As a member of the body of Christ, each member has a responsibility to do whatever we can to help our fellow Christians and help guide the lost sheep back to the Lord. I was one of those lost sheep at one time, and if someone had not cared enough about me to guide me into the right path to go, I would still be lost today, and still be doing things that would have eventually, sent me into eternity, with the flames of hell as my companion instead of the joy, peace, and love of heaven, for eternity. I am hoping that something said here, may help keep someone else out of the eternal miseries of hell.
We are commanded, in Mark 12:31 to love they neighbor as thyself. If I can, in some small way, keep you from having to suffer hell for eternity, to me, that is true love. That is not the same love that the world gives. The world will devour you just like a wolf does a sheep that has wandered away from the shepherd. If you have a bible, Please get it out. You need one, because we should never take anyone else’s word for anything that could cost us eternity.
I use the King James Bible, and you will begin to see why as you spend time with me, studying God’s word. Now, please turn to John 10:11. In this verse, Jesus is the one speaking. It reads:
I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.
That is just what Jesus did when he was tortured, and killed on that cross, because he loves each of us so much. His life was sacrificed for ours. Each stripe they put on his back was volunteered, on Jesus’ part. He could have called on the angels of heaven to stop them at any time but he didn’t, because he knew that if he didn’t go through it, you and I, would have no way to escape our just punishment for our sins. He paid the price for my sins, and he did it willingly. How could any one love you or me more than that?
John 10:10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy; I am come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly.
You see, Jesus came here because his sheep, which is what he refers to us as being, were in danger of being devoured by the enemy. Now I would like to take you back in time, to the garden of Eden. When God created us, he created us to dwell with him in the garden. Originally, through his spirit, God was man’s constant companion. Adam and Eve had all their hearts desires. The joy, peace, love, and security they experienced in God’s presence must have been glorious. Just think, there was no pain, no sickness, no suffering, but there were conditions.
Gen. 2:16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
There was also a serpent in the garden. The serpent knew, if he could get Adam or Eve to do, or believe in what he told them, instead of what God told them, instead of obeying God’s words, that from that point on they would be his servants. You see, he was jealous of God, and how the angels worshipped and served him. So the serpent, who is also Satan, or the devil, devised his plan of deception.
Gen. 3:1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? 2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: 3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
God gave them a commandment not to eat of that tree.
verse 4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: 5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
Notice the temptation was, her being as god. He tempted her with his own weakness, of wanting to be God.
Verse 6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
A choice was made that day, between believing God’s words, or believing the serpents words. They could have eaten from the tree of life, the fruit that comes from obedience to God’s commandments, and believing his word to be true. Instead they chose to believe a lie that led them to death and separation from God instead. Because God cannot abide with sin, he had to remove his spirit from them. That same battle is still going on today. God offers us peace, love, joy, security, and life, and all we have to do is to believe what he tells us in his word and obey the truth, Jesus Christ. When we believe the devil or the serpent’s lies, the results are suffering and a curse.
Since Eve chose to obey the serpent, she automatically became his servant.
John 8:34. Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.
When we choose to sin, sin becomes our master.
Since man was thrown out of the garden, man has never truly been happy. We were created to commune with God, through his spirit, but God cannot abide with sin, so we were left with an empty space, where his spirit was meant to be. We know that we need something, but we don’t quite know what it is, because sin blinds us to the things of God. It is like the sin puts a black cloud between us and God, but as we repent of every sin, that black cloud starts to go away, so we can see better that we need God’s word to guide us. Without his word to guide us away from sin and closer to God, we stay lost.
I could never understand why I never felt real love from anyone. It always felt like something was missing. I was never satisfied growing up with the love I received from my friends, I knew I needed something, but couldn’t find it. It just felt, like there was this big empty void that needed filled. That is where the Devil came in. He would point me in every other direction to keep me sidetracked, away from the truth. You see, when we see the truth, our Spiritual eyes start to open. And he knows that, so his strategy is to keep us so busy, or as sidetracked as he can. He also knows the word. That is why he is so good at twisting it.
John 8:31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my deciples indeed: 32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. Without the truth, we keep going in the wrong direction, because the Devil is constantly telling us that this will make you happy, or that will do the trick.
You see, the Devil has always wanted to be God, so he tries to substitute his lies in place of God’s truth in our hearts. So we keep going in circles knowing that nothing seems to work. He will convince us to drink, so that when we are drunk, all our problems will go away. And it works, temporarily. It did in my case. I drank to be happy or to kill the pain, but what I ended up with was feeling miserable the next day, and remembering how stupid I had been, barely able to walk, or wonder if I might have made even dumber mistakes than that. You see the Devil will convince you that alcohol will make you feel better, lift you up. Or you can get high using drugs. He is trying to fill that space that only God can fill.
There is a reason why alcohol is called spirits. That is because it really is. He is trying to substitute alcohol for the true high, God gives us for free. And what God gives us, is a whole lot better.
1 Cor. 10:4 And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.
Eph. 5:18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;
The reason I say this, is because I know, I have been there. Like I said, I used to drink till I could barely walk, and tried many different drugs, trying to get high. But I have also experienced the drunkenness of God’s Spirit. There is just no comparison. God gives you the real thing. His spirit can fill you till you are overflowing in joy.
Alcohol is called spirits all right, but it is the wrong spirit. God’s spirit doesn’t give you a hangover like the cheep substitute does, or maybe it is not so cheep after all. With God’s spirit, you are left with a desire, a hunger for more of him. When God poured out his spirit on Pentecost, the people thought they were drunk.
Acts 2:13 Others mocking said These men are full of new wine.
Acts 2:15 For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day. 16 But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; 17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my spirit upon all flesh:
Because we are flesh, we have fleshly desires. But God wants us to have spiritual desires. I was never happy with the love I received from my family, my friends, or even my boyfriends, or husbands. I had no idea what, or rather who, was missing from my life. God!!! I did not know that there could be only one way to fill that void, that need for love that I had, and that one way was Jesus Christ.
Man cannot even begin to fill the space that was left empty, when God’s spirit was taken from us. And man will never be able to fill that space, with drugs, alcohol, sex, or constantly buying a new toy, till the thrill wares off. That is like trying to fit a round peg into a square hole. No matter how many times you try, there will always be some space left that is still empty. It is like having a puzzle piece that has all the right colors, and it sure looks like it will fit, but when you try it, it just doesn’t fit quite right.
That is the Devil’s specialty, to fool us into believing that his substitutes will satisfy us by filling the desires of our flesh, but way down deep, we know something is still wrong. We are still not happy. And we never will be, without God. God gives us eternal life, but the devil tries to tell us, that man can find a way to live forever, using science to come up with the fountain of youth. We miss completely, that God has provided a way for us to live forever, perfectly. Every time we let the devil make the decision for us, as far as what will work, it never turns out right, because it is not right. In fact it is dead wrong.
When we have God’s spirit, we have his strength, just like it says in:
1John 4:4 Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. 5 They are of the world, Therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them. 6 We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.
The Word of God tells us there is a spirit of error. The devil hates the truth. He will do anything he can to deceive us because he hates us, because when we have Jesus Christ in us, we are on the way to becoming sons of God. That means we will get to rule with God, and rule over the Devil. In the book of Gen. Chapter 3 we see that because of disobedience to God’s commandment, man was sent out of the garden, as it tells in:
Gen. 3:23 There fore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. 24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the East of the garden of Eden Cherubim’s and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.
So if the word of God tells us there is still a way back to the tree of life, but there is a flaming sword that has to be gotten past, lets see if we can figure out what that flaming sword is by using the word of God.
Eph. 6:17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
Is. 66:16 For by fire and by his sword will the LORD plead with all flesh: and the slain of the LORD shall be many.
Deut. 4:12 And the LORD spake unto you out of the midst of the fire: Ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only ye heard a voice. 13 And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone.
Ps. 55:21 The words of his mouth were smoother than butter, but war was in his heart: his words were softer than oil yet were they drawn swords.
Rev. 2:16 Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.
So the sword came out of God’s mouth and the word came out of God’s mouth, and the sword of the spirit is the word of God. So, from here, it looks like the flaming sword that keeps the way to the tree of life is the word of God. The word of God is our spiritual bread of life.
That is why Luke 4:4 says, And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. God’s word gives us life. Now we know that the word of God is the flaming sword that keeps the way to the tree of life. If you do not go through the word of God, you have no life.
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