Joh 10:10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
What tool does Satan use to steal, kill and destroy the life that God has for us?
John 8:44 says that He is the Father of lies and that He uses deceit…remember the Garden of Eden?
Gen 3:1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God actually say, 'You shall not eat of any tree in the garden'?"
Gen 3:2 And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden,
Gen 3:3 but God said, 'You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.'"
Gen 3:4 But the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die.
Gen 3:5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." (Even more deceit)
What was one of the consequences of living independent of God?
Gen 3:22 Then the LORD God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever--"
Satan lied & deceived man, man sinned (which is the outworking of living independent of God) and thus the relationship of man and God was lost…and death entered the world.
"As a result of Adam and Eve's sin, their descendants today still live by the choice they made. Every society defines right and wrong according to its own standards, and people's lives are judged on the basis of conformity to those standards. Yet God's purpose for mankind has not changed from His design in the Garden of Eden. He still wants us to find our source in His life, not in laws dictating right and wrong." Steve McVey, Grace Walk pg 107
Satan’s battle is always with God and your are a tool or a pawn to him…He wants to deceive you of the life that God has for you.
So the question to each of us is…how do we know if we have been following Satan’s lies? The answer is given in our attitude toward God and what flows from our hearts
Have you ever lied? Have you ever taken something that didn’t belong to you? Have you ever dishonored your parents? Have you ever hated someone? Have you ever used God’s name as a curse word? These are all sins
These actions show our relationship to God…Our source for living is the world, our selves or in some cases Satan. But here is the good news…God desires to give you grace and mercy…he says
Rom 5:8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
He wants us to have real life…an abundant life, walking with Him in relationship…Creator and Creation
1Jn 5:10 .. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son.
1Jn 5:11 And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
1Jn 5:12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
Joh 1:12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,
Mar 1:15 and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent (turn from sin and turn to God) and believe in the gospel."
And your response to His amazing grace is to simply repent (turn away from living independent of God thus living for self, sins and following the lies of Satan )and believe the gospel. What is stopping you from doing this today...for most it is pride, they want to do it on their own or they don't want to admit that they have lived following lies for all their life. Don't let that get in the way of what God has for you...He is good, gracious and merciful.
If you don't desire to come to Christ during this time of grace then there comes a day when you will face God and give an account for every thought, every word and every deed. God has a place for people who desire to live apart from Him...and in the end He gives them they justice they desire. That place is called Hell and it is worse then anything you could ever imagine. Just as Heaven is a real place enjoying God for all eternity, Hell is a place apart from Him for all eternity. The most often described state in Hell says that there will be "weeping and gnashing of teeth" (Mat 8:12, 13:42, 25:30)...So come, come to Him who died and gave it all for you...
2Cor 5:18 Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, 19 that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. 20 Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.
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