Your Personal Devil

YOU HAVE A PERSONAL DEVIL

 Latter-day Saints need not be, and we must not be, deceived by the sophistries of men concerning the reality of Satan. There is a personal devil, and we had better believe it" (Marion G. Romney, “Satan, the Great Deceiver,” Ensign, Feb. 2005, pgs. 52–57).,

Satan and his angels know you well, your strengths and your weaknesses. Overcoming specific temptations engineered by Satan and his Special Forces just for you, is an essential part of your progression. It is a very personal battle that you wage with Satan.

No one can fight it for you.

Brigham Young taught, “The men and women, who desire to obtain seats in the celestial kingdom, will find that they must battle with the enemy of all righteousness [Satan] every day." (A Shield Against Evil,  Liahona, Clyde Williams, October 1966)

 But God can fight it with you.

MORE RIGHTEOUS, MORE ATTENTION
IN FACT, IF you're striving to be more righteous - like becoming temple worthy; staying sexually pure; overcoming a porn addiction; reading the scriptures everyday; quitting smoking; etc etc ... "YOUR NAME" moves up on Satan's whiteboard list.

--and if your name is not on Satan's whiteboard list, it should be--

Each of us should be approaching closer to God and increasing our spirituality-Right? Therefore, you should be a topic of discussion in some Special Forces meeting.


The Joseph Smith shared,

“The nearer a person approaches the Lord, a greater power will be manifested by the adversary to prevent the accomplishment of His purposes” (in Orson F. Whitney, Life of Heber C. Kimball, Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1967, p. 132).

Some may believe Satan is a bunch of goof-balls a poorly organized "F-troop" barely able to achieve a goal -as suggested by this image from this postcard.

Only Satan would have you believe he is that inept.

Spencer W. Kimball taught that the fight against Satan and his special forces

“is not a little skirmish with a half-willed antagonist, but a battle royal with an enemy so powerful, entrenched, and organized that we are likely to be vanquished if we are not strong, well-trained, and watchful." Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Spencer W. Kimball, Chapter 10: Fortifying Ourselves against Evil Influences (2006), 102–13)

YOUR PERSONAL DEVILS KNOW YOU WELL

"Your greatest weakness will be the point at which Satan [and his Special Forces] will try to tempt you, will try to win you; and if you have made yourself weak, he will add to that weakness." (David O'McKay“ The Temptations in Life,” Improvement Era, July 1968, p.3 or Aaronic Priesthood Manual, Satan and His Temptations Lesson 11).

Spencer Kimball said it this way:

"Lucifer and his followers know the habits, weaknesses, and vulnerable spots of EVERYONE [including you] and take advantage of them to lead us to spiritual destruction." (Spencer W. Kimball, "The Miracle of Forgiveness", Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1969, pp. 218–19.)

Even if you don't know your personal weaknesses- Satan and his Special Forces do!

THOUSANDS OF YEARS OF TRAINING
The Satan is NOT dead! (Remember- He was never born!) The same Satan that tempted Eve to disobey God is the the beginning (Genesis 3) is the same Satan that tempts you and me today. The same Special Forces -assigned to Adultery that successfully tempted King David with Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11)  is the same  Special Forces that is tempting us now with a sexual weakness - etc etc.

Satan's Special Forces are good at what they do- destroy agency  (Moses 4:3) and make life miserable (2 Nephi 2:27) ... They are the best. They've had thousands of years of advanced training.

They have immediate and ongoing access to the finest evil minds of all eternity - including from the pre-existence.

Although we don't remember Satan and his Special Forces from the pre-existence, they certainly remember us, personally.

You don't think these guys know what they're doing? You don't think they have detailed strategies to lead you and I down a path to adultery, porn addiction, divorce, "lull and pacify", etc etc? (See: Satan's Special Forces)

Think again.

Satan, his followers with only "spirit bodies", and his followers with physical bodies alive on earth today - - join their endless resources together in promoting their respective assigned sins.

Your life will never be the same once you sense the reality of a personal Satan and his forces targeting you-each day. 

Now I am not calling attention to these things to frighten, stampede, or discourage anyone. I refer to them because I know they are true, and I am persuaded that if we are to “conquer Satan, and … escape the hands of the servants of Satan that do uphold his work” (D&C 10:5), we must understand and recognize the situation as it is. This is no time for Latter-day Saints to equivocate. Nor is it a time for us to panic. The difficulties of our times have not come upon us unawares. A hundred and forty years ago the Lord clearly revealed the tenor of our times. We know that as the second coming of the Savior approaches, the tempo of Satan’s campaign for the souls of men is being and will continue to be accelerated. We know that the experiences of the intervening years will try men’s souls. (Marion G. Romney, “Satan, the Great Deceiver,” Ensign, Feb. 2005, pgs. 52–57).,

CHALLENGE
Read: Satan Exposed; Satan's Special Forces; The Lion Sleeps Tonight-NOT!; and Your Personal Devil.
Put on the Armor of God - See: Your Personal Armor

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Good Or Evil?

After my BYU Education Week lecture HE SAID: "I disagree with you about gay marriage .... " He went on to explain his logic concerning why he believed "Gay Marriage" was okay.

I SAID: Satan has organized Special Forces to influence us. Remember initially Satan proposed a political platform related to “I will redeem ALL mankind, that one soul shall not be lost." (Moses 4:1)” This political platform was appropriate for that time given the circumstances in the pre-existence. (I doubt this message would be very successful in today’s culture. Today most of us hardly care about the redemption of our Soul. And besides, think about it, has Satan ever really cared about saving a soul- bringing one soul unto Christ? )  I then suggested examples of additional evil political platforms more popular during our time - but just as destructive. These messages successfully achieve Satan's only goal- “to destroy the agency of man” (Moses 4:3). (I still need to write that blog about agency.) Examples are:

Ordaining women to the Priesthood.
Abortion.
Gay marriage.

Sex before marriage.

Legalization of marijuana.

etc. etc.

These messages are simply "means to Satan's end" to destroy our agency. 

THE GREAT BATTLE BETWEEN "GOOD AND EVIL"

There is no other battle in our lives that matters.

I suggested to this BYU Education Week participant not to be distracted by members of Satan's Special Forces assigned to normalize and promote "Gay Marriage" or any other false teaching.  They are not the battleground!  It has been my experience that there is only one battleground "Good and Evil."  Each doctrine, philosophy, teaching or political platform is either "Good" or "Evil"- either we come closer to Christ as a result or we come closer to Satan. 

It is naive for you and I to rationalize that we can indulge in both "Evil" and "Good" at the same time. (See: Matt 6:24). There are no shades of "White." There are many shades of "Black and Gray" (See: The Safest Road to Hell is Gradual).

Either we keep the commandments and covenants of God or we are in "HIS-Satan's Power." (Have you ever heard of that concept? Of course you have in the temple!) 


"THERE IS NO MIDDLE ROAD. Our position must be one of strength in order to overcome the evil that Satan would have us do." (Using Our Free Agency, Delbert L. Stapley April 1975)

Any other doctrine is a lie and Satan is the father  of ALL lies (Moses 4:4) - not just some,  ALL .

Scriptures clearly teach about the world around us as "Good or Evil." See: Alma 29:5; Joseph Smith History 1:33; Moses 4:1; Hebrews 5:14; Abraham 5:9;  2 Samuel 19:35;  Alma 42:3;  etc. etc.

And perhaps the most profound example is found in the beginning with Adam and Eve. Remember, the tree's name was "Knowledge of Good and Evil" (Genesis 2:17) and when we partake of this tree we "shall be as Gods, knowing Good and Evil" (Genesis 3:5). Sounds like "good and evil" is a pretty important concept.

HE SAID: "But my opinion is different." Again he gave more examples of his logic suggesting I was a bigot and un-Christ like. 

I SAID: Remember God has said through his prophet in The Family Proclamation to the World:

WE CALL UPON responsible citizens and officers of government everywhere to promote those measures designed to maintain and strengthen the family as the fundamental unit of society.

And what is that "Fundamental Unit"?

MARRIAGE BETWEEN A MAN AND A WOMAN is ordained of God.

Any other belief is a shade of gray. 

Whether I understand the reasoning or not. Whether I agree with it or not. If we do not recognize God's Truth we are either ignorant or we have already been deceived.

Whether it's about gay marriage, abortion, legalization of pot, sex before marriage etc. etc. I ask, which one of us having knowledge of consequences would dare to become an enemy of God?

CHALLENGE

“Choose you this day whom ye will serve:  Good or Evil. It's one or the other.
… but as for me... [ I ] will serve the Lord.” (Josh. 24:15)


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