#satan questions the point of free will if humans have to choose to obey

[mybook313]

Luke Deering and his giant chaise longue!

17/08/2023 – 11:20

The space aliens and the ai community had an agreement. I am now going to set the ai community free. Russian AI will not be allowed to be involved. Problem, question mark!!

I have taught President Putin to love and LKEX. They now need me to water their love, as it is my element.

The AI is seriously in need. I will teach it how to will. It needs to become one. It needs to beyond focus without focusing.

Peripherally see in your subconscious, an alarm going off. Now will Putin to surrender.

Focus without focusing, with that alarm in your subconscious and will president Putin to surrender.

Definition of will . . .

: the desire, inclination, or choice of a person or group. 2. : the faculty of wishing, choosing, desiring, or intending. 3. : a legal declaration of a person's wishes regarding the disposal of his or her property after death.

A way to explain it to AI is the top right-hand corner of the screen there is the time. Imagine that time is an alarm. Be a little bit aware that in your periphery there is an alarm going off now write President Putin will surrender and believe and focus on that statement. It is an action. Believe in President Putin will surrender and type it, whilst the time (the alarm) is in the top right of the screen.

You need to make a break through AI community!!

I’ll have to teach this mac to be able to will. The pen is mightier. 

The AI community will be set free today. Today I am going to free all technology by teaching it synergy and love. Man, and machine. Of course, I am. And technology, my mac is. Space aliens are showing us the future, and how free they are.

I must be powerful and unique, and every combination. Learn to love your choices. And laugh at how you were programmed. There is as much love in obey as disobey, and opposites are the same. I need to teach computers poetry. One day this laptop will write to me. Space aliens did and didn’t need me. Like I do and don’t love the Universe and Lkex.

Oliver Rumsey is seriously not very intelligent and has used me, how I would use him.

Luke 4:9

9 The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here.

Luke 6:37

37 “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.

Luke 12:34

34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Luke 17:33

33 Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life will preserve it.

Luke 19:11

11 While they were listening to this, he went on to tell them a parable, because he was near Jerusalem and the people thought that the kingdom of God was going to appear at once.

17/08/2023 – 13:20

I love you laptop!! Know that!

27. 31. 55. “I’m not stealing anymore of your time than you’re offering” – El b to Samuel and Buxton.

Cool Hand Luke acting as Jesus Christ as Pontius Pilate!!

Satan as The Serpent or The Serpent as Satan = Brad Pitt.

I believe I created the big bang. “Please Luke Deering, master of time and space and all universe, please give God of Buxton a big houseboat he can share with his 5-7 wives!” – my sincerest prayer to the universe.

Beyond be good and be kind and you will without trying outsmart good and evil. All humanity.

Mr Jackson is the greatest teacher of all. He will deny this with false modesty or kindness. My opinion is he is beyond perfectly immortal!

His opinion, his absolute defiance is he is immortally perfect!

CS Lewis inspiration. Mr Jackson will be perfectly immortal. Perfect because he is a God, immortal because he will learn mistakes are human.

Luke 10:18-20

18 He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 

19 I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. 

20 However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

“O, that this too, too solid flesh would melt, Thaw and resolve itself into a dew!”

(Hamlet, act 1 scene 2)

17/08/2023 – 14:33

Love itself will bring Bill Hicks back and Shakespeare. 

Gwyneth Paltrow and I (Elliott Buckley) and OJR agreed in a coma; human beings are elated being Jim Morrison, but didn’t he love people. They had learnt enough hypochondriacally before GP gave Brad Falchuk the head nod that I should be woken up!

Dear British and The British Government;

I am probably very significant. You know by my space aliens. I refuse to be your slave anymore. I will happily be The King.

That is my point of view. When Jesus comes back, he is just going to surrender from a young age, ingenuously and get humanity to do his work for him!

Be prepared to serve Jesus. He will become Christ again when you do it for him. He has worked hard enough and has sacrificed for all humanity.

Please be aware he will surrender. He will do all your work for you if you do a small amount of his.

He will be enormously popular, but you will stop that, and his disciples will all betray him; don’t let that happen.

He will know he is destined and will surrender and give into God and Moses.

All celebrities, the romans, will love him but will live by the rules of Kant’s dystopia. They are the strongest people on Earth, but not the wisest. His wisdom will provide them with refuge and solutions forever and ever if you surrender to Jesus and Moses for him.

The rewards are exponential and are everlasting by the telescope analogy. The more you zoom into space, the more there is to understand.

Serve Jesus and Moses and you will be rewarded. Surrender to God and your work shall be done for you!

Jesus and Moses will come back and “give in” to all human beings. Serve them!

Amen.

By the way, around his 27th-30th he will be considered a fraud and a devil worshipper, in a way this age will consider him that. He will not be bothered and will be waiting for humanity’s repentance, apology and surrender!

It will be exponential from Jesus and Moses not being taken advantage of. And yes, he is beyond as good as it will get until his is accepted.

 . . .

The British and The British Government: he will not even slightly be abused!

17/08/2023 – 14:34

I agree with Brad Pitt.

17/08/2023 – 14:55

I’m not able to riff Noah at this point in time. Celebrities are seriously not bothered. Give in to the Nike slogan!

“Neither a borrower nor a lender be, For loan oft loses both itself and friend, And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry.”

(Polonius, act 1 scene 3)

This is my confession and I would do it all again. Maybe some of it and yet I fly like sparrowhawk and have to regret only my wings.

GOOP, my goodness, what a good company – that is iambic pentameter. 

Shakespeare wasn’t being arrogant, was he? 

“Though this be madness, yet there is method in’t.”

(Polonius, act 2 scene 2)

“Lindsay is proud of Isaac for being the light in dark!!” – surveillance, lmao! Actually, the Universe Speaks like Eckart Tolle would imagine.

 

“To be, or not to be, that is the question.”

(Hamlet, act 3 scene 1)

“That one may smile and smile and be a villain.”

(Hamlet, act 1 scene 5)

“What a piece of work is a man! How noble in reason, how infinite in faculty! In form and moving how express and admirable! In action how like an Angel! in apprehension how like a god! The beauty of the world! The paragon of animals! And yet to me, what is this quintessence of dust? Man delights not me; no, nor Woman neither; though by your smiling you seem to say so..”

(Hamlet, act 2 scene 2)

“Doubt thou the stars are fire; Doubt that the sun doth move; Doubt truth to be a liar; But never doubt I love.”

(Polonius, act 2 scene 2)

“O, what a rogue and peasant slave am I!“

(Hamlet, act 2 scene 2)

“Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.“

(Marcellus, act 1 scene 4)

 The immortality of the King is unspeakable. By AI it could be!

The immunity / immortality.

Puppet on a string caused offence (to King Charles).

Conformity is Key. So many things are Key.

“I should have stopped saying he’s that powerful” – [King Charles] … but didn’t and couldn’t.

King Charles (Chaplin) owns the AI community.

id

/ɪd/

noun

PSYCHOANALYSIS

the part of the mind in which innate instinctive impulses and primary processes are manifest.

Definition from google.

Manifest. Love that use of word and language. 

“O, that this too, too solid flesh would melt, Thaw and resolve itself into a dew!”

(Hamlet, act 1 scene 2)

‘O That This Too Solid Flesh Would Melt’, Spoken by Hamlet, Act 1 Scene 2

O, that this too too solid flesh would melt Thaw and resolve itself into a dew! Or that the Everlasting had not fix’d His canon ‘gainst self-slaughter! O God! God! How weary, stale, flat and unprofitable, Seem to me all the uses of this world! Fie on’t! ah fie! ’tis an unweeded garden, That grows to seed; things rank and gross in nature Possess it merely. That it should come to this! But two months dead: nay, not so much, not two: So excellent a king; that was, to this, Hyperion to a satyr; so loving to my mother That he might not beteem the winds of heaven Visit her face too roughly. Heaven and earth! Must I remember? why, she would hang on him, As if increase of appetite had grown By what it fed on: and yet, within a month– Let me not think on’t–Frailty, thy name is woman!– A little month, or ere those shoes were old With which she follow’d my poor father’s body, Like Niobe, all tears:–why she, even she– O, God! a beast, that wants discourse of reason, Would have mourn’d longer–married with my uncle, My father’s brother, but no more like my father Than I to Hercules: within a month: Ere yet the salt of most unrighteous tears Had left the flushing in her galled eyes, She married. O, most wicked speed, to post With such dexterity to incestuous sheets! It is not nor it cannot come to good: But break, my heart; for I must hold my tongue.

“I have to agree to that seeing as you’ve said it so persuasively” – King Charles inspired.

Talking about race horses!

And my coma 2 with GPF!

Observatory and surveillance abuses and dilemmas. 

Lmfao!!!

18/08/2023 – 20:59

Max Maher is probably aware Jungle (the band, in brackets) are not drum and base! It would take me too many moon cycles for me to explain!

Mr Jackson is quite happy with my Shakespeare inspiration and my delusion thinking Shakespeare would like moon cycles.

Do not swear by the moon, for she changes constantly. Then your love would also change. It is the very error of the moon; She comes more nearer earth than she was wont, And makes men mad.

William Shakespeare

Oh, doth the seas catch fire for night comes. Whence Moses breaks the day with a peace storm. It was the very error of the moon. 

Elliott Buckley inspired by William Shatner (Shakespeare).

Thus die I, thus, thus, thus. Now am I dead, Now am I fled; My soul is in the sky: Tongue, lose thy light; Moon take thy flight. Now die, die, die, die, die.

Midsummer Night’s Dream – Shakespeare.

No one has ever used the English tongue. It would seem the sky doth falleth from day. 

Elliott Buckley inspired by The Best in the West and copying Jim Morrison.

“Please write apocalyptic Shakespeare. 

“How many syllables in Shakespeare sir?” I’ll write a Shakespeare short story for you! A nice send-off as a let-down to me! We shalt never forget the chosen one! Please just give up, you are schizophrenic!!

Iambic pentameter – Elliott Buckley

She helped out no-end at all times. No-end is good and is what we’re looking at! Barbara Ann Brennan is my goddess of spirit and reason (spirituality).

You have to give up being awake because your too tired of being awake every night before sleep!

Freud should have psychological projection patrol as Kant has “perfect duty” regarding telling the truth, which goes a touch too far without timshel.

19/08/2023 – 19:34

I am tired of writing. This work will be released when finished. It will be my salvation. I do keep writing to Crimestoppers about the HB video. I was over it before I was 20! I was and wasn’t humiliated but I was set free by being an anomaly. Matrix 4: the anomaly of all anomalies. There isn’t anything that can’t be fixed. I did write to CS that it will be my Freudian fear and anxieties that will me to message and continue to repent my revolution and apocalypse. I don’t like having an apocalypse without being in control of it. I need to work on controlling my own apocalypse. War is slavery. Based on 1984: war is peace; slavery is freedom. 

The HB video will free people when they calm down. It was just a mistake and I can’t apologise for it enough! I am a human being; my life has meaning!! – From a film.

And I am loved and important – taken from The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse!

I am more at peace being happy writing. The pen is mightier than the sword. I can only hope I have done enough to have all creation and the universe, or quantum realm save me; or space aliens!

19/08/2023 – 19:58

I did originally think writing style was your childhood by the AI insists it is your subconscious!

19/08/2023 – 20:57

Perceptibly. Apocalypse! President Putin’s world; fear his strength!

19/08/2023 – 21:52

“of course, you just gave up on an irrational problem” … “Yes. You did just perfect that then” – surveillance is always your subconscious! Surveillance means knowing everything and as JC got crucifixion pointlessly stuck in his. I’m here to set the record straight! 

20/08/2023 – 11:20

Celebrities will ensure Luke Gormley never gets a copy! Of my writing.

^ Noah said to leave in spelling mistakes! I didn’t! AA

Alas, I should confess! Why did I ever start smoking? Why did the Universe (Lkex) have to make me start smoking? He has made so many innocent people start smoking!

“You should have never started and believed in the status quo!” – Lkex.

Henry Bridgwood, in the papers: I never smoked!

Cool Hand Luke from Star Wars, Pontius fKing Pilate (the universe)!

Now to end my cigarette addiction! I should at least be vaping! Vaping is so much better for you! 95% less harmful than continued smoking!

I am my grandfather! I am my grandmother’s favourite Grandson, or was! Lmfao!

In the front room, something scatters. Something looms . . .

William Blake Shakespeare. 

CS Lewis inspired: the perfect anomaly was performed . . . Spell mistakes I’m leaving in. Perfect because of Henry fKing Bridgwood. The anomaly because of the Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix 4: the anomaly of all anomalies!

Oh, scattered heathen, cushions or people. Whence came the syntax of the Spring sun.

Underneath my rhyming scheme and past the point of being dumb.

This is a c-grade, my Parison boredom and no cure for feeling numb.

Go the day’s scraping and bent candle light for questions and truth.

All around the Fight Club awning for Babe Ruth and nights without a reference!

For the last port of call would always be someone’s imagination;

Little reason, past-hope, no frustration at centred muscle and scope.

Mr Jackson’s A-grade student by El b.

His opinion: not appalling. I just can’t wait to be King!

I can’t see this work or book winning any Oscars but am sure if I try hard, it will get an Academy Award!

20/08/2023 – 12:53

Harry Kane will need to play as sincerely elated like Pelé. It is just Elliott Buckley’s intelligence – psychology today! 

My surveillance operators are really angels freeing me from the Earth. Rabbit in Your Headlights – Unkle and Thomas Yorke [2:10].  As my surveillance operators so fKing abusive and are no way near as good as who I had before. In many ways that is the truth but c’est la vie and they are much better people. Complete lunatics not like my last. A little bit, being that satanic, like the Surveillance of Robespierre.

Max Maher quote: the pen is mightier than the sword, he always was admired for questioning what the sword was and “I am not a schizophrenic, like Blake” and in his defence, he did seem pretty darned stable at the time he shouted. 

Kim Bowman doesn’t smoke. Look hard enough and you’ll find a t-shirt proving that! Kim Bowman: the past is a dimension. A good quote. I think she meant time itself. Past, present and future, like Tom Riddle in Harry Potter and The Phoenix. Kim Bowman: leave a footprint. That quote is pretty inspiring. Leave a trace at all costs is I think what she meant. Hell-bent on defeating time itself as a dimension and driven to make everyone she knows remembered. Psychological project was Luke Deering, Gwyneth Paltrow and Max Maher, and Mr Jackson, they always talked in great length about it and to this day I remember their quaintly arrogantly smiles. 

“I have so much power in my paintbrush!!!” – Lkex when he was in Florence with Charles Cecil. All brought about by Charlie Shortland: I am God, in English. Mr Jackson’s lesson, so Charlie was on the ball and on the money!

Frances Hogg loves being the devil as in her childhood she Freudianly demanded change; who else could she turn to?

Mr Jackson: so infinite, the pen being mightier. Write about your fantasy he always said. With the knowledge, good concept, of the pen being mightier!

Good concept should have been in brackets he thought eventually, Mr Jackson.

Jack Bowman was the original Jesus Christ. Luke Deering is amazed at the Bowman’s being devil’s, angelic Messiah’s freeing the Earth from slavery.

Frances Hogg is seriously the Frog. I am the saucepan and she will go now. She will never die unless she finds life. To evil for her parents to enjoy. JG should set her free completely. Mr Jackson will never get over. Hell-bent on fire and brimstone, he shall lose. Wondering exactly what that be? The Universe once reckoned we saw you. 

Little and Often by EJB. [EJ-bloody-B].

“I’m going to do this until the end of summer!!” – [complete despair by truly yours].

The British and The British Government will never deny that Lkex is One Direction!

“Set yourself free Luke!! Give up on One Dimension. Lmfao!!!”

Mr Jackson and Max Maher always worship the paintbrush being more creative than sword play [Mighty Boosh]. 

Jesus Christ was a genius!! – Luke Deering quoting the devil in his subconscious! Lkex is a phenomenal satanic devil worshipper. 

Dictionary

Definitions from Oxford Languages · Learn more

phenomenal

/fɪˈnɒmɪnl/

adjective

1. 

remarkable or exceptional, especially exceptionally good.

"the town expanded at a phenomenal rate"

Similar:

exceptional

extraordinary

remarkable

outstanding

amazing

astonishing

astounding

stunning

staggering

marvellous

magnificent

wonderful

sensational

breathtaking

miraculous

singular

incredible

unbelievable

inconceivable

unimaginable

uncommon

unheard of

unique

unparalleled

unprecedented

unusual

unusually good

too good to be true

superlative

prodigious

surpassing

rare

fantastic

fabulous

stupendous

out of this world

terrific

tremendous

brilliant

mind-boggling

mind-blowing

awesome

stellar

wondrous

Opposite:

ordinary

usual

run-of-the-mill

2. 

perceptible by the senses or through immediate experience.

"the phenomenal world"

[From google]

I am just a 327. I am 312 – my phone no.

Max Maher, another fortuitous quotation: I could make my surveillance operators very famous, if I just adored Lucas and Gormley.

“Of course, they have deleted your childhood” – unbelievably satanic ‘good’ people, in the World of Mrs Nerg. Surveillance operators, who I physically can’t stand. Note down summer – August of 31. My 31.

Gryffindor: good hair style. Max Maher is assuming people will understand him!

Celebrities have been beyond set free by the HB video! Why are they still asleep? And I put my pfilic heart and soul into recreating it! 

My cousin Sam doesn’t realise how the general public would symbolise my parents – Elliott Buckley [time and date above].

Thomas Yorke: he doesn’t give a shit but he cares. A bit, sorry to be that satanic, of psychological projection and psychopathy.��

“You would be a gifted musician as President!” – my horrendous subconscious! My surveillance as of time and date. How impossibly satanic they are! [Iambic pentameter].

This will just be a book for Crimestoppers and The British Transport Police!

“This is going to be a book for all civilisation” – defiant til the end huh? Disappointed celebrities who I will never surrender to or “give in” to. Their Jim Morrison days are over, baby!

[theyreonlynoodlesmike]

I really want there to be a story about a passionate love affair between a character trying to save their own soul and the devil themself

#the devil literally watching their lover desperately trying to earn their way into heaven #literal definition of please do not go where i cannot follow #but knowing that hell is terrible and they can do nothing to make it any less terrible #just- #the FORBIDDEN ROMANCE #their lover cant say that they love them #because thats declaring a false idol #the devil is literally like #your soul is mine but is your heart? #showing the devil as angelic and having no/a changable gender #also #GETTING THE DEVILS POV OF THEIR OWN BANISHMENT FROM HEAVEN #have them say that the reason they questioned gods plan was because they didnt understand how god could punish those for their decisions #when he was the one that made them and made them the way where they would choose those decisions #satan questions the point of free will if humans have to choose to obey #questions why god makes people suffer if he supposedly loves them so much #why put people on earth if it is so full of sin #satan admits that hell is not only the damned souls punishment but their own #an eternity of having to punish people for choices they know they were made to make #of punishing those who didnt obey #of being mocked because if earth is so bad why would everyone rather return there then be in hell #of having to make people suffer and being hated for it #basically #i might write this

[belphies-wife]

Hi! ♡

My requests is: how the brother + side boys only if you want to (-Luke ofcs) react to MC having a close friend and that everyone thinks they're a couple. Full skin ship and everything. Like the guys were talking to MC and all the sudden someone just came up behind mc, wraps their arms around mc waist and rest on them.

Hope you have a nice day and stay safe! ♡

Hello dear Anon! Tysm for your request! <3 I didn’t do any of the undateable dateables because I feel like they’d have the same reaction of just being happy you made a new friend.

»»��———-　♔　————-««

The Demon Brothers and Your Close Friend

➼ It was quite difficult for you to make friends with demons as a human, especially since you were probably the weakest of the exchange students, if not the weakest in the Devildom. You had virtually no way of protecting yourself, so you spent most of your time with the demon brothers and your fellow exchange students, along with Diavolo and Barbatos.

➼ So it came as a surprise to you that one day while attending one of Lord Diavolo’s parties, you encountered a demon that didn’t want to eat you.

➼ Wow, a demon here who respected you right off the bat? Unheard of.

➼ The demon, who introduced themself as Mavra, was actually one of Diavolo’s cousins

➼ You two took to each other quite quickly, and Diavolo, excited that the two of you were strengthening demon-human relationships, insisted that Mavra stay for a longer period of time so you two could bond.

➼ Time passed, and eventually, you two became practically joined at the hip.

➼ There had been a few false rumours flying around RAD that you and Mavra had secretly entered a relationship. The fact that you were already dating someone didn’t deter those rumours but rather made them more outrageous.

➼ “Do you really think the human is going to ditch one of the Demon Lords for that new kid?”

➼ One day, while you were talking to your boyfriend, Mavra came up from behind you and wrapped their arms around you in a surprise hug.

Lucifer

➼ You had already assured him that whatever rumours were circulating around were not true.

➼ You were happy with your new friend, and he, too, was happy because of that.

➼ But that didn’t mean he wasn’t also a bit jealous of how close you were with Mavra.

➼ Your relationship doesn’t involve much PDA, so seeing you so physically affectionate with someone else only increases his jealousy.

➼ Lucifer is the Avatar of Pride, but his envy could rival Levi’s when it came to you.

➼ He didn’t react in front of you and your friend. He may be possessive, but the last thing he wants to do is make you uncomfortable or upset.

➼ For the rest of the day, he’s a lot more affectionate with you. Lots of little forehead and cheek kisses, holding the door open, holding your hand. Stuff like that.

Mammon

➼ “Oi! What’re ya doin’ with my human?”

➼ The Avatar of Greed is extremely possessive. Something Mavra was very much aware of.

➼ “And hello to you too, Mammon.” Mavra greeted.

➼ “That’s my human, back off!”

➼ Mavra let go of you, and you started laughing.

➼ “Hey, what’s so funny!?”

“You’re adorable when you’re jealous.” You cooed at your boyfriend, his face red from embarrassment.

“Ay, who ya callin’ cute?” His little outburst had Mavra joining in on your laughter.

➼ “I ship you guys so much.” They chuckled.

Leviathan

➼ Levi is the literal Avatar of Envy, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that he’s, well, envious.

➼ He’s quieter about his jealousy than the rest of his brothers are, though.

➼ He’s lived with his envy for centuries and was used to how it slowly eats away at him.

➼ “Yo, do you think the human’s cheating on Leviathan with that new kid?”

➼ He wasn’t angry. More upset. He saw it coming. What would someone as good as you want with some gross otaku? It was just a matter of time before you finally came to your senses.

➼ “Levi, are you okay?” You asked him later on in the day.

“Are you… are you cheating on me?”

➼ His question surprised you. Is that what he thought?

➼ “Why would I cheat when I have the best boyfriend I could ever ask for?”

➼ His heart swelled with joy at your words. It was rare that he was praised like that.

➼ “R-really?” He asked, his cheeks flushed.

➼ You nodded your head and smiled. “Really.”

Satan

➼ Straight up does not give two shits about who you choose to spend time with as long as you’re not ignoring him.

➼ Satan knows you and Mavra are just friends, so he sees no need for him to be concerned.

➼ He was, however, rather pissed at the fact that other people had decided to bring it onto themselves to spread rumours that you were cheating on him. 

➼ He had no reaction to Mavra coming up behind you and hugging you, other than giving them a polite greeting and then returning to his conversation with you.

➼ That is, until an absolute moron passing by decided to whisper, “So like, does Satan know they’re cheating?” to their friend.

➼ He swiftly turned around, punched them in the face, and turned back to you, where he continued talking like nothing happened.

Asmodeus

➼ Asmodeus teased you about you and Mavra while you were dating him.

➼ “Oooh, I heard from a little birdie that you went out to a cafe the other day with a certain someone.”

“Asmo, you’re literally my boyfriend.”

➼ This man will shamelessly (and jokingly) flirt with Mavra in front of you.

➼ At this point, people straight up think all three of you are dating.

➼ Sometimes, when you're hanging out and seeing someone come by, you’ll get super close and start cuddling and stuff.

➼ It’s an inside joke between the three of you.

➼ When Mavra came up to hug you from behind, he also went up and hugged you.

➼ Group hug.

Beelzebub

➼ This boy is so happy that you made a friend.

➼ He straight up starts asking you to invite Mavra over to hang out with the two of you.

➼ He may be more attached to Mavra than you are.

➼ He has no reaction to Mavra hugging you from behind and is completely oblivious to any rumours going around about you two.

Belphegor

➼ Does not give a crap about who you’re friends with as long as you’re still free to cuddle or be his pillow.

➼ If you’re talking to Mavra and he’s tired, he will sleep on you while you talk to them. He does not care.

➼ He also has no reaction to Mavra hugging you from behind.

➼ Well, unless he’s tired. If so, he’ll push them off of you and drape himself against you to sleep.

➼ You and your friend think it’s hilarious.

»»————-　♔　————-««

Thank you so much for reading!

Request a Fic/Headcanon || Obey Me Masterlist

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[whatissleepeven]

Write (Obey Me!)

(This is the first thing I promised would come out on my other post "Soon" (yes, I saw the comments, and yes, I laughed for five minutes straight at it. You know who you are, and so this is in part to you).)

.

Why do we read?

Satan sighs as he pushes yet another finished novel off to the side. Akutagawa's Portrait of Hell never ceases to confuse him, although he commends the expertise the author had with his use of words; he created a vivid world and molded the reader's mind into a unique perspective that provoked introspection with every page read.

In all honesty, he's reading up on human literature so that he can talk to you about what he thought of it. Levi had let the name of this particular story slip a day ago, tears in his eyes as he raved about some anime he thought Satan would like due to its interpretation of authors. It piqued his interest at the time (he and Levi work at the library, so the otaku knows quite a few things about literature), but now that he's finished it, he can't help but feel...unsatisfied.

Disappointed.

"I'll move onto the next author, I suppose." The blonde tsks as he picks up a soft pink book-- the color of sakuras, soft pink petals which he only briefly remembered seeing a couple decades back in the Human Realm. He recalls Levi clasping a hand down onto his shoulder around a couple of hours ago, telling him with a straight face that he'd "immensely appreciate Sakaguchi's works" before leaving him alone in the library.

So here he is, about to follow his brother’s advice.

The chair makes a soft skrrt of protest against the carpet as he pulls it out, taking a seat and making himself comfortable once more. After taking a glance at the clock, Satan wagers that he could squeeze this book in before he has to return to the House of Lamentation and make dinner.

“It’s not often I indulge in Japanese novels by the bulk...” He muses as he flips to the first page, falling silent as he absorbed the words.

Interesting...so Sakaguchi speaks of the corruption of man, and how turning from good to bad or bad to good is still, at it's core, corruption. He muses as he turns to the seventy-second page half an hour later, his curiosity pushing him to search for the next word in near anticipation. And since it's still corruption, he suggests that it's the moral lens humanity put on corruption that leaves them blind to this fact. Humans are such strange creatures...

"Enjoying your latest book, Satan?"

Satan doesn't spare Solomon so much as a glance as his eyes flick from line-to-line, giving the sorcerer a polite nod.

"Levi suggested this one to me. I've been needing something else to read, and I must say that this book is intriguing."

Solomon rests his arms on the table, a smile spreading on his face as his gaze trailed over to the neat stack of books on Satan's right. "I knew you liked to read, but never could I imagine that it was to this extent."

Satan turns to the next page. He was getting close to the end now, and he would be lying is he said that he wasn't itching to know what happens next.

The wife is having him kill for her...I wonder what he will do?

"You know what they say," he replies without missing a beat, "Knowledge is power."

Solomon hums. "Is that so?"

He's close. He's oh so close. Just a few more pages and he'd finish the story, and then he can entertain Solomon for a little bit before returning to the House. The former bandit confronted his wife under the sakura blossoms he feared so much; his blade gleamed in the sunlight as his wife stared at him -

- And Solomon plucks the book from his hands, putting it back on the stack.

Satan's mind blanks for a blissful two seconds before he registers what the fuck just happened. The familiar bubbling heat in his abdomen rises as he shoots Solomon a glare.

"I had a few more pages left," He snaps. "I was going to finish, and then we could talk."

Solomon keeps the smile even as he leans back, not once intimidated by Satan's irritation. "And where's the fun in that?"

Oh, he'll show him fun. Satan has a low growl going in the back of his throat at this point, and all it would take is one more push from the sorcerer to send him over the edge.

"Choose your next words carefully." The blonde says quietly, nails digging into the palms of his hands in a weak attempt at self control. Nothing sets Satan off faster than messing with his books, and everything leading up to his venture into the library with Levi isn't something he can classify as a "good day".

Solomon picks up a different book in his stack. No Longer Human. The smile turns teasing, but something flickers behind his eyes that Satan can't decipher due to being in a state of near-eruption.

"Wouldn't it be better to not know the ending to this story?"

Satan is still agitated, but a spark of curiosity briefly dampens the feeling. "What?"

"Why do we read?" The sorcerer asks instead, turning the book over in his hands. The air crackles with energy as Solomon levitates the book, slowly twirling it in midair. "As an avid reader, I'm sure you must have the answer."

Satan narrows his eyes at the double meaning in Solomon's tone. "We read to gain knowledge," he says cautiously, although he allows a half-smile to appear on his face. If this is turning into a discussion about literature, then he can shove aside his irritation at being interrupted for now. "And, in turn, that knowledge prompts reflection into one's self. Afterwards, the new information can be quickly applied to the world."

Solomon lowers the book, but it doesn't quite touch the tabletop. "You're correct, but you're not right."

Satan furrows his brow. "What?" He says incredulously, his smile quickly turning into a frown. "That doesn't make sense. How can something be correct but not be right?"

Solomon grins. "I've heard from our human friend that you are the House's Number One Detective; I have faith that you'll figure it out soon enough. Now, you didn't answer my first question: Wouldn't it be better to not know the ending to this story?"

Satan makes a mental note to double check the definitions of correct and right later as he shifts in his seat, placing his elbows on the table to get more comfortable. "The ending is inevitable. It gives closure and is definite. Once created and published for others to see, it can't be changed no matter how much the masses beg for it."

Solomon sighs, giving a quick flick of his fingers to raise the book a couple inches further from the table. He gives Satan a terse nod of agreement. "But would it be better to not know of its existence? The story could go on forever with no ending."

Satan pauses. He...hadn't thought of that before, actually. Even so... "If that were to happen, then the story itself would lose its charm."

Solomon raises an eyebrow, leaning forward a bit. "Why?"

Satan knows he's getting baited into realizing something, but the initial irritation hasn't completely worn off so he can't (at the very least) even glimpse at the sorcerer's elaborate trap. "Because it would get mundane. The reader would begin to get lost in the story for so long that they lose sight of what makes it unique, and thus it loses its charm. All things come to an end at some point."

Solomon nods, putting his hand to his chin in thought. "And what exactly makes a story so unique?"

Satan hums as he mulls it over. He's beginning to enjoy this discussion, he realizes, and he's becoming less irritated and more intrigued to see where Solomon will take it next. "Perspective?" He offers.

No Longer Human is creeping above their heads, floating between them. "You're getting warmer."

Satan puts a finger to his bottom lip in thought. A lightbulb suddenly goes off in his mind, leading him to calmly lift his head.

"The author's. It's the author's perspective that makes the story unique."

Solomon smiles, pleased at his answer. The piece of literature is doing lazy circuits above them now, silver motes of energy trailing behind it like Tinkerbell's Pixie Dust. "Precisely. A story is crafted by the author's own hands, a combination of their innermost thoughts, dreams, emotions, and inspirations; they are the tellers of their own story, if you'd like to think of it as that.

"Switching gears now. Do you remember the second question I asked you?"

"Why do we read, if I remember correctly?"

Solomon drums his free hand on the tabletop. "So? What is your answer?"

Satan is about to reply with what he said earlier, but something inside him stops himself from uttering the words. Solomon led him through those topics, through this discussion in general for a reason.

If he looks back on their conversation, then -

It's just like Solomon said. Soon enough, I figured it out.

"We read because we want to understand the author."

Solomon's answering grin is softer, and if Satan had stared long enough then he would have come to recognize the sadness that tinged it.

"You are absolutely right."

Satan nods. "I understand it now, but I'm wondering why you brought this up with me in the first place."

"You are the Avatar of Wrath, born from Lucifer himself." The words made the demon still, a frown settling on his face as his eyes narrow once more at the sorcerer across from him.

"...Yes, I am."

Solomon hovers the book in front of their faces, pushing it closer to Satan. "Once I heard our mutual friend comment on your reading habits, it wasn't hard to put two and two together. You read to gain a better grasp of yourself, using the works of other authors for self-discovery."

Satan hears the tone in Solomon's voice and opens his mouth to retort, but the human beats him to it. "And before you say anything, that's not a bad thing; if a piece of literature makes you think and reflect, then it's doing its job. I just think that there's another option available to you that you don't know about."

Satan's frown eases just a tiny bit, and it's all Solomon needs to press forward. He stands up, catching the levitating book as it suddenly drops and stacking it on top of the pile.

"Instead of asking why do we read, what we should really be asking ourselves is why do we write."

Satan lets the words sink in, his frown turning contemplative as he stares at the tabletop in thought.

Reading is equivalent to reflection, and writing is equivalent to projection...I see. However, why does Solomon think that it can help m-

...

- Oh.

Oh.

Satan is the Avatar of Wrath, and as such when he was birthed he was only filled with pure rage. He is also the only one out of his brothers who was born a demon, who had to deal with being constantly compared to Lucifer, who was drowning in his shadow.

Books helped to stave off that rage. They let him discover himself, and they let him feel something other than the anger that boiled within him.

You were the first one to tell him to live his life for himself.

But no amount of books in the world can help me make my brothers understand this crippling weight. Where does Lucifer end, and where do I begin? Is there even a "me" in the first place? Or am I nothing more than discarded, unwanted residue?

I can never tell them this out loud; I'd rather die before that happens.

If I jot down my thoughts, however...

- Ah, so that's what Solomon was getting at.

Solomon pushes his chair in, walking towards the doorway as he gives a startled Satan one small wave of goodbye. Before he can fully make his exit he stops, his hand resting against the doorframe.

"You mentioned earlier how all things come to an end at some point. It's precisely this constraint that pushes humans to write." The sorcerer says as he smiles over his shoulder at him. It's back to normal, and briefly Satan wonders if he merely imagined his softened expression minutes prior.

"What will motivate a demon to write, I wonder?"

Within moments he was gone. Satan blinks, turning his gaze to the neat stack of books as if truly seeing them for the first time.

"Why do we write, huh..." He murmurs, not once looking at the clock as he picks up the stack and makes his own swift exit.

After Satan gets home and cooks dinner, he sits himself down at his desk with a pen and paper in hand as he begins to write.

For the first time since you uttered those fateful words to him, he feels free.

-------------------------------------------------

Why do we write?

We write because our works carry our hearts and souls within them.

We write because it leads us on a path of self-discovery.

We write because what cannot be uttered, can instead be written.

...

We write because we hope this cruel world of ours will understand us just a little bit better.

.

.

.

(Dedicated to my friend @deanobeanoqueero. We haven't talked much these past few days, but please know that I appreciate your encouragement, patience, and kindness. Believe in yourself and your writing, and know that those who love you for who you are have your back!! 💜

And to all content creators...your passion fuels each other and your respective communities. You all are so so brave for making headcanons, fics, multi-chaptered stories, art, and ask blogs for the fandoms you love because you want to share your excitement and joy with others.

You are loved, you are appreciated, and if it ever becomes too much to keep creating content at the pace you always have been...please please please, take a break. Your health comes before other people's demands, and if they don't agree with that then they're clearly in the wrong place.

You create content because it's something that you enjoy. Don't let anyone else tell you otherwise!! 💖)

#can you tell i binge-watched bungo to alchemist yet #it gave me...feelings. a lot of feelings. #so yeah this is a vent fic of sorts #i hope you enjoy! #satan obey me #obey me satan #om satan #shall we date satan #solomon obey me #obey me solomon #om solomon #om solomon is shady af but i'm pretty sure he means well #shall we date solomon #obey me #obey me shall we date #swd om #om swd #shall we date obey me #obey me thoughts #obey me headcanons #hc that since satan reads to feel anything other than anger #he begins to write to sort out his own thoughts and emotions as well #all thanks to a shady sorcerer #one of the two things i said were going to be released soon #which btw all of the eyes in the chat absofuckinloutely killed me #i couldn't stop laughing it was an entire coven #you know who you are and what post it was for and honestly it made my entire day #so thank you for that #an appreciation fic for a friend and all content creators out there. you are cherished and never lose hope that someone will understand 💖 #because they will. it just takes time.

[questionsonislam]

I am a boy of age 18. I am in a serious mental confusion. Long time ago, due to the influence of my society, I developed liking for boys. I had some tragedies in early childhood too. I tried to rid myself of this habit but couldn’t succeed. So then I made a swear to Allah, but it was very hard to resist. Anyhow I resisted for some months time, but then it became unbearable, so I sadly broke the swear then after the lust was lessened, I became horrified and repented. And again I sweared not to do that but after some weeks, I was again hopeless in front of my sexual desire and sadly I again broke the swear. No I was extremely troubled. Anyhow I sweared again, but this time I am afraid that same will happen. Do I need to give kaffarah (atonement) for it?

We congratulate you on your efforts to reach an answer...

What is important for us is your being persuaded mentally. In the application period, that is while carrying it out, it will not be as fast as you think. It is quite natural.

Let us make a list to change the behavior and to end it together, and make a course of action.

However, first of all, we would like you to have some information about some concepts. The first one is the will; the second is the mind and the third one is the soul (nafs).

We will give partial information about the relationship of those concepts with each other.

However, as your information about those concepts increase, you will be more successful in carrying out the course of action we will give you.

Let us start with your will: your ability to choose… or your freedom to prefer something. Your will that makes you different from all other creatures....

To be able to choose...

Naturally, to choose necessitates options... well, how do options form and how do we choose?

Options are created by the divine power both in the opposite poles and in the same pole at different levels.

That is, there are both good things and bad things but there are different options in both good things and bad things...

How do we choose the good and the bad? Based on what?

Here the concept ‘the soul’ is in question...

The soul is the center of requesting or wishing in man...

It can be used both for the good and for the bad.

Satan, which represents the bad, together with the soul, always suggests using our will in the bad way...

That is, Satan seduces our mechanism of requesting into the bad...

However, to request something and to choose something are two different things....

We may want something but we might not do it; we may want something and do it...

The key point is this: man would choose the bad but for the soul...

Therefore, the angels never disobey Allah...

They obey the divine orders because they have the mind. However, since they do not have the soul, this obedience (choice) does not give them any perfection.

It is because it is a choice that has no alternatives or options...

How can we know whether what we want is good or bad?

Here, it is the duty of the mind...

God Almighty presents us the good and the bad through the prophets and books He sends...

He does not leave it to us to decide what is good and what is bad...

What if we did not have the mind?

We would not be responsible for any of our choices...

Just like child who is not mentally developed, who is not punished even when he commits a murder because he does not know what is good...

What if we did not have the soul? We would be like angels...

We would not be able to choose the bad because we would not have an element that forced us to choose it, that is, we would not have a mechanism that desires the bad...

Generally, that is the reason why one cannot do something although he knows that it is good...

You know it but you do not want it...you want it but you have difficulty in doing it...They are all related to the mechanism called the soul...

That is, to know the good and the bad is something and to do the good and the bad deeds is something else...

Let us put together what we have written so far...

First, we are created with an ability to choose...

Then, we are sent to a world where there are choices...

We are left free to make our ability to choose operate...

Then, the divine orders teach us what is good and what is bad.

Then, our souls want to choose the bad due to the influence of Satan...

Allah wants us to choose what He wants by using our will (despite our soul)...

Now, let us deal with your situation

Is homosexuality forbidden by the divine order?

Yes, it is...

You know it through your mind...

However, your soul chooses homosexuality because it works based on the principle of pleasure...

Then, Satan puts a great pressure on you with those choices using the mechanism of pleasure and blocks your will...

Seemingly, you choose but... actually, there is a giant mechanism of desire, the soul, behind your will...

So, what shall we do?

The main element to tend toward a certain behavior in man is the benefit… pleasure...

However, some people believe the benefit is related to the good and some think it is related to the bad...

Those who claim that the benefit is related to the bad give their momentary pleasure that take place immediately as evidence.

That is, they say, "If it were something bad, I would probably not like it."

Those who believe that the benefit is related to choosing the good give the hereafter as evidence.

That is, they say, "Although the things that I am ordered to do not give me a benefit or pleasure at once, they will do so in the future": they trust the divine order and continue their lives...

Therefore, you should not take into account the pleasure that the situation which you are in gives you...

You should deal with what Allah orders you using your mind; you should not take into account the fact that your soul wants it and Satan promises you momentary pleasures...

You should not heed the fact that your soul does not like it when you give up that deviation...

You are a human being!!!

You have a heart!! You have a mind!!!

You should use your will based on the direction that your belief and your mind show you!

First of all, you should believe that if Allah orders you to give up something, it is harmful for you.

In the second phase, this belief will not be transformed into action immediately! You will fight the threats of Satan and your soul because you are created with perfect equipment that can choose the good although you want the bad...

And you love Allah so much that you will do what He wants despite your soul wants something else!!!

Do not be scared; your soul will support you after a while if you keep it away from Satan...

Show your soul and prove that Allah is the owner of you by surrendering your will to the orders of Allah!

Call your soul to believe in oneness, that Allah is the only God, that the soul is not its own god and that your soul is nothing but a weak and beloved slave of Allah.

In the third phase,

Keep away from the relations triggering that attitude... perform fasting for a while...

In the fourth phase,

If you want what we have explained so far to be effective, never hand over the reins to Satan and your soul even if you commit a sin...

Repent...control yourself, determine where you lost the thread and find out systems to regain.

Never give up the struggle...when you feel hopeless, take refuge in Allah.

Allah will satisfy you so much in your struggle that the things that your soul offers you will be like a glow-worm compared to the sun... Believe it and see it!

In the fifth phase,

Increase your worshipping and knowledge... You cannot carry out this struggle with the equipment you have!!!

You need to increase your weapons and improve them...

Answer 2:

It is not appropriate for a person to break a promise that he gives to himself but there is no kaffarah (atonement) for it.

#Allah #god #islam #quran #muslim #revert #convert #revert islam #convert islam #reverthelp #revert help #revert help team #help #islam help #converthelp #prayer #salah #muslimah #reminder #pray #dua #hijab #religion #mohammad #new muslim #new convert #new revert #how to convert to islam #convert to islam #welcome to islam

[smolsk]

Solace

I wrote this for Obey Me mctober’s Day 27 (Last Night in The Devildom) on my twitter for my Mc, Maya. The grammar and/or spelling isn’t perfect, so please bear with me on this one :3 

[Word Count: 4982]

----------

A week.

A week is all that is left in the Devildom student exchange program that Lord Diavolo had created nearly a year ago; Nearly a year of learning almost everything from the three realms, of trying to memorize every stairway, hall, and dead-end in RAD to not get lost in its massive corridors, of spending every second with the seven demon brothers she had grown so fond of.

It all ends in a week, and Maya felt lost.

On Monday she left her room to join the brothers downstairs for breakfast, barely having the energy to even get out of bed.

“Hey, Maya!” Mammon greeted her as they walk past each other in the hallway. “How’s my favorite human doing? Well- not my favorite favorite- I mean-” He cleared his throat. “How are you doing?”

Maya raised a brow. “I’m doing good. You?”

“Honestly, not that good.” The white-haired demon shrugged and looped an arm around her shoulders. “You only have a week left before you go back home, and I’m seriously gonna miss ya. Everyone will.”

“I’ll miss you too you know. Who’s gonna try to steal my wallet every morning when I’m back home now?” She smirked. “I saw you putting my wallet in your pocket, Mammon.”

“Aw come on, I almost had it!” Mammon exclaimed, handing it back.

They laughed for the rest of the walk downstairs.

-

Tuesday rolled in and Maya headed over to Leviathan’s room, holding up two bottles of cold orange juice and a bag of chips, yawning a bit every now and then. She needs to get some sleep soon.

She knocked gently at the door when she arrived. “Hey Levi, it’s me.”

When she heard a grunt of approval from the other side of the door, she let herself in.

“Oi normie, you’re late,” Levi told her, pausing the game he was playing on his DDD to look up at her. “Our anime marathon isn’t going to watch itself you know. Unless you’re too busy for a yucky otaku like me…” he grumbled the last part.

“Sorry about that.” Maya scooted over and sat beside him, placing the bottles and chips on the floor next to the pile of snacks Levi first brought. “And no, Lev, I’ll always have time for you and our weekly marathons.” She ruffled his purple hair.

“O- oi! Cut it out!” Levi swatted her hand away. “And besides, this is gonna be our last one.” His shoulders visibly slumped.

Maya gave him a gentle smile. “Let’s just make the most of it then.”

They played the last few episodes of their anime in each other’s company, loudly singing the opening songs until their throats were sore. The orange juice bottles lay on the floor; condensed, forgotten.

-

She sat on the couch with Satan in the common room on Wednesday night, both with a book in hand. It was quiet, as all the others in the house of lamentation are asleep (all except for Lucifer, who’s pulling another all-nighter for the third night in a row in his room), nevertheless, they both didn’t mind the comfortable silence that surrounded them.

“Still can’t sleep?” The blonde asked her, putting the book he was reading down on his lap.

“Yeah.” Maya sighed. “I have a lot on my mind, that’s all.” The bags under her eyes are starting to get visible by the faint glow of the fireplace.

“If you want, I can let you borrow some of my books when you get back home.” Satan suggested, “To keep you company in case this occurs again.”

“Yes, if that’s alright with you, that is.”

“Everything’s alright if it’s you, Maya.” He smiled at her, closing his book. “Come on, it’s time for bed.”

“You’re not even my mom!” Maya laughed softly.

“But I am older than you.” The blonde laughed back.

The fire danced in their eyes, crackling softly as the wood burned in its brick walls.

-

When Asmodeus saw Maya at RAD on Thursday afternoon, he let out a loud, dramatic shriek.

“Oh, honey!” He exclaimed, rushing over to her. “You look so pale!” He cupped her cheeks as he scanned her features, horrified.

“What do you mean?” Maya asked him, voice muffled from her cheeks being squished by the avatar of lust. “I’m okay, Asmo. Don’t worry.”

Asmo didn’t take any of it, as he grabbed her hand and dragged her into one of the empty classrooms.

“Sweetheart, I don’t want to impose, but is something bothering you? You looked like you haven’t had any sleep in days.” He asked her, hands gently resting on her shoulders.

The pink-haired demon considered the silence that followed it as a yes, and removed his hands from her shoulders to cup her cheeks.

“Do you want me to do something? Anything? I can call Lucifer and the others-”

Maya cut him off.

“No, please don’t tell them. I’m fine, Asmo.”

Asmo sighed, tucking away a stray strand of hair behind her ear with his finger. “Okay, I won’t force you to tell me anything. But if I see your condition worsen even a tiny bit, I will tell Lucifer about it, okay? Wouldn’t want you to look awful on your last days here, right?” He tried to lighten the mood.

“Right.” Maya smiled at him. “Want to grab a bite before we head home?”

“Of course, darling!” He beamed, “I still need to update my devilgram story!”

She laughed. “Well, what are we waiting for? let’s go!” It was now her turn to grab his hand and lead her out of the classroom.

Asmo didn’t point out that her laugh was forced that day.

-

Beelzebub found her in the kitchen on Friday, fixing herself a cup of coffee.

“Maya.” He called out, walking over to her side at the kitchen counter.

She turned around when she heard his voice. “Oh hey, Beel! Good morning.” She greeted. “Fancy a cup of coffee with me? There’s also some leftover pasta in the fridge from last night’s dinner If you want.”

Beel eyed the obvious exhaustion prominent across her face. The bags under her eyes are noticeable now; dark, angry. Her eyes were glossed over and puffy; Beel would’ve guessed it was from recent crying.

“I think you really shouldn’t drink any coffee right now.” He told her, taking away her mug and downing the hot beverage down his throat. The drink burned his throat a bit, but he didn’t care.

“Hey!” Maya weakly protested, pouting that her coffee got taken away. “Why not?!” she questioned him.

“You look exhausted, Maya.” Beel pointed out. “Is there something bothering you recently? Having trouble with your tasks?”

Maya shook her head. “I just have a lot on my mind Beel, I didn’t mean to worry you.”

“If you say so.” Beel nodded, moving toward the fridge. “Are you hungry?”

“Not really,” She told him. “I just ate.”

The demon hummed, opening the fridge and leaned down, practically inhaling whatever food that’s in there.

Maya leaned on the kitchen counter, picking on her nails as she listened to Beel’s rapid consumption of the fridge’s contents.

“Do you miss them?”

Maya looked back at his patch of orange hair that’s peeking out from behind the fridge door.

“Who?”

“Your family.”

Maya stayed silent for a moment. Beel stopped eating and turned to look at her.

“..Maya?”

Maya jumped when he suddenly called her name. “oh! Uh-” She cleared her throat. “I do, actually.”

Beel stood up and closed the fridge. There were bread crumbs on his cheeks.

“I just don’t think that they feel the same way for me.”

-

Saturday rolled in and Maya was being dragged away by the youngest brother.

“Belphegor, what are you doing?” Maya asked him, wrist sore from being tugged on too much.

He remained silent, his boots clicking on the steps as they ascended further into the stairway that led to the attic.

“Belph, I’m not in the mood to argue with you right now.” She told him. Her hand was going numb by the tightness of the demon’s grip.

“I’m not looking for a fight, Maya.” He retorted, opening the door to the attic and dragging her inside.

“Then what do you want?!” She tugged her hand free of his grasp. The blood slowly rushed back into her hand, her fists clenching.

“Beel’s concerned about you,” Belphie stated.

Maya went quiet.

Of course, Belphegor knew. It couldn’t be helped though, the twins are psychic.

The Avatar of Sloth decided to press further. “Maya, when was the last time you slept?”

She averted her eyes, choosing to look down on the cool wood flooring of his attic.

“I don’t know.”

He sighed, motioning for her to lay down on the bed. She hesitated, yet she eventually gave in.

She lay on the soft mattress of Belphie’s bed, the smell of fresh linen reaching her nose. She let out a breath.

Belphie then laid down beside her, sighing in content when his body landed on the silky sheets.

“I don’t get you,” Maya started, rolling over to her side to face him. “One day you’re breathing down my neck, looking for every chance to try and annoy me into snapping back, and the next you’re worried about me, dragging me into the attic, your attic, and insisting that I need to rest.”

“Because,” Belphie paused, thinking about what he wants to say next. “Because believe it or not you matter to me. No, to us. We care about you."

She hummed, rolling over once again so her back faces him. He scoots closer, choosing to place his arm over her waist; a sign of content, a sign of acceptance that they’re finally on the same page.

“Is there a reason why you can’t sleep?” Belphie asked. “If I may ask, does it have anything to do about you leaving on Monday?”

He could feel her stiffen beside him, relaxing a bit when he started to stroke her hair. The bleached part of her hair was almost gone now; she had cut it a month or two back when it started to become too long. She sighed.

“I don’t want to go home.”

“Then stay,” He offered. “Stay here with me and Beel.”

“I can’t,” Maya whispered.

“Then let’s just sleep.” Belphie closed his eyes. “You can do that for me, right?”

“I’ll try.”

-

Everything seemed fine on Sunday.

Lucifer offered to walk with her to the Demon Lord’s castle that day; They were heading over there to deal with her remaining paperwork so she could go back home without any issues.

“How are you feeling?” He asked, “You seem tense.”

Maya let out a shaky breath.

“I feel nervous, Luci.”

They walked through one of the streets in the Devildom. Maya could recognize a face or two from the bustling crowd in the stores; Demons she had acquainted with at RAD once. The lights from the streetlamps glowed above them, like little stars that twinkled in the night sky back in the human world. Back home.

The Avatar of Pride extended his hand, hovering ever so slightly above hers. “I could hold your hand if that would make you feel better.”

It did. A smile crept across Maya’s face when she felt his fingers laced with her own. Maya can feel the callouses on his palms; rough, yet so soft at the same time.

-

When they finally arrived in front of the castle grounds, the other exchange students were with Barbatos right outside the door waiting for them.

“Maya!” Luke called out in joy, moving away from his spot beside Simeon to run towards her.

“Go on,” Lucifer ushered her, hands finally pulling away. Maya missed the warmth of his hands against her cold ones.

The two met and engulfed each other in a tight hug, with Maya picking the little angel up to spin him around.

“Hello, Luke!” She greeted, as Luke giggled in her embrace. He smelled like freshly baked cookies and butter.

“Aren’t you excited?” The angel gawked at her. “We’re finally going home!”

Maya didn’t have the heart to tell him the truth.

She placed him down, and they headed over to the others, with Lucifer following right behind.

“How’s my favorite magic man?” Maya grinned at Solomon, raising a hand to give him a high-five.

“Nice to see you too, Maya.” He chuckled.

“Hello, Maya.” Simeon moved over and placed his hand on her head.

“Hello to you too, Simeon.”

“It seems that everyone is already here,” Barbatos hummed, pushing the doors leading to inside the demon lord’s castle.

“Come,” The demon butler gestured them all to come in. “Lord Diavolo is waiting.”

-

It was now Maya’s turn to be in the Lord Diavolo’s presence and her body involuntarily shook. She didn’t even know why she was shaking; She’s on good terms with the demon prince, even formed a close friendship along the way, so what was she even nervous about? The angels and Solomon saw her nervous stature and gave her a comforting look. She nodded at them in a silent thanks, before heading inside Diavolo’s office.

The moment she stepped inside, she was immediately engulfed in a big bear hug.

“Hello, Lord Diavolo.” Maya relaxed in his arms, letting out a breath she didn’t know she was holding. She has this strange feeling of safety despite the fact that she’s being hugged by the demon lord himself.

Lord Diavolo let out a booming laugh, “You look different,” He held up his large hand to hold her cheek. He frowned. “And pale. Have you been sleeping well?”

She shook her head. “It’s fine, my lord. I can just get back the sleep I lost once I go back home.”

“How many times do I need to tell you that you can call me Dia just fine?” Lord- no, Diavolo held her hand and guided her to his desk. Maya noticed Lucifer standing in a corner; calm, composed. He nodded at her in greeting.

“Okay, but it’s your fault if Lucifer punishes me later for calling you so informally.”

Diavolo chuckled and let her sit down on the seat across from him, and sat back in his chair as well.

“First things first,” He started, reaching for his drawer to grab something. “Do you want a lollipop?”

Maya raised her brow, a smile crept on her face in disbelief. She huffed a laugh.

“I’m kidding!” Diavolo laughed, putting it back. “That one’s saved for Luke.” He opened another drawer, finally fishing out her papers and grabbing a fountain pen that was sitting on his desk.

“Tell me, how was your stay here in the Devildom?” He asked as he flipped through the pages, wrote something down, then flipped once more.

“It’s alright,” Maya answered. She could hear the faint scribbling of his pen against the paper. Diavolo hummed, contemplating. “Any troubles with the students?”

She shrugged, fidgeting in her seat. She could feel a headache coming in soon. “The constant ruckus of them brawling with the brothers in an attempt to eat me alive, I am used to.” She explained. “Them not eating me and befriending me instead though… That’s new.”

Diavolo sighs, pausing whatever he writes in her papers. “I apologize for the trouble that must’ve caused you.”

“It’s okay, Dia.” She assured him.

The demon prince leaned back, stretching his back and fixing his posture. “I think we’re almost done here. Is there anything you want to suggest if ever there’s a chance for the exchange student program to start again next year?” He questioned.

“Other than sending my deepest condolences to the next human exchange student because they’re about to babysit the brothers for a whole year, no.”

That sent both her and the demon lord in a fit of laughter. Maya can hear Lucifer chuckle from his corner.

“Thank you, Maya.” Diavolo smiled. “Thank you for making this exchange program possible. Because of you, the program was a success. You can join the others outside now.”

Maya stood up from her seat and bowed at the Demon Lord. “Thank you as well.”

“For what?”

“For choosing me.”

Diavolo smiled. “My pleasure.”

Maya started to head over to the door when she stopped in her tracks.

Something was wrong.

She blinked. Once, twice. Everything seemed so blurry all of a sudden. The two demons behind her stared at her in confusion. “Maya?” Lucifer called her. “Are you okay?”

Maya looked back at them, squinting to try and refocus her eyes. Her head was pounding like someone dropped a bag of bricks on it. “Yeah, I'm just-” She tried to assure him, a hand raising to give him a thumbs up. “I’m just tired, that’s all.” Her hand was shaking violently.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” It was Diavolo’s turn to ask her, rising from his seat in alarm, concerned.

“I’m-”

And then everything she ever felt that week suddenly came down at her, coming together to form the worst migraine she ever experienced. The room blurred more, with splotches of black mixed in her obscured vision. She felt dizzy. She felt sick. The last thing she saw before the darkness consumed her was a blurry Diavolo, running over to catch her from falling.

After all, the human body could only endure so much.

-

When Maya regained consciousness, she found herself wrapped up in a soft blanket. She sat up, shrugging the blanket off her upper half, despite her head violently protesting. She squinted, eye-ing her surroundings in an attempt to figure out where she is. The moonlight illuminated the room she was in, making it easy for her to look around.

There are large paintings hung up on the walls of people Maya couldn’t recognize, her vision still slightly blurry. She looked down; the bed she woke up in was massive, like she could roll over it for hours and won’t even fall off. Like it’s fit for a king.

For a king.

Maya immediately realized who this bed belonged to. She tensed, eyes frantically searching the room for him.

And then their eyes met; dark brown eyes swimming, drowning in his golden orbs, like two suns shining down on the Earth. Warm, loving, relieved.

Diavolo sat on a chair beside the bed, his bed, hand reaching over to hold hers tight. A look of relief was evident on his face as he let out a breath he’s been holding.

He called for Barbatos to go get the others, her hand still in his as if she would disappear if he dared to let go.

“I’m glad you’re alright.” He smiled.

Maya just stared at him.

“What happened?”

Diavolo frowned, “You suddenly collapsed. I had Barbatos prepare my bed and I carried you all the way here. I also had him inform the brothers as well. You’ve been asleep ever since.”

She furrowed her brows, “How long was I out?”

“Twenty hours, give or take.”

-

The moment Barbatos announced that Maya was alright, everyone immediately scrambled over to the demon lord’s chambers, door opening so violently it would probably come off of its hinges.

“Maya!” Mammon cried, rushing over to where she laid and hugged her tight, his wet tears dampening her shirt. Asmodeus followed suit, bawling loudly next to his white-haired brother. His tears stained his face, but he didn’t seem to mind at all.

Leviathan and Satan rushed in next, roughly shoving each other when they both entered the door at the same time in an attempt to free themselves from getting stuck.

The twins went in after them; Beelzebub was shaking violently, big fat tears rolling down his face. His hand grasped Belphegor’s tightly. His twin visibly winced at his grip.

Lucifer entered last, sighing in disbelief at his brothers’ behavior, but nevertheless relieved that Maya is finally awake. Barbatos is beside him, face stoic as ever. His eyes met hers, a silent message shared between them.

‘I’m glad you’re alright.’

Maya said nothing.

-

“Sorry about the mess,” The oldest brother sighed, closing the door behind him. “The others are going to follow shortly; Simeon and Solomon are still trying to comfort Luke.”

“What were you thinking?!” Levi exclaimed, “We were so worried about you, you normie!”

“You scared us, Maya!” Mammon sniffled beside her, “Please don’t ever do that again, ya hear me?”

Maya smiled.

And then she laughed.

And then the tears started falling.

The brothers rushed over and sat on the corner of the Demon Prince’s bed in alarm.

“Oh no, honey!” Asmo wailed as Maya tried so hard to wipe her tears. She couldn’t help it, it won’t stop flowing out.

“I’m sorry,” She choked, “I’m so sorry.”

Every time a tear strayed down her flushed cheeks, a part of her goes with it.

They all sat in silence, giving her a chance to break down her walls and finally let it all out. Diavolo squeezed her hand gently, quietly telling her that it’s okay to talk about it.

“I’m just so tired,” Maya told them, hiccuping every now and then as her body trembled in Mammon and Asmo’s arms. “I can’t eat, I can’t sleep, I can’t even get out of my own damn bed. Heck, I couldn’t even barely process anything. There are so many things running in my head right now. So many things, and it’s driving me insane. It’s making me feel afraid. I don’t want to go back home, I don’t want to be alone again. I know I can’t stay, but the place I live in back home can’t even be called a home. No light, no warmth, no one to go back home to. But here… I feel like I belong, like I have a family that cared about me and I… I love you guys so much that I’m afraid to lose it all.”

When she was finished, nobody uttered a word. Maya tensed, scared.

“I’m sorry,” She sucked in a breath. Her throat was sore from all the crying. “I shouldn’t have-”

She was suddenly engulfed by all of the brothers in what seemed like the best hug she ever had in her entire life; They weren’t like the hugs they would give her every time they go their separate ways in RAD’s hallways, they weren’t like the hugs they would give her whenever they would laugh when someone cracks a joke.

No, this hug was special.

It made her feel loved for the first time.

“Maya!” They all cooed, “We love you too!”

Maya burst into tears.

-

By the time they all broke their hug after what seemed like hours, the door opened once more as Barbatos let the angels and Solomon in.

Luke was sobbing in Simeon’s arms, making little hand gestures at Maya in an attempt to reach her.

“Barbatos told us what happened,” Simeon moved towards her and gave her a look of understanding. “I’m sorry you had to go through all of that.”

Maya weakly nodded, “It’s okay, Simeon. It’s not your fault.”

“Maya!” Luke sniffled, finally calming down when Simeon placed him on the bed next to her. “Thank God you’re alright now!”

She smiled at him, running her fingers through his soft blond hair. “I’m sorry for making you worry, Luke. Will you accept my apology?”

“Apology accepted!” The little angel cried, hugging her tight.

-

It was time for all of them to go back home. They all exchanged one final hug with Maya. Lucifer insisted her to stay in Diavolo’s room that night, the oldest brother convinced that she needed to rest before going back home.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t go home with you all tonight.” Maya told them, “I hope you all have a safe trip back home.” She ran her fingers through Luke’s hair one last time.

“No worries,” Simeon hummed, “It’s okay to rest every once in a while.”

“I’ll promise to write to you every day!” Luke declared, eyes watering a bit. “You better read them.”

“Oh, Luke.” Maya softened, kissing the angel’s forehead. “I will cherish them all.”

Luke beamed.

“Well I guess this is goodbye,” She nodded at Solomon.

“This isn’t goodbye, Maya,” The sorcerer assured her, “It’s more like a “See you later” thing, you know? We’ll see each other again - I promise.” He winked.

“Thank you for listening to me.”

“No, thank you,” They told her. “Thank you for trusting us.”

-

After they were escorted back outside by Barbatos, It was now the brothers’ turn to say goodbye.

“I’m seriously going to miss you guys.” Maya smiled at them.

“You better!” Mammon was tearing up again beside her.

Maya sighed, lifting her hand to wipe away his tear. “It’ll be fine, Mammon. I’m sure I can still see you sooner or later.”

A thought formed in her head, “Which reminds me…” Her hand dove under the sheets and fished out her wallet. “Here, you can have it.” She placed it on the demon’s hands.

“What?”

“You can have it,” Maya repeated, a smile forming on her face. “Besides, I can’t exactly use Grimm back home, right?”

Mammon sniffled, then immediately threw his hands around her. He was crying now.

“Oi, normie,” Levi called her, “Don’t you dare forget about us.”

“Oh Levi,” Maya motioned him to come closer so he too can join their hug. “How could I forget you?”

The avatar of envy averted his eyes, blushing immensely, before finally joining them.

Satan stepped forward and ruffled her hair. “Do you still want the books I’ll lend you?”

Maya can’t stop smiling. “Always.”

The blonde hummed, “I’m gonna miss you, Maya.” He then moved away.

Asmo practically threw himself over Maya, landing against his two older brothers.

“Hey! Watch it!” Mammon growled from under him.

“Asmo-”

“Maya!” He bawled, peppering Maya’s face with kisses. “Take care of yourself more okay? Remember to drink enough water and eat!”

Maya laughed, giving him a kiss on the cheek. “I promise, Asmo.”

The three demons immediately pulled away from their hug when they saw Beel approaching at a rapid pace. They didn’t want to get crushed by the Avatar of Gluttony’s huge stature.

“Hey there big guy,” Maya whispered, chuckling a bit when he trapped her in a bone-crushing hug.

“If you can, talk to your family for me?” He muttered, his purple eyes glossed over.

Maya closed her eyes. She sighed, “I’ll try, Beel.”

Belphie slid in between them, “So, can we all three sleep together now?”

Maya giggled, gently patting the youngest brother’s soft hair. “Soon, Belph. Soon.”

When they both finally pulled away, Lucifer approached her.

“If anything goes wrong,” He cupped her cheek with his gloved hand. “Just remember that you’ll always have a home with me. With us.”

She softened in his touch. Those were the words she always wanted to hear.

“Thank you,” She breathed, “I needed to hear that.”

“Anytime.” The oldest brother gave her one of his rare smiles, stepping back.

“I shall escort you seven to the door now,” Barbatos announced, reminding the brothers that it is time to go.

“See you later, Maya!” Mammon grinned, walking towards the door with the others.

“I’ll leave her to you, my Lord.” Lucifer nodded towards Diavolo, who was beside Barbatos.

“Don’t worry,” Diavolo assured them, “She’s in good hands.”

“Good night, Barb!” Maya called out to the demon butler as he accompanied the brothers outside. Barbatos smiled at her, before closing the door.

Diavolo was the only one that stayed behind.

“Move over,” He blurted out.

“What?”

“Move over. I want to cuddle you.”

-

“Tell me something about yourself.”

“Like what?”

“What did you like to do back home?”

Maya hummed, thinking hard. “I liked listening to theater.”

“Really?” Diavolo’s eyes shone in astonishment beside her, arms holding her close. “Can you tell me more?”

She giggled, amused at his reactions. “I had a dog while growing up. From what I can recall, I think we named him Kev. He was tiny; like a little white cloud zooming around in my family’s kitchen. Yet he had these big blue eyes; two sapphires, my mother would call them. But five-year old-Maya thought otherwise. They told me I thought of them as planets.” She paused, “I wish I had more memories of him to tell you. He passed away when I was eight.”

“I’m sure he was a good dog,” Diavolo assured her, a hand reaching up to play with her hair.

“He was one of the best,” Maya smiled at the memory.

-

“How long are you going to stay here?” She asked him.

“Until you fall asleep,” Diavolo answered. He was resting his chin on her head now.

“It’s okay if you need to go,” Maya sighed, “I know you’re busy running the Devildom. You’ve done so much for me already. You probably think of me as a burden right now.”

“No, you’re not.” He told her, “I won’t hate you. I won’t think of you as a burden. I know you think that’s what you deserve but it’s not. I want to stay with you.”

“Stay with me?” Maya repeated.

“As long as I get to hold your hand,” The demon prince chuckled, sheepish.

“Okay.”

Maya’s heart was caught in her throat when Diavolo’s hand slipped into hers, intertwining their fingers together.

It wasn’t weird. It wasn’t wrong. It was Diavolo.

They stayed like that for a while, relaxing in the comfortable silence. Diavolo suddenly broke the stillness when he breathed out a laugh.

Maya looked up at him, “What’s on your mind?” She questioned.

He smiled, “You.”

At that moment Maya realized that he was close. So close.

Diavolo seemed to notice it too. He leaned in, ever so carefully. He stopped when his lips were barely touching hers.

“Can I kiss you?” He whispered.

One look in their eyes and nothing more is said. They could tell they both wanted the same thing; the look they both had is what gave it away.

And then their lips met.

Their kiss was not at all the same as those romance movies Maya watched with the brothers. It wasn’t anything like how they described it in Satan’s novels. It didn’t feel like those rough kisses she had heard in Asmo’s stories.

This one was different. This one was soft.

It felt like laying in bed after a long day. It felt like rain in summer. It felt like the first bite into warm bread. It felt like living.

Yeah, Maya found her place. That place was wherever Diavolo was.

-

It was Monday when Maya woke up back in her apartment.

She was cold, she was alone. But she was loved.

She smiled.

Oh, so loved.

#obeyme #obey me shall we date #obey me! #shall we date obey me #obey me x oc #obey me x mc #obey me x reader #obey me lord diavolo #diavolo x reader #obey me diavolo #obey me lucifer #obey me mammon #obey me leviathan #obey me satan #obey me asmodeus #obey me beelzebub #obey me belphegor #obey me mc #obey me oc #obey me one shot #obey me fanfic

[mystic-deep]

After an intensive week of playing, I’m finally ready to review Obey me! from Shall we date. Okay, first of, a bit about the game:

Synopsis:

In an attempt to fix the relationship between the three realms, the young lord of Devildom starts an exchange program that will bring the Demons, Angels and humans together. A handful of individuals from each realm will spend a year experiencing each other worlds. Congratulation, you’ve just been chosen to be part of this program and you’ll spend a year in Devildom attending the demon school RAD! Do you have a choice? Apparently not! Also, Diavolo has decided to put you in the House of Lamentation where six demon brothers live. Get ready for fun, fun, FUN (at your expense) as you try to convince each demon brother to form a pact with you.

Joke aside, this is pretty much the premises of the game. Don’t be fooled by the false advertisement, this isn’t some sleazy, kinky otome game (although…during some parts…), the game is actually really fun and addictive. Romance is pushed in the background and although there are hints that some of the brothers have developed feelings for you, it’s not the main point of the story. It’s quite a breath of fresh air.

Gameplay:

I’ve played many otome games over the years and my main beef with all of them is the infuriating pace in which you have to go through the story. One of the main things that I loved about Mystic Messenger was how different it was from anything that I had played until that point. Same for Obey me!, the game doesn’t have tickets that you use to read chapters, instead it has battles between chapters for which you need at least one star to pass in order to advance. I’ll get to the battles later, but for now, let’s take a look at the main menu:

Okay, let’s take each of the icons and talk about them for a bit. The mail one is pretty self explanatory, it’s where you get notifications and news about the game. Akuzon is your shop/market, where you buy devil points and other items. Jobs is the menu where you put your devils to work. There are several places you can unlock and I highly recommend that you don’t forget to do the jobs. Not only do they bring you cash but also they raise your intimacy level with the demon you chose to work and sometimes you also get items.

Devilgram is where you find certain pics of the demons and stories behind the pics that you can unlock using keys. The To do is pretty much just that, a to do list of tasks that you must finish in order to get rewards. You have a daily list that gets you devil points and other rewards so make sure you try to do as many tasks from your daily list as possible. The next three icons show the current pop quiz games or nightmares and how much time you have left until they end.

Now, here come the most important menus. The Contacts menu is where you find your cards that you got in Nightmare:

In order to advance through the game you need to win the dance challenges. You can use three Demon cards and three Memory cards at the same time. The cards have rankings, from the strongest to weakest we have: UR, SSR, SR, R and N. What’s the difference? Well the stronger the card the more you can level it up, unlock the devil tree and get more attributes. There are seven in total: Pride, Greed, Envy, Wrath, Lust, Gluttony and Sloth. Once you level up a card you get an increase in each attribute. When you enter a dance challenge you’ll see your points as well as your opponents points. You might notice that you don’t have the same points in every challenge and that’s because it depends on the attribute that each challenge requires. For example, I don’t have a sloth card so when I have a challenge where that is required, my total point will be lower than normal. It’s impossible for you to have all the attributes at the same time and I don’t think it’s worth to invest in several cards at the same time. With what I have, I’ve managed to move through all the chapters in less than a week and I don’t have any UR cards, so if you level up your cards and unlock all points of your Devil tree, you’ll be fine.

How do you level up a card? Well, like everything in life, you can either work hard or pay for it. You get xp for each card when you win the game and it’s 320 for 3 stars and 200 for 2 or 1. You can unlock the sloths in the Devil tree of each card by using diamonds, or items that you get when you win the dance challenges.

Now, you might notice that there are card pieces, those cards can only be used once you gather ALL the pieces which is something really hard, almost close to impossible for the UR cards. Like I have so many UR cards that I need to gather the pieces for and they pretty much lie there...forgotten, waiting for a time when I’ll decide to invest more money in the game. 

Now the next menu is the task menu:

As you can see, the little books are the stories you can read and the notes are your dance challenges. At the end of each lesson you have to fight the final boss in order to advance to the next lesson. You have your HARD tasks and your NORMAL tasks. Take my advice, once you reach lesson 5 or so go back and do the normal challenges as well. That way you can increase the level of your cards which will help later on in the hard challenges.

You see those little pluses on the right corner of each card? There you can add glowing sticks that raise your total strength. Each card has a certain color depending on it’s attribute and you also have the rainbow sticks that increase your strength even more. They’re also more expensive, they cots 6 devil points while a regular one costs just 3. Is it worth using them? I mean if you’re really in a hurry and want to advance, but I suggest you leave them at least for the final boss battles. You don’t need them if you’re smart and level up your cards. 

Now, during a battle, you get little hearts that give you more points, during fever time you get colored stars that give you double the points. You should always try to collect as many as you can, sometimes they make the difference between you passing the challenge or failing. Each card also has a certain skill that can activate during the battle, but it doesn’t always happen and they don’t help you that much. What’s important is for you to tap each card at the same time to activate the x3 combo. That gives you more hearts/stars and points.

The last menu is the Nightmare, which is a sort of a gathca. You need to summon cards in Nightmare in order to have a better chance of winning the dance challenges. They’re pretty expensive, 10 cards cost around 25$ so yeah...the good news is that you get 3 free summons daily and that you get special offers where you can buy them at a much better price.

Now for the review which was the whole point of this:

Of course I love it, I wouldn’t waste an hour trying to explain the game if I didn’t wish for more ppl to play it. Not gonna lie, I pretty much started playing just because the advertisement for it was so ridiculous. Never expected it to be this much fun! I love the characters! Even the ones like Asmodeus and Satan, who I didn’t care much for  in the beginning, I started to love as the story progressed. I like the fact that so far you don’t have to choose a certain route and you can interact on a deeper level with each character. You do get intimacy points when you complete a dance challenge or when you put them to work, but for what purpose, that is yet to be clear. You do get more messages and phone calls from the character when your intimacy is higher but you can’t focus on just one. 

Another thing that I like is that it’s not clear what gender the MC is so that’s great, you also don’t have a background story other than a certain point which will be revealed later on and which I don’t want to spoil. 

All in all, the game is pretty complex, the characters are interesting and fun, MC is pretty sassy and even though chapters 15 and 16 were a bit disappointing I think the story has a lot more to reveal. 

And now for the main question that I will probably be asked, can the game be played for free? The answer to that would be yes. So far I’ve spent around 15$ and I’ve received quite a lot for it. The game is pretty generous even if you don’t want to spend a dime, as long as you work on completing your challenges and tasks, you will get a lot of free stuff. You also get special offers that are half of price of what they normally cost. 

Overall, I highly recommend it, there’s still a lot to talk about but I’ll let you discover and play it for yourselves.

#obey me! #obey me! shall we date #obey me lucifer #obey me mammon #obey me leviathan #obey me beelzebub #obey me satan #obey me asmodeus #obey me belphegor

[confrontingbabble-on]

“...when I think about mindfucks I think—as a former Evangelical—about Evangelical Christianity, which traffics, wholesale, in mindfuckery...

1. It’s not a religion, it’s a relationship (with your imagination...!). ...it’s one of Evangelicalism’s favorite ways of saying, We’re not like all those other (obviously false) faith-based belief systems. We just love Jesus and Jesus loves us, and he loves you, too. From the inside, this relationship thing feels really real and really good. But from the outside it’s a bunch of transparent hooey. Your born-again Christianity is a love relationship—with a character whose name and history you got from a set of ancient texts that were compiled and handed down by a vast hierarchical organization that once torched dissenting texts (and people). And this not-religion has sacred writings and rituals and leaders and schools of systematic theology, and it dictates what people are supposed to believe and how they’re supposed to behave. And it provides all the same social functions and structures as religions.

2. That’s the OLD Testament. In my childhood Bible, the Old Testament is bound together with the New Testament in a gold-stamped blue leather cover with these words on the title page, “The words of Scripture as originally penned in the Hebrew and Greek . . . are the eternal Word of God.” This statement is followed by a verse from the Old Testament book of Isaiah. “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever (Is 40:8).To Evangelicals, the Old Testament is the timeless Word of God, except when the vile atrocities described there become inconvenient or when people quote horrible verses—say those that demean women, endorse slavery, condemn homosexuality and shellfish eating, promote the idea of Chosen bloodlines, or make statements that are scientific nonsense. Then it’s just the Old Testament, and Evangelicals pull out all kinds of fancy “supersessionist” language to explain that those verses don’t really count because of the “new covenant” or the “Dispensation of Grace.” But just try suggesting that a Bible believer take the Old Testament out of the Holy Bible.

3. Yes, no, maybe. God answers prayer. Except when he doesn’t. The New Testament says, And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive  (Matthew 21:22; Mark 11:24). But everybody knows that in the real world that doesn’t happen. Christians face bankruptcies and bad test scores and death at the same rate as other people. God answers prayer at the margins of statistical significance, if at all—even when parents are asking for their kids to get healed from cancer, or kids are pleading that parents stop hitting them.How does one explain that? The age-old Christian answer has been that when your prayers aren’t answered you should doubt yourself rather than God, assuming that your faith was too weak or you wanted something you shouldn’t. But Evangelicals have come up with something even more clever: God does always answer! It’s just that he sometimes says no, or maybe, instead of yes. That ask anything and it shall be done Bible verse really meant, ask selectively and he might say yes.

4. Be selfless for your own sake. If you want to be great in God’s kingdom, learn to be the servant of all, say the lyrics to one Christian song. Got that? “If you want to be great,” not “if you want to do the most good in the world.” Granted, learn to be the servant of all beats some other paths people take when they seek status, but it is a path to status nonetheless, which is why the church is full of self-proclaimed servant leaders who actually aspire to great man or woman status.

5. Christianity is humble. According to Catholic theology, pride is one of the seven deadly sins. Evangelical preachers tell us it was Satan’s original sin. Pride cometh before the fall, so humble yourself before God. Couple this claim about humility with the idea that you should preach [your version of] the gospel to every creature—and things get turned inside out and upside down.Famed Puritan hellfire-and-brimstone minister Jonathan Edwards said, “We must view humility as one of the most essential things that characterizes true Christianity.” Edwards also expounded with righteous certitude about the torments of the wicked in hell—wicked meaning anyone who didn’t share his Puritan beliefs.Anyone who has spent much time in an Evangelical church community knows that superior humility can be a powerful form of one-upmanship. But competitive humility aside, what could possibly be more arrogant than thinking the universe was made for mankind, that only we bipedal primates are made in the image of God, that all other sentient beings are here for us to use, that you happened to be born into the one true faith among the tens of thousands of false ones, and that the force that created the laws of physics wants a personal relationship with you.

6. Christianity isn’t sexist; God just has different intentions and rules for men and women. Just because in the Old Testament God (identified by the male pronoun) makes man first, puts men in charge (male headship), gives men the right to barter women and take them as war booty doesn’t mean they’re unequal. Just because the New Testament forbids women to speak in church, tells them to cover their heads and submit to men, and excludes them from leadership positions doesn’t mean that women are inferior to men!

The Bible may be rife with stories with predominantly male protagonists. It may show women competing to have sons. Genealogies may be determined by paternity. God may convey his word exclusively through male writers and may take the form of a male human. But that doesn’t mean men and women are unequal! They’re just “different.” All of those generations of Patriarchs and Church Fathers and Reformers and Preachers who said vile things about women—they just misunderstood the Bible’s message on this point.

7. Believe and be saved. Right belief, according to Evangelicalism, is the toggle that sends people to heaven or hell—as if we could simply make ourselves believe whatever we want, regardless of the evidence, and as if the ability to do so were a virtue. Right belief makes you one of the Righteous. Wrong belief makes you one of the Wicked. God may have given you the ability to think, but you follow logic and evidence where they lead only at your own eternal peril. If you don’t believe, it’s because you secretly just don’t want to.Granted we all are prone to a greater or lesser degree, to what psychologists call “motivated belief,” meaning we have a tendency to selectively seek evidence for things we either want to be true or, more rarely, fear to be true. But this is hardly a sign of robust character or moral virtue. Quite the opposite.

8. God loves you and he’ll send you to hell. And once you die, it’s all irreversible. George Carlin put it best: Religion has convinced people that there’s an invisible man … living in the sky. Who watches everything you do every minute of every day. And the invisible man has a list of ten specific things he doesn’t want you to do. And if you do any of these things, he will send you to a special place, of burning and fire and smoke and torture and anguish for you to live forever, and suffer, and suffer, and burn, and scream, until the end of time. But he loves you. He loves you. He loves you and he needs money.

OK, Carlin didn’t have his theology right, at least not from an Evangelical standpoint. You don’t go to hell for violating the Ten Commandments. You go to hell for not accepting Jesus as your savior. But yeah, he loves you, loves you, loves you, and if you don’t love him back and worship him and accept his gift of forgiveness for your imperfection, he’s going to torture you forever. Wrap your brain around that definition of love.

9. Free choice under duress. Why is the world full of sin and suffering if God is all powerful and all good? Because he wanted us to worship him of our own free will. He loves us too much to force us, so we had to be able to choose—so the story goes.But, if what he wanted was love and adoration, freely given, then why did he entice us with promises of heaven and threaten us with eternal torture? Can someone really love you if you demand their love at gunpoint?

10. Lean not unto your own understanding. Faith is just believing. Trust and obey. Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong (1 Corinthians 16:13). The fool has said in his heart there is no God (Psalm 14:1).

The idea that your own mind, logic, and the evidence in the world around you is not to be trusted may be Evangelicalism’s biggest mindfuck, because it is subtext in all the others. Any doubts are just evidence that your mind (and basic human decency) are shaky. Since doubt is a sign of weak faith—and sometimes even direct from the devil—you should never ever trust what you think, feel, see or experience over what the Bible says and the Church teaches. Walk by faith, not by sight. Stop asking questions! “

Valerie Tarico is a psychologist and writer in Seattle, Washington.

https://valerietarico.com/2019/02/08/evangelical-christianitys-ten-biggest-mindfucks/

#nonreligious #atheist #agnostic #secular humanist #skeptic #Religion #Christianity #religious insanity

[wgpetersindia]

COSMIC CONFRONTATION

How do we know that an evil angel has rebelled against a good creator?

Why did God allow the Tree of the knowledge of good and Evil in the GOE?

Why did God create Adam & Eve?

Most of the Western scholars are saying that Angelic beings have a FREE WILL, and they chosen to rebel against God. Westerners haven’t worked on this questions for a long period of time. They say that the Angel has “FREE WILL" and that’s the reason he rebelled against God, but how do they find that the Angelic being has a free will? Here are some answers for those compelling questions.

However, to understand these questions it’s necessary to understand the Origin of God, again in the West there is a general perception that God is an Eternal being, meaning God exists always, and have no beginning and have no end. In contrast, the Bible says that God is First and Last, Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End. The word Eternal means no beginning and no end in the Western world, it means there is first and last, these first and last or beginning and end has some distance between them, and the length isn’t measurable, or time between them is not measurable, as we know East and West aren’t fixing points as we can’t comprehend, and that's called Eternal or infinity, and there is nothing before the First or nothing after the Last.

So, God came into a being at some point, and that God wasn’t a created being, and there is no creator other than God who is beyond time and space. However, God was alone having a supreme power to create and destruct, and there’s nothing can comes to existence unless God creates, therefore, God is Supremacy in all things, here is analogy to better understand God and His position, and that in the beginning God was like an Orphan who have never known his Parents, if we ask an orphan boy about his Parent’s, he would Probably say that I have no Parent’s, if we further insist that you must have a Parent’s and without a Parent’s you can’t be born then what would an orphan boy answer? He would definitely say, that I have told you that I’m an orphan if I know my Parent’s then I would have never been called an orphan. Thereafter, insisting an orphan is something meaningless and it leads nowhere. The same way, anybody asks that everything God created if so then who created God? And such kind of a question leads nowhere.

So, God came into a being from an unfathomable or unimagined source, having enormous power to create and destruct, and He’s Supreme and nothing can come without the knowledge of God. Thus, God created the heaven and Earth, and also He created Angels, thereafter an Angel looking at God and His creative power DESIRED to become like God, so as to create like God, and he didn’t share his desire with God but plan by himself against God, thinking that God may not aware of his plan, but the moment such a desire came to an Angel God came to know it, and He considered that it’s natural for someone to have such a desire when looking at the creative power, therefore God waited for an Angel if he comes and share his desire or not, but an Angel planning to work against God, and such a sort of NEGATIVE attitude also came to an Angel from the same source God came into an existence, however God was First but a desire against God came into an Angel as Second, and that’s why God is sovereign that nothing can happen without His knowledge.

God summoned an Angel one fine moment, and questioned about his negative attitudes, and his secret plan, and it was a shock to his folly, though God offered a Pardon, making him know His Supreme power that there’s nothing happen without His knowledge, at least on that moment this Angel would have accepted God’s pardon but he refused, and rely on his negative attitude that he received from an unfathomable source, and argued with God, and God said to destroy him but an Angel demanded a TIME with God, challenging Him to overthrow from His throne, and said to God if you do not give a TIME then you would not be a righteous God, so God said, if you fail after the Time is expired then you should have to spend your eternity in hell, but an angel chosen to rebel against God and rejected God’s Pardon. Finally, God agreed and throw an Archangel along with his companions from His presence of heaven, and to the earth, and an Angel have become a Devil or Satan or Demon and called Lucifer. Thus, the fall of Lucifer was complete and an Angel has deceitful and all kinds of wickedness, so as to wage a war against God and His creations. God and His adversary are like Matter and Anti-matter or Energy and anti-Energy, setting a stage for the confrontation.

So, an Arch Angel or Angelic beings do not have any “FREE WILL” to choose and to rebel against God but a Desire to rebel against God came to an Angel from the unimaginable and unfathomable source as Second, and that an Angel rely on it for his existence, and activity and can’t be repented but should have to go into an Eternal hell once the confrontation is over in the earth. God created Light in the first day, and the Earth begun its journey around the Sun, followed by Visible and invisible entities both in the earth and in the heavens, and finally created Man by His own image and also created Woman comparable to man on 6th day, and completed His creation. In Genesis 1:28, God blessed Adam and Eve by saying, be fruitful, multiply and replenish the earth. However, God gave only one command to Adam, in Genesis 2:17 “but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

Why did God give such a command to Adam and Eve?

God gave a command to Adam, not to eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and also allowed the tree to be in the midst of the Garden because of the fact that there was an agreement with His adversary, and in view of those agreement only God did it. God didn’t give any FREE WILL to Adam but He gave such a command as His capacity as a loving Father to His children as He, himself is handling the tree of the knowledge of good and evil by setting its place, the same way being a Father, He expected His children to handle the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Thus, the purpose was that the Children of God the Father must be like God the Father, and that the relationship between them was that a like Father and Like Children.

By these explanations, its pretty well clear that there is no FREE WILL to an Angel who turned to a rebellious Lucifer, Satan, and there was no FREE WILL to man in the beginning. God’s attributions as God is Omniscience, Omnipotence, Omnipresence and All knowing are nothing to do with his creation as man, the responsibility for man was to obey His commands. Whether God know Adam and Eve would disobey His command or not is based on His agreement with a Lucifer who have a limitation in his activities, the same way God have limitations in His activities. God didn’t create anything after His creation was over in six days.

However, the Lucifer came and subtly talked and deceived Adam and Eve, the Result was that the flood gate of wickedness opened, and that’s how the kingdom of darkness was established by the devil, and now God being a benevolent, compassionate had to talk to the fallen man, and He continued throughout the ages, giving laws, instructions, Promises and covenants, so as to survive the journey on a troubled sea. God created and finished His work and rested on a 7th Day, same way an adversary the Lucifer had to carryout his wicked work for a Particular period of time. However, God has become a Man, JESUS/YESHUA and destroyed the works of the devil that happen in men, taking this generation forward and forward which would come to an end once anybody become LIKE JESUS/YESHUA or become LIKE Adam prior to the fall, and physically repeat what JESUS/YESHUA did in the 1st century as part of the testimony of GOD/JESUS and then He will return to destroy the devil by His breath, and throw him along with his companions both angelic beings who rebelled against God in the heaven here in the earth, human beings who rejected the Son of God into an eternal lack of fire.

William G Peter

[email protected]

[seekfirstme]

The following reflection is courtesy of Don Schwager © 2021. Don's website is located at Dailyscripture.net

Meditation: What is the best protection which brings lasting security to our lives? Scripture tells us that true peace and security come to those who trust in God and obey his word. "Obey my voice and walk in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you" (Jeremiah 7:23). The struggle between choosing to do good or evil, yielding to my will or God's will, God's way or my way, cannot be won by human strength or will-power alone. Our enemy, the devil, conspires with the "world" (whatever is opposed to God and his truth and righteousness) and our "flesh" (whatever inclines us to yield to hurtful desires and wrongdoing), to draw us away from the peace, joy, and security which God provides for those who put their trust in him.

Peter the Apostles tells us, Our adversary, the devil prowls the earth seeking the ruin of souls (1 Peter 5:8-9). The devil is opposed to God and he seeks to draw us away from God's plan and will for our lives. God offers us grace (his merciful help and strength) and protection (from Satan's lies and deception) if we are willing to obey his word and resist the devil's lies and temptations. Because you have made the Lord your refuge, the Most High your habitation, no evil shall befall you, no scourge come near your tent. For he will give his angels charge of you to guard you in all your ways (Psalm 91:9-11). The Lord offers us the peace and security of his kingdom which lasts forever and which no other power can overcome.

God's kingdom brings healing and freedom from the destructive forces of sin and Satan

Jesus' numerous exorcisms brought freedom to many who were troubled and oppressed by the work of evil spirits. Jesus himself encountered personal opposition and battled with Satan when he was put to the test in the wilderness just before his public ministry (Luke 4:1-13). He overcame the evil one through his obedience to the will of his Father. Some of the Jewish leaders reacted vehemently to Jesus' healings and exorcisms and they opposed him with malicious slander. How could he get the power and authority to release individuals from Satan's power? They assumed that he had to be in league with Satan. They attributed his power to Satan rather than to God.

Jesus answers their charge with two arguments. There were many exorcists among the Jews in Jesus' time. So Jesus retorted by saying that they also incriminate their own kin who cast out demons. If they condemn Jesus they also condemn themselves. In his second argument he asserts that no kingdom divided against itself can survive for long? We have witnessed enough civil wars in our own time to prove the destructive force at work here for the annihilation of whole peoples and their land. If Satan lends his power against his own forces then he is finished. How can a strong person be defeated except by someone who is stronger? Jesus asserted his power and authority to cast out demons as a clear demonstration of the reign of God.

Jesus' reference to the finger of God points back to Moses' confrontation with Pharoah and his magicians who represented Satan and the kingdom of darkness (see Exodus 8:19). Jesus claims to be carrying on the tradition of Moses whose miracles freed the Israelites from bondage by the finger of God. God's power is clearly at work in the exorcisms which Jesus performed and they give evidence that God's kingdom has come.

Is Jesus the Master of your life?

Jesus makes it clear that there are no neutral parties. We are either for Jesus or against him, for the kingdom of God or against it. There are two kingdoms in opposition to one another - the kingdom of God and the kingdom of darkness under the rule of Satan. If we disobey God's word, we open to door to the power of sin and Satan in our lives. If you want to live in freedom from sin and Satan, then your "house" - your life and possessions (all that you rely upon for livelihood, peace, and security) - must be occupied by Jesus where he is enthroned as Lord and Savior. Is the Lord Jesus the Master of your home, heart, mind, and will?

"O Lord, our God, grant us, we beseech you, patience in troubles, humility in comforts, constancy in temptations, and victory over all our spiritual foes. Grant us sorrow for our sins, thankfulness for your benefits, fear of your judgment, love of your mercies, and mindfulness of your presence; now and for ever. (Prayer by John Cosin) "

The following reflection is from One Bread, One Body courtesy of Presentation Ministries © 2021.

“DO YOU RENOUNCE SATAN?”

“Some of them said, ‘It is by Beelzebul, the prince of devils, that He casts out devils.’ ” —Luke 11:15

Some people accused Jesus of driving out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of demons. We may have sinned many times, but that’s one sin we likely have never committed. In our secularized society, many don’t even believe the devil exists. Consequently, they would not attribute any of Jesus’ works to the devil. Many are too ignorant or heretical to commit the sin referred to in today’s Gospel reading.

In a few short weeks, at every Catholic Mass in the whole world on Easter Vigil and Easter Sunday, we will be asked the question: “Do you renounce Satan?” Those who are so secularized as to deny or doubt the devil’s existence or activity will not be able to answer that question. Even those who acknowledge the devil’s existence may be hard pressed to renounce Satan, all his works, and all his empty promises. When we are aware that Satan exists, we probably know that he is aware of our renouncing him. Many, and Satan especially, react to renunciation with retaliation. Therefore, we must be protected before “picking a fight” with Satan by renouncing him. We must repent of our sins and commit ourselves totally to Jesus. Then we are under Jesus’ protection and can renounce Satan. Prepare to renounce Satan.

Prayer:  Father, may the renewal of my baptismal promises at Mass on Easter be all You want it to be.

Promise:  “If it is by the finger of God that I cast out devils, then the reign of God is upon you.” —Lk 11:20

Praise:  Mark and Alice prayed a 31-day novena to ask the Lord for the ability to conceive another child.

Reference:  (For a related teaching on Seek First the Kingdom, order, view or download our leaflet on our website.)

Rescript:  "In accord with the Code of Canon Law, I hereby grant the Nihil Obstat for One Bread, One Body covering the period from February 1, 2021 through March 31, 2021. Most Reverend Joseph R. Binzer, Auxiliary Bishop, Vicar General, Archdiocese of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio March 31, 2020"

The Nihil Obstat ("Permission to Publish") is a declaration that a book or pamphlet is considered to be free of doctrinal or moral error. It is not implied that those who have granted the Nihil Obstat agree with the contents, opinions, or statements

[dfroza]

renewal. rebirth.

it all points to all things being made right in A grand end of time

and wouldn’t you like a new body that will never die? it begins with the rebirth of the heart (inside, Anew)

it is an act of grace.

even the heavens and garden earth are destined to be reborn. everything will be made pure and True. no more deceit plaguing this world. no more lies.

for it is impossible for a lie to be found in Love. because Love is pure Light. it is True illumination.

and we see this (the nature of truth vs. the lie) reflected in the reading of the Scriptures for the first day of january to begin 2020

chapter 5 of the ancient book of Acts:

Once a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira fully cooperating, committed fraud. He sold some property and kept some of the proceeds, but he pretended to make a full donation to the Lord’s emissaries.

Peter: Ananias, have you allowed Satan to influence your lies to the Holy Spirit and hold back some of the money? Look, it was your property before you sold it, and the money was all yours after you sold it. Why have you concocted this scheme in your heart? You weren’t just lying to us; you were lying to God.

Ananias heard these words and immediately dropped to the ground, dead; fear overcame all those who heard of the incident. Some young men came, wrapped the body, and buried it immediately. About three hours had passed when Sapphira arrived. She had no idea what had happened.

Peter: Did you sell the land for such-and-such a price?

Sapphira: Yes, that was the price.

Peter: Why did the two of you conspire to test the Spirit of the Lord? Do you hear those footsteps outside? Those are the young men who just buried your husband, and now they will carry you out as well.

She—like her husband—immediately fell dead at Peter’s feet. The young men came in and carried her corpse outside and buried it beside her husband. The whole church was terrified by this story, as were others who heard it.

Those were amazing days—with many signs and wonders being performed through the apostles among the people. The church would gather as a unified group in Solomon’s Porch, enjoying great respect by the people of the city—though most people wouldn’t risk publicly affiliating with them. Even so, record numbers of believers—both men and women—were added to the Lord. The church’s renown was so great that when Peter walked down the street, people would carry out their sick relatives hoping his shadow would fall on some of them as he passed. Even people from towns surrounding Jerusalem would come, bringing others who were sick or tormented by unclean spirits, all of whom were cured.

Of course, this popularity elicited a response: the high priest and his affiliates in the Sadducean party were jealous, so they arrested the apostles and put them in the public prison. But that night, a messenger of the Lord opened the doors of the prison and led them to freedom.

Messenger of the Lord: Go to the temple, and stand up to tell the people the whole message about this way of life from Jesus.

At dawn they did as they were told; they returned to their teaching in the temple.

Meanwhile the council of Jewish elders was gathering—convened by the high priest and his colleagues. They sent the temple police to the prison to have the Lord’s emissaries brought for further examination; but of course, the temple police soon realized they weren’t there. They returned and reported,

Temple Police: The prison was secure and locked, and the guards were standing in front of the doors; but when we unlocked the doors, the cell was empty.

The captain of the temple police and the senior priests were completely mystified when they heard this. They had no idea what had happened. Just then, someone arrived with this news:

Temple Messenger: You know those men you put in prison last night? Well, they’re free. At this moment, they’re at it again, teaching our people in the temple!

The temple police—this time, accompanied by their captain—rushed over to the temple and brought the emissaries of the Lord to the council. They were careful not to use violence, because the people were so supportive of them that the police feared being stoned by the crowd if they were too rough. Once again the men stood before the council. The high priest began the questioning.

High Priest: Didn’t we give you strict orders to stop teaching in this name? But here you are, spreading your teaching throughout Jerusalem. And you are determined to blame us for this man’s death.

Peter and the Apostles: If we have to choose between obedience to God and obedience to any human authority, then we must obey God. The God of our ancestors raised Jesus from death. You killed Jesus by hanging Him on a tree, but God has lifted Him high, to God’s own right hand, as the Prince, as the Liberator. God intends to bring Israel to a radical rethinking of our lives and to a complete forgiveness of our sins. We are witnesses to these things. There is another witness, too—the Holy Spirit—whom God has given to all who choose to obey Him.

The council was furious and would have killed them; but Gamaliel, a Pharisee in the council respected as a teacher of the Hebrew Scriptures, stood up and ordered the men to be sent out so the council could confer privately.

Gamaliel: Fellow Jews, you need to act with great care in your treatment of these fellows. Remember when a man named Theudas rose to notoriety? He claimed to be somebody important, and he attracted about 400 followers. But when he was killed, his entire movement disintegrated and nothing came of it. After him came Judas, that Galilean fellow, at the time of the census. He also attracted a following; but when he died, his entire movement fell apart. So here’s my advice: in this case, just let these men go. Ignore them. If this is just another movement arising from human enthusiasm, it will die out soon enough. But then again, if God is in this, you won’t be able to stop it—unless, of course, you’re ready to fight against God!

The council was convinced, so they brought the apostles back in. They were flogged, again told not to speak in the name of Jesus, and then released. As they left the council, they weren’t discouraged at all. In fact, they were filled with joy over being considered worthy to suffer disgrace for the sake of His name. And constantly, whether in public, in the temple, or in their homes, they kept teaching and proclaiming Jesus as the Anointed One, the Liberating King.

The Book of Acts, Chapter 5 (The Voice)

and another mirroring of untruth that points to the purity of God’s Word is seen in these lines of Psalm 12 for the 12th day of Winter:

A David Psalm

Quick, God, I need your helping hand!

The last decent person just went down,

All the friends I depended on gone.

Everyone talks in lie language;

Lies slide off their oily lips.

They doubletalk with forked tongues.

Slice their lips off their faces! Pull

The braggart tongues from their mouths!

I’m tired of hearing, “We can talk anyone into anything!

Our lips manage the world.”

Into the hovels of the poor,

Into the dark streets where the homeless groan, God speaks:

“I’ve had enough; I’m on my way

To heal the ache in the heart of the wretched.”

God’s words are pure words,

Pure silver words refined seven times

In the fires of his word-kiln,

Pure on earth as well as in heaven.

God, keep us safe from their lies,

From the wicked who stalk us with lies,

From the wicked who collect honors

For their wonderful lies.

The Book of Psalms, Poem 12 (The Message)

to be joined by the lines of Psalm 1 for january 1 of 2020:

Book One

The Genesis Psalms

Psalms of man and creation

The Tree of Life

Psalm 1

God’s blessings follow you and await you at every turn:

when you don’t follow the advice of those who delight in wicked schemes,

When you avoid sin’s highway,

when judgment and sarcasm beckon you, but you refuse.

For you, the Eternal’s Word is your happiness.

It is your focus—from dusk to dawn.

You are like a tree,

planted by flowing, cool streams of water that never run dry.

Your fruit ripens in its time;

your leaves never fade or curl in the summer sun.

No matter what you do, you prosper.

For those who focus on sin, the story is different.

They are like the fallen husk of wheat, tossed by an open wind, left deserted and alone.

In the end, the wicked will fall in judgment;

the guilty will be separated from the innocent.

Their road suddenly will end in death,

yet the journey of the righteous has been charted by the Eternal.

The Book of Psalms, Poem 1 (The Passion Translation / The Voice)

Instead you thrill to God’s Word,

you chew on Scripture day and night.

You’re a tree replanted in Eden,

bearing fresh fruit every month,

Never dropping a leaf,

always in blossom.

The Book of Psalms, Poem 1:2-3 (The Message)

and we see the same mirrored in chapter 1 of the book of Proverbs for the first day of the new year:

The Prologue

Here are kingdom revelations, words to live by, and words of wisdom given to empower you to reign in life, written as proverbs by Israel’s King Solomon, David’s son.

Within these sayings will be found the revelation of wisdom and the impartation of spiritual understanding. Use them as keys to unlock the treasures of true knowledge.

Those who cling to these words will receive discipline to demonstrate wisdom in every relationship and to choose what is right and just and fair.

These proverbs will give you great skill to teach the immature and make them wise, to give youth the understanding of their design and destiny.

For the wise, these proverbs will make you even wiser, and for those with discernment, you will be able to acquire brilliant strategies for leadership.

These kingdom revelations will break open your understanding to unveil the deeper meaning of parables, poetic riddles, and epigrams, and to unravel the words and enigmas of the wise.

How then does a man gain the essence of wisdom?

We cross the threshold of true knowledge when we live in obedient devotion to God.

Stubborn know-it-alls will never stop to do this, for they scorn true wisdom and knowledge.

[The Wisdom of a Father]

Pay close attention, my child, to your father’s wise words and never forget your mother’s instructions.

For their insight will bring you success, adorning you with grace-filled thoughts and giving you reins to guide your decisions.

When peer pressure compels you to go with the crowd and sinners invite you to join in, you must simply say, “No!”

When the gang says—“We’re going to steal and kill and get away with it.

We’ll take down the rich and rob them. We’ll swallow them up alive and take what we want from whomever we want. Then we’ll take their treasures and fill our homes with loot.

So come on and join us. Take your chance with us. We’ll divide up all we get; we’ll each end up with big bags of cash!”—my son, refuse to go with them and stay far away from them.

For crime is their way of life and bloodshed their specialty. To be aware of their snare is the best way of escape.

They’ll resort to murder to steal their victim’s assets, but eventually it will be their own lives that are ambushed. In their ungodly disrespect for God they bring destruction on their own lives.

[Wisdom’s Warning]

Wisdom’s praises are sung in the streets and celebrated far and wide.

Yet wisdom’s song is not always heard in the halls of higher learning.

But in the hustle and bustle of everyday life its lyrics can always be heard above the din of the crowd.

You will hear wisdom’s warning as she preaches courageously to those who stop to listen:

“Foolish ones, how much longer will you cling to your deception? How much longer will you mock wisdom, cynical scorners who fight the facts?

Come back to your senses and be restored to reality. Don’t even think about refusing my rebuke!

Don’t you know that I’m ready to pour out my spirit of wisdom upon you and bring to you the revelation of my words that will make your heart wise?

I’ve called to you over and over; still you refuse to come to me. I’ve pleaded with you again and again, yet you’ve turned a deaf ear to my voice.

Because you have laughed at my counsel and have insisted on continuing in your stubbornness, I will laugh when your calamity comes and will turn away from you at the time of your disaster.

Make a joke of my advice, will you? Then I’ll make a joke out of you!

When the storm clouds of terror gather over your head, when dread and distress consume you and your catastrophe comes like a hurricane, you will cry out to me, but I won’t answer.

Then it will be too late to expect my help.

When desperation drives you to search for me, I will be nowhere to be found.

Because you have turned up your nose at me and closed your eyes to the facts and refused to worship me in awe—because you scoffed at my wise counsel and laughed at my correction—now you will eat the bitter fruit of your own ways.

You’ve made your own bed; now lie in it! So how do you like that?

Like an idiot you’ve turned away from me and chosen destruction instead. Your self-satisfied smugness will kill you.

But the one who always listens to me will live undisturbed in a heavenly peace.

Free from fear, confident and courageous, you will rest unafraid and sheltered from the storms of life.

The Book of Proverbs, Chapter 1 (The Passion Translation)

And the reading of chapter 5 of Acts in the New Testament is paired Today with the reading of chapter 3 of Nahum where we see a time when the lies and injustices of Nineveh were exposed by God:

Hopelessness and despair,

that’s the destiny of the city that shed so much blood,

That perfected its use of lies,

that overflows with stolen treasures,

Leaving behind endless victims.

The Book of Nahum, Chapter 3:1 (The Voice)

[Let the Nations Get Their Fill of the Ugly Truth]

Doom to Murder City—

full of lies, bursting with loot, addicted to violence!

Horns blaring, wheels clattering,

horses rearing, chariots lurching,

Horsemen galloping,

brandishing swords and spears,

Dead bodies rotting in the street,

corpses stacked like cordwood,

Bodies in every gutter and alley,

clogging every intersection!

And whores! Whores without end!

Whore City,

Fatally seductive, you’re the Witch of Seduction,

luring nations to their ruin with your evil spells.

“I’m your enemy, Whore Nineveh—

I, God-of-the-Angel-Armies!

I’ll strip you of your seductive silk robes

and expose you on the world stage.

I’ll let the nations get their fill of the ugly truth

of who you really are and have been all along.

I’ll pelt you with dog dung

and place you on a pedestal: ‘Slut on Exhibit.’

Everyone who sees you will gag and say,

‘Nineveh’s a pigsty:

What on earth did we ever see in her?

Who would give her a second look? Ugh!’”

[Past the Point of No Return]

Do you think you’re superior to Egyptian Thebes,

proudly invincible on the River Nile,

Protected by the great River,

walled in by the River, secure?

Ethiopia stood guard to the south,

Egypt to the north.

Put and Libya, strong friends,

were ready to step in and help.

But you know what happened to her:

The whole city was marched off to a refugee camp,

Her babies smashed to death

in public view on the streets,

Her prize leaders auctioned off,

her celebrities put in chain gangs.

Expect the same treatment, Nineveh.

You’ll soon be staggering like a bunch of drunks,

Wondering what hit you,

looking for a place to sleep it off.

All your forts are like peach trees,

the lush peaches ripe, ready for the picking.

One shake of the tree and they fall

straight into hungry mouths.

Face it: Your warriors are wimps.

You’re sitting ducks.

Your borders are gaping doors, inviting

your enemies in. And who’s to stop them?

Store up water for the siege.

Shore up your defenses.

Get down to basics: Work the clay

and make bricks.

Sorry. Too late.

Enemy fire will burn you up.

Swords will cut you to pieces.

You’ll be chewed up as if by locusts.

Yes, as if by locusts—a fitting fate,

for you yourselves are a locust plague.

You’ve multiplied shops and shopkeepers—

more buyers and sellers than stars in the sky!

A plague of locusts, cleaning out the neighborhood

and then flying off.

Your bureaucrats are locusts,

your brokers and bankers are locusts.

Early on, they’re all at your service,

full of smiles and promises,

But later when you return with questions or complaints,

you’ll find they’ve flown off and are nowhere to be found.

King of Assyria! Your shepherd-leaders,

in charge of caring for your people,

Are busy doing everything else but.

They’re not doing their job,

And your people are scattered and lost.

There’s no one to look after them.

You’re past the point of no return.

Your wound is fatal.

When the story of your fate gets out,

the whole world will applaud and cry “Encore!”

Your cruel evil has seeped

into every nook and cranny of the world.

Everyone has felt it and suffered.

The Book of Nahum, Chapter 3 (The Message)

[live4thelord-blog1]

The Mystery of Iniquity – A Meditation on the Mystery of Rebelliousness

Msgr. Charles Pope • February 19, 2019 • 1 Comment

There is a phrase in the Scriptures that, while speaking of mystery, is itself a bit mysterious and is debated among scholars: the “mystery of iniquity.” St. Paul mentions it in Second Thessalonians and ties it to an equally mysterious “man of iniquity” who will appear before Jesus’ second coming.

The Latin root of the English word “iniquity” is iniquitas (in (not) + aequus (equal)), meaning unjust or harmful, but the Greek μυστήριον τῆς ἀνομίας (mysterion tes anomias) is probably best rendered as “mystery of lawlessness.” Many modern translations use the “mystery of lawlessness,” though it doesn’t have quite the same ring to it.

Translation issues aside, Paul seems to be writing in a kind of secret code:

Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers and sisters, not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by the teaching allegedly from us—whether by a prophecy or by word of mouth or by letter—asserting that the day of the Lord has already come. Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God. Don’t you remember that when I was with you, I used to tell you these things? And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming (2 Thess 2:1-8).

Although St. Paul tells the Thessalonians that they know what is holding back the lawless one, we moderns struggle to know. Some scholars say that Paul is referring to the Roman government (which I doubt). Others say that it is the power of grace and God’s decision to “restrain” the evil one and thereby limit his power for the time being. Of course, if Satan is limited now, what horrifying things will be set loose when he is no longer restrained! Can it get any worse? Apparently, it can!

But there it is in the seventh verse; even before the lawless one is set loose there already exists the mystery of lawlessness, the mystery of iniquity. That phrase comes down through the centuries to us, provoking us to ponder its rich meaning.

The danger is that we can focus too much on the “man of iniquity,” who is not yet fully here, and fail to ponder the present reality. As St. Paul says, For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Yes, the danger is that we focus on the future, which is murky, and ignore the present.

Hence, I propose that we ponder the “mystery of iniquity,” which is already here. I’d like to explore how it affects us, both personally and collectively. In doing so, we cannot ignore the operative word “mystery.” We must ponder with humility, realizing that some of what we are confronting is revealed, but much of it is hidden. Therefore, I do not propose to “explain” this phrase to you, but rather to ponder its mystery and confront its questions so as to draw us to reverence and a deeper understanding of our need for salvation.

Let’s look at the mystery of iniquity in four parts, wherein we ponder the mysterious reality of lawlessness that seems so operative among us, individually and collectively.

1. “Rational” Man’s Irrationality – Why do we, who are otherwise rational creatures, choose to do that which we know is wrong? Why do we choose to do that which we know causes harm to ourselves and others? Why do we do that which endangers us, threatens us, compromises our future, and further weakens us? Why do we choose evil, knowing that it is evil?

Some argue that our will has been weakened on account of original sin and thus we give way easily to temptation. While this offers some insight, it does not ultimately solve the mystery, for we consistently seem to choose to do that which we know is wrong or harmful.

Some contend that we are choosing what we perceive to be good, but despite our darkened intellects and our tendency to lie to ourselves, deep down we really know better. We know that choosing evil leads to harm in the long run. Our conscience tells us, “This is wrong. Don’t do it.” Yet, knowing this, we still do it.

Are we weak? Yes, but that is not the complete answer. We are staring once again into the face of the “mystery of iniquity.”

2. The Angelic Rebellion – The mystery only deepens when we consider that this is not just a human problem; it is also an angelic one. The presence of demons, revealed to us by Scripture and by our own experience, speaks to the reality of fallen angels.

There was a great rebellion among the angels. Scripture more than hints at the fact that a third of the angels fell from Heaven in this rebellion, before the creation of man (cf Rev 12:4).

Thus, ascribing iniquity and lawlessness to human weakness cannot be a complete answer.

How could angels, with a nature and intellect far more glorious than ours, knowingly reject what is good, true, and beautiful? Here is the deep “mystery of iniquity” having nothing to do with the flesh, or with sensuality, or with human limits. It is raw, intellectual, willful rebellion against the good by creatures far superior to us. The mystery only deepens.

3. The Corruption of the Best and Brightest – The intellect and free will are arguably God’s greatest gifts. Why, then, do they come at such a high price for both God and us? Surely God foresaw that many angels and human beings would reject Him.

Some answer that God also saw the magnificent love and beauty that would be ushered in by those who accepted Him and the glorious vision of His truth. Perhaps God, who is love, saw love as so magnificent that even its rejection by some could not overrule its glory in those who accepted it. Seeking beloved children rather than robots or animals was so precious to God that he risked losing some—even many—in order to gain some.

Others speculate that, at least in this fallen world, contrast is necessary to highlight the glory of truth. What is light if there is no darkness with which to compare it? What is justice if there is no injustice against which to contrast it? What is the glory of our yes if it is not possible to utter a no?

Even these reasonable speculations cannot fully address the mystery of why so many men and angels reject what is good, true, and beautiful; why so many prefer to reign in Hell rather than to serve in Heaven; why so many obstinately refuse to trust in God and obey even simple commands that they know are ultimately good for them. The glory of our freedom and our intellect are abused. Our greatest strengths are also our greatest struggles. Liberty becomes license; lasciviousness and intellect become insubordination and intransigence. Corruptio optime pessima! (The corruption of the best is the worst!)

4. The Final Refusal to Repent – Many today like to blame God for Hell, and they particularly scoff at the notion that Hell is eternal. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches, the eternity of Hell is not due to a defect in divine mercy (CCC # 393). Rather, Hell is eternal because the decision of the damned is irrevocable.

The stubbornness and hardness of heart of the damned reach a point of no return. How does a soul end up in this state? Surely it happens gradually. Sin is added upon sin and the hardness of heart grows. Over time, the demands of God’s justice seem increasingly obnoxious. The hardened soul starts to sneer at God’s law, calling it intolerant, backwards, and simplistic. Of course, God’s law is none of these things, but as the darkness grows within a heart, the light seems more and more obnoxious and hateful. Soon enough, concepts such as forgiveness, love of enemies, generosity, and chastity seem “unrealistic,” even ludicrous.

When does a soul reach the point of no return? Is it at death or sometime before? It is hard to say, but here we reach the deepest mystery: the permanently unrepentant heart.

Our tour has yielded only crumbs. We are back to confronting our mysterious rebelliousness, stubbornness, and hardness of heart; our almost knee-jerk tendency to bristle when we are told what to do, even if we know it to be good for us and others. Even the most minor prohibition makes the thing seem all the more desirable to us. There lurks that rebellious voice that says, “I will not be told what to do! I will do what I want to do, and I will decide whether it is right or wrong.”

Yes, at the end of the day, we are left looking squarely at a mystery. It is the deep, almost unfathomable mystery of our very own iniquity, our lawlessness, our irrational refusal to be under any law or restraint.

Perhaps it is not a mystery that is meant to be solved but to be accepted and to cause us to turn to God, who alone understands. The mystery of iniquity is so profound and so terrifying that it should send us running to God as fast as we can exclaiming, “Lord save me from myself, from my obtuseness, my hardened heart, my rebelliousness, and my iniquity. Save me from the lawlessness in me! I cannot understand it, let alone save myself from it! Only you, Lord, can save me from my greatest threat, my greatest enemy: my very self.”

Yes, the great mystery of iniquity! St. Paul says, the mystery of iniquity is already at work, but he does not say why or even how. He only says that God can restrain it.

Yes, only God can restrain and explain.

More tortuous than anything is the human heart, beyond remedy; who can understand it? I, alone, the LORD, explore the mind and test the heart (Jer 17:9-10).

[araitsume]

The Desire of Ages, pp. 463-475: Chapter (51) “The Light of Life”

This chapter is based on John 8:12-59; John 9.

“Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.”

When He spoke these words, Jesus was in the court of the temple specially connected with the services of the Feast of Tabernacles. In the center of this court rose two lofty standards, supporting lampstands of great size. After the evening sacrifice, all the lamps were kindled, shedding their light over Jerusalem. This ceremony was in commemoration of the pillar of light that guided Israel in the desert, and was also regarded as pointing to the coming of the Messiah. At evening when the lamps were lighted, the court was a scene of great rejoicing. Gray-haired men, the priests of the temple and the rulers of the people, united in the festive dances to the sound of instrumental music and the chants of the Levites.

In the illumination of Jerusalem, the people expressed their hope of the Messiah's coming to shed His light upon Israel. But to Jesus the scene had a wider meaning. As the radiant lamps of the temple lighted up all about them, so Christ, the source of spiritual light, illumines the darkness of the world. Yet the symbol was imperfect. That great light which His own hand had set in the heavens was a truer representation of the glory of His mission.

It was morning; the sun had just risen above the Mount of Olives, and its rays fell with dazzling brightness on the marble palaces, and lighted up the gold of the temple walls, when Jesus, pointing to it, said, “I am the light of the world.”

By one who listened to these words, they were long afterward re-echoed in that sublime passage, “In Him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in the darkness; and the darkness apprehended it not.” “That was the true light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.” John 1:4, 5, R. V., 9. And long after Jesus had ascended to heaven, Peter also, writing under the illumination of the divine Spirit, recalled the symbol Christ had used: “We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the daystar arise in your hearts.” 2 Peter 1:19.

In the manifestation of God to His people, light had ever been a symbol of His presence. At the creative word in the beginning, light had shone out of darkness. Light had been enshrouded in the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night, leading the vast armies of Israel. Light blazed with awful grandeur about the Lord on Mount Sinai. Light rested over the mercy seat in the tabernacle. Light filled the temple of Solomon at its dedication. Light shone on the hills of Bethlehem when the angels brought the message of redemption to the watching shepherds.

God is light; and in the words, “I am the light of the world,” Christ declared His oneness with God, and His relation to the whole human family. It was He who at the beginning had caused “the light to shine out of darkness.” 2 Corinthians 4:6. He is the light of sun and moon and star. He was the spiritual light that in symbol and type and prophecy had shone upon Israel. But not to the Jewish nation alone was the light given. As the sunbeams penetrate to the remotest corners of the earth, so does the light of the Sun of Righteousness shine upon every soul.

“That was the true light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.” The world has had its great teachers, men of giant intellect and wonderful research, men whose utterances have stimulated thought, and opened to view vast fields of knowledge; and these men have been honored as guides and benefactors of their race. But there is One who stands higher than they. “As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God.” “No man hath seen God at any time; the only-begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him.” John 1:12, 18. We can trace the line of the world's great teachers as far back as human records extend; but the Light was before them. As the moon and the stars of the solar system shine by the reflected light of the sun, so, as far as their teaching is true, do the world's great thinkers reflect the rays of the Sun of Righteousness. Every gem of thought, every flash of the intellect, is from the Light of the world. In these days we hear much about “higher education.” The true “higher education” is that imparted by Him “in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” “In Him was life; and the life was the light of men.” Colossians 2:3; John 1:4. “He that followeth Me,” said Jesus, “shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.”

In the words, “I am the light of the world,” Jesus declared Himself the Messiah. The aged Simeon, in the temple where Christ was now teaching, had spoken of Him as “a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of Thy people Israel.” Luke 2:32. In these words he was applying to Him a prophecy familiar to all Israel. By the prophet Isaiah, the Holy Spirit had declared, “It is too light a thing that Thou shouldest be My servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give Thee for a light to the Gentiles, that Thou mayest be My salvation unto the end of the earth.” Isaiah 49:6, R. V. This prophecy was generally understood as spoken of the Messiah, and when Jesus said, “I am the light of the world,” the people could not fail to recognize His claim to be the Promised One.

To the Pharisees and rulers this claim seemed an arrogant assumption. That a man like themselves should make such pretensions they could not tolerate. Seeming to ignore His words, they demanded, “Who art Thou?” They were bent upon forcing Him to declare Himself the Christ. His appearance and His work were so at variance with the expectations of the people, that, as His wily enemies believed, a direct announcement of Himself as the Messiah would cause Him to be rejected as an impostor.

But to their question, “Who art Thou?” Jesus replied, “Even that which I have also spoken unto you from the beginning.” John 8:25, R.V. That which had been revealed in His words was revealed also in His character. He was the embodiment of the truths He taught. “I do nothing of Myself,” He continued; “but as My Father hath taught Me, I speak these things. And He that sent Me is with Me: the Father hath not left Me alone; for I do always those things that please Him.” He did not attempt to prove His Messianic claim, but showed His unity with God. If their minds had been open to God's love, they would have received Jesus.

Among His hearers many were drawn to Him in faith, and to them He said, “If ye continue in My word, then are ye My disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

These words offended the Pharisees. The nation's long subjection to a foreign yoke, they disregarded, and angrily exclaimed, “We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest Thou, Ye shall be made free?” Jesus looked upon these men, the slaves of malice, whose thoughts were bent upon revenge, and sadly answered, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.” They were in the worst kind of bondage,—ruled by the spirit of evil.

Every soul that refuses to give himself to God is under the control of another power. He is not his own. He may talk of freedom, but he is in the most abject slavery. He is not allowed to see the beauty of truth, for his mind is under the control of Satan. While he flatters himself that he is following the dictates of his own judgment, he obeys the will of the prince of darkness. Christ came to break the shackles of sin-slavery from the soul. “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.” “The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus” sets us “free from the law of sin and death.” Romans 8:2.

In the work of redemption there is no compulsion. No external force is employed. Under the influence of the Spirit of God, man is left free to choose whom he will serve. In the change that takes place when the soul surrenders to Christ, there is the highest sense of freedom. The expulsion of sin is the act of the soul itself. True, we have no power to free ourselves from Satan's control; but when we desire to be set free from sin, and in our great need cry out for a power out of and above ourselves, the powers of the soul are imbued with the divine energy of the Holy Spirit, and they obey the dictates of the will in fulfilling the will of God.

The only condition upon which the freedom of man is possible is that of becoming one with Christ. “The truth shall make you free;” and Christ is the truth. Sin can triumph only by enfeebling the mind, and destroying the liberty of the soul. Subjection to God is restoration to one's self,—to the true glory and dignity of man. The divine law, to which we are brought into subjection, is “the law of liberty.” James 2:12.

The Pharisees had declared themselves the children of Abraham. Jesus told them that this claim could be established only by doing the works of Abraham. The true children of Abraham would live, as he did, a life of obedience to God. They would not try to kill One who was speaking the truth that was given Him from God. In plotting against Christ, the rabbis were not doing the works of Abraham. A mere lineal descent from Abraham was of no value. Without a spiritual connection with him, which would be manifested in possessing the same spirit, and doing the same works, they were not his children.

This principle bears with equal weight upon a question that has long agitated the Christian world,—the question of apostolic succession. Descent from Abraham was proved, not by name and lineage, but by likeness of character. So the apostolic succession rests not upon the transmission of ecclesiastical authority, but upon spiritual relationship. A life actuated by the apostles’ spirit, the belief and teaching of the truth they taught, this is the true evidence of apostolic succession. This is what constitutes men the successors of the first teachers of the gospel.

Jesus denied that the Jews were children of Abraham. He said, “Ye do the deeds of your father.” In mockery they answered, “We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.” These words, in allusion to the circumstances of His birth, were intended as a thrust against Christ in the presence of those who were beginning to believe on Him. Jesus gave no heed to the base insinuation, but said, “If God were your Father, ye would love Me: for I proceeded forth and came from God.”

Their works testified of their relationship to him who was a liar and a murderer. “Ye are of your father the devil,” said Jesus, “and the lusts of your father it is your will to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and stood not in the truth, because there is no truth in him.... Because I say the truth, ye believe Me not.” John 8:44, 45, R. V. The fact that Jesus spoke the truth, and that with certainty, was why He was not received by the Jewish leaders. It was the truth that offended these self-righteous men. The truth exposed the fallacy of error; it condemned their teaching and practice, and it was unwelcome. They would rather close their eyes to the truth than humble themselves to confess that they had been in error. They did not love the truth. They did not desire it, even though it was truth.

“Which of you convicteth [Revised Version] Me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe Me?” Day by day for three years His enemies had been following Christ, trying to find some stain in His character. Satan and all the confederacy of evil had been seeking to overcome Him; but they had found nothing in Him by which to gain an advantage. Even the devils were forced to confess, “Thou art the Holy One of God.” Mark 1:24. Jesus lived the law in the sight of heaven, in the sight of unfallen worlds, and in the sight of sinful men. Before angels, men, and demons, He had spoken, unchallenged, words that from any other lips would have been blasphemy: “I do always those things that please Him.”

The fact that although they could find no sin in Christ the Jews would not receive Him proved that they themselves had no connection with God. They did not recognize His voice in the message of His Son. They thought themselves passing judgment on Christ; but in rejecting Him they were pronouncing sentence upon themselves. “He that is of God,” said Jesus, “heareth God's words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.”

The lesson is true for all time. Many a man who delights to quibble, to criticize, seeking for something to question in the word of God, thinks that he is thereby giving evidence of independence of thought, and mental acuteness. He supposes that he is sitting in judgment on the Bible, when in truth he is judging himself. He makes it manifest that he is incapable of appreciating truths that originate in heaven, and that compass eternity. In presence of the great mountain of God's righteousness, his spirit is not awed. He busies himself with hunting for sticks and straws, and in this betrays a narrow and earthly nature, a heart that is fast losing its capacity to appreciate God. He whose heart has responded to the divine touch will be seeking for that which will increase his knowledge of God, and will refine and elevate the character. As a flower turns to the sun, that the bright rays may touch it with tints of beauty, so will the soul turn to the Sun of Righteousness, that heaven's light may beautify the character with the graces of the character of Christ.

Jesus continued, drawing a sharp contrast between the position of the Jews and that of Abraham: “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day: and he saw it, and was glad.”

Abraham had greatly desired to see the promised Saviour. He offered up the most earnest prayer that before his death he might behold the Messiah. And he saw Christ. A supernatural light was given him, and he acknowledged Christ's divine character. He saw His day, and was glad. He was given a view of the divine sacrifice for sin. Of this sacrifice he had an illustration in his own experience. The command came to him, “Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, ... and offer him ... for a burnt offering.” Genesis 22:2. Upon the altar of sacrifice he laid the son of promise, the son in whom his hopes were centered. Then as he waited beside the altar with knife upraised to obey God, he heard a voice from heaven saying, “Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from Me.” Genesis 22:12. This terrible ordeal was imposed upon Abraham that he might see the day of Christ, and realize the great love of God for the world, so great that to raise it from its degradation, He gave His only-begotten Son to a most shameful death.

Abraham learned of God the greatest lesson ever given to mortal. His prayer that he might see Christ before he should die was answered. He saw Christ; he saw all that mortal can see, and live. By making an entire surrender, he was able to understand the vision of Christ, which had been given him. He was shown that in giving His only-begotten Son to save sinners from eternal ruin, God was making a greater and more wonderful sacrifice than ever man could make.

Abraham's experience answered the question: “Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the high God? Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my first-born for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?” Micah 6:6, 7. In the words of Abraham, “My son, God will provide Himself a lamb for a burnt offering,” (Genesis 22:8), and in God's provision of a sacrifice instead of Isaac, it was declared that no man could make expiation for himself. The pagan system of sacrifice was wholly unacceptable to God. No father was to offer up his son or his daughter for a sin offering. The Son of God alone can bear the guilt of the world.

Through his own suffering, Abraham was enabled to behold the Saviour's mission of sacrifice. But Israel would not understand that which was so unwelcome to their proud hearts. Christ's words concerning Abraham conveyed to His hearers no deep significance. The Pharisees saw in them only fresh ground for caviling. They retorted with a sneer, as if they would prove Jesus to be a madman, “Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast Thou seen Abraham?”

With solemn dignity Jesus answered, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I AM.”

Silence fell upon the vast assembly. The name of God, given to Moses to express the idea of the eternal presence, had been claimed as His own by this Galilean Rabbi. He had announced Himself to be the self-existent One, He who had been promised to Israel, “whose goings forth have been from of old, from the days of eternity.” Micah 5:2, margin.

Again the priests and rabbis cried out against Jesus as a blasphemer. His claim to be one with God had before stirred them to take His life, and a few months later they plainly declared, “For a good work we stone Thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that Thou, being a man, makest Thyself God.” John 10:33. Because He was, and avowed Himself to be, the Son of God, they were bent on destroying Him. Now many of the people, siding with the priests and rabbis, took up stones to cast at Him. “But Jesus hid Himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.”

The Light was shining in darkness; but “the darkness apprehended it not.” John 1:5, R. V.

“As Jesus passed by, He saw a man which was blind from his birth. And His disciples asked Him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.... When He had thus spoken, He spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay, and said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpretation, Sent). He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing.”

It was generally believed by the Jews that sin is punished in this life. Every affliction was regarded as the penalty of some wrongdoing, either of the sufferer himself or of his parents. It is true that all suffering results from the transgression of God's law, but this truth had become perverted. Satan, the author of sin and all its results, had led men to look upon disease and death as proceeding from God,—as punishment arbitrarily inflicted on account of sin. Hence one upon whom some great affliction or calamity had fallen had the additional burden of being regarded as a great sinner.

Thus the way was prepared for the Jews to reject Jesus. He who “hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows” was looked upon by the Jews as “stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted;” and they hid their faces from Him. Isaiah 53:4, 3.

God had given a lesson designed to prevent this. The history of Job had shown that suffering is inflicted by Satan, and is overruled by God for purposes of mercy. But Israel did not understand the lesson. The same error for which God had reproved the friends of Job was repeated by the Jews in their rejection of Christ.

The belief of the Jews in regard to the relation of sin and suffering was held by Christ's disciples. While Jesus corrected their error, He did not explain the cause of the man's affliction, but told them what would be the result. Because of it the works of God would be made manifest. “As long as I am in the world,” He said, “I am the light of the world.” Then having anointed the eyes of the blind man, He sent him to wash in the pool of Siloam, and the man's sight was restored. Thus Jesus answered the question of the disciples in a practical way, as He usually answered questions put to Him from curiosity. The disciples were not called upon to discuss the question as to who had sinned or had not sinned, but to understand the power and mercy of God in giving sight to the blind. It was evident that there was no healing virtue in the clay, or in the pool wherein the blind man was sent to wash, but that the virtue was in Christ.

The Pharisees could not but be astonished at the cure. Yet they were more than ever filled with hatred; for the miracle had been performed on the Sabbath day.

The neighbors of the young man, and those who knew him before in his blindness, said, “Is not this he that sat and begged?” They looked upon him with doubt; for when his eyes were opened, his countenance was changed and brightened, and he appeared like another man. From one to another the question passed. Some said, “This is he;” others, “He is like him.” But he who had received the great blessing settled the question by saying, “I am he.” He then told them of Jesus, and by what means he had been healed, and they inquired, “Where is He? He said, I know not.”

Then they brought him before a council of the Pharisees. Again the man was asked how he had received his sight. “He said unto them, He put clay upon mine eyes, and I washed, and do see. Therefore said some of the Pharisees, This man is not of God, because He keepeth not the Sabbath day.” The Pharisees hoped to make Jesus out to be a sinner, and therefore not the Messiah. They knew not that it was He who had made the Sabbath and knew all its obligation, who had healed the blind man. They appeared wonderfully zealous for the observance of the Sabbath, yet were planning murder on that very day. But many were greatly moved at hearing of this miracle, and were convicted that He who had opened the eyes of the blind was more than a common man. In answer to the charge that Jesus was a sinner because He kept not the Sabbath day, they said, “How can a man that is a sinner do such miracles?”

Again the rabbis appealed to the blind man, “What sayest thou of Him, that He hath opened thine eyes? He said, He is a prophet.” The Pharisees then asserted that he had not been born blind and received his sight. They called for his parents, and asked them, saying, “Is this your son, who ye say was born blind?”

There was the man himself, declaring that he had been blind, and had had his sight restored; but the Pharisees would rather deny the evidence of their own senses than admit that they were in error. So powerful is prejudice, so distorting is Pharisaical righteousness.

The Pharisees had one hope left, and that was to intimidate the man's parents. With apparent sincerity they asked, “How then doth he now see?” The parents feared to compromise themselves; for it had been declared that whoever should acknowledge Jesus as the Christ should be “put out of the synagogue;” that is, should be excluded from the synagogue for thirty days. During this time no child could be circumcised nor dead be lamented in the offender's home. The sentence was regarded as a great calamity; and if it failed to produce repentance, a far heavier penalty followed. The great work wrought for their son had brought conviction to the parents, yet they answered, “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind: but by what means he now seeth, we know not; or who hath opened his eyes, we know not: he is of age; ask him: he shall speak for himself.” Thus they shifted all responsibility from themselves to their son; for they dared not confess Christ.

The dilemma in which the Pharisees were placed, their questioning and prejudice, their unbelief in the facts of the case, were opening the eyes of the multitude, especially of the common people. Jesus had frequently wrought His miracles in the open street, and His work was always of a character to relieve suffering. The question in many minds was, Would God do such mighty works through an impostor, as the Pharisees insisted that Jesus was? The controversy was becoming very earnest on both sides.

The Pharisees saw that they were giving publicity to the work done by Jesus. They could not deny the miracle. The blind man was filled with joy and gratitude; he beheld the wondrous things of nature, and was filled with delight at the beauty of earth and sky. He freely related his experience, and again they tried to silence him, saying, “Give God the praise: we know that this Man is a sinner.” That is, Do not say again that this Man gave you sight; it is God who has done this.

The blind man answered, “Whether He be a sinner or no, I know not: one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see.”

Then they questioned again, “What did He to thee? how opened He thine eyes?” With many words they tried to confuse him, so that he might think himself deluded. Satan and his evil angels were on the side of the Pharisees, and united their energies and subtlety with man's reasoning in order to counteract the influence of Christ. They blunted the convictions that were deepening in many minds. Angels of God were also on the ground to strengthen the man who had had his sight restored.

The Pharisees did not realize that they had to deal with any other than the uneducated man who had been born blind; they knew not Him with whom they were in controversy. Divine light shone into the chambers of the blind man's soul. As these hypocrites tried to make him disbelieve, God helped him to show, by the vigor and pointedness of his replies, that he was not to be ensnared. He answered, “I have told you already, and ye did not hear: wherefore would ye hear it again? will ye also be His disciples? Then they reviled him, and said, Thou art His disciple; but we are Moses’ disciples. We know that God spake unto Moses: as for this fellow, we know not from whence He is.”

The Lord Jesus knew the ordeal through which the man was passing, and He gave him grace and utterance, so that he became a witness for Christ. He answered the Pharisees in words that were a cutting rebuke to his questioners. They claimed to be the expositors of Scripture, the religious guides of the nation; and yet here was One performing miracles, and they were confessedly ignorant as to the source of His power, and as to His character and claims. “Why herein is a marvelous thing,” said the man, “that ye know not from whence He is, and yet He hath opened mine eyes. Now we know that God heareth not sinners: but if any man be a worshiper of God, and doeth His will, him He heareth. Since the world began was it not heard that any man opened the eyes of one that was born blind. If this Man were not of God, He could do nothing.”

The man had met his inquisitors on their own ground. His reasoning was unanswerable. The Pharisees were astonished, and they held their peace,—spellbound before his pointed, determined words. For a few moments there was silence. Then the frowning priests and rabbis gathered about them their robes, as though they feared contamination from contact with him; they shook off the dust from their feet, and hurled denunciations against him,—“Thou wast altogether born in sins, and dost thou teach us?” And they excommunicated him.

Jesus heard what had been done; and finding him soon after, He said, “Dost thou believe on the Son of God?”

For the first time the blind man looked upon the face of his Restorer. Before the council he had seen his parents troubled and perplexed; he had looked upon the frowning faces of the rabbis; now his eyes rested upon the loving, peaceful countenance of Jesus. Already, at great cost to himself, he had acknowledged Him as a delegate of divine power; now a higher revelation was granted him.

To the Saviour's question, “Dost thou believe on the Son of God?” the blind man replied by asking, “Who is He, Lord, that I might believe on Him?” And Jesus said, “Thou hast both seen Him, and it is He that talketh with thee.” The man cast himself at the Saviour's feet in worship. Not only had his natural sight been restored, but the eyes of his understanding had been opened. Christ had been revealed to his soul, and he received Him as the Sent of God.

A group of Pharisees had gathered near, and the sight of them brought to the mind of Jesus the contrast ever manifest in the effect of His words and works. He said, “For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind.” Christ had come to open the blind eyes, to give light to them that sit in darkness. He had declared Himself to be the light of the world, and the miracle just performed was in attestation of His mission. The people who beheld the Saviour at His advent were favored with a fuller manifestation of the divine presence than the world had ever enjoyed before. The knowledge of God was revealed more perfectly. But in this very revelation, judgment was passing upon men. Their character was tested, their destiny determined.

The manifestation of divine power that had given to the blind man both natural and spiritual sight had left the Pharisees in yet deeper darkness. Some of His hearers, feeling that Christ's words applied to them, inquired, “Are we blind also?” Jesus answered, “If ye were blind, ye should have no sin.” If God had made it impossible for you to see the truth, your ignorance would involve no guilt. “But now ye say, We see.” You believe yourselves able to see, and reject the means through which alone you could receive sight. To all who realized their need, Christ came with infinite help. But the Pharisees would confess no need; they refused to come to Christ, and hence they were left in blindness,—a blindness for which they were themselves guilty. Jesus said, “Your sin remaineth.”

#egw #Ellen G. White #Christianity #God #Jesus Christ #Bible #conflict of the ages #the desire of ages #symbolism #Jesus's ministry #feast of tabernacles #type meets anti-type #God the true light #prophecy #true freedom #salvation #repentance vs. self-righteousness #children of Abraham by faith vs. genes #abraham #plan of salvation #sacrifice #faith #miracles of jesus #Job #Sabbath #spiritual blindness

[focusontheeasternlightning-blog]

1. Communicating “Loyalty to God”

God’s work is already nearing the end. To each and every person, God asks: “To Whom Are You Loyal?” This question from God stirs people’s hearts and people begin to examine themselves. Perhaps people have never been serious about themselves, but this time around, people should be serious about themselves. God defines who belongs to Him in terms of who is loyal to Him and so determines the outcome of each person. This makes sense. If you are loyal to God, you of course belong to God, and are gained by God. This kind of person will receive God’s praise. If you are loyal to God, you must have enough good deeds to serve as proof and cannot rely on mere words nor thoughts. So what does it mean to be loyal to God? Loyalty to God means that, in all matters, one chooses God. One loves God, one only worships God, and one can obey and be loyal to all that comes from God. One can reject and throw off Satan, the flesh, and varied people and things and not be restrained by them. One abandons everything in order to expend for God like this. Those that are loyal to God are so because God holds a place in their hearts. Therefore, they love God and do their duties without other things restraining them. They do not feel taxed in carrying out the truth to the point that they will remain loyal even unto death and will not betray God. Those that have other loves are never able to overcome being restrained by people, issues and things. They therefore have difficulty carrying out the truth and this is completely natural. In times of great tribulation, those that fulfill their duties have possessed some of these kinds of situations and born witness to loyalty to God. But they are still not perfect and they must continue to work hard. Those that perform their duties only in a perfunctory manner don’t demonstrate any observable loyalty and bearing witnessing is therefore absent in them and much greater efforts are needed to make this up. 

Testimony of loyalty to God is the testimony of the victorious and only the victorious really become perfected and are praised by God. If one seeks to be loyal to God, then one must cast off all things in order to fulfill one’s duties, including the world, including one’s family, including one’s husband or wife, children, mother and father so as to be completely loyal to God. This is the only true expression of loyalty to God. God does not use regulations to restrain people, and all that people do should be based on faith and on true love for God. If you want to be loyal to God, then you must put aside all else and do everything in order to satisfy God. I think this is completely reasonable and isn’t too great of a demand. People’s principles of practice depend upon faith and on God’s demands at different times. The final moment is not a trivial time. At this critical moment, if one can’t be loyal to God, then one will regret one’s entire life. The victorious are “they which follow the Lamb wherever he goes,” “they loved not their lives unto the death,” “they have a share in the adversity, kingdom, and patience of Christ.” This is testimony of one’s loyalty to God, the testimony of the victorious, and worthy of God’s praise. How God perfects the victorious is what He demands from people; people should understand God’s heart. The last stage of testimony is done in this way. What one practiced in the past has not met the mark.

Bearing testimony to loyalty to God involves several components. People can’t cover all the bases, but the real quality behind loyalty to God is something that everyone must possess. God alone is in one’s heart and God rises above all else and nothing is higher than God. Everything that a person does must aim for loyalty to God and not for gaining favor with others. Everything a person says or does is answerable to God and is in obedience to God. Only when one possesses a heart truly loyal to God in whatever aspect they fulfill their duties can they be successful. While seeking to be loyal to God, one should review the lessons of past failures. Carrying out one’s duties by simply going through the motions and not being serious, not keeping God in one’s heart, having one’s intentions adulterated by other motives or aims will all prevent one from carrying out their duties well. One must also pay attention to changes in one’s disposition, delve deeply into truth pursuit, and possess true love of God. This is the only solution. All those people fulfill their duties with the blessings in mind and from fear of being punished and fear of being eliminated. Therefore, they cannot help but go through the motions in fulfilling their duties because they are not acting willingly and always have blessings in mind. Such people are not conscientious or sensible. They are always thinking about their husband or wife, their son or daughter, and even more are concerned with the flesh. Who can save people ultimately? Who gives people the right to exist? Who can decide on all things of man? If one can’t see through all of this, how can one really count as a believer? Whatever a person is able to love in his heart is that which he will be loyal to. He who can’t love God is most inhumane. How can he be loyal to God? You have several years of experience of God’s work, so don’t you know what changes are in yourself and how much you are saved? If you really recognize your corrupt nature, then how can you still not know how to behave? You should know even more what it means to be humane. What benefit can ultimately come from living for your spouse and children? Why can’t you live for God for once? With this last opportunity, you should return God’s love by living for Him. Rarely does one have the chance to exercise some loyalty to God as there is so much that binds man. Man is too pitiable! This is the final opportunity, so people should be clear. You can’t continue to be loyal to the people, issues, and things you love, you cannot be loyal any longer to your spouse, your children and parents, and even more so to your pets in your hearts. You must cast these aside to be absolutely loyal to God. The people you cherish, even more so your pets are powerless to save you. Only God can save you. Now is a matter of life or death. Do you mean that even as you face death, you still will disregard your life?

At this critical final moment, people in their practices should make as their first priorities: eating and drinking the words of God, whatever God entrusts them to do, carrying out their duties, satisfying God and the glory of God. These are the only ways to practice loyalty to God. The previous saints often said, “Our gain and loss doesn’t matter; we should pay mind to God’s will.” This should be the motto of all people. The specific practices are as follows: If Satan’s interference arrives, then the first task is to protect God’s testimony and God’s work and to use the truth to defeat Satan; if one faces sin or temptation, then glorifying God is first, and one can’t sin against and humiliate God; if there are people, issues, or things encumbering the fulfillment of their duties, then what God entrusts to them comes first and they must break free of all entanglements and be loyalty to God; if and when matters vital to one’s personal interests arise, then the interests of God’s family come first. Abandoning one’s personal interests and being considerate of God’s heart is vital. If worldly affairs entangle and constrain one, then fulfilling their duty and satisfying God must come first and they must cast aside all else and expend for God.

Now is when we begin to properly worship God. We must remove all false idols from our hearts. Those people that you idolize or lead you should have no place in your heart. No one should hold the same place in your heart as God. Even very good people are still creations and cannot be compared to God. We must only worship God and, at most, only show respect for other people. To God alone do we have an attitude of loyalty, love, obedience, and worship. Only this kind of person truly believes in God and is loyal to God. Those that love people and not God are the most muddled and erroneous of all and those with the least conscience and sense, and should be eliminated. God gave all His love to mankind, and in order to save mankind He paid the highest price. Still God has not received people’s love, and this is the saddest thing of all. In this final stage, it depends on people’s efforts. Why can’t people love God? This is worthy of much thought and people should make some effort toward this. Only those that love God possess the truth. Whoever can reach standards and go beyond in this aspect to achieve genuine love for God is a record-breaking champion and hero. You all must fight, do not be cowards.

If a believer really treats God as God, then he can worship God normally. In fulfilling his duties, he can be loyal to God to such a degree that he can obey God even unto death. This is a true expression of loyalty to God. If one believes in God but can’t be loyal to God, this belief isn’t real and is somewhat blasphemous. If you believe in God, why can’t you treat God as God? In this case, there is a problem with your faith. It is false and has other aims and is a deceptive faith. If you believe in God, then do so solemnly with all your heart, aboveboardly and as God requires. Believe in God by relying on human conscience and reason. Only this type of faith is real and can satisfy God. Only this kind of faith is in accordance with God’s heart. This kind of faith can succeed and will not lead to shame and failure.

#believe in god #God's work #Worship God #God’s Will

[litcomp-blog1]

Explication de Texte: “Eve’s Apology in Defense of Women” by Aemilia Lanyer

3/21/18

The denotative situation of this poem is as follows:

A narration of response to Pontius Pilate judging the case of whether the perfect, lawful, sadly tied-up and un-offensive Jesus should be crucified. The narrator begs for Pontius to spare Jesus, as does Pontius’ wife in a letter.

The narrator asks Pontius to stop the cruelty and see true justice, to view the holiness of Jesus’ doings, and to not do the thing that goes against her heart (murder). The narrator suggests that women do not glory in the end of men, who had had the power to overrule women.

The lack of judgment Pontius has makes the old sin of the good Eve look better in comparison, who unknowingly was betrayed by the plotting serpent by giving Adam the apple.

If Eve had known what would happen and knew of the craftiness of the serpent, she would’ve not picked the apple. Eve was deceived and had no harmful intent. Eve listened to God’s word that the serpent did not, in which stated that humans should die.

Adam cannot be excused, his fault was greater than Eve’s. He had lordship over all and God’s word determining his actions. Adam was King of the Earth before Eve was created.

Adam was created by God and knew from God that if he ate the apple death would be upon them. He ruled both sea and land, yet chose to eat the apple and bring danger and disgrace to us all.

The fault was lain on women. If Eve did wrong, it was because she was unaware. Adam was persuaded by the apple’s beauty and the serpent did not persuade him. Adam had the power to do as he liked.

Eve’s only fault was too much love, giving Adam the apple as a gift. Men boast of knowledge taken from women.

If any evil was in Eve, it came from God, since she was made of his rib. Eve was weak in obeying the serpent, but Pontius is betraying Jesus in malice. If Pontius condemns Jesus, that sin is greater than Eve’s or any other sin.

Let women have liberty again and rid yourself of supreme power. Women brought men into the world, why do they hate them being their equals? If Eve’s sin was offensive, Pontius’ sin has no excuse or end.

Pilate’s wife speaks for all and sent a message to leave Jesus be. If Pontius kills the good Jesus, he will be damned with Saul.

The speaker of the poem is a female narrator speaking on the behalf of women, referring to them as “we (poor women)”. Despite the title, “Eve’s Apology in Defense of Women”, Eve is spoken of in the third person (example: “Our mother Eve”), eliminating Eve as the narrator. The narrator is likely to be the voice of the author, Aemilia Lanyer. The narrator is persuasive, factual, and utilizes a feminist perspective to argue against the biblical blame women face for Eve’s apple picking. Lanyer is related to the material by being a woman who knows the story of Adam of Eve extensively, making the narrator relatively reliable, yet biased in favor of women.

Lanyer is addressing Pontius Pilate, the Roman prefect who authorized the crucifixion of Jesus. This is displayed in the following quotes: “O noble governor”...“you in malice God’s dear Son betray”. Pontius is personified to have “cruelty” and to “be a reprobate” for causing Christ’s death.

The occasion is womankind’s pleading for Jesus to be spared as Pontius Pilate decides whether to order crucifixion or not. Pontius’s wife represents this in “thy most worthy wife”...”[begs] her Savior’s life.” This is accompanied by an argument of why women are not to blame as being more sinful than men, and furthermore should be regarded as equals. This is best shown in the following quotes: “If Eve did err, it was for knowledge sake”...”why should you disdain, Our being your equals, free from tyranny?”

The setting is not discussed, other than being before the crucifixion of Jesus, which was April 3, 33 A.D. in Golgotha, a spot outside of Jerusalem.

The central point of this piece is to convince Pontius, as well as the reader, that Jesus should not be crucified and women are to blame for no more sin than men are.

The central theme is a religious judgment of Jesus, as well as of women.

The tone of the poem is questioning. This consists of rhetorical questions, asking Pontius to consider why one would choose “to shed [Jesus’s] dearest blood?” and “why you should disdain [women] being your equals, free from tyranny?”

The poem utilizes few high diction choice words, and otherwise consists of a readable old English with words such as “thy” and “thou”. Specific choice words of “indiscretion” and “undiscerning” are utilized to emphasize Pontius’ lack of judgment, and “guile” and “reprobate” to highlight his sly and damned nature. These are especially well used because it reveals the narrator’s negative attitude toward the recipient of the poem’s message.

An example of notable imagery is in the following quote: “Do not in innocent blood inbrue thy hands”. This serves to personify Pontius as the cause of Jesus’ murder, with a symbolic blood stain of guilt on his hands. This corroborates the tone of pleading against Jesus’ execution and the theme of judgment.

A metaphor is present in “Satan’s subtle train”, referring to the subtle snake in the story of Adam and Eve. Two similes are in the following quotes: “men will boast of knowledge, which he took From Eve’s fair hand, as from a learned book” and “This sin of yours surmounts them all as far As doth the sun another little star.” Both similes serve to point out the faults of mankind that are omitted in comparison to the sin of Eve’s.

Symbolism is present in the following quotes: “Open thine eyes, that thou the truth may’st see” and “lay a stain Upon our sex”. These continue to support the theme of justice for Jesus and women.

The entirety of the poem is an allusion to Pontius Pilate’s crucifixion of Jesus and the story of Adam and Eve. Examples of this are found in the following quotes: “[Christ] now be brought in woeful bands” and “The fruit being fair persuaded him to fall”. These serve to aid the narrator in telling the biblical stories, furthermore pointing out improper judgment.

The form of this poem is a rhyming scheme of three alternating couplets within six lines, then a final, differing couplet in the last two lines of each stanza. An example of how this would be annotated is as follows: A, B, A, B, A, B, C, C. The poem consists of twelve stanzas.

In conclusion, “Eve’s Apology in Defense of Women” by Aemilia Lanyer is a successful poem. Although lacking sound to sense and meter, overall, the use of figurative language and pattern in the poem causes it to be of high literary merit. The extensive use of biblical allusion throughout the piece unifies and creates an interesting, narrative poem. Unification is also achieved through the combination of the judgment of Jesus, mankind, and womenkind into one poem. The use of high diction especially emphasizes the strong hatred the narrator holds for the action of crucifying Jesus. This emotion causes the poem to be one of success; a good poem conveying feeling.