destroyer

1  The Destroyer It was late afternoon. Birds were singing; kids were playing. Suddenly, the serenity was broken by the sound of squealing tires and a loud crash. There was silence for a few minutes, then the familiar sound of sirens filled the air. Tragedy had struck! Two people were dead; others were injured. As people gathered around, doing what they could to help, bits of conversation could be heard: "Isn't that Brother and Sister So-and-so? I just talked with him yesterday." "They were such good people. What a tragedy!" Then the inevitable question is asked—a question that will be asked many times, before and after the funeral: "Why did this happen to them? They were such good Christians!" It is best not to try to answer such a question. The answer could be harder to believe than the accident itself. In this life, no one may ever know the true answer for sure. Most people try desperately to help God out of what appears to be a bad situation by giving their own opinions, based on their religious ideas. They very often come up with such statements as:
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How You Can Avoid Tragedy and Live a Better Life
"Well, God knows best. You know what the Bible says, All things work together for good to those that love God." This is too often the case, and God is left looking like a killer. Small children grow up believing that God is responsible for such tragedies. What does the Bible really say? Is God the destroyer? Is God a killer? In answering this, the words of Jesus ring very clear: The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. (John 10:10). The Greek word translated destroyer means "miner; specifically, a venomous serpent." Satan Is the Destroyer! In such tragedies, it might be years later before some important information comes to light. No one mentioned it at the time because they thought it unimportant; but a distant relative casually mentions that he remembers hearing them say they prayed that they would die together. This then raises another question: Did God answer that prayer; or did they open the door to the destroyer? The Need for Knowledge John Osteen made a statement that I will never forget.
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He said, "God's people don't need so much inspiration as they need information." What a profound statement for the day in which we live! In Hosea 4:6, God said: My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children. Here God reveals the major source of destruction: My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. A person cannot believe any further than he has knowledge. He can have great zeal; but without knowledge to go with it, his zeal will be misdirected. Lack of knowledge is probably the number one reason tragedy comes to many Christians. This lack of knowledge causes people to fall into needless problems, troubles, suffering, sickness, and destruction. Second Peter 1:2 tells us that grace and peace are multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord. Grace is God's willingness to use His power and His ability on your behalf, even though you do not deserve it. According to this verse, God's willingness is multiplied to an individual as he gains the knowledge of God. Verse 3 says: ...According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that
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How You Can Avoid Tragedy and Live a Better Life
called us to glory and virtue. All things that pertain to life and godliness are already ours; but in order to enter into these things that pertain to life, we must have knowledge of it. ...Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature. 2 Peter 1:4 It is by the divine promise that we are made partakers of the divine nature of God. Again, verse 3 says, His divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness. It is God's divine power that gives us these things. How? Through the knowledge of God. These things come by knowing, believing, and acting on these promises. Then you partake of God's divine provision. Know it. Believe it. Act on it. Receive it. God has offered it to you; but if you don't know that, you will not enter into it. You may believe the lies of Satan and fall into needless problems, hurt, harm, and trouble. Without the knowledge of God, you will believe the things you have heard through religious circles: that God sometimes sends tragedy to teach you and make you stronger. This will seem right to you, but it is not right. It is not what God's Word says. Someone has made the statement: "The devil is no more than an unwilling servant of God." In other words, the devil is performing God's work, causing people to grow
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The Destroyer
stronger by tempting, testing, and trying them. That same individual said, "God never did promise to deliver us out of troubles. He always send troubles to make us stronger and more like Jesus." This kind of thinking sounds good to the religious mind, but it is a lie of the devil! Psalm 91:7-10 brings light to this subject. A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked. Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation; There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. Some people do not know that God is their habitation, that God is the deliverer. The individuals who believe that the devil is doing God a service are opening the door to tragedy and inviting Satan into their lives. There is no defense for them. They reason this way: If Satan is doing it for God, then who am I to resist God? But, Satan is not doing it for God; he is doing it to destroy God's creation. He is an enemy of God and man. There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.
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How You Can Avoid Tragedy and Live a Better Life
For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: and I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him. With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation. Psalm 91:10-16 Certainly, God said He would deliver us out of trouble. That is the will, the purpose, and the plan of God for our lives. Speaking of Jesus, Galatians 1:4 says: Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father. In other words, it is the will of God that we be delivered from this present evil world, or the evil that is in the world. It is not God's will for us to go through all the evil—problems, tests, trials, troubles, tribulations—that the devil has to offer. We have heard many sermons about how God led the
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The Destroyer
children of Israel in the wilderness; and most of these sermons seem to convey that the "wilderness experience" was to perfect them or make them stronger. But it did not make them stronger. It did not perfect their faith. It was not the will of God that they be in the wilderness all those years. Their "wilderness experience" was not God's blessing —it was a curse! It was not designed to make the children of Israel stronger. It was designed to kill them—and it killed all those over twenty years of age. The "wilderness experience" killed the doubters. The knowledge of why Israel was in the wilderness will give you a different perspective of God. Wisdom—Ability to Apply Knowledge Knowledge is vitally important, but knowledge alone is not the answer. It must be combined with wisdom. Wisdom is the ability to use knowledge. Knowledge without the wisdom to apply it is inadequate for any situation. Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets: She crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates: in the city she uttereth her words, saying, How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge? Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour
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How You Can Avoid Tragedy and Live a Better Life
out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you. Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof: I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh; When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you. Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me; For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord: They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof. Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices. Proverbs 1:20-31 This is where many Christians miss it. When problems come and calamity strikes, they seek for wisdom, but do not find it. Why? Because fear has come. Fear will stop the flow of God's wisdom. For the turning away of the simple shall slay
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them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them. But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil. Proverbs 1:32,33 Whoso hearkeneth to the wisdom of God. That person shall dwell safely and be quiet from fear of evil. The force of fear can stop God's wisdom from coming and keep faith from working. Jesus, speaking of the end times, said: Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth... Luke 21:26 Many may say, "Yes, that has already come to pass because many people are having heart attacks." There could be a double meaning to this; but if you search the Scriptures, you will find that Jesus never talked about the physical heart of a man. He talked about the heart as being the spirit of man, the inner man. In other words, your human spirit can fail because of fear. The spirit of man is designed to produce or bring you to the very thing that you speak out of your mouth. It is designed to bring into manifestation the things you desire. It is the soil of the kingdom within you. Jesus was speaking to the scribes and Pharisees when He said: O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance
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How You Can Avoid Tragedy and Live a Better Life
of the heart the mouth speaketh. A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. Matthew 12:34,35 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart (his spirit) brings forth good things. He cannot bring forth good if there is no good planted in his heart, for everything produces after its kind. Evil Report The scribes and Pharisees had evil in their hearts. You cannot bring forth good when there is evil in your heart. Now, don't equate evil only with being wicked. There are many Christians who have things in their hearts which God considers to be evil. If you want to know what God considers evil, look at the 13th chapter of Numbers. These were God's people and He had promised them the land. It belonged to them. It was theirs. But they would not go in and possess it. They heard the Word of the Lord, but refused to believe it. Twelve men were sent to spy out the land. Ten brought back what God called "an evil report." They reported what they saw, what they felt, and