There are always two spirits at work: the Holy Ghost and a satanic or false spirit. Witchcraft comes from a satanic spirit and opposes God's Spirit.
The God of the Bible is a God of truth. On the other hand, the Devil is the great enemy of truth. The Bible says of him, “there is no truth in him.”
Every man requires rest from his labour. Failure to take time away from life's pressures eventually take time away from the sum total of a man's years.
Man views pleasure as offering some type of lasting joys; however, it generally delivers nothing more than a temporary happiness. More often, those who seek pleasures are left emptier than if they had never sought the pleasures in the first place. James’ understanding of this truth is reflected by his declaration: “Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton” (James 5:5). Paul joined the chorus when he admonished the widows: “she that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth” (1 Timothy 5:6). Seeking and living in pleasure offers no lasting fulfillment. In John 4:13, the Lord said, “Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again” and so it is with pleasure. Satisfaction, fulfillment, joy, and life only come through a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.
We are promised that the word of God works effectually in those that believe (1 Thessalonians 2:13). Yet, the Devil works hard to choke out the fruitfulness of the word. In order to achieve his ultimate objective, the Devil uses any means within his arsenal. Pleasure-seeking serves as one of his choicest weapons. In order to convince people that they do not need the Lord or His word, the Devil convinces people that they have everything they could possibly ever want or need without Him. The Devil convinces them that they are happy or satisfied and there is nothing better than their lot in life. He keeps them preoccupied so that they do not take time to reflect and recognize that they are “wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked” (Revelation 3:17) apart from the Lord.
Throughout history, man has battled the idea that he is the only one who has had to endure temptation with a desire to do right (1 Kings 19:13-14). This lie was conceived by the father of lies (John 8:44) with the intent of convincing the believer into thinking that no one understands his difficulty. Though it is true that one man’s specific temptations may differ from that of another man, the basic premise is true: “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man” (1 Corinthians 10:13). In Elijah’s day, there were 7,000 others (probably referring to only those in Israel) who experienced temptations similar to those experienced by Elijah (1 Kings 19:18).
The various dieting trends push for several additional times that man should eat. The Bible clears up any question concerning the number of meals an individual should eat in a single day. Believers should be very careful not to accept the latest trends as though they are the best or even from the Lord. Within scripture, one finds someone partaking of the meal commonly called breakfast (Judges 19:5), at other times, one finds someone partaking of a meal at noon (Genesis 43:16), and at other times, partaking of an evening meal (Luke 24:29-30). In the case of Elijah, the Lord only fed him twice a day (1 Kings 17:6). The most important truth to realize and consider: know that food purposes to give man the necessary strength to fulfil the will of the Lord.
The book of Ecclesiastes contains documentation of Solomon’s life experiment apart from God. He examined the worth of subjects involving happiness, wealth, labour, and death. Ultimately, he concluded that life “under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:14) was vanity. The word vanity means empty or meaningless. Though Solomon wrote extensively concerning vanity, he was not the only person in the Bible to declare the vanity of life. In fact, Solomon’s father David declared that “every man at his best state is altogether vanity” (Psalm 39:5). King David added that if both men of high and low degree were laid in a balance together, they would be “lighter than vanity” (Psalm 62:9). Thus, regardless of worldly accomplishments and accolades, a life void of God remains meaningless.
God’s people should conscientiously cover themselves so that the shame of their nakedness does not appear to others. Yet, it is also important that their choice of covering be acceptable in the sight of the Lord. Some people have wrongfully assumed that the Lord does not give any thought to the attire of His people. God's word emphasizing the inward man does not reflect a lack of concern for the outward adornments. The assumption that it does is sometimes based upon a misapplication of 1 Samuel 16:7 where the Bible says, “for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.” Truly, man is generally limited to looking upon the outward appearance, but God sees both the outward appearance and the inward man. In fact, Proverbs 7:10 testifies to the validity of this truth. In that passage, the Holy Ghost plainly indicated that a woman’s clothing was representative of a harlot’s attire. Apparently, the Holy Ghost was keenly aware of what was seen on the outside.
We communicate those things which we think are important. If we find something that we genuinely enjoy, we want others to know about it so that they too can enjoy it. Is there anything more important or better than knowing Jesus Christ? Apparently, Philemon communicated his faith to others around him, partly through his actions, but likely through his willingness to speak of his love for the Lord and faith in the Lord. As believers, the Lord has given us a tremendous opportunity to speak to others about our wonderful salvation and the many benefits experienced daily. Paul said of the believers at Rome that their faith was spoken of throughout the whole world (Romans 1:8). It is our duty and privilege to communicate what the Lord has done for us with others.
