- araratchurch
- Apr 27
- 5 min read
Revisiting ”Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, And prudent in their own sight! Woe to men mighty at drinking wine, Woe to men valiant for mixing intoxicating drink, Who justify the wicked for a bribe, And take away justice from the righteous man!“
Isaiah 5:20-23 NKJV
In our discussions, you may have noticed that I often reference “the world system.” To clarify: When I reference the world system, I am referencing all that is set against (or in place of) the rule of Christ. This evil group includes principalities and powers in the realm of the spirit, as well as the earthly systems of government, rule, etc, established in rebellion against, and contrary to, the Kingdom of God. Now, whereas some governments may not be openly hostile to Christ (many are so), failure to acknowledge the rule of Christ is still problematic and will ultimately lead to complete departure from Christ’s rule.
Understand, the world system sets man as the ultimate ruler. This system is ruled over by Satan and will shortly be the platform for the very brief rule of the Antichrist: a human being empowered by Satan and the forces of darkness, to directly attack and challenge the rule of Christ. It won’t end well for him or anyone aligned with his rule. But being the father of the “scorched earth” principle, this Antichrist will reek much havoc before being suddenly cut off.
Again, make no mistake, there are only two kingdoms. The kingdom ruled over by Satan includes the rebellious angels who followed after Satan in his attempted coup, as well as disembodied spirits that walk the earth finding no rest. For our purposes, we will just put these disembodied spirits in the category of ancient rebellious persons. I do not complicate my search for truth trying to figure out exactly where all of the evil spirits came from. But I will tell you, they are among us, and—being disembodied—they seek to manifest themselves through hollowed-out human souls.
As noted above, these purveyors of darkness in the realm of the spirit, definitely find their counterpart in human governments and systems of rule that deny the sovereignty of the Lord.
So, although the world—even the Church—attempts to present “gray areas” or “neutral zones,” the fact remains that a person is either operating under the rule of Christ, the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of Light, or is under the sway of Satan and the kingdom of darkness. Consider John’s commentary on this principle.
“We know that God’s children do not make a practice of sinning, for God’s Son holds them securely, and the evil one cannot touch them. We know that we are children of God and that the world around us is under the control of the evil one. And we know that the Son of God has come, and he has given us understanding so that we can know the true God. And now we live in fellowship with the true God because we live in fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ. He is the only true God, and he is eternal life. Dear children, keep away from anything that might take God’s place in your hearts.”
1 John 5:18-21 NLT
Now, Jesus made clear that He came to bring light.
”Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”“
John 8:12 NKJV
John—earlier in the passage previously employed—made clear that there is no darkness in God. As well, he made clear that we only have fellowship with God as we walk in the Light.
”This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.“
I John 1:5-7 NKJV
Peter clarifies that we—through Christ—have been called OUT of darkness .
”But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.“
I Peter 2:9-10 NKJV
And, as Paul points out, through Christ, we have been conveyed, moved, out of darkness, into the Light.
”that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.“
Colossians 1:10-14 NKJV
Paul also warned that we are to have no fellowship with the kingdom, or works, of darkness.
”Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell in them And walk among them. I will be their God, And they shall be My people.” Therefore “Come out from among them And be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you.”“
II Corinthians 6:14-17 NKJV
In our opening scripture we see that great judgment is pronounced against those who try to change God’s standard of what is good, and what is evil.
Sadly, this evil persuasion is even found in churches purveying the “all paths lead to God” heresy. As well, those who deny, or minimize, or put far off in the amorphous blob of irrelevance, the bodily rule of Christ from the earth, are also guilty of calling good evil and vice versa.
As noted before, my Spiritual Journey began with a feeling of nothingness. Next time we will turn to revisit my first excursion into a survey of what the world system really looks like.
But, make no mistake, nothing going further, can be rightly viewed through a lens that confuses light and darkness, or a lens through which there is entertained the notion of there being an alternative, a neutral place, between the Kingdom of Light and the kingdom of darkness. Friend, it does not exist.
Please join me next time as we walk through an evil, dilapidated “arcade.”
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!
- araratchurch
- Apr 25
- 3 min read
”God stands in the congregation of the mighty; He judges among the gods. How long will you judge unjustly, And show partiality to the wicked? Selah Defend the poor and fatherless; Do justice to the afflicted and needy. Deliver the poor and needy; Free them from the hand of the wicked. They do not know, nor do they understand; They walk about in darkness; All the foundations of the earth are unstable. I said, “You are gods, And all of you are children of the Most High. But you shall die like men, And fall like one of the princes.” Arise, O God, judge the earth; For You shall inherit all nations.“
Psalms 82:1-8 NKJV
As I have shared with you, my Spiritual Journey in January of 2024 began with a sense of complete nothingness. As I mentioned last time, this was just a vehicle, a context in which I would experience a two-pronged journey over several days.
In one prong of the journey, the Lord spoke to me as I was asleep in dreaming visions. Through these dreaming visions He basically revealed the truth about the world system, the kingdom of darkness, and toward the end, indicated the “hook” remaining in me, keeping me from being completely separate from the control of the enemy.
The second prong in the Spiritual Journey would be experienced as I was awake with my eyes closed. I was definitely not asleep. In this state I experienced several spiritual confrontations, several entities, offering me “help.”
Before going into the specifics of the two prongs in my Journey, I must set the context.
You see, sadly, multitudes of people try to fill the longing or emptiness in their soul, by taking what the world has to offer. But please understand, there is nothing in the world system, nothing in the realm of Satan‘s rule, that can help us. Indeed, everything thought to be helpful is actually—if given the opportunity—systematically hollowing out our life force, the spark left of the divine nature, to render its victim completely unable to resist being fully controlled and destroyed by the forces of evil.
Jesus, speaking to the church at Laodicea, addresses their self-deception in which they saw themselves as having everything they needed. He urged them, implored them, to come to Him in an attitude of repentance to receive what they really needed.
”And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, ‘These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God: “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked— I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.“
Revelation 3:14-19 NKJV
We see that if they remained in this place of self-deception, this place of “I can handle myself,” they would be completely rejected.
In our opening scripture we see the Lord speaking concerning the sons of God who were placed over the nations. He points out that they are corrupt, and because of that, the people “do not know, nor do they understand; They walk about in darkness; All the foundations of the earth are unstable.”
Sadly, we see this dynamic in action all around us; it’s everywhere in the world, in every nation, in multitudes of individuals. Everything they do is done in darkness, and every foundation on which they have built themselves, is now violently being shaken.
Next time we will take a further look into how the world system, the kingdom of darkness, is currently operating.
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!
- araratchurch
- Apr 23
- 4 min read
”For thus says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel: “In returning and rest you shall be saved; In quietness and confidence shall be your strength.” But you would not, And you said, “No, for we will flee on horses”— Therefore you shall flee! And, “We will ride on swift horses”— Therefore those who pursue you shall be swift! One thousand shall flee at the threat of one, At the threat of five you shall flee, Till you are left as a pole on top of a mountain And as a banner on a hill. Therefore the Lord will wait, that He may be gracious to you; And therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you. For the Lord is a God of justice; Blessed are all those who wait for Him.“
Isaiah 30:15-18 NKJV
The spiritual journey I am sharing with you began with a sudden onset of severe illness. Almost without warning I felt as though my actual life force was leaving my body.
Yes, this spiritual journey began with this sudden onset on January 16, 2024. On January 17 I passed out from a full standing position, falling between my bathtub and toilet, onto the tile floor between two porcelain fixtures. Of course, I was sore from the episode; but I knew it could have brought, and was meant to bring, my demise. Yes, I should’ve died that day, at that moment; and if I have ever known anything, I know that to be the truth.
Later on in that day, I spoke to my husband telling him that I now knew what being nothing felt like. Indeed, I felt a sudden awareness of being absolutely nothing. Now, if you’ve never been there, it’s hard to explain. In fact, it would’ve been difficult for me to understand before this.
You see, I’ve had good days and bad days, just like any other human being. I’ve even had some very close calls with death; but this experience was different. It somehow had gone beyond an acute physical onslaught to a spiritual place of reckoning.
At this point in the journey, the only thing I could see and know was that I was nothing; and for the first time when facing some form of adversity, I could not see beyond this moment of total vacuousness. Praise God, all that would change; but not yet, not nearly yet.
During my trying to explain to my husband (he was also ill, but not to the supernatural depth I was experiencing) what was going on with me, I said that I felt I had been whittled down to nothing but a meaningless pole, standing on a hill, standing alone.
Our opening scripture is what I was referencing. In this instance, the Lord had allowed His people to be taken down to nothingness because of their unwillingness to follow after Him.
Before I go on with that, you may be wondering if my experience was triggered by willful disobedience. I can tell you unequivocally that the answer to that is no. For me, this process was being used by Satan to sift me and leave me vulnerable to a knockout punch. But God was using it to do what He speaks in verse 18 of our opening scripture. He brought me to nothingness so that He could be gracious, and have mercy on me, ultimately leading me to the point of denouncement of that which I was not aware was still somehow residing in my spirit.
Now, make no mistake, I understand that many people will take offense at me saying that the Lord was using this intense moment to bring about something good in my life. I will not argue with the naysayers. You see, I’ve been on the journey, and I know what I know.
The fact is, until we become nothing, until we become aware of the point the apostle Paul was making in Romans 7, and are totally dependent, totally trusting in our Lord, we will fall short of what He has for us. And—living in these last days before the coming of Jesus Christ—we may well be taken out by deception while trusting in that which is nothing.
”For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find.“
Romans 7:18 NKJV
This same Paul had wrestled with some area of torment. He asked the Lord to take it away. But the Lord wanted him to learn complete dependence on the Spirit, the power, of God.
“If I wanted to boast, I would be no fool in doing so, because I would be telling the truth. But I won’t do it, because I don’t want anyone to give me credit beyond what they can see in my life or hear in my message, even though I have received such wonderful revelations from God. So to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud. Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
2 Corinthians 12:6-10 NLT
As long as Paul thought that his power was coming from his own ability, he could not be fully used by the Lord, Who must be in complete control in order to fully manifest His glory through us.
Next time we will talk further about becoming nothing. For me, it was the first step in this spiritual journey; and it was setting me up for a great victory. But there was much more yet for me to learn. And, it wouldn’t be easy . . .
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!