I'm actually not sure where to put this, so I'll place it here because it seems to connect fairly well to my introduction.
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It is unlikely that this writing will be understood by most, as it's intended for a specific audience who will understand.
In my belief, the Faith isn't cut and dry; it's deeply personal. Neither do I diminish the importance of rules and boundaries.
The enemy and those in his employ have altered how many perceive a variety of terms and practices. For example, in the corruption of how words are perceived, "obey", "submit", and "surrender" have become terms which bring discomfort.
When most think of a term like "obey", they tend towards the context of "slavery". For example, "obey your master" or "obey your government". Neither of these examples will sit well with the audience I'm writing to here, and that's not by chance; it's by design.
What is glorious, the enemy has made to be perceived as offensive. "Submission" to God, has become entangled with "slavery to God". Likewise, phrases such as "living on my knees" or "a servant of Christ", also have been made to be perceived as undesirable.
In the darkness, I was taught, "the only person who could help me was me." Practices like kneeling weren't advised, though I didn't agree as I found the gesture to be one of respect. I was taught that "RHP" "religions" were systems, invented to control weak and gullible people.
It was better to be an "adversary", a "rebel", a child after the fierce black flame of "Lucifer". It was better to stand against traditional morality, even all morality because as I was taught, morality was relative and not absolute.
Pride was a virtue, though not in conditions of birth. Instead, one was to be proud of their accomplishments; one was also to be proud of their "grade" or "degree", though openly discussing it wasn't acceptable.
While this was the common teaching, my prior "faith" included a set of "morals". For example, I was taught never to claim what I didn't earn. I was also expected to offer absolute reverence, trust, obedience, and humility to "Lucifer", not because he particularly cared but because it was a mockery.
What I didn't realize at the time was that the observances he expected and teachings he provided, weren't just to mock God, they were to mock me as a creation of God. However, the enemy failed because I'm now a child of Christ.
Returning to the prior subject, consider the term "lamb" or "shepherd". In the darkness, it was impressed on me that these were offensive and degrading. The opposite is true, though requires details.
What I've noticed is that the words of the faithful are foreign to the world, and often considered to be offensive. The reason for this is missing details. The world isn't having a personal relationship with Christ, they are living in accordance with the desires of the flesh; the things of Spirit are uncomfortable to them.
It's like when I text someone or talk to them in a chat room. While the words are there, and perhaps even the voice, there is a missing element. This element is physical proximity or "face to face" as it's often called, and it's incredibly important because we weren't created to speak over machines.
"The devil is in the details"
In conclusion, the world will perceive scripture, its glorious language, and the language of those faithful to Christ as foreign for the following reasons:
1) The flesh rejects the Spirit because it's fallen.
2) The enemy has worked diligently to cause good to be perceived as evil and evil to be perceived as good.
3)The enemy always leaves out certain details so the figurative puzzle is unfinished, yet is perceived as complete.
4) The enemy is wise as a serpent and speaks with a forked tongue. In other words, he speaks "out of both sides of his mouth."
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God bless.
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The enemy is unable to change reality, he's only able to change how many perceive it."
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