lutherhicksurn:uuid:aa78a452-1633-d654-9767-01c6073f8af22008-10-30T01:32:21-04:00lutherhicksAn Introduction To Satan's Web urn:uuid:db4c7d16-d06f-b250-9741-21a8d03e48712008-02-02T19:49:42-05:00God commands believers in Christ to: 1) "...be not conformed to this world" (Rom. 12:2), 2) "...walk not according to the course of this world" (Eph. 2:2), and, 3) "...love notthe world, neither the things that are in the world" (1 John 2:15). Jesus also said that we must "...live...by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God" (Matt. 4:4). That obviously means we are to live according to all aspects of the Bible. So, with a desire to obey those four commandments, I began to make a biblical study of just why they were necessary in the first place. I needed to better understand precisely what God meant by "the (this) world."
So, starting with the term "the world," I found it is used in both the Old and New Testaments. However, only in the New Testament (NT) does the term "world" translate as meaning "orderly arrangement." It is used over 200 times in the NT with the vast majority of those times meaning "orderly arrangement." Further, Jesus Christ used the term "world" 91 times with 77 of those times meaning "orderly arrangement." Thus, "the world" being seen as an "orderly arrangement" is a NT principle which God wants believers to be aware of, become familiar with,
and take seriously as a spiritual hazard.
I began to realize that such an "orderly arrangement" with which God warns us about becoming intimately involved is actually an organized system of operation which, in turn, has got to have a source of intelligence and design behind it. Any system of operation which can provide an alternative "course," or pattern, for living our lives--contrary to that laid out in Scripture--and to which we can "conform" our thoughts, views and actions, while drawing to itself our "love" to such an extent that God has to warn us not to, must have a fairly powerful "intelligent designer" behind it!
And, since it obviously wasn't God, it had to be Satan! In fact, he is called "the god of this world" (2 Cor. 4:4). And Jesus called him "the prince of this world" on three occasions. (John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11). Those four statements of Scripture infer a status of "ruler" and, thus, we can be sure that Satan, or the devil, is the "ruler" over his very own "world system."
Then it dawned on me that we generally speed right by the 200 NT verses which teach about God's condemnatory view of "the world system." We fail to spend any significant time to reflect upon or study the fact that God is warning and instructing us about what He sees as an important matter. And, based on God's necessity for having to issue those 4 commandments we noted in the beginning, it is apparent that we unwittingly let "the world" guide our lives and, thus,
adversely influence our walk with Him on a daily basis.
So, the focus of this blog will be to share the results of my biblical odyssey into Satan's web of entanglement. I hope to share new biblical info with you every week, or so. I hope you have found some value in this introduction and pray that you will take the journey into the workings of "the world system" with me. I have found that there is much to be found out about it in God's marvelous word! May God bless you!!
(And if you'd like to learn more about my background, feel free to go to my website at: www.caughtintheworldsweb.com ) ]]>Satan's Use of Media to Depress Us urn:uuid:3b1509c2-f526-bdba-45f5-7674684b04182008-01-21T22:18:46-05:00Hello! I'm new to the family. This is my first blog. Ever! I read a few and was struck by the heaviness of spirit by so many fellow believers in Christ. So, I want to share a little something I've noticed in studying Satan's use of "the world system," which God tells us to avoid being "conformed to" (Rom. 12:2), and not to "..walk according to its course" (Eph. 2:2). Satan --whom Jesus called "the prince of this world" on 3 occasions and who is called "the god of this world" in 1 Cor. 4:4-- has set up "the course" of his system to try and keep our lives in a constant zone of negativity which is contrary to the joyous existence that God desires for us. And since TV and the media are omnipresent in our lives each day, Satan uses the worldly programming of media to foster a mindset of negativity and cynicism within us.
The Bible says, "...the whole world lieth in wickedness" (1 John 5:19). So the wickedness of the world is always going to be front-and-center as material for circulation. For example, he has used media's sights and sounds to give us ten, twenty and thirty years of daily doses of so-called "News" in a negative format, and we expect more of the same each day. Over a period of time, we naturally begin to see the world around us and many aspects of our own lives in an exaggerated, negative manner. We become more cynical and Satan manipulates our hearts and minds toward being more untrusting and guarded. Believing and trusting in God and Christ becomes a higher hurdle for people to leap.
The success of Satan's mental-conditioning program can be seen all around us. If something good happens, many of us are so pessimistic and beaten down by adversity that we are always waiting for the proverbial "other shoe" to drop! Then if something does go a little bit wrong, we think or say, "I knew it was too good to be true!" Or, how often have we thought, or heard others say, "Something must be wrong...things are going too well." Satan steers the course of his world system and its News toward negativity because it works at keeping people in the dark and out of step with the Kingdom of God.
But God wants us to be encouraged and to "...renew our minds," or reprogram our minds, by absorbing doses of His word on a daily basis. He has ordered that as His method to offset the destructive effects of the spiritually-contaminating diet that Satan constantly prepares for our consumption. Then we will experience the joy and perseverance through tribulation that God knows we can experience. And, then, we can "...prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God" for our lives!!
Bless you!