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#Post#: 21034--------------------------------------------------
Spiritual Warfare
By: guest6 Date: December 24, 2018, 1:50 am
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What is spiritual warfare? Is it scriptural? Is it real?
The first scripture that comes to mind for me is Eph. 6:12 :
Because your fight has not been with flesh and blood, but with
Principalities and The Rulers and The Powers of this dark world
and with wicked spirits which are under Heaven (Aramaic bible).
This scripture mentions wicked spirits. And that our fight has
not been with flesh and blood.
Are wicked spirits or demons mentioned elsewhere in scripture?
Matt. 7:22 Many will say to me in that day, 'My Lord, my Lord,
have we not prophesied in your name, and in your name have cast
out demons, and have done many mighty works in your name?'
Matt. 8:28 And when Yeshua came to the other side to the region
of the Gadarenes, two demoniacs met him, who came out from the
graveyard, extremely evil, so that no man could pass on that
road. 29 And they cried out and they were saying, "What do we
have to do with you, Yeshua, Son of God? Have you come here
before the time to punish us?" 30 But there was distant from
them a herd of many pigs grazing. 31But those demons were
begging him and saying, "If you cast us out, allow us to go into
the herd of pigs." 32And Yeshua said to them, "Go", and at once
they came out and they entered into the pigs. And that whole
herd went straight over the cliff and fell into the sea and died
in the water. 33 But those who had been herding them fled and
went to the city and revealed everything that had happened and
about the demoniacs. 34 And the whole city came out to meet with
Yeshua, and when they saw him, they begged him to depart from
their borders.(Aramaic bible)
Matt. 10:1And he called his twelve disciples and he gave them
authority over foul spirits to cast them out, and to heal every
ailment and disease. 8"Heal the sick, purify the lepers and
cast out demons; freely you have received, freely give."
Matt. 12:25 But Yeshua knew their designs, and he said to them,
"Every Kingdom that is divided against itself will be destroyed
and every house and city that is divided against itself will not
stand. 26And if Satan casts out Satan, he has been divided
against himself; how therefore will his Kingdom stand? 27And if
I am casting out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast
them out? Therefore they will be your judges. 28And if I am
casting out demons by The Spirit of God, the Kingdom of God has
come near to you. 29 For how can a man enter the house of the
mighty man and plunder his goods unless first he bind the mighty
man? Then he may plunder his house.
Mark 5:1 And he came to the other side of the sea to the region
of the Gadarenes. 2And when he went out from the ship, a man met
him from among the tombs that had a foul spirit in him. 3And he
dwelt among the tombs and no one was able to bind him with
chains, 4Because whenever he had been bound in shackles and
chains he had broken the chains and cut the shackles apart and
no one was able to subdue him. 5And always at night and in the
daytime he was among the tombs and in the mountains and was
crying out and cutting himself with stones. 6But when he saw
Yeshua from a distance he ran and prostrated himself. 7And he
cried out in a loud voice and he said, "What do I have to do
with you, Yeshua, Son of God Most High? I adjure you by God that
you will not torture me!" 8For he had said to him, "Come out
from the man, foul spirit!" 9And he had asked him, "What is your
name?" He said to him, "Our name* is Legion, for we are many."
10And he begged of him much that he would not send him out of
the region. 11But there was near the mountain a great herd of
swine that were feeding. 12And those evil spirits were begging
of him and they were saying, "Send us unto those swine that we
may enter them." 13And he allowed them, and these foul spirits
went out and entered into the swine, and that herd ran to a
precipice and fell into the sea, about 2000 of them, and they
drowned in the water.
Mark 6:13 And they were casting out many evil spirits, and they
were anointing the many sick with oil and they were healing
them.
Mark 9:14And when he came to the disciples he saw the great
crowds among them and the Scribes debating with them. 15And
immediately all the crowds saw him and they were astonished and
ran and greeted him. 16And he was asking The Scribes, "What are
you debating with them?" 17And one from the crowds answered and
said, "Teacher, I brought my son to you, who has a dumb spirit."
18"And whenever it comes upon him, it throws him and it beats
him and he gnashes his teeth and he wastes away, and I spoke to
your disciples that they might cast it out, and they were not
able." 19Yeshua answered and said to them, "Oh faithless
generation, how long will I be with you? How long shall I endure
you? Bring him to me." 20And they brought him to him, and when
the spirit saw him, immediately he threw him and he fell on the
ground and he was convulsed and he foamed. 21Yeshua asked his
father, "How long a time now has he been like this?" He said to
him, "From his childhood." 22"And many times it has thrown him
into fire and into water to destroy him. But if you can do
anything, help me, and have mercy on me!" 23Yeshua said to him,
"If you are able to believe, everything is possible to the one
who believes." 24And immediately the father of the boy cried out
weeping and saying, "I believe my lord ; help the lack of my
faith." 25And when Yeshua saw that the people ran and gathered
near him, he rebuked that foul spirit and he said to it, "Deaf
spirit, that does not speak, I am commanding you, go out from
him, and you shall not enter him again." 26And that demon
screamed greatly and pounded him and went out and he was like a
dead man, so that many were saying, "He is dead." 27But Yeshua
took him by his hand and raised him up. 28But when Yeshua had
entered the house, his disciples asked him among themselves,
"Why were we not able to cast it out?" 29He said to them, "This
sort cannot come out by anything except by fasting and by
prayer."
Mark 9:38 Yohannan said to him, “Rabbi, we saw a man casting out
demons in your name, and we forbade him because he did not go
out with us.” 39Yeshua said to them, "Do not forbid him, for
there is no man who does a powerful work in my name and can soon
speak badly about me." 40"Whoever therefore is not against you
is for you."
Mark 16:17 “But these signs will accompany these who believe: in
my name they will cast out demons, and they will speak in new
languages.”
Luke 4:31 And he went down to Kapernahum, a city of Galilee, and
he was teaching them on the Sabbath. 32 And they were astonished
at his teaching for his message was with authority. 33 And there
was a man in the synagogue who had spirits of filthy demons in
him and he cried with a loud voice 34And he said, "Let us alone!
What business do we have with you, Yeshua Nazarene? Have you
come to destroy us? I know you, who you are, The Holy One of
God!" 35And Yeshua rebuked it and he said, "Shut your mouth and
come out of him!" And the demon threw him in the midst, and it
came out from him, while it did him no harm. 36And great
astonishment gripped everyone and they were speaking with one
another and they were saying, "What indeed is this message? For
with authority and with power he commands the foul spirits, and
they come out." 37And a report about him went out into the whole
region that was around them.
Acts 8:4 Those who were scattered were traveling and preaching
the word of God. 5 But Philippus went down to the city of the
Samaritans and he was preaching to them about The Messiah. 6 And
as they were listening to his message, the people who were
listening were persuaded by all that he had said, for they saw
the signs that he did. 7For many who had been seized by foul
spirits were screaming with a loud voice, and they were coming
out from them, and others who were paralytic and crippled were
healed. 8And there was great joy in that city.
Acts 16:16 And it was that as we were going to the house of
prayer, there met with us a girl, one who had a spirit of
divination upon her and she was making a great business for her
masters in the divination that she had been practicing. 17She
was coming after Paulus and after us, crying and saying, "These
men are Servants of the highest God, and they are evangelizing
to you the way of life." 18 And thus she was doing for many
days, and Paulus was angered and he said to that spirit, "I
command you in the name of Yeshua The Messiah to come out of
her", and at that moment, it came out.
Acts 19:11 And God was doing great miracles by the hand of
Paulus. 12 So also napkins or rags which were placed upon his
robe or his body were brought and placed on the sick, and the
diseases were departing from them; even demons were going out.
Acts 19:13 But there were also some Jewish men who were going
around and were exorcists of demons, exorcising in the name of
our Lord Yeshua over those who had a foul spirit in them, while
saying, “We exorcise you in the name of Yeshua whom Paulus
preaches.” 14But there were seven sons of a man who was a Jew, a
Chief Priest, whose name was Sqewa, who were doing this, 15And
that evil spirit answered and said to them, "I know Yeshua, and
I know Paulus, but who are you?" 16And that man who had the evil
spirit in him jumped upon them and overpowered them and threw
them down, and when they were stripped and wounded, they fled
from the house. 17And this became known to all the Jews and
Aramaeans dwelling in Ephesaus and great fear fell upon all of
them, and the name of Our Lord Yeshua The Messiah was exalted.
18Many of those who believed were coming and relating their
wrongdoing, and they were confessing the things that they were
doing. 19Many sorcerers also gathered their books and brought
and burned them before everyone and they calculated their price,
and it came up to fifty thousand silver pieces. 20And thus with
great power the faith of God was increasing in strength and
growing.*
What do we make of these scriptures? Are they true? Do they mean
exactly what they say or do they have a different meaning? Do
wicked spirits or demons really exist? If so, what does this
mean for Christians? Is this connected with spiritual warfare as
mentioned in Eph. 6:12?
#Post#: 21035--------------------------------------------------
Re: Spiritual Warfare
By: paralambano Date: December 24, 2018, 7:11 am
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As far as I understand it, evil spirits/demons are
non-benevolent suggestions or thoughts (errors) which if left
unchecked can lead to many more of them thereby becoming the
controlling force of a person's thinking and as a result, their
non-benevolent behaviour. God gave us the power of imagination
and choice by reflection (we're created very good in His image
and likeness) but shadow thoughts shadow this Truth and suggest
the opposite at times and it's up to us to choose whether we
accept this "darkness" as it tries to enter our consciousness,
or reject it as lies. This is the serpent of the "garden" that
Adam and Eve failed to check, failed to have dominion over. It's
not as if God created demons and unleashed them on mankind.
They're just shadow suggestions which appear next to truth
hoping to become truths but are nothing but lies which remain
inert until entertained and believed.
para . . . .
#Post#: 21036--------------------------------------------------
Re: Spiritual Warfare
By: Kerry Date: December 24, 2018, 7:51 am
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Let me reverse the order of the questions.[quote
author=Heartsong link=topic=1378.msg21034#msg21034
date=1545637807]What do we make of these scriptures? Are they
true? Do they mean exactly what they say or do they have a
different meaning? Do wicked spirits or demons really exist? If
so, what does this mean for Christians? Is this connected with
spiritual warfare as mentioned in Eph. 6:12?[/quote]
I think they are true and are fairly accurate as we read them,
but I do not connect them with what Paul is writing about in
Ephesians 6.
For me, there are four parts of man which manifest within time
and space: Heart, mind, soul/blood and the flesh. Then there
is the spirit of man which can also be called the Guardian
Angel. All five of these can have errors; and then there is
another part which is so much like god, it cannot be corrupted.
Some of the spiritual errors get fixed last. We think of Christ
as a corporate body, and I believe we can also think of Satan as
a corporate body. Yes, I'd say there is a "head" to that wicked
body -- we can call him "the Satan" of course; but if we retain
spiritual sins ourselves, part of our spirit can also be
satanic.
Instead of proceeding further now with my ideas, let's look at
the Scriptures where it is said "Satan" shows up.
We're told Satan showed up when Moses died, and there was a
struggle of some sort. Not much else is said about it in the
Christian Scriptures.
It is also said that Satan tempted David to count the people --
that's in one text. In another text, it says "the LORD"
tempted him to count the people. I say both are correct. Satan
should be part of God as He manifests to men, but he has fallen.
Nevertheless it is not wrong to say Satan is part of "the
LORD."
Returning again to Moses, we read that "the LORD" showed up at
the inn and "tried" to kill Moses. This also was not "God" as
we tend to think of Him, but an important demon. He was
defeated. Moses survived to achieve the purpose he was meant
to.
Satan showed up for Job, a very spiritually advanced person.
What is interesting to me about the book of Job is that Satan
shows up in Heaven and "the LORD" calls Job to his attention.
Job had perfected himself in many ways but was still flawed
spiritually. His satanic part was ready to repent. When the
fallen spirit of a person is ready to be perfected, it rises to
the Third Heaven. There is confusion among the theologians
about where Satan is to be found; but it varies. The Satanic has
been cast out of the Third Heaven completely; but when it is
time for the satanic to be corrected, it rises to the Third
Heaven.
Then there is Joshua the High Priest standing also in Heaven
with Satan accusing him. I find this story very instructive.
What Satan says is accurate. Joshua's clothes are dirty. But
"the LORD" says to take away the dirty clothes and give him
clean ones. What is not said is that Joshua had been lax about
his sons' marriages. His sons had married women they shouldn't
have. Joshua was in a state of sin; and had he continued on
that path, his sons would continued down that path too being
married to unbelieving women. What we learn from the story is
that when we repent, our dirty spiritual garments can be
replaced with clean ones, angelic white ones if you please --
another way of saying this is that the dirt of sin can be
washed clean.
[quote]What is spiritual warfare? Is it scriptural? Is it real?
The first scripture that comes to mind for me is Eph. 6:12 :
Because your fight has not been with flesh and blood, but with
Principalities and The Rulers and The Powers of this dark world
and with wicked spirits which are under Heaven (Aramaic bible).
This scripture mentions wicked spirits. And that our fight has
not been with flesh and blood.[/quote]I looked up the Greek to
be sure. I think the KJV is more accurate.
HTML https://www.blueletterbible.org/kjv/eph/6/1/t_conc_1103012
It is "spiritual wickedness"rather than "wicked spirits." It is
"in" rather than "under." I would have translated it as
"heavenly places" where the KJV renders it "high places" but I
think "high places" is fine. Matthew tells us Satan took Jesus
up to "an exceeding high mountain" and showed him "all the
kingdoms of the world." That was a spiritual mountain, of
course, since there is no physical mountain where you could see
all the kingdoms of the world.
What all these stories have in common is that Satan shows up for
spiritually advanced people. Satan is not allowed to show up in
full force like that for people who cannot pass the test which
follows his appearance. We may have sins at all the levels of
existence; but if we are unable to triumph over the temptation,
God does not permit it. God does not tempt anyone; but He does
allow us to be tempted -- and most of the time, our spiritual
temptations are things that were hidden from us when we were
relatively weak spiritually. We were creating them, we were
responsible, we were at fault not God.
One rather big spiritual flaw is how the satan (or fallen
Guardian Angel) in each of us accuses flesh and blood. If our
Guardian Angel sees us sinning in heart, mind, soul or body, it
can take on the satanic pose -- and wants nothing to do with us.
That is the reason, really, that we need Jesus to cover us
spiritually. If our Guardian Angel was doing it, we wouldn't
need Jesus to do it.
It's a terrible situation really since the human being in
physical incarnation can be quite nasty. Why would an angel
want to deal with such a nasty creature? On the other hand,
without angelic covering, this nasty creature has next to no
hope of changing for the better. Flesh and blood are too weak
by themselves.
The good news (as I see it) is that if you can get one of these
nasty creatures to regret its sinful fallen state, get it to
repent and want to improve, Jesus will provide the angelic
covering. The carnal creature now has access to the instruction
and help it needs.
At first, the struggle is with flesh and blood. When the person
agrees to discipline the flesh, and comes under the guidance of
the Christ Spirit which helps inform him of what acts are
sins(not his Guardian Angel however which is still suspicious),
he is on the path to reforming his soul, mind and heart. When
those four are reformed and almost perfect, the Guardian Angel
begins to wonder what's going on. It will come closer to the
body of the flesh -- literally closer. James is not being
metaphorical about "close" here:
James 4:8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you.
Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye
double minded.
If you believe God is everywhere, of course that cannot mean
"God" as the omnipresent Being. It doesn't mean God that way.
It means first of all that your Guardian Angel will start
hanging around closer; and secondly the part of you that is so
godlike it's almost impossible for it to fall (the Star or Sun)
will come closer. The goal Jesus has is to get the "four lower
parts of man" into good shape so the Guardian Angel is willing
to come back.
The Guardian Angel has its own sins too since it failed to cover
you. That can come forth as satanic accusations, often based on
facts -- but still not helpful being accusatory instead of
loving and christ-like. The Guardian Angel when ready to repent
of its error rises to Heaven. Error is then tossed out. You
may not believe it; but Satan falls for each saint who passes
this test. What is not worthwhile gets cast down -- I've seen
it happen -- it becomes nothing the way darkness is nothing.
What stays in Heaven is the Guardian Angel restored to its
proper place.
So all that being said, return now to Ephesians where Paul says
the struggle is not with flesh and blood. The Aramaic has that
in the past tense; but the Greek is present tense. I think the
past tense obscures things. While we may not yet be perfect in
the flesh, nevertheless it seems to me our struggle involved and
involves the flesh -- we cannot be guided by the flesh. We
cannot allow the flesh be our master. Once the flesh is fairly
well mastered the say Job mastered things, then comes the time
for the spiritual "wrestling" match. I think Paul is saying,
"You've already progressed a lot, and now it's time to start
'wrestling' with spiritual wickedness in heavenly places -- in
other words with the satanic that we have contributed to. I
hope my saying Christians can have a satanic aspect doesn't
confuse people too much since it's fairly obvious that many
Christians are accusatory and satanic. It doesn't mean to me
that they're not Christians; but it does mean they need to
confront the satanic in themselves sooner or later, preferably
sooner.
Now what about "wrestling'? Why did Paul use that phrase? He
was thinking of Jacob, I believe. How could a man wrestle with
God? Does that make sense? It doesn't if you think it means
"God" as an Omnipotent Being. The Jewish tradition says Jacob
was not wrestling with his own Guardian Angel but with Esau's.
While Esau's Guardian Angel was part of God, it was a fallen
part. Jacob's Guardian Angel took the place of Esau's -- and
Jacob became the spiritual covering for the Edomites.
The matter is obscured by how Genesis 32 is translated. The
same Hebrew word gets translated different ways -- as angels and
as messengers.
1 And Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him.
2 And when Jacob saw them, he said, This is God's host: and he
called the name of that place Mahanaim.
3 And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother unto
the land of Seir, the country of Edom.
Jacob could talk to angels, and he could send them to do a job.
Then Esau's Guardian Angel shows up in the wrestling man and is
said to be "a man" at first. Then we are told Jacob "saw" God.
He did not see the One True God in all His Glory -- no, he saw
Esau's Guardian Angel. This story shows us why Jacob "stole"
Esau's birthright. He stole it for the same reason Jesus wanted
to "steal" the kingdom of the Devil. So we learn that the
saints can "wrestle" with spiritual wickedness in high places"
that isn't always their own wickedness. They take it on for the
salvation of others.
[quote]Are wicked spirits or demons mentioned elsewhere in
scripture? [/quote]
These are demons and dark things of other sorts I think. This
post is already long, and perhaps later I'll have the time to go
into more detail; but for now, note that there's no real
warfare or struggle in these accounts. Especially with Jesus,
we see him telling them to get out and they get out. There
isn't a real struggle.
#Post#: 21040--------------------------------------------------
Re: Spiritual Warfare
By: guest6 Date: December 24, 2018, 12:11 pm
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[quote author=Kerry link=topic=1378.msg21036#msg21036
date=1545659515]
Let me reverse the order of the questions.I think they are true
and are fairly accurate as we read them, but I do not connect
them with what Paul is writing about in Ephesians 6. [/Quote]
If they are true and fairly accurate then do you think that the
people mentioned in some of those scriptures were possessed by
an evil spirit or even more than one evil spirit or that
something else was happening?
As in these scriptures: Luke 4:33.... there was a man in the
synagogue who had spirits of filthy demons in him and he cried
with a loud voice 34And he said, "Let us alone! What business do
we have with you, Yeshua Nazarene? Have you come to destroy us?
I know you, who you are, The Holy One of God!" 35And Yeshua
rebuked it and he said, "Shut your mouth and come out of him!"
Mark 5:6 ....6But when he saw Yeshua from a distance he ran and
prostrated himself. 7And he cried out in a loud voice and he
said, "What do I have to do with you, Yeshua, Son of God Most
High? I adjure you by God that you will not torture me!" 8For he
had said to him, "Come out from the man, foul spirit!" 9And he
had asked him, "What is your name?" He said to him, "Our name*
is Legion, for we are many."
[Quote]Returning again to Moses, we read that "the LORD" showed
up at the inn and "tried" to kill Moses. This also was not
"God" as we tend to think of Him, but an important demon. He
was defeated. Moses survived to achieve the purpose he was
meant to. [/Quote]
An important demon who was defeated. Would this demon be similar
to those in the scriptures I posted or was it something else?
[Quote]What all these stories have in common is that Satan shows
up for spiritually advanced people. Satan is not allowed to
show up in full force like that for people who cannot pass the
test which follows his appearance. We may have sins at all the
levels of existence; but if we are unable to triumph over the
temptation, God does not permit it. God does not tempt anyone;
but He does allow us to be tempted -- and most of the time, our
spiritual temptations are things that were hidden from us when
we were relatively weak spiritually. We were creating them, we
were responsible, we were at fault not God. [/Quote]
Would this apply to young children too?
[Quote]The good news (as I see it) is that if you can get one of
these nasty creatures to regret its sinful fallen state, get it
to repent and want to improve, Jesus will provide the angelic
covering. The carnal creature now has access to the instruction
and help it needs. [/Quote]
Does this mean that we need to pray for a person like that?
[Quote]At first, the struggle is with flesh and blood. When the
person agrees to discipline the flesh, and comes under the
guidance of the Christ Spirit which helps inform him of what
acts are sins(not his Guardian Angel however which is still
suspicious), he is on the path to reforming his soul, mind and
heart. When those four are reformed and almost perfect, the
Guardian Angel begins to wonder what's going on. It will come
closer to the body of the flesh -- literally closer. James is
not being metaphorical about "close" here:[/Quote]
I thought that Guardian Angels were closer to young children
especially.That doesn't seem to be the case.
[Quote]So all that being said, return now to Ephesians where
Paul says the struggle is not with flesh and blood. The Aramaic
has that in the past tense; but the Greek is present tense. I
think the past tense obscures things. While we may not yet be
perfect in the flesh, nevertheless it seems to me our struggle
involved and involves the flesh -- we cannot be guided by the
flesh. We cannot allow the flesh be our master. Once the flesh
is fairly well mastered the say Job mastered things, then comes
the time for the spiritual "wrestling" match. I think Paul is
saying, "You've already progressed a lot, and now it's time to
start 'wrestling' with spiritual wickedness in heavenly places
-- in other words with the satanic that we have contributed to.
I hope my saying Christians can have a satanic aspect doesn't
confuse people too much since it's fairly obvious that many
Christians are accusatory and satanic. It doesn't mean to me
that they're not Christians; but it does mean they need to
confront the satanic in themselves sooner or later, preferably
sooner. [/Quote]
So then there are no evil spirits in the spirit world that want
to harm and attack us so we are not in a spiritual battle that
way?
[Quote]So we learn that the saints can "wrestle" with spiritual
wickedness in high places" that isn't always their own
wickedness. They take it on for the salvation of others.
[/Quote]
I'll have to think about this.
#Post#: 21041--------------------------------------------------
Re: Spiritual Warfare
By: guest6 Date: December 24, 2018, 12:23 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
[quote author=paralambano link=topic=1378.msg21035#msg21035
date=1545657096]
As far as I understand it, evil spirits/demons are
non-benevolent suggestions or thoughts (errors) which if left
unchecked can lead to many more of them thereby becoming the
controlling force of a person's thinking and as a result, their
non-benevolent behaviour. God gave us the power of imagination
and choice by reflection (we're created very good in His image
and likeness) but shadow thoughts shadow this Truth and suggest
the opposite at times and it's up to us to choose whether we
accept this "darkness" as it tries to enter our consciousness,
or reject it as lies. This is the serpent of the "garden" that
Adam and Eve failed to check, failed to have dominion over. It's
not as if God created demons and unleashed them on mankind.
They're just shadow suggestions which appear next to truth
hoping to become truths but are nothing but lies which remain
inert until entertained and believed.
para . . . .
[/quote]
That sounds very positive and encouraging. :)
#Post#: 21042--------------------------------------------------
Re: Spiritual Warfare
By: paralambano Date: December 24, 2018, 12:30 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
Heartsong -
As Paul taught, take every thought captive to Christ
(Truth/Love). This is working out our salvation to the only
world of harmony and beauty possible that's real.
para . . . .
#Post#: 21043--------------------------------------------------
Re: Spiritual Warfare
By: guest6 Date: December 24, 2018, 12:54 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
[quote author=paralambano link=topic=1378.msg21042#msg21042
date=1545676228]
Heartsong -
As Paul taught, take every thought captive to Christ
(Truth/Love). This is working out our salvation to the only
world of harmony and beauty possible that's real.
para . . . .
[/quote]
Yes, thank you for that. The thing is I can't control what other
people do and often what they do greatly affects me in so many
ways. They really took things to a level that is way beyond my
control and even beyond my understanding. So I pray about that a
lot.
#Post#: 21045--------------------------------------------------
Re: Spiritual Warfare
By: paralambano Date: December 25, 2018, 8:51 am
---------------------------------------------------------
Heartsong - ^
Whatever evil comes against you in the appearance of persons,
you don't have to tolerate it. Effective prayer is being
ruthlessly dismissive of it as "idea" and affirming God's
Allness wherever evil appears. This is the basis of praying
blessings for those who would harm you in any way. Evil has a
way of turning upon itself since it's ultimately
self-destructive. I've seen some bad stuff happen to
wrong-thinkers when my motives toward them haive been pure. Back
in the old days, this was seen as the vengeance of God with
smoke coming out of his nostrils but Infinite Love is a
stronghold wrong-thinkers rush against only to break their heads
against until they tire of their wrongful thinking.
However evil comes one's way, at base it's ideational - - that
is, it comes to your awareness as a thought or thoughts. Jesus
said that the kingdom is inside us and at hand.We draw closer to
having the Higher Consciousness when we fight evil spiritually
in our thoughts, whether it be of our own or directed at us from
"outside". It gradually starts to disappear for us in
consciousness as we begin to experience God's infinite Allness.
We begin to "rule" what enters consciousness as the earth as we
were ever intended to do by Infinite Life (God). We discover
that being sons and daughters of Holy Consciousness is and
always has been our divine right. It's our dreaming that Perfect
God and His Perfect idea/reflection and Very Good creation isn't
All there is. As Paul said, we have to cast down imaginations.
para . . . .
#Post#: 21046--------------------------------------------------
Re: Spiritual Warfare
By: guest6 Date: December 25, 2018, 12:13 pm
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[quote author=paralambano link=topic=1378.msg21045#msg21045
date=1545749503]
Heartsong - ^
Whatever evil comes against you in the appearance of persons,
you don't have to tolerate it.[/Quote]
If only that was true. I wish it was. It's beyond my power and
control. I continually pray against it. I know this probably
doesn't make sense to other people. But that's just the way it
is and the way it's always been since I was a very young child.
It's always been what I consider a spiritual battle. There's
just no other way to define it. It was already there in my
family even before I was born so I was born into it.
I still have strong faith. They can't take that away from me
although they certainly tried to. They can't hide from God the
way they hide from people. They can't do anything in secret that
God doesn't see or know about. God knows who they are and what
they're doing and he knows what they've done to me, as well as
to many others, and they are going to have to answer for that
one day no matter how mighty they think they are and think of
themselves as gods. Then there will be justice.
#Post#: 21047--------------------------------------------------
Re: Spiritual Warfare
By: paralambano Date: December 25, 2018, 3:14 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
Heartsong - ^
If these people have harmed you, know it's true not just by
faith but by understanding that by their belief in their harmful
thoughts and actions, they can't enter God Consciousness.
Justice is already done spiritually in the Eternal Now since God
isn't constrained by time. We appear to be. They will have their
experiences and education within it as you move on into the
Eternal Now (outside of time) not not just by wishing and
hoping. God isn't a wishing-well or a hope-chest. Infinite Love
is the only actual Ruler by Love's irrefutable ongoing, eternal,
spiritual laws. If only we all deeply understood as Jesus did,
that everything has already been given us. Everything. This
includes justice. Understanding this truth is the freedom Jesus
promised us. Freedom from fear and lack. Freedom from wanting
revenge or continually asking for justice since spiritual
understanding of God's irrepressible laws brings relief. Jesus
knew these laws. He knew what was going to happen to Jerusalem
by them and so do you your enemies if they don' t change. This
knowledge freed Jesus to move on since Justice was already
hanging over its head.
You're the one who can advance. Justice is already done despite
appearances. Don't let anything hold you back in seeking Kingdom
Consciousness. You'll enter before they do lest they repent.
para . . . .
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