satan's continued schemes

From the creation to the present satan has thrown everything he can think of to attack God's plan.

A very few examples:

• Genesis 3 "did God say...?" (confuse, twist, lie, tempt)
• Genesis 4 Cain kills Abel..(selfishness, envy, lying)
• Genesis 6 The sons of God came to the daughters of men (seems to be fallen angels "jude 1:6", also some render the middle part of v9 not as a declaration of his perfection (all have fallen), but a note that his dna had not been corrupted by the interbreeding of the fallen and the daughters of men. agreeably there are some problems with this interpretation, but it introduces an interesting conclusion. If satan couldn't stop God's redemptive plan, he would seek to stop it or become part of the redeemed through intermarriage.  Perhaps these 8 were the last of their undefiled race.  Either way satan was up to no good and seeking to cut off man from salvation.  From Young's Literal Translation:

Noah [is] a righteous man; perfect he hath been among his generations; with God hath Noah walked habitually.

• In 2 Samuel 7 God promises that the line of David would be without end. In 2 Kings 11 sweet grandmom Athalia tries to take the kingdom for herself, by killing all of her grandsons,  upon the death of her son Ahaziah.  God's hand spared one grandson and the line continued.  God's not much afraid of 4th and long :)  (satan continuously trying to block, stop, twist, interrupt, delay, distract...).
• 1 Kings 12 Solomon's young punk son ascends to the throne and kick's off a civil war that divides the kingdom creating egregious harm.
• Matthew 2 Christ arrives - Herod tries to have him killed (fear, jealousy, control....)
• Matthew 4 Christ tempted by satan (attacks on faith)
• John 10 Jesus is in Jerusalem during Hanukkah and the religious leaders try to stone him to death (perhaps with the altar stones that were once used to offer worship to Him).
• Matthew 27 Pilate's wife is tormented in a dream and warned not to harm the Christ. (trying to stop the crucifixion)
• The Eastern Gate (Golden gate) of the Temple is the gate through which the Messiah will return to the Holy City.  However the gate was sealed up years ago to try and thwart the plans of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords from fulfilling the prophecy (really?  who stands before Him?)
• In the video below Jonathan Cahn makes a case that the Dome of the Rock is on the site of the Temple and is not simply an Islamic site, but is satanic in origin and is yet another attempt to stop the fulfillment of the prophesied rebuilt third temple.

Jonathan Cahn - Video (The Dome of the Rock)

Have you noticed how Christendom is now becoming increasingly divided?

Hard to call the current state of Christian life in the U.S. as persecution, although as Gary points out some are experiencing persecution (Klein's, Street Preachers in Seattle and hundreds of others scattered around the country) and it is on the increase.  Most Christians have been so detached from culture for a long time, many would notice if the Christian's left, except for the indwelling influence of the Restrainer.

I've noticed how many believer friends are silent on social media.  Noticed how much division exists from those who are brash and hard, contrasted with those who want love, kindness, tolerance, grace, acceptance and a strong avoidance to conflict.  God has created a vast diversity in humanity and in His Church.  I'm convinced God created all of us with different personalities and approaches.  Some afraid of conflict, some not.  Some intellectual/factual some relational.

We need all of us.

I will strongly concede our personalities are products of the fall and nothing holy about them by themselves.

There is a Christ like standard that is the goal.

Proverbs 25:11 (NASB)

Like apples of gold in settings of silver
Is a word spoken in right circumstances.

Sometimes we need to hold our tongue, often we need to love and sometimes we need to flip the tables of the moneychangers with a scourge.  Sometimes we need to realize we're going over the falls and be less concerned about the quality of the room service (this is not our home).

Go and Make Disciples....  Job #1.

With all that said, my point of writing is to point out that in these last days/moments satan is exploiting the failings of the church to turns us against each other - our: sin, weakness, fear, anger, selfishness, lovelessness, arrogance, combativeness.

If you're not paying attention of the battlefield, the attack and the strategies waged against you, you will be defeated.

Ephesians 6:12  (NASB)

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. 

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