15/08/2023 - THE PAST IS BEHIND

• 
• 
• 
• 

For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light…   Ephesians 5.8

In any place the Gospel has not yet reached, many seek and make objects in order to find God. The Indians worship the sun, the moon, the trees, the waterfall, etc. to have some peace, but nothing good happens to them. They feel that there are bad spirits doing bad things – this is partly true – but they don’t know how easy it is to free themselves from this oppression. The same happens throughout the world. In the human heart, there is the reminder of God’s existence (Ecclesiastes 3.11 – Romans 2.14-16).

The apostle Paul says that this was also our fate. Without knowing the Lord, when people saw something bad behind the flaws and mistakes, they tried to appease, with offerings and prayers, the spirits of disease, poverty and other evil actions. Many of those who read me now agree that this was the reason they were suffering the evils sent from Hell. So, to get rid of them, they invoked what today they know to be demons.

Now, you can’t compare the religious life they had with what they learned in the Gospel, the Good News of what Christ did for us. After all, those who know Jesus no longer invoke evil spirits, which, besides being of no help, increase the burden of suffering on those who seek them. They do this because they are angels of the evil kingdom. They were God’s messengers, but with the fall of Lucifer, they became Satan’s envoys (Isaiah 14.12-20; Revelation 12.9).

The former slaves of the devil are out of the reach of evil beings, for they have been set free completely, becoming light in the Lord. That is the full truth! Those who paid a high price because they were in the hand of the king of darkness are no longer afraid of these spirits, for they have overcome and become superior to those they served. They are now children of the Light (1 Thessalonians 5:5). The Truth sets free!

This is the message to be preached to the world, showing those who are unaware of the power they have in Christ that they can be successful in all areas of life. To do this, such a person needs to be set free. The only way to do good to those oppressed by the devil is to minister the Truth to them, teaching them to be imitators of Jesus. The transformation is great and causes them to love the Lord as we love Him. It is beautiful to see such a transformation!

Making converts walk as children of the Light is a joyful work, for they soon begin to live in a holy way, enjoying health and giving the good testimony that can lead the lost to desire salvation as well. The Lord wants this to be done in the four corners of the planet. The Master has guaranteed that His children will be masters of the kingdom of darkness and liberators of those who don’t know Him yet.

Church of Christ, wake up and live so as to please the Lord! Seek to do the holy will, so that sinners will know which way to turn and whom to turn to. Then they will stop believing that their fortunes will change if they make offerings to evil spirits. When they discover that the truth is in Jesus, they will soon receive Him with joy and fulfill everything He tells them.

In Christ, with love,

R. R. Soares