Never Underestimate the Devil

     Yesterday was the third sermon of the church year that spoke of the Devil. Although we are to teach of Jesus, we must know that the Devil is there and continuously looking for ways to "devour" us. Many people do not think it is important to teach about the Devil, but he is very strong. If it were not for Jesus, we would all be lost. It is only because of Jesus' strength (which is greater than the Devil's strength) that we are able to stay with God. No one should ever ignore that the Devil is hovering and waiting for us to fail, because the power of the Devil could easily catch us if we are asleep. Watch and pray, lest ye fall into temptation.

All that Glitters Is not Gold.

 

 

Progression

 

Never miss a sunset, ... even if you are on the road.

 

Fluctuation

 

 

First this:

 

 

Then this:



Dr. Ben Carson

    
     Ben Carson was the greatest pediatric neurosurgeon in the world whose fame is the first successful separation of craniopagus conjoined (joined at the head) twins. Why is this so significant?

• He was black. When he was growing up, there was still a lot of discrimination against African-Americans, which gave him a difficult childhood. He had less of everything because of it.
• His mother was single and mentally unstable. She had to work full-time on top of her mental issues to support her 2 boys, which meant the boys didn't have much, nor did they always have a mother.
• He grew up in Detroit. There were not a lot of amenities or good things around the slums where Ben Carson grew up - he grew up playing around the railroad tracks.
• He was poor. There wasn't much money to go around and so they had less of a chance at anything in life.
• His mother did not have much of an education; therefore, she couldn't always help him with school.
• He had a temper. How many times he was glad that God had spared him from ever seriously hurting someone because of it.
• He is a Christian. We all understand how hard it is to be so up high in the ranks, but how difficult it is to stay a sincere, true Christian.

     And yet, Dr. Ben Carson survived and became strong. His mother brought it on herself to raise them as strictly as possible and they were too respectful of her as a parent to even disobey her - if only all children were like that nowadays. He had to work doubly hard to reach where he wanted to go, but he got it. His mother couldn't read, but she still "marked" their book reports and the boys were none the wiser. He came out of a poor childhood, but he became rich.

Faith Healing

     What I believe is significant is that one of Jesus' disciples (Luke) was a physician - a doctor. True, they didn't have as advanced medical treatment, but we can see that Jesus must have approved of doctors. I believe that in this day and age God has given us many doctors, nurses, and other health professionals to be "healers." That is not to say, however, that faith doesn't play a part in our health. When my sister had her surgery, it went much better than the surgeon anticipated, because she had so many people praying for her (it was actually a miracle, because the surgeon was quite surprised that it went much better than expected).

God gave us scientists to discover medical breakthroughs - God gave them amazing brains. God still plays a part in health care and healing, but, now, He brings it through other hands. We are still humans, however advanced; therefore, we cannot always know everything or we make mistakes. During those times, only God can heal, either in heaven or here on earth.
     Only faith healing? I don't think that is an appropriate option, unless there are not medical professionals at hand - then you practically have to go by faith. The best option: use all the healthcare professionals God has given you and pray that they are blessed and have the wisdom to heal.

Braces

Chemistry

This is what we did in Chemistry last week. 

Cool, isn't it?

More acidic solution on the left; more basic on the right.

"Then Cometh the Devil ..."

"...and taketh away the Word."

This is said to be the scariest "word" in the Bible as I heard this last Sunday. I think that I agree. 

     There is nothing worse than the Devil coming to take over your heart. My sister has a book entitled, Das Herz des Menschen, which explains how the heart grows towards or away from God and it comes with pictures that would want to turn any person into a Christian. Some of the ones referring to Satan are quite ... "hellish."