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ya know this brings up a good topic for discussion, because everybody knows when something bad happens it's "because of the devil". That's all you hear people say. But don't those exact same people also say, God knows what's going to happen to you before it ever does, thus, does it mean God planned for the bad things to happen in your life, or is it actually the devil?
Almost like you're in my mind. [img]/LDPforum/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] I want PacMan's version on Andrea Yates. Remember the woman that drowned her kids to save them from Satan. Was it post partum psychosis, or did she do it to protect them from Satan? I'm not being blasphemous, as I think most people are familiar with this case.
While I agree that there are plenty of legitimate mental disorders, one cannot dismiss demon possession or demon influence. The Bible records many instances of demon possesion/influence, and I have no reason to believe that we are suddenly immune to all that. Quite the contrary, as I think Satan is working overtime since he is also a student of the Bible and knows the end could come at any time. Thankfully, believers are already holders of He, the Holy Spirit, so there is no room in us for a demonic being. Unfortunately Satan can still inflict harm on believers by his influence on non-believers.
Let's make sure we don't confuse the Satan stuff with the mental illness/behavioral disorder stuff. If you read PacMan's post, again, you will understand my agitation to his comments.
So someone born with a mental defficent problem or someone born with a physical ailment is born demon poessed? If your born with webbed feet are you in the 7th level of hell?
I understand it completely and completely agree with you on that. What I was pointing out is that sometimes we assume, as does the medical community, that a person's behavior is explained away as mental illness. That is not always the case. As my grandpa used to say, some people are just plain mean. [img]/LDPforum/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] That comes not from mental illness but the influence of Satan.
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So someone born with a mental defficent problem or someone born with a physical ailment is born demon poessed? If your born with webbed feet are you in the 7th level of hell?
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Didn't understand my post at all, did you? Read the first sentence again. Things do not always turn out to be what they seem to be.
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ya know this brings up a good topic for discussion, because everybody knows when something bad happens it's "because of the devil". That's all you hear people say. But don't those exact same people also say, God knows what's going to happen to you before it ever does, thus, does it mean God planned for the bad things to happen in your life, or is it actually the devil?
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God allows things to happen for His reasons. It may be as a test, as chastisement, as an object lesson, etc. He also deliberately brings trouble your way, sometimes as a test, as chastisement, as an object lesson, etc. You can see examples of that in the lives of Joseph, David, Jonah, Samson, etc... To know for sure that you are not going to be excluded from this, read the book of Job. Job was a man who God declared to Satan was like no one else on earth. Satan insisted that Job loved God only because God hedged him about and protected him, and that if real trouble came his way, he would curse God. God then gave Satan permission to have his way with Job, only he could not touch his soul, as that belonged to God. If Job and David, both men who were said to be "after God's own heart", were subjected to sorrow, pain, and absolute horror, should we expect to be exempt?? I tell you, if you haven't known trouble, you will. If you haven't known sorrow, you will. If you haven't known horrors, you will.
We are told by Jesus that God holds us in the hollow of His hand and no one can snatch us out of His hand. He is speaking of believers whose souls Satan can't touch, but whose lives Satan can and will make miserable at every opportunity, either directly or indirectly. He has his job to do, you know. [img]/LDPforum/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]
I agree with the "some people are just mean" statement, but that can even be explained. If you grow up in an enviornment where negative behaviors are encouraged and tolerated, then you will exhibit negative behaviors. Health professionals are very specific when determining whether somebody has a biological problem or whether they just grew up in a really bad enviornment and that's why they behave the way they do.
My ex-wife worked as a counselor at a group home for troubled teens back in the early 90's . She said she was shocked by the number of the more troubled kids (especially the violent ones) whose case file contained mentions of satanic activities by one or both parents.
She was first of all astounded by the mentions, the number of mentions, and the correlation to violent behavior by the kids.
Just thought it was worth a mention.