- Sep 1, 2021
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I would like to present ascetic experiences about the devil. Hopefully it will help you to be more on guard and better serve our Lord Jesus through your life. Translation originally from Greek. If possible, I will regularly add new posts to this topic. The Greek website from which I translated this text is unfortunately blocked on the Internet. https://isychastis7.webnode.gr/peri-diavoloy/
But I already made a Dutch translation of its section 'On the devil'. (Over de duivel (uit geestelijke ervaringen van de asceten) - Geloofsgesprek.nl)
So now I have to translate from Dutch into English. And this is a lot easier than translating from Greek or Russian.
I don't know who wrote the information underneath, but I think it is the best to start with.
"The devil once called a world assembly of demons. In his opening speech he said to them, among other things:
- We cannot prevent Christians from going to church. We cannot stop them from reading the Bible and knowing the truth. We cannot even prevent them from having a living, close relationship with their Savior. Once they have this connection to Jesus, we lose all power over them! So all we have to do is steal their time! Let them go to church, it doesn't matter, let them have their banquets there and everything else. Let them have work and activity. Only let them not have time to develop this living relationship with Jesus. This is what I want from you. Distract them from their Savior and prevent them from having a warm and close relationship with Him throughout the day. Let's lead them into a weak relationship with Jesus, a formal relationship, without real faith and love for Him!
- How can we do this? the demons then asked.
- Get them busy with trivial things and find countless ways to occupy their minds, replied the devil. Tempt them to spend, spend, spend and borrow charging their cards. Have women work long hours outside home and men for 6-7 days a week, 10-12 hours a day, so that they can fit their lifestyle. Prevent them from spending time with their children. So if their family falls apart, soon the house will no longer be a refuge for them from the hustle and bustle of work. Always keep their minds so full of stimuli that it becomes impossible for them to hear the still and soft voice of God.
1. Have them play the radio and cassette player when they are driving.
2. Make sure they have their CDs, videos, TVs and computers turned on at all times.
3. Turn on music in every store and restaurant they enter and let it play non-stop. This will cloud their minds and weaken their communion with Christ through prayer.
4. Fill their tables with magazines and newspapers. Make of them over-consuming creatures so that they buy and spend without having any real need for it. So that they occupy themselves, tire themselves out, and distance themselves from Jesus Christ.
5. Pound them incessantly with news 24 hours a day.
6. Fill the streets with billboards so that you don't leave them in silence for a moment while they driving or walking.
7. Flood their mailboxes with unwanted ads, clothing catalogs, gambling, and anything else that promotes false hopes for wealth.
8. Put skinny models on the covers of magazines and on TV so that men will see them as beauty models and not be satisfied with their wives' appearance.
9. Give women fatigue so that in the evening they will not be able to rejoice as couples with their husbands. Give them headaches so that men get complaints, bitterness and go elsewhere for their pleasure. As a result, families will quickly fall apart.
10. Promote Santa Claus to divert children's attention from the true meaning of Christmas.
11. At Easter, spread the bunnies and red eggs instead of the message of the Resurrection and the victory over sin.
12. Push them to the limit even during their entertainment. So that they are a corpse of fatigue when they come back from vacation and regret their choices.
13. Do not let them go into nature and see what God has created.
14. Send them to amusement parks, stadiums, cinemas, playgrounds and concerts instead.
15. Always keep them overworked. So that they do not think, do not investigate thoroughly, do not worry (about philosophical questions).
16. And when they meet for spiritual companionship with other believers, make them leave with a troubled conscience.
This plan will definitely work!'
The demons were quick to put all this into practice so that Christians would have neither the time nor the need to seek the power of Jesus in their lives."
Over de duivel (uit geestelijke ervaringen van de asceten) - Pagina 4 - Geloofsgesprek.nl
Christ triumphs over the devil by His resurrection.
But I already made a Dutch translation of its section 'On the devil'. (Over de duivel (uit geestelijke ervaringen van de asceten) - Geloofsgesprek.nl)
So now I have to translate from Dutch into English. And this is a lot easier than translating from Greek or Russian.
I don't know who wrote the information underneath, but I think it is the best to start with.
"The devil once called a world assembly of demons. In his opening speech he said to them, among other things:
- We cannot prevent Christians from going to church. We cannot stop them from reading the Bible and knowing the truth. We cannot even prevent them from having a living, close relationship with their Savior. Once they have this connection to Jesus, we lose all power over them! So all we have to do is steal their time! Let them go to church, it doesn't matter, let them have their banquets there and everything else. Let them have work and activity. Only let them not have time to develop this living relationship with Jesus. This is what I want from you. Distract them from their Savior and prevent them from having a warm and close relationship with Him throughout the day. Let's lead them into a weak relationship with Jesus, a formal relationship, without real faith and love for Him!
- How can we do this? the demons then asked.
- Get them busy with trivial things and find countless ways to occupy their minds, replied the devil. Tempt them to spend, spend, spend and borrow charging their cards. Have women work long hours outside home and men for 6-7 days a week, 10-12 hours a day, so that they can fit their lifestyle. Prevent them from spending time with their children. So if their family falls apart, soon the house will no longer be a refuge for them from the hustle and bustle of work. Always keep their minds so full of stimuli that it becomes impossible for them to hear the still and soft voice of God.
1. Have them play the radio and cassette player when they are driving.
2. Make sure they have their CDs, videos, TVs and computers turned on at all times.
3. Turn on music in every store and restaurant they enter and let it play non-stop. This will cloud their minds and weaken their communion with Christ through prayer.
4. Fill their tables with magazines and newspapers. Make of them over-consuming creatures so that they buy and spend without having any real need for it. So that they occupy themselves, tire themselves out, and distance themselves from Jesus Christ.
5. Pound them incessantly with news 24 hours a day.
6. Fill the streets with billboards so that you don't leave them in silence for a moment while they driving or walking.
7. Flood their mailboxes with unwanted ads, clothing catalogs, gambling, and anything else that promotes false hopes for wealth.
8. Put skinny models on the covers of magazines and on TV so that men will see them as beauty models and not be satisfied with their wives' appearance.
9. Give women fatigue so that in the evening they will not be able to rejoice as couples with their husbands. Give them headaches so that men get complaints, bitterness and go elsewhere for their pleasure. As a result, families will quickly fall apart.
10. Promote Santa Claus to divert children's attention from the true meaning of Christmas.
11. At Easter, spread the bunnies and red eggs instead of the message of the Resurrection and the victory over sin.
12. Push them to the limit even during their entertainment. So that they are a corpse of fatigue when they come back from vacation and regret their choices.
13. Do not let them go into nature and see what God has created.
14. Send them to amusement parks, stadiums, cinemas, playgrounds and concerts instead.
15. Always keep them overworked. So that they do not think, do not investigate thoroughly, do not worry (about philosophical questions).
16. And when they meet for spiritual companionship with other believers, make them leave with a troubled conscience.
This plan will definitely work!'
The demons were quick to put all this into practice so that Christians would have neither the time nor the need to seek the power of Jesus in their lives."
Over de duivel (uit geestelijke ervaringen van de asceten) - Pagina 4 - Geloofsgesprek.nl