Why Satan has an easier job than God.

*Satan can win someone’s heart and soul even if they don’t believe he exists, God can’t.
*God has certain standards that must be met to please Him, Satan doesn’t.
*God has several steps that must be taken by the individual. Satan only needs one step to be 
ignored, skipped, or refused. For example: 
         *We must believe God is and that He rewards those that seek Him. - Hebrews 11:6
         *We must believe the Bible is God’s word. - Romans 10:17, Ephesians 6:17
         *We must believe Jesus is God’s Son and that He is God. - Acts 16:30-31 
         *We must believe Jesus rose from the grave. - John 20:9 
         *We must repent of our sins. - Luke 13:3,5
         *We must confess Jesus. - Acts 4:12 
         *We must obey the gospel / be born again. - John 3:7, Acts 9:6
         *We must be faithful(This opens a whole new list.) til death. - Acts 14:22 
         *We must worship in Spirit and Truth(This is another list). - John 4:24 
         *The gospel must be shared with others. - Mark 13:10 
If there is a break in any one of these Satan wins.
*God requires man to have no other gods, Satan doesn’t care how many as long as it is not God only.
*God requires sacrifice and self-control, Satan doesn’t.

Another Year
Another year is dawning, Dear Father, let it be, 
In working or in waiting, Another year with thee. 
Another year of progress, Another year of praise, 
Another year of proving, Thy presence all the days, 
Another year of mercies, Of faithfulness and grace, 
Another year of gladness, The glory of thy face. 
Another year of leaning Upon thy loving breast, 
Another year of trusting, Of quiet, happy rest. 
Another year of service, Of witness for thy love, 
Another year of training, For holier work above. 
Another year is dawning, Dear Father, let it be, 
On earth, or else in heaven Another year for thee!
Frances Ridley Havergal


It is so easy some times to push the work of God aside for our own desires and pleasures. It’s not a deliberate thing, it just happens. 

We must honestly look at our lives and ask if we are guilty of doing this in our own lives. What are the things that keep me from doing those things which I know God wants? Are those things really what’s important in life? 

One good test is to ask yourself, “How is this going to sound on Judgment Day?” Will this be a good excuse for not doing what God said to do? We do have emergencies which keep us from doing God’s will. Our children get ill. Water pipes burst. Automobiles break down. Family problems happen. But in spite of these emergencies we should return to doing the will of God.

How important are these thing compared to eternity? 

Matthew 16:24-27 Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. [25] For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. [26] For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? [27] For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works. 

As we begin this new year may we commit ourselves to serving God more than we did last year. Putting God first in our lives should always be the priority in our lives. - LP

CLASSICISM OR CLASSICALISM  - THE PRINCIPLES OF CLASSIC LITERATURE AND ART.

Many of us enjoy things of a classical nature and there is certainly nothing sinful in that alone. Whether it be music, art, or literature from those classical periods, they can be very beautiful and inspiring. What we must remember, however, is that the philosophy behind those things was not Christian in nature by a long shot, and in many cases didn’t even recognize the true God. The same thing can be said about the arts and literature of today. As Christians we can still enjoy some of those things, but we must be discriminating and never compromise our beliefs and convictions.  Paul was a good example of this. When he found the many gods that the Athenians were worshiping he used their own literature to describe the true and living God to them. He didn’t compromise his principles, but he had obviously read and studied those works in order to know what they had said.  (Acts 17:28) “For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.” Paul used some of the literature of the people of Crete against them when he wrote to Titus. (Titus 1:12-14)  “One of themselves, even a prophet of their own, said, The Cretians are alway liars, evil beasts, slow bellies.  {13} This witness is true. Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith; {14} Not giving heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of men, that turn from the truth.”  When some thing is good and true it can be used by the Christian, but things that don’t fit that description should be avoided. Some of what is commonly referred to as classical art is in actuality nothing more than an ancient form of pornography. A Christian is to have nothing to do with works of darkness. (Rom 13:12-14) “The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. {13} Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. {14} But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.” We can separate the good from the bad and we need to do so. There are some who say that all of this or that is evil and we should have nothing to do with it. There are few if any things in the world that truly fall into that category, however. Most things in the world today, like the men who make and/or use them, are both good and bad. Classical literature falls into this category. There are great truths presented in some of their works and great lies told in others. The music that was written in what we call the classical style is some of the most beautiful music ever written, in fact, we sing the tunes of some of that music in our worship to God. The men who wrote some of those things that are so useful in praising God lived some of the most morally impure lives that can be imagined. We don’t need to throw them out because of that. Some of the Psalms in our scriptures were penned by a murderer and adulterer, but God used those evil occasions for His glory. 

Whether it is modern, classical, or other let us be discriminating and chose the good and abstain from the bad. 

CHEMISM - CHEMICAL ACTION
CHEMOTROPISM - MOVEMENT IN RESPONSE TO A CHEMICAL STIMULUS 

In the natural world and in scientific experiments chemicals do all kinds of amazing things. By mixing different chemicals together man has discovered how to make all kinds of things from explosions to vehicles that work as a result of small explosions; from things that can cause illness and death to things that can cure illness and prevent death. It is truly marvelous the way that God created this world and our minds to be capable of all this variety. Every chemical from the single element to the most complex combination has certain qualities that affect what it does when it comes in contact with other chemicals. 

In the church we sometimes need to have something that causes a reaction or an action like chemicals do in the physical world. There are other times when a chemical reaction is the thing that we don’t need. It all depends on the chemical and what it will do. Spiritually there are as many different kinds of ‘chemicals’ as there are in the science lab. There are good ones like love and understanding, and there are dangerous ones like hatred and gossip. There are some that are neither good nor bad in themselves, but dependent on how they are used and what others they are used with. For example: anger used with love and truth can be very effective in correcting a sin problem, but anger used with hatred and lies can destroy all that come in contact with it. 

One thing of which we must beware is the way we allow these things to affect us. Chemism is the chemical action itself, and we need to never use a ‘chemical’ in a way that would cause a problem. Chemotropism is how we or someone else responds to the action of the chemical. We can’t control how another will respond, but we must control how we respond. You see, the spiritual world is not like the physical world. In the physical world if enough of a chemical that is deadly contacts you your body will die, you can’t control it. In the church, however, no matter how much of these deadly chemicals people use against us we still control the response. We can allow someone’s hatred of us to destroy our faith, or we can overcome that evil and continue to do what is right. 

The church must be on the alert so that we do not allow what society or other religions or even other congregations of the Lord’s body to control us or draw us away or push us away from the truth. We need to be a people who act on the Word of God and not a people who react to every trend or false teaching that comes along. Throughout the last 2000 years churches have split and split again because even though the Bible says “B” one group says “A”. Instead of countering the falsehood with the truth, the second group goes to the other extreme and says “C”. Christ’s Deity is a perfect example of that. One group says, ‘He was just a man’ and the other group says, ‘No, He was just God’. Then they begin to design all kinds of elaborate theories to prove their points rather than going to the Bible and seeing that He was both man and God. We need to be firm on teaching the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth. It is never right to counter one false teaching with another no matter what the intentions are. (Eph 4:13-15) “Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: {14} That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; {15} But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:” 

CAREERISM - DEVOTION TO A SUCCESSFUL CAREER, OFTEN AT THE EXPENSE OF ONE’S PERSONAL LIFE, ETHICS, ETC.
 What does it mean to be successful in life? The world around us believes that success is being wealthy, having popularity, having fame, living in the right neighborhood, and driving the right car. Anyone who takes a lower stress, less time consuming job in order to spend more time with family is considered lazy or at best just not ambitious enough. I want to suggest to you that God never intended for life to be lived the way many of us do today.

The Bible tells us that anyone who does not provide for his family is worse than an infidel, but what does he need to provide? The necessities of life are really not that many. Paul said that with food, and raiment we should be able to be content. I know I am not usually content with that, are you? We always want a little more than we have. Just when we think we have everything we want, some new invention or some new style comes along and suddenly, we are right back where we started. Jesus came that we might have life more abundantly, not that we might have things in more abundance.  We are driven many times by materialism that can only be fulfilled by practicing careerism. We somehow have been fooled into the belief that our lives won’t be fulfilled and our children won’t grow up ‘normal’ unless we buy everything that everyone else has. We constantly see people promoting ‘quality time’ but never ‘quantity time’. We need to have both.  I am going to start asking myself the following questions about my priorities, time, money, etc.:

1) Will this bring me closer to God or pull me farther away?
2) Will this draw me closer to my family or pull me away?
3) Will this encourage me to be moral and ethical or will it tempt me to be otherwise?
4) Will my life be better, really better, in any way because of this?
5) Will this interfere with something which would better help me in the above areas?

Not everything is clearly good or bad. Many of the things we spend our time and money on are neutral tools that become good or bad as a result of how we use them. Computers are a perfect example; they can be used for wonderful purposes like keeping in touch with family, friends and other Christians, or they can become destructive addictions that isolate us from life around us or draw us into sinful activities like pornography.

When I see how miserable the people who are supposedly successful by the world’s standards are I think to myself there must be a better way to live.  Let’s look to the Bible for guidance in life. After all God made us it wouldn’t surprise me if he knew what would make our lives worth living.
 

BISEXUALISM - SEXUALLY RESPONSIVE TO BOTH SEXES
”There is no such thing as a homosexual or heterosexual person. In theory all are bi. In practice some are this, some are that, some exclusively, some part-time. The point is that were it not for the three monotheistic religions that have made a nice hell of all human relations—so that we shall love God the father all the more? -- no one would have thought to categorize anyone because of his sexual interests. ... I suggest we work together to flush Judaism, Christianity and Islam into the Mediterranean and restore the Greco-Roman world, where, believe it or not, there was no word for fag or dyke, nor was there any conception that an occasional sexual activity constituted an entire personality.”—Author Gore Vidal to London’s Gay Times, February issue. (Planet Out, email news service, 3/3/99)

I bet you didn’t know that we are all bisexual. The funny thing is neither does our creator. More and more the twisted thinking in our country tries to come up with ways to excuse sin. Mr. Vidal is probably correct in one thing, ”were it not for the three monotheistic religions (i.e. those that teach there is only one true God, even though Judaism and Islam don’t teach the whole truth about Him - jp). . . no one would have thought to categorize anyone because of his sexual interests.” How true it is that without God there is no moral standard, no reason to do one thing and not another, no right and wrong. The only problem for these individuals that want to make up their own rules is that no matter how hard they try or even succeed at getting rid of the influence of God, He will still be the one to judge us all in the last day.

I can refuse to believe in trains, or I can refuse to believe that they can hurt me, but if I remain on the train tracks I will eventually pay for that decision with my life. No one would think it hateful, intolerant, or bigotry to warn someone of this danger. How then is it that when we lovingly try to warn people about the danger to their souls, they think we hate them. Sin separates us from God and only repentance can bring us back.

(Rom 1:24-32) “Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: {25} Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. {26} For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: {27} And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meet. {28} And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; {29} Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, {30} Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, {31} Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: {32} Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.” God would never condemn someone for something they had no choice about. Notice that He did not make them this way, but He allowed them to choose this way. God doesn’t want them to go to Hell for these actions, but if they will not repent He will have no other recourse. (2 Pet 3:9) “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”

BASAL METABOLISM - THE ENERGY TURNOVER OF THE BODY IN A BASAL STATE (BASAL INDICATES THE STANDARD AT A LOW LEVEL OF ACTIVITY)
If you live anywhere that has been suffering this miserable heat this summer, you have probably been trying to experience basal metabolism as much as possible. When it is 105 degrees with a heat index close to 120 we try to avoid any activity that isn’t absolutely necessary. Unfortunately, this attitude is present in our spiritual lives and the spiritual lives of other Christians far too often. Many of the ‘saints’ would more accurately be termed ‘ain’ts’. They just ‘ain’t gonna do nothing I don’t have to’.

There is an old cartoon that I have seen in church bulletins that illustrates this attitude. In the cartoon, there is a long line of people standing at the gates to heaven and one fellow is running toward the end of the line shouting, “He isn’t counting Wednesday night attendance.” Everyone in line shouts, “hooray”. This describes perfectly the attitude many have. They are doing only what they think they ‘must’ to get into heaven. Let’s test ourselves. Would you come to Wed. Night Bible study if you knew that you didn’t have to in order to be saved? What if you found out that instrumental music wouldn’t necessarily send you to Hell? What if it was discovered that you really only needed to be assembled with the saints once on Sunday, would you come back Sunday Night? What about singing, or praying, or giving? Would you continue to be active in these things if you found out that God would let you slide into Heaven without them?

Children will often ask the question, “Do I have to?” whenever there is something unpleasant like eating broccoli. It is disheartening to realize that many of those for whom Christ gave his life feel the same way about pleasing him. We are asking the wrong questions. There is nothing in life that we ‘have to’ do. We have free will and if we don’t want to there may be certain consequences, but we don’t have to do it. In Christianity, the question we should be asking is “can I?” not “must I”. The basal metabolism attitude and resulting behavior is more likely to keep most out of heaven than any other sin. If we have the proper attitude, God will freely forgive us when we fall and then get up to try again. Sadly, many are still thinking like the Pharisees did about completing a checklist instead of thinking in terms of giving their life to Christ. The Pharisees were condemned not because they didn’t believe the right things or even because of horrible sins in their lives, but Jesus condemned them because they had the detailed minutia figured out and had forgotten about the matters of greatest importance. Like many today they would be asking exactly how many Wednesday nights they could miss and still be okay and then miss them. (Luke 11:42) ”But woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass over judgment and the love of God: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.”

In college there were two kinds of classes that I took. The first was the one that I “had to have to graduate”. The other was one that I wanted to take. You may remember similar experiences in school. The Gotta Have It class was missed as much as possible without failure, the work was done adequately, tardiness or last minute arrival was the norm, and interest was minimal. The Chosen class, quite to the contrary, was never missed, always arrived at early, extremely interesting, and aced in the grades department. I couldn’t understand why some people would skip these incredible classes. Of course, the reason was that to them it wasn’t a chosen class it was a have to class. The point, however, is that in actuality there was no difference in the classes. They were both necessary for graduation. The only difference was in my attitude toward them. The same is true in religion, one command of God is just as necessary as another, but we have different attitudes about different aspects of Christianity. I may have never had a desire to kill anyone, so not killing is easy. On the other hand, I may like to sleep in on Sunday morning, thus making Sunday school attendance undesirable. When we correct our attitude our eagerness and energy output will be increased and we won’t be suffering along at a basal metabolism rate. (Rev 3:15-16) “I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. {16} So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.”

BARBITURISM - POISONING CAUSED BY USE OF A BARBITURATE
Compton’s Encyclopedia says, “Several types of chemicals induce sleep and cause intoxication. These chemicals also cause physical and psychological dependence. The group includes ethyl alcohol, barbiturates, methaqualone, and many related sedatives. Barbiturates, also known as downers, may be prescribed by doctors for insomnia and tension. It is very easy to become addicted to them, and they cause severe depression. Those taking barbiturates can easily lose track of how many they have taken. This can lead to a fatal overdose.” You have probably heard of these drugs and possibly known someone affected by them. In a spiritual sense we may be drugged like this as well. Satan wants nothing more than to destroy the church and all Christians, and to do that he will use any means necessary. One interesting thing about these drugs is that the person taking them often doesn’t realize the effects until it is too late.

Satan puts us to sleep with his drugs and if he can give us enough we slip into a coma and eventually die a spiritual death. Sin in our life is one of those drugs that the devil gives us, but Paul says that Jesus has the cure. (Eph 5:14) “Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.” Complacency and indifference to the cause of Christ, the true cause of Christ (reaching the lost), are both symptoms of an overdose of Satan’s drugs. We may be involved in lots of activities related to the Social Gospel, but we may be neglecting the essential part of Christianity. Many churches today fit this description. It sounds a lot like the church in Sardis as described by John, (Rev 3:1-2) ”And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead. {2} Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God.” Satan had the whole church at the brink of death and they were going along like nothing was wrong.

If we think that we can live as part of the world and still be pleasing to God we are truly intoxicated by sin. Paul tells Timothy the same thing concerning widows. Even though specifically aimed toward widows it applies to all of us, (1 Tim 5:6) “But she that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth.” We need to check ourselves regularly with the Great Physician to be sure that we are not under the influence of Satan’s barbiturates.

ANIMALISM - DRIVEN BY PHYSICAL DESIRES RATHER THAN SPIRITUAL OR INTELLECTUAL

Don’t we all struggle with this from time to time? Paul explains his  struggles with the flesh in Romans 7. While we must continue in our fight  against the ‘animal instincts’ or carnal desires that we have and even  though we can never condone sinful behavior or attempt to excuse it based on  these universal desires, isn’t it comforting to know that even the apostles  had similar struggles? Some of my favorite scriptures are the ones where  Peter says or does something foolish and has to be rebuked by the Lord. I  don’t like them because I want to make fun of Peter or laugh at his  mistakes, but they are my favorites because they give me hope that I too can  be a great servant to God even though I constantly make mistakes. They also  give me hope that I can overcome those tempting desires and foolish human  thoughts.

More and more, Christians are giving in to the humanistic mind-set that we  are just animals and we can’t control some of our behaviors. “Teenagers are  going to have sex it is just a natural fact” or “I can’t help it, I am just  made that way”. Sound familiar? All too often, we Christians fall for this  palaver. We excuse or at least rationalize all sorts of sins based on these  faulty premises. Instead of giving up and giving in, we need to remember  that Paul, who struggled with this as much as we do, said there was one way  to overcome this and any other sin. (Phil 4:13) I can do all things through  Christ which strengtheneth me.

Well, there you have it you have the choice to try in vain to conquer these  temptations on your own, or you can successfully do it through Christ. I will be praying that you  make the right choice.

AESTHETICISM - FINDING VALUE ONLY IN THINGS PLEASING TO THE SENSES
How many once faithful Christians have fallen prey to this sinful attitude? Many live by mottos such as: “If it feels good do it”, “Drink Sprite because it tastes good”, or the beer commercial “Tastes Great, Less Filling.” Our society is obsessed with feeling good, looking good, sounding good, smelling good, and having things that taste good. Sometimes the church is the same way, churches hire preachers that sound good and don’t pay attention to what they are teaching. Christian young people date attractive non-Christians and even marry them without paying attention to what disastrous consequences may come as a result.

As Christians, we must realize that there are limits on these things. We must at some point “deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow Jesus”. It may not look good to be lugging around a huge cross, and it certainly won’t feel good, but if we want to please God rather than men we must. If Adam and Eve had been able to resist the temptation of aestheticism, we might be in the garden yet. Think about how Eve was tempted. Moses wrote this concerning it, (Gen 3:5-6) “’ 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.’ {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.” Look at the aestheticism there: looked good, would taste good, would make her smarter (i.e. sounds good). God wants us to enjoy life, but he doesn’t want us to be indulgent. There are some things that may please the senses and not be wrong under certain circumstances while excessive or improper involvement would be wrong. For example: sexual intercourse is both pleasurable and pleasing to God inside the marriage relationship, but it is sinful outside the parameters set by God. Paul tells us that God’s grace was sent for the purpose of “teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;” (Titus 2:12)

Don’t compromise with the world by excusing and rationalizing the selfish and fleshly sins of aestheticism.