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Humans have an enemy sight unseen but nevertheless walking about the earth to and fro (Job 1:6-12) disrupting and causing much interference by saturating people with wrong thoughts and attitudes such as we can read about in the account of Job. The enemy is a fierce killing machine needing no sleep or rest and is more cunning than any other; he is skilled at lies, deception, confusion, chaos, destruction and insanely dedicated to the annihilation of humanity. He, along with his demonic assistants -- one third of the angelic realm which are very many, even thousands of thousands – is fully intent on our demise. Ezekial 28 and Isaiah 14 explain the rise and fall of this perfect and most beautiful archangel made by God to have full wisdom and incredible talents. From the vast numbers of angels created there were none more astonishingly talented and arrayed in jewels and finery than Lucifer (Ezekial 28:12-14). We read in these chapters of the Bible that the archangel Lucifer corrupted his wisdom because of meteoric self pride in his beauty and great splendour including his God given talents and abilities (Isaiah 14:14, Ezekial 28:17). These accounts reveal that Lucifer became corrupted when iniquity (sin) was found in him (he was not made or created this way) therefore he was no longer referred to as Lucifer and is now known as Satan the devil, our accuser and arch enemy (Revelation 12:10). Angels cannot reproduce like humans therefore they are asexual beings, although referred to as "he" throughout the Bible.
God made all angels with amazing supernatural abilities such as not requiring sleep and food, and they are not bound by time or any physical limitations of bodily functions such as we have. Satan is saturated with jealousy and envy because he cannot reproduce and ultimately inherit the Kingdom of God as humans will one day achieve. As God's obedient children we will inherit everything and rule with Christ when He returns to earth (Psalm 37:22). If that was not bad enough for our enemy, the thorn in his side is that God's plan involves humans being changed into supernatural beings with supernatural powers at some stage after their death, and will also have authority over the angelic realm. The devil is so full of arrogant pride, anger, rage, hate and revenge that he will not accept any part of God's plan. Instead he wants all -- not part -- but all the adulation, worship and acknowledgement, falsely believing he can rule the world better than even God Himself (Isaiah 14:13-14). This is so diabolically wrong and crazy it just shows his debased state of mind -- corrupted and fully perverted. He has gone way past the point of no return and has been judged by God as having no hope of any reconciliation therefore he cannot be saved. Angels have free will just as humans do because God has lovingly given all the ability to choose. Lucifer refused to accept God's perfect plan for all of humanity to live in eternal peace knowing how to love God and others, therefore he rebelled and tried to dethrone God. It was then, many thousands of years ago, even before Adam and Eve were created and placed in the Garden of Eden, that upon knowing God's plan for human beings as God's rightful heirs, that iniquity (sin) was found in this archangel who initiated war at God's very throne in heaven and failed (Revelation 12:9). One could say that this was the rebellion of all rebellions (Luke 10:18, Isaiah 14:12) somewhat like the future battle of the Great Day of God Almighty (some call it the battle of Armageddon) at Christ's return (Revelation 16:14, 16).
How the most evil and wickedly vile enemy wholeheartedly desires to silence God's faithful from sharing the truth to the rest of the world, of whom many have no interest because of the greatest of all deceptions, but there are still some who may listen and embrace it and we pray for those so that the enemy does not snatch away from them the good news of the Kingdom of God. He puts doubts in minds through his manipulation of the truth and sets about mixing truth with lies which confuses people to the point that they do not stay the course and revert back to their worldly ways (Mark 4:15, Matthew 13:19). His plan to deceive has proven to be extremely successful, as he transmits his lies in enticing messages laced with seductive, enchanting content via the airwaves (radio, TV, internet, and through thoughts and attitudes in order to influence people to sin). For those of us fighting the good fight day in and day out, it is a devoted work and labour of love, yet it does get challenging as we age and suffer from various afflictions sapping our physical energy to the point of depletion. Physical conditions can set us back or render us slow at best, even immobile, or feeling useless, but we must take heart knowing that we cannot do it by our own power, might and strength therefore we go to God in prayer in order to rely on God's supernatural strength while absorbing every bit of His spiritual power given via His Holy Spirit -- the Helper -- in order to never give up (1 John 4:4).
This past week for me has been unexpectedly tiresome -- much to do within certain time frames with unforeseen constraints as setbacks or hurdles, one after the other affecting energy levels and health. It was like setting off with all the equipment needed to complete a journey safely -- a considered plan on a realistic timetable spread over several days, sensible shoes, appropriate clothing for the elements, supplies of fresh water and fruit to combat thirst and hunger so that the work could be done and completed to the best standard possible. Yet somewhere along the way while focussing on said work it became much more difficult than usual because of a series of events that occurred. Commencing with an unexpected full day power outage at home which suddenly caught us off guard thereby "throwing a spanner in the works" as we were unable to get things done that were specifically required on that day. The work had to be completed therefore it was done the following day on top of a very tight schedule. Unfortunately several hours were unproductive while waiting for a routine home inspection that was not professionally handled by the company concerned thereby causing issues with less than ideal communication methods therefore mistakes occurred affecting our ability to complete workloads that had to be rearranged quickly. This then translated into trying to catch up and battle other things such as the inclement weather as much rain and even thunderstorms had been forecasted. Suffice to say that I am quite grateful that this draining and energy sapping week is over. If I could sum up how it felt in one word it would be -- interference.
Interference should be the devil's middle name -- Satan Interference Fallen Angel -- the devil, nemesis and enemy to the whole of humankind, especially those of us Christians with targets on our backs. Oh how this enraged creature is tirelessly busy on his mission to injure, maim, cause diabolical pain and suffering to as many individuals as it desires to with the goal of death both physical and spiritual through separation from God. How does this fallen angel do this? By deception, use of cunning, guile, evil and sick lies that are insidiously worked to trick and fool unsuspecting people into believing that humans can have their own way rather than God's way. Remember that Satan knows the Bible inside out and back to front more than we will ever be able to remember therefore it is no small thing that he can change and twist doctrine to confuse us. Self sufficiency is the modus operandi for which the devil desperately wants us to rely on. Conversely, serving God through obedience to His commandments is abhorrent and the last thing Satan wants us to do and this fallen angel will stop at nothing in order to achieve his perverted ways. Twisting truth is the grand scheme of such a one who deliberately uses subtlety by mixing in a little truth amongst error in order to confuse and confound. Remember Satan not only caused his own downfall but also influenced one third of the angelic realm to join him. By listening to Lucifer they then made the (wrong) choice to align themselves with him. This meant separation from God and they subsequently lost their proper place with God (Revelation 12:4, 7-9, Jude 1:6). The most monumental price to pay and these tormented fallen angels are now roaming the earth as demons responsible for the chaos and havoc we witness day after day.
Thankfully God protects His children by placing a hedge around those who are humble, faithful and obedient just like He did with Job. Many scriptures throughout the Bible such as 2 Thessalonians 3:3 confirm God's protection. While Satan repeatedly and relentlessly tries to squash our attempts at spreading the good news of Jesus Christ's return to earth, he will never succeed (Romans 16:20). Also, there is great hope from Matthew 16:18 containing Christ's words stating that God's church will not be overtaken by the gates of hades (death) confirming, that there will always be a remnant on earth doing the work, even as feeble as these may feel at various times such as these, but they know that Satan is not their greatest enemy as they also know that the greatest enemy is sin. This is what separates us from God. Adam and Eve learned their monumental lesson when they were removed from living in paradise and as they say...the rest is history. The time is short and we need to keep in mind that this present evil age when Satan and his minions prance about wreaking havoc and interference is only temporary. Indeed the Kingdom of Self is just that -- temporary, full of glittering lies and perversions whereas the Kingdom of God is all about giving in true peace, joy, and love.