Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high [places]. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak. - Ephesians 6:10-20
For ye are yet carnal: for whereas [there is] among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men? For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I [am] of Apollos; are ye not carnal? Who then is Paul, and who [is] Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.
So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. I Corinthians 3:1-7
Thanks for your encouragements . . . quite so . . . though I’m not always quite as convinced or . . . don’t always feel quite as led to the same perspective on
no fire with fire! LOL.
I significantly do . . . not sure if 51% or more—probably . . . just not always precisely the same perspectve . . .
I think the personal self-defensive fire with fire is virtually always in error . . . mostly . . .
But that there is a time to respond or assert on an issue with
more or less equally fierce intensity.
God is often subtle . . . evidently needs to be to avoid overwhelming us.
On the other hand . . . along with different fingers, there’s lightening, earthquakes, . . . and birds of rare plumage . . . LOL.
Have you ever considered that some persecutions you face are because you’re NOT following the will of God?
I can testify that before I came back to the Catholic Church that there were persecutions that came my way to lead me away from protestant beliefs.
The point is that not every persecution is what you might want to believe
+St Nilus of Mt Sinai had some advice you might want to consider before assuming that you are suffering for Christ’s sake (what a deliciously prideful Western spin on +John and +Paul...as if God needs you to suffer for His sake!)as opposed to being suckered by the Evil One.
“You should also know the following subterfuge of the demons: at times they divide themselves into groups. Some come with a temptation; and when you ask for help others come in the guise of angels and chase away the first, to make you believe that they are true angels, and fall into vainglory, through having been granted such a thing.”