Thoughts sent by the devil are problems to us.
Thoughts generated by our own flesh are problems to us.
Thoughts from God from the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, who always speaks the truth from God and brings to us the heart of God on the matter at hand, so we can know the will of God as we live on this present earth and can choose to go in the way of God, are always the way to go in this life.
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So we must find out whether that thought was from God, or was generated by our own flesh, or was from the wrong spirit, a devil.
The apostle John said:
I Jn. 4 … Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God:
Spirits bring ideas to our minds. Some ideas are from God by the Holy Spirit. Some ideas (thoughts) are from the devil but sound good and even semi-reasonable but lead us into the way of destruction if we choose to go that way. Some ideas (thoughts) are desires of our own flesh contending against the Word of God and the way of God.
It is our role, as Christians, to do what the apostle John instructed … “try the spirit” …
Certainly we can “try the spirit” through prayer …
“Is that YOU, God, wanting me to do that?”
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How to know the ideas that are from God, the wisdom that is from God …
James 3 … But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.
But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.
And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.
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The apostle Paul told us we must do following:
II Cor. 10:5 … Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
As long as we walk on this earth we contend for the faith in the Word of God, in God, in Jesus who is the Word.
The flesh has to be kept under the control of the Word of God.
Galatians 5 … Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
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We learn to die daily to the flesh by prayer, asking God to help us in the temptation, not permitting the flesh to rule, keeping the flesh under the control of God and the Word and the Spirit of God.
Paul said ... I Cor. 9 ... But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.
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This is something we learn day by day while we live on this present earth. And much of our battle is in the mind, in those thoughts that come to us and in the emotions evoked by our flesh and by the flesh of others … the hatred, the resentments, the lusts, the desires for praise of humans, the desire to outdo others … all these are battles which we overcome second by second through God and by submitting to God and keeping ourselves under the control of God through prayer.
Through God we overcome.
In the book of Revelation, Jesus commissions each of the churches with the charge of overcoming.
Revelation: (Jesus says to the churches)
2:10-11 … be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.
Faithful … unto death … Even when it costs us something we cling to the Word given us by God. And we do this to the end of our lives on this present earth, choosing what God says to us, ignoring our emotions which are often contrary to God. Rejecting contrary ways of other humans. Resisting opposing ways of devils.
All this area of overcoming has to do with deliberately choosing to believe what God says.
There are many times we become weary, especially in sharing things of God with others, in and out of the church. It can seem to us futile, especially when we see their chosen way of life. But I keep going because of the following 3 scriptures.
Heb. 3 … Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end;
(Exhort means: to urge earnestly by advice and warning)
I am certain these scripture show us to exhort the church. We must cling to scripture, refusing to go by our emotions which would lead us another way … refusing to heed the disappointments that come as a result of seeing others in church groups reject the Word of God.
Heb. 10 … exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
I Corinthians 15 …Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.
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Jesus warned us concerning the last days … And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. Mt. 24:12-13
The love of many for the Word of God will wax cold because of the iniquity that abounds.
And the apostle Paul warned us about the peril of the last days.
II Tim. 3 … This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
This we would see in the church groups.
It helps to understand that what we are now seeing in the various church groups is the apostasy (turning away from specific scripture) as the apostle Paul said had to happen before Jesus could return.
II Thess. 2 ... NASB
Let no one in any way deceive you, for it (the day of the LORD) will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.
Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things?
And you know what restrains him now, so that in his time he will be revealed.
For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. Then that lawless one will be revealed
HE, THE WORD OF GOD, THE HOLY SCRIPTURES, was the restraint keeping antichrist back from the churches but when the churches began removing parts of scripture, explaining them away to approve wrong doers inside the congregation, then antichrist moved into that church group.
(Antichrist is not "one" man as many have believed but antichrist is a spirit in many men and antichrist was already working in the church groups as both Paul and John explained in their time on this present earth.)
I Jn. 2:18 ... Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.
II Thess. 2 ... NASB ... Paul says ... For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work;
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Paul says ... Acts 20 ... And now, behold, I know that ye all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, shall see my face no more. Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men. For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.
Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which HE hath purchased with HIS own blood.
For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.
Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.
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In 1979, God gave me the following terrifying dream:
A meeting was going on. A man was speaking to a room filled with people. I went in and began to listen.
A second man rushed in and said: "Stop ... Wait ... Can't you see ... It's too late ... It's already begun."
The first man resumed speaking.
I looked out the window to see what had "already begun."
There was a tall pole with a yellow civil defense speaker at top of the pole. A gas was coming out of the speaker. I knew it was poisonous and would kill the people. It was coming directly toward us!
The shocking thing was the speaker that was set there for the purpose of warning us was being used as the instrument which dispersed the gas that was poison and would kill us!
I looked at the man seated next to me. He had a big grin on his face and was looking directly at the man who was speaking to the group. But then I saw this man was a corpse, though he looked alive. He was already dead!
I looked about the room at the other people and realized they were all dead.
As I sat back in my chair and listened to the man speaking I began to feel sleepy and I knew as I sat there among them this was killing me too.
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God was showing me the anarchy that was already going on in our church groups