102523

[prismaticbleed]

 

Woke up alive! So we went to Mass!

Mailed letters
Jade shower
Lots of prayer during cleanup. Laurie more stable helping me.
Knock homily!
Rosary!


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This harmony at None=
"Give in to God: resist the devil, and he will run away from you. The nearer you go to God, the nearer He will come to you. Humble yourselves before the Lord and He will lift you up... The Lord looks on those who revere Him. He is close to those who hope in His love."
It's always reciprocal, always relational with God.
Every step we take towards Him, He meets with enthusiasm. He doesn't sit stoically and wait for us to crawl near. No, He is the Prodigal Father, watching for us and running ahead to meet us!
But then that verb "humble" stands out. It suggests that, in humbling ourselves-- in becoming meek & lowly & bowing down quietly at His Feet, in the dirt like a child or a homeless man-- we become so close to Him that He can actually reach down and gently pick us up. He can touch us; He can hold us.
Likewise, "those who hope in His Love" are described as "close to Him," meaning that not only are such souls humble in their very hoping, but also suggesting that only those souls WHO hope in His Love WILL "draw near to God." We need humility, and hope, and reverence-- the final descriptor, also mutually inclusive, because in order to pick us up and embrace us, God has to look at us... with His eyes full of the Fatherly Love we humbly hoped for. It all knits together.
...But I saved the best for last. "Give in to God."
...

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VOTD = THE DAY OF THE LORD!
Buckle up I'm transcribing & expanding=
⭐ In Eden, the devil's REAL temptation was= "YOU can define good and evil on your own terms, and put YOURSELF in GOD'S place." But this just caused broken relationships and violence, because it put God out of the picture. "Now everyone has to protect themselves and fight for survival, and they're ALL USING DEATH AS A WEAPON TO GAIN POWER."
+ Babel/Babylon becomes an icon of "mankind's corporate rebellion against God" = everyone came together to elevate themselves to the place of God, and redefining good & evil as if they were God. This returns in EGYPT but WORSE!! Pharaoh feels threatened by the Israelite immigrants and starts killing & enslaving them-- the Egyptians "take care of themselves at the expense of others by redefining evil as good." So God TURNS PHARAOH'S BACK ON HIM, as he is "driven forward by pride" and thus swallowed up by death in the Sea of Reeds.
+ PASSOVER IS THE CELEBRATION OF THIS "DAY," the day "when the LORD liberated & rescued them from a corrupt human system!" This "Day" was a huge source of hope for Israel, and when they became a settled nation, they hoped for ANOTHER "DAY" in the future when God would deliver them from their new & greater enemies.
+ BUT the Prophet AMOS said THIS DAY WAS COMING-- FOR ISRAEL! They had become corrupt just like Egypt and Babel, with their religious leaders redefining good & evil and profiting from the distortion. The devil's trap of prideful power seemed to be one no man could escape, a doom that all sons of Adam inherited, even those of God's chosen people.
+ JESUS was born into this historical context BUT even living under Rome's power, Jesus saw that the REAL ENEMY was NOT ANY HUMAN kingdom, however oppressive & corrupt-- it was that INHUMAN evil, SATAN, who lured ALL HUMANITY into accepting his deadly "promise of power"-- a power no one but God actually had, but which the devil's ravenously proud desire to usurp nevertheless was the very cornerstone of his own false kingdom of hell... a kingdom he was trying to enslave mankind to forever.  But Jesus RESISTED THIS ANCIENT TEMPTATION of self-deification in the wilderness, the ONLY MAN WHO EVER DID, and REFUSED to exploit His Power-- TRUE Power, GOD'S Power-- for His own self-interest, no matter how "justified" it may have appeared or even been! Instead of flaunting His actual Authority and Divinity, Jesus chose HUMBLE SELF-DENIAL, SACRIFICE, & OBEDIENT DEFERENCE TO HIS FATHER, setting a NEW example and response for mankind. He DEFINED GOOD in His very actions! THEN He immediately began His Gospel Mission, using His Power of GOOD to CONFRONT, COMBAT & REVERSE the effects OF evil on others!
⭐ "Jesus began to say that He was going to Jerusalem for Passover for a final showdown: to confront the evil of Israel and Rome... by DYING." " Jesus was going to let evil exhaust all its power on Him by using its only real weapon: DEATH. Jesus knew that God's Love and Life were even more powerful, that He could overcome evil by becoming the Passover Lamb, giving His Life in an act of Love." "And something CHANGED that day. When Jesus DEFEATED evil, He opened up a new way for ANYONE to escape from Babylon, and discover this new kind of power-- this new way of being human."
+ "But we keep building new versions of Babylon; the power of evil is still alive and well. This is where REVELATION comes in. It describes the future & FINAL DAY of the Lord, when His Kingdom comes to confront Babylon the great-- this image of all the corrupt nations of the world."
⭐"The VICTORIOUS Jesus is symbolized by a bloody sacrificial lamb. And when He does arrive in the end, riding His white horse to confront evil, He's bloodied before the battle even starts!" Why? "Its because Jesus ISN'T OUT FOR OUR BLOOD. Rather, He overcame with HIS Blood when He DIED FOR HIS ENEMIES. And the sword is in His MOUTH-- it's a symbol of HIS AUTHORITY TO DEFINE GOOD AND EVIL, and to hold us accountable when He brings final justice once and for all."
⭐"And so, in the meantime, the Day of the Lord is an invitation to RESIST the culture of Babylon. And its a PROMISE, that God WILL one day free our world from corruption, and bring about the New Thing that He has in store."

Sorry I HAD to transcribe that because again, these Bible Project reflections are LITERALLY CHANGING EVERYTHING for me; I never knew ANY of these ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL TRUTHS & REVELATIONS about my faith (pun intended) and transcribing them in realtime really makes them sink in.

From their own written reflection =
"To imagine a world without violent conflict or death is borderline impossible, yet we all long for it. How can we hope for something we can barely imagine? The answer might have something to do with the Day of the Lord. In the Bible, the Day of the Lord refers not to one day but to many different events, happy OR sad, with one common characteristic— God rescuing people and eradicating evil from the world. If you enjoy doing evil and benefit from it, then the Day of the Lord is sad for you. But if you hate evil and long for goodness, then the Day of the Lord is awesome. Jesus shows up, and this represents a big Day of the Lord. He starts destroying evil, but NOT with violence against human beings. He destroys evil by generously healing and forgiving people. His Power is through love, not coercion or force. After his crucifixion and resurrection, possibly the most important Day of the Lord so far, He speaks of yet another Day of the Lord event on the way— when He returns, when the world we've imagined and hoped for becomes real. May that good day arrive soon!"
...
...

"Jesus, you are the God who helps us and delivers people from slavery. You set us free. You are the God who sees, hears, and knows the cry of your people. Come and deliver us again. May your Day arrive soon as you eradicate evil and restore OUR beautiful world."
Again, NOT DESTROYING THE WORLD!!
I emphasize "our" because Eden proves that yes, it is BOTH GOD'S AND OURS. He shares it with us willingly as a loving gift.
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KVOTD = "Just like my physical heart is protected by my ribcage, my spiritual heart needs protecting too-- because things that are valuable need protecting... our hearts are the most valuable thing we have."
...That was such an ironic punch to the chest. Immediately I think Infi and Laurie.

Guided prayer just hit me like a truck=
"God, thank You for redeeming every part of my life."
IT WORKS LIKE THAT???
...I actually need to sit with this. I'm reeling.
I somehow never thought of my LIFE being included in redemption. Isn't that weird? I thought, "okay, my soul is redeemed, but my body, my personality, my history? Nope, that's all set in cursed stone. Those things can't be changed or replaced. When they're ruined, they're ruined. I'm stuck with a broken life; even if my soul isn't in chains anymore, it's still living in a ruin."
But now you're telling me that God, through Christ, CAN and DID redeem EVERYTHING???? HOW????
I can't erase history. I can't fix this body. I can't take back the irreparable harm I've done. HOW am I "redeemed" in EVERY part of my life???
...I'm misunderstanding the word. "Redeemed" means "to buy back or recover by purchase." It implies "rescue & deliverance." It DOESN'T magically "fix what was destroyed." It just... it means that God still pays full price to buy what the world sees as a filthy scrap of garbage, because a very long time ago, that scrap was God's beautiful work of art, one signed with His own Name, and He never forgot it... He never gave up on searching for it just so He COULD get it back.
The problem? The DEVIL had it, and he wanted to KEEP it just so God COULDN'T have it, because he HATED GOD. The devil didn't care about love or beauty or life. He abused and vandalized that artwork, mangling it beyond recognition, just to spite God.
I digress. My point is... God still paid full price to get me back, even if that purchase didn't "miraculously undo" the damage.
...Or did it? Am I still wrong? Isn't there Power in the Blood?
...

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Matthew Henry Commentary continues at verse 27.

"Christ was voluntary in His sufferings, and yet prayed to be saved... "ek tes oras tautes"= out of this hour, praying not so much that it might not come as that He might be brought through it. Save Me from this hour; this was the language of innocent nature, and its feelings poured forth in prayer. [But] He presently corrects Himself, and, as it were, recalls what He had said: But for this cause came I to this hour. Innocent nature got the first word, but divine wisdom and love got the last, [in] His acquiescence in His Father's will... [which assured Him that even as] an hour is soon over, so were Christ's sufferings; He could see through them to the joy set before Him [by His Father, even by their very means]."
Oh wow the Greek adds a whole new level of meaning to that first bit. Christ KNEW and WANTED the hour to come, but His "innocent nature"-- sinless humanity!-- was still scared of the violence & pain & death. So He graciously spoke these words in empathy with us, while still being completely willing & voluntary as to the imminent suffering itself.
AND YET NATURE IS STILL NOT THE AUTHORITY. That is absolutely vital. Jesus doesn't invalidate or deny it, but He still puts it in its proper place-- in total obedience surrender & service to GOD'S WILL, which WAS His TRUE joy!!
That last bit is so important too. His suffering was, ultimately, still "just an hour," as incomprehensibly agonizing as it indeed was. It still had an ending, even if that ending was death. But afterwards there was eternal joy, even because of the agony-- joy because HIS "temporal" suffering and death was GOD'S PLAN, through which He saved fallen humanity from the same fate but in eternity. With that contrast in His Heart, an "hour"-- or three-- was entirely worth enduring.
(I hope that's not heresy. I must be careful with non-Catholic commentary. I'll need to check actual doctrine and correct myself if necessary.)

"It is the duty and interest of troubled souls to have recourse to God by faithful and fervent prayer, and in prayer to eye Him as a Father. [Therefore our] prayer against a trouble may very well consist with patience under it and submission to the will of God in it, [trusting in His Goodness]."
It is a duty to pray because we must recognize His as in control of the trouble, and so to rely only on Him as God, and not seek reason or rescue in any creature. It is our duty because He is Lord and we must not keep secrets from Him, just as we must keep up mutual communication with Him.
It is our interest to pray because it is our deepest comfort, surest refuge, and strongest reassurance. It shines light in the darkness of confusion & fear.
...
Most importantly = God is our Father, perhaps especially in troubled times.
...
We are allowed to ask for deliverance, but never to resist the trial-- after all, it is "only an hour," and God always means it for final joy.
...
...This is where I struggled last night.
...


"Those who would proceed regularly must go upon second thoughts. The complainant speaks first; but, if we would judge righteously, we must hear the other side."
That is exactly how we have to deal with Socials and the Somafoni.
Is this also implying that "gut feelings" and "first impressions" are NOT always correct? If so that's a heavy warning.
If not, it at least IS saying that "first thoughts" are almost definitely false-- the knee-jerk response is always an automation. It's empty programming. Do not accept it just because it barged in first. Stop, seek the truth, pray, and make the Christian decision.


"For this cause came I to this hour; he does not silence himself with this, that he could not avoid it, there was no remedy; but satisfies himself with this, that He would not avoid it, for it was pursuant to His own voluntary engagement, and was to be the crown of His whole undertaking; should He now fly off, this would frustrate all that had been done hitherto. Reference is here had to the divine counsels concerning His sufferings, by virtue of which it behoved Him thus to submit and suffer. Note, This should reconcile us to the darkest hours of our lives, that we were all along designed for them; see 1 Thessalonians 3:3."
This is a KEY distinction!! When we try to "silence" ourselves, it is an act of RESISTANCE-- we want to avoid or remedy something, but cannot, so we forcibly shut our feelings down... but this just breeds rancor & misery. The problem is that silencing is based on OUR wants. Jesus, in contrast, satisfies even His frightened humanity by declaring GOD'S Will, and His voluntary cooperation with it-- He WOULD NOT avoid it, because it was His "destiny" chosen by His Father, and therefore there was nothing else He wanted more.
This is a good reminder to persevere, no matter what. God has a destiny for us, too, in Christ.


"Observe His regard to His Father's honour herein. Upon the withdrawing of His former petition, He presents another, which He will abide by: Father, glorify Thy Name, to the same purport with Father, Thy will be done; for God's will is for His own glory. This expresses more than barely a submission to the will of God; it is a consecration of His sufferings to the glory of God. It was a mediatorial word, and was spoken by Him as our surety, Who had undertaken to satisfy divine justice for our sin. The wrong which by sin we have done to God is in His glory, His declarative glory; for in nothing else are we capable of doing Him injury. We were never able to make Him satisfaction for this wrong done Him, nor any creature for us; nothing therefore remained but that God should get Him honour upon us in our utter ruin. Here therefore our Lord Jesus interposed, undertook to satisfy God's injured honour, and He did it by His humiliation; He denied Himself in, and divested Himself of, the honours due to the Son of God incarnate, and submitted to the greatest reproach. Now here He makes a tender of this satisfaction as an equivalent: "Father, glorify Thy Name; let Thy justice be honoured upon the sacrifice, not upon the sinner; let the debt be levied upon Me, I am solvent, the principal is not." Thus He restored that which He took not away... What God has done [in Christ's Life, Death, & Resurrection] for the glorifying of His own Name is an encouragement to us to expect what He will yet further do. He that has secured the interests of His own glory will still secure them [in Christ]... Let this encourage [Christ's followers] to part with life itself for His sake, if they be called to it, that it will redound to the honour of God. Note, The promises and supports granted to our Lord Jesus in His sufferings were intended for our sakes. For our sakes He sanctified Himself, and comforted Himself."
Okay if this main point is harmonious with Catholic doctrine this is HUGE.
The antiquated speech is hard to properly grasp, though.
What I DO get is this: that we humans can only injure God's glory, but MAN is that ever an abominable offense! God is GOD, the Creator & Life of All, Truth & Love Himself, Endless Mercy & Absolute Justice.
God's Will is ALWAYS for His Glory. For a human that is pride; for God that is RIGHTEOUSNESS. He is incapable of sin, incapable of corruption or death or even change. ONLY GOD deserves glory, in truth. Furthermore, His NATURE, His Character, is HOLINESS. God IS Virtue, He IS Beauty & Goodness & Honor, et cetera. So, to "will His Own Glory" IS to will ALL those holy things, at all times. It makes perfect sense actually. His Name is ineffable-- "I AM"-- but in the OT, that very BEING is indirectly referred to WITH holy & virtuous descriptions OF His Character, of what He has revealed of Himself to the comprehension of man. King, Lord, Warrior, Father, Redeemer, Just Judge, Most High, The Holy One, He Who Sees Me, etc... and then "slow to anger," "rich in kindness," etc. But it's all infinitely deserving of glory. Nothing else is. All goodness & holiness comes FROM Him.
Now, as to Christ consecrating His sufferings TO that glory, that's the amazing paradox that I'm trying to comprehend rightly.
God Himself set His own glory aside in order to restore it. The Son willingly submitted to humiliation and this infinitely glorified the Father. Was the humiliation infinite because He, too, was God? How does this restore the injury done by man? Did He put Himself IN the place OF man, and took on "equivalent" humiliation in just recompense?
Remember the whole point of the Cross, truly, was to SAVE US. His Blood sealed the New Covenant. Yet, still, in this very gesture of infinite Love, He DID "satisfy God's honor" perfectly & forevermore. Is that because nothing honors God more than the Life & Death & Resurrection of Christ His Son, the Perfect Sacrifice, obedient & innocent & willing & loving to the very end?
...
The final essential point is: we are, in this as in all things, called and charged to follow Christ.
...


"The opinion of the standers-by concerning this voice... shows, 1. That it was a real thing, even in the judgment of those that were not at all well affected to Him. 2. That they were loth to admit so plain a proof of Christ's divine mission. They would rather say that it was this, or that, or any thing, other than that God spoke to Him in answer to His prayer; and yet, if it thundered with articulate sounds (as Revelation 10:3-4), was not that God's voice? Or, if angels spoke to Him, are not they God's messengers? But thus God speaks once, yea twice, and man perceives it not."
Splitting hairs in these matters numbs the heart. I know; I've done it. God SPEAKS, all the time, but if we're only expecting a literal voice, or a certain means of a sign, or a particular mode of language-- we might as well be deaf and dumb. God is not obligated to communicate as we see fit. And if we are so hesitant to believe, so prone to doubt, so ambivalent in our faith, then no matter HOW He speaks, we won't accept that it WAS Him!
God speaks through thunder. God speaks through angels. God speaks even in a human voice-- in Christ, in Scripture, in His Church, in our conscience by the Spirit! The real question is: are our hearts open to hear? Are we listening with faith? God is really speaking to us, right now. Will we admit that, and so perceive His truth?


"The matter of the triumph is, That now is the judgment of the world; "krisis", take it as a medical term: "Now is the crisis of this world." The sick and diseased world is now upon the turning point; this is the critical day upon which the trembling scale will turn for life or death, to all mankind; all that are not recovered by this will be left helpless and hopeless. Or, rather, it is a law term... The death of Christ was the judgment of this world... Now is the trial of this world, for men shall have their character according as the cross of Christ is to them; to some it is foolishness and a stumbling-block, to others it is the wisdom and power of God; of which there was a figure in the two thieves that were crucified with him. By this men are judged, what they think of the death of Christ."
...I have to comment upon my Patron. Remember that in the Gospel, at first he also mocked Christ, and of course his whole life up to that point has been an affront to God, hence his own cross... but at the last minute, literally as Death swung her scythe, Dismas repented. Legend has it that Christ had planted a tiny seed of grace in his soul with a pure glance, three decades ago. Dismas probably never gave it a second thought, probably lost it to time & the numbing of his conscience, the hardening of his heart... but even the most fragile flowers can break concrete. On the cross, something bloomed, as the Light of Christ suddenly blazed brilliant upon it, through the bloody wounds and broken dreams, all the violent breaches in that sin-steeled shell. The cross, even his own, was already fused with the Lord’s, already a vehicle of salvation in that unity of faith, by that small yet stupendous spark of recognition. "Jesus, remember me when You come into Your Kingdom." He called Him Jesus. That holiest of Names. God is my salvation. His heart knew, at last.
That is hope for every single one of us.
If all humanity is represented by Dismas & Gestas, and they BOTH were thieves & criminals, and they BOTH started off jeering at Jesus, BUT the "good thief" let grace break through his bleeding heart... then we, too, can change, if only upon our own crosses. Still there is that Name, that Promise, for us-- God is my salvation. We only need to believe, as we look into His loving Eyes beside us.


"The Cross is a judgment of condemnation given against the powers of darkness... Judgment is put for vindication and deliverance, the asserting of an invaded right. At the death of Christ there was a famous trial between Christ and Satan, the serpent and the promised seed; the trial was for the world, and the lordship of it; the devil had long borne sway among the children of men, time out of mind; he now pleads prescription, grounding his claim also upon the forfeiture incurred by sin. We find him willing to have come to a composition (Luke 4:6; Luke 4:7); he would have given the kingdoms of this world to Christ, provided He would hold them by, from, and under him. But Christ would try it out with; by dying he takes off the forfeiture to divine justice, and then fairly disputes the title, and recovers it in the court of heaven. Satan's dominion is declared to be a usurpation, and the world adjudged to the Lord Jesus as His right. The judgment of this world is, that it belongs to Christ, and not to Satan; to Christ therefore let us all atturn tenants."
THAT BIT FROM LUKE IS NOW EVEN MORE TERRIFYING.
The heartless nerve of Satan to offer Christ His own stolen Kingdom is scandalous enough, but THIS? To realize that he WAS willing to "hand it over," IF Jesus would only be his figurehead?? How perfectly devilish, to so mangle truth & twist words!! Christ could "rule," sure, if He would only take one step down, and hand absolute authority to the Adversary. But who would know? Power is power, right? Humanity is already owned by evil, right? That was the devil's argument. "You can't possibly have them back; they're too corrupt, too lost, too evil. They belong to ME. But if You want to be their King so badly, I'm willing to meet You halfway..."
...and I wonder, is that infernal foe attempting to get vengeance for his defeat now, with this very ruse? He has filled the Church with "gall & wormwood"; if he has lost his claim on humanity, he will surely try to deny that at every turn, but he can only do so convincingly by denying, slandering, and concealing the true King. So he goes back to his evil offer, and plays it out himself. He uses Christ's Name as a cover. He puts white-dressed wolves among the sheep. He tricks multitudes into thinking that Christ's Church IS the devil-- what a cruel parody, what a bitterly ironic alternative to his rejected temptation! "If You will not serve me, Jesus, then I will make everyone think You are me." And that's why we see so many Satanists in this modern culture, even appropriating Christ for themselves. They hate the truly Good Church, "as evil and false," and yet they embrace the real evildoer and liar, Satan, "as good and real." How fatally they have been fooled!!
...
And yet, remember this: THE CROSS STANDS FOREVER. The world BELONGS TO CHRIST, BY RIGHT, FROM SEMPITERNITY, AS HE CREATED IT.
...


"By the Cross, the devil is said to be cast out, to be now cast out; for, whatever had been done hitherto towards the weakening of the devil's kingdom was done in the virtue of a Christ to come, and therefore is said to be done now."
This sort of talk is so important. Jesus Christ IS GOD. Therefore He is ETERNAL. Everything He did in His Incarnation was PLANNED and WILLED for endless ages, in His pre-incarnate Being.  He DID exist, and DID work, and DID prepare the world FOR His Incarnation, all through human history.
But the Cross itself transcends linear time. It is the eternal altar of our salvation, of the Lamb of God. It extends its power into both the past and the future without limit. Therefore, the "culminating event" of our salvation, the Cross, is the "origin" of ALL past & future "dismantling of evil", through Christ the Word of God and Lamb of God, Son of God and Son of Man. The Cross in the historical "now" is when & where we see the perfection, the completion, of the redemption of all things, even if not yet realized in linear time-- the hinge of all history, the anchorpoint of all existence.
For the record, it is ALWAYS "now," for us living after that event, and because of it, and by it. This becomes literal in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Don't ever take that for granted.
Remember this passage. Realize what you are even now summoned to be a witness and partaker of.


"Christ, reconciling the world to God by the merit of his death, broke the power of death, and cast out Satan as a destroyer; Christ, reducing the world to God by the doctrine of his cross, broke the power of sin, and cast out Satan as a deceiver... When Satan's oracles were silenced, his temples forsaken, his idols famished, and the kingdoms of the world became Christ's kingdoms, then was the prince of the world cast out, as appears by comparing this with John's vision (Revelation 12:8-11), where it is said to be done by the blood of the Lamb... Observe, With what assurance Christ here speaks of the victory over Satan; it is as good as done, and even when He yields to death He triumphs over it."
Oh this is good. There's so much powerful hope & joy here.
Christ's death was a GOOD thing, even the BEST thing in a paradoxical way-- for it was the entrance to eternal life, and the exit from sin's curse... which was death itself! Christ LITERALLY redefined it, sanctified it, by taking it INTO HIMSELF. As a human He was sinless & innocent & therefore as deathless as the first unfallen Adam; as God He could not die or be killed, ever, in any way. BUT He CHOSE to die as a human, WITHOUT being "under that curse", and WHILE ALSO BEING FULLY DIVINE. So death HAD to be redefined in Him; it literally COULDN'T function otherwise.
The Cross stripped death of all its power, and instead made it a tool of God, NOT of Satan-- completely transmuting it from its original function, which was destruction, as the inevitable consequence of sin causing separation from God Who Is Life. Satan can no longer use death as a weapon against mankind, for Christ has changed its very purpose through the Cross.
Christ, by the very cause & purpose & means & message of the Cross-- His atoning Death, His pure Life, His justice & mercy, everything-- both revealed the true and total horror of sin and offered freedom & absolution from it. Thus, as with death, He not only educated us on the full truth & effects of human depravity, but at the same time gave us full knowledge of deliverance, of forgiveness, of reconciliation. As with death, He took on its full power while remaining innocent of guilt, giving repentant sinners a Way to righteousness in Him, breaking sin's prison forever, and revealing they Satan LIES when he claims we are unforgivable, unlovable, unchangeable-- and when he tries to masquerade sin as virtue. The Cross crushes all those falsehoods permanently.
What strikes me the most is the blatant equating of ALL idolatry TO DEVIL WORSHIP, because really, "whoever isn't for Christ is against Christ," and if you're not worshipping the One True God then there's only one other wannabe option! But these descriptions aren't just for old pagan cults. I see ALL of this TODAY. "Oracles" are everywhere-- horoscopes, tarot cards, ouija boards, even the lure of "personality tests" and "vision quests" run rampant in pop culture, all trying to gain "hidden knowledge" about human nature or human souls. They seek to pry into the mind of God, or at least into places where only He has any right to look. "Temples" is scarily twisted-- people forsake buildings to venerate their own bodies now. They take God's true Temples and make them the very idols they worship. The ever increasing options for "self alterations" and ways to "discover yourself" all deny the existence or influence of any "God" but their own whims-- which are almost always, ironically, animal in nature. "Idols" are so common the very word has become casual vernacular. Celebrities, musicians, authors, artists, politicians, influencers, content creators, gurus, scientists, family members... people are idolized more often than we readily admit, but often they are actually just faces pasted onto more deeply rooted idols: knowledge, fame, power, pleasure, comfort, control... every single one boils down to pride, to exalting oneself and one's own interests & profits above all else.
How does Christ conquer all this? Remember the VOTD. Remember the "Day of the Lord." Although we are still living in Babylon, as it were, the Cross is eternal; the True King is on His Throne, and the Lamb has been sacrificed. Christ IS victorious, even in His Passion and Death. His victory is being won IN these very sufferings of His Body, across all time, until it is perfected in that final Day. But Christ has already won. The devil is waging guerrilla warfare but he has no claim on this world. If he has any thrones, they are shabby ones built on lies, lacking any authority, and all it takes is one drop of the Lamb's Blood to demolish them.
Do not despair. Keep preaching the Gospel of the true King, Jesus Christ, Who has conquered sin and death forever on the Cross. There is hope for us all, always.