Your Beliefs

Our beliefs are not always informed by what we know to be true, but they are often informed by what we choose to accept as truth - Maikh Etto

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SCIENTIFIC EXPLANATIONS FOR THE WORKS OF THE DEVIL

By Maikh Etto

Today I want to share with you what I have learnt from my study of the Word of God, recently, which is: there is always a scientific and logical explanation for the works of the devil. In the Book of Job 1:13-19, the Bible says,

 

‘One day when Job's children were having a feast at the home of their oldest brother, a messenger came running to Job. "We were plowing the fields with the oxen," he said, "and the donkeys were in a nearby pasture.

Suddenly the Sabeans attacked and stole them all. They killed every one of your servants except me. I am the only one who escaped to tell you."

Before he had finished speaking, another servant came and said, "Lightning struck the sheep and the shepherds and killed them all. I am the only one who escaped to tell you."

Before he had finished speaking, another servant came and said, "Three bands of Chaldean raiders attacked us, took away the camels, and killed all your servants except me. I am the only one who escaped to tell you."

Before he had finished speaking, another servant came and said, "Your children were having a feast at the home of your oldest son, when a storm swept in from the desert. It blew the house down and killed them all. I am the only one who escaped to tell you.’ (GNB).

A casual look at this scripture tells us the sabeans, lightening, the Chaldean raiders, and a desert storm, were responsible for the destruction of Jobs wealth, servants and children. They could be scientifically and logically explained away as a product of natural disasters and criminal activities.

The Sabeans were a tribe of people the Bible describes as “men of stature,” (Isa 45:14), who led a nomadic life like the present day Bedouin Arabs, and were given to vandalism, and so it could be logically explained that what they did to Job was nothing unusual; Job was just a victim of their lifestyle.

Lightening is a natural disaster, and it could be logically explained that Job’s servants were just unfortunate to be at the spot when the lightening striked.

The Chaldeans were not merely robbers as the Sabeans were, but they were experienced in war and also lived on spoil. So it could be logically explained that were just carrying out one their raids for spoil.

It could also be scientifically explained that the foundation of the house where Job’s children were having a feast, was not solid, which is why it was destroyed by a desert wind, a wind that is known for its destructive capabilities.

However, reading v. 6-12 of the same chapter will let you know there was a brain behind all these scientifically and logically explainable tragedies that befell Job. This story lets us know that the devil is behind most of the scientifically and logically explainable tragedies and disasters that we suffer.

One of the strategies of the devil is to conceal his existence, to make people believe he does not exist, because you cannot fight or resist what you do not acknowledge to be in existence. The Lord does not want us to be ignorant of the devices of the devil (2Cor 2:11), but if we are ignorant of his existence, we will attribute his works and devices to something or someone else. This is what happened in the case of Job. The Bible says, “And the Satan went out from before the Lord, and sent on Job an evil disease covering his skin from his feet to the top of his head” (Job 2:7, BBE).

But people around him were ignorant of satan’s hand in Job’s problems.

Job thought God was the destroyer of his life. His wife had the same thinking and encouraged him to “curse God and die” for bringing such a terrible curse upon him. The lightening that destroyed his wealth was referred to as “the fire of God” not “the fire of satan”. Also, his three wise friends blamed Job for it. They philosophised that Job was suffering the consequences of his sins.

Deception is one of the devices of the devil, and we must resist his deception by acquiring divine knowledge, for it is only God’s Word that can expose and frustrate the works of darkness. Human brilliance can’t. Science and technology can’t. Philosophy and logic can’t. But “the purpose for which God’s Son came to earth was to uncover and undo (reverse) the works of the devil” (1Jn 3:8, my paraphrase).

Therefore, let us refuse to live with the works of the devil in our lives just because there are logical and scientific explanations for them. Jesus wants to uncover and reverse the works of the devil in your life, and He will not do so unless you believe He can and wants to. Therefore let us seek God’s face concerning everything we are going through that He might reverse everything the enemy has done and establish His will and purpose in our lives.

VICTORY

Victory begins by conquering yourself.

The Things You Cannot Do

Most of the things we think we cannot do are really the things we are not willing to do. Just think about it! - Maikh Etto 

The Reward of Excuses

by Maikh Etto

“If you really want to do something, you’ll find a way; if you don’t, you’ll find an excuse” – Anonymous.

There is nothing as unrewarding as excuses. People who create a habit of making excuses often become history but never make history. Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Excuses always replace progress.”

Every excuse you make is accusing you of irresponsibility.

The tragedy of making excuses lies in the fact that an excuse maker will always be excused from achieving what he would have achieved. The excuses you manufacture makes you unfit for the reward of responsibility. It gives you a red card.

Excuses never started yesterday, they started way back in the Garden of Eden. When Adam and Eve disobeyed the Lord, He asked them if they had eaten of the forbidden fruit, but they both gave excuses. Adam said,

“The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me and I ate.”(NKJV). While Eve said,
“The serpent deceived me and I ate.” (NKJV).

The habit of making excuses is one of the manifestations of the fallen nature. Some people keep on blaming Eve for their predicaments because of what she did, but there’s something about them that suggests they wouldn’t have done better than she did – their excuses. Isn’t it a tragedy that a lot of people use the devil as an excuse for their personal failures just like Eve did? And some are also using the disobedience of the first humans on earth as an excuse for their own disobedience.

Whenever you make an excuse, there is something you’re accusing. Adam’s excuse accused Eve and the Lord. He said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me and I ate.” While Eve’s excuse accused the serpent.

Often, our excuses accuse time and the ‘circumstances beyond our control’, and this often seem be a justifiable excuse. But, the circumstances beyond our control are often the circumstances we ignored before they got out of control. The circumstances beyond our control are often the results of our not being in control. An excuse maker is simply acknowledging the fact that he is not in control.

No one can build his or her integrity on excuses. You can never excel with excuses. We can choose to dodge our responsibilities through excuses, but no matter how we try we cannot dodge the consequences of our excuses, neither can we dodge the consequences of dodging our responsibilities.

† Don’t find an excuse to do what you know is wrong.

† Don’t find excuses not to do what you know you ought to do.

† Don’t find an excuse to be comfortable in poverty.

† Don’t find an excuse to be comfortable in sin.

† Don’t find an excuse to be comfortable in dead formalism – a synonym for tradition.

† Don’t find an excuse to neglect your responsibilities.

† Don’t find an excuse for despising yourself.

† Don’t find an excuse to despise your abilities, because by doing so you’re despising your destiny. Don’t find an excuse not to fulfill your destiny.

† Don’t find an excuse not to worship your Creator. The Lord does not listen to excuses. He says, “Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man.” (Romans 2: 1, KJV). Excuses often appear to be right, but they never are. They often seem to bring relieve, but they never do.

† Excuses bring limitation.

† With excuses come dishonor and shame.

† Excuses encourage laziness.

† Excuses rob you of opportunities and bring about delays in your life.

† Excuses can make you fall out of favor.

† Never find excuses not to have a dream and live your dream. Never find an excuse to stop believing in your dream.

† Never find an excuse to accommodate what is not blessing you.

Excuses are the gateway to failure.

Make a determination to free your life from the consequences of excuses. The truth is, any time you make an excuse you’re telling a lie. “There is hardly any man so strict as not to vary a little from the truth when he is to make an excuse.”(U. Z. Odum). Hosea 4:4 says,

“Don’t point your finger at someone and try to pass the blame!” (NLT).

Whenever we make excuses, we are passing the blame of our lack of responsibility to something or someone else. So, learn to stop making excuses for it carries no reward.

Copyright 2009 by Maikh Etto. All rights reserved.