What Principality Is At Work

At times we can feel almost under siege from the influences of our society through the media, the Internet and other sources to doubt God's Power.

And as we doubt God's Power we then doubt His ability to give us the help we need, which leads to an inability to even recognize what Principality is at work.

The waters can become particularly muddy, when under the influence of modern society, we deny the existence of Satan therefore sin no longer exists either. This leads to compromising our very beliefs and prostituting our Faith as many embrace 'worldly' thinking and doubt the Church's Authority to lead the Faithful.

Instead many substitute political leaders as the 'voice' they should listen to and obey even if these political leaders support and promote abortion! Many people also look towards the self help guru's who even though their words sound 'wise' are nothing but foolish glitter to coat man's ego.

But the more insidious attacks are those of a personal nature, where the children of God will be vilified for speaking His Truth to those who no longer wish to embrace Godly ways. These children of God will then be called in mocking tones, 'pious', or 'holier than thou', merely because these very children stand by God's Truth.

Whereas the children of the serpent embrace all manner of lies, as they launch personal attacks on the moral character and fibre of the God fearing people. And there is nothing that these children of the dark will not do if it means denigrating one of God's beloved children.

We need to understand and recognize what spirit lay behind the motives of the children of the serpent and to recognize the principality of darkness at work. For behind every salacious lie, is the father of all lies, Satan himself, who will stop at nothing in order to either destroy God's children or lead God's children into despair.

These attacks upon Godly people can only succeed when the children of Light fail to recognize the motivating force guiding the evil done by others. For as the Word instructs us, "For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds."

It is this lack of understanding that leads to many people retaliating by using the same weapons of the evil one, this is indeed a great victory for Satan and his hordes. This is why when confronted with evil, we must say it's name for what it is and not sugar coat sin by describing it as either 'bad choices' or that someone is suffering from low self esteem, as if that were an excuse to cover their slander and calumny!

For as with everyone we all have bad times, we all have had our load of worries, but that does not give us the excuse to then allow Satan to lead us into sin. For by envying another's good fortune or their Gifts, many fall into the waiting hands of the father of lies.

But as the children of God we have His Word which tells us in all confidence, "Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.". So let us not fear those who have embraced darkness, but instead allow our Light to shine before others so that we give Glory to our Father in Heaven by being obedient to His Commands!

Let us go forth and with filial trust and confidence, place our hearts with the Triune God as He leads us to safety, even through the snares placed by the evil one. For Christ has already won the Victory, and sin no longer has its sting.

For it is through Christ our Lord that we too have been made Overcomers, let us therefore behave as Victors and not as the vanquished!

Peace of Christ to ALL

Copyright © 2005 Marie Smith. All rights reserved.

Who Do We Honour

Our Lord warns us in His Word that we cannot serve two masters, we are either for God or against God, there is no halfway position we can take with God.

This can cause confusion when facing the enemy in that in our efforts not to judge another we end up practicing false charity. And also by our acquiescence we are encouraging wrongful behaviour, by our silence when faced with those who knowingly or unknowing are committing a sin!

God through His Word does not teach us how to win friends and influence people, our Lord teaches us to speak the Truth, as it has been revealed through Scripture and the Traditions of our Church.

Many can become confused when it comes to charity, for it is not charitable to condone bad behaviour or sin. Especially when the intent is not so much a fear of judging another, but a fear of not being liked.

When we look beneath the surface of many who practice false charity, they do so from a need to please others in order to gain the approval of whatever company they are in. This is highly selfish as many who condone sin or bad behaviour do so from their own self love and not from selflessness.

Did the Saints who went before us endeavour to enter popularity contests? Was their Faith all about them or did they live their Faith by speaking God's Truth with love even at the cost of their lives.

The Saints knew that to approve of another’s sin would be not only false charity it would be grievously wrong! Because the Saints were aware that being a Christian carries responsibility to speak the hard truth rather than a nice lie. They lived for the Truth and many died for this same Truth, for to do otherwise would have meant endangering their own salvation but also those who were in error.

In these days where every lifestyle has gained respectability, from practicing homosexual Bishops to an acceptance of pro-choice as a viable option, what then does this say about present day Christians?

Has it got to a stage where so many are too frightened to speak the Truth lest they be ostracised or thought to be 'meanies', and then lose favour in the eyes of others.

This course of action is the ultimate betrayal not only of what Christ taught us but also of those who need to know the Truth that Christ set down in His Word and through the Church! But instead of speaking up many instead comply and agree with every group they encounter, in order to be seen as 'nice'.

For at the core of those who go along with the crowd, is the heart of the truly selfish, for these people love themselves, more than they love Truth and more than they love Christ.

It is not the sinner who will find themselves in trouble, for God loves the contrite sinner and like the prodigal son our Heavenly Father longs for His children return to His Love. But it is the lukewarm who will find that their own soul is in peril through their lack of courage and their willing withholding of Divine Truth as revealed in Scripture and the Tenets of our Church.

For these people do not practice charity they are practicing self love even to the point of losing souls, as in a spirit of false charity they condone and even encourage sinful behaviour.

We were not created to get along with the world but to indict it! For like the Saints before us, many in today’s society look to today’s Christians to set the example of how God wishes us to live. So if so many are too frightened to speak the Truth what hope then for those who do not know it?

In the end whom do we serve, God or ourselves?

Peace of Christ to ALL

Copyright © 2005 Marie Smith. All rights reserved.

The Two Principalities

In our rather sophisticated world, many would not like to spend too much time pondering on the forces of good and evil. Instead what the majority of people are willing to embrace is the grey world of the 'maybe', where sin is no longer sin but a lifestyle choice.

This way leads many to compromise their Faith and their principles in favour of what, mans approval? It is this way of thinking that leads us away from pleasing God into living to please man; this also leads to complications when we rely on the opinions of others to validate our existence.

How many times is evil mentioned or has it become that like the devil many refuse to acknowledge that evil exists and instead excuse all excesses as 'bad choices'!

Many need to understand that there are only two Principalities in this world, one is the Principality of Good which has its source in God The Triune Spirit, for all good things come from God. The other principality is that of Evil where Satan is the ruler and is the source of all wrongdoing and sin.

When it comes to the individual, we need to understand that either we are under the guidance of the Principality of good or through a strong prayer life we seek to do God's Will. Or some have chosen the principality of darkness where though they may try and hide their sinful acts their disobedience to God's Commandments condemns them.

It is the principality of evil that tempts us to sin and at times even God fearing people will fail. This is why the Sacrament of Penance is crucial for the sorrowful penitent, who seeks God's forgiveness before partaking of the Eucharist. For as Scripture reminds us we all fall short of the Glory of God, but that does not give us license to deliberately ignore the Will of God, nor to embrace evil without consequences.

Even though our society has become sophisticated and cynical, there is also the knowledge that through various mediums we have more access to learn Scripture and to learn more about our Church, the lives of the Saints etc. So there is NO excuse for those who say they do not know what God's Will is, as an excuse to comfortably go about their evil ways.

Scripture is very clear when describing what God's Will is and what we should do and how to live our lives in conformity to the Will of God. For as our Lord said, "No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one or love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money."..."I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven....but if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea".

So there is no excuse for those who claim they are Christian yet lead worldly lives of sin and corruption. For through Scripture and the Tenets of our Church, all should be aware if they are offending God, as deliberate ignorance is no excuse!

We either serve God or serve Satan, one leads to a spirit of selflessness whilst the other leads to a spirit of selfishness.

However we live our lives on earth will define where we spend our eternity.

Peace of Christ to ALL

Copyright © 2005 Marie Smith. All rights reserved.