Apr 16
Temptation and Darkness
How can humans love darkness rather than light, is on one hand somewhat perplexing to me, and on the other is totally understandable - I know for I have been guilty of loving it. If one can discipline themselves to remember that darkness is merely an absence of light or should I say, “that to the degree light is, darkness is not,” then there is no choice, but when the passion of the soul grips us, spiritual thoughts seem to be nonexistent.
Both natural light and spiritual light are proven to be good for us. If light is good and it is, just ask those who live in northern areas where light is almost a luxury, therefore it makes sense that we should long for light, right? So why would anyone love darkness when it is not good for you? One would not, unless they first perceived that evil was good, but then evil seldom appears as evil does it?
Before we get too far out on this topic, bear with me while I make a couple of statements.
Loving darkness rather than light, hummmm – First, we have to consider that if one did not love darkness there would be no temptation, or would there?.
Second, to be tempted one has to want that which they are tempted with. Conversely, without the “want” there is no temptation. The key to overcoming any temptation is to stay out of darkness and get rid of the “want” in our lives. The term want is, at its root, a very selfish term and most of us learn this at a very early age. So I wonder, can temptation and darkness exist without each other?
Third, darkness hides the act or the fact that we succumbed to the temptation. For those who want to pretend they did not sin, darkness is then good – but wrong tree thinking. Why hide the act? Perhaps it is to keep others from thinking less of us? Perhaps it is so we do not have to face the realization that we obtained something that is not the best for us? Or, perhaps it is to be justified in self-deception – we can say, “I didn’t know …,” when we really did. Darkness is a great hider of temptation. It allows for all sorts of excuses. No wonder humanity loves it!
Finally, there is a flip side to temporal joy of temptation and that is the side of regret. No one ever yields to temptation without the aftermath of regret. Oh sure, the regret may be infinitesimally small and short lived. Still the more we yield to it the smaller the tinge of regret becomes until we eventually become calloused, at which time regret passes through our heart hardly noticed. This condition is Scripturally called hardness of heart.
We seem to find that darkness hides all manner of things that can hurt and even kill us. Also, we find that temptation flourishes in darkness and it begins more often than not as a small seed that is hardly noticeable. You see the serpent is shrewd, he knows more radical things jar our spirit and we quickly and easily run from the danger. Thus, he plants small things that enter here and there and in so doing these tiny seeds become insignificant to us as we rush through our lives. This is just one of the reasons for quieting ourselves, but that is a different topic.
Along this smallish line of thinking, a friend of mine nearly died once of Deer Fever that most likely started from an unnoticed mosquito bite months earlier. How, could the small amount of bacteria on the tip of the needle like nose of a mosquito kill a large human? It multiplies, and like the bacteria of Deer Fever, the small unnoticed bacteria of darkness multiplies within us, and as it does it affects and effects everything it touches within our lives and relationships.
What are some characteristics of temptation and/or darkness that you have noticed in conversations with others, or perhaps in yourself?
Blessings,
John Paul
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I am kind of shocked with this blog, not in an inappropriate way, but because I was just thinking about this ‘loving of darkness.’ It has been some time since i had been around ‘institutional christians’ as I have steered away from those places as much as possible recently, however I ran into a few christians of the sort. I noticed that they didn’t even wince at all kinds of wickedness that they were consuming on a regular basis, when i mentioned that some of the things they were talking about were disturbing to me, they laughed and joked about them being ‘jaded’ or maybe ‘desensatized’ to those things. They had a total disregard of conviction and that sort of thing.
I recently watched the movie series “Heroes” and was amazed at some of the great things that were in it (ie.. hearing peoples thoughts, relocation, being invisible, flying etc), but I was equally horrified at the gore and violence. Many claiming beleivers seem to not bat an eye at this sort of thing because its entertainment. How can this be?
I am all kinds of confused as to how anyone can love the darkness and be of the light. I don’t understand how anyone can desire to want to be in darkness once they have tasted light.
Maybe I am just too sensative but if i say something that may have even been off the mark of what God would want me to, I am utterly devestated. If I think things that are not holy and from heaven, meaning if I get angry and bitter towards someone etc, I am on my face, saying “papa i am sorry, cleanse me” and I find it odd that darkness would be loved by people who desire light. To me, the feeling and visuals of what happens when we take even a half step into darkness, is a putrid wicked feel, smell, and sight, and its something that makes me want to turn immediately to the father.
It has been bothering me even more lately when I talked with some people who supposedly were holy spirit beleivers, but then they said “all roads and religions lead to God, Jesus isn’t the only way” when they said this .. I shuddered.. and was like WHAT!!! I mean, I beleive that all those who are seeking will find, but all religions do not lead to God, and Jesus IS the only way. To beleive otherwise in the name of being ‘led by the spirit’ is to be in darkness of the spirit of the world. Clearly these people DID love darkness, and were practicing in the shadows!
I heard Bob Jones speak of when he was in heaven, that people actually threw THEMSELVES into hell, and I beleive that is true. I think people do that because they want to run into darkness, that they actually desire to hide and be in the darkness instead of being open and honest and being exposed in the light of Jesus.
I have also found the glaring distance when I openly talk of mismarkings with other beleivers who don’t want to discuss what they see as ‘weakness’ or ‘failures’ where I just think its life and its ok to talk about things, but people seem to want to hide alot, self serving, self preserving, self self self.. the very spirit that cast satan from heaven to darkness.. pride.
I guess I just hope that someday people would not desire evil, and would be like the psalmist “i delight in your law day and night” “all night long I flood my bed with weeping before you Lord’ …. I guess that is the difference between a self made religious man and those who are lovers.. lovers cling to their beloved, they act intimately and openly with their love, they LOVE to bring things to the light, and openly disclose their intimate and raw nakedness, where as religiously self made men, people who have all their ‘ducks in a row’ typically come at intimacy and love as if it is some sort of regimented action that has to be carried out by step by step processes.
I truly hope that many would desire light more than darkness….
Rebeliousness comes to mind.
I have a very strong will and at times will have a desire to want to do things my way. Sometimes in my choice making there exists this irrational thought process. I just don’t consider the consequences of such choices. I should say however, that this is less and less a factor in my life. Looking back I can see how I went through a process of pushing away from God and His work in my life. I went from darkness into darkness until one day I woke up to ask the question, “what happened?” I found out that an honest question presented to God brought an honest response. A response that brought about conviction that eventualy brought about change.
A friend once said, “satan will remind us of the fun we used to have but never remind us of the painful consequences of our choices.”
Still I also believe something deeper exists…
Prov 27:7 –The full loaths honey but to the hungry even the bitter taste sweet.
Perhaps this is part of the darkness…deep down inside there is hunger and thirst. The darkness hinders our ability to reach out to what brings life and to what will truly satisfy us.
I agree with this almost to the paranoia side of it. It is the little things that go un noticed.That end up big!!I am a in situation that needs lots of prayer, and one of the things I have noticed in myself is thoughts. It is hard when the enemy places a thought in ,for it not to come out my mouth. Because once the enemy speaks in your ear Negative. Then you attach a emotion to it. Then along with a emotion becomes a action. Then if it is passed to a another person that one whisper from Satan gets reaction from somone else then it keeps on going. You have been sucked right in. Bingo! The enemy has a stronghold in your life. And it is not until you realize this can you really get idea how and what the outcome will be. When The bible says only God knows the true intents of our heart. He is right!!!!
I’m reading for the talk on quieting ourselves whenever you are…
Hey JP,
Hope you are doing well. Some thoughts:
* an old adage, nevertheless, true: the enemy pushes and cajoles us to do something immediately; God (largely) leads and guides us and develops (processes)us to bring us His promise. He also does this I believe to wean us from wanting the promise itself more than wanting Him, to where we want Him and the promise is fulfilment in Him instead of fulfillment in the promise exclusive of Him
* temptation (and sin) is an immediate,largely sensory gratification promising the fulfillment of our bodily desires and longings with just us in the frame of reference in terms of who gets fulfilled; in other words, selfishness
* temptation says that if you don’t do it now, it will never happen. It also says you must make it happen instead of relying on God to make it happen
* at its root temptation says to me I am God, I call the shots, I know what’s best
Blessings,
Dennis
An offence can become the start of … ’small unnoticed bacteria making darkness multiply’. The more darkness the more deceived we become resulting in the hardening of our hearts thus eliminating childlike trust with God and with one another! The ears of our heart become even more in tune with the lies of the enemy (darkness) as opposed to the truth (the light).
What I have experienced with myself and others is that if we give in to the offence it opens us up to the deception that we are justified in walking closely with this darkness that is growing and causing us to become less teachable as children of God
Oops I forgot to end with a Big Blessing to all.
Susan
I have noticed the tendency to always believe the best about myself can be darkness. Friends will sometimes try to talk you out of what may actually be conviction from the Holy Spirit.
I tend to be hard on myself in areas that are superficial, and then ignore areas that God cares about. And if anyone dare accuse me in one of those areas, I’ll flip out!
The biggest, broadest temptation I am aware of now, is to blame others (people, God, culture, environment) and postpone change rather than take responsibility to stop doing wrong and do right.
One characteristic of temptation I see in myself is the temptation to either add to, or subtract from, what I sense the Lord may be saying to me or showing me in a dream, etc. It seems way too easy to either want to debase, or exalt, ourselves or others, and not stick to the revealed truth we have at any given moment. Think this carries over into many areas of my/our lives …
Ouch and thank you, John Paul. I so enjoy reading your blogs. They encourage, clarify and give me understanding (plus food for thought). I always look forward to your posts.
Temptation and darkness is an extensive topic…
I’ve found that these two work in the same way as a virus (just as you have mentioned).
Just this weekend, my computer got a virus through the internet. It was actually my fault, because I opened an e-mail that said that I had to install an activex control, in order to see a youtube clip. At first I was suspecting, because lately I’ve been able to see youtube clips without a problem, but because this has happened before, I decided to go ahead, because the previous installations have never harmed my computer…
When I saw that I had installed a virus, (I noticed that my internet connection was active even when I wasn’t accessing the net), I ran the anti-virus. It didn’t find the virus. So I decided to format my hard drive (it was something that I had decided to do for a long time, but never got down to doing)…
Now I have installed a new operating system (legal copy that I bought a few months ago), which is reporting the total capacity of my hard drive. My previous operating system was reporting 20gb less of the total hard drive space. I now have access to online support from the manufacturer, something that I didn’t have before…
At the present moment, my computer is running on totally legal software, and, is now working to full capacity and virus free…with extra benefits…
This time, it will harder for me to fall into another “Youtube” or “activex” trap, since I know what is going on. And now, my computer is working better than ever!
Characteristics that I have seen prior to this occasion, and now relating to it…
Temptation and darkness come in a familiar way, normally unsuspecting and attractive to the “prey”. They come with bait, hook and line. The line is a tube through which venom (darkness) is injected as often as reverted to (as soon as that internet connection is made, with the virus installed in the computer, it will go get some more viruses…).
Darkness will eventually kill…Bad habits work this way…
But Love and Light will give Life, and will never die!
More on this, out there…
God Bless!
When you were speaking of the “want” of temptation, I thought of something I read about Jesus being tempted with a “legitimate need”……….food !!! The fact was he had been deprived for 40 days of food, then Satan came along with the temptation to turn stones into bread. So some of the deception we face is, at least partly, is due to legitimate, unmet needs. And so we keep thinking we are “entitled” to getting our needs met…..which is actually the epitome of selfishness !!!
John Paul,
In response to your question, “What are some characteristics of temptation and/or darkness that you have noticed in conversations with others, or perhaps in yourself?”
For me, I notice a craving to have a need filled. It is a selfish, self-protective craving. Sometimes, I feel that if I lived a thousand years, all of them submitted to the cleansing hand of the Lord, there would still be a deep rooted root of self embedded in my soul. I agree with Paul when he wrote, “O unhappy and pitiable and wretched man that I am! Who will release and deliver me from this body of death?” (Romans 8:24.)
But then I remember Romans 8:25, and give thanks to God.
Blessings.
Dear John Paul,
Again the great wisdom for us to retain. Thank you. My quest to the elusive perfection level of Jesus continues. God Bless you always!!! Love and Peace be with you all!!!
Temptation/Darkness
“Confess your sins to one another…”
A big temptation for me is to TALK TOO MUCH and try to fix everything on my own, rather than to “be still and know that I am God (that would be “I”, referring to HIM, not ME, even though, at times, you would think I had the two mixed up)”.
Sometimes I wonder how God can be so patient with me…
He is LORD,
I am not;
He is LORD,
I am not;
He is LORD…
To my soul: “So relax already and quit talking so much!”
When I let the Father Holy Spirit Yeshua meet all my needs emotional ect. when I surrender my wants seek ye first the kingdom of God all will be taken care of delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart confess your faults one to another and pray you will be healed freed saved to love HIM more if donuts are a sin walk on the other side of the street first things first Father what are we doing today? submit to God and resist the devil a defeated foe keep the cloak of humilty on by the Fathers GRACE we stand in the day of evil like the noon day sun we will shine the son of righteousness will rise with healing in HIS wings SHALOM Check out freshfire.ca the Father is healing HIS children all over receive your healing NOW in YESHUA’s NAME there’s power in the Name.
What I want to know is how do I get rid of my “want” so that I will love the Lord & His ways more than my sin? It seems for me it’s not as easy as just making the decision. Can you shed some light on this? Even with knowledge of the Lord’s will I can be so consistently rebellious. I pray that God will “turn my heart” like the Proverbs scripture about the King’s heart being in the hand of the Lord & Him turning it wherever He wishes. It’s like I change the words in the Cheap Trick song to “I want me to want You…I need me to need You…”
John Paul Wrote:
I know for I have been guilty of loving it. If one can discipline themselves to remember that darkness is merely an absence of light or should I say, “that to the degree light is, darkness is not,” then there is no choice, but when the passion of the soul grips us, spiritual thoughts seem to be nonexistent..
My Response:
John Paul:
I am not sure if I agree with this all the way because its not always a black or white issue in many peoples lives especially in this day and age where darkness is on the rise…Most of the time there are gray areas that an individual has to mull through in order to get to the light/truth or the spiritual absolute with a mentor/spiritual advisor. Below is a gray area that the apostle Paul struggled with regarding his sin nature.
Because God made us thinking human beings, however, sometimes in our life, the “what not to do” (evil) is often sometimes lurking somewhere in the distance hidden by the darkness. At this point we need to take some steps towards that end (the light).
This is why the apostle Paul describes his struggle with sin in Romans 7:14-25 as: - ” We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate , I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I AGREE THAT THE LAW IS GOOD. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is SIN living in me. I know nothing good lives in me that is in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do, no, the evil I do not want to do- this I keep doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
So I find this law at work…When I want to do good, evil is right there with me..For in my inner being , I delight in God’s law but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am . Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God, through Jesus Christ Our Lord! So, then I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s Law , but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin” …..This is cross work my friends that only God can do.. Man can only point the way to the process, which begins with repentance and continued with complete recognition of sinful thoughts as they come up therefore challenging ourselves to cast down these vain imaginings beneath the feet of Jesus, always asking for the mind of Christ all the days of our lives….It works, this renewal of my mind has spared me of many potential nervous breakdowns…..
THE CROSS THERE’S NOTHING LIKE IT!
Peace
Shirley C.
Oops, I made a mistake in paragraph 2:
Because God made us thinking human beings, however, sometimes in our life, the “what not to do” (evil) is often sometimes lurking somewhere in the distance hidden by the darkness. At this point we need to take some steps towards that end, the crucifixion of evil by the light, which is Jesus).
on some level it’s the mystery of lawlessness, scripture in Thess, but you don’t necessarily always love darkness more than light, you get pressed/wedged away from light and end up drinking the kool-aid that it serves you… i.e., “have another glass of wine while you are here”.
Hi John Paul! Interesting. I’ve been posting on Ephesians ch. 5 this week, about light and darkness. If you’d like to read it, you can go to http://www.renaebrumbaugh.com.
Blessings to you!
Renae
This issue of loving darkness spans both Christians and non-Christians, but I want to focus on the Christian side for the moment.
I could be wrong, but I see two main reasons why many Christians have no problem with loving darkness:
1. Their perception of God.
2. Becauses of their perception of God, they have no fear of the LORD.
1. I think that most Christians have scaled God down into someone extremely small, insignificant, and powerless. Christians actually think it is really hard, even impossible for God to move a physical mountain here on the earth. In their eyes, God is not a big God.
2. Because of the above, Christians feel that they can “get away with” more darkness in their lives. Another contributing factor that feeds into this is that no one teaches about the wrath of God anymore. The only thing taught is that God is love. Now, there is nothing wrong with teaching that God is love, because He is love, BUT, He is also wrath.
Now I do believe that God has not given us a spirit of fear, but I think that if you have enough reverence for Him, there will be a certain level of actual fear in regards to Him.
God is a speaker of thunder and lightning! He is a breather of Planets, stars, and galaxies! Do we really understand what this means???
A star is a massive, luminous ball of plasma…it shines because of thermonuclear fusion in its core.
Do we understand what this means? It means God is a breather of nuclear power! BUT WAIT…God is even bigger…
“The sun’s radius (distance from its center to its surface) is about 432,000 miles (695,500 kilometers). But astronomers classify the sun as a dwarf because other kinds of stars are much bigger. Some of the stars known as supergiants have a radius about 1,000 times that of the sun.” (Nasa.gov)
BUT WAIT…GOD is even bigger and more powerful…
“The sun is in a galaxy called the Milky Way that contains more than 100 billion stars. There are more than 100 billion galaxies in the universe, and the average number of stars per galaxy may be 100 billion. Thus, more than 10 billion trillion stars may exist.” (Nasa.gov)
AND TO THINK…GOD IS EVEN BIGGER AND MORE POWERFUL!!!
This is the message we need to start teaching Christians! We have lost this perspective of God. God could so easily wipe out the entire universe without an ounce of effort! I don’t know about you, but if I were standing (trying to stand) before someone THAT powerful, I would be so utterly afraid and shaking beyond what any imagination could comprehend!
It is only through the realization of his extremely overwhelming power and wrath, that anyone could ever attempt to understand the vastness of His love and grace.
Excellent post, very timely. I see now that my forays into temptation and then sin do indeed start with a tiny seed…..for me, this usually is a negative thought. Then I start speaking negative things, not even acknowledging the Lord, and I start to spiral downward. I enjoy the declarations that you had written/shared at the beginning of the year…but I find it so hard to even declare them at times, when what I see in my life is so opposite of the truth that is there. Thus it is easy to dwell in the muck and the mire. Not where I want to be, and not too often do I dwell here, but today, this moment it is where I am. Thank you for helping me to realize anew how I do need Him, how it is possible to eat from the Tree of Life.
What are some characteristics of temptation and/or darkness that you have noticed in conversations with others, or perhaps in yourself?
…oh, i mean thats good for me; or: i have no problem whit this!…
we have many temptations in many times; but i think we have not the view that we can go to our “dady” in heaven and say: my god, this thing challenge my, o help my weekness!…
After reading these comments I see that this is the fight of a lifetime for a believer in Christ.
Darkness will not go away. There is a purpose for God to allow darkeness to stand by…it is the test of True Discipleship.
We will be confronted with different “forms” of darkeness as we walk with the Lord, But we will overcome when we learn THE BENEFIT OF DEPENDING ON THE LORD AND CRYING OUT TO HIM- I believe this is the ultimate mark of the process of maturing in the faith- which turns a believer into a True Bride of Christ.
When you insist on ‘fixing it yourself’ you will find that you fail miserably, but when you cry to the Lord with genuine affection of not wanting to disobey him, evading darkness becomes easier!
I find this so true in my own life’s struggles against darkness.
Do not treat darkeness lightly, be quick to tell the Lord about what you feel, even the slightest suggestion of the infestation of darkness.
An example is telling ’small lies’ or any exageration of the truth… when you feel an inner discomfort even in the slightest sense, be quick to tell the Lord and confess that you faltered, and ask for his forgiveness and renewal. Be true to yourself, as you will NEVER IMPRESS GOD-
So we have hope to move on to higher heights with the Spirit if we only learn the freedom of DEPENDANCY ON THE LORD- and live with Him as little children…(this is different from being childish), but being trusting as children are of their parents.
Intimacy of bride and groom is reciprocal, if you are self-disclosing before the Lord and cling to his word and seek him with all your heart, then you are ‘working out your salvation with fear and trembling’ willing to obey and change you course whenever He tells you to do so and He will honour his word to you as he promises in His word.
KEYNOTE: Jesus prayed: “my prayer is not that you take them out of the world, but that you protect them from the evil one…”John 17:15
The children of light will overcome darkeness…by God’s Spirit who indwells them…Praise be to God!
I have been meditating on this post.
Thoughts can turn into temptations. We must throw down with violence all thoughts that lift themselves up against God. But how do we determine if they are against God? Surely the counsel of Holy Spirit and Harmony with His Word will tell us. But then I find I can not easily determine if it is Holy Spirit counseling me or my own limited theological belief dictating to me what I should think or do.
I then find myself in a predicament.
If it is self righteousness that prevents me from experiencing something that Holy Spirit doesn’t find offensive then I lose freedom I would have otherwise had in Him. On the flip side, if I follow through and go against His counsel (thinking it was a self righteous hindrance or my own created holiness) I find myself slimed and feel awful.
We should run to the Light when we get slimed. We need to be cleansed because we can contaminate so many other things. How many wives out there would love to see their husband come in from working on something that covered them in grease and welcome them to sit on that new light colored couch?
We can even want things to stay hidden because we feel ashamed, guilty, and we don’t want others to know what we have been thinking or have been doing. If we try to keep them hidden, they will eventually be brought into the Light and usually it will be for all to see. 1. Cor. 4.5, 2 Sam 12.12
Temptation comes because of our own lust. (Longing or desire) We want; therefore we try to figure out how we can have what we want. We can even go to scripture and wrestle with it trying to make it agree with our thinking. Others may be trampled by our process of acquisition.
Lust of the flesh, good for food!
Lust of the eyes, pleasant to look at!
The pride of life, could make one wise!
Sum of the matter = Wrong tree.
Some temptations I fight against.
Recognition among peers.
Lust or even perversion of any type.
Selfishness or wrong type of Love of self.
Using something that I don’t have permission to use, such as illegal software, music, etc.
Trying to show how wise I am so others think more highly of me.
Allowing others or myself to think of me more highly than they ought.
Judging others; especially when based on fact rather than Truth.
Cheating on taxes or an insurance claim.
Exaggerating.
Poking or making fun of others.
I thank Him for His Mercy and patience, and I trust that He knows how to deliver me out of my temptations. “Father lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil…”
God bless you all.
David
As new creatures in Messiah the old has passed away live free in the Holy Spirit 1st John if we chose to sin we have an advocate who is faithful to forgive. sin is a choice therefore we chose life we dwell in the secret place the cross paid the price in full for our sins therefore be GOD conscious not sin conscious be a blessing be a lover a passionate creature captured in the beloved a bridal heart live in HIS heart there’s no room for sin as far as east is from west your sins are in the sea of forgetfulness get over get going be be be be be filled I will to forgive I will to love therefore I am forgiven therfore I am love HE chose me us its all about HIM not I but HE HE HE HE is risen HE is Lord HA HA HA HO HO HO HOLY SPIRIT pour out more love Father more joy more peace more of your GLORY SHALOM
Job 28:28 (Amplified) But to man He said, Behold, the reverential and worshipful fear of the Lord, that is Wisdom, and to depart from evil is understanding.
Understanding will not come until you make the decision to depart from sin……while you are in sin, your judgment is clouded… Grace-abusers use grace to justify living any way they want because after all, “I’m forgiven”. A.R. Bernard (paraphrased). We need the balance of the loving reverence/ respect of God and the Grace of God to be taught in our churches.
John Paul Wrote:
What are some characteristics of temptation and/or darkness that you have noticed in conversations with others, or perhaps in yourself?
My Response:
The temptation that I have noticed in my conversations with myself and others at times but most often in my head is allowing trigger points in my everyday conversations with people trigger a thought process that somehow brings me right back to my past life that I have already given over to God.
Sometimes when this happens I am hurled back into the past reliving the emotional trauma especially when it relates to betrayal. When this happens I run right back into my heavenly father’s arms in hopes that He would protect me from these painful memories that I know the enemy is projecting in the screen of my mind. It’s like a bad movie.
The remedy here is going to the word and reaffirming who I am in Christ Jesus….The void still remains..how can I trust others around me as loving believers when they are used as triggers whether knowingly or unknowingly enemy therefore tempting me to fall into the seat of judgment in hopes of protecting my own sanity. I believe this is the challenge that many fellow believers experience today in the Body of Christ. Where does it stop and where does He (the Lord) begin?
This video clip is a must see. This little 2 year old from the is singing the Lord’s Prayer with great joy and the words are very clear:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AR4PQ30VkBk
Blessings!
Shirley C.
John Paul,
This is a good observation here! And a great explanation. I get so much from your new blog. I have pondered this very thing and had a conversation with a friend the day you posted this. We were grappling this issue and found that indeed many Christians do love darkness and really don’t want to give it up. The evil can be dangerously subtle here but it is imperative that we address this issue in these perilous times.
Blessings Mimi
I know I have already commented to this but I cannot help but to add to it as I have been thinking about it since first reading. It may sound so simplistic and obvious to some people about every single word that John Paul gives us- but I for one totally appreciate getting confirmation that I am on the right track. With the depth levels of knowledge and insight from a great teacher there is to gain, I am so thankful!! For I am truly always ready to learn more and more about the things of God!!! Bring it on John -the wonderous light awaits us all!!!
Remember when people crowded around Jesus and all many need to do was to touch his garment. And the woman that had a bleeding affliction all she needed was to touch his garment. It had to do with their faith it does tellus how much faith.
I believe that it also works with temptation and our attraction to darkness. We do not at times realize what we are doing and all we have to do is touch the garment of darkness and we come away with yuck on our hands. It always as J.P. stated the serpent is tricky. In my own life I ask God continually for insight and knowledge to not be deceived, it always starts small.
And others times it comes down to facing God when we have done wrong. And having to come before him and repent and ask forgiveness, one more time.
“What are some characteristics of temptation and/or darkness that you have noticed in conversations with others, or perhaps in yourself?”
Well, I have discoved that fatigue is my enemy, be it physical, emotional or spiritual.
Temptation and darkness seem closest at hand when I am weak or wounded or weary.
For me, rest is indeed a weapon and intimacy with God is essential to victory.
Z
Hello John Paul I havent read all the comments yet,but I can see why it is so easy to follow darkness. In Jo8:43-45 Jesus wasent only talking to the Pharisees but to all of mankind. Our first parents excepted a different parent [satan] and that is who we listened to from then on. The only ones looking for light in this world is the new creation or the children of light. HUGS