Protecting the innocent is good. But who are the innocent today? Protecting the innocent and convicting criminals used to be the focus of every aspect of the law because every aspect of the law was conformed to God’s law and the ten commandments. To love, honor and respect God and parents, to love our neighbor, to not steal, commit adultery, murder, lie or falsely accuse, and to aid the helpless was a natural bi-product of following the commandments. Anyone performing outside these boundaries was rightly suspect.

Today we must know and follow what we believe and believe what we know written in the confines of Biblical teaching. Otherwise confusion sets in and without warrant, the innocent are suspect and the guilty are protected.

Suspicion becomes a stronghold in our lives when we refuse to put God first, give our lives to Him, and allow the Holy Spirit to guide us, and God to protect us. When suspicion becomes a stronghold it can debilitate us and prevent us from seeing the good, the light, the blessings, and the potential.

There’s only one way to avoid being suspicious today and still be safe. Love. Love covers a multitude of sin. When we walk in love, we are above suspicion. We no longer suspect or allow this stronghold to control our thinking. That does not mean we neglect discernment, allow evil to triumph, or stop praying. It means we no longer allow suspicion to control us.

Has the world gone to far in the wrong direction? Is it possible to avoid suspicion?

5 Biblical tips on avoiding suspicion:

1. Be ready to believe the best of every person. There is good somewhere in the worst of us. Look for that good and pray about the rest while you are protecting your rights, loved ones, and home.

1 Corinthians 13:7 Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening].

2. Follow God’s law. Allow the fruit of the spirit to live within you.

Ephesians 5:9-12 For the fruit (the effect, the product) of the Light or the Spirit [consists] in every form of kindly goodness, uprightness of heart, and trueness of life. ¹⁰And try to learn [in your experience] what is pleasing to the Lord [let your lives be constant proofs of what is most acceptable to Him]. ¹¹Take no part in and have no fellowship with the fruitless deeds and enterprises of darkness, but instead [let your lives be so in contrast as to] expose and reprove and convict them.¹²For it is a shame even to speak of or mention the things that [such people] practice in secret.

3. Never take the law of the land [the proper authority given by God on earth] or the law of God [if the law of the land does not follow God's commandments--God's commandments take precedence] into your own hands. God himself will repay.

Romans 12:19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave the way open for [God's] wrath; for it is written, Vengeance is Mine, I will repay (requite), says the Lord.

Hebrews 10:30 For we know Him Who said, Vengeance is Mine [retribution and the meting out of full justice rest with Me]; I will repay [I will exact the compensation], says the Lord. And again, The Lord will judge and determine and solve and settle the cause and the cases of His people.

4. Never give in to an occasion of sin or lawlessness. Following God’s guidance from his word will justify all your actions as long as you put the first and greatest commandment above all others.

2 Timothy 2:15 Study and be eager and do your utmost to present yourself to God approved (tested by trial), a workman who has no cause to be ashamed, correctly analyzing and accurately dividing [rightly handling and skillfully teaching] the Word of Truth.

5. Forgive each other. Resolve any problem and warn a fellow believer before suspicion takes over. Warn others. Hate evil avoid evil doers, love your enemy. Follow God’s law without judging it.

James 4:11 [My] brethren, do not speak evil about or accuse one another. He that maligns a brother or judges his brother is maligning and criticizing the Law [God's Law found in the Bible] and judging the Law. But if you judge the Law, you are not a practitioner of the Law but a censor and judge [of it].

2 Thessalonians 3:14-16 Take special note of anyone who does not obey our instruction in this letter. Do not associate with them, in order that they may feel ashamed. ¹⁵ Yet do not regard them as an enemy, but warn them as you would a fellow believer. ¹⁶ Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you.

Written by Christian author, Pola Muzyka.

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Freedom in Christ comes to us with a humble heart. That is, complete submission to God, his will, and his word. We need a better understanding of God’s love before we can blame God for any pain, any backsliding, or any grief. Hardships may be brought on by sin which has caused a stronghold in our lives that we refuse to give up. Denial is a stronghold as well.

John 5:14 Afterward, when Jesus found him in the temple, He said to him, See, you are well! Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.

Chronic backsliding has its roots in rebellion. Have we really submitted to Christ? If we are in the throes of backsliding, how can we say we are in Christ? In Christ we are a new creature. Old [sinful] things pass away and all things become new in our lives. We see sin for what it really is–separation from God.

In Christ there is fullness of joy. But are we really in Christ when we give in to sin? Romans 8:1 assures us that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. At the moment of our rebellion we have turned from Christ Jesus. We can’t honestly say we are in Christ if we are in sin. We deceive ourselves if we do.

Christ will never turn from us. Nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. But we can choose to turn from Christ and to sin again after we have been delivered–we then stand on rocky ground or among thorns. Do we really want to be in sin at the moment of our death or at the moment of Christ’s return?

5 Biblical tips to overcome chronic backsliding:

1. Turn back quickly, permanently, and thoroughly. Humble yourself. Submit to Christ. Turn from evil or anything that has separated you from the love of God or God’s Word [John 1:1].

2 Corinthians 13:5 Examine and test and evaluate your own selves to see whether you are holding to your faith and showing the proper fruits of it. Test and prove yourselves [not Christ]. Do you not yourselves realize and know [thoroughly by an ever-increasing experience] that Jesus Christ is in you–unless you are [counterfeits] disapproved on trial and rejected?

2. Recognize the temptations that draw you and refuse them. Shut them out of your life completely. When we are weak that’s when Christ is strongest. Humbly ask him for strength.

James 4:6 But He gives us more and more grace (power of the Holy Spirit, to meet this evil tendency and all others fully). That is why He says, God sets Himself against the proud and haughty, but gives grace [continually] to the lowly (those who are humble enough to receive it).

3. Avoid areas where sin abounds. That means avoid or leave areas that draw you into sin or sinful ways or thoughts. Sinful thoughts lead to sinful actions.

Proverbs 14:16 A wise man suspects danger and cautiously avoids evil, but the fool bears himself insolently and is [presumptuously] confident.

Romans 12:9 [Let your] love be sincere (a real thing); hate what is evil [loathe all ungodliness, turn in horror from wickedness], but hold fast to that which is good.

4. Watch out for the temptations that come from associations with sinful people. Choose your friendships wisely.

Proverbs 14:14  The backslider in heart [from God and from fearing God] shall be filled with [the fruit of] his own ways, and a good man shall be satisfied with [the fruit of] his ways [with the holy thoughts and actions which his heart prompts and in which he delights].

Proverbs 13:20 Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.

Proverbs 25:26 Like a muddied fountain and a polluted spring is a righteous man who yields, falls down, and compromises his integrity before the wicked.

5. Stop, before it starts. A little sin–a little backsliding may seem harmless. But in the end it leads to pain and separation from freedom in Christ.

Acts 3:19 So change the way you think and act, and turn to God to have your sins removed.

Jeremiah 8:8-9 “ ‘How can you say that you are wise and that you have the Lord’s teachings? The scribes have used their pens to turn these teachings into lies. ⁹Wise people are put to shame, confused, and trapped. They have rejected the word of the Lord. They don’t really have any wisdom.

Written by Christian author, Pola Muzyka.

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Disorder invites confusion and confusion invites all kinds of demonic strongholds to reign. There’s an old saying that “if you don’t stand for something you’ll fall for anything”. Disorder is at the helm of a lack of Godly discernment and the ability to take a stand for God and the Word of God. God will not bless the plans of disorder. Disorder is never right. It is, in fact, out of order in every respect.

The amount of choices we have today can confuse us into a disorderly state. No longer do we see good vs. evil or evil vs. good. We see lukewarm all around us. Lukewarm correctness is incorrect and can cause chaos, divisions, confusion, and misunderstandings. Trying to stay in the middle without the proper foundation underneath us can throw us off balance and cause disorder to become a stronghold in our lives.

Revelation 3:15-16 I know your [record of] works and what you are doing; you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were cold or hot!¹⁶So, because you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of My mouth!

What’s the answer? How do we regain what we could lose forever if disorder continues?

5 Biblical tips on overcoming disorder:

1. Know and follow the word of God without wavering. Don’t allow seemingly successful teachers of the gospel, or false religions that profess to know God but don’t, to lead you astray.

Titus 1:10-11 There are many believers, especially converts from Judaism, who are rebellious. They speak nonsense and deceive people. ¹¹They must be silenced because they are ruining whole families by teaching what they shouldn’t teach. This is the shameful way they make money.

2. Do not allow yourself to be caught up in worldly arguments and divisions. Go to God in prayer often and with all humility over every area that may confuse you before you turn yourself over to a disorderly life or wrong thinking.

2 Corinthians 12:20 For I am fearful that somehow or other I may come and find you not as I desire to find you, and that you may find me too not as you want to find me–that perhaps there may be factions (quarreling), jealousy, temper (wrath, intrigues, rivalry, divided loyalties), selfishness, whispering, gossip, arrogance (self-assertion), and disorder among you.

James 3:16 Wherever there is jealousy and rivalry, there is disorder and every kind of evil.

Galatians 5:26 We can’t allow ourselves to act arrogantly and to provoke or envy each other.

3. Let the peace of God remain in your heart no matter what’s happening in the world. Shake off any fear, worry, anger, and distress.

Luke 21:9 And when you hear of wars and insurrections (disturbances, disorder, and confusion), do not become alarmed and panic-stricken and terrified; for all this must take place first, but the end will not [come] immediately.

1 Corinthians 14:33 For He [Who is the source of their prophesying] is not a God of confusion and disorder but of peace and order. As [is the practice] in all the churches of the saints (God’s people),

4. Never assume a position that takes precedence over God’s Word. Worldly thinking and God can’t both be right. Anything that goes against the teachings of Jesus Christ can never be right and ultimately will not succeed.

Luke 6:49 But he who merely hears and does not practice doing My words is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation, against which the torrent burst, and immediately it collapsed and fell, and the breaking and ruin of that house was great.

5. Keep busy. Surround yourself with Godly objectives. Keep focused on the goal. Let everything you do be done in love for God first and others second.

2 Thessalonians 3:11 Indeed, we hear that some among you are disorderly [that they are passing their lives in idleness, neglectful of duty], being busy with other people’s affairs instead of their own and doing no work.

Written by Christian author, Pola Muzyka.

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We expect mercy to be eternal, everlasting, and gracious when it comes from God. So, why should we be merciful? We are not God. Why then, should we show mercy? Because, like forgiveness, without mercy we will never receive mercy. James 2:13 For to him who has shown no mercy the judgment [will be] merciless, but mercy [full of glad confidence] exults victoriously over judgment.

Every action we take and every reaction we have will dictate the results we receive now and in the coming judgment. Here on earth we face many personal trials and tribulations as we move forward in our attempts to navigate the roads of life. Every day we potentially face a  threat in one way or another. Every day we have the potential of threatening in one way or another. For some, threats are a way to results. For others, understanding, compassion, and mercy is the key.

Who’s right and who’s wrong may not be in question when we face the ultimate last days or moments of our lives. At that time we will probably only be seeking mercy. The Word assures us that when we show mercy we will receive mercy and blessings. If we could gauge our temperament by the Word of God, mercy would exude from our very being every day of our lives.

1. Show forgiveness quickly. Mercy is forgiving. Forgiveness can turn a volatile miscommunication into spiritual growth.

Colossians 3:12-13 Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, ¹³  bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.

James 2:12 So speak and so act as [people should] who are to be judged under the law of liberty [the moral instruction given by Christ, especially about love].

2. Attempt to understand before you judge. Judging quickly lacks mercy. It is for God to judge. Not us.

Romans 1:32 Although they know God’s judgment that those who do such things deserve to die, they not only do these things but also approve of others who do them.

Romans 2:6-8 He will pay all people back for what they have done. ⁷He will give everlasting life to those who search for glory, honor, and immortality by persisting in doing what is good. But he will bring ⁸anger and fury on those who, in selfish pride, refuse to believe the truth and who follow what is wrong.

3. Acknowledge God in everything you do. Sinful humanity ignores God. If you refuse God or God’s guidance through his word and commandments, you may think you’re doing well, but your end is eternal death.

Proverbs 14:22 Don’t those who stray plan what is evil, while those who are merciful and faithful plan what is good?

Psalm 145:8 The Lord is merciful, compassionate, patient, and always ready to forgive.

4. Practice mercy to others in place of cruelty. When you show mercy to others, you are fulfilling God’s will in your life. God will replay. When you practice giving mercy, mercy is easier to give each time.

Matthew 5:7 Blessed are those who show mercy. They will be treated mercifully.

Proverbs 11:17 A merciful person helps himself, but a cruel person hurts himself.

Romans 12:19-21 Don’t take revenge, dear friends. Instead, let God’s anger take care of it. After all, Scripture says, “I alone have the right to take revenge. I will pay back, says the Lord.” ²⁰But, “If your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him a drink. If you do this, you will make him feel guilty and ashamed.” ²¹Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil with good.

5. Let others know about the mercy of God. In this way you share the good news of salvation.

Mark 5:19 But Jesus would not allow it. Instead, he told the man, “Go home to your family, and tell them how much the Lord has done for you and how merciful he has been to you.”

Luke 1:78 A new day will dawn on us from above because our God is loving and merciful.

Hebrews 2:17-18  Therefore, he had to become like his brothers and sisters so that he could be merciful. He became like them so that he could serve as a faithful chief priest in God’s presence and make peace with God for their sins. ¹⁸Because Jesus experienced temptation when he suffered, he is able to help others when they are tempted.

Written by Christian author, Pola Muzyka.

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This presence slithers in through the worship of a god [demon] called Samhain–the god of darkness exhibited in Halloween, goth popularity, religious rituals of the death of Christ, and other rituals celebrating death in different parts of the world. The worship of this god of darkness is a stronghold that has abducted millions of teens and young adults for generations. A spirit of rebellion invites it in.

It is not cool to worship this god and carry or adorn our homes or bodies with images of the occult–sculls, carcass eating scavengers, blood dripping dangers, and other symbols of death. Death worship invites the demon of darkness that can bring permanent death into our own lives and the lives of those we love.

This worship is a deceptive cloak of the enemy [Satan]. He is not our friend. He should not be worshiped in any way. He will kill our joy, steal our life, and destroy our very being if we continue.

If you wonder why you don’t have peace, why fear permeates your life, why torment, worry, and strife seem to stalk, look around. What images are occupying your life? Do you spend your precious time, money, and attention honoring Satan? Think about it.

If so, you are opening a door that allows demonic strongholds to run your life whether you believe it or not. These symbols of darkness are a welcome mat to

5 Biblical tips to overcome darkness:

1. Receive Christ if you haven’t already. If you have, stop betraying him, repent and get right with God. The afterlife is very real. Will you continue on in victory or defeat?.

2. Worship God alone. Worship of anything else or person is an invitation to darkness in your life.

3. Remove any images that invite or honor death such as sculls, crossbones, skeletons, and so forth. They are demonic idols.

4. Read the Word. Read what Jesus says about himself, the afterlife, the Holy Spirit or Comforter, and God, the Father.

Have you received your free copy of Biblical Solutions for Cultural and Social Issues in the World Today study guide? [written by Pola Muzyka]

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