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To: Kolokotronis; kosta50; Quix; hosepipe; betty boop
Why would demons bother with such a person, AG? Doesn't this person already belong to them?

Physically hearing the word is not enough, the ones Christ is speaking to below were physically hearing Him, but they were not spiritually hearing Him. They did not understand:

But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: - John 10:26-27

And concerning the demons, part of what they do is to take away what Christ has said. But that only happens when the hearer didn’t “get it” in the first place (emphasis mine):

And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow; And when he sowed, some [seeds] fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up: Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them: But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear. – Matt 13:3-9

Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower. When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth [it] not, then cometh the wicked [one], and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side. But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it; Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended. He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful. But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth [it]; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. – Matt 13:18-23

You continued:

Are demons God's agents of Evil to mankind? Put another way, is God the creator of Evil?

To answer your questions here I must make a strict delineation between the leading I have in the Spirit and my own musings. First, the leading I have in the Spirit is to leave the devil alone, God will deal with him:

Likewise also these [filthy] dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities. Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee. But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves. Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core. – Jude 1:8-11

As for the musings which ring true in the Spirit:

First, is the Jewish interpretation that the reason there was a beginning at all was that God the Father wanted to reveal Himself.

In the beginning – regardless of cosmology (cyclic, inflationary, epkyrotic, multi-world, multi-verse, imaginary time, hesitating, etc.) all that exists is God Himself. Space and time do not exist, neither does causality. In the absence of time, events cannot occur. In the absence of space, things cannot exist. Without space/time there is no energy, no matter, no thing at all. Only existence exists, i.e. God.

IOW, the beginning (both physical and spiritual) was a willful act of God the Creator. (First Cause) Which is to say there is nothing of which anything can be made but God Himself. Reality is God's will and unknowable in its fullness.

But God is Light and in Him there is no darkness at all. He is good and not evil. So I meditated and prayed why this is so.

In response to that prayer, I now have peace in the spirit with this understanding: God has revealed Himself by contrast. How would we know light if we had never seen darkness? Good if we had never seen evil? Sickness v. health, courage v. fear, right v. wrong – and so on.

And so there was a Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil right there in the Garden of Eden for Adam to see, to observe – but not to feed on, not to make a part of himself. But we know how that ended up.

Once Adam fed on the knowledge of good and evil, it became a part of himself and he was hopelessly stained red. No matter how much white was added to him, he could never be more than another shade of pink. He had to be born again, which is exactly what Christ made possible by His own body and blood!

Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. – Isaiah 1:18

Because of Christ, Adamic men can return home, to where they belonged in the first place.

You see, it was never “about” this heaven and earth – from the beginning, it has always been about the next heaven and earth – God and His family and those to whom He has revealed Himself and with whom He will always live.

I take it you understand Christians to be in a state of perfect theosis, in other words, that they have arrived at a likeness of God to such an extent that demons not only do not trouble them, they flee from them?

All along I’ve spoken of the “walk.” The Christian is justified from the very moment he first believes. Thereafter, he works out his own salvation becoming sanctified in Christ.

Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. – Philippians 2:12

But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. – 1 John 1:1

That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded [is] death; but to be spiritually minded [is] life and peace. – Romans 8:4-6

Nevertheless we are still His sheep, whether we are just taking baby steps or whether we’re at the end and have only that burning desire to weigh anchor from this life and go home. So yes, from the moment we first believe – no matter how immature we might be in our understanding – we belong to Jesus Christ and no one but no one – whether mortal man or demon or circumstances of life will ever separate us from Him.

For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. – Romans 8:38-39

Oh the demons will try to snatch us away from Him, but they cannot succeed.

And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any [man] pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave [them] me, is greater than all; and no [man] is able to pluck [them] out of my Father's hand. – John 10:28-29


7,160 posted on 01/20/2007 10:50:59 PM PST by Alamo-Girl
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To: Alamo-Girl

Beautiful and encouraging.

Thanks.


7,161 posted on 01/20/2007 11:03:32 PM PST by Quix (LET GOD ARISE AND HIS ENEMIES BE SCATTERED. LET ISRAEL CALL ON GOD AS THEIRS! & ISLAM FLUSH ITSELF)
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To: Alamo-Girl
In the absence of time, events cannot occur. In the absence of space, things cannot exist. Without space/time there is no energy, no matter, no thing at all. Only existence exists, i.e. God.

I love that whole post and testimony! That line above in particular reads to me as being straight from your writings in Timothy.

7,167 posted on 01/21/2007 3:44:30 AM PST by .30Carbine
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To: Alamo-Girl; Kolokotronis; Quix; hosepipe; betty boop
Very nice post, A-G. Thank you for shairng your thoughts.

But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: - John 10:26-27

We could be reading more into this than there is. The verse is applicable to any leader and any following. Republicans don't hear and follow Democrats and vice versa. Mostly because they don't want to.

Mat 13:3-9...

Often used in homilies. But it suggests randomness (it doesn't say sower put some seed on fertile ground, some in stony places, etc.). Are we just 'seed' strewn all over the place, with some destined randomly to be devoured by (those 'bad' biblical) fowls, while some just happen to 'land' on fertile ground?

But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth [it]; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. – Matt 13:18-23

And what control do we have over who receives and who doesn't if we are 'seed' sown at random? Randomness completely negates and defeats a loving God concept (or even God, for that matter, since 'randomness' is in control!).

How would we know light if we had never seen darkness? Good if we had never seen evil? Sickness v. health, courage v. fear, right v. wrong – and so on

So, then God had to "create" Evil in order for us to know what is "Good?" I don't think so! By that reasoning, we should all get raped just to know what's it's like not to be raped.

All of us on this Forum seek the ultimate question "What's this all about?" The answer is really not ours to know. We can hope that we shall find out, one day, but none of us knows. I think we should live a life of 'do no harm,' and trust that whatever happens to us will be merciful and just (even if we don't think so), live a life of mercy, pure intentions, love towards one another and begin and end each day with a "Thank you" and "Thy will be done."

7,169 posted on 01/21/2007 5:53:13 AM PST by kosta50 (Eastern Orthodoxy is pure Christianity)
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To: Alamo-Girl; kosta50

AG:

You've given a thoughful commentary which deserves a thoughful response. I'm off to the Liturgy so I'll post later today.


7,171 posted on 01/21/2007 6:40:19 AM PST by Kolokotronis (Christ is Risen, and you, o death, are annihilated!)
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