Tag Archives: Satan

Practical Examples of Trusting God When Satan Interferes

Last week Mick and I had our first visit this year to the local school to teach the children about God and God’s rescue plan for a sinful world. It was one of those mornings where everything that could go wrong, did – from the dog being sick, to dropping things, cutting myself on a can, to not being able to find the map telling us which classroom we needed to go to. To add to the problems, that morning I had trouble for some reason posting my blog. All just minor mishaps that created hassles and slowed us down, … Continue reading →

RS/EQ: Fortifying Ourselves against Evil Influences

Lesson #10 in the Spencer W. Kimball manual this year was “Fortifying Ourselves against Evil Influences.” What a timely message – I truly believe each of these lessons was inspired for our day. The lesson begins with a quote from President Kimball, in regard to our fight against Satan, which “is not a little skirmish with a half-willed antagonist, but a battle royal with an enemy so powerful, entrenched and organized that we are likely to be vanquished if we are not strong, well-trained, and watchful.” This military-type vocabulary really brought it home to me that, yes, this is a … Continue reading →

RS/EQ: Monkey Traps in Our Lives

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In the third section of the manual, President Kimball shares the intriguing story of trapping monkeys. Hunters bored small holes in boxes and put a nut inside. The monkeys reached in, grabbed the nut, and could not get their hands out. They would allow themselves to be captured before they would release the nut. President Kimball notes that we, too, can fall into that same trap, laid by a very cunning hunter. Satan seeks to snare us. He knows that our temporal bodies and our natural man prefer the easy and comfortable way. He has many tools to lure us, … Continue reading →

Gospel Doctrine: Deceiving the Elect

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On Wednesday, we discussed the characteristics of the elect. Today, I’d like to discuss the warning given by Christ in JS-M 1:22 regarding the deception of those chosen by God. If you compare JS-M 1:22 to Matt 24:24, you will see only one difference. Instead of simply reading that false prophets and false Christs “shall deceive the very elect,” we are told further “who are the elect according to the covenant.” Since we established earlier this week that there are different types of the elect, this means that a single specific group is being referred to. Who are “the elect … Continue reading →

Counterfeit Goodness

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The author of counterfeit goodness in this world is none other than Satan himself. He is the enemy of our souls who despises us as God’s creation and is full of envy toward our loving and merciful Father. Satan uses counterfeit goodness when there is a need or desire in our lives. He’s had centuries of working on his sales pitch and frankly he’s quite good at it. Unfortunately, if we should choose to buy into his false promises, we will end up cheated with junk to carry around. As you may recall Eve bought into Satan’s deceit regarding wisdom … Continue reading →

Demons and Exorcism in Jesus’ Day

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Though you may be skeptical of the term “exorcism”, the occurrence of people being possessed by demons, and those demons being exorcised was common during the first century. There is not only evidence for it in the Jewish community, but also in the greater Greek world of the time. Aside from Jesus and the Apostles, the Bible refers to assistants of the religious leaders whose job it was to free people from demonic control (Acts 19). Accounts of demonic oppression and control are found in the Old Testament in the story of Saul (I Kings 4:29-34). Jews had techniques for … Continue reading →

Called to…Be Tried?

Have you ever had a calling where everything seemed to line up against you? I mentioned earlier in the month that I had recently been asked to serve as second counselor in the Relief Society presidency. Since I accepted the calling, everything has seemed to go completely wrong. Just getting through simple tasks seems to require Herculian effort. We’ve had car problems – including totaling a van I brought along on a trip so I could attend a presidency meeting. We’ve had communication problems. We’ve had whoops-did-I-do-that problems. On the worst day thus far, I not only wound up in … Continue reading →

When and What to Tell your Children about the Devil

After becoming a mom, I was eager to introduce my child to his Savior Jesus Christ. I knew what songs I’d sing to him and what I wanted to teach him about God’s love for us. I didn’t give much thought at that time to how I would tell him about the enemy of his soul he’d need to resist. Children who attend Sunday school regularly will likely learn about Satan in their class. They might hear about him through the story of Adam and Eve where Satan appeared as a serpent or from the story where Jesus was tempted. … Continue reading →

What Satan Wants You to Believe: Part 2

Part 1 of this two part series I addressed the lies of Satan: Denying Jesus as God, that God’s power is no longer here with us, questioning the accuracy of the Bible, and the beliefs that people who do signs in wonders in Jesus name are all of God. So, here I’ll continue: Question what God Says. “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” By Satan causing Eve to question the Lord’s sincerity and warning about the tree, Eve justified partaking of the fruit as did her husband. Justify what is sinful. This … Continue reading →

What Satan Wants You to Believe: Part 1

The Following is part 1 of a two part series on the lies of Satan and how he would have us believe: Deny that Jesus is who the Bible claims Him to be. Jesus is the Son of God; God manifested in the flesh (see 1 Timothy 3:16). In believing Jesus is not who He claims in the Bible to be, it would make a liar out of Him; it would make the Bible not truth, and our faith in vain. Deny the Power of God still moves today. By not believing that God can guide us, comfort us, heal … Continue reading →