John Newlin: February 2017

Friday, February 17, 2017

* OUR WEAPONS FOR TODAY'S CONFUSION AND DECEPTION

We live in a time of bizarre happenings internationally and at home, in the government and the media and the entertainment world and really everywhere. It is a time of great confusion and great deception.

But there is also great help for all this in the Word. First consider where all this confusion and deception is coming from:

· “…God is not the author of confusion…” (1 Corinthians 14:33 KJV).

· Referring to the devil, Jesus said “…He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of liars.” (John 8:44 NIV)

· “…the god of this world [the devil] has blinded the minds of the unbelievers…” (1 Corinthians 4:4 NRSV)

“…satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.” (2 Corinthians 11:14 NIV)

Pretty clear and obvious is it not? The devil is the author of confusion. He is the sower of deception and lies. There is no truth in him. And of course he hides his actions. By the way, please note above that he was a murderer from the beginning. He is not just a liar and the spreader of lies. He is a murderer too. He wants all of you dead – believers so that you do not have the opportunity to work to spread the gospel, and unbelievers so they will not have the opportunity to receive the gospel. Again,

“The thief [the devil] comes only to steal and kill and destroy;…” (John 10:10 NIV)

Some churches falsely spread the view that the devil and his demons are easily dealt with, that demons are just little things that you kick out the door. The devil has obviously been very active in deception in those churches. We give no respect to the devil and we realize that in Jesus certainly we have the victory, we overcome the world. But the fact remains that the devil is a horrible opponent far worse than any Hollywood horror movie villain. Only in Jesus do we have any protection from him and any chance of a victory and survival when he attacks. Unbelievers have no protection against the devil (unless you are praying for them).

How do we stay calm and at peace in all this? How do we know truth from falsehood? How do we go forward as God would have us?

Consider these mighty weapons we have in the WORD:

· “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;” (Proverbs 3:5 NIV). God knows a lot more than you do. And his word is truth.

· DO NOT FEAR! “ So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God…” (Isaiah 41:10 NIV)

· “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.” (James 1:5 NIV)

· “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” (James 4:7 NIV). I have seen this work in very dangerous situations time and time again. Speak it out loud!! Personalize it. I submit myself to God, I resist the devil, and he will flee! And he does flee!

· “…do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God…” (1 John 4:1 NIV). An evil spirit is a liar just as its leader the devil. Test any evil situation or confusing word or action against God’s Word which is always true. Read what John says about testing a spirit in John 4.

· And in Jesus’ name cast out any attacking demons, any evil spirits. Jesus said we can do that in his name (Mark 16:17)! So do it!

“… take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” (Corinthians 10:5).

The Word is a real weapon, a powerful weapon. It is the great weapon you have against the evil world. It is the Sword of the Spirit in the armor Paul described in Ephesians 6. Exercise it all in Jesus’ name.

God’s words are true. His commands are to be obeyed. Now it is up to you to step out and act in and on the Word. God’s words. Step out in faith. That is how it all works.

You must stand firm in your faith, or you will not stand at all. (Yes, that is scripture too! See Isaiah 7:9).

Keep Your Eyes on Jesus!

(February 2017)

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Friday, February 10, 2017

* A CULTURE OF HATE

Where does hatred come from? Real wrathful hate. Hate that endures, that goes on and on, that will not listen to any explanation or appeasement or comments to help calm it down.

You know. It is obvious. Pure out and out hatred for others comes from the devil himself. A true manifestation of evil.

We are living in a culture now where there are large numbers living in blind, stupefying hate, hate that cannot be rationally explained. Some of those people were evident Saturday after the inauguration in their inane rants or speeches. Some of these are obvious even occasionally in the news media, when as you watch suddenly vitriol spills out and untruths and challenges and absurdities suddenly come pouring forth.

This hatred has been spewing up on airlines lately, when suddenly a passenger will begin outrageously vocally attacking some other passenger just sitting there. It happened just a few days ago, and thankfully the plane was still on the ground and the crew had the woman removed. If you read the article or saw any of the video, you realize her remarks and behavior were straight from the evil one – insane, evil, full of hate, totally irrational and inconsiderate of others completely. Not too long ago on a flight from New York City to Washington DC a passenger verbally berated the daughter of the new president who was traveling with her children. The whole flight. The crew did not evidently stop this. Probably they did not know what to do. It is to the shame of the surrounding passengers they did not stop this. Maybe the old policy of air marshals must be brought back to all flights.

Those people involved in violent protests lately, burning cars, behaving violently – those are anarchists. That is the word. They are not peaceful demonstrators. Those people are a great danger to the country and to you and me. Unbelievers? Yes. Or at the least, highly deceived people. The devil has been very active with this group.

Hate.

No matter how awful and insane the behavior of these hateful people, no civilized person and certainly no believer in Jesus Christ can allow such behavior and words to be accepted. That is the problem of weak government responses to such behavior, and that is the problem with the news media which often comes out in support of such horrible action.

I have no great solution to this, other than the obvious. Be alert whenever you encounter such people. They may have no limits to what they might do. Keep your eyes on Jesus, listen to the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and pray often as Paul urges in Ephesians 6. Be wise and protect yourselves. This culture of hate may be here until the Lord comes to get us.