Good and Evil

I believe good will ultimately overcome in the end. However, in the meantime…

Evil always seeks to overpower good. That’s why it is called evil.

  • It tries to defeat and destroy the good coming out from others.
  • It wants to be in charge/control.
  • It wants to be centerstage.
  • It wants all eyes on it and what it is doing.
  • It uses fears, threats, intimidations towards the innocent who are trying quietly, faithfully to do good.
  • It feels it won’t get any resistance back from them. They will quietly give in to the demands of it – not wanting to ‘disobey’ or cause a ‘scene’.
  • It is a bully – always pushing, shoving, scheming its next action to get its way.
  • It is very sneaky and wants you to do its work.
  • It will make you think you thought it up.
  • It will condemn you when you do it.
  • It will tell you it was your fault.
  • It will tell you-‘you are hopeless’.

Do not listen to its lies. You are stronger than it. Continue doing your good work.

God is for you.

The Power Struggle…

“Give me my way or else!”

“Why won’t you just do what I say?”

“They should make a law about…”

Fear, intimidation, threats, control….powering over another human for personal gain. Selfishly thinking only about themselves.

We all have power to wield in one area of our life or another.

How are we going to use it?

Power is a form of strength, and we have been given it to affect change, to solve a problem, to make something better, to lead others in the right direction, to right wrongs.

Sometimes when we feel weak and powerless, we use our power to hurt instead of help, control instead of lead, intimidate instead of love, destroy instead of build up, power over instead of work alongside.

This is the power struggle we all wrestle with…how am I going to use my power in the current unpleasant situation I face?

I have power, and I have the power to choose wisely to do what I know is best. I will choose.

Trials

God allows trials to bring us closer to Him. It’s so easy to ‘forget’ God in the daily events of our busy lives.

Today is 9/11/14, the anniversary of a horrible event 13 years ago; yet America rallied together in a way not seen in years. Flags were flying everywhere, not just on public flagpoles, but people’s homes, people’s cars, motorcycles, clothing… People began to talk openly about God and church again. Prayer was needed and done—not pushed aside as incorrect behavior. We took that awful event and began to pull together with God’s help to be a better, whole nation again.

Our trials show us we cannot make it on our own. We need our great big wonderful God. He is a gentleman and will not force himself upon us, but allows things to happen until we figure it out that we really do need Him and then He says, “Call upon Me in the day of trouble and I will be found”, Psalm 50:15.

Time after time, Israel in the Old Testament left God to go other ways and got themselves into all kinds of trouble…and God allowed it… not to destroy them but to help them realize that He was the way.  And all they had to do was follow Him and everything would be OK. So after things got unbearable, they would turn back to God in total regret for what they’d done and God would instantly hear, forgive, restore and bless them again.

He was willing and watching and waiting for them to come. This cycle was repeated over and over.

And this pattern is happening today with God’s people! We, all of God’s people, who are children of Abraham because of our faith in Jesus, have to guard against leaving God when the trials come. God said He wouldn’t always deliver us from trials, but He would bring us through them. And He said all of Abraham’s blessings would come upon us if we follow Him. Deuteronomy 28:1, 2

He is the one who gives the promises to us, ‘Return to Me that I may return to you!’ Zechariah 1:3

God looks to bless His people. He is not out to do His people harm. John 3:16, 17 says God didn’t send Jesus into this world to condemn us, but that through Him we might be saved from what we’ll do to ourselves if we don’t follow Him.

God is for us!

Be for Him!