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An entire world now held captive!

7/21/10 Updated

From Adam on, this world has been taken hostage by an unseen kidnapper who's avowed purpose is to motivate humanity to self-destruct! That's a mouthful; but it's true.

It's incredible that the world has no remote idea that they've been taken hostage by a very powerful spiritual abductor. Not only has humankind been taken hostage, it's been done in a sly, cunning, and deceitful way, so we don't take notice of this great kidnapping.

The great deceiver is the god of this world, the prince of the power of the air, the great enemy and adversary of humanity, who has successfully (for now) palmed himself off as an angel of light. We're talking about Satan the devil who has fooled the world into joking about him, making it appear that he doesn't exist, and if he did, he has no influence on our lives, even indirectly! He's real and he wants to devour or consume you (1 Pet. 5:8 the Greek means to gulp down entirely or swallow up or drink down). He takes people, even people of God, "captive at his will" (2 Tim. 2:26).

Again, the world is held captive, unwittingly. How cunning Satan is. He works through human beings' weakness, our human nature, exploits it, teaching his lies as if they were God's truth. Jesus said he was a murderer from the beginning, the father of lies and all liars (John 8:44).

He's a smoothie, teaching even religious falsehoods that any Bible-thumping neophyte could discover aren't in the Bible. He's worked for millennia through our ancestors teaching lies and half-truths, especially half-truths, and influenced proud and godless teachers to spread his devlish dogma from generation to generation. Shock-of-shocks, he has reinvented himself as "another Jesus" with "another gospel" spread by "another spirit" (2 Cor. 11:4).

But God has the victory over Satan the great deceiver of humankind; He had it from the beginning (Isa. 14), through Jesus temptation, death, and resurrection, and through the gift of the Holy Spirit. The world is now held in captivity, but not long! We're getting closer to the end of the age, IMO. That means "Thy kingdom come," will be a fait accompli.

Have a great week and Sabbath.~jwa

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What conditions motivate us to change our lives?

7/5/10 Updated

I've wondered for many years and have done some study on the subject of what makes us change our minds, to make drastic changes in our lives, sometimes for the worse? I have a few texts that speak of such life-changing perspectives, that involve psychology and social-psychology (psychology of a group). They are very helpful.

I'll keep this short. Our lives are simply accumulations of learned habits. When God enters our lives, we learn His habits that lead to happier lives. As to the human condition, less God's involvement, our human nature pretty well governs how we think and act. Our nature is selfish and sometimes that is good, especially when it comes to self-preservation. Beyond this, our human nature exploits itself, so-to-speak, and we become more selfish, at the expense of others. That's harmful, to us and to others.

God made us to preserve ourselves, in a manner of speaking. He also allowed us to be influenced by the world around us, including all people we meet, throughout our lives. Our human nature is made up of both good and evil. Jesus said of His disciples, that they, being evil, knew how to give good gifts to their children. Jeremiah said that the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Only God can know it as He tests us over time.

When God gives a human being His Spirit, which appears an oversimplification here, we have the privilege to learn and do His way. But our human nature never goes away; it's always with us. The apostle Paul lamented that the things he wanted to do, that were right and good, he found he didn't always do them. And the things that he didn't want to do, he discovered that he did those things. It's not important what things were endemic to his life, if you're one trying to contemplate what were his "weaknesses"; it is important that he understood that his human nature constantly worked against his doing God's will, though He set a pretty good example doing God's will! I treasure the apostle Paul's openness about the downward pull of human nature and how to overcome it. He's to be commended for his faithfulness.

There are many conditions that can motivate us to change our thinking for the worse. The works of the flesh show some of them (Gal. 5). The beautiful thing is that we can overcome evil with good works (Rom. 12:21). God is positive. He wants us to be positive about life. He gave us His Son to justify us and reconcile us to Him (God the Father). Beyond this, He gave us His Son's resurrected life to be our life and for Him (Christ) to serve and help us in and through this life.

May your life continue to improve for good and that you enjoy the happiness and peace that God wants you to have.~jwa

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Discernment or not?

6/29/10 Updated

What is discernment? Does everyone have it? How do you get it? How do you keep it? How do you know you have it?

Discernment is the act of exhibiting good insight and good judgment. Guess that leaves everyone out, right? That depends. No one's perfect but you can be one that is pretty discerning based on certain criteria.

Does everyone have it. I think that everyone has some discernment but too often discernment is colored by a worldview that's off-center a little. Few have really good discernment, the kind that the Bible speaks of.

You get discernment, quite simply, by obeying God, walking in humility before God, and exercising mercy toward others. Micah 6:6-8 shows this: do justly (or obey God's laws), love mercy (toward others), and walk in humility. That's how good discernment comes. It's not gonna' come with anything else, guaranteed.

If you have good discernment, the best way to keep it is to "keep on keepin' on." In other words, never fail to follow Micah 6:6-8. That's how you can have sharp discernment and hold on to it. Step back from these and you're discernment will be blunted. I've talked with ministers who said to me after some big donnybrook took place and they didn't see it unfold, "How in the world did I miss it?" Answer? Discernment.

You can know you have it when you have it. It's ironclad. Those who look to God and Christ, His Word, follow His Word, and be your brother's keeper, those are the ones who have discernment and know they have it. Now it doesn't follow that having good discernment keeps you from having human problems. We will always have problems as long as we have human nature. But having discernment takes the angst out of the future. The big things of life won't come "as a thief in the night :)."

Have a great and discerning week.~jwa

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Could the entire world be held captive without knowing it?

6/25/10 Updated

August 1961 was an important time for me. I was stationed in Hawaii on Oahu, at Naval Air Station, Barber's Point. In that month, I was drawn by God to understand His plan of salvation for mankind (John 6:44, 65). That means nothing to over one billion Christians in this world and much less to over 6 billion people on earth. Given that, I was then priviledged to be invited by God to understand Him and why I exist on this planet.

It's been a great security to me and my family to know what God is now doing and will do for humankind. I know about the resurrection of the dead that trumps the counterfeit idea that when we die, we go to heaven (or hell). I know about decalogue and how important it is to us. I know that humanity is not lost, from Adam throughout human history, including the future. I know the true Sabbath and why God chose that day and not Sunday. I know that God has annual holy days and feasts and that Christmas and Easter and the other worldly holidays are not from the true God. I know there's a true God and a false god of this world. I know that Armageddon is not the end of the world but the beginning of a new one. I know that all of our current human problems will be a thing of the past when Christ returns. I know that Satan and the demons will be incarcerated for 1,000 years. I know that there will be only one "religion" after Christ returns, not hundreds or thousands.

Is the world now held captive by the god of this world, Satan the devil? It surely is. Paul said that Satan has blinded humankind from Christ's true gospel (2 Cor. 4:4).

He (Satan) holds most of humanity in captivity now but Christ has freed some of us and will free everyone at His return. Notice this from the apostle Paul: “Therefore He says: ‘When He [Jesus Christ] ascended on high, He led captivity captive [i.e., a host of captives, once held captive by Satan in sin] and gave gifts [through the Holy Spirit] to men’” (Ephesians 4:8). God's gift to us is the same gift He gave to be around me (1961) and in me (1962). I once was held captive but God chose to set me free. If you don't yet enjoy true freedom, you can.

Go to my resources page and click on the link, United Church of God and go to the booklets area. Don't forget to order free, The Good News Magazine. All of UCG's material is free.

One day God will set all peoples free on this earth. God speed that day! ~jwa

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Here's the interview link on Easter on the Alan Colmes National Radio Show

Update 3/23/08

I keep adding material to each page (which moves the interview link lower) and I forget that there are some who haven't heard Alan Colmes interview of me re: Easter. So for those that have asked, here's the link.

http://www.jwaust.com/audio/Alan_Colmes_JWAust_03-14-08_opt.mp3