Thank you friend for sharing your wisdom and understanding concerning our commitment to JESUS CHRIST. Thank you also for expanding upon the understanding of the "image of the beast'.
blessings.
(permission was granted to share this letter. The person wishes to remain anonymous)
You are defintely on the right "path" of thinking. It IS only through being totally transformed into His image that we find Life.
He has given True Believers the gift of The Holy Spirit who "dwells" in our
heart/mind. The Holy Spirit/God The Father/Jesus Christ wants each individual
in whom He has taken up residence to be so willing to be transformed "in our
mind" - that we become more and more LIKE Him..... and that we "listen" to what
HE is saying to us.
Paul said in 2Cor 3:18 "But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord , are being
transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just
as from the Lord, the Spirit."
The Spirit we "hear" and/or "see" is LIKE a wind
- The written scriptures tell us that The Word is LIKE a wind, like many things
in fact. And our mind/heart/ears hear words spoken and we accept or reject
that spoken word/wind. That is - when WE hear The Truth Spoken by someone The
Lord has called to speak or preach His Word - we do, in fact, respond to that
Truth because the Holy Spirit dwelling within us recognizes His Truth, and
confirms it to our heart/mind.
The only way, as you so often point out, is for us
to be willing to daily confess, totally repent, and be "transformed" by His
working in our mind/hearts. The Holy Spirit confirms when we "hear" or "see"
The Truth - because He IS The Truth.
And when we are submitted to His leading and
direction, we recognize how we must put aside all human desires, yearnings, and
allow HIM to continue to change us/transform us into what HE desires.
Daily.
Now unbelievers "listen" "hear" winds of doctrine,
spoken words, - and sometimes they DO hear The Truth along with all the lies
and half truths, but they reject The Truth because it does not ring true for
them. It is foolishness to them. It just does not "seem" to be right to them.
But they readily accept "the winds of false teachings" or false doctrines or
just plain outright lies, because they already belong to the enemy/satan - who
you have correctly said is "the father of all lies".
" My Ways
are not your ways, My thoughts are not your thoughts" - here He is speaking
about those who reject His Way, His Teachings, His Paths, His Words, His
Righteousness, His Truth,
Another thing that has become more and more
apparent to me, is that The Teaching/Gospel of Christ creates "an image" in our
minds - and that "image" of Him, of The Father, of what He has done, what is
doing now, and what He has said He is going to do in the future, - that "image"
or the images are what I want to be like. When we read the written words of
The Scriptures, we absorb "an image" of what those words mean. And those images
are what drive us directly to The Lord. We as Believers are always seeking to
become more and more LIKE Him - to become ONE with Him.
Your Blog posting about "bringing the image of the
beast" alive - really rings true to me. That is EXACTLY how it will happen.
The image will "come alive" in the minds of those people who hear, believe, and
receive those lies - and they will YEARN for it - will believe in it
whole-heartedly - will totally yield themselves over to the so-called "ideals"
it represents. - Just think how they will be overjoyed at finally getting
mankind all together as "one"....... They will be delighted to profess the
greatness of humans, will praise one another for finally getting the whole world
under one great umbrella, will be overjoyed initially at the so-called
"prosperity" the whole world will enjoy - Until the day when Satan reveals
himself - and incarnates the Antichrist - and then it will be too late.......
They will have already been "taken in" by that apostate being, and their souls
will be bound for hell with Satan - because they "did not have a love of The
Truth"..... They chose instead to believe Satn's lies, and in the process,
bound themselves to him - because his "image" came alive in their minds.......
. Just as in the same way we hear, believe, and
receive The Truth. We hear and WE "come alive" in the Image of Christ Who IS
The Living Word of God. Unbelievers will be found "in the image" of the one
whom they receive - the father of lies and his kingdom of perdition. And,
unfortunately, some people who are already Believers will believe those lies,
will receive them, and will FORFEIT their offer of salvation because they reject
The Truth that God has already spoken to them. They will readily give up their
"gift" of real life that Christ has offered them in exchange for so-called
comfort, peace and safety and whatever else "the beast" offers, because they
"think" it won't matter very much - but they will become part of the apostasy
because they overthrow what little Truth they know in exchange for the lies
satan offers. How unfortunate and how sad - How very sad indeed.
There will be many people who are currently
Believers who will be thrown into the Pit because they will willingly give up
their position as an adopted Child of God - because they have rejected HIM -
they reject The Truth of What He has already told them by believing Satan's lies
..... They willingly do it - they CHOOSE to believe the lies - they CHOOSE to be
transformed in their minds by the "image" of the Beast System/Satan.. and yet
they will be the ones who say on That Day "But Lord, did we not prophesy in
your name, did we not feed the sick, did we not etc. etc. in Your Name" "Please
let us in" - But He responds to them "Be gone, I never knew you."
