God's Kingdom, Satan's kingdom

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Permalink Reply by ronald patrick brady on August 20, 2010 at 1:13pm

Satan's blessings will always be material, God's blessings will always be spiritual.

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Permalink Reply by JB on August 20, 2010 at 4:20pm

Quote
God's blessings will always be spiritual.

What do we do with Deut.28.1:14?

Don’t you think those blessings are pertaining to material and not Spiritual?
Blessings,
Joe

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Permalink Reply by William Bixby on August 20, 2010 at 8:37pm

Hi, Joe . . . clearly, your Bible reference speaks of material blessings that are promised by God. Of course, this was specifically directed to the people of Israel, not that this means such promise is limited to them, but it is in the "Old Testament". And we see in the New Testament, how Paul in God's grace experienced, "I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake." This is in 2 Corinthians 12:10. So, in God's kingdom, he could "take pleasure" while "in infirmities", and "in needs".

In Philippians 4 he shares his experience: "Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need." (Philippians 4:11-12) So, in God's kingdom, with His love's contentment so powerful, our material condition of being "hungry" or "full" or "to abound" or "to suffer need" does not have power to decide how we are. He says, "I will not be brought under the power of any," in 1 Corinthians 6:12. So, in God's kingdom of His love "in our hearts" (in Romans 5:5), we have such unconditional contentment.

But in Satan's kingdom, I understand, the spirit of selfishness is so not satisfied, making people desperate to get some sort of pleasure by seeking material security and physical bodily nice feelings to make them so they do not notice and feel their deep-down awful-mess of worry and boredom and loneliness and depression and hurts, etc. But in God's kingdom, God's love gives us His own sweetly-soothing immunity almighty against such cruel and abusive stuff, with or without His material blessing.

And Jesus says, "The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, 'See here!' or 'See there!' For the kingdom of God is within you.'" (in Luke 17:20-21) So, God's kingdom is within us, not outward with material blessings, then, I consider. But, of course, God does bless us materially. But His kingdom is in His Spirit, with His spiritual blessings being included in His real "best of everything".

"Because Your lovingkindness is better than life,
My lips shall praise You." (Psalm 63:3)

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Permalink Reply by William Bixby on August 21, 2010 at 3:35pm

Thank you, Amanda . . . that is generous of you to write all that personal experience and understanding. I think of how it says, "be content with such things as you have," in Hebrews 13:5. And while you may not have much material things, God is trusting you with your husband and family and all of us whom you are loving by sharing with us, in order to help us. A helpmate can help more than her husband (c:

I have enjoyed how one minute of sharing with a real lady of Jesus can do me more good,
than a billion universes of gold and silver could.
And the enjoyment is better, in one minute with a lady of Jesus,
than I could have if all the worldly women of all eternity
cooperated perfectly with me for all eternity.
God's kingdom is just superior (c: Quality, not quantity (c:

You have been talking about the difference between God's kingdom of love and Satan's kingdom of selfishness. Satan and his people are about comparison (2 Corinthians 10:12), criticism, and competition; while love has us in compassion, communication, and cooperation. And people of the world are so about trying to get pleasure to make the feeling of their misery go away or stay away. The world uses power, position, prestige, possession, and pushing to just use people to get what they want.

But in God's love we do not just use people, but first care about each person and share all the good we can with each one. But I, myself, can still be instant to first criticize, instead of first to have compassion and pray for people who I have a problem with. But thank You, God, for showing me this and helping me to do better. So, Amanda, there can be how I am in debt to love and not being a good steward of loving.

"Owe no one anything except to love one another," we have in Romans 13:8. I see how people do not understand what really we owe ourselves and others. In Satan's kingdom, ones are cloned to think they owe themselves mainly material things, and they act like they owe their attention to all the scandals and bad news and many other things witch are designed to decoy their *attention* away from God and from finding out how to love. Ones can think they owe themselves to get their golf score down, to be "good providers" by working to pay for cable and video games etc. which do not help people to deal with relating with other people and learning how to love.

But we really and mainly owe ourselves that we learn how to relate and share with God and with Him to discover how He has us loving each and any other person.

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Permalink Reply by William Bixby on August 20, 2010 at 9:00pm

You're welcome, Amanda . . . thanks for bringing in all you did about the occult and being in Christ's yoke. About Christ's yoke, Jesus says, "'Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.'" (Matthew 11:29) About how you have rightly said that Jesus is so more powerful than we are - - - even so, Jesus is "gentle and lowly in heart". I can see this means He is able to be gentle and humble with us, while we are in His yoke; He may be so more powerful than us, but He is not rough with us but works with how we are, I consider, like how a mommy can be so stronger than her little girl, but she is gentle and works with the strength and developing ability of her child. And this can be our good example of how we, also, need to be with other people, but not yoke ourselves in ways witch allow weak people to limit us and drag us down and pervert us from how God wants us to love.

And I think Jesus being "gentle and lowly" with us has an emotional part involving how the emotions of God's love are gentle and lowly, not driving and dominating and dictatorial passions and won't-take-no-for-an-answer emotions witch abuse us and have us mainly just using people for what we want, instead of caring about people.

So, I need much correction and transformation into God's way of loving; I may have knowledge, but I need however You would correct me, LORD, into being truly caring and this while sharing with You, personally: I understand that God is personal, in loving with us . . . not distant, but intimate in His love (Romans 5:5); so this is included in the yoke. With God our Father, we have personal companionship and communication deeper than words.

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Permalink Reply by William Bixby on August 24, 2010 at 6:23am

About talking about evil . . . Psalm 49:20 says,

"A man who is in honor, yet does not understand,
.Is like the beasts that perish."

I think of how now we have animals that are so beautiful and marvelous, yet pollution and timber cutting and poaching etc. are destroying these animals and they don't even know what hit them. And so, it can be like this with people who may be in honor but they don't see the evil coming, "they don't see what they are doing to themselves."

But Jesus with us made a point of telling us about the evil that will happen. In Matthew 24, He talks about the end-time "wars and rumors of wars" (Matthew 24:6), and "famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows." (in Matthew 24:7-8) And, back in verse 6, He says, "See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet."

So, in Satan's kingdom, ones are fearing and in denial about the evil to come. They are supposing they can "change the world". But Jesus is telling us to be ready and not to be troubled by what will come. He says, below, "'See, I have told you beforehand.'" (Matthew 24:25) And He gives us His almighty peace to keep us from being troubled: "'Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.'" (John 14:27)

And, in Luke 21:28, He says, "'Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.'" So, to me, it looks like Jesus is saying that, when we see such evil begin to happen, He wants us to look ^up^ to God, and not be so busy with looking around at all the trouble, but news reporting keeps calling our *attention* so much to what is wrong. Our *attention* belongs with You, LORD our Father. "Part of the work of Satan's kingdom is to keep people's attention down." This perverting of *attention* helps to keep people weak; in Isaiah 14:12, Satan is called, "You who weakened the nations!" He weakens people, by getting and keeping their *attention* away from God, so they will not become strong in His love but weak in their worrying and scurrying and hurrying.

But You want us to lift ^up^ our heads . . . to be uplifted, I consider this means, and not let evil decide how we are and if we have hope or not. "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." (Romans 12:21)

Along with such general evil happening, Jesus tells us there will be the personal persecution, including that "'You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death. And you will be hated by all for My name's sake.'" (Luke 21:16-17) And God will not be surprised; so why should we?

But people of Satan's kingdom are "as the beasts that perish." There are animals, all the time, who are being killed and eaten and destroyed, and they don't see it coming or they are caught by surprise with not enough time and resources to escape. I'd say Satan's kingdom is like an animal kingdom. And one thing I am noticing is how in an animal kingdom there are predator animals and prey animals . . . victimizers and victims . . . "oppressors and oppressed".

Talk about oppression . . . we see how politicians can domesticate a group of people, by claiming to be for some highly emotional cause of that group. The politicians can emotionally hook a whole bloc of votes, simply by giving lip service and some law-passing effort, maybe, to something the group of people is highly emotional about. And this can keep all those votes with that politician. In Satan's kingdom there is such desperation for pleasure to try to feel some sort of love and try to use nice feelings to mask and get rid of and keep away from the misery and loneliness and boredom that any of us can feel while sinning. So, there is this sneaky form of oppression, of taking advantage of how certain groups are so emotionally hung up on some thing they use to get their pleasure or to protect the pleasure they treasure.

But in God's kingdom, "I will not be brought under the power of any," Paul says about things of this life, in 1 Corinthians 6:12. "And who is he who will harm you if you become followers of what is good?" Peter gives us (1 Peter 3:13) So, we are not predators and we are not victims!!! But we have plenty of Christians, I understand, who are still living like victims, more or less. "So, as much as I am like this, it works for me to confess this to God, and trust Him to make me better in His love, stronger in His love almighty with beauty and gentle emotions and enjoying Him." Yes, "rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God." (1 Peter 3:4)

Yes, the beauty of God and His love is "incorruptible": nothing can mess with this in us. This beauty of love's "gentle and quiet spirit" may be so nicely quiet and gentle and softly soothing and tenderly and warmly affectionate, "and you will find rest for your souls," Jesus guarantees, in Matthew 11:29; and yet, this so kind and pleasant beauty of God's love is "incorruptible" against any and all of Satan's attacking and hacking and cruel and hurting feelings and emotions and reacting witch are dominating and *dictatorial* and abusive. So, why worship excuses?

"After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying, 'Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.'" (Genesis 15:1) So . . . God Himself is our "shield" against howsoever Satan's spirit of evil (Ephesians 2:2) would effect us (including by getting our *attention* away from God, so we are not submitting to how You rule us in Your own peace . . . Colossians 3:15). And You are our Reward, which no evil can take away or corrupt or spoil, etc. (c: So, it doesn't matter what happens to anything else, because You now are our Reward if and while we are submitting to You in Your own peace and enjoying You in Your so beautifully wonderful love (Romans 5:5).

So, thank You, LORD, and thanks brothers and sisters for your prayer and encouragement (c:

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