Fresh Snowfall, Huntington Lake Area, Central California
March 28, 2020
All human beings are born into a fallen world, and we are all tainted with sinfulness of mind, heart and body. None of us are able to get through life without being guilty of committing numerous unholy acts and thoughts, some serious. All anyone has to do to see that, is to take a quick inventory of the life you’ve already lived, noting all the forgettable mistakes and willful sins that you have consented to engage in. They can be large in number and bring with them regrets and guilt, and you can’t undo them. This is you, me, and everyone else–we are all in this together and no one is exempt. As I said in the previous article, God designed life as an experience which constantly points out errors and evil, as well as virtuous acts and goodness, so that we can see the differences and know which to choose. If you are like me, you tend to remember the bad you’ve done much more readily than the good. Most people greatly dislike to think about the bad things that they have done, because it tends to push them towards depression and hopelessness. This can lead us to being ensnared by thoughts of despair, and our wondering if we are just hopelessly bad people! The reality is that we are neither bad people nor good people by nature, but rather we are both. And we are here on earth to understand both, so that we have the necessary information to make a wise choice between them.
However, anxiety can come to us when we hear that God is a holy Creator, who fully expects his offspring (us) to be holy too:
“As obedient sons, do not yield to the desires that once shaped you in your ignorance. Rather, become holy yourselves in every aspect of your conduct, after the likeness of the holy One who called you; remember, Scripture says, ‘Be holy, for I am holy.’ ” 1 Peter 1, 14-16
You might look at this Scripture quote, and others like it, and think, “Be holy? There’s no way!”, and ponder why we are commanded to be what no one really can be. Only God is truly holy. The answer is that this command is given to us as a goal that we are to work towards, since no one can enter the presence of God in heaven with even the smallest taint of evil. As we live out our lives here on earth we are in a learning process, as we are engaged in a constant battle every day to choose between good and evil. God is good, and the Devil with his demon followers are evil. Any time we knowingly choose to do evil acts, we are forming a partnership with the Devil and demons, and they will come to live with us. When they do, they will make every effort to entice you to do more evil, and will try to deceive you into thinking that evil is just harmless fun and that you needn’t deny yourself. They can do this because, as spirits, they will come inside your very brains and constantly whisper to your wills that evil is okay, and even present it to you as just and holy. And, like a good cheer squad, they will mock holiness and good, and praise you for being strong enough to resist the slavery of obeying good and religion and God. They will whisper that people make up the concept of God anyway, in order to enmesh you in an endless stream of rules, commands, and church rituals, so that they can enslave you and steal your money. The backers of the evil side of choice are extremely clever and enticing–don’t ever underestimate the power over your will that you hand to the Devil and demons when you decide to do evil! You are not allowing just evil to enter you when you do, but evil spiritual beings always come with it. Respect the power of evil–it is DANGEROUS! Also, whenever your will agrees with evil, you are pulling yourself away from God. That is the worst consequence of evil, because God is truly your only hope for gaining lasting victory over evil. Without God in your life, you can get yourself caught up in a self perpetuating loop of sinfulness which is hard to escape.
Now we turn to God and how to be at peace with him, the subject of this article. Just as the Devil comes to be with you when you do evil, God’s spirit comes to live with you when you do good. His spirit brings to you an experience of lightness and warmth, along with a state of satisfaction and peace. Conversely, when you do evil, the aftermath feels mostly heavy, dirty, and depressing. This is because, at least momentarily, you’ve pushed God away and entered into a state of regret, guilt, and disappointment with yourself, not unlike coming down from a drug high. These two results that come in the aftermath of good and evil are both related to God’s presence. After doing good, you feel the effects of God’s presence as everything is good and all is well and peaceful, while after doing evil, you feel aloneness, depression, and hopelessness, the Devil’s natural state. Yes, you can greatly alter your world by how you choose to live your life. This pushes most people towards God, whose spirit is the source of all that is good, and holy, and wholesome:
“Little children, let us love in deed and in truth and not merely talk about it. This is our way of knowing we are committed to the truth and are at peace before him no matter what our consciences may charge us with; for God is greater than our hearts and all is known to him. Beloved, if our consciences have nothing to charge us with, we can be sure that God is with us…” 1 John 3, 18-21
Peace with God will be part of us no matter what sins our consciences may charge us with, when we are committed to love others, do good works, and follow the truth. We don’t have to be in perfect holiness to be at peace with God. What we need is to be persistently striving toward that goal.
The only true and lasting peace we can have in life, and also enjoy in heaven, comes from the presence of God within us. God is the beginning and end of life, and knowing him is the reason he created our lives here on earth to begin with. Why he wanted to give himself to us like this is hard to fathom, but it really comes down to one thing–that he is pure holiness and love! We’re here because he wanted to give us life and freedom. What an awesome thing to ponder! And we don’t have to wait until we get to heaven to experience God’s awesome presence either, but we can have it right here and now. Jesus’s words to his disciples teach us what any of us could have, if we only obey:
“I will ask the Father and he will give you another Paraclete–to be with you always: the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot accept, since it neither sees him nor recognizes him; but you can recognize him because he remains with you and will be within you. I will not leave you orphaned;” John 14, 16-18
“On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. He who obeys the commandments he has from me is the man who loves me; and he who loves me will be loved by my Father. I too will love him and reveal myself to him.” John 14, 20-21
The key to our being able to do good and be virtuous, is our willingness to ally ourselves with God each day in prayer, coupled with a persistent effort to do good and avoid evil. This continually invites God to be within us, and armors our souls against the Devil and all evil. Remember, the Devil and his demons hate God and good and can’t stand to be in their presence–it literally burns them with fire and drives them away. When God is living within you, his presence also is a barrier to evil’s whisperings to your mind, which will now recognize even disguised evil and reject it. Don’t fight evil, or the Devil and his demons, or even your own inner temptations alone! You need supernatural power to fight and win against the power of evil supernatural beings. Seek God today with all your heart, and you will find that you have the entire army of God, holy and invincible, backing you up. This protection puts you into a sublime state of peace with God. This is the only peace that truly lasts–seek it!
Journey to Truth 