The devil loves to keep us in a state of turmoil and confusion, we don't have to be, we can know truth and that truth will set us free from the wiles of the evil one.
The favored tactic of the devil is to accuse the brethren.
Revelation 12:10-11
"10 And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of His Christ. For the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, he who accuses them day and night before our God.
11 They have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; and they did not love their lives so as to shy away from death.…"
When we are accused, it is best to evaluate what actually happened, pray for the understanding and move on. If we find ourselves to be guilty then we need to confess it and praise God that He cleanses us.
If we have found ourselves to be innocent of the accusation, then we can be at peace. When others choose to believe the accusation, even without speaking to us to clarify, then we can count that person as an enemy, one who loves their gossip.
Often family members and co-workers will enjoy the false belief, treating us disrespectfully with contempt for something that was relayed to them but untrue. When this happens we can walk away without guilt and avoid those who would enjoy their gossip.
Until our accusers repent and confess openly we are instructed to avoid them. Praying and leaving it with God is the best way to handle these situations and the people who create them.
The world is full, more than ever now in the end times, of mean spirited and cold hearted people who are toys in the hands of the devil. The following passage shows us what they look like and what God wants us to do about them.
2 Timothy 3:1-5
“Difficult Times Will Come”
"3 But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come.
2 For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy,
3 unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good,
4 treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
5 holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these."
Gossipers work to destroy relationships between those they despise and their friends and family. They are never satisfied to torment us with their hateful actions and attitudes, they must turn others against us. We saw this with Christ and the apostles. If we love the Lord, stand firm for Him and His principles, we will be targets for these kind of people.
Narcissists as described in 2 Timothy 3 hate passionately those who love to obey the Bible. They will pick at them with tenacity while making sure others do the same.
If you feel isolated, ignored, rejected and treated as though you are invisible, welcome to the world of the believer!
John 15:18-20 "18 If the world hates you, understand that it hated Me first. 19 If you were of the world, it would love you as its own. Instead, the world hates you, because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. 20 Remember the word that I spoke to you: ‘No servant is greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will persecute you as well; if they kept My word, they will keep yours as well.…"
Here is what God instructs us to do;
James 1:2-8
"2 Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials,
3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.
4 And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
5 But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.
6 But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind.
7 For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord,
8 being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways."
Hallelujah, we don't have to allow the devil's minions make us bitter, we can grow stronger and more joyful through all the trials by trusting Christ!
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