evil

I have thought about this a lot so hope this makes sense.

Where does evil come from? Was there evil in the beginning, so there was God and there was evil or did evil come after? If God created everything then everything is from God but if evil is against God where did it come from?

How do we protect ourselves from evil? By submitting to His will. But how do we know His will if we are all told it by people who are not perfect and might be wrong and when Christians don't agree about what the Bible tells us.

I take Him into my heart and submit to His will and I feel good then before I realise I am thinking bad things sinful things and I feel bad but I don't know where these thoughts come from. So I get confused and pray to be strong and to resist sin. Someone told me that to question is sinful but then if I am confused how do I get answers without the question?

sorry, it doesn't make sense does it? lol

I think even the angels have free will too. The Holy spirit protects us.Seek Jesus and He will cover you on your walk on this earth. Jesus is with us all the time. A lot of things we don't quite understand.Our brains are not able to comprehend . I watched Loui Giglio's video of how small we are and how humongous the universe and space is and then also another video of how we were made. All the processes that an embryo goes through in it's development. We are talking about millions of things linking to gather perfectly. It really puts things into perspective of how tiny and week we are and how much we really need Jesus for protection.
The devil is real. He is always seeking week spots in our lives because he wants you down with him. However he is the Lord of lies. He will make you think sin is ok, he will deceive you, trick you. In the long run , he doesn't care about you at all.
Jesus however does care, a lot and He gives us a way. We all get pulled or tempted. It is what you do with that temptation that matters. If you lean on Jesus , read the bible, pray have a relationship with Jesus you will start to get to know him more. The more we spend giving up our time to delve into Jesus, the deeper we go in Him. He then is able to reveal more to you about Himself . The more you know Him the more it is easier to resist. However when our human sinner side kicks in, when we pull away from Jesus, start missing church , stop pushing into Jesus, the harder it is to resist temptation. However Jesus is always there and repentance is so important on a daily basis ..Where Jesus reigns the devil will flee. Non of us will be perfect until the day Jesus returns and takes us with Him. Jesus knows all about us and He has a plan for each of us. It is up to us if we chose Jesus or temptation but Jesus will help us if we trust Him and stand firm on our rock which is Jesus.

Satan cannot make us sin - that is our own decision, however he can weaken our resolve and put suggestion in our head. Spark is right, stick close to Jesus and you will be just fine.

Also on the bit about how do we trust people ,Christians, well even pastors make mistakes as everyone is only human and that is why we need to pray for our leaders. You can tell a Christian by their fruits so what way are they being used by God. Are they peaceful people? Do they honour God with their lives? In other words living a Christian life out side of church as well as inside church.
We are all sinners as i put previously and we should pray for each other and always check things out with the bible and ask Jesus to lead us with the Holy spirit.

Yes another thing I learnt recently. The devil has only what we give him. If we don't give to him he doesn't have it.

yes but we give him something if we dwell on sinful thoughts and sometimes we do before we realise.

martinv other topic is a bit scary btw

Hi Anna
The first biblical record of evil began with Lucifer in heaven, when his pride caused him to want to replace God and to sit on Gods throne as ruler. You could kind of say this is the birth of sin (as far as we know, at least).

We can't fully protect ourselves from evil. God never says He will either. All we can do is use wisdom and discernment to do our best to avoid such situations.

Best way to know Gods will is to read it for yourself, to pray and listen.
Personally i have accepted that we won't know if we have it all right until we die. But in the meantime just read and pray. Study and research the things you are unsure of the answers to. You can listen to others for ideas. To learn scriptures relevant to what you want to know about, but you should not just accept their words, but go back into those scriptures and see if they are used in the right context.

Bad thoughts. Some people blame all bad thoughts on the devil, and while no doubt he does have an influence at times, the reality is we don't Need satan to give us bad thoughts. Our minds and bodies are sinful from birth. We have evil in our hearts. Accepting Christ into us does not wipe out the sin in our bodies and minds. We can lessen the sin in our hearts and minds through regular bible reading, but it won't clear out completely. You will always battle bad thoughts. The key is to learn how to lessen how many you have, and also to battle the ones that do come into your mind.
Remember, having a bad thought pop into your mind isn't a sin. It's what you do with that thought that becomes sinful or not. Dwelling on thoughts like that tends to lead to actions. So when a thought comes in, just resist it. Pray, perhaps memorize some scriptures relevant to the subject. Then repeat the scripture to yourself.
It is Not sinful to question. The Apostle that replaced Judas questioned the idea that Christ had risen from the dead. He said he would not believe until he was able to physically put his fingers through the holes in Christs wrists. When he finally did meet Christ and was able to do so, Christ did not shun him for his 'sin' (doubt, disbelief) because there was no sin.
I myself went through a period of questioning. I stopped believing and reevaluated if i truly believed and what i believed. Even now i still find myself wondering about things from time to time. So don't stress about it. There is no sin in having questions, in wondering or even having some doubts. Many times these are the seasons God uses to help us grow stronger in Him.

It all make perfect sense. I think most Christians go through the thoughts and feelings and questions you're having. Especially when they are young, or newer Christians. So feel free to continue posting your questions and concerns here.

safeguards from evil...

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. 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. (Rom 8:35-39)

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: 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. (Joh 10:27-29)