Jesus
Showing posts with label Lucifer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lucifer. Show all posts
Saturday 1 February 2020
What's in A Name?
Sunday 28 January 2018
The Pride of Satan. The Humility of God.
Many Bible scholars believe Isaiah 14 is written about Satan and his fall from heaven. Some don't. Personally, I do think it is about him.
"How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of the dawn! (Lucifer)
You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations!
You said in your heart, “I will ascend to the heavens;
I will raise my throne above the stars of God;
I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon.
But you are brought down to the realm of the dead, to the depths of the pit.
Those who see you stare at you, they ponder your fate:“Is this the man who shook the earth and made kingdoms tremble,
the man who made the world a wilderness, who overthrew its cities
and would not let his captives go home?” Isaiah 14:12-17
I was listening to a sermon last night and the preacher said we should notice how Lucifer keeps saying, "I Will," and wants to rise higher and higher.
In Ezekiel 28, there is more written about Satan. There is no one else who is like the person in these verses:
The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, take up a lament concerning the king of Tyre and say to him: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says:
You were in Eden, the garden of God;
every precious stone adorned you: carnelian, chrysolite and emerald,
topaz, onyx and jasper, lapis lazuli, turquoise and beryl.
Your settings and mountings were made of gold; on the day you were created they were prepared.
You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for so I ordained you.
You were on the holy mount of God; you walked among the fiery stones.
You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you.
Through your widespread trade you were filled with violence, and you sinned.
So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God, and I expelled you, guardian cherub,from among the fiery stones.
Your heart became proud on account of your beauty,
and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor.
So I threw you to the earth; I made a spectacle of you before kings.
By your many sins and dishonest trade you have desecrated your sanctuaries.
So I made a fire come out from you, and it consumed you,
and I reduced you to ashes on the ground in the sight of all who were watching.
All the nations who knew you are appalled at you;
you have come to a horrible end and will be no more.”
Jesus came down.
Painting by Uber User:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=User:Uber_painter&action=edit&redlink=1
"For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me." John 6:38
"... Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many." Matthew 20:28
"Have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who, existing in the form of God, counted not the being on an equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men."
"...and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, becoming obedient even unto death, yea, the death of the cross. Wherefore also God highly exalted him, and gave unto him the name which is above every name; that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven and things on earth and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Philippians 2:6-11
Monday 18 September 2017
Discontent Leads to All Sins.
I am writing on the book, “The Art of
Divine Contentment,” by Thomas Watson. I’ve learned a lot about myself in this
book and how I have let discontent sometimes rule my life.
Mr. Watson writes that the first sin
in the universe came from discontent. Lucifer and his angel friends became
discontented with their stations.
“And the angels who did not stay within their
own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in
eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day—“
Jude 6
Lucifer (Satan) was
quite dissatisfied with his place in heaven. His discontent turned into rebellion
against God – though God had done nothing to him.
“How
you have fallen from heaven,
morning star, son of the dawn! (Lucifer)
You have been cast down to the earth,
you who once laid low the nations!
You said in your heart,
“I will ascend to the heavens;
I will raise my throne
above the stars of God;
I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly,
on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon.
I will
ascend above the tops of the clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High.”
But you are brought down to the realm of the dead,
to the depths of the pit.”
Isaiah 14:12-15
When
Satan met Eve in the garden, he told her God was withholding a wonderful thing
from her, the knowledge of good and evil. He said, “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and
you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
Eve must have felt some discontent in not having the same
knowledge as God. She must have wanted what God had and decided to get it. So,
she believed God was a liar and sinned against him.
In his book, Watson says that discontentment leads to every
other sin. Every single one!
I thought about myself. I thought about the years I had
been so depressed, suicidal and lonely. Was that because of discontentment?
Yes, it was. I could see it clearly. I was discontented with my past, with my
childhood all the way through adulthood.
I was angry I had a mental illness, that I wasn’t like
other people, that I couldn’t work without having a breakdown, that my husband
and I didn’t have what other people had because their wives worked and they had
extra money. I was not content with this life God had given me. I thought I had
suffered too much. That it wasn’t fair, that God wasn’t fair.
Yes, I was the epitome
of discontent. I was its poster child. I was no better than Eve, or
heaven-forbid, Satan himself. Whoa. Scary.
So, this week, I had been feeling down and upset and didn’t
realize why. I asked myself, “Are you discontented about something?” Yes, I was. I didn’t like it that my mom was
in a nursing home instead of with me. I felt terribly sorry for her that her memory
was bad now. She couldn’t read, watch TV or walk any longer.
Mom had told me she had wanted to die, but she didn’t die.
She told me she hates being in a home. She told me she is angry, helpless and
hopeless. I felt sick when she said these things. I don’t want this kind of
empty life for her either.
But, during this, I did remember how when I trust God I
always find there is a very good reason for everything that happens. I’ve been
trying to give all my feelings about Mom to him. He has been helping me a lot.
But I need to do it every day, or the discontent will creep up on me and I’ll
be depressed and angry too.
I believe Mr. Watson is right. All sins do come from
discontentment. Now that I know this, I will talk with God about it, pray about
it and because God is my Savior and partner, I believe I will gain the victory
over my discontentment.
Thursday 15 December 2016
Violent Dreams and Revenge.
I had dreams last night that I haven't had for a long time. Dreams of rape and violence. Dreams of me shooting the rapists. These dreams are always disturbing and I used to feel sad all the next day and sometimes for many days following.
Just as I got out of bed, I heard in my mind, "How can God allow this to happen to you?" I laughed, and I'll tell you why I laughed. I recognized that voice. It is the voice of Satan trying to rend me apart from God. But I've learned from Joyce Meyer to speak back to that voice in Bible verses. I say out loud, "The Lord is a shield around me, he is my glory, he is the lifter of my head.
The Lord is a strong tower I run to and I am safe.
The Lord is the strength of my life and my portion forever."
As I quote these words, my spirit is lifted and I look up to God with thanksgiving. Jesus said, "In this world you will have many tribulations. But be of good cheer; I have overcome the world."
Everyone's tribulations are different. Yours may be financial, and you wonder why God has allowed this to happen. Perhaps you have lost a loved one. Maybe your husband or wife has left you. Quote the Bible, trust in the Lord and do good. We will never understand everything while we are here on earth. But we will understand afterwards.
Jesus once said to Peter, "You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand."
John 13:7
Just as I got out of bed, I heard in my mind, "How can God allow this to happen to you?" I laughed, and I'll tell you why I laughed. I recognized that voice. It is the voice of Satan trying to rend me apart from God. But I've learned from Joyce Meyer to speak back to that voice in Bible verses. I say out loud, "The Lord is a shield around me, he is my glory, he is the lifter of my head.
The Lord is a strong tower I run to and I am safe.
The Lord is the strength of my life and my portion forever."
As I quote these words, my spirit is lifted and I look up to God with thanksgiving. Jesus said, "In this world you will have many tribulations. But be of good cheer; I have overcome the world."
Everyone's tribulations are different. Yours may be financial, and you wonder why God has allowed this to happen. Perhaps you have lost a loved one. Maybe your husband or wife has left you. Quote the Bible, trust in the Lord and do good. We will never understand everything while we are here on earth. But we will understand afterwards.
Jesus once said to Peter, "You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand."
John 13:7
Jesus said about his death on the cross, "Truly, truly, I say to you, that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; you will grieve, but your grief will be turned into joy." John 16:20
The Bible says Jesus was, "a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief." If the Son of God suffered here, why do we expect not to suffer? No, we have "entered into Christ's sufferings." Christ has been suffering since Lucifer led a host of his fellow angels, the children of God in heaven, to rebel against God's government. I can't imagine what it was like for the Trinity to lose so many they knew so well and loved so much.
I don't mean to minimize the pain anyone is going through. I know the pain of divorce, death and abuse. But I also know that God has sufficient grace, peace and love for us to go through these things. He walks beside us. He will comfort us here, and at the end of time, he will abundantly reward us with a beautiful, pain-free life in heaven. There, all our hopes and dreams will come true. We will be surrounded by love and beauty.
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