Dalai Lama Visits Gujarat, India

Surat, Gujarat, India, 1 January 2015 - Early this morning, His Holiness the Dalai Lama took a one hour flight from Pune to Surat on the Gujarat coast. He was the guest of Govind Dholakia a successful entrepreneur in the diamond business. His Holiness was welcomed by members of the reception committee at Surat airport and then drove directly to the new quarters of Shree Ramkrishna Exports. Mr Dholakia showed him around his company’s new premises, an environmentally friendly building where they process diamonds with state of the art technology.

He told the story of leaving his farming family at the age of thirteen to work as a diamond cutter. He eventually fulfilled the dream of founding his own company and attributes his success to his having learned from his guru Shree Dhongreji Maharaj the value of treating others with respect. He discovered that as a result, others are cooperative and respectful to you in return. He said he makes a point of regarding those who work for his company as members of his family. His Holiness replied that his approach reminded him of companies in Japan where a key to success is the respect and equality that exists between workers and management. He observed:

“Without technology humanity has no future, but we have to be careful that we don’t become so mechanised that we lose our human feelings.”

His Holiness visited the various stages of the diamond process and talked to people working in it. At his own insistence he joined them for lunch in the staff dining room.

In the afternoon, His Holiness addressed more than 4000, mostly young people, at the Veer Narmad South Gujarat University Convention Hall.

“Dear elder brothers and sisters and younger brothers and sisters, I am indeed very happy to have this opportunity to interact here with you young people. There are two reasons. The first is that I am now an old person and relating with young people makes me feel younger too. When I’m with older people, I find myself wondering who’s due to go first, me or you?

“The second reason is that the past is past. We can learn from it, but we can’t change it. The future hasn’t yet come; it’s open. What will happen is not guaranteed. It is in our power to change it, but to do so we need to have vision, to take a long term perspective and we have to work hard. Those of you who are young today belong to the generation of the 21st century. If you are going to fulfil a vision for a happier, more peaceful future in this world, you need to learn to live each day in a more meaningful way. You need to sharpen your human intelligence through study, but you also need to develop a warm heart.”

He reiterated the importance of developing a wider perspective and a more holistic view. He said that to see reality clearly we need to look at it from more than one angle. We live at a time when the world population continues to increase while the threats of climate change continue to grow. These are issues that affect the whole of humanity. It would be easy to feel discouraged. However, His Holiness said that he’s found warm-heartedness to be a source of inner strength and self-confidence. It helps you keep up your enthusiasm and live in an honest, transparent way.

His Holiness referred to the wisdom to be found in ancient Indian knowledge. On the one hand he cited the great Indian physicist Raja Ramanna’s telling him of his excitement and pride in finding ideas in the writings of Nagarjuna that pre-empted the contemporary findings of quantum physics. On the other, His Holiness extolled the wealth of knowledge about the workings of our mind and emotions in ancient Indian psychology, knowledge that can be of great value today. He also praised India’s centuries’ old traditions of ahimsa, non-violence, and secularism.

He told his listeners that belonging to the most populous democratic country, young Indians today should look to see how they can contribute not only to India, but to the world as a whole.

“Many of the problems we face today are entirely manmade. Therefore solutions must be within our grasp too. But it’s crucial we take account of the whole of humanity.”

Among questions he was asked, the first was about the real value of religion. His Holiness replied:

“All the major religious traditions convey a message of love, tolerance, simplicity and self-discipline. They are helpful to humanity. It’s up to you whether you want to follow a religious tradition. But if you do, the important thing is to do so sincerely. What is clear is that all human beings need affection and in our education today we need to find ways to promote human values in ways that take everyone into account. We need to adopt a secular approach based on our common experience of affection, common sense and scientific findings. Added to this we need to understand how our mind and emotions work.”

Another student asked if His Holiness felt his wisdom derived directly from the teachings of the Buddha or from his own experience. He told him that the Buddha had encouraged his followers not to accept what he said at mere face value, but to examine, investigate and analyse it. His Holiness said he had followed great masters like Nagarjuna in doing just that. He said:

“I find analytical meditation is the most effective way to transform our emotions. “

Finally, a young woman asked if he had any advice for female students today. In his answer he talked about human history, of how long ago people lived in small groups with no idea of leadership, just sharing what they had with each other. However, with the development of agriculture, property and the need to protect it a need for leadership arose. At that time there was no education and the criterion for leadership was physical strength. This is how male dominance came about. The emergence of education has restored some sense of equality between men and women. But education alone is not sufficient. At a time when it is important to promote a wider sense of love and compassion, science has produced evidence that women are more sensitive to others’ needs and pain. Therefore, we need women to take greater responsibility for leadership. And where there is inequality we should work to correct it.

Meeting nearly 750 Tibetans who come to do business in Surat, His Holiness told them the Tibetan spirit remains strong. He encouraged them to be 20th century Buddhists to study to understand what Buddhism is about, to take pride in the Tibetan language. He also told them he has discussed the exodus of young people from Tibetan settlements and its implications for their future with the Sikyong Dr Lobsang Sangay. Thanking them for coming to see him, he ended:

“Be happy.”

Tomorrow, His Holiness will attend the Satokbaa Memorial Award Programme in Surat.

original link with photos http://www.dalailama.com/news/post/1218-new-years-day-in-gujarat

More And More Movies Are Creating Curiosity Of The Occult And Demons

I pray everyone has had a great weekend and having a wonderful day. It looks like we're into a new year my friends can you believe it's 2015? It almost seems the years are going by quicker and quicker or maybe I'm just getting older and older. LOL. Out with the old in with the new year. New resolutions are set for the new year and I pray that everybody is able to complete the goals that they would like to achieve having Gods favor.

Anything that glorifies Christ, Satan hates it. He will do what he can to ruin it as he mimics all the church does into his own perverted way that's taking place all over the world as we speak. How ironic that even more of these diabolical movies are coming out before and after Christmas? I wrote about this last year I believe. There is just a plethora of commercials I see on TV advertising more movies and TV shows that are about demons, possession and anything related. Obviously it must be in high demand if they just keep coming out year after year with more and more. They seem to be opening the door for more curiosity and then more people are inadvertently getting themselves in situations that they never dreamed it could happen. These latest movies I see coming out are about pure evil for entertainment. This does nothing but awaken anything out there and keep it alive.

Movies About Demons are certainly taking over. Not in a healthy manner.  It just seems evil is taking over entertainment industry and won't be slowing down. Two more evil type movies have been promoted this week. Very disturbing trailers. This is not healthy. This is bad on so many levels when one isn't of full mind thinking black magic is safe with no ramifications.

Horror movies are addicting, because the thrill of being afraid is addicting. When you begin to watch these type of movies, you’re inviting evil spirits into your home and into your life and all thing personal. The fear you’re feeling opens the door for spirits of fear and God knows what else. People love the thrill of being scared and the curiosity feeds the thrill even more. They form attachments to you and your life and they prey upon your mind. Getting a thrill from being scared through watching horror movies is actually a risk in my humble opinion. The law of attraction is what comes to mind. According to the Bible the origin of evil and subsequently, demons or evil spirits began with the fall of Lucifer.

Many people mistakenly believe that throughout human history, Satan has already been banished from heaven, or that he reigns in some kind of kingdom in hell. That isn't true. Satan has always had access to the Throne of God, where he serves as the principle accuser of the saints of God. "Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them." (Job 1:4)

We understand from scripture that these fallen angels are powerful beings who occupy the atmosphere and stratosphere of our Earth. We also know from scripture that there is a hierarchy or order among the evil spirits with Satan being the chief. In Ephesians 6:12 we read, 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.

Written By Jennifer L Auld

The Millennium...Differing Views

By Reverend Mark Hunnemann

Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit1 and a great chain. 2 And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, 3 and threw him into the pit, and shut it and resealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while.

4 Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. 5 The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.

Responsible biblical scholars differ in their interpretation of the meaning of "the thousand years" (millennium), and these verses are among the mostly controversial in Revelation. I will only be able to give a brief outline of the three main views.Since this is not an issue essential to salvation, gentleness and a desire to learn from each other should mark the way we view differ.

This book is apocalyptic in genre, and that means that there is much symbolism. The issue is how much of Revelation is symbolic and how much is "literal". It needs to be said that the use of symbols does not detract from the authority of the bible.(see ch 1 for how symbols begin...."lampstands")

Some see this book as primarily future....some see it a primarily past (fall of Jerusalem),,,,and some see it as mixture of both.

1. Premillennialists--those who believe Christ will return "pre" (before) the millennium. This is usually thought to be a literal thousand years, which will be a time of great peace and justice, with Christ physically reigning here on earth, along with believers. They tend to minimize symbolism as much as possible.I cannot deal with the differing views of the tribulation nor the notion of the rapture.However, classical premills differ from pre-trib premills in that they believe the rapture/second coming are same event.

2. Postmillenialists--those who think that Christ will return "post" (after) the millennial period, and that the gospel will triumph in changing individuals and culture, and peace and justice will reign for a thousand years (or a long time). They see a future which will be systematically transformed by the gospel, but that prior to Jesus' return there will be an unleashing of wickedness....then Christ will return for Judgment. .Not all post-mills are reconstructionists...again, I have to leave it at that.

3. Amillennialists--those who hold an "a" ( non, or non-literal view of the thousand years), and believe this "thousand years" is the same as this present church age, and that this is the "millenium" before Christ's return. As with the others, they believe in a great apostasy before Christ's literal return.What differentiates them from post mills is that, even though they believe in the extraordinary transforming power of the gospel, they do not believe in a golden age prior to Jesus' Second Coming.The victory is that deceased believers reign with Christ now...and the alive believers are more than conquerors in Christ.

Each of these views are to be understood in terms of interpretation of other passages (e.g. Matthew 24), and each view falls within the framework of historic Christian othodoxy. In addition, many folks adhere to a mix of these views!

v. 1-3 (cf 12:9-17) The nature of this binding of Satan is crucial to each millennial view. Premills read this as predicting a complete removal of Satan from the earth during the millennium. They argue that "shut it" and "sealed it over him" picture a removal of Satan from Earth too complete to represent the current age. Postmills also think this will be a future golden age, but believe that Christ will not return until after the end of that time. Amills note that the NT affirms that Jesus's first coming has already bound Satan (Matthew 12:29) and brought God's light to the nations (Matthew 4:14-16; Luke 2:32; Acts 14:15-17; 17:30-31) Hence, they argue that this binding of Satan for a "thousand years" refers to the gospels spread among all nations during the present age, and to the present restraint of the church's persecutors until an outbreak of rebellion before Christ's return (2 Thessalonians 2:3-8) v.4-5 "...and reigned with Christ for a thousand years".Premills think this means that resurrected believers will assist with Christ's thousand year reign as King over the earth. Amills think this means that deceased believers now (and during the entire "thousand years", which means from Pentecost to second coming) are reigning with Christ from heaven. Postmills see it as a future triumph of Christianity in the world.

Historically, there are significant differences amongst those who are premill, and there are other overlapping factors amongst the three views, but this is a humble attempt to clarify the basic three views held during the last 2,000 years. The main issue is that Jesus is most certainly returning to judge the living and the dead, and that He reigns supreme NOW.

Mark Hunnemann is the author of Seeing Ghosts Through God's Eyes: A Worldview Analysis of Earthbound Spirits. It's also available in eBook format.

Secular Ethics is the Light of Hope: Dalai Lama

Sunday, 4 January 2015 - 7:30am IST | Agency: dna
Vaishali Balajiwale

"Tibet had remained dark till light from India reached the place; enlightenment came to Tibet from India, and historically Indians are our gurus, and we the chelas," said Dalai Lama, addressing the International Conference on Secular Ethics in Nashik on Saturday.

Dalai Lama, who captivated the audience with his thoughts, also answered questions of the gathering.

Stressing the need to lead a happy life, Dalai Lama said we needed to think of a happy world. "Oneness means all the people being one and leading a happy life. The basis of human rights is happy life. Everyone wants to lead a happy life for which we need to have a holistic approach. Faith is important, religions can be different," Dalai Lama said, giving example of the Chinese following the communist thought. He said: "The Chinese I met were non-believers, but were dedicated to working for the poor. What is important is becoming a good human being with deep human values."

On religious tolerance, Dalai Lama said: "Religious differences are borne by retarded thought. Acceptance of humanity should lie in the head and the mind."

Many problems in the society arise due to short-sightedness, or on account of looking at something in just one angle. The reality however is much complex. It is necessary that we look through six dimensions, or else we may fail to see the reality, Dalai Lama said.

On secularism, he said: "Secularism does not mean disrespect for other religions. No religion teaches violence. It will be unfair to generalise the bad tendencies in a religion and say it does not teach good."

On religious fundamentalism, Dalai Lama said: "Religions preach devotion to Allah, the Almighty or God. Saying that a particular religion teaches conflict would be totally ridiculous. No religion is negative. Any religion that teaches people to live happily cannot be bad. A religion may have mischievous people, but saying that their behaviour reflects the whole religion will not be correct."

On similarities in Buddhism and Jainism, Dalai Lama said: "Both believe there is no beginning or end, as well as non-violence (ahimsa)."

Saying it was important to develop an investigative bend of mind, Dalai Lama urged people not to follow any religious leader blindly. "Question", he said adding, "Buddha said investigate a thought thoroughly. Study the qualifications of a guru or a leader, meet them, observe till you develop a conviction that what the leader says can be followed."

"Know the qualities of a disciple, and as a disciple conduct unbiased investigation; use your intellect and develop enthusiasm to practise what you have accepted and believed. This is the Nalanda tradition and time has come to follow it, he said.

Compassion and affection are important in life for even those who have had cruel or unfavourable experience in early stages of life. With some effort we can turn to positivity, that is the basic human nature, Dalai Lama said.

Praising Dr Ambedkar, he said the maker of Indian Constitution was a great scholar. "His contributions are great."

On science and Buddhism, Dalai Lama said many scientists had come to accept that science had a role in transforming thinking. Even Albert Einstein believed that religion and science could go side by side. Many people say Buddhism is a way of life and not a religion. Buddhist psychology is all about building a healthy mind, healthy body and a healthy society.

Leaders of different religions expressed themselves on religion and all of them emphasised that the "true religion is secularism, brotherhood and peace" – "One God, one world and one family, binds all together," he said. "Secularism is the call of the day and secular ethics, the light of hope."

original link: http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report-secular-ethics-is-the-light-of-hope-dalai-lama-2049349

Sins of the Forefathers: Generational Curses

In this blog I hope to help give you the reader a better understanding in certain aspects of Exorcism, dealing with generational curses.  Generational curses for a common sense understanding is stated as “sins of your forefathers”, on both sides of the blood lines.  Each of our bloodlines descend from other areas of the world as our ancestors made impacts into their world at the time they lived.

Exorcism is removing the Demonic from within the person.  Curse breaking is used to sever ancestry ties to past sins as the “back door” gateway to the human in conjunction with the mortal sins the person committed.  So how does a generational curse actually work?

Generational curses work as follows, let’s say for example you know a family that has a history of anger issues.  Suppose a man went to see his Minister to discuss his anger and violent temper issues because his father too is an angry as well as violent man.  The young man asked the Minister about deliverance of this generational curse with the Minister to which the Minister responded in a manner such that this is a learned behavior.

The Minister might discuss with the young man that this is not scripturally based, because these anger outbursts are being works of the flesh so to speak.  Thus as Christians we are to have the Holy Spirit which overcomes this under accordance of scripture (see Galatians 5:16, 20).  A generation is defined as the age between the birth of the parents and the birth their child according to Webster’s.  A curse is defined as a prayer or invocation to cause harm to a person, a call to a supernatural power to send or cause injury upon someone.

Many people do suffer from a burden that seems to be handed down (alcoholism, anger, violence, molestation, etc…).  So what does the Holy bible state about generational curses?  Exodus 34:7 states, "Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting (punishing) the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation."  Lamentations 5:7, "Our fathers have sinned, and are not; and we have borne (been punished for) their iniquities."

Based upon what ancestors have done within the bloodlines who lived in the past is impossible to determine.  Very few people know how to properly break these generational curses that affect them to this day.  Why is that?  Well the answers can be many, but the simple truth is two-fold in my assessment:

A. People do not view these generational aspects anything but a physiological issue.  Example if the grandfather was angry, the son/daugther will be a angry due to living in this situation.  The physiological issue can be a legitimate scenario but truly dark forces are at work behind the scenes to keep this activity alive.

B. Ministry is not addressing these as generational curses because Ministry is not taking the time talk about these areas of human lives as curses set forth from ancestors which GOD is punishing people.

Many times people want to view GOD as an all loving, all compassionate GOD when frankly that is clearly not the case.  Many people who are Christian as they claim to be are confused (which they are from conversations I have had with many) that GOD could not be completely loving and jealous at the same time.

In Exodus 20:4-6, GOD is not using the word "jealous" as you or I would in the same context.  Use the word "jealous" to describe the feeling we get when someone else has something that we want or has qualities that we wish we had.

In the scripture of Exodus GOD states "Thou shalt not make up for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shalt not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God."  What is being stated is that GOD will not tolerate one of His creation worshipping or bowing down to a GOD other than Himself.

People want to assume that there is some “grey” area that GOD will give a pass for and simply that is not the truth.  People use the logic that if GOD was not loving then he would not send a savior so therefore he is ultimately not to be feared.  Well then, if that is not the case then according to James 2:19 “Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.” So if the Demons tremble in the name of GOD according to the scripture then why shouldn’t we as humans?

Ministry is not talking about the power of GOD acting in a subjugative manner anymore.  Instead our churches are focusing on talking about the redeeming love for his children.  Here is the major issue, there is no fear in the Lord our GOD anymore from our churches and this is very dangerous.  Psalms 111:10 states “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth forever.”

This is the plan from Satan to make certain that Ministry is becoming “watered down” so to speak, thus people are struggling heavily in the churches.  Satan is having his way inside the churches with the Ministers not employed to break the hold of the Demonic upon people.

This ties right into our discussion on generational curses issues.  Why? For now we can see how these curses are even passed through the churches unchecked of weak Ministry setting up and supporting other weak Ministers.  So therefore these weak Ministers cannot truly help the flock with issues of spiritual bondage when it comes to dealing with the Demonic and breaking generational curses.

If you were a person suffering in this manner and you went to your Minister to request assistance and this Minister were to say to you “Well you just need to pray this situation to GOD and he will provide you the answers you need.”  First of all you would be disappointed in this Minister and secondly you would still be in this bondage until properly broken. Nothing has been done to break the hold the Demonic have in or upon you or your bloodline.  Therefore to be free it might take the Demonic within Exorcism to renounce the generational curse in place to be truly set free.

The job of Exorcism Ministry is to remove people from spiritual bondage which they are being held captive.  Generational curses are spiritual bondage at its finest.  These are demonic forces who are enacting this form of imprisonment upon people.

If you feel that you are suffering from a generational curse you can break away and become free.  Many people whom I have helped break curses felt like they took anchors as well as chains off their necks and bodies.  Feel free to contact me if you need assistance to do this properly.

Rev. Bradley Luoma, Exorcist Minister

Dalai Lama Preaches Peace, Compassion in Boca Raton Talk

Boca Raton, Florida, USA, 24 February 2010 (By Michele Dargan, Palm Beach Daily News) -  His Holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet, spoke Wednesday about compassion and the benefits of positivity to 3,000 people at Florida Atlantic University's Arena in Boca Raton.

"Out of compassion brings inner peace, and out of inner peace comes world peace. Without inner peace, we cannot have world peace," he said.

His Holiness said everyone has the same capabilities for inner peace and compassion. If a person is always in constant fear and suspicion, that's "very bad," he said. Everyone has the same capacity for kindness, he said.

"To me, the audience is brothers and sisters — no difference," he said. "Emotionally, mentally and physically we are the same. Negative emotions — anger, fear suspicion [are the] same. Other hand, we have the same potential for compassion. Compassion is the seed of inner peace. We all have the same potential."

Showing compassion to an enemy helps to achieve inner peace, he said.

"Neighbors with jealousy never get peace," the Dalai Lama said.

Smiling often and genuinely is another key to finding compassion and inner peace, he said.

The more positive you are, the better you feel, he said.

"Scientists begin to realize — for physical health — reduce blood pressure, reduce anxiety, reduce fear .... calm is very, very important," the Dalai Lama said.

An additional 2,500 students, faculty and staff viewed Tenzin Gyatso, the 74-year-old exiled Tibetan Buddhist leader, by simulcast in the auditorium.

A total of 873 public tickets were sold to the event.

People began filing into the arena at 8:30 a.m., with doors closing at 9:30 a.m.

Everyone in the arena stood up as His Holiness entered the stage at 10:05 a.m. He shook hands with dignitaries and waved to the crowd.

The Dalai Lama spoke for nearly 45 minutes and took questions prepared by students, faculty and staff for 15 minutes.

In helping to achieve inner peace, the Dalai Lama said meditation works best for him. He rises at 3:30 a.m. and recites a Buddhist prayer to begin his day.

A necessary component for compassion: intelligence.

Looking at situations only from only one angle brings worry and frustration. But looking at things from different angles "brings new opportunities," he said.

FAU's Manjunath Pendakur, dean of the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, said, "This is a major boost to work harder .... in the cause of peace. This is a momentous day in the history of the university. We are humbled and enriched by it."

John Pritchett, FAU's interim president, welcomed everyone to this "historical event."

Pritchett called the Dalai Lama "a living example of all the good that can be accomplished in this world by one person — a person with courage, a person with conviction to raise his voice for peace.

original link: http://www.dalailama.com/news/post/501-dalai-lama-preaches-peace-compassion-in-boca-raton-talk

The Fall Of Lucifer And His Limited Powers Not Equal To God's

Hello my beauties. I hope you all had a fabulous Christmas/Holiday season and are ready for the upcoming new year 2015. Wow! Can you believe it? 2015. I swear the older we get the faster time goes. I really do. Grrrr

This isn't a subject that's easy to write or blog about and I will try my best to make it as understandable as possible. Again it is just my humble opinion and how I interpret the Bible to say. I want to make that clear now so we have an understanding that I am not claiming to know this to be gospel and fact.

Although Satan appears frequently in the Scriptures, there isn't a whole lot of information in the bible about the fall of Satan and his angels. The term "falling from heaven" is a Near Eastern way of saying that someone has suffered defeat, and it was also used in ancient non-biblical literature to describe the fall of gods from power. It is similar to our expression "falling from grace." Falling from heaven, then, means to lose one’s role or power. 1 Timothy 3:6 indicates that pride caused Satan’s downfall. For many Christians the verse is one of the few that speaks directly about the fall of Satan.

Because I'm coming from a biblical point of view any religion  or doctrine that promotes that God and Satan are equal in power is not something I'm going to agree with. The Bible is clear in telling us that Satan was originally created by God as a angel called Lucifer who's was Gods most beautiful angel. After Satan rebelled and wanted to be all powerful like God, he was cast out of Heaven and a certain amount of angels followed him. Many refer to them as fallen angels. Satan thought he would one day rise up and be God, but since God holds all power Satan was unable to do so and was cast into hell. Isaiah 14:12-17and Ezekiel 28 will tell you about the fall of Lucifer.

Isaiah 14: This passage refers to the king of Babylon as “falling out of heaven.” We know that none of the Babylonian kings ever literally fell from Heaven, but Satan clearly did. This king of Babylon thought he could “ascend into heaven” and usurp God’s throne. These are the exact thoughts that Satan had.

Ezekiel 28: This passage makes reference to the ruler of Tyre and in doing so gives us several hints that it is talking about Satan. First, it says that the “king of Tyre” was ‘created’ and not born. We know for certain that Satan was created by God. The “king of Tyre” is also known as the “cherub” and the cherubim were the “inner circle” of angels who had the closest access to God and guarded his holiness. “

Satan is not omnipotent.
He has great power—more than any man and most angels—but he is not anywhere near the equal of our God. As mentioned, he must seek God's permission before he can even do certain things.

Satan is not omniscient.
He has a powerful intellect and knows many things from experience (far more than people), but only God is all-knowing.

He is not omnipresent.
Satan is an individual personality, so he can be in only one place at a time (as seen in Job 1:7). So when we say that the devil is personally tempting us, more than likely it is his power working through his network of demons.

God’s Word tells us in 1 John 4:4 that the God Whom we believe in and the God Who dwells in us is greater than Satan. This verse says: “Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.” This verse shows us that between God and Satan there is no dualism. Evil is no match for good. God, who represents good, is the most powerful force in the universe. Satan was not and never will be able to win vs. God because evil is not all-powerful.

We should keep as much distance between us and the devil as possible. "Resist the devil and he will flee from you" (James 4:7). We do this by avoiding things that will drag us down spiritually. Disobedience and persistent waywardness provide the enemy grounds from which he can attack and influence the Christian. This is why Scripture reminds us to not give the devil a foothold (Ephesians 4:27).

You will never win this spiritual battle in your own strength. You will only be successful when you draw your strength from the power base, God Himself. There you will find the strength and stamina to "stand against the wiles of the devil" (Ephesians 6:11).

Satan's Nature- it is the nature of a man that causes him to act as he does. The same principle exists as we try to better understand Satan. John identified the devil as the originator and chief practitioner of sin (1 John 3:8). He further described Satan as “that wicked one” (1 John 5:18). Jesus called Satan a liar (John 8:44) and thief (John 10:10). The evil acts of Satan are a natural expression of his evil nature.

“The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy” (John 10:10). The apostle Paul recognized the destructive nature of Satan when he wrote, “The god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them” (2 Cor. 4:4).

Written By Jennifer L Auld