Escaping Danger.

Written by Lee Stevenson, sorry I am not the best editor.

When we are being attacked by Satan and his people we need to know when to escape. Jesus work was not done so when they were threatening to capture or harm him he knew he needed to escape . Once his work was complete he did not escape because he knew he was the ransom sacrifice , and eventually would give his life as a ransom for our sins. The things we need to escape may be spiritual dangers or physical dangers.

John 10:39Again they tried to seize him, but he escaped their grasp.

To know when to escape we must keep alert and pray. And follow Jesus. The lines between right and wrong have been skewed by man. By knowing God and writing his word on our hearts it will keep us alert so we will know when to escape. Many are in positions that are very respected such as doctors, lawyers, mental health professionals. All these have been influenced by man. So even though they may offer some sort of confidence their wisdom is based on mans knowledge. If their advice or actions go against what God would require , we should always put what God would require first.

Once I was in a position where lying seemed to be the only way out. I worked in a dangerous environment so you really had to pay attention to detail. One employing was not doing that. He would do unsafe things. I kept requesting the bosses fire him because I felt there would be a day he would not make it home to his family. Well one day he did get very seriously injured. My fellow employees and the bosses all lied and blamed his injury on me. There were opportunities to lie and it may have gotten me out of the situation. Instead I decided to be honest. I described the history he had of doing unsafe things and of the bosses not responding. They had decided they were going to fire me. But while they were in the process of writing me up a CEO of the company showed up. He had seen everything occur. He had been watching the yard and had not notified anyone he was there because he had heard about the unsafe things happening. This resulted in others getting fired and I got a promotion. He promoted me because I would not lie to protect myself.

Hebrews 12:25 See to it that you do not refuse Him who is speaking For if those did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape who turn away from Him who warns from heaven.

Luke 21:6 “But keep on the alert at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

If we do not listen to Jesus we can end up even worse off. Letting God’s word guide us and trying our best to imitate Jesus as things get worse will help guide us through this mess man has made. Subtle things can draw us in and get us entangled in this world. Fear, anxiety, frustration, lack of faith, leaning on our own understanding all those things can cause us to get entangled in the things of the world.

2Peter 2:20 For if, after they have escaped the defilement’s of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and are overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first.

If you need advice do not seek it from someone who has not written God’s word on their hearts. Instead of escaping you will get trapped. You will be following a blind guide. In other words they are blind guides because they go through the motions and may appear to be obedient but their fruits in life will show who they truly are. We should not pay attention to how someone appears, but the fruits they produce. For example do they teach others to love God’s word, do they have a stable family and are they humble ,do they lord any authority they have over others? Jesus did not lord his authority over others. He would give them a choice to obey God or choose the world. He made it clear what God required and left the rest up to the individual. When Jesus was being attacked whether it was spiritually or physically he had faith God would get him through it. He stayed focused on what God’s will was and in doing God’s will while under attack. He did not put his faith and trust in man. He respected secular authority but if mans will opposed God’s he would put God’s will first.

The reason I am stating this is because I am seeing many religious organizations telling people to trust their decision to use a product produced by a companies known for criminal activity, harming people and covering it up. Many government entities have colluded with them to cover up the harm being done. All these things have been well documented. These products have a history of causing death, chronic illness and even disabling people for life. Do you think God would want us to take the risk of being harmed to please man? God will protect us from harm, but deliberately and willfully putting ourselves in harms way by trusting man instead of God can cause us to lose that protection. The bible many times warned us not to put our trust in man or nobles. It also warns us the whole world lies in the power of the wicked one. To trust companies that have a history of corruption and deception means we would be ignoring God’s warning and putting our trust in man instead of God.

Matthew 15:12 Then the disciples came and said to him: “Do you know that the Pharisees were stumbled at hearing what you said?” 13 In reply he said: “Every plant that my heavenly Father did not plant will be uprooted. 14 Let them be. Blind guides is what they are. If, then, a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”

The things we escape will make us wiser and stronger. Satan and his people will attack us. Remaining humble and submitting to God’s will protects us in many ways. We will suffer if we choose to follow Jesus. Jesus himself warned the student is no better then the teacher, what they did to him they will do to those who follow him. Those who love and trust God look for opportunities to glorify God even during our suffering. We do not over think things, which protects us mentally, we rely on God to get us through it. We put all our anxiety on God. This protects us mentally. Many studies have shown if fear is induced a person does not reason very well and will look to anyone for solutions to their problem. This could let us be easily led astray. No matter how dire things seem if we throw our anxiety on God and trust him it will keep us from getting overwhelmed and protect our thinking. Things are rapidly winding down and some that we love very much may be the ones who are causing our tribulation. If we do not let fear, frustration , or anxieties overwhelm us but trust God to get us through it , this will protect our thinking. It is very difficult to see those who get angry at us because we will not waiver when it comes to putting God’s will above theirs. I have even seen people get violent with some who would not waiver but would stand their ground and do God’s will instead of the family members or friends will. I have experienced similar things. It really hurts to see loved ones starting to get more distanced from you because of your love and faith in God and because you will put God’s will over mans. I have even lost friends because they chose to put money over the worship of God and viewed me as being foolish for not having the same pursuits. This is all temporary and will be gone soon. The treasures we store in heaven are forever and the promises that come with it will for forever. So nothing in this system is worth giving all that up for.

We have to remember they lied against Jesus, they tried to smear his reputation. They scrutinized everything he said or did, constantly accusing him of sinning. They even accused him of being insane. When none of that worked they started to resort to violence. Very soon we will be given choices which will require we put our trust in man or we trust God. It may seem if we do not give in we are going to lose. Even if we lose all we have but preserve our lives, God can restore everything just as he did with Job. Some may even face death. But we can be certain even death cannot seperate us from the love of God and the love of Jesus.

1Peter 5:6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you in due time, 7 while you throw all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you. 8 Keep your senses, be watchful! Your adversary, the Devil, walks about like a roaring lion, seeking to devour someone. 9 But take your stand against him, firm in the faith, knowing that the same kind of sufferings are being experienced by the entire association of your brothers in the world. 10 But after you have suffered a little while, the God of all undeserved kindness, who called you to his everlasting glory in union with Christ, will himself finish your training. He will make you firm, he will make you strong, he will firmly ground you. 11 To him be the might forever. Amen.

We have to keep in mind that Israel was Jesus people. He was persecuted and killed by his own people. He still gave his life for them because he knew many of them would have a change of heart and eventually accept the truths he had taught. We have to keep in mind we were warned there would be wolves who work their way in. This means knowing what God’s will is and what he requires will be more important then ever as things wind down. Though our spiritual leaders are guided by holy spirit, this does not mean they cannot make errors they are imperfect humans. Some of the apostles made errors and had to be corrected. If things occur and we know it is not God’s will we just need to be patient. Jehovah will set matters straight. We have examples of Peter and others who were being guide by holy spirit making errors. This led others astray. But when they were corrected they accepted the correction and made the changes needed. Though our spiritual leaders are ambassadors for Christ we have to keep in mind they are imperfect humans and can make errors. Especially as things wind down and the lines between what God requires and doing mans will become skewed and more difficult, knowing what God’s will is and what he requires can help to protect us. Those who do take the lead can learn from the mistakes the apostles made so it does not make them over confident to the point they believe they cannot be wrong. In doing so they can become closed minded and make many errors. The bible warns us not to become wise in our own eyes. If we ignore the warnings not to trust nobles and man and willfully ignore the history of corruption and errors without looking deeper into things we are ignoring the warnings God has given us. Satan’s attacks are not always obvious it is usually the subtle things he does that can trip us up especially if we get over confident. We are told Satan can appear as an angel of light. Many religious figures are telling people to put their faith and trust in products that have been produced by companies that are known to lie and deceive people about the harm their products do. Not only that but often times decades later documents come out showing many government entities have colluded with corrupt corporations to hide the harm that had been done. Presently there are experimental medical injections being given. Do you really think it would be wise to trust nobles and the corporations producing those products, when they say they are safe and effective. Data has already came out showing those injections have caused more deaths, injury and illness then the very infections they were supposed to protect from. Many have already been harmed and it took extreme measures for people to get access to this data because the governments world wide did not want the public to know the harm being done. Even now since the data has came out governments are passing bills making it illegal to mention the harm those injections have done. The truth will defend itself. Lies have to be defended with more lies in order to protect the first lie. Eventually the lies get too numerous to defend. This is why it is much easier to silence those exposing the truth as quickly as possible to make it easier to defend the lies. The fact people are being silenced world wide and the data is being hidden should raise alarm bells for everyone. If the nobles and corporations were being truthful they would have no reason to silence people because it would be easy to defend the things they are doing and the results of their actions. If these products were producing the results governments and the corporations claim and were not harming people there would be no reason to silence people the results of the product would promote itself and speak for itself.

When we are being pressured not to question things but to blindly obey this should get our attention. God did not ask that of us and gave us clear instructions on what to do and what he required. If we are being told to do something without clear explanations as to why and we are being told not to question things we should be cautious. Jesus did not say blindly follow me. He gave clear instructions on things and even on what would occur and how a person should respond. We may think by giving in to mans will over God’s we are protecting our right to worship. Daniel did not give in to the kings decrees in order to please the king and protect his friends or himself, he put God’s will first. He trusted Jehovah to protect him and get him through the trials he was under.

Jesus is our foundation. He is the one we should follow. We know there will be very confusing things that will happen. If we write God’s word in our hearts and make Jesus the foundation we build on then when the figurative storms come we will not be easily shaken. It is not any human on earth that our foundation should be built on, wealth, or some physical security that gives us our foundation. Those all will be gone soon. Jesus is the foundation we need to base our faith on. He is our king. If we are ask by a human to do something contrary to what Jesus would do he is our foundation, it is him we should obey. Jesus would not ask us to endanger ourselves to please any human nobles. Jesus instructions on what we would need to do as things wind down were clear also. If we are ask to do something and the reasons for it are not clear we need to be cautious. For example when God told Israel what path to take to enter the promised land. He made it clear he would protect them and guide them. He was not obscure and did not ask them to blindly follow him he was guiding them the whole way. We do have to obey the authority figures on earth. But we know God values life and would not want us to endanger ourselves in order to please man. So if the secular authorities ask us to do something that is contrary to what God’s will would be then it is God’s will we obey and not man’s.

If we are being pressured to not question things or to be silent about things we see or hear that could expose the truth behind what we are being ask to do this should make us more alert that we need to pay special attention to what God’s will is. Keep in mind we may receive scorn and be shunned by some but it is what Jesus and God would want us to do. They are only humans and their will does not take precedence over God’s will. We need to be peaceable about it and let things run their course keeping in mind that God will expose everything in due time. When things occur that may cause us doubts about those who lead us we should not judge them. We need to be patient. We were warned things like this would occur and that God would bring everything to light. We just need to patiently wait on Jehovah to set mattes straight. We need to be very careful what we say and who we say things to because they can be misconstrued and even misunderstood. These are very confusing times and there are many uncertainties. Jehovah will set matters straight. While we wait for this to happen we need to do our best to do what he requires.

One of the signs of true worship is when God’s people find they are in error they correct the error so they can make their worship more pure. Errors are made but it is those who accept the correction from Jehovah then correct the errors and work closer towards pure worship that shows it is God they are trying to please. So if we see errors occur we should not let this cause us to lose our faith. We just need to patiently wait and have faith Jehovah will set matters straight. We need to stay close to our spiritual brothers and sisters because this is where God will provide us with the things we need to know in order to make it through these trying times. I know as we see things unwind some things may be difficult to see happen, some things may even hurt our hearts. Just as our relationship is between Jehovah, Jesus and ourselves so is theirs. God will clear matters straighht he always does.

Very soon thing may happen that will require us to literally flee. If we get too caught up in things that are happening and not paying attention to what God’s will is it could blind us to the time frame we are in and we may endanger ourselves. Now more then ever we need to pay attention to our spiritual needs and to God’s word and not let ourselves get discouraged by things we may not understand.

(2 Corinthians 5:20) ²⁰ Therefore, we are ambassadors substituting for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us. As substitutes for Christ, we beg: “Become reconciled to God.”

(Galatians 2:11-13) ¹¹ However, when Ceʹphas came to Antioch, I resisted him face-to-face, because he was clearly in the wrong. ¹² For before certain men from James arrived, he used to eat with people of the nations; but when they arrived, he stopped doing this and separated himself, fearing those of the circumcised class. ¹³ The rest of the Jews also joined him in putting on this pretense, so that even Barʹna·bas was led along with them in their pretense.

(Acts 15:1-3) 15 Now some men came down from Ju·deʹa and began to teach the brothers: “Unless you get circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” ² But after quite a bit of dissension and disputing by Paul and Barʹna·bas with them, it was arranged for Paul, Barʹna·bas, and some of the others to go up to the apostles and elders in Jerusalem regarding this issue. ³ So after being escorted partway by the congregation, these men continued on through both Phoe·niʹcia and Sa·marʹi·a, relating in detail the conversion of people of the nations and bringing great joy to all the brothers.

(Proverbs 3:5-7)  ⁵ Trust in Jehovah with all your heart, And do not rely on your own understanding.  ⁶ In all your ways take notice of him, And he will make your paths straight.  ⁷ Do not become wise in your own eyes. Fear Jehovah and turn away from bad.

(1 Thessalonians 5:21, 22) ²¹ Make sure of all things; hold fast to what is fine. ²² Abstain from every form of wickedness.

(1 John 4:1) 4 Beloved ones, do not believe every inspired statement, but test the inspired statements to see whether they originate with God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.

(Proverbs 18:17) ¹⁷ The first to state his case seems right, Until the other party comes and cross-examines him.

(James 1:5-15) ⁵ So if any one of you is lacking in wisdom, let him keep asking God, for he gives generously to all and without reproaching, and it will be given him. ⁶ But let him keep asking in faith, not doubting at all, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven by the wind and blown about. ⁷ In fact, that man should not expect to receive anything from Jehovah; ⁸ he is an indecisive man, unsteady in all his ways. ⁹ But let the lowly brother rejoice over his exaltation, ¹⁰ and the rich one over his humiliation, because like a flower of the field he will pass away. ¹¹ For just as the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the plant, and its flower falls off and its outward beauty perishes, so too the rich man will fade away in the midst of his pursuits. ¹² Happy is the man who keeps on enduring trial, because on becoming approved he will receive the crown of life, which Jehovah promised to those who continue loving Him. ¹³ When under trial, let no one say: “I am being tried by God.” For with evil things God cannot be tried, nor does he himself try anyone. ¹⁴ But each one is tried by being drawn out and enticed by his own desire. ¹⁵ Then the desire, when it has become fertile, gives birth to sin; in turn sin, when it has been carried out, brings forth death.

(Matthew 7:24-27) ²⁴ “Therefore, everyone who hears these sayings of mine and does them will be like a discreet man who built his house on the rock. ²⁵ And the rain poured down and the floods came and the winds blew and lashed against that house, but it did not cave in, for it had been founded on the rock. ²⁶ Furthermore, everyone hearing these sayings of mine and not doing them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. ²⁷ And the rain poured down and the floods came and the winds blew and struck against that house, and it caved in, and its collapse was great.”

(Isaiah 45:19) ¹⁹ I did not speak in a concealed place, in a land of darkness; I did not say to the offspring of Jacob, ‘Seek me simply for nothing.’ I am Jehovah, who speaks what is righteous and declares what is upright.

(Acts 5:29) ²⁹ In answer Peter and the other apostles said: “We must obey God as ruler rather than men.

(Matthew 22:19-21) . . .. ²⁰ He said to them: “Whose image and inscription is this?” ²¹ They said: “Caesar’s.” Then he said to them: “Pay back, therefore, Caesar’s things to Caesar, but God’s things to God.”

(1 Corinthians 4:4, 5) . . .. ⁵ Therefore, do not judge anything before the due time, until the Lord comes. He will bring the secret things of darkness to light and make known the intentions of the hearts, and then each one will receive his praise from God.

(Jeremiah 9:4)  ⁴ “Everyone, be on guard against your neighbor, And do not trust even your brother. For every brother is a betrayer, And every neighbor is a slanderer.

(Isaiah 42:9) See, the first things have come to pass; Now I am declaring new things. Before they spring up, I tell you about them.”