“Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, 

speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods 

which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. 

For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving; for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.”

my twocents…

i feel that this time of year, even though we are surrounded with the warmth and joy of the season, we are also distracted and tempted away from the truth, the worship of Jesus, and the joy and peace that is available to us. there are numerous ways that this happens, too many to list, but note that evil exists, and it is at work. 'deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons’ are real - you just read it from the Word, the Truth. maybe you don’t realize it, but when you accept lies like “i’m not worthy, i’m not talented, i’m not good enough, no one cares, i have no purpose” that is a sign that you are falling for these tricks. God is real, and there is no way that He would have you believing these dark thoughts, or any dark thoughts for that matter. but if you don’t seek God, the source of power of goodness, then there is no way this can be combatted. discernment- definitely a trait worth working and developing; otherwise, we naively fall for these evil traps time and time again. do you ever feel your ‘conscience seared with a hot iron’? we all have it built in to feel those moments where we’re making the wrong decision. don’t make a habit of ignoring it. none of this advice is meant to feel like condemnation, but it may help convict you, help you realize the truth. the Word saves, but one cannot be saved if they don’t believe they need saving. if there are too many fingers pointing in too many directions, stop, and seek the Word. the Word will shine a light on your path and help to clear the way with solid truth. 

living in america, we are spoiled by the overabundance of pleasures. where some have struggled with meager means in the past, our present day and age has us fighting the opposite - which might possibly be more difficult in the way of temptations and false idols. overconsumption is a spiritual form of cancer rooted in the sins of greed, lust and gluttony. but they are disguised well, aren’t they? once you start consuming, you become addicted… you consume more and more and you start destroying the means of ‘functioning organs’. pathways are blocked, and synchronization is halted. those life-giving organs are not enough, and the hunger for more and more eats us alive until we can no longer function. we are dead, we are dead spiritually… but as long as we are breathing we have the chance to come to Jesus for life, and for freedom.

in the attempt to combat addictions to overconsuming, overeating and overspending, false doctrine will mislead us here as well. suggested diets and abstinence from certain foods give way to anxiety around food altogether - the very thing we need to sustain our physical bodies on a daily basis. evil would work to attack us at every opportunity, no? this direction that tells us to fear God-given food and nourishment is lies, not direction. direction that tells us to abuse food, ‘to eat your heart out’.. well, you can hear the irony in that already… replacing one vice with another never brings us peace. dear one, these things are tough, and God knows that your pain is something one would hope you’d never have to bear. this world is painful, but don’t lose hope that God is a God of redemption. He will bring you ‘double for your trouble’. He will also bring you eternal life in peace and holiness. come back to the Word and see the truth in that we must receive our nourishment, our daily blessings, with thanks. by saying thanks before receiving anything, before consuming anything, it can be consecrated and blessed by the Lord. before making a decision or accepting a dark thought, pray, speak to the Lord, and He will show you the way. there is a way…

12/3/22