What if you could hear both Satan and God at the same time like a three way phone conversation and Satan said this to you? I will give you anything in the world that you want and all you have to do is obey me and all I want you to do is to stop smoking. What do you do?
Smoking is an addiction and considered a sin but do you just disregard what Satan has just said and know that God knows your heart and you think that Satan is irrelevant and quit smoking?
Satan is gettining great pleasure in this. He knows that you believe that you and God are one and he's enjoying thinking that he has you and God obeying him to keep God's word.
God now tells you that he has healed you from your addiction. You quit for two weeks and realize that you no longer want to smoke but then go right back to it. Why? You just proved that you could walk away from it, why would you go back to it?
How in this problem can God take your greatest weakness and turn it into his strength? How can God take what is sin turn it into no sin and then turn it back into sin?
Smoking is a self-indulgence, if you can have self removed from the equation, even temporarily, then what does smoking become? Say you refuse to allow Satan to do this to your God and that you take full responsibility for your action of smoking? God has catered to indulgences as tests. He has given strength, wealth, power, wisdon, etc. to see if people became self indulgent or used what was given to honor him.
What if you limit yourself to smoking one a week to show disipline until you do not hear from Satan and God then tells you to stop smoking. If you then refuse to stop you have become disobedient and sinned again against God. In this is a lesson of how God can take what is sin make it become not a sin and then turn it into sin once again. In this way, power has been taken from Satan and you. God has just taken your greatest weakness and used as his strength, taken complete control of the situation and taught both you and Satan who rules the universe.
This isn't to say that people should hang onto their addictions. We should all part with them. This is just an example of how self can sometimes be removed from an indulgence and that indulgence (money, knowledge, etc)turned into a strength.
What makes sin and evil what they are? Because God has said they are these things. I believe that God has observed his creations through all of time and the things that caused extinction, self destruction and destruction within a species are the things that God labeled as sin and evil and to be avoided. This is so man can live long upon the earth. God loves us so much that we are allowed this knowledge and opportunity to help grow and expand heaven.Let me know what you think.
Huldah
Smoking is an addiction and considered a sin but do you just disregard what Satan has just said and know that God knows your heart and you think that Satan is irrelevant and quit smoking?
Satan is gettining great pleasure in this. He knows that you believe that you and God are one and he's enjoying thinking that he has you and God obeying him to keep God's word.
God now tells you that he has healed you from your addiction. You quit for two weeks and realize that you no longer want to smoke but then go right back to it. Why? You just proved that you could walk away from it, why would you go back to it?
How in this problem can God take your greatest weakness and turn it into his strength? How can God take what is sin turn it into no sin and then turn it back into sin?
Smoking is a self-indulgence, if you can have self removed from the equation, even temporarily, then what does smoking become? Say you refuse to allow Satan to do this to your God and that you take full responsibility for your action of smoking? God has catered to indulgences as tests. He has given strength, wealth, power, wisdon, etc. to see if people became self indulgent or used what was given to honor him.
What if you limit yourself to smoking one a week to show disipline until you do not hear from Satan and God then tells you to stop smoking. If you then refuse to stop you have become disobedient and sinned again against God. In this is a lesson of how God can take what is sin make it become not a sin and then turn it into sin once again. In this way, power has been taken from Satan and you. God has just taken your greatest weakness and used as his strength, taken complete control of the situation and taught both you and Satan who rules the universe.
This isn't to say that people should hang onto their addictions. We should all part with them. This is just an example of how self can sometimes be removed from an indulgence and that indulgence (money, knowledge, etc)turned into a strength.
What makes sin and evil what they are? Because God has said they are these things. I believe that God has observed his creations through all of time and the things that caused extinction, self destruction and destruction within a species are the things that God labeled as sin and evil and to be avoided. This is so man can live long upon the earth. God loves us so much that we are allowed this knowledge and opportunity to help grow and expand heaven.Let me know what you think.
Huldah