liberal, and ecumenical Christian churches realize these same dangers, as they subscribe to the false idea that all religions worship the same God. Multi-religious deception often proliferates in our time and amounts to a complete denial of the powerful position of Jesus Christ as the only Savior of the world. The ecumenical "Christians" should try to become more aware of the sneaky activities of the god of this world who is blinding the minds of people to ensure they don't, or can't, see the truth.
And every time attention is given to any of the above mentioned, we feed the fires of Satan's agenda! We must stand firm and fight back! That is the only way this battle can be fought and won! As I was doing some research on this, I came across a chart that I found very enlightening and would like to share. I apologize in advance but I didn't get the link to person's website but I do have his name to credit this to. Prof. J.S. Malan. Please see below chart.
GOD'S MORALITY
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SATAN’S IMMORALITY
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Truth
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Lie
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Righteousness
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Unrighteousness
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Self-control
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Lawlessness
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Honesty
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Deceitfulness and theft
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Moral chastity
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Moral depravity and vileness
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Soberness
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Drunkenness
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Sincerity
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Slyness
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Reverence to God
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Blaspheming of God
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Orderliness
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Disorderliness
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Meekness
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Arrogance
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Peacefulness
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Violence
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Forgivingness
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Revengefulness
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Love
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Hate
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Kindness
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Cruelty
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Conservation
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Destruction
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Satan knows his war against moral values and morality in general that he can achieve a great victory in controlling and eventually destroying humankind. Remember that the Roman Empire wasn't defeated by military force but, rather, it had destroyed itself by means of internal moral decay. That decay was rampant and in many ways, it's closely in comparison to today's immorality. Sexual orgies, drunkenness, fornication, homosexuality, materialism, corruption, theft, and bribery gave rise to one scandal after another in the Roman Empire and widespread immorality completely ruined and destroyed the integrity and effectiveness of the governments in Rome and Constantinople. Need we say anymore?
The apostle James also contrasts the morality of God with the moral depravity of a fallen world that lies in the sway of the Evil One: James 3:13-18, "Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. v14) But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. v15) This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. v16) For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. v17) But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. v18) Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace." Under the cloak of humanistic reforms the world is being drawn into a demonic immorality. Something of the likes I've personally never seen in my time! There's an evil decaying of morality that can only be described as demonic. Strongholds. When this catastrophic process has advanced far enough, and it looks likes it's advancing in leaps and bounds as we speak, the Antichrist, as the man of sin, will be revealed. He will be the leading figure in the new world order’s culture of sin. He will act according to his own will as evidenced in Daniel 11:36, "Then the king shall do according to his own will: he shall exalt and magnify himself above every god, shall speak blasphemies against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the wrath has been accomplished; for what has been determined shall be done." He will rule by means of satanic powers, Revelation 13:2, "Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority." He will blaspheme God in Revelation 13:5-6, "And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to continue[a] for forty-two months. 6 Then he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven." He will, together with Satan, be worshiped by an utterly morally and religiously depraved human race Revelation 13:4, "So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?" He will order the execution of all people who refuse to worship him as god Revelation 13:15, "He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed."
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| Resist the Devil - Turn towards Jesus |
AND ALL GOD'S CHILDREN SAID AMEN!!!
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