The Frightening Reality of Sin By Larry Barkdull

[Hemidakota]

EXCERPT: Because Satan knows that the body is highly susceptible to suggestion and can be acted upon by outside influences, he knows that he can tempt us to sin. If we cave in, something terrible happens: “That wicked one cometh and taketh away light and truth.” How does Satan take away light and truth? “Through disobedience.” 16 Literally, sin creates a gash in our souls, allowing Satan to gain entrance. Now light hemorrhages from us. Once inside, Satan can drain us of truth, spirit, intelligence, power, law, life, agency, and glory.

Are we listening to the scriptures? The strategy of Satan is to tempt us to sin so that he can gain entrance and drain us of light!

ARTICLE LINK: Meridian Magazine : : Rescuing Wayward Children: The Frightening Reality of Sin

[Maya]

I red this from Meridian and it is hard stuff. I so much ... like everybody else would like to have stayed clean Luckily Jesus can save us, but I still have a feeling I would have made it better without my sins.

I used to hug my DH, I still do, but there was suddenly a difference. Before he made a biggey I could feel his power when I hugged him. I felt like I was succing from him a good power.... but then I felt nothing... it was like hugging a tree... no radiation like before. Maybe a little radiation getting back these days, but so little!

Like a friend of mine said I hope they need shoecleaners in there.....

[Maxel]

From the article (which is in turn quoting D&C 10:24-27):

“Yea, he stirreth up their hearts to anger….Yea, he saith unto them: Deceive and lie in wait to catch, that ye may destroy; behold, this is no harm. And thus he flattereth them, and telleth them that it is no sin to lie that they may catch a man in a lie, that they may destroy him. And thus he flattereth them, and leadeth them along until he draggeth their souls down to hell; and thus he causeth them to catch themselves in their own snare. And thus he goeth up and down, to and fro in the earth, seeking to destroy the souls of men.”

Italicization mine

I never caught the import of the highlighted portion until now- the author's earlier illustration of a 'carnal, sensual, and devilish' person 'begin[ning] to act like the demons who prod us to become like them' sunk this truth deep into my soul. It seems that when a person has had light, and then loses that light (it is 'hemorrhaged' from the spirit, as the author eloquently puts it) the person is dedicated to dragging others down to their awful state as well- they set out traps for the faithful, and 'lie in wait to deceive' (Eph. 4:14). In the end, however, these people are caught by the very kind of trap they lay out for others- a sad yet just irony.

[Maxel]

Double post- my apologies.

I found the author's website- it includes his blogs, contact info, and more. It's Larry Barkdull. I looked over it and was floored by the spirit I felt (in a good way), so I thought I'd share and recommend it.

[Maya]

From the article (which is in turn quoting D&C 10:24-27):

Italicization mine

I never caught the import of the highlighted portion until now- the author's earlier illustration of a 'carnal, sensual, and devilish' person 'begin[ning] to act like the demons who prod us to become like them' sunk this truth deep into my soul. It seems that when a person has had light, and then loses that light (it is 'hemorrhaged' from the spirit, as the author eloquently puts it) the person is dedicated to dragging others down to their awful state as well- they set out traps for the faithful, and 'lie in wait to deceive' (Eph. 4:14). In the end, however, these people are caught by the very kind of trap they lay out for others- a sad yet just irony.

Sad to say we have a couple of them on a board.

[pam]

Sad to say we have a couple of them on a board.

I agree Maya. I can think of one in particular lately that has done just that. I think Maxel would know of whom I speak.

[LittleWyvern]

I think the opposite is also true as well. As we do good, we are given more light and knowledge, even healing wounds left by earlier sins (via repentance).

[rameumptom]

I am a strong believer that demons are more involved in our lives than we care to believe. Why don't we see the demonic possessions that were so common in Jesus' day? Perhaps we have relabeled them and classified them in non-spiritual terms so much that we can no longer see his works in people's lives.

I think that total demonic possession is rare. However, just as the Holy Spirit whispers to us quietly, so can demons. Occasionally, I believe they are trying to shout at us. They observe us, to see what interests us, what raises our blood pressure and heart rate, what causes our eyes to narrow/widen/focus/turn away, what causes our hands to clench into fists.

And then they begin pushing our spiritual and carnal buttons to see if we will give in to any of the temptations that come our way.

As we listen to demons, the Spirit of God has less affect on us. We reduce the light by neglecting it and not heeding it. We replace it with Satan's darkness.

While the Spirit of God touches our amygdala (emotion memory center of the brain) and our thought processes; Satan pushes the buttons on our brain stem. He seeks to work our innate fears and angers that are at the base of our biological evolutionary systems, so that we will run on animal instinct (fight, flight, fright).

We either follow the Spirit towards righteous thought processes that lead us to faith and hope; or we follow the path of fear, encouraged by demons, in order to shackle us down to hell.

Repentance is our method to stop fearing and rebelling and being manipulated by demons, and to start taking command of our own lives and embracing the Spirit of God.

[Maxel]

I think the opposite is also true as well. As we do good, we are given more light and knowledge, even healing wounds left by earlier sins (via repentance).

Good point. I particularly enjoyed the author's (of the article) comment about 'infusions of light' that we get through prayer, scripture study, blessings, etc.

I agree Maya. I can think of one in particular lately that has done just that. I think Maxel would know of whom I speak.

Yeah...

I am a strong believer that demons are more involved in our lives than we care to believe. Why don't we see the demonic possessions that were so common in Jesus' day? Perhaps we have relabeled them and classified them in non-spiritual terms so much that we can no longer see his works in people's lives.

I sometimes wonder if my own chronic depression is a result, in some magnitude, of some sort of demonic influence. I fully realize the physical causes, but I can't help think that it would make me (and others like me) particularly susceptible to a certain breed of demonic influence.

While the Spirit of God touches our amygdala (emotion memory center of the brain) and our thought processes; Satan pushes the buttons on our brain stem. He seeks to work our innate fears and angers that are at the base of our biological evolutionary systems, so that we will run on animal instinct (fight, flight, fright).

We either follow the Spirit towards righteous thought processes that lead us to faith and hope; or we follow the path of fear, encouraged by demons, in order to shackle us down to hell.

Repentance is our method to stop fearing and rebelling and being manipulated by demons, and to start taking command of our own lives and embracing the Spirit of God.

I really enjoyed this, rameumptom. Thank you for sharing- the physical example of where the Spirit of God and Satan might attack our thoughts really got me thinking.

[Guest HEthePrimate]

I sometimes wonder if my own chronic depression is a result, in some magnitude, of some sort of demonic influence. I fully realize the physical causes, but I can't help think that it would make me (and others like me) particularly susceptible to a certain breed of demonic influence.

How about if certain things that feel overwhelming to us, and negative (such as chronic depression), people used to call demonic possession for lack of a better explanation?

As far as sin goes, I wouldn't recommend worrying about it too much--the more you think about it, even to avoid it, the more your thoughts center on it, and that can't be good.

HEP

[rameumptom]

I think there are scriptures that back up my views. For example, the New Testament says that Satan flees from faith, prayers, and love. Love casts out fear.

Lehi taught that "Adam fell that men might be, and men are that they might have joy" (2 Nephi 2). Immediately, he then explains the atonement of the Messiah, which gives us agency and the chance at happiness. Then Lehi explains that Satan wishes to make us miserable, as he (Satan) is. We have joy when we follow God, and misery when we follow Satan.

Sorrow is not a bad thing. Jesus showed sorrow on many occasions. It is part and parcel of being. Misery, depression, and discouragement otoh, are NOT from God, but from Satan. He tries to take sorrow and change it into a trap that we cannot escape from. Sorrow helps us appreciate God's mercy, builds wisdom and hope in us, and helps us repent. Misery traps us into believing we are not worthy, nor is God able to save us. It fills us with despair and depression, where we find it difficult to find the strength to pull free from it. Despondency causes us to not even try.

Only realizing that we are in Satan's deceptive trap can we then turn to Christ. There are tools that can help us, such as filling our minds with faith-promoting concepts: scripture study, prayer, meditation, giving thanks to God, singing hymns. These cause Satan to flee from us. For example, think upon one of your most spiritual experiences. How did it make you feel? As you ponder on it, do those feelings return? It probably has, and perhaps brought a smile to your face and a happy tear to your eye. This is how faith often works, as we are filled with hope and gratitude. This is how we defeat Satan, by filling our lives with faithful thoughts on Christ and the beauty around us.