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Know Thy Enemy 1 Peter 5:8 Be sober-minded and alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Sun Tzu, a Chinese military general, strategist, and philosopher, once said, "Know thy enemy and know yourself; in a hundred battles, you will never be defeated." Knowing ourselves alone is like a blind archer shooting arrows at a target, hoping one will hit the bullseye. Knowing ourselves and our enemy is like an archer with eagle-eye vision, and with every arrow he shoots, he will surely hit the bullseye. Therefore, we cannot walk naively through life, blind to our enemy, knowing nothing of him except his name. Ignorance is not bliss. In the book of Hosea, GOD said, "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you as My priests. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I will also forget your children."  Who is our enemy? Anything or anyone that turns us away from GOD is our enemy. Therefore, as children of GOD, we cannot be as innocent as doves but also as wise as serpents to know who our enemy is. We cannot be like Eve, knowing good and not evil or knowing light and not darkness. She is not at fault because she has not taken the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil during that time to know the existence of evil. She only knew a friend but not a foe, good but not evil, that could turn her fate for the worse. Hence, she was as innocent as doves. We cannot be like that because within us is the knowledge of good and evil, so we must be more than innocent as doves but as wise as serpents to know the traps of evil. We cannot be living in a fool's paradise, thinking that GOD will save us from the hand of the devourer. He will not since He did not save Adam and Eve from the deceit of the Serpent that led them into suffering, pain and death. Why would he make an exception for us? To beware of our enemy, we should never let anyone sweet-talk us into believing anything that seems too good to be true—it probably is. GOD's actions speak louder than His Words. Unless those gifts are under goodwill, everything of GOD, protection, provision, blessings, or promises requires us to walk on the tightrope of obedience. Even though Eve is ignorant, naive, or impressionable, she could not have fallen into the Serpent's lie if she had walked tightly on the rope of obedience. God's protection and provision are only found in obedience, and anything out of obedience is out of His protection. Hence, once Adam and Eve disobeyed, they had to leave Eden away from GOD's protection and provision. GOD did not show them leniency even when they were first-time offenders deserving a second chance.  Once fallen, the second chance only came a few thousand years later in the form of Jesus Christ. Even if we are given a second chance, it does not exempt us from being disobedient to do as we wish. We still have to be obedient in the face of temptations. Even if Jesus's love covers all sins, it does not mean we can continue sinning. Anyone who continues to sin shows he is unrepentant. Forgiveness requires a repentance heart and demands us to turn over a new leaf. If there is no change and transformation, it will mean that there is no repentance. In the epistle of 1 John, John states, "No one who remains in Him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has seen Him or known Him." That implies that knowing GOD will teach us to stop sinning, which is where forgiveness comes in. If we keep sinning, then we need more than forgiveness; we need tolerance. But GOD is willing only to forgive sin, not tolerate sin. Coming back to what is written in the book of Hosea, we are destroyed by a lack of knowledge because we have rejected knowledge. At face value, we are blockheaded to reject knowledge, but in reality, our fallen nature refuses to accept the things of GOD. It is written in the Epistle of Galatians, 'For the flesh craves what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are opposed to each other, so you do not do what you want.' Therefore, no matter how hard we endeavour, as long as our flesh is alive, we will refuse to learn. It is not that we do not want to, but we cannot because the flesh, our gatekeeper, has a natural rejection of the law. The law of GOD goes in one ear and out the other. Metaphorically, we are like a filter that absorbs all evil influences and sieves out all good. Through the prophet Hosea, GOD reprimanded the Jews for being blockheaded, but it is not a Jewish problem but a universal one. Anyone who wants to become a child of GOD will face the issue of incompatibility of their fallen nature with GOD's. They are like oil and water, immiscible. Indirectly, GOD is saying through the prophet Hosea that whoever rejects the law is incompatible with Him and cannot be His children. Therefore, anyone holding on to his flesh becomes an enemy of GOD and cannot be his child. In today's context, many believe that once their sins are forgiven, it means that God has accepted them as who they are—fallen beings. Do not be deceived. If this is true, then many things cannot add up. If the blood of Jesus can wash away our sins and transform our fallen nature, then Jesus would not ask us to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Him. Jesus's blood can only wash away our sins but not transform our fallen nature. When Jesus said, "It is finished." And bowing His head, He yielded up His Spirit. It does not mean that, with His death, we are free from our fallen nature. Our enemy hopes we will believe that. Jesus meant He had finished his mission on earth. He conquered man's eternal death so that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life. If Jesus's death is enough to put to death our fallen nature, then it is redundant for Jesus to ask us to deny ourselves. That is to say, Jesus has done His part, figuratively, to bring us to the water. We must drink the water ourselves. If we want to belong to Christ Jesus, according to the Epistle of Galatians, we must crucify the flesh with its passions and desires. No one can do that for us except ourselves. We hold the last piece of the puzzle to salvation as we have the final say - to crucify or not to crucify our flesh. Now, standing between God and us is our common enemy, the fallen nature. With Christ's death on the cross for our sins, God no longer holds against us for the old debt, which is committed by our fallen nature. God is willing to let bygones be bygones. However, bygones will never be bygones if we keep sinning by listening to our fallen nature, keeping the beast alive. In the epistle of Romans, Paul states, 'For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.' This verse refutes the catchphrase of 'once saved, always saved.' No one is saved until they put to death the deeds of the body. That is to say, if there is no death of our fallen nature, we will not be saved. When we believe in GOD, He expects us to be transformed. A confused mind is the devil's playground. Therefore, we must be clear of the changes between the old and the new covenants. Jesus came to fulfil the old covenant by His death on the cross, bringing about the new covenant. If we are not clear about the change, then we will be like Eve, falling into our enemy's deceit. To understand this change, we must understand Paul's writing by understanding who he is. Jesus recruited Apostle Paul after He had resurrected, in a spiritual encounter, where Jesus appeared to Paul in an audible voice. Paul is unlike Jesus's twelve disciples, who among them were fishermen, tax collectors and peasants. Paul was a Pharisee, a student of Gamaliel, a man held in great esteem by all Jews. Therefore, Paul was not a nobody like the rest but someone proficient in the Law of Moses. He wrote and contributed about fourteen out of the twenty-seven epistles of the New Testament, having a dominant no lesser than Jesus's disciples. Instead of selecting one of the twelve disciples whom Jesus closely taught to champion the post-Christ movement, GOD chose Paul, who had never met Jesus and didn't claim to have met him. Paul is similar to Moses, who was taught by the best of the Egyptian court, and Paul, who was trained by Gamaliel, recognized as a Pharisee doctor of Jewish Law. Through Moses, GOD established the Old Covenant and through Paul, the New Covenant. Many of Paul's writings are challenging to comprehend and are unlike those written by Jesus's disciples, who are narrations of Jesus's ministry. Paul's writing expounds on the ministry of the Holy Spirit. When we put to death the deeds of the body, we are no longer under the law but under the Holy Spirit. Jesus's death parted a way for those who believe in Him to walk out of the bondage of sin like GOD parted the Red Sea for the Israelites to leave the bondage of Egypt. Unless we are willing to sin no more, we will not move out of the bondage of sin. The good news is the door remains open and will be opened forever to anyone who wants to leave their sin behind. The contention is not about the open door but who is exiting through the door. Many praise GOD for His goodness for the open door, but no one is leaving their Sodom and Gomorrah because they love sinning too much to leave. Therefore, no matter how good GOD is, it has nothing to do with anyone unless he wants to stop sinning. After evaluating all that Christ has done by His death on the cross, Paul still warns us that if we live according to the flesh, we will die, implying that the flesh is still alive in us, residing in the still soft voice, leading us into the way of evilness. Jesus's death or blood has no detrimental effect of it. It is still much alive, working its way to our death. It is like some cancerous cells working within us that cannot be removed by any means except by the Holy Spirit. Only those under the Holy Spirit have the power of the Holy Spirit to put to death the deeds of the body by sinning no more. Only then will they live. Many do not know that our enemy is well hidden within us, the first one to greet us in the morning and the last one to wish us goodnight, always talking to us and helping us make decisions. Those who listen to it become futile in their thinking and darkened in their foolish hearts. Paul describes them as having a depraved mind to do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant, and boastful. They invent new forms of evil; they disobey their parents. They are senseless, faithless, heartless, merciless. The blood of Jesus did not put a stop to the evil influences we are hearing. As long as we are willing to listen, it will speak. Once we listen, we become accomplices in crime, like Cain, who killed his brother Abel. Our enemy is much nearer to us than we think and more influential to us than we know. He is not the big bad fox lurking in the forest but the coaxing voice that, as our second nature, justifies us to sin. When we look at the broken lives, broken relationships, or broken bank accounts of many, we know many have listened to its foolishness and treated it as wisdom. We cannot outsmart our fallen nature because it has evolved through time to understand the weaknesses of men. Therefore, we need to stand firm on GOD's commandments and not depart from them. Only then can we not fall into destruction. However, despite our best intentions and determination, it will be challenging because we do not have what it takes to be better than our fallen nature. We are like David fighting Goliath, sure to be defeated. We are, as Jesus commented, 'Watch and pray so that you will not enter into temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak.' Jesus could have given us a better answer as to how to combat the weakness, but He did not. What He said is as good as asking us to wait and see that we do not enter into temptation. It is not that He does not want, but it is not under His purview but the purview of Paul to introduce the Ministry of the Holy Spirit. Without this, the work of the Trinity would not be complete. Only then will we be like Samson in an incident where suddenly, a young lion came roaring at him, and the Spirit of the LORD came powerfully upon him, and he tore the lion apart with his bare hands as one would tear a young goat. We will be tearing apart the roaring lion, our devour. Prayer: Thank you, God, for giving me the Holy Spirit to empower me to defeat my enemy and for opening my eyes to see how easily my enemy can infiltrate my mind and heart—just as easily as the Serpent is able to access the Garden of Eden to talk to Eve. Only when I study your words carefully will I not be like Eve, deceived into believing something that is not true. Continue to teach and guide me through your Holy Spirit so that I will not fall into the devil's trap and sin against you. Amen.

GOD's love comes with GOD's disciplines Hebrews 12:6 For the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and He chastises every son He receives. The way GOD loves is not the same as a man loves. Those who misunderstand His love as a man's love will find GOD's love irrational. When a man loves, as seen when a man loves a woman, he loves her for what she represents, as if she is a product carrying a perceived promise. He loves for a reason or with a motive. No one loves for no reason except for the sake of loving. Unless he is like GOD, loving unconditionally. GOD proves His unconditional love: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. That is, despite us being vile, detestable and hideous according to His standard, GOD still loves us by dying for us. His love compels Him to do whatever is needed to make us right with Him so that we can be the beneficiaries of His goodness. Some might think that GOD is blinded by love. Yes, He is because love takes no records of wrong. Since GOD is love, His love is blinded to our sins, and for us, He can sacrifice 100% of Himself without consideration for Himself. For love, Jesus could, as in the Epistle of Philippians: Existing in the form of God did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross. For love, Jesus bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things. The main difference between GOD's love and a man's love is that one comes out of selflessness and the other out of selfishness. A man cannot sacrifice himself because, by nature, he is selfish. This nature is not a biased opinion but a biblical fact. The Bible has other terms to describe our selfishness: selfish ambition, vain, conceit, lovers of selves, self-seeking, pleasing ourselves, seeking our good, etc. His love is self-seeking for the enlargement of his ego, for his egoistic carnal ambitions. Hence, a man's love is not pure but tinted with motives, schemes and deceits. To elaborate, if a man loves a woman because she is an angel, talented or beautiful, his love is laced with motives. No matter how noble it might sound, it is filled with 'I love you because'. It is not a love of 'I love you regardless'. One day, a person might outlive their appealing attributes, and the reason for love will no longer exist. Then what happens? Love is liken to having wings, and it will fly away. Time will reveal the foundation of a man's love. Is it as solid as a rock, or is it as shifting as the sand?  GOD's love is unchanging with time and is unconditional in what may happen. Nothing can change His love. The Epistle of John writes, "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life". The phrase 'GOD so loved the world' that John uses is unprecedented because GOD does not approve or accept the world. The people of the world, according to the Apostle Paul, are people of the flesh who are hostile to God. They do not submit to God's law, nor can they do so. Those of the flesh cannot please God. In the Epistle of 1 John writes, "Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him". The message is clear - despite His opinion of the world, He refrains from judgment and loves the world without prejudice and discrimination. Even if we are the vilest of sinners, His love will still cover us. No one will be ostracized from His love, and His arms are always open to everyone. That is how deep and how wide the love of GOD is. GOD's love is indeed magnanimous. It is a haven for all sinners, where GOD's judgement has to stay outside and where sinners find solace. In His love, there is no condemnation and where sins can hold nothing against us. His love becomes our source of comfort, strength and hope. No doubt, in His love is where everyone wants to dwell. Therefore, it is a topic that is well-preached and sung about. However, unbeknown to many, no matter how great GOD's love is, His love is not above His law. And no matter how much GOD loves us, He cannot allow us eternal life without complying with His law. The law states that eternal life only comes through Jesus Christ, and only those who believe in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. The Apostle John could have stated, 'For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son so that everyone shall not perish but have eternal life', and that would be so sweet. But he did not. That is to say, GOD's love is unconditional, but eternal life is conditional. Think about it: Metaphorically, could GOD allow the hand of His love to slap the face of His law? That will be foolish of Him. No matter how much GOD loves us, He does not allow us to trespass against His law. In other words, He does not allow us to sin against Him. Therefore, His love is not above His law. However, many have misconstrued GOD's love to supersede His law, quoting from the Apostle Paul that we are no longer under law but under grace. That is picking words out of context. The Apostle Paul did not suggest that grace had replaced the law. He only meant that when we believe in Christ, our master is no longer sin but Christ. Therefore, we are no longer slaves to sin but to righteousness. When we no longer sin, we are no longer under the law, and the law has nothing against us. We can understand it in this way: if we do not contravene any legislation, the government will not come after us. We will not be under any sentence of imprisonment, a fine, or other sanctions and are free to do whatever we want. In biblical terms, when we are not under the law, we are under grace. We are only under grace if we do not sin. We must remember that nothing is above the law, not even GOD's love. Therefore, we should not go overboard when anyone tells us that GOD is madly in love with us. It does not mean anything, as it is not an open door to eternal life, and it does not give us a license to sin. If GOD's love is not a ticket to eternal life, then what is its purpose in the architecture of humanity? Though GOD's love cannot directly give us what we want, it can pave the way there. As an analogy, GOD's love is like a mother's love, nurturing a child for greatness. Though a mother cannot bestow greatness on her child, she can nurture the greatest within him so that he can be great by his own merits. GOD's love will nurture us from sinners to saints, so by our merits, we will enter heaven. We will be able to stand tall among angels because we do not enter, figuratively, by the back door. In this journey to sinning no more, GOD promises that He will not leave us nor forsake us. He will be our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. No matter how many times we fall because of our weakness, like the Apostle Peter, GOD will be there to pick us up because His love will never fail. Like in the Apostle Paul, GOD's strength is made perfect in his weakness. He will be ours, too. GOD's love is not based on merits. Anyone is qualified for it. Therefore, no matter where we are in our relationship with Him, He will accept us as who we are. Even if we are the vilest sinners or non-Christians, GOD has no issue with that. He wants to give to us and not take from us for His purpose. Therefore, there are no criteria, conditions, or baselines except that we wish for His love. For the fallen world, He is willing to sacrifice the most precious of heaven, Jesus Christ, in suffering for its redemption so that heaven's gate is open for all who wish to enter. However, eternal life is not as simple as Apostle John put it simplistically - everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. What should we believe in Him, then? That He is the Son of GOD? Even the demons, Legion, knew that. Yet, it got them nowhere except to be cast into the pigs. We need to believe more than that. We need to believe every word of Jesus. If we say we believe, then we must do accordingly. If not, we are as good as non-believers. In GOD's context, knowing His Word is not enough, as we must be doers of His Word. When we believe in Jesus, we must be doers of His Word. Only when we do that will we not perish but have eternal life. Well, this is easier said than done. Many might be unaware that to be a doer of His Word is to sin no more. However, expecting a sinner to 'sin no more' is more challenging than for a drug addict to be drug-free. David wrote, "Surely I was brought forth in iniquity; I was sinful when my mother conceived me."  That means we are born in a state of sin, and we have been doing wrong since birth. Hence, to 'sin no more', we need to do more than change the habit of sinning; we need to eradicate the DNA of our sinful nature. If not, we are clean on the outside, while on the inside, we are still unclean.  We need a spiritual transformation of our inmost being. Without this, we will never be free from our sinful nature. That is when GOD's love comes with care, support and guidance, seeing us through our transformation of dying to our sinful selves and being empowered by Him in obedience. His love will surround us like a tiger mother, coaching us to stand against our enemy, the devil, who prowls around like a roaring lion waiting to devour us. GOD will discipline us to be fierce warriors against the devil's schemes and chastise us in our areas of weakness so that the devil will not have a foothold in us. We should not underestimate the devil as he can cause the downfall of any man and create havoc in anyone's life. Looking at the destruction he did to Job, we should be wary of him. As described in the Book of Ezekiel, the devil is the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. We are no match for him. If GOD is not with us, disciplining and chastening us to obedience, many would not be able to elude the devil's perfect temptation, causing us to sin. We will fall like Adam and Eve without any resistance.  The Epistle of Hebrews writes, "No discipline seems enjoyable at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it yields a harvest of righteousness and peace to those who have been trained by it. Therefore strengthen your limp hands and weak knees. Make straight paths for your feet, so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed." GOD loves us, and He has our best interests at heart. Through discipline, our limp hands and weak knees will be strengthened so we will not fall into sin away from GOD. Consequently, we will overcome sin and not perish but have eternal life.

Matthew 25:45 Then the King will answer, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for Me.' A Paradigm Shift Mark 2:22 And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. Instead, new wine is poured into new wineskins." The New Testament is a game-changer and paradigm shift. It is like new wine that cannot be contained in old wineskin. Hence, we must refrain from using our old mindset to understand GOD's new teaching, or it will become our stumbling block, a block that will cause us to fall away from our faith. When Jesus first introduced His new teaching, many of His disciples could not accept it, so they turned back and no longer walked with Him. His teaching created resistance then and would also now. Today, if we hear something that goes well with us and does not turn us off, then the teachings are most likely being compromised. If the core of His teaching has not changed, then we should have the same reaction as Jesus's disciples did: rejection. It is like drinking bitter medicine. However, if the medicine is not bitter but sweet, then we should be wary that something is wrong. GOD's bitter medicine does not go well with our fallen nature, so rejection should be the natural response. If it sounds soothing to our ears and appeases our fallen nature, then most likely, it is an alternate teaching to His. His fake teaching is like entering through a wide gate with a broad path; do not believe it because it leads to destruction. GOD has instructed us to walk through the small gate with the narrow path that few will find, and it leads to life. And any other way is a misdirection. Therefore, do not be misled by hype teachings that are pleasing to the ear but will lead to destruction. Stop sinning vs forgiveness of sin. Daniel 4:27 Break away from your sins by doing what is right, and from your iniquities by showing mercy to the oppressed.  If we want to be strong in GOD, we must be able to accept hard truths, things that are hard to the ears but good for our souls. Such a message is a high calling because our fallen nature can do nothing but sin. And GOD's Word bites our fallen nature. Therefore, it does not go well with our ears and is a nail to our flesh. A message that our fallen nature loves is the forgiveness of sin, a message of no condemnation to every action. Then, we are no different from a dog that returns to its vomit as we sinners return to our sin. Thus, many Christians live in the comfort of GOD as Yahweh Hessed, GOD of forgiveness. With that, many live in the impression that they can be who they are as there is nothing they can do that cannot be forgiven under the blood of Christ. If not, His blood is no different from that of sheep, goats, bulls, doves, or pigeons. Therefore, nothing can rock their salvation as it is secured in the blood of Jesus.  The Fallacy Galatians 6:7-8 Do not be deceived: God is not to be mocked. Whatever a man sows, he will reap in return. The one who sows to please his flesh, from the flesh, will reap destruction, but the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit, will reap eternal life. If any of us think that the blood of Jesus will keep us away from sin, we are deviating far from the truth. Forgiveness of sin only releases us from the bondage of sin, which has no eternal value. It is like a person being set free from prison. Then, what from then on? It is what we make out of ourselves after being out of prison that matters. Metaphorically speaking, when we sin, we get ourselves into prison, and when GOD forgives us, He releases us from prison. If we keep on sinning and asking for forgiveness, we are repeating the cycle of being in and out of prison. Then what is the purpose of forgiveness if we have no intention of getting out of sin? We are doing nothing but fooling around with GOD, taking Him as a joke. No one ever fools around with the law and gets away. What more, with GOD, the Lawmaker of heaven and earth, and hope nothing will happen? The all-mighty blood has its limitations. Matthew 12:31 Therefore, I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. Jesus's blood is powerful enough to forgive all sins except the sin of unrepentance. For that, His blood has no effect. His blood can cleanse us of all sins but cannot keep us away from sinning. It is written in the Bible that if we deliberately go on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no further sacrifice for sins remains, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume all adversaries. Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severely do we think one deserves to be punished who has trampled on the Son of God, profaned the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and insulted the Spirit of grace? Therefore, there is a limit to 1 John 1:9 - If we confess our sins, He is faithful and will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. No one in the Bible ever received unconditional and perpetual forgiveness like the way we think, sinning without guilt and remorse. GOD often leaves us case studies to substantiate His Word. If there is none, then most likely, we misconstrue His Word. What does it mean to stop sinning? 1 John 3:6 No one who remains in Him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has seen Him or known Him. Many times, we have been told to stop sinning, but many do not understand GOD's expectations. To many, as long as we do not cause anyone any grievous harm by killing, stealing, and destroying, we are not sinning. And as long as we do not violate GOD's commandments, we are not sinning. All these are true in the Old Testament, but in the New Testament, definitions become more comprehensive. Anyone angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. And anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be subject to the fire of hell. Without physical contact, even looking at a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. Therefore, to stop sinning is more than not doing evil. We must do good. The new requirement John 3:19 And this is the verdict: The Light has come into the world, but men loved the darkness rather than the Light because their deeds were evil. Within our fallen nature is the desire to do evil. Therefore, in the Old Testament, after the fall of Adam and Eve, GOD wanted man to master his evil desires, as He told Cain, who represented the new generation of fallen men. In the New Testament, when GOD became Man, man not only had to master the evil within him but also to overcome evil with good. Only the one who overcomes will Jesus grant him the right to sit with Him on His throne, just as He overcame and sat down with His Father on His throne. The requirement has changed before and after Christ. Hence, we cannot use old methodology on new theology as we cannot sew a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. The patch will pull away from the garment, and a worse tear will result. Jesus's new teaching will stretch us to be more than who we can be. If we cannot be stretched, we will tear in unbelief. Not being able to say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for us. In Christ, we must do more and be better. Nothing will be impossible for us, even to the extent of loving our enemies and praying for those who persecute us, that we may be sons of our Father in heaven. We no longer are allowed to stop at 'Love your neighbour' and 'Hate your enemy.' The truth is that many cannot cross this threshold of irrational demand. Then how many can overcome evil with good? Why must we overcome evil with good? Romans 12:21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. If we can overcome evil with good, it proves the authenticity of our transformation. We are born again in the Spirit, and we are cleaned on the inside of the cup and dish so that the outside may become clean as well. Remember, we have fallen nature and are incapable of doing good. If we have extreme self-control, we can control the beast within us. To overcome evil with good is beyond the capacity of our fallen nature. It is like asking the lion to eat grass. Therefore, if a lion eats grass, it only proves that it is no longer a beast but has morphed into something else. In Christ, we are His new creations, meaning we are more than GOD's creation but a new, improved version. We no longer hold the flaws of imperfection but the perfection of GOD. Therefore, what the fallen nature cannot do, the godly-infused nature can. Hell is prepared for those who do no good. Matthew 25:45-46 Then the King will answer, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for Me.' And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life. To illustrate His point, Jesus talked about a time in the future when He would be in His glory, and all the angels would be with Him as He sat on His glorious throne. Then, He would separate the people one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. One group would inherit the kingdom prepared for them from the foundation of the world. And the other group would be cursed into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. What good did the first group do to deserve heaven, and what bad did the other group do to deserve hell? No one in the heaven group stood out as any hero, nor anyone from the hell group stood out as any villain. The compliment for the righteous was - For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink. I was a stranger, and you took Me in; I was naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you looked after Me; I was in prison, and you visited Me.' Then the righteous will answer Him, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You something to drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? When did we see You sick or in prison and visit You?' And the King will reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me.' The unrighteous were accused of not performing any acts of kindness as the righteous did, and their punishment was the eternal lake of fire. The King did not accuse them of massacres or blasphemy against GOD that deserved the lake of fire, but their fate was no different from that of the vilest sinners. The Conclusion Not doing good is as good as sinning, deserving the lake of fire. Many might view this as perversity, as the deeds do not deserve such punishment. On Judgment Day, many will question God about His justice and fairness, not knowing that sin is sin, regardless of how small or big. Jesus said, "Truly, truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit." As long as the Spirit does not transform us, we are not born of the Spirit. We are still sinners destined for hell. However, the issue is not that many do not want to do good, but they do not have the tenacity to do so because of their fallen nature. Many can try, but they do not have the know-how to do it. If we want to know, we need to die to our flesh. Then, the anointing of the Holy Spirit will guide us. For this reason, our world still feels lonely and cold despite its advancement, vibrancy, and activities. The affluent are highly affluent, and the poor are extremely poor, and the gap is not narrowing. If everyone were anointed with the Holy Spirit and spontaneous in sharing simple essentials such as food, water, and clothing, the world would be a better place. GOD does not require us to save the world by doing great and mighty things because that job belongs to Him. He is our Hero, and we do not need another hero. All He wants us to do is small things with great love. We would have met GOD's expectation of overcoming evil with good. Prayer: Thank you, GOD, for opening my eyes and ears to your word. Let your word quicken my heart and enlighten my mind that they are alive in me so that I can be alive in your word. Then your word will not return to you empty, but it will accomplish what you please, and I will prosper in it. Amen.

Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. Our decisions are not good enough. As the heavens are higher than the earth, GOD's ways are higher than our ways, and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts. As much as we want to walk in wisdom and understanding so as not to walk foolishly, there is a limit to our sound judgement, keen discernment and deep comprehension. When we make good decisions, we move forward to success, and when we make bad decisions, we move backwards to failure. Many times, we move backwards more than we move forward. GOD has made known to us that we are nowhere knowing how to make good decisions. If we can, then there is no need to trust Him with all our hearts and wait for GOD to act. We are capable of acting for ourselves. Between GOD's wisdom and our wisdom is between heaven and earth. That is to mean the wisest of us are still fools to Him. To say it offensively, we are retarded compared to GOD. We do not do what we should; instead, we do what we should not. Instead of listening to good advice, we listen to bad. In Jesus's opinion, we do not know what we are doing. We are like blind men in the darkness, groping about and not prospering in our ways. To sum it up, we are nothing more than blind, confused and mad. Despite stating so clearly, only those with wisdom will agree, while the foolish have no idea. We have the minds of sheep and not a serpent. GOD understands we have the minds of sheep and not of the Serpent. If Adam and Eve were shrewd enough, they would not be deceived by the Serpent. The fact that they had been deceived proves that they did not have sharp acumen. In other words, Eve did not know she was like a fish caught in a cruel net or a bird trapped in a snare, so she was ensnared in the evil that was beyond her to free herself. Many might think that Eve was plain unlucky to be deceived by the Serpent. She was not unlucky but targeted. No one goes to war without a strategy, and the Serpent was no exception. The Serpent knew that GOD's Word was not alive in Eve because GOD did not speak to her directly. When GOD told Adam not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for in the day that you eat of it, he would surely die, He told it to Adam alone because during then Eve was not created. She was created after GOD warned Adam. We have to question the rationale of GOD's action. Why? Won't it be better if GOD were to warn both of them together? What is the purpose of telling one and not the other? We become the weak link when GOD's Word is not alive in us. What Eve knew was secondhand information from Adam. That became the weak link that caused the downfall of man. It was like the Telephone or Chinese whispers game in which messages are whispered from one person to another. Errors typically accumulate in the retelling, resulting in an erroneous message being passed down. Eve lacked the rationale behind the forbidden fruit, so the Serpent could confuse her understanding. Adam could have been the second line of defence to the fall since he was given the word. He did not uphold GOD's Word because of his love for his flesh and bone, and he accommodated her decision. Eve was his missing rib, and only with her, he felt complete. Therefore, whenever she went, he would follow, and whatever she did, he would do likewise. Man was not made to be alone as God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make for him a suitable helper." Ironically, the helper GOD gave Adam, besides other things, helped him to fall into sin.  It is no one's fault that many are like Eve, having a compromised understanding as GOD's Word is not alive in them. Therefore, they can be misled or deceived. Many times, GOD is oversold like some commodity which is not Him. Like some marketing products, GOD is packaged and promoted as a miracle drug of great promise. Unbeknown to the naive, GOD does not give out big promises without terms and conditions unless those are common to all. Nothing is as easy as it sounds. Like Eve, we are unable to know the exact meaning of the words once they are stretched, twisted, and rearranged. Flesh-pleasing decisions If not Eve, we could be like Adam, who followed his instincts rather than the Word, pleasing his flesh instead of GOD. Before the fall of man, Adam's flesh was Eve. To please her, he listened to her despite GOD's warning. As they were one flesh, whatever she wanted was whatever he wanted. Listening to her more than to GOD, he ate what she fed him, which resulted in his downfall. After the fall, man's flesh is no longer his woman but his fallen nature. Therefore, whoever listens to his fallen nature will fall as Adam did. After the fall, man and woman no longer exist as one entity. They became separate entities, with Adam giving Eve her name, signifying her autonomy. She was no longer nameless, and neither was Mrs. Adam but Eve. She stood by her own identity and style of thinking. That moment was like an independent day, where Eve gained independence from Adam to signify man's independence from GOD. Man's decisions: Lose-Lose From the actions of Adam and Eve, we can derive two decision-making patterns. One is like Eve, who tried to be smart with reason and logic but could not outsmart her deceiver. The other is like Adam, who disregarded the facts and figures to follow the desire of his heart, living for what feels good. Not knowing what feels good might not be good at all. Either think like Adam or Eve; no one is a winner. That is the sad fate of man; his mind cannot go through intense mental gymnastics to recognise the truth. Therefore, many are, like Eve, easy targets for scams and deceits and fall away from the truth. As much as they cannot trust their mind to reason out correctly, they also cannot trust their heart to feel the right thing to do.  GOD's decisions: Win-Win If we could realise how impaired we are in our minds and hearts, we would be shaking our heads. Adam and Eve are a representation of us, and through them, we know we cannot rationalise well. Therefore, many suffer from making the wrong decisions due to bad judgments. Hence, we need GOD to guide us in making good judgments and sound decisions. For this reason, GOD wants us to trust in the LORD with all our hearts and lean not on our own understanding; in all our ways, we must acknowledge Him, and He will make our paths straight. In short, we must not trust ourselves in heart or mind to make proper judgments. As long as we surrender our will to GOD, acknowledge that He is omniscient, and await His decision, He will lead us in the right direction. Hence, we should not make rash decisions based on FOMO (fear of missing out). Instead, we must seek GOD out in all that we do. Even young lions go lacking and hungry, but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing. Prisoners to bad decisions Everything might sound straightforward. It is not. The complexity of the matter is that even though we know what we must do, only a few know how to act accordingly because no man is free to do as he wishes. We are all prisoners of our fallen nature. Simply put, we are the prisoners of our addictions and compulsion nature where there is no escape. Therefore, the saying - a leopard never changes its spots. That's the reality that many cannot understand. We cannot change ourselves, and neither can we change others. If we cannot agree with the statement, we can try to change our family members and see the futility of our efforts. The only way to change a leopard's spots is to de-skin it and give it a new coat. That is where Jesus comes in. Jesus is the new coat, and He will provide us with His coat of righteousness. If we want to change, we must endure the anguish of being, metaphorically, de-skin. In other words, we must be circumcised, not physically but spiritually, by cutting away the filth of the fallen, sinful human nature. Only then will we be transformed to be GOD's new creations. We will not be a leopard that never changes its spot but a lamb without blemish. The condition for good decisions To put it another way, without the circumcision of our flesh, we are not meeting the terms and conditions of GOD's contract, making His blessing invalid to us. He will not be our help in times of need. Remember, when we say the sinner's prayer, we agree to turn from our sins and invite Jesus to come into our hearts and lives. To turn from our sins means we will sin no more. To invite Jesus to come into our hearts and lives means it is no longer I live, but Christ lives in me. Our lives will no longer be under our control but under Christ's as our Lord. To do that, we must die for Christ to live within us. We must crucify our flesh. If not, we cannot fulfil our part of the agreement with GOD, making the contract with Him void. Therefore, many Christians are holding onto a non-binding contract because they refuse to crucify their flesh. GOD goes by the book even if He is love. Only when we fulfil the contract will it take effect. Only then will we be the brides of Christ. If not, we will be the foolish virgins that Christ will deny as His. First step of good decision: Stop sinning Getting the first step right is paramount, and without it, nothing we do for GOD does matter. To put it differently, if not, all that we do for Him is a waste of time. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, and that step is to sin no more. Only when we master our fallen nature will we sin no more than we can move towards GOD. Those who cannot stop sinning will forever be at point zero, the starting point. If we persist in sinning, then we will be on a journey of a thousand miles in the wrong direction, away from GOD.  Stop sinning sets us free from blind spots. No one ever plans to fail by doing the wrong thing, and no one ever intentionally sin so that they will go to hell. Like the rich man who died at the same time as Lazarus, he did not know that he would go to Hades and be in torment. If he had known, he would have done things differently. Therefore, he wanted Father Abraham to send Lazarus to his father's house to warn his five brothers of the existence of Hades. Many are like the rich man, not knowing what they are doing until it is too late. They cannot see the reality of Hades, evil and sin because all these words do not exist in their vocabulary. They are people of the world, having the mindset of it and not seeing anything beyond that. Therefore, many are like frogs in a pot, not knowing that they are slowly being boiled to death. Living in sin is not repulsive under our fallen nature but instead enjoyable, just as promiscuity is more pleasurable than faithfulness. Why have one when we can have many? Therefore, GOD makes us suffer under sin, so we will know the consequences of sin and seek Him. However, many will not learn, living like fools in paradise. Only when we seek Him will He open our eyes to the knowledge that sin is hideous, repulsive and grotesque. It not only turns us into beasts but also robs us of a fulfilling relationship with our soulmate, GOD. There is nothing to gain from fooling with sin but everything to lose. If we are rich, we might be like the rich man, realising too late that his wealth could do nothing for him in Hades. It would have been better if he had been a beggar like Lazarus. Being poor would deprive many of the opportunities to sin and every opportunity to seek GOD and ensure their salvation. Therefore, no one should despise the poor but instead, be good to them. After everyone's death, there will be a turn of events, like in the story of the rich man and Lazarus; the rich will end up in Hades suffering, and the poor will be in paradise enjoying. If the rich had been good to the poor, the poor would pray night and day, seeking GOD for their salvation. Would GOD not listen to those who mourn for the salvation of their benefactors? The solution: Blindfold ourselves and trust GOD Unless GOD is willing, no one escapes the blindness that plagues the world; no amount of fallen wisdom, understanding, or intuition will do. Therefore, it is futile to trust our hearts and lean on our understanding to lead us to a straight path. It is like an ant trying to move a mountain. As natural men, we will not be able to comprehend the things that come from the Spirit of God. For they are nonsensical to us, as ants cannot understand rocket science, and we cannot understand higher wisdom that leads to life because they are spiritually discerned. We need to trust GOD by blindfolding ourselves and follow Him wherever He leads. Then, we can safely say we always make good choices and are on the journey to eternal prosperity. Prayer: GOD, I acknowledge that you are the Lord of lords and the King of kings. I submit my mind and heart to you. Lead me and guide me according to your way so that I will find eternal success. Amen.