Sari @sarikorpi@dingdash.com

@Keeper Yes exactly! How to stand up with the torture?

I've been thinking if it would help if I would REALLY understand more about what eternal hell really means. To be thrown into the lake of fire and suffer there for forever and ever, without anything of God in that place! And to understand that that's where I'll end up if I deny Christ! Because in that book, to prove the police that they really wanted to deny Christ, they had to give names of other Christians. That's horrible!

I've been reading a great book called "I stand with Christ" by Zhang Rongliang and Eugene Bach. We bought it this summer in a small village in the middle of the forest, where a youth camp was held.

The most shocking thing for me in the book was how persecution led true believers to deny their faith in Christ and to uncover the names of their brothers and sisters. Zhang talks in the book about how only the true believers, who weren't able to keep their faith in secret (because Christ's light shined through them) were the onlyone's who were put in prison. The lukewarms never even got that far. But out of these 30 believers only 4 came out of prison without having denied Christ! The persecution was so heavy. I'm thinking, how was it possible for these 4 to remain in their faith when the others didn't?? Is there something we as believers can and should do today so that when persecution comes, we would be those who stands with Christ? 🙏

When the police tried to get Zhang to deny Christ, he explains in the book that:

"What they had not understood, was that to give up and deny Christ would be much worse than any earthly prison or imaginable pain. What they didn't know was that the time of my suffering is limited, but the honour to be with my Lord is eternal."
(my own translation).

I think what kept Zhang from denying Christ was both the fear of the Lord and the fact that Christ was his everything, he had lost his life to live fully for God. And he knew this life is not everything, he knew he has the eternity with God in front of him. ❤

And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him. Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God? But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows. Also I say unto you, Whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God: But he that denieth me before men shall be denied before the angels of God.

Luk. 12: 4-9

@LukoseGeorge At first I thought, this sounds good! But when taking a moment to really think this through, I realized I can agree to the two parts: "is it true" and "is it necessary", but not to "is it kind". Jesus spoke sometimes quite harshly to the Pharisees about their hypocrasy, same did John the Baptist. Not a kindly thing to do, but certainly something that was both necessary and the truth.

@Kruselady However, it's important to understand that to walk in the Spirit and to put away the deeds of the flesh, does not happen in our own strenght and by our own ability! Everything comes from God, even the will to do what is right. We have a choice to take, but that choice is about whether we want to submit ourselves under God and His Word, or not. Whether we want to live according to our own will, or His. Whether we daily want to take up our cross and follow Him, or not. And whether we seek His Kingdom first, or the desires of our selfish nature. And it's God that fully does the work in us through His Spirit, by ourselves we can do or accomplish nothing!

@Kruselady Yes, this is the truth about us in Christ! 🙌 When we were born again out of Spirit and water (Joh. 2:5) we became new Creations in Him, the old is gone and the new has come! (2. Kor. 5:17). The new man in Christ is free of the desires of the flesh (Gal. 5:24) so we need to start walking by the Spirit in order to be in that new. (Gal. 5.16-17, 5:25) But we have still the ability to live according to the old man, our flesh, if we want. (Gal. 3:3, 1. Kor. 3:1-3, Jaak. 4:1-3). So it becomes clear, that to walk by the Spirit is a choice, not something that happens automatically. We need to kill the deeds of the flesh and put them away (Col. 3: 5-10, Room. 8:12-13, Ef. 4:22-24). Before we were born again we did not have the ability to do this choice because we lived in darkness, but now when we live in the light we need to walk in it too. (Ef. 5:8-15).

God bless you!

Adding to my previous text:

"Open the door for Satan", or more correctly said evil spirits.

Also, if Christian's starts to do things that are a sin (for example participate in yoga, have sex outside marriage) they will open the door for Satan to come into their lives just the same way as happens with non-christians.

Satan uses man's "flesh", the sinful nature, also in Christians if they're not walking by the Spirit. I believe Peter had fallen into pride and so he dared to take the authority to rebuke the Son of God.

@erdenpilger Yes, I agree! God's Kingdom is not of this world as you quoted, but it's in us who believe (Luk. 17:22) This is clearly what the Bible tells us.
But it also tells us that when God creates the new heaven and the new earth then His Kingdom will be on earth (Rev. 21:1-3) It's clear that Jesus will come back on earth the second time (Matt. 24:3), defeat Satan (Rev. 20:10) and establish His Kingdom (Rev. 21:5). The New Jerusalem will come down from heaven and we will be with Him forever. (Rev. 21:2-3, 10) This is our hope! (1 Kor. 15:19-25)

Jesus will also reign on earth for 1000 years, during which time Satan will be bound. He will get loose for a short time before God finally casts him in the lake of fire forever. (Rev. 20) This will all happen on earth.

"For the grace of God
that bringeth salvation
hath appeared to all men,
teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts,
we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; looking forward to that present hope and the glorious appearing
of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ: who gave himself for us; that he might redeem us
from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works." - Tit. 2:11-14.

This fits to what Enarson teaches in this video. Especially this verse:

"Looking forward to that present hope and the glorious appearing
of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ"

He talks of how in the dark times that lies ahead us, we have our hope in the appearance of Jesus, when he comes to establish God's Kingdom on earth. That this truth needs to be preached so that we can endure til the end. That we'll know our future and that the dark times we're heading to, will soon come to an end! 🙌

https://youtu.be/VSNWee1EutM

Torben Sondergaard, the founder of The Last Reformation- movement have been in jail in Florida for 48 days now because of false accusations. First they accused him of smuggling weapons 🤯 from Mexico to USA (TLR had a Kickstart-event in Mexico so they travelled there often), but after some time they said they don't accuse him of that anymore. His lawyers tried to get him out on bail, but were shocked to found out they gave him no chance to get out. Finally they handled him a paper with covid restrictions that said they will keep him in jail because of covid rules: there was written that they need to keep him locked in because of obesity (to protect that HE doesn't get covid)! 🤯🤯 The guard had looked at Torben and said: "you have not obesity!" then handled him the paper and walked away. Torbens updates from jail is to be found on YouTube. In this last update Torben is highly recommending Brother Yuns book Heavenly man which he has found encouraging for himself.

https://youtu.be/VWLdvsL1vzI

@DevotionalTreasures Thank you! God bless you too my dear brother in Christ.

@DevotionalTreasures

"Delight yourself in the Lord,” is not merely being happy. Believers need to be submissive and pliable in His hands, being happy to serve and to please Him in such a way that it delights their heart."

Amen! Such a good text! And this also delights the heart of our Father, who will gladly give such a child the desires of his/her heart! Because the child desires what God desires and what is pleasing to Him, because the child have the same heart.
I believe Moses is a good example of a man who knew God's heart and desired what God desired and therefore he got God's full attention. That's why he was able to speak so boldly to God and God did what he asked. He even said that God should repent..! (Ex. 32:12). And God did repent. (Ex. 32:14) Because he truly knew God's heart and was a friend of Him. Wow.

A correction to my previous post, the scripture I was referring to is in King James in a different place than in my Finnish Bible: it's Exodus 8: 20-23:

And the LORD said unto Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh; lo, he cometh forth to the water; and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Let my people go, that they may serve me.

21 Else, if thou wilt not let my people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies upon thee, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people, and into thy houses: and the houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies , and also the ground whereon they are .

22 And I will sever in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there; to the end thou mayest know that I am the LORD in the midst of the earth.

23 And I will put a division between my people and thy people: tomorrow shall this sign be.