Can we deny the evil associated with the hatred and rage in response to religion, skin color, sexual preference, and politics? Watch the news, surf the internet, or simply observe other people and the choices being made. Do we see the love of God, or the hate of Satan? God is love, the devil is hate. The only answer to hate is love. God insists on it! In John 13:34–35 (NLT) Jesus says, “So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.” A commandment by definition is a command. It’s not optional. When we go against what God commands, our disobedience has a negative effect on our spiritual growth and strength. We must dig deep to replace hate with love.
Excerpts from Battle Cry Good vs Evil
Chapter 3: Satan, the Enemy
Satan’s hate is revealed in his relentless campaign of evil and darkness. He hates that we have the opportunity to be in a loving relationship with God, and he wants us to miss it. He wants us to fail, and fail miserably. He wants to foster hate within each one of us. He wants us to hate ourselves and he wants us to hate one another. The evidence of Satan’s influence is witnessed by all the hate and evil in the world. To combat this, we must rely on the strength of the Holy Spirit, sent to help us make better choices, to serve, love, and care for one another, and to love and serve God.
Author’s comments: In John 14:15–17 (NLT), Jesus promises the Holy Spirit by saying, “If you love me, obey my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you.” Do you love Jesus? Do you obey His commandments? Are you looking for the Holy Spirit? Do you recognize Him? Do you believe the Holy Spirit is in you?
Emotions associated with hate, leads to a life of bitterness and resentment, because hateful emotions are contradictory to everything God. When we withhold love, we are sinning against God by not obeying what He commands us to do.
Chapter 5: The Fiery Arrows of the Devil
There are the fiery arrows of hate. God is love, and Satan opposes God’s love with hate. Because of our sinful nature, we are easily influenced to hate. Love is difficult, because it requires more effort. Relationships fail because it’s easier to walk away from them than it is to work on them. The reality of this can be found in how many severed relationships there are within the family, and how many failed marriages. How about your relationship with Christ? Do you blame Him for everything that goes wrong in your life? Do you find it easy to cuss God, and use His name in vain? How many times a day do you use the word hate? I hate him. I hate her. I hate them. I hate this. I hate that. I hate what they said. I hate what they did. How many fiery arrows of hate is the devil shooting at you? How many are successfully landing?
Author’s comments: If we look at the world around us, it’s no wonder we struggle with worry. We worry about our health, our job, our family, our children, our schools, our government, and our country. We worry about the uprising of hate all around the world. We worry about so many things we absolutely have no direct control over.
If you would like help on your spiritual journey, please don’t hesitate to reach out. To contact Bruce personally, go to the website: battlecrygoodvsevil.com. Battle Cry Good vs. Evil is available in paperback or eBook through the website, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and iTunes. To get the weekly blogs, be sure to “like” and “follow” Battle Cry on Facebook.