HAPPY EASTER!
I have not had the ability to continue with the blog due to strong pain in my arm. I will also be busy with other necessary «things» the rest of April and may be May too.
May be you look at the text and say: «So it wasn't the devil after all as you told in your last blogpost»! Well that is the wrong question! The devils are the fallen angels who followed Satan and were cast out of heaven together with him because of the sin of being proud (wanting to be God). When I want you to be aware of Satan and his demons, it is not to scare you or an urge to be old-fashioned. It is catholic teaching that the devils are fallen spirits that want to drag as many humans (who are dear to God) away fro heaven.
Satan and his demons tempt us daily and that's why we all have to be aware of him, not scared of him, because those who trust in God under all circumstances are safe. And so are those that come back to him in the confessional after going against his will.
We are all humans included me. I'm not an exception from the temptation. Please remember that to be tempted in some way or other is NOT to be possessed. With my writing I want to help you to focus on the possibility that the devil tempts you in daily life.
In my last post I wrote about that I had been sick with little energy and opened up for that I hadn't written here because the devil perhaps had succeeded in turning my thoughts away from my blog and to other not so important things. What I meant was that if I had thought it all through, I might have chosen different about how to use the little energy that was available. We are created to serve God in whatever situation we are in, even if we are in our deathbed if we still are able to pray. (I'm not there).
I hope you will think about how you yourself can be tempted and not focus on me. I am usually aware of how I can be tempted. We are all different persons with strong and weak sides. We will be tempted according to our different weeknesses. What is a topic for me doesn't have to be the same topic for you.
Back to my arm. I'm better now. Have been treated for it. I don't think that the devil has the power to give us pain here and there, but that he can use his power to tempt us when we are weak.
With a sick and painful arm and shoulder, it wasn't possible to write. So then I had to prioritize different about what to use my energy on. I hope I reach you in what I write. I am not using the pain in arm and shoulder as an excuse. I want to focus on the difference. Last time I wasn't sick in my arm, so I could have written if I had taken a deep breath and looked close upon the situation. Now it has been my arm and then I had to prioritize to take care of my arm and shoulder.
I hope you see the difference and that it might help you to look at your own life about what you can do or not for God in the frame of life that is yours.
Pope Francis about Satan:
"We too are tempted, we too are the target of attacks by the devil because the spirit of Evil does not want our holiness, he does not want our Christian witness, he does not want us to be disciples of Christ. And what does the Spirit of Evil do, through his temptations, to distance us from the path of Jesus? The temptation of the devil has three characteristics and we need to learn about them in order not to fall into the trap. What does Satan do to distance us from the path of Jesus? Firstly, his temptation begins gradually but grows and is always growing. Secondly, it grows and infects another person, it spreads to another and seeks to be part of the community. And in the end, in order to calm the soul, it justifies itself. It grows, it spreads and it justifies itself."
Text from page http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2014/04/11/pope_francis:_satan_exists_in_the_21st_century_and_how_we_can_fight/en1-789915
of the Vatican Radio website
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Let us leave the devil for now and celebrate that Christ won over death on the cross and opened the door to heaven for all of us who want to embrace him and take him seriously.
See you in the end of May or in the beginning of June.
HAPPY EASTER! CHRIST IS RISEN!
Pope Francis about Satan:
"We too are tempted, we too are the target of attacks by the devil because the spirit of Evil does not want our holiness, he does not want our Christian witness, he does not want us to be disciples of Christ. And what does the Spirit of Evil do, through his temptations, to distance us from the path of Jesus? The temptation of the devil has three characteristics and we need to learn about them in order not to fall into the trap. What does Satan do to distance us from the path of Jesus? Firstly, his temptation begins gradually but grows and is always growing. Secondly, it grows and infects another person, it spreads to another and seeks to be part of the community. And in the end, in order to calm the soul, it justifies itself. It grows, it spreads and it justifies itself."
Text from page http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2014/04/11/pope_francis:_satan_exists_in_the_21st_century_and_how_we_can_fight/en1-789915
of the Vatican Radio website
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