If we do not put gas, oil or transmission fluid in our cars they will break down. But we claim liberty in Christ, do as we please, ask God to bless our unhealthy food that we stuff in our faces then when our bodies start to break down and we are ailing we blame it on the devil.

If Jesus is ever interceding for us according to the will of God, Satan has to ask permission to sift us and if God grants permission then who are we to rebuke, plead the blood of Jesus, and try to cast out a demon, or do spiritual warfare? Obviously, God allowed Satan to sift us or we wouldn’t have the afflictions and tribulations. If you must blame, then blame God for allowing the troubles. Why would we want to stop the perfecting process by rebuking, pleading the blood, casting out, binding up or doing spiritual warfare? And just whom are we doing the spiritual warfare against?

It does not say that Paul rebuked the persecutions and afflictions, cast them out, pleads the blood of Jesus or does spiritual warfare. He endured. We are told to endure. Paul entreated the Lord three times that the thorn in his flesh might depart from him. God decided to not grant that to him. Nor did he tell Paul to do spiritual warfare to get liberated from it. Paul didn’t rebuke the thought or voice but rather chose to glory and take pleasure in his infirmities, reproaches, necessities and persecutions. Go Paul!

The Lord was more interested in building Christ-like character in Paul as a true display of His power (2 Corinthians 12:9) than in putting on the kind of fireworks display which many today are calling ‘power encounters’. We must realize that believers are NEVER instructed to rebuke the devil or his demons. The only acceptable condition for a believer to rebuke is when he lovingly corrects a brother fallen into sin.

As Christians, if we spent half the time we gave to ‘devil fighting’ or doing spiritual warfare, to look deep within the word of God and see for ourselves what it really says, we would be effectively warring for our salvation. The helmet of salvation guards our head or our thoughts.

If we are diligently seeking Gods truth in all things instead of trying to figure out how to get out of the affliction quickly, our mind and thoughts would be covered and we wouldn’t need to be doing a war against every thing that we thought was not of God. If we were attentively seeking Gods truth, and not playing religious games in seeking power, our mind would be so filled with the real power of the word that enduring would not be such a chore.

We all have different views of God. To some folks he is ‘Gawd’, big omnipotent,impersonal, remote, unfriendly, judgmental, hypercritical, disapproving, etc. These are the folks that aren’t exactly sure of their salvation, or what the requirements are from this Gawd towards their life. They have never had a personal commune with their creator and final judge. They hope for the best. They will continue to try and try to do their religious appointments.

To others he is friend, companion, ally, brother, helper, partner, redeemer, and rescuer. This outlook can tend to cause one to view this God as a very personal being even to the extent of him being so nice and good that he wants the absolute best blessings possible for your life without the trials, sifting and judging.

To me he is holy, awesome, judge, lover of my soul, rewarder, rock, safety net and to be greatly feared. This to me is the middle road because it provides me with the fullness of who God is in his entirety without false hopes or fluffy expectations. I am not looking only to the blessing of his hand but I await the judgment of his heart and delight in the voice that will redeem me even in his righteous judgment.

Most of us are taught to find the answers to the questions. We begin the game at a very early age with questions like ‘where is the kitty?’ to ‘what color is that?’ We attend grammar school and learn the answers to math problems, science issues etc. As we get older and our brain progresses we are taught the process on how to find the answers. As adults our lives evolve around the answer. Our boss wants answers, our lives require answers; there is an answer to every fathomable question even if it isn’t the one we think is correct.

There are two varieties of people when it comes to the question and answer chronicles. One type of person loves to dig for the answers to everything and anything. They want to know what makes certain things tick, what makes them do what they do or not do. These people enjoy the chase of the discovery.

Then there are the folks that want to question those answers. For the most part they can accept the majority of answers to the basic questions in life. If a scientist or specialty person says thus and thus it can be accepted especially if it doesn’t directly affect their day to day life. But there are a ton of answers that have been given by persons that we thought were qualified and as we grew up we began to discover that they weren’t really all that eligible. If these answers have an affect on our daily life then we want to know who that person was that said it was ‘thus and thus’ because in the practicality of life ~~ it’s not like that.

It is easier to just accept answers that sound good rather than take the time and energy to reach out beyond and discover if there is more to what we have been told. For me personally, I am on a journey to discover the truth in all things. It isn’t easy and I go against the grain and peeve people off by asking so many ‘questions’ about why the answer is the one it is but it is a journey I must make…on my journey home.

‘Unanswered questions aren't nearly as dangerous as unquestioned answers.’

For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever belives in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.

I was watching a news video online last night. It was showing how in Japan they were having interment services for ‘pins and needles’. One would bring theirs to this place and stick it in a bed of tofu. There were priests, musicians and all the original paraphernalia that are used for when a human dies. One priest said that they believe that inanimate objects have souls.

Based on that statement would your watch, car, or toilet paper also have a soul? How about an empty bottle of Windex, old car oil, or used light bulbs? If this were the case then they would be having non-stop memorial services for everything in life. If one can have a funeral service for ‘pins and needles’ then why not have one for an old tp roll?

I wonder if you never took the pins out of their packaging if they might still be ‘alive’ and not need a service for the dead. Or do only good, used pins get real honor in the end? I mean in India the cow has right of way everywhere. Maybe in Japan they should set a law that pins are not to be violated or misused.

To the Western world this may seem outlandish or even laughable but it is being done. The Catholics venerate dead saints, India has their sacred cow and Japan has their pins and needles. What do you worship? Is it dead or alive? Is it animate or inanimate? Can it move or breathe? Whatever you worship is your god. Is your god big enough to save you in your utmost time of need?

If you become so busy worshipping the dead or in this case, the unused, then you wouldn’t have a lot of time to admire or enjoy the living things. It would be like worshipping the created not the Creator. Who do you worship? Why? Is what you adulate because that it what you were told is the right thing to worship or that is what your parents worshipped? And were you told how and why to do it this way to whatever it is?

Have you ever questioned the answers to see if they really were true?

"The unanswered questions aren't nearly as dangerous as the unquestioned answers."