INDEPENDENCE DAY - PART 2

Imagine for a moment that you just received an offer for your ideal job--a job for which you did not interview, and from a company about which you know only its location. However, the salary offered is much more than you would have requested, and entails doing a job that you know will make you eager to begin each day and will bring you immense joy for at least the next decade. 

You absolutely intend to accept this position and want to be as prepared as possible so that the transition will be seamless. You have a copy of the company's "Handbook For New Hires" ("Handbook"), but you decide to hire an expert claiming inside knowledge of the requirements for a truly seamless transition. The expert suggests numerous purchases of various devices and paraphernalia, and a long list of courses to take and programs to attend prior to your start date. None of the information being offered by this expert is in the company's Handbook but you are committed to doing it (in lieu of taking a vacation break) because it appears to be logical, results oriented, and in accordance with 21st century thinking. Eventually, you arrive at the job on the first day to discover that the Handbook contained everything you needed to know about the company, and the company provides, free of charge, all of the programs, devices, and paraphernalia you could possibly need in order to fulfill the job requirements. In fact, the purchases you made not only were unnecessary, but also, related to an entirely different company. 

That is the religious or spiritual context within which most individuals operate. They seek after a life that on the surface appears beyond their normal grasp. Instead of exploring the contents of the one book that purports to be a manual for life (the Bible) written through inspiration by the only known God who is claimed to be alive and communicative, they seek after experts and, because of their lack of knowledge of the contents of the "manual," they become easy prey. Here are two of the ways in which humans of every religious and spiritual persuasion (including religious leaders) have become easy prey for Satan and his cohorts:

1.  They willingly agree to have "spirit guides" who purportedly reveal inside information about colleagues, friends and neighbors, guide them on what to say and do to accomplish their personal and professional goals, and reveal the answers to difficult questions, such as whether they should remain married or get a divorce, or school and college test and examination answers. 

FACT:  These " spirit guides" are programmable demonic spirits sent by Satan whose only goal is to groom and prepare you for hell. They will tell you what you wish to hear, interspersed with abundant lies designed to coerce you into following Satan. The only "spirit guide" whose goal is most likely to align with yours in the short term as well as in the long term is God's Holy Spirit that he offers freely to every human being. It is a Spirit of truth who seeks only willing worship and your best interests. 

2.  They worship gods that are animals or that they have created from wood, stone, metal or other materials. 

FACT:  If you are seeking answers to life's difficult questions, and guidance for difficult problems, you are not likely to receive the answer or guidance sought unless you access a higher more knowledgeable power. By the laws of nature, you cannot possibly create something that is more advanced than you are, and therefore cannot find answers outside of yourself in something you created. At the very least, ask the questions of the human spirit that God gave you. It knows not only the answers, but also the true and living God that created you, and the only God whom you should worship. 

SOLUTION:  Today, "throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles" and assert your independence (Hebrews 12:1). God has given you everything you could possibly need for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3). Nothing outside of yourself can bring you joy. In seeking him, and in learning how to truly worship from a spiritual perspective, you eventually will satisfy every genuine need--for this life and for eternity.