OLD TRAPPERS CHASE MUSIC https://t.co/TQYe9bXLHE
He just laid another offside trap 😂😂
Flick 😭😭 https://t.co/UpRjL6Hlpo
Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Saini trapped in his own drama‼️
Nayab Saini could not drink a sip of water even after going to Palla and he wants to make the people of Delhi drink the same poisonous water. https://t.co/q9lDsiAEzx
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After Effects | Particle Logo Trapcode Particular Tutorial | By Tech Update: https://t.co/3K8kOKZdvV via
@YouTube
SUI/OP/ENA unlocks today total $642M—watch for volatility traps as weak hands panic sell into thin order books while whales accumulate.
Metaplanet’s new $13M bond for BTC buys signals deepening institutional FOMO—they’re stacking sats faster than ETF inflows.
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FOUND BY 🍋
In DBD version 1.3 there was this unfinished trapper mask. No clue what it could've been / was finished into but interesting find nonetheless https://t.co/YfordhwphE
🚨NEW:
@JoeRogan blasts the legacy media for downplaying
@ElonMusk and
@SpaceX's heroic rescue of two astronauts trapped at the space station.
"They're trying to sh*t on everything he does and hide all the good stuff. You didn't hear a peep about Elon rescuing those astronauts. That should have been livestreamed on all of the news all day long."
"It should have been a huge national event. We're finally going to rescue the astronauts who were trapped in the space station for 8 f*cking months. And this super genius, Elon, is the guy who figured out how to go get them."
"His company rescued them because we can't do it anymore. We couldn't rescue them. We had to rely on his company and you don't hear sh*t about it. It's crazy!"
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Analogous Response Of Temperate Terrestrial Exoplanets And Earth's Climate Dynamics To Greenhouse Gas Supplement https://t.co/O0HOanPGa1 #
Astrobiology# #
Exoplanet# #
TRAPPIST1# https://t.co/9FzIyuGcOn
L2 Blockchain Shibarium Halted For Over 4 Hours, $1.7 Million ETH Trapped
https://t.co/N90LLZVxuC
#
凡人微光# 仅26秒!梅州一小孩被卷车底,交警与热心群众徒手抬车救出。Only 26 seconds! A child trapped under a car in Meizhou, Guangdong, was rescued as traffic police and good Samaritans lifted the vehicle by hand—and in this moment, the power of unity was vividly realized. #
China# https://t.co/L8i0326Rwz
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We shot this right before the writer’s strike in July and weren’t back to film his escape until October… so, in a way… Louis was trapped there for several months. But he didn't seem to mind. Looked pretty cozy. https://t.co/pn4yDSZQAI
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🎶💡 How do YOU prompt SOUNDRAW? 💡🎶
With SOUNDRAW, making fire beats is easy—just tell us what you need! 🔥 Here’s how you can guide your next track:
✨ By Genre: Hip-Hop, Trap, Drill, R&B? You decide. 🎤
✨ By Mood: Hype, dark, chill, emotional? Set the vibe. 🎭
✨ By Instruments: More 808s? Guitar-driven? Synth-heavy? Your call. 🎸🎹
✨ By Theme: Making content for weddings or need a horror soundtrack? We got you 🚀
✨ By Tempo: Slow jam or fast-paced heat? We match your flow. ⏳
No matter your style, SOUNDRAW helps you create the perfect beat. Try it out and drop a 🎵 in the comments if you’re feeling inspired!
#
MadeWithSoundraw# #
AIBeats# #
MusicProduction# #
AImusic# #
madewithsoundraw#
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Checking in on $SAGA - in case you’re stuck on the
@Sagaxyz__ Airdrop 🪂treadmill
1⃣Massive Unlocks Looming
2⃣Inflation
3⃣Airdrop Treadmill
4⃣Chain Usage
1⃣Massive Unlocks
🔸April 9, 2025: Cliffs end, 133.33M tokens hit (148% of 90M initial supply).
🔸Core Contributors: 66.72M (33.36% of 200M).
🔸Investors: 50.04M (33.36% of 150M).
🔸Rest (16.57M): Likely ecosystem/airdrops, but unclear.
Price impact: Down unless demand magically appears (from where?). I usually don't talk about price action nor am I qualified for it but you can't ignore this.
2⃣Inflation
🔸7% yearly = ~70M new tokens. No burn in sight.
🔸Stakers diluted, chasing more $SAGA rewards.
More tokens ≠ more value.
3⃣Airdrop Lock-In Trap & Treadmill
🔸Total airdrop allocation: 140M-155M (14%-15.5% of 1B supply).
🔸Genesis: 45M (15M claimed, 30M unclaimed).
🔸Future drops: 95M-110M left (varies by source).
🔸Airdrop Vaults push for max restaking and now shifting slowly to LP.
Keeps you in, but value’s tanking - loyalty’s a leash, not a lifeline.
4⃣Chain Usage? Crickets
🔸 Saga’s “L1 for L1s” sounds slick, but where’s the beef? 350+ testnet projects by April 2024 (80% gaming - Rogue Nation, Generative Dungeon, Vennity), yet mainnet’s quiet a year in.
🔸Partnerships (Avalanche, Polygon) tease potential, but no big names live.
Tech’s unproven without adoption.
tl;dr: Unlocks flood supply, adoption’s MIA, and staking’s a hamster wheel.
➡️The chain’s gotta deliver something real to justify holding.
➡️We are all hungry to hear who is building with $SAGA underneath and I hope the Team account will highlight these partners or provide more directional updates beyond telling us how great the stack is.
DYOR, NFA. Numbers might be off - Happy for $SAGA to drop official stats and I'll post an update.
(just some of the) Sources:
https://t.co/ejAo8NXt0A
https://t.co/vPZAdtagj5
https://t.co/njQpehM4PP
https://t.co/rJHfTVHbO0
https://t.co/cYCp7QrDw4
🫡
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🧐 If you could add one feature to Hitomi Game, what would it be?
✅ More Enemies & Boss Fights – Tougher opponents, bigger challenges!
✅ Double Rewards Events – Limited-time boosts for faster earnings!
✅ New Power-Ups & Abilities – Special skills to outplay enemies!
✅ More Dangerous Traps – Can you survive the ultimate test?
✅ Something Else? Drop your ideas below! 👇
Your feedback shapes the future of Hitomi Game! Let’s hear your thoughts. 💬🔥
#
HitomiGame# #
GameFi# #
PlayToEarn# #
CryptoGaming#
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For
@BusinessDayNg.
“Sidi’s dilemma — like Nigeria’s — is a false choice. The path out of poverty lies not in Lakunle’s borrowed scripts or Baroka’s selective cunning but in building three infrastructures which honour the past while forging the future. Cultural infrastructure transforms traditions into systems of innovation, layering technology onto communal practices. Political infrastructure empowers local governance with tools and accountability for locally sensitive policymaking. Trade infrastructure weaves physical and digital bridges, turning rural producers into global players.
China’s playbook shows that development is not a rupture but a dialogue. For Nigeria, this means rejecting both the contractor-driven “progress” of white elephants and the elite capture masked as tradition. It demands rewriting the narrative — one where Sidi leverages cultural resilience, accountable governance, and inclusive trade to craft an ending worthy of her promise. The task is urgent: without these pillars, cities will keep bursting, inequalities will fester, and the jewel of Nigeria’s potential will remain trapped in someone else’s tale.”
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Today in
@BusinessDayNg, Oyinkan Teriba offers some lessons from China’s growth infrastructures.
https://t.co/zeBEyJ7qP9 https://t.co/kXJO54lzOr
Veteran Achievers Award: Recognising Contributions, Rewarding Excellence
#
GeneralUpendraDwivedi#, #
COAS# honoured three esteemed #
Veterans#, Colonel Harjit Singh Ahuja (Retd), Colonel Vijay Kumar Seth (Retd) and Sepoy Harjinder Singh with the 'Veteran Achievers Award' during his visit to #
Chandimandir# on 29 March 2025.
Colonel Harjit Singh Ahuja (Retd) in last six yrs has become an inspiration for the younger generation in social service. He is a regular blood donor in tri-city and has motivated about 125 members of the community to become blood donors. His association with NGO 'PRABH ASRA' a Disabled Caretaker Social Service in Kurali form 2006-2012 has looked after over 2500 street dwellers with mental & physical health issues.
Colonel Vijay Kumar Seth (Retd) has dedicated the past 16 years to selfless service to humanity. He has been a driving force behind ITI-level training programs for over 800 children of veterans, facilitated through the Haryana Government-sponsored NGO, ‘Sainik Parivar Bhawan’. Additionally, since 2017, he has contributed to ‘Baikunt Dham’ in Panchkula, a charitable organisation that ensures dignified last rites for the underprivileged in coordination with the local municipality.
Sepoy Harjinder Singh (Retd), a Kargil war veteran, was discharged from the army in 2003 on medical grounds. On 10 February 2025, while on leave, he rescued five people trapped in a vehicle submerged in a canal, despite a rod in his leg from his injury. Previously, he had saved a girl from drowning in 2008, earning him a bravery award from the Civil Administration. His actions reflect his remarkable courage and dedication to helping others.
‘Service is a Lifelong Journey; Building a Stronger, United #
India#.’
#
RespectAndRecognition#
#
Veterans#
#
IndianArmy#
@DefenceMinIndia
@SpokespersonMoD
@HQ_IDS_India
@westerncomd_IA
@DIAV20
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There’s a storm coming. One that makes every current conflict look like a warm-up act. And somehow, no one seems to fully grasp it. Maybe it’s too insane, too surreal. Maybe people are still pretending this is all just politics, or culture, or temporary noise. It’s not. This is something deeper, darker… and it’s already begun.
Everyone’s felt it: the world flipped upside down, and nothing adds up anymore. Terrorists commit medieval-level atrocities, and yet somehow millions rush to cheer them on. Not just justify them, but worship them. Bin Laden. Hitler. Symbols of evil being openly praised in the streets of Western capitals. It’s not fringe anymore. It’s now mainstream. That should terrify people, yet for whatever reason it doesn’t.
And if you take a step back and cut through the noise, something else starts to come into focus. There’s a pattern forming, too coordinated to be coincidence, and too strategic to be chaos.
Yes, antisemitism is exploding. It’s real. It’s incredibly serious. But perhaps we’re missing something. What if the rage against Jews and Israel isn’t the endgame, but rather the smokescreen? What if it’s the hook, not the killshot? What if the real target is everything else… the entire Western world.
Because while people are marching for Gaza, ripping down posters of kidnapped civilians, fighting each other over ancient hatreds, something else is happening. Quietly… Systematically. Laws are changing. Speech is shrinking. Institutions are shifting their loyalties. And somehow every lever of power now bends toward protecting one worldview above all others.
No one voted for this. No one asked for it. But it’s happening. If you question it, you’re branded a racist. If you resist, you’re fired, banned, cancelled, arrested. Meanwhile, those pushing this agenda? They go unchecked. Untouchable. Above the law, outside criticism, beyond accountability.
And while everyone is screaming about Israel and Gaza, here’s what no one is asking: What do the people of Gaza actually get out of all this?
They’re still trapped. Still suffering. Still dying. But somehow Syria’s butchers get rebranded as freedom fighters, and Europe cuts them checks while Gaza is being used, just like everything else.
This was never about Gaza. Never about the Jews. They’re just the distraction. The misdirection. This is about breaking the West from the inside out. Using its guilt, its openness, its fear of being called the wrong name as weapons.
And they’re winning. Not with tanks. Not with bombs. But with ideas, with language, with infiltration. They found the vault. They used our compassion to open it. Now they’re looting it piece by piece, law by law, narrative by narrative.
This isn’t immigration. It’s not tolerance. It’s not diversity.
It’s replacement.
And if you still think that all sounds crazy, then good… That’s what they’re counting on.
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To achieve Perfection, Give
Matthew 19:21 Jesus told him, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me."
Man is not perfect because GOD never made them perfect. When GOD transformed Earth in Genesis from being dark, formless and void to what it is today, He never once said that it was perfect. They were good or very good at the most but never perfect. GOD could have made all things on earth like the way He created Satan, 'the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty'. That means Satan is flawless. He is more beautiful than anyone we have ever seen, and his wisdom is beyond Solomon's. Satan is full of wisdom, which is complete and whole. As for Solomon, his wisdom, as in the book of 1 King, is 'exceedingly deep insight, and understanding beyond measure, like the sand on the seashore'. Even though his wisdom was greater than that of all the men of the East, greater than all the wisdom of Egypt, it is not perfect. Solomon' is nothing compared to Satan.
For whatever His divine reason is, GOD did not give anything on earth the seal of perfection. Hence, this is the sad fate of everyone, like Adam and Eve, who are prone to falling like a house of cards because of their imperfect architecture. Therefore, the saying 'to err is human' is an undeniable truth, as it is man's nature to make errors. With Satan as our tempter, we can understand how easily we can make errors and fall into his trap. He is the seal of perfection while we are not. We are like Humpty Dumpty, who sits on our imperfections and has a great fall. Even all the king's horses and all the king's men couldn't put Humpty together again.
Many do not know the consequences of our imperfections. It is the part of us that makes us fail and sin against GOD. Success will always elude us in everything we do - in relationships, careers, health and wealth. Our imperfection is our weakness, causing us to make mistake after mistake. In contrast, perfection is like our strength, and it is like a fortress, infallible. Since we are made imperfect, we will blunder our way to failure. Therefore, we see failures in systems, policies, people, families, societies and countries. The issues are countless. It is not that we do not do our best, but our best is not good enough because we cannot expect anything good out of imperfections. No matter how careful we are, we will boo-boo here and there, jeopardising our success and especially our relationship with GOD. No matter how we view our disappointments, either due to our unfavourable or uncontrollable circumstances, it is our imperfection that contributes to them. It is our imperfection that leads us to unfavourable circumstances that become uncontrollable.
As much as GOD made us imperfect, He does not want us to dwell in our imperfections from His creation. Our imperfection will cause us much pain and sorrow and distance us from GOD. The Palmist advises us to find our strength in GOD so that we will go from strength to strength and not succumb to imperfection. Jesus asks us, 'Be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect'. However, GOD is not leaving us to figure out our problem by ourselves. He told the Apostle Paul, "My strength is made perfect in our weakness." In other words, we can be transformed from imperfection to perfection. We need not hold on to our imperfections as our stigma because we are only human. Only when we are perfect do we not sin against GOD, and can we be like our heavenly Father in heaven, sinless. Therefore, being perfect is not a suggestion or advice but an edict. We must overcome our weaknesses of being imperfect so that we can be blessed in all that we do. However, it is much easier said than done because of what Jesus said, "For apart from Me you can do nothing".
It is not that we can do nothing. What Jesus meant is that we cannot do anything that leads to life, only those that lead to death. That is to fulfil what GOD said to Adam, "for in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die". After the fall of man, the Tree of Life is under the guard of a whirling sword of flame with stationed cherubim. No one can access it till Jesus comes as the way, the truth, and the life. Only through Jesus will we find the way of truth to life. Without Jesus, life, as the opposite of death, will evade us. Therefore, overcoming our imperfection is not by our physical determination but by GOD's spiritual anointing through our walk with Christ as we become the doers of His Word. Only then will the narrow path be revealed so that we can find the way to truth in life.
Jesus nor the Bible mentions much about being perfect, minimising its importance. In the encounter of Jesus with the rich young man, Jesus linked perfection as the criterion for eternal life. Therefore, perfection is more than not making errors or sinning but the standard of eternal life. It is a complex process of transformation to be like Jesus with the ability to fulfil the commandments of the old through Moses and the commandments of the new from Him. Jesus said, "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfil them". Jesus came to fulfil the Law, and we must do likewise. If we are any short of the standard, we are not perfect.
Let us elaborate on the story of the rich young man to understand the issues. The Jewish man knew all about GOD's commandments but did not have the answer to eternal life. He was rich, implying he must have been educated and not ignorant, having a deep understanding of the GOD's Word. In doubt, he could ask from his many of his teachers. However, no one probably could give him an answer, so he approached Jesus. His question was not out of ignorance but well founded. The Torah does not have the answer because, in the Old Testament, GOD did not offer anyone eternal life. No one, regardless of who they were or their capabilities, was not qualified for eternal life.
In a larger scheme of things, since the Old Testament does not offer eternal life, this implies that fulfilling the Ten Commandments is not enough to qualify for eternal life. Obedience to GOD's Commandments, as stated in the book of Deuteronomy, only assured anyone of a blessed or abundant life, not an eternal life. Therefore, the young man lived a blessed life of wealth because he honoured GOD with his obedience to the commandments - Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness, honour your father and mother, and love your neighbour as yourself.
GOD will never shortchange us because He is fair and just. If fulfilling the commandments is enough, GOD would have offered eternal life to His promises. The Psalmist said, "For the LORD God is a sun and a shield; the LORD gives grace and glory; He withholds no good thing from those who walk with integrity." Walking in obedience to His commandments is synonymous with walking with integrity before GOD. Therefore, He would not withhold the good thing of eternal life to those who honour Him. If He did withhold, it must be that eternal life requires more than obedience to the Law. It requires perfection because Heaven is not a place for imperfect sinners who trespass the Law. If we do trespass against GOD, we will be a repeat of Satan, being cast out of heaven. Therefore, perfection is a must to be in heaven.
Jesus came as the new order that is above the old to amalgamate the Old and the New as one so that we could, through Him, not only have a blessed life but also eternal life. The young man was standing at the point of inflexion between the Old Testament and the New Testament, where Jesus was the point of change. Therefore, Jesus could take his question because He is the answer. To understand the need for new order of Jesus is that the Old, through its Law, is to expose sinfulness and highlight the need for divine grace. The Law cannot save us from eternal death. Eternal life must be through Jesus Christ and nothing else, and without Him, there can be no eternal life. Therefore, Jesus has to come with the new order.
If we were to go strictly by the rules to obtain eternal life, we need to abide by the old and new commandments. When the young man asked Jesus, Jesus did not supersede the old commandments or undermine them, even when He came as the crusader of grace, the new order, and not the Law, the old order. Therefore, many have misunderstood the scripture when they say they are not under the Law but under grace. If we are no longer under Law, then why would Jesus say to the young man, "If you want to enter life, keep the commandments"? Jesus should have said, "If you want to enter life, believe in Me". Unfortunately, He did not, but that is the thinking of many. They misinterpreted the epistle of Romans, 'For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.' Only when we no longer sin will sin not be our master. Then, we are not under the Law but under grace. If we persist in sin, we will still be under the Law, and grace has no favour to us. We must read the Bible like reading a legal contract, not in isolation but in totality. We cannot lift, cut, paste, or arrange the sentence as we wish to make it palatable.
Jesus was impartial and upheld the Law even with His disciples. They were not under grace because they were His disciples. Their wrongdoings were judged under the Law. For that, we can look at the difference between Peter and Judas Iscariot. Both betrayed the Son of GOD, but one was restored, and the other was not because one wrongdoing did not trespass the Law while the other did. Peter's wrongdoing was that he denied Jesus, but he did not trespass the Law to murder, commit adultery, steal, or bear false witness. He did not do Jesus any harm by walking away and denying Him. Judas indirectly murdered Jesus by going to the chief priests and agreeing to hand over Jesus in exchange for thirty pieces of silver. Judas' love for money is not a sin, but his love for money caused him to betray innocent blood. That is a sin. If grace can override the Law, and under grace, GOD takes no account of our wrong, then Judas should not be sickened with guilt but be overcome with love and forgiveness. Sad to say, the love and forgiveness did not come to fill his guilty conscience, and he was so filled with self-condemnation that he killed himself. Therefore, no one is above the Law, not even Jesus' disciples.
The rich young man is a better man than Judas, but his fate is no different. He was a visionary of spiritual foresight. No one, not even the Pharisees or the scribes, questioned Jesus about the way to eternal life except him. He had self-discipline and control, not letting his desires control his obedience to the commandments. He indeed had a highly commendable personality. The Epistle of Mark commented that Jesus looked at him and loved him. He clearly met with Jesus' approval. He fulfilled the conditions of the Old Testament, so Jesus offered him the new requirement of the New Testament. Instead of having a to-do list of 'thou shall do this' and 'thou shall not do that' as tests of his obedience, he must give. His ability to give will make him like GOD, perfect. For that, he must give his possessions to the poor and give his life to GOD by following Jesus in total surrender. Only by following Jesus and exemplifying His way will he be made perfect. Jesus is perfect, and following Him would mean we walk the way of perfection.
Unfortunately, despite his endeavour to keep all the commandments and be a better person, the rich young man did not get what he wanted: eternal life. He did not obtain eternal life, not because he was rich but because of his unwillingness to give. Jesus said to His disciples, "Truly I tell you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again, I tell you, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." Jesus used an exaggerated figure of speech to emphasise that it is beyond any doubt that a rich man will enter the kingdom of heaven. The issue is not with the wealth but the unwillingness to give. In retrospect, no one will remain wealthy if they keep giving away their wealth. Therefore, Jesus has nothing against rich people but people who are unwilling to give and only live to enrich themselves.
If we are like the rich young man who is not contented by just life on earth, we also desire eternal life; we must do more than the young man. We must be like Peter, who said, "We have left everything to follow You". Then Jesus will reply to us saying, "Truly I tell you, in the renewal of all things when the Son of Man sits on His glorious throne, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for the sake of My name will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life. Let us not let our unwillingness to give forfeit our eternal life. Therefore, be the transformation we want to see in ourselves, give.
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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.
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