30/09/2020
Giving Evil Enough Rope
For the past 8 years or so, this blog has been dedicated to exposing the devil. The archives are full of 180 posts about the nature of evil and how it manifests itself under the guise of religion, politics, ego and emotions, just to name a few. Once my eyes were opened and I could finally understand and wrap language around the evil I had always sensed, I was consumed with the purpose to expose the enemy, in the hope to put a stop to his wicked antics. I spent 18 years completing an epic novel, fueled by this very purpose.
Two decades later and I am still frustrated by the ignorance in the world, and confused as to why Almighty Sovereign God would allow evil to continue.
This blog “Inner Angels & Enemies” uses self-awareness techniques to help readers (and myself) dig deep into our motives to discover the evil within, so that we may bring hidden evil to the light to be overpowered by the grace and blood of Christ. Seems simple enough. But what happens when people refuse to rid themselves of the evil within, or if our hearts are a bottomless pit of evil and we just keep finding more. What is God’s plan to conquer all this evil, and when?
We don’t have to look far before we feel our anger rise at all the injustice and lies, cruelty and malice in the world, and we all know someone who treats us in wicked ways that we are unable to accept. Every human has sin in their hearts and its a given that we unload our worst selves onto those around us, especially those we love most. Its human nature to want to control the discomfort this brings. We end relationships, we quit jobs, we move towns or countries, we disown family, we riot, and we call people out on their shit at the first inkling of wrongdoing. But all these tactics just appear to be harsh judgments because the seriousness of their sin hasn’t had chance to fully reveal itself.
So what if, instead of forcing people to recognise their private evil, we wait and give them enough rope to hang themselves? It will test our patience, challenge our tolerance, and curb our judgements, but these are beneficial aims anyway. Let me be clear, this is not a tactic for our enemies alone, this is the very same tactic God uses in the way He parents us, His children. This is a tactic of love and justice.
God has given the devil enough rope and it will be his undoing! Simply by allowing the enemy free-reign to allow the true depth of his wickedness to develop to its fullness, the once ignorant world is beginning to recognise the devil everywhere. He’s been hiding in the churches, in the schools and colleges, in the government, and in us, but in 2020, there is no more denying it. His own works expose his truly deceptive character and we see it!
Is it possible to treat our loved ones as God treats us? He allows us free reign and free will so that the wicked motives of our hearts can become clear to us. How many of us know deep down we probably shouldn’t do something? But we run the gauntlet, hoping to get away with it, convincing ourselves we aren’t that bad. But eventually one day, the reality of what we have become reaches absurdity that we have no choice but to accept that we are in need of a righteous and drastic change. This is when we learn to crave the mercy and righteousness of our Saviour, so that we choose His will freely and receive His blessings, His protection, and His strength, so we can give Him honour for His goodness, never to fall for the lies and temptation of evil ever again!
It’s time for a change of tack, time to sit back and laugh as this temporary world becomes flooded with evil, because it is only in the revealing of just how wicked our enemy is, that we can comprehend how unbelievably Awesome is our Creator God, and surrender to His plan for our eternity without evil! Yeeew!
15/03/2019
The Devil Made Me Do It
Have you ever reached a point of anger that has become uncontrollable? Has it made you act in ways you never thought you would?
Have you ever felt so much pain and fear that defensive protection mechanisms caused you to say terrible and hurtful things to people you love?
I sure have.
I do understand how powerful emotions can make us want to lash out. I lived it for the first 20 years of my own life. I blamed everyone around me for my own feelings of disappointment and anger, I accused people of being unloving if they failed to meet my ideals of what love should look like. I called people I love names like “F’ing Asshole” and “F’ing bitch” and pointed out all their failings with nastiness, and then I shared all of their misgivings with anyone who would listen. I wrote letters outlining all the reasons I felt mistreated, all the reasons they were wrong and I was right.
Worst of all, I believed I was justified. I believed my emotions were valid. I believed my behaviour was not as bad as what they had caused me to feel. I believed that they had asked for it, that they deserved it. I took zero responsibility for my emotional outbursts, and in return I expected and longed for close happy relationships.
The real trouble with blaming, accusing, name calling, put downs, backstabbing etc is that once they leave our mouths or are written and sent, they break the precious trust that is needed to be close in that relationship.
Each time we say these things we feel, and they are directed at someone as a personal attack, more trust is broken. Broken trust creates distance, division, stress, triggers, defensiveness and many mental health problems like anxiety, depression etc.
The only way to repair that broken trust is to own up to the nasty things said and done and truly apologise, to feel the remorse of having said and done these things to someone cared for. Truly feeling the remorse of becoming untrustworthy and not being as close as before, and to promise to try not to do it anymore, while accepting that they get to choose whether or not to give another chance. Then to do everything possible to alter feelings and behaviours so that the pattern stops happening.
It is very hard to break patterns of emotion like this but it is possible, with time, therapy, faith and techniques that build self-awareness. This whole blog Inner Angels and Enemies, is dedicated to empowering us to succeed.
Being held hostage by powerful emotions that push us to treat the people we love that way, is not how I wanted to live my life. I saw this pattern in myself and my family and I desperately refused to pass the curse onto my daughters. And for the last 20 years I’ve been working hard to break this cycle.
I had to realise that not all my emotions are valid, and there is a devil who can create emotions within me, I was his puppet and emotions were his strings. Then I would be his weapon against people and all I had to say was “its not my fault its how I feel”. But what we say and how we act is our responsibility, and yes there is more than enough grace to cover all our failings, yet God can’t forgive based on the excuses that our ’emotions made us do it’, which really means ‘the devil made me do it’.
However God mercifully forgives our confessions, which is when we’ve taken responsibility and showed true remorse.
It is the devil at play, but we can overcome the devil through Christ’s example and He will help us change and break the devil’s hold. So then it is possible to gain control over our emotions more and more. Its a constant war. This is the spiritual war. This is what its ALL about.
“These two forces within us are constantly fighting each other to win control over us, and our wishes are never free from their pressures” Galatians 5:17
The constant battle within each of us between the devils powerful emotions, and God’s forgiveness and power over those emotions. So we can move into Freedom from all the devil’s games and find real lasting unity with others.
Selah!
Inner Angels & Enemies 