Every human being has a need for–and the capacity to be filled with–A SPIRITUAL ENTITY. And we are–all of us, whether or not we believe it. In this sense, we are all spiritually inclined–we all seek, and find, a spirit that we embrace, whether or not we realize it or desire it. HUMAN BEINGS ARE CONTROLLED BY ONE OF TWO SPIRITS–GOD’S SPIRIT OR SATAN’S SPIRITS. This includes those who do not believe in the existence of a spiritual realm.

Relative to man’s natural spirituality, we are like a vacuum. A vacuum demands to be filled. Our spiritual vacuum is filled with either the Holy Spirit of God or one of more of Satan’s fallen angels known Biblically as “devils.” which are normally called “demons” because, in the Greek language they are known as “diamonia.” “Demons” is the English version of the word. In a perfect (sinless) world one’s mind would have no demon or demons wanting to enter it. What few people do not realize is that this is Satan’s world, awarded to him by Adam when he bowed to the will of the Lord’s primary enemy. That this world belongs to Satan and is filled with sin is born out in Genesis 4:3-7 where God is talking to Cain after he had brought to Him an offering which He rejected. Cain was dejected by the Lord’s rejection of his offering. God told him that if he did not sin again he would be accepted. Here the Lord is warning about Satan and temptation, saying: “If you obey Me in the future you will do well. But if you do not obey Me, sin (Satan) waits at the door’ (of Cain’s mind). Sin’s desire is to rule you. but YOU CAN RULE OVER IT (HIM).” How? By not opening the door when sin (temptation) knocks. The devil’s temptation is like someone knocking on the door of our home. We decide whether to open the door or to ignore the knock. Adam and Eve provide a perfect example of this open-or-ignore Truth.

Our first parents had the choice of ignoring Satan’s words or allowing them to penetrate their minds, mix with their wills and “conceive,” thereby producing sin. This is described in James 1:15 where we are told that being tempted is not a sin for the tempted one. Jesus was tempted many times in many ways. If He was not subject to temptation, why did Satan tempt Him? But He always overcame the temptations by not opening his mind to the temptations, thereby preventing a “conception” that takes place when Satan’s temptation and man’s will are found to be kindred spirits.

Jesus presents the prime example of refusing to open the door to temptation. Recall that hours before His trial, beating and death He was praying to the Father. Knowing what He was about to endure, He asked if there was any way to fulfill His assigned mission without having to endure the horrible torture and death that awaited Him. JESUS WAS A HUMAN BEING AS WE ARE. LIKE US, HIS WILL WAS TO NOT TO SUFFER AND DIE. His will-versus-dread conflict was so intense that He sweated great drops of blood (Lk. 22:44) awhile calling out to His Father. Though Hia will was to be spared what He knew was coming, He said to His Father, “… not My will, but Your will be done” (Mat. 26:39).

Returning to the Genesis story, Satan could not force Adam and Eve to defy their Creator by eating the forbidden fruit of the tree they were commanded not to even touch. Read the series on “touching” sin using the key word–“Touching.” I will summarize it by saying that if we open the door to temptation’s knock and allow it to mix with our corresponding will, we have already sinned. Concerning this Truth, Jesus used the example of lust relative to adultery. The fact that Adam and Eve went to where the tree was located meant that they had already “conceived” by conjoining their wills to the temptation. In other words, sin had already taken place in their minds before they arrived at the tree. Sin takes place in the mind. MAN CONTROLLS HIS OWN WILL. THE TRUE SAINT SUBMITS HIS WILL TO THE WILL OF GOD, AS DID JESUS. Adam and Eve sinned when they DECIDED TO EAT of the forbidden fruit. They had chosen to allow their wills to have spiritual intercourse with Satan’s temptation. Jesus gives us chances to overcome any negative desire (will) we might have, to defeat it and cause it to depart from us. Recall that Judas Iscariot was one of Christ’s first disciples/apostles. Notice also that He gave Judas the job of keeping the group’s money bag, KNOWING THAT HE WAS A THIEF (Jn. 12:6). Only those who truly will to obey Him take advantage of His help. In Part 2 of this series I will explain how to acquire the Lord’s help.

This brings us to the focus of this series–the part that God’s Holy Spirit and Satan’s unholy spirits (demons) play in the life of human beings. Those spirits enter our minds and from that vantage point, lead us to either do the will of the Lord or the will of Satan. Recall that God had told Adam and Eve that, if they partook of the forbidden fruit, they would (spiritually) die. Satan had told them that if they did so they would, “… be as gods, knowing (able to determine) good and evil.” Our early parents were equipped with wills, as had the angels, one-third of whom willed to join Lucifer in his war against God for control of the universe. ADAM AND EVE WILLED TO BECOME GODS SO THAT THEY COULD DETERMINE GOOD AND EVIL FOR THEMSELVES. Satan told them that they could BECOME GODS, MAKE THEIR OWN RULES TO LIVE BY AND STILL SPEND ETERNITY IN THE PARADISE THAT GOD HAD CREATED FOR THEM,

Sound familiar? It should, for that is what 2 1/2 billion people have done. As a reminder, that is why God destroyed every human being, animal, bird, etc. on earth in Noah’s Flood. Only Noah walked holy before God. His family was saved so as to repopulate the earth. Satan assures today’s believers that they can ignore God’s Words, live by their own rules (church doctrines) and live forever in paradise, which is the echo of Satan’s fateful promise to Adam and Eve: “You shall not surely die.”

This introduces us to the way Satan’s demonic spirits enter the minds of human beings. A mind that is not God-centered (not just on Sunday morning) is low-hanging fruit for Satan and his demons. If the things of the world fill one’s mind instead of the Word, Way and Will of the almighty, one has chosen to have an open-door policy relative to the spirit world. God enters only by invitation. Demons rush in to fill the spiritual vacuum within one’s mind. Within the Catholic/Protestant Religious System, things of the spirit are not first and foremost in the minds of the people. Only a minutely few human beings are born into and grow up in a God-centered family in which His Word–NOT CHURCH DOCTRINE–is the required family walk. Beginning early on in life, the things of the world come to dominate the minds of human beings whose spiritual vacuum demands to be filled. Those who fill it with the religions that dominate the world’s masses have unknowingly opened the door to Satan’s demons. God will not force His Holy Spirit into man’s mind. He quietly stands at the door of our hearts (minds) and knocks (Rev. 3:20). As God told Cain, Sin “crouches at the door” of man’s mind and, if allowed in, takes over and dominates the life of its unsuspecting host. Read Bait and Switch, key word–Bait.

Relative to the spirit world, the main problem with professing Christendom is that the vast majority of her constituents do not believe in the existence of demons. Why? Because they do not STUDY GOD’S WORD USING HIS STUDY METHOD FOUND IN ISAIAH 28:9-13. Instead, they blindly embrace the teachings of their demon-led pastors, evangelists and teachers who believe and teach what they were taught by their equally blind, Scripturally-ignorant, demon-possessed leaders. The deceived do not know they are deceived. Jesus was right when He said that the god of this world (Satan–2 Cor. 4:4) “… has deceived the whole world” (Rev. 3:21). I will wrap up this teaching with a couple of examples of the types of religious garbage being taught in various Christian seminaries. I once heard an associate pastor say that Jesus was immune to pain, therefore He felt nothing during the beatings he received. Nor did He feel the nails being driven into His flesh. A would-be missionary said that she was taught that Jesus was not miraculously conceived, meaning that there was a male human involved in His conception.

The world’s religions, including Christianity, blindly follow the leading of the devil’s demons who have taken up residence in their minds. The blind, demon-led billions must study the Holy Bible, learn it, believe it and obey it in order to replace their demonic guests with God’s Holy Spirit. The process by which that is accomplished is the subject of the following posting. L.J.