0:00:00 - 0:00:19 Wanna make a video here and it's windy, but I think these headphones block a little bit of the sound. I did a test if it's bad. I'm sorry. Uh It is really pretty out. So the other thing, these headphones is that my voice echoes. It's highly annoying and distracting. Yes, my voice is highly annoying and 0:00:18 - 0:00:46 distracting. Uh, even to me. So, um, maybe if I put this off my ears, I don't have to listen to myself speak but you can still hear me. That's a lot better. Looks ridiculous, but kind of looked ridiculous before. Huh? All right. That should do. I can still kind of hear. All right. So how's that? Uh So 0:00:46 - 0:01:17 , um, once I was praying and it was a normal day and, uh God surprised me. You know, I, when I pray I expect to be heard and, um, that's not because of who I am, but it's because I know something about who God is. Uh, it's only because of that and um, still I get surprised when sometimes I ask questions 0:01:17 - 0:01:36 and I think he's gonna take a long time to answer them or I, I ask in the past I've asked for things I think are huge and I expect it's gonna take time for him to work that request. Um Not because of limitations in him, but he's putting water through some really sturdy rock and it takes time to work 0:01:35 - 0:01:57 through, right? Because of us and sometimes he just busts something out that's so valuable. The value is impossible to convey externally, or at least, you know, I, I would struggle to even start. Um So in the spirit of that, I would like to share with you something that I consider to be tremendously 0:01:57 - 0:02:19 valuable. And um this is out of nowhere because no one said anything to me, no one asked for this, but this is um in my heart today and I want to share it. So I have not prepared a text. I don't have um I have a few bullets and maybe I'll look up scriptures as I talk, I'm actually recording this on my 0:02:18 - 0:02:37 laptop. Um So I can talk with my hands because I'm part Italian. And um so we'll, we'll see how this goes and if there's clicking as I'm recording, I hope that's not annoying if you can hear it. I I'm just looking up scriptures as they occur to me to write, this would take me a very long time, a very 0:02:37 - 0:03:01 long time and so to speak it, if you give me permission to be more sloppy with it, um I can get it to you faster and we count on the Holy ghost to carry it into your heart and expound it in ways that you need to hear and highlight the things that uh are most useful to you. And I pray that God does that 0:03:00 - 0:03:27 and I know he will. OK. So this video is, and it's probably gonna be a series um is probably um best called How To Conquer Temptation. Um But specifically, I'm going to be talking about Satan. Um There's a lot to say about this and I'll elaborate on it in books, but it's gonna take a while and I want 0:03:27 - 0:03:51 to give this to you now. So you don't have to wait. Um So we'll start in the Garden of Eden very shallowly. That is a deep topic. Um But we read, let me squint a little bit more in this reflecting sunshine. It's beautiful light so I can see my screen. We read in Genesis 314 and the Lord God said unto 0:03:51 - 0:04:12 the serpent because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle and above every beast of the field upon thy belly, shalt thou go and dost thou shalt eat all the days of thy life. So what is this curse about? What is this dust? Well, if you look up that word in Hebrew, it's the same word uh 0:04:11 - 0:04:42 used to describe what Adam's body was made out of. So, um here's the long story short, um Satan and all of His minions, they feed off of us, they feed off of us in our mortal state. How so? Well, at least in two ways, one is our bodies. We are given by God, the grand gift of, of agency of choosing whether 0:04:41 - 0:05:03 to listen to Him or not, whether to obey Him or not. And what happens is when we disobey him, our bodies are structured such that when we turn away from the light, we admit darkness, you're always influenced by the one or the other. There's no neutral in everything you do. In every moment, you're either 0:05:03 - 0:05:26 orienting yourself towards greater light or orienting yourself towards greater darkness. And you can flip flop between. But um that's the way it goes. So, um when you orient yourself towards greater darkness, you make your body, what's a good word for this uh a refuge, you make your body a refuge for 0:05:26 - 0:05:56 demonic spirits. And um what you provide to them is a shield, a shield from the light. The light is in and through all things, there is only one creation in all of God's creation that can choose uh so fully to admit or dispel light. And that's us. And when we dispel it, we, we're not actually diminishing 0:05:55 - 0:06:19 it at all because it's from God and it can't be overcome. What we're doing is turning down our perception of it and the degree to which we're quickened by it or, or actuated by it. And in doing that we make our bodies a shield from the light. So why does that matter for these demons? Why did Jesus describe 0:06:18 - 0:06:43 um people as, as uh well furnished dwellings uh for these demons? So that was when he was talking about casting out devils. Um You know, they, they go around seeking places they can hide, they're like uh like rodents. Um I tilled up a field a little while ago and there was this big giant something or 0:06:43 - 0:07:02 another that took off out of the field as I was tilling it up because he wanted to find another place to hide. He had a really good place and I destroyed it. So he ran off to a lesser place because demons aren't dumb. They will find the best place that's open to them. And, um, in, in this case, as far 0:07:01 - 0:07:22 as a shield goes, that's the person who turns away from the greatest light. And so the more God, uh, attempts to show you the greater a ref and the more you turn away from it, the greater a refuge you become for the demons. Um, because for demons light, it's like salt on a slug. And I'm going to tell 0:07:22 - 0:07:44 you exactly why that is, um, everything in creation. Uh, all power comes through faith. This is a shocker for people who, uh, haven't heard it before or maybe don't believe it. Um, the power of demons also comes through faith. You say, well, how can that be. How can you have faith in what's evil? Again 0:07:43 - 0:08:03 , this could be a really deep topic but just imagine it like this. When you ascend in power and glory, you grow towards God. When you turn away from God, you don't just immediately drop down like an equalizer on a stereo. When the sound stops, you keep the high water mark in justice. There's a process 0:08:03 - 0:08:27 to come up higher and you do not come up higher immediately, you do not go lower immediately. There is a process to come down. There's a process of exultation, there's a process of a basement. And so, um you can only acquire power through obedience and uh to God and faith in God and you lose power when 0:08:26 - 0:08:58 that faith is overcome and inasmuch as it is overcome. And what I've just given you is exactly how uh Satan is overcome in this process of creation. Um I haven't explained that in detail but, but I just gave you the key. Um So demons, demons feed on your wickedness and um the way you feed them through 0:08:58 - 0:09:24 your disobedience to God is that um you strengthen the reasons they have to believe what they believe. So if you've read through faith, which if you haven't, I really hope you do book I wrote. Um if you have read through faith, you understand that um faith in part, it's what you believe, but it's also 0:09:23 - 0:09:48 the reasons you have to believe those things. Uh this idea that faith is like something other than rational belief is a very, um it, it's a very harmful idea. It, it blocks people from a great deal of power they would otherwise have. Um But Satan has beliefs chief among them, or among them, uh somewhere 0:09:47 - 0:10:15 at the top is the idea that there is a better way than God's way. And um he's had this since the beginning and embracing that idea, kicked off the fall, his fall um and his fall is still a process that's undergoing. But um what happens as you cruise through time is there are more and more evidences that 0:10:15 - 0:10:39 his belief is wrong. And so, um I think the best example of this, the highest impact example so far has been the mortal ministry of Jesus Christ. It wasn't just his temptation in the wilderness where he defeated Satan. He had several battles with Satan. His entire life was one of those battles. His time 0:10:39 - 0:11:04 in Getem was one of those battles. His time on the cross was one of those battles. Um So the time in the wilderness was one and with each successive victory, Jesus weakened Satan permanently. And um how did he do it? Not with a sword but through faith. And that's the same way. We fight Satan, but we 0:11:04 - 0:11:31 do it in our scope. He did it in his and we follow his example where we stand and through it, we come up to where he stands, uh which is wonderful. So, OK, how does this apply to your life in any way whatsoever? Well, um when you, when you fight Satan, what you're doing is you are robbing him of evidence 0:11:30 - 0:11:53 that his belief is true. Um There are macro level impacts and examples of this and there are micro level impacts and examples of this in all of creation. If you read in revelation that there's a quota of martyrs that have to die in a, in a, in uh loving the Lord more than they love their lives. That 0:11:52 - 0:12:16 quota is part of this body of evidence. It's an argument that's irrefutable once it's closed. Um And it's all part of the process of stripping Satan of his power and uh sort of diminishing the wicked and exalting the righteous, just like that. That's all of creation. That's the point, right? Um So, um 0:12:15 - 0:12:42 on a, on a micro level, that's the macro level, on a micro level. Um Every single time you choose one influence or the other, you're either making yourself uh a more comfortable place for, for demons or making yourself a more painful place for demons. You're either becoming salt um which uh sweeten sacrifices 0:12:41 - 0:13:05 uh and also not sweeten them salt doesn't sweeten but uh improve sacrifices or kill slugs, right? So the demons are the slugs. Um You invite angels, you dismiss demons. And the other way, when you admit darkness into your life in any way, no matter how small you're opening the door to a greater demonic 0:13:04 - 0:13:26 presence in your life. Um I shouldn't say presence in your life by embracing the light. You're also inviting demonic presence in your life, but it will be externally as you do battle with greater and greater um members of the, of Satan's kingdom. Um uh On the other hand, um you're, you're admitting them 0:13:26 - 0:13:47 inside of you and then you're also becoming more and more of a stooge, a little uh uh Manchurian for him to, to puppet and attack other people through because this is another key. Um as you become more righteous, the absolute last thing a demon is gonna do is try to inhabit you. That would be the dumbest 0:13:47 - 0:14:07 thing they could ever do. They will run from you. OK? The, the minor ones. But as you go up the scale, you will deal with ones that go up the scale and they won't try to attack you directly. Jesus. Satan didn't come to Jesus in the wilderness and try to possess him. He was external and he was trying 0:14:07 - 0:14:30 to, to tempt him externally. OK? Now, that was early, right? Um throughout his ministry, he continued to be tempted by Satan. Satan went away, but his influence didn't, his temptation did not. It's not like he magically ended Jesus leveled up right then. But um the, the game was still going and um how 0:14:30 - 0:14:54 did subsequent temptations come through other people and as you ascend more of those will be through people closest to you. Um He will use the people closest to you to cause you harm because he can't get to you, but he can get to them. And so this is why this is a, another potentially very complicated 0:14:53 - 0:15:17 thing, but this is why um as you ascend, you're, this is one of many reasons why you're going to suffer more. Um And, and that's because you can stop demons. I'm going to give you the tool to stop demons from messing with you directly right here. And from this point on, it's up to you whether you do 0:15:17 - 0:00:00 those things and they will leave you alone in that form. But what you cannot stop is them messing with you through other people. In fact, the more you do these things and telling you, the more they're going to do that. Uh But it's a much better place to be because you're doing God's work and you're, 0:00:00 - 0:16:05 you're crushing the serpent with everything you do and everything you are. Um Just to make sure it's still recording so bright uh um the sun not OK. Um So, um you can't make Satan stronger with the sins that you do. The reason for that is all power comes from God. All you're doing is submitting to his 0:16:05 - 0:16:33 waning, decaying power. You're just joining uh a team that's basically already lost. Um But uh you can make him weaker you, it doesn't matter who you are and how nothing you are, how meaningless your life is, whatever you think it is, I should say. Um, you personally you can make Satan weaker and I'm 0:16:32 - 0:16:58 going to tell you how. All right, so let's transition to um Satan being like a lion. So we read in The New Testament. Satan's like a lion, right? Um And he maybe we should look that up. Just give me a second like a lion. He devours. Let's look that up if I can type without seeing the screen. All right 0:16:58 - 0:17:17 . So we're going to the New Testament. I know Peter said this first Peter 58. Let's uh let's go to the new international version. Is that what? This is? No, it's a new King James. We got the original King James. Be sober. Be this first Peter 58. Be sober be vigilant because your adversary the devil as 0:17:17 - 0:00:00 a roaring lion walk ATTH about seeking whom he may devour. So before we talk about the lion part, let's talk about the adversary part, one of Satan's chief uh tools in tempting you is persuading you that somehow your interests are his interests or that somehow he actually has something to offer you. 0:00:00 - 0:00:00 In reality. Everything he offers you is less than what God offers you. And in fact, it's probably less than what God has already given you. So going back to jesus' temptation in the wilderness. Um Think about when the devil took him up to the pinnacle of the temple. So, here they are. And I'm sorry, 0:00:00 - 0:18:13 not on the temple. He took him up into a high mountain park. Right. Quote unquote. That's, that means something. But let's skip that for now. Let's just pretend it's a literal high mountain, which he wasn't. And he's showing him the kingdoms of the earth. And that's one way you can tell it's not a literal 0:18:13 - 0:18:33 high mountain because you can't see the whole earth from one mountain that's on earth. And, um, he says all of these are mine to give and I will give you them if you worship me. That's a paraphrase from my memory. So don't quote me on that, but that's the idea. And, um, it's interesting to see how Jesus 0:18:33 - 0:19:01 responds to that. Maybe we should go look at that that's in, uh, it's Matthew five. It's not Matthew five. Um Again, I can't spell without seeing what I'm typing, but, oh, come on, don't fail me. Elon Musk. I'm on Starlink. It's pretty great. Um, I was Matthew four. I wasn't far off. All right. I thought 0:19:01 - 0:19:26 it was OK. Sorry, just be patient. All right. Um Do, do, do I just wanna get the order right? Uh Where is this mountain? High Mountain? OK. All these things I will give thee if thou wilt fall down and worship me, Matthew four, then Jesus saith unto him. So here's his answer. Get thee hence Satan for 0:19:26 - 0:19:44 it is written, thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and Him only shalt thou sir. This is crazy interesting. So when Satan does something, he can't do something without teaching you something about what He knows and what his strategy is. And the same thing with God, everything God does tells you something 0:19:44 - 0:20:05 about Him. So when Jesus replies this way, you can ask this, this cloud of questions like uh why did he say this? What are the other things he could have said? What would I have said? What would I have done? How can I uh investigate the gap and move towards him? And um this is not an exception to that 0:20:04 - 0:20:26 . So what would you have said if Satan took you into a high mountain and said, uh I have all the kingdoms of the world, they're mine. Um And I'll give them to you if you worship me. So the reason I got onto this tangent is I was saying anything he offers you is um it might not be his to give. Um And 0:20:26 - 0:20:48 it's probably less than what God has already given you, but it's certainly less than what God could give you. So God's interesting and again, you can go through and, and analyze the difference between God and Satan on everything and it's, it's very fruitful. Um But um Satan says, I'll give you exactly 0:20:48 - 0:21:07 what you want. God doesn't say that he says, uh I might give you exactly what you want. But if I do, it will be after I offer you something far better and I will do everything I can to persuade you. It's far better, but I'll only give you something less when you absolutely cut yourself off from something 0:21:07 - 0:21:34 better. What a difference. Um And Satan says, I will give you all these things. If you worship me, God says you receive everything I have through worshiping me. It's not a do this and I will give you that. It's uh the only way you can really have this is to become this way. And here's how you become 0:21:33 - 0:21:59 this way. True worship is just living as you uh sincerely believe God would in your place and, and it's incremental, it's a cycle. It just keeps going towards him. So um more could be said about that. But, but um here's the thing, Jesus didn't come to earth to get all the kingdoms of the world. He's 0:21:59 - 0:22:23 not interested in that. He had much more than that before he came here. He had everything before he came here. He let go of everything, not to get less than everything, but to give everything to us. And that's why he was there. And um interestingly, he doesn't even bother going into all this with Satan 0:22:23 - 0:22:42 because Satan doesn't deserve his time. It's, this isn't a frequently we're in conversations with people and they're feigning sincerity, but they don't care, you know, when someone asks you how you're doing? Do they really care? Sometimes they do? But very rarely. Right. It's what you say when you don't 0:22:42 - 0:00:00 care. Anyway, um, Jesus was not about to go for something less than what he came to do and he certainly wasn't about to uh submit to someone less than who he came from. Right. The father. So, um, he said, no, I'm here to worship the father. So, um, yeah, that's that. Anyway, back on track. So lions. 0:00:00 - 0:23:27 Uh so Peter was talking about lions. He says be sober, be vigilant. Um because your adversary the devil and he is your adversary. He is not interested in the things you're interested in. He is interested in one thing which is maximizing your misery. God is interested in one thing which is maximizing 0:23:27 - 0:23:49 your joy and the devil is interested in maximizing your pain and your misery. Let's just say misery, be sober. Um At least twice in my life. I don't remember the occasion, but someone close to me was cracking jokes and they cracked a joke about Satan. And you know, sometimes I feel like one of my dogs 0:23:49 - 0:24:13 , if you mess with a husky too much, they'll just bite you or bite whoever. Like if a puppy is irritating them, they just turn and bite him. And um I think people feel that way when I turn and bite them. But on one occasion, Jesus said, um someone said to him, uh Lord why don't you stop these people 0:24:12 - 0:24:40 from, from praising you? And he said, uh if I did, the stones would cry out in the gospel plan. There's a whole lot of waiting and not hiding, but biding your time. And he does this with, with himself chiefly. But all of his servants are on this too. You know, Abraham wandered in the promised land. He 0:24:40 - 0:24:57 didn't inherit it during his life. And that's because it's all part of the plan he needed to not inherit it during his life. There were reasons and there were reasons why the Israelites were in Egypt for however many 100 years. And, uh, then they came back. There's reasons for all this stuff for all 0:24:57 - 0:25:26 time periods. There are reasons and when, um, the spirit, ah, impels sharpness and I'm not talking about people that are just weak and frustrated and whatever I'm saying when that fire comes into someone and God says, I know you don't want to say this. But if you don't say this, I have to recede from 0:25:26 - 0:25:46 you because I would say this and you say, ok, Lord, and you say it and, um, you know, full well what people are thinking and what they're gonna feel, but you have to do it because it's the only way they can be exposed to what they would get from God if they had the relationship with him, that you do 0:25:46 - 0:26:07 . And that's how you become that bridge for the electrical arc, so to speak anyway. So someone was cracking a joke about Satan. This has happened at least twice in my life and both times, the spirit said the same thing. And so I said to them what God said to me, he said, if you knew who you're joking 0:26:07 - 0:26:36 about, you would not be joking about him. You've never met Satan. But I have, and if you'd met him, you wouldn't be joking around about him. And, um, that's what I think of when I see Peter saying be sober. Are we still recording? Ok. It hasn't automatically stopped, uh, about to be attacked by a squirrel 0:26:36 - 0:26:58 . So because your adversary the devil as a roaring lion walk about seeking whom he may devour a roaring lion is no joke. Uh Have you ever been face to face with a lion? I have in, in like reality, not a vision I'm saying like at a zoo in a different country where they don't care so much about lawsuits 0:26:57 - 0:27:18 or whatever. So it's a chain link fence, me, adult male lion. And he wasn't walking around roaring, roaring. He was laying down clearly irritated that he was in a cage and very tired of being in a cage. And, um, boringly he was just, he had his eyes closed and he just roared a little bit. And I'm telling 0:27:18 - 0:27:41 you, it was the, it was one of the most, uh spiritual real life, like, like day to day life experiences. I've ever had, uh, on that list is jumping out of airplanes and airborne school and some other weird things that people would not think of as spiritual experiences. But I could have been in the Sistine 0:27:41 - 0:28:05 Chapel. I mean, staring up, it's, for me it touched something that's very deep and very old. And, um, a roaring lion is not a joke. It's, there's something about that noise that gets, it goes right through you. And I can only imagine being in a field in a primitive situation and there's, you hear that 0:28:04 - 0:28:27 and all you have is a stick. So good luck to you, my friend. Um, so how is the devil like this? Well, lions, they're kind of lazy actually. Um, but they only attack weak things if they have a choice. So predators tend to not be too dumb and they'll focus their efforts on what yields the greatest result 0:28:26 - 0:28:45 . And they, they're able to do this crazy probability. Even bears do this. Like if you put down a board with nails in it. Um, and a bear steps on it. There's some kind of weird bear math going on in their head where they say, um, the expected utility of what I thought I was gonna get is now no longer 0:28:45 - 0:29:08 worth it. And I'm just gonna walk away and never come back. And, um, this is how Satan works and all of his minions, they're strategic, they're not idiots. So, um, uh, I always think this is gonna go away faster than it will. So, I, I'm just gonna keep telling myself it's, it's quicker than writing a 0:29:08 - 0:29:30 book, Rob. Ok. Um All right. So lions prey on what is weak. So, if you're weak, you're making yourself a target. Now, if you're strong, you also make yourself a target. Ok? But you make yourself a target in a different way and it can actually, I, I'm going to say it, I'm going to say it quoting myself 0:29:29 - 0:29:59 from before. I'm not making light of a very serious situation, but it's kind of a game once you know what you're doing. Um And once you've paid the price to know what you can about God, it doesn't become a game because of you, it becomes a game as you get to know who God is and just how little of a threat 0:29:58 - 0:30:24 Satan really is to God. This isn't my opinion. Only if you read Isaiah, you will read that there will come a time when the whole world looks at Satan and says, is this really him? This is the guy everyone was afraid of and that's at the conclusion of his descent. Um Anyway, so that's kind of cheating 0:30:23 - 0:30:49 . It's like uh once the puzzle is solved, everybody knows the answer, right? Um OK. So, um Jesus says to Peter, uh take caution, paraphrasing, take caution because Satan wants to sift you as wheat. And I don't really like that. Uh That phrasing because I don't know if you've ever sifted wheat. I just 0:30:49 - 0:31:07 uh almost got divorced because I planted tons of rye and that's a joke. Um But I always joke about the divorce meter and it's like my wife has this meter on her head and when I, when I take things too far it goes did, did, did and I can see this look on her face and I'm, I back down because I just don't 0:31:07 - 0:31:30 wanna start World War Three. So uh she's really chill. I'm, I'm, it's funny because I'm exaggerating, but she, she does get frustrated with my ideas. Uh understandably. So, um so one of these bright ideas was to plant like an acre and a half of rye and I have this weed whacker set up to mow it all down 0:31:30 - 0:31:48 . But um and I did a smaller experiment first, but I was really convinced that we could hand harvest all this in a day or less. And I probably promised her that as well as a condition of me planting it. And it ended up taking like two weeks of which I was working full time and two of my sons are working 0:31:48 - 0:32:08 with me full time. And so she had to do a lot of that. Um So my point is I have a lot of experience sifting not wheat but rye. It's the same diff the same structure. You've got this, this uh these seeds and a whole lot of chaff, you got to beat the heads. I was gonna do a video on it but, uh, I try to 0:32:08 - 0:32:31 keep these minimal. So maybe one day. Um, but the point is the first time you pour the, the raw beaten stuff. Um, the first time you pour it, a whole ton of chaff blows off and you look down and, and the pile that's on the ground is, um, it's a lot cleaner than it was a lot cleaner. And then it's kind 0:32:31 - 0:32:52 of diminishing returns. You gotta hope for the wind blowing and all this stuff and you just keep going and then, you know, you're done when what you pour out and what blows, what the wind blows through is the same as what you started with. So if, when the finished product hit by the biggest wind is exactly 0:32:52 - 0:33:17 what you started with. You're done. And there's another verse somewhere that talks about, um, uh, the idea of God, uh wanting to get this wheat out of the sort of raw planted and then there's the wheat and the tears and all these other things. But this is a really important idea. God Satan doesn't sift 0:33:16 - 0:33:38 you as wheat. He sifts you as chef. He wants to get rid of you. God wants to purify you. So, you know, you're done refining precious metal when what you get out of it is what you started with. There's nothing you can subject it to, to change it. I'm telling you extraordinarily valuable things right now 0:33:38 - 0:34:00 to understand God and what he's calling you to in life, what we're here for, but back to Satan. So he doesn't want to sift you as wheat. He wants to sift you out of the wheat into the chaff. He wants to overcome you. He wants that wind, which is designed to purify the wheat. He wants it to blow you away 0:33:59 - 0:34:25 , it's blowing, it's a sign. Um So, uh how do you overcome that? Well, be the wheat? So the reason the wheat doesn't blow away is it's heavier, is way heavier than the chaff. Chaff is super light. Um And it makes great bedding for chickens just so, you know, so, um it blows away with the wind, the wheat 0:34:25 - 0:34:45 or the rye it falls through and you just keep so be heavier, right? So, and you're like, Rob, I thought you said people shouldn't be overweight. You gotta take care of yourself. Yes, that's not what I'm talking about. Um I'm saying, make your character greater than it is. So how do you do this? So now 0:34:44 - 0:35:08 we're transitioning into how exactly you resist him. So, um there's another piece of advice from, from Peter um same chapter a he says this is the very next verse who resists steadfast in the faith. Um And he gives some advice that I don't think is particularly helpful, but we'll go with this. Resist 0:35:07 - 0:35:35 steadfast in the faith. Um and then James talks about if you resist the devil, he will flee from you. Now, people try that without power and without efficacy because what they think they can do is just postpone him and say, well, if I postpone action, he'll leave me alone. Resisting does not mean postponing 0:35:34 - 0:36:03 , I'm gonna write that down versus postpone, I'll use that later in something. Um, resisting him does not mean ignoring him. I'll say it again. Resisting him does not mean ignoring him. I told you there's two influences in life. There's light and there's dark and the it's a gradient, right? Um But you're 0:36:03 - 0:36:26 either going one way or the other. There's no such thing as neutral. Nothing is neutral, nothing. So resisting him is not trying to stay in the middle because the middle doesn't exist. It's not just saying uh there's a rush song. That's where it is. It says if you choose not to decide you still have 0:36:26 - 0:36:53 made a choice. It's true, right? Truth in strange places. So, um how do you actually resist him? Well, I'm going to tell you, so you resist him uh by becoming stronger. Um That's sort of the long term tech and then there's a short term thing that you do in the moment. Um So how do you become stronger 0:36:52 - 0:37:22 in the long term? Uh So you get stronger by recognizing that your strength is in, in and from your shepherd. So you're a sheep. Satan's a lion and Jesus is your shepherd. He's my shepherd. He's your shepherd. He's the shepherd. Um, the thing about a shepherd is sheep. Sheep don't have weapons, right 0:37:22 - 0:37:47 . Um, but, um, they do have a shepherd and the shepherd has weapons. Um, if I say shepherd a few more times I feel like someone's gonna have to sponsor me and I get paid every time I say it. Um, but he can only protect you through you listening to him. That's not a like uh here's a prize for you obeying 0:37:47 - 0:38:08 me. That's what he lays down. So Paul talked about how there's no affliction that comes to man unless God gives you the strength to overcome it or the opportunity to escape it. And Nephi says that every commandment, God gives uh we have the power to obey. He doesn't give you a command that you don't 0:38:08 - 0:38:28 have the power to obey. Which means if an idea comes to you. And it seems like it's showing you what God would do in your place, you can guarantee without a doubt that you also have the capacity to obey that no matter how hard it seems. And one tactic Satan uses is he tries to tell you that what's been 0:38:28 - 0:38:48 revealed to you is the fullness of the immortal God. How could anyone live up to that couldn't be farther from the truth. You can't handle the fullness of the eternal God. That's why you're here and not with him, right? That's why he doesn't appear to you all the time. That's why angels don't come to 0:38:48 - 0:39:06 you every day. That's why you don't have billowing revelations on your mind. Every moment of the day. If you could take that your life would be a lot different than it is. So, what exactly are you getting when you, you have this idea of, I should say something nice to this person I've never met before 0:39:06 - 0:39:28 because the spirit has showed me has shown me that they're having a really hard time. Um Or here's a piece of trash on the ground. I didn't put it there but I can sure pick it up or, you know, uh I could try a little harder at work and I know no one's gonna notice and I'll get paid the same either way 0:39:27 - 0:39:50 , but I'm really not doing my best or whatever it is. That's God, that's his voice to you and you get to choose which way you're gonna go. So he can only protect you if you listen to him and he will do everything he can to guide you in the path of safety and peace. But he can't force that on you. Uh 0:39:49 - 0:40:10 It, it better, it's better to say not that he can't. But like the whole reason he did all this was to give you opportunities that you can't have if he's forcing you, right? So he's not gonna violate this massive gift he's given to all of us in terms of opportunity just to force you into a little temporary 0:00:00 - 0:00:19 Wanna make a video here and it's windy, but I think these headphones block a little bit of the sound. I did a test if it's bad. I'm sorry. Uh It is really pretty out. So the other thing, these headphones is that my voice echoes. It's highly annoying and distracting. Yes, my voice is highly annoying and 0:00:18 - 0:00:46 distracting. Uh, even to me. So, um, maybe if I put this off my ears, I don't have to listen to myself speak but you can still hear me. That's a lot better. Looks ridiculous, but kind of looked ridiculous before. Huh? All right. That should do. I can still kind of hear. All right. So how's that? Uh So 0:00:46 - 0:01:17 , um, once I was praying and it was a normal day and, uh God surprised me. You know, I, when I pray I expect to be heard and, um, that's not because of who I am, but it's because I know something about who God is. Uh, it's only because of that and um, still I get surprised when sometimes I ask questions 0:01:17 - 0:01:36 and I think he's gonna take a long time to answer them or I, I ask in the past I've asked for things I think are huge and I expect it's gonna take time for him to work that request. Um Not because of limitations in him, but he's putting water through some really sturdy rock and it takes time to work 0:01:35 - 0:01:57 through, right? Because of us and sometimes he just busts something out that's so valuable. The value is impossible to convey externally, or at least, you know, I, I would struggle to even start. Um So in the spirit of that, I would like to share with you something that I consider to be tremendously 0:01:57 - 0:02:19 valuable. And um this is out of nowhere because no one said anything to me, no one asked for this, but this is um in my heart today and I want to share it. So I have not prepared a text. I don't have um I have a few bullets and maybe I'll look up scriptures as I talk, I'm actually recording this on my 0:02:18 - 0:02:37 laptop. Um So I can talk with my hands because I'm part Italian. And um so we'll, we'll see how this goes and if there's clicking as I'm recording, I hope that's not annoying if you can hear it. I I'm just looking up scriptures as they occur to me to write, this would take me a very long time, a very 0:02:37 - 0:03:01 long time and so to speak it, if you give me permission to be more sloppy with it, um I can get it to you faster and we count on the Holy ghost to carry it into your heart and expound it in ways that you need to hear and highlight the things that uh are most useful to you. And I pray that God does that 0:03:00 - 0:03:27 and I know he will. OK. So this video is, and it's probably gonna be a series um is probably um best called How To Conquer Temptation. Um But specifically, I'm going to be talking about Satan. Um There's a lot to say about this and I'll elaborate on it in books, but it's gonna take a while and I want 0:03:27 - 0:03:51 to give this to you now. So you don't have to wait. Um So we'll start in the Garden of Eden very shallowly. That is a deep topic. Um But we read, let me squint a little bit more in this reflecting sunshine. It's beautiful light so I can see my screen. We read in Genesis 314 and the Lord God said unto 0:03:51 - 0:04:12 the serpent because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle and above every beast of the field upon thy belly, shalt thou go and dost thou shalt eat all the days of thy life. So what is this curse about? What is this dust? Well, if you look up that word in Hebrew, it's the same word uh 0:04:11 - 0:04:42 used to describe what Adam's body was made out of. So, um here's the long story short, um Satan and all of His minions, they feed off of us, they feed off of us in our mortal state. How so? Well, at least in two ways, one is our bodies. We are given by God, the grand gift of, of agency of choosing whether 0:04:41 - 0:05:03 to listen to Him or not, whether to obey Him or not. And what happens is when we disobey him, our bodies are structured such that when we turn away from the light, we admit darkness, you're always influenced by the one or the other. There's no neutral in everything you do. In every moment, you're either 0:05:03 - 0:05:26 orienting yourself towards greater light or orienting yourself towards greater darkness. And you can flip flop between. But um that's the way it goes. So, um when you orient yourself towards greater darkness, you make your body, what's a good word for this uh a refuge, you make your body a refuge for 0:05:26 - 0:05:56 demonic spirits. And um what you provide to them is a shield, a shield from the light. The light is in and through all things, there is only one creation in all of God's creation that can choose uh so fully to admit or dispel light. And that's us. And when we dispel it, we, we're not actually diminishing 0:05:55 - 0:06:19 it at all because it's from God and it can't be overcome. What we're doing is turning down our perception of it and the degree to which we're quickened by it or, or actuated by it. And in doing that we make our bodies a shield from the light. So why does that matter for these demons? Why did Jesus describe 0:06:18 - 0:06:43 um people as, as uh well furnished dwellings uh for these demons? So that was when he was talking about casting out devils. Um You know, they, they go around seeking places they can hide, they're like uh like rodents. Um I tilled up a field a little while ago and there was this big giant something or 0:06:43 - 0:07:02 another that took off out of the field as I was tilling it up because he wanted to find another place to hide. He had a really good place and I destroyed it. So he ran off to a lesser place because demons aren't dumb. They will find the best place that's open to them. And, um, in, in this case, as far 0:07:01 - 0:07:22 as a shield goes, that's the person who turns away from the greatest light. And so the more God, uh, attempts to show you the greater a ref and the more you turn away from it, the greater a refuge you become for the demons. Um, because for demons light, it's like salt on a slug. And I'm going to tell 0:07:22 - 0:07:44 you exactly why that is, um, everything in creation. Uh, all power comes through faith. This is a shocker for people who, uh, haven't heard it before or maybe don't believe it. Um, the power of demons also comes through faith. You say, well, how can that be. How can you have faith in what's evil? Again 0:07:43 - 0:08:03 , this could be a really deep topic but just imagine it like this. When you ascend in power and glory, you grow towards God. When you turn away from God, you don't just immediately drop down like an equalizer on a stereo. When the sound stops, you keep the high water mark in justice. There's a process 0:08:03 - 0:08:27 to come up higher and you do not come up higher immediately, you do not go lower immediately. There is a process to come down. There's a process of exultation, there's a process of a basement. And so, um you can only acquire power through obedience and uh to God and faith in God and you lose power when 0:08:26 - 0:08:58 that faith is overcome and inasmuch as it is overcome. And what I've just given you is exactly how uh Satan is overcome in this process of creation. Um I haven't explained that in detail but, but I just gave you the key. Um So demons, demons feed on your wickedness and um the way you feed them through 0:08:58 - 0:09:24 your disobedience to God is that um you strengthen the reasons they have to believe what they believe. So if you've read through faith, which if you haven't, I really hope you do book I wrote. Um if you have read through faith, you understand that um faith in part, it's what you believe, but it's also 0:09:23 - 0:09:48 the reasons you have to believe those things. Uh this idea that faith is like something other than rational belief is a very, um it, it's a very harmful idea. It, it blocks people from a great deal of power they would otherwise have. Um But Satan has beliefs chief among them, or among them, uh somewhere 0:09:47 - 0:10:15 at the top is the idea that there is a better way than God's way. And um he's had this since the beginning and embracing that idea, kicked off the fall, his fall um and his fall is still a process that's undergoing. But um what happens as you cruise through time is there are more and more evidences that 0:10:15 - 0:10:39 his belief is wrong. And so, um I think the best example of this, the highest impact example so far has been the mortal ministry of Jesus Christ. It wasn't just his temptation in the wilderness where he defeated Satan. He had several battles with Satan. His entire life was one of those battles. His time 0:10:39 - 0:11:04 in Getem was one of those battles. His time on the cross was one of those battles. Um So the time in the wilderness was one and with each successive victory, Jesus weakened Satan permanently. And um how did he do it? Not with a sword but through faith. And that's the same way. We fight Satan, but we 0:11:04 - 0:11:31 do it in our scope. He did it in his and we follow his example where we stand and through it, we come up to where he stands, uh which is wonderful. So, OK, how does this apply to your life in any way whatsoever? Well, um when you, when you fight Satan, what you're doing is you are robbing him of evidence 0:11:30 - 0:11:53 that his belief is true. Um There are macro level impacts and examples of this and there are micro level impacts and examples of this in all of creation. If you read in revelation that there's a quota of martyrs that have to die in a, in a, in uh loving the Lord more than they love their lives. That 0:11:52 - 0:12:16 quota is part of this body of evidence. It's an argument that's irrefutable once it's closed. Um And it's all part of the process of stripping Satan of his power and uh sort of diminishing the wicked and exalting the righteous, just like that. That's all of creation. That's the point, right? Um So, um 0:12:15 - 0:12:42 on a, on a micro level, that's the macro level, on a micro level. Um Every single time you choose one influence or the other, you're either making yourself uh a more comfortable place for, for demons or making yourself a more painful place for demons. You're either becoming salt um which uh sweeten sacrifices 0:12:41 - 0:13:05 uh and also not sweeten them salt doesn't sweeten but uh improve sacrifices or kill slugs, right? So the demons are the slugs. Um You invite angels, you dismiss demons. And the other way, when you admit darkness into your life in any way, no matter how small you're opening the door to a greater demonic 0:13:04 - 0:13:26 presence in your life. Um I shouldn't say presence in your life by embracing the light. You're also inviting demonic presence in your life, but it will be externally as you do battle with greater and greater um members of the, of Satan's kingdom. Um uh On the other hand, um you're, you're admitting them 0:13:26 - 0:13:47 inside of you and then you're also becoming more and more of a stooge, a little uh uh Manchurian for him to, to puppet and attack other people through because this is another key. Um as you become more righteous, the absolute last thing a demon is gonna do is try to inhabit you. That would be the dumbest 0:13:47 - 0:14:07 thing they could ever do. They will run from you. OK? The, the minor ones. But as you go up the scale, you will deal with ones that go up the scale and they won't try to attack you directly. Jesus. Satan didn't come to Jesus in the wilderness and try to possess him. He was external and he was trying 0:14:07 - 0:14:30 to, to tempt him externally. OK? Now, that was early, right? Um throughout his ministry, he continued to be tempted by Satan. Satan went away, but his influence didn't, his temptation did not. It's not like he magically ended Jesus leveled up right then. But um the, the game was still going and um how 0:14:30 - 0:14:54 did subsequent temptations come through other people and as you ascend more of those will be through people closest to you. Um He will use the people closest to you to cause you harm because he can't get to you, but he can get to them. And so this is why this is a, another potentially very complicated 0:14:53 - 0:15:17 thing, but this is why um as you ascend, you're, this is one of many reasons why you're going to suffer more. Um And, and that's because you can stop demons. I'm going to give you the tool to stop demons from messing with you directly right here. And from this point on, it's up to you whether you do 0:15:17 - 0:00:00 those things and they will leave you alone in that form. But what you cannot stop is them messing with you through other people. In fact, the more you do these things and telling you, the more they're going to do that. Uh But it's a much better place to be because you're doing God's work and you're, 0:00:00 - 0:16:05 you're crushing the serpent with everything you do and everything you are. Um Just to make sure it's still recording so bright uh um the sun not OK. Um So, um you can't make Satan stronger with the sins that you do. The reason for that is all power comes from God. All you're doing is submitting to his 0:16:05 - 0:16:33 waning, decaying power. You're just joining uh a team that's basically already lost. Um But uh you can make him weaker you, it doesn't matter who you are and how nothing you are, how meaningless your life is, whatever you think it is, I should say. Um, you personally you can make Satan weaker and I'm 0:16:32 - 0:16:58 going to tell you how. All right, so let's transition to um Satan being like a lion. So we read in The New Testament. Satan's like a lion, right? Um And he maybe we should look that up. Just give me a second like a lion. He devours. Let's look that up if I can type without seeing the screen. All right 0:16:58 - 0:17:17 . So we're going to the New Testament. I know Peter said this first Peter 58. Let's uh let's go to the new international version. Is that what? This is? No, it's a new King James. We got the original King James. Be sober. Be this first Peter 58. Be sober be vigilant because your adversary the devil as 0:17:17 - 0:00:00 a roaring lion walk ATTH about seeking whom he may devour. So before we talk about the lion part, let's talk about the adversary part, one of Satan's chief uh tools in tempting you is persuading you that somehow your interests are his interests or that somehow he actually has something to offer you. 0:00:00 - 0:00:00 In reality. Everything he offers you is less than what God offers you. And in fact, it's probably less than what God has already given you. So going back to jesus' temptation in the wilderness. Um Think about when the devil took him up to the pinnacle of the temple. So, here they are. And I'm sorry, 0:00:00 - 0:18:13 not on the temple. He took him up into a high mountain park. Right. Quote unquote. That's, that means something. But let's skip that for now. Let's just pretend it's a literal high mountain, which he wasn't. And he's showing him the kingdoms of the earth. And that's one way you can tell it's not a literal 0:18:13 - 0:18:33 high mountain because you can't see the whole earth from one mountain that's on earth. And, um, he says all of these are mine to give and I will give you them if you worship me. That's a paraphrase from my memory. So don't quote me on that, but that's the idea. And, um, it's interesting to see how Jesus 0:18:33 - 0:19:01 responds to that. Maybe we should go look at that that's in, uh, it's Matthew five. It's not Matthew five. Um Again, I can't spell without seeing what I'm typing, but, oh, come on, don't fail me. Elon Musk. I'm on Starlink. It's pretty great. Um, I was Matthew four. I wasn't far off. All right. I thought 0:19:01 - 0:19:26 it was OK. Sorry, just be patient. All right. Um Do, do, do I just wanna get the order right? Uh Where is this mountain? High Mountain? OK. All these things I will give thee if thou wilt fall down and worship me, Matthew four, then Jesus saith unto him. So here's his answer. Get thee hence Satan for 0:19:26 - 0:19:44 it is written, thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and Him only shalt thou sir. This is crazy interesting. So when Satan does something, he can't do something without teaching you something about what He knows and what his strategy is. And the same thing with God, everything God does tells you something 0:19:44 - 0:20:05 about Him. So when Jesus replies this way, you can ask this, this cloud of questions like uh why did he say this? What are the other things he could have said? What would I have said? What would I have done? How can I uh investigate the gap and move towards him? And um this is not an exception to that 0:20:04 - 0:20:26 . So what would you have said if Satan took you into a high mountain and said, uh I have all the kingdoms of the world, they're mine. Um And I'll give them to you if you worship me. So the reason I got onto this tangent is I was saying anything he offers you is um it might not be his to give. Um And 0:20:26 - 0:20:48 it's probably less than what God has already given you, but it's certainly less than what God could give you. So God's interesting and again, you can go through and, and analyze the difference between God and Satan on everything and it's, it's very fruitful. Um But um Satan says, I'll give you exactly 0:20:48 - 0:21:07 what you want. God doesn't say that he says, uh I might give you exactly what you want. But if I do, it will be after I offer you something far better and I will do everything I can to persuade you. It's far better, but I'll only give you something less when you absolutely cut yourself off from something 0:21:07 - 0:21:34 better. What a difference. Um And Satan says, I will give you all these things. If you worship me, God says you receive everything I have through worshiping me. It's not a do this and I will give you that. It's uh the only way you can really have this is to become this way. And here's how you become 0:21:33 - 0:21:59 this way. True worship is just living as you uh sincerely believe God would in your place and, and it's incremental, it's a cycle. It just keeps going towards him. So um more could be said about that. But, but um here's the thing, Jesus didn't come to earth to get all the kingdoms of the world. He's 0:21:59 - 0:22:23 not interested in that. He had much more than that before he came here. He had everything before he came here. He let go of everything, not to get less than everything, but to give everything to us. And that's why he was there. And um interestingly, he doesn't even bother going into all this with Satan 0:22:23 - 0:22:42 because Satan doesn't deserve his time. It's, this isn't a frequently we're in conversations with people and they're feigning sincerity, but they don't care, you know, when someone asks you how you're doing? Do they really care? Sometimes they do? But very rarely. Right. It's what you say when you don't 0:22:42 - 0:00:00 care. Anyway, um, Jesus was not about to go for something less than what he came to do and he certainly wasn't about to uh submit to someone less than who he came from. Right. The father. So, um, he said, no, I'm here to worship the father. So, um, yeah, that's that. Anyway, back on track. So lions. 0:00:00 - 0:23:27 Uh so Peter was talking about lions. He says be sober, be vigilant. Um because your adversary the devil and he is your adversary. He is not interested in the things you're interested in. He is interested in one thing which is maximizing your misery. God is interested in one thing which is maximizing 0:23:27 - 0:23:49 your joy and the devil is interested in maximizing your pain and your misery. Let's just say misery, be sober. Um At least twice in my life. I don't remember the occasion, but someone close to me was cracking jokes and they cracked a joke about Satan. And you know, sometimes I feel like one of my dogs 0:23:49 - 0:24:13 , if you mess with a husky too much, they'll just bite you or bite whoever. Like if a puppy is irritating them, they just turn and bite him. And um I think people feel that way when I turn and bite them. But on one occasion, Jesus said, um someone said to him, uh Lord why don't you stop these people 0:24:12 - 0:24:40 from, from praising you? And he said, uh if I did, the stones would cry out in the gospel plan. There's a whole lot of waiting and not hiding, but biding your time. And he does this with, with himself chiefly. But all of his servants are on this too. You know, Abraham wandered in the promised land. He 0:24:40 - 0:24:57 didn't inherit it during his life. And that's because it's all part of the plan he needed to not inherit it during his life. There were reasons and there were reasons why the Israelites were in Egypt for however many 100 years. And, uh, then they came back. There's reasons for all this stuff for all 0:24:57 - 0:25:26 time periods. There are reasons and when, um, the spirit, ah, impels sharpness and I'm not talking about people that are just weak and frustrated and whatever I'm saying when that fire comes into someone and God says, I know you don't want to say this. But if you don't say this, I have to recede from 0:25:26 - 0:25:46 you because I would say this and you say, ok, Lord, and you say it and, um, you know, full well what people are thinking and what they're gonna feel, but you have to do it because it's the only way they can be exposed to what they would get from God if they had the relationship with him, that you do 0:25:46 - 0:26:07 . And that's how you become that bridge for the electrical arc, so to speak anyway. So someone was cracking a joke about Satan. This has happened at least twice in my life and both times, the spirit said the same thing. And so I said to them what God said to me, he said, if you knew who you're joking 0:26:07 - 0:26:36 about, you would not be joking about him. You've never met Satan. But I have, and if you'd met him, you wouldn't be joking around about him. And, um, that's what I think of when I see Peter saying be sober. Are we still recording? Ok. It hasn't automatically stopped, uh, about to be attacked by a squirrel 0:26:36 - 0:26:58 . So because your adversary the devil as a roaring lion walk about seeking whom he may devour a roaring lion is no joke. Uh Have you ever been face to face with a lion? I have in, in like reality, not a vision I'm saying like at a zoo in a different country where they don't care so much about lawsuits 0:26:57 - 0:27:18 or whatever. So it's a chain link fence, me, adult male lion. And he wasn't walking around roaring, roaring. He was laying down clearly irritated that he was in a cage and very tired of being in a cage. And, um, boringly he was just, he had his eyes closed and he just roared a little bit. And I'm telling 0:27:18 - 0:27:41 you, it was the, it was one of the most, uh spiritual real life, like, like day to day life experiences. I've ever had, uh, on that list is jumping out of airplanes and airborne school and some other weird things that people would not think of as spiritual experiences. But I could have been in the Sistine 0:27:41 - 0:28:05 Chapel. I mean, staring up, it's, for me it touched something that's very deep and very old. And, um, a roaring lion is not a joke. It's, there's something about that noise that gets, it goes right through you. And I can only imagine being in a field in a primitive situation and there's, you hear that 0:28:04 - 0:28:27 and all you have is a stick. So good luck to you, my friend. Um, so how is the devil like this? Well, lions, they're kind of lazy actually. Um, but they only attack weak things if they have a choice. So predators tend to not be too dumb and they'll focus their efforts on what yields the greatest result 0:28:26 - 0:28:45 . And they, they're able to do this crazy probability. Even bears do this. Like if you put down a board with nails in it. Um, and a bear steps on it. There's some kind of weird bear math going on in their head where they say, um, the expected utility of what I thought I was gonna get is now no longer 0:28:45 - 0:29:08 worth it. And I'm just gonna walk away and never come back. And, um, this is how Satan works and all of his minions, they're strategic, they're not idiots. So, um, uh, I always think this is gonna go away faster than it will. So, I, I'm just gonna keep telling myself it's, it's quicker than writing a 0:29:08 - 0:29:30 book, Rob. Ok. Um All right. So lions prey on what is weak. So, if you're weak, you're making yourself a target. Now, if you're strong, you also make yourself a target. Ok? But you make yourself a target in a different way and it can actually, I, I'm going to say it, I'm going to say it quoting myself 0:29:29 - 0:29:59 from before. I'm not making light of a very serious situation, but it's kind of a game once you know what you're doing. Um And once you've paid the price to know what you can about God, it doesn't become a game because of you, it becomes a game as you get to know who God is and just how little of a threat 0:29:58 - 0:30:24 Satan really is to God. This isn't my opinion. Only if you read Isaiah, you will read that there will come a time when the whole world looks at Satan and says, is this really him? This is the guy everyone was afraid of and that's at the conclusion of his descent. Um Anyway, so that's kind of cheating 0:30:23 - 0:30:49 . It's like uh once the puzzle is solved, everybody knows the answer, right? Um OK. So, um Jesus says to Peter, uh take caution, paraphrasing, take caution because Satan wants to sift you as wheat. And I don't really like that. Uh That phrasing because I don't know if you've ever sifted wheat. I just 0:30:49 - 0:31:07 uh almost got divorced because I planted tons of rye and that's a joke. Um But I always joke about the divorce meter and it's like my wife has this meter on her head and when I, when I take things too far it goes did, did, did and I can see this look on her face and I'm, I back down because I just don't 0:31:07 - 0:31:30 wanna start World War Three. So uh she's really chill. I'm, I'm, it's funny because I'm exaggerating, but she, she does get frustrated with my ideas. Uh understandably. So, um so one of these bright ideas was to plant like an acre and a half of rye and I have this weed whacker set up to mow it all down 0:31:30 - 0:31:48 . But um and I did a smaller experiment first, but I was really convinced that we could hand harvest all this in a day or less. And I probably promised her that as well as a condition of me planting it. And it ended up taking like two weeks of which I was working full time and two of my sons are working 0:31:48 - 0:32:08 with me full time. And so she had to do a lot of that. Um So my point is I have a lot of experience sifting not wheat but rye. It's the same diff the same structure. You've got this, this uh these seeds and a whole lot of chaff, you got to beat the heads. I was gonna do a video on it but, uh, I try to 0:32:08 - 0:32:31 keep these minimal. So maybe one day. Um, but the point is the first time you pour the, the raw beaten stuff. Um, the first time you pour it, a whole ton of chaff blows off and you look down and, and the pile that's on the ground is, um, it's a lot cleaner than it was a lot cleaner. And then it's kind 0:32:31 - 0:32:52 of diminishing returns. You gotta hope for the wind blowing and all this stuff and you just keep going and then, you know, you're done when what you pour out and what blows, what the wind blows through is the same as what you started with. So if, when the finished product hit by the biggest wind is exactly 0:32:52 - 0:33:17 what you started with. You're done. And there's another verse somewhere that talks about, um, uh, the idea of God, uh wanting to get this wheat out of the sort of raw planted and then there's the wheat and the tears and all these other things. But this is a really important idea. God Satan doesn't sift 0:33:16 - 0:33:38 you as wheat. He sifts you as chef. He wants to get rid of you. God wants to purify you. So, you know, you're done refining precious metal when what you get out of it is what you started with. There's nothing you can subject it to, to change it. I'm telling you extraordinarily valuable things right now 0:33:38 - 0:34:00 to understand God and what he's calling you to in life, what we're here for, but back to Satan. So he doesn't want to sift you as wheat. He wants to sift you out of the wheat into the chaff. He wants to overcome you. He wants that wind, which is designed to purify the wheat. He wants it to blow you away 0:33:59 - 0:34:25 , it's blowing, it's a sign. Um So, uh how do you overcome that? Well, be the wheat? So the reason the wheat doesn't blow away is it's heavier, is way heavier than the chaff. Chaff is super light. Um And it makes great bedding for chickens just so, you know, so, um it blows away with the wind, the wheat 0:34:25 - 0:34:45 or the rye it falls through and you just keep so be heavier, right? So, and you're like, Rob, I thought you said people shouldn't be overweight. You gotta take care of yourself. Yes, that's not what I'm talking about. Um I'm saying, make your character greater than it is. So how do you do this? So now 0:34:44 - 0:35:08 we're transitioning into how exactly you resist him. So, um there's another piece of advice from, from Peter um same chapter a he says this is the very next verse who resists steadfast in the faith. Um And he gives some advice that I don't think is particularly helpful, but we'll go with this. Resist 0:35:07 - 0:35:35 steadfast in the faith. Um and then James talks about if you resist the devil, he will flee from you. Now, people try that without power and without efficacy because what they think they can do is just postpone him and say, well, if I postpone action, he'll leave me alone. Resisting does not mean postponing 0:35:34 - 0:36:03 , I'm gonna write that down versus postpone, I'll use that later in something. Um, resisting him does not mean ignoring him. I'll say it again. Resisting him does not mean ignoring him. I told you there's two influences in life. There's light and there's dark and the it's a gradient, right? Um But you're 0:36:03 - 0:36:26 either going one way or the other. There's no such thing as neutral. Nothing is neutral, nothing. So resisting him is not trying to stay in the middle because the middle doesn't exist. It's not just saying uh there's a rush song. That's where it is. It says if you choose not to decide you still have 0:36:26 - 0:36:53 made a choice. It's true, right? Truth in strange places. So, um how do you actually resist him? Well, I'm going to tell you, so you resist him uh by becoming stronger. Um That's sort of the long term tech and then there's a short term thing that you do in the moment. Um So how do you become stronger 0:36:52 - 0:37:22 in the long term? Uh So you get stronger by recognizing that your strength is in, in and from your shepherd. So you're a sheep. Satan's a lion and Jesus is your shepherd. He's my shepherd. He's your shepherd. He's the shepherd. Um, the thing about a shepherd is sheep. Sheep don't have weapons, right 0:37:22 - 0:37:47 . Um, but, um, they do have a shepherd and the shepherd has weapons. Um, if I say shepherd a few more times I feel like someone's gonna have to sponsor me and I get paid every time I say it. Um, but he can only protect you through you listening to him. That's not a like uh here's a prize for you obeying 0:37:47 - 0:38:08 me. That's what he lays down. So Paul talked about how there's no affliction that comes to man unless God gives you the strength to overcome it or the opportunity to escape it. And Nephi says that every commandment, God gives uh we have the power to obey. He doesn't give you a command that you don't 0:38:08 - 0:38:28 have the power to obey. Which means if an idea comes to you. And it seems like it's showing you what God would do in your place, you can guarantee without a doubt that you also have the capacity to obey that no matter how hard it seems. And one tactic Satan uses is he tries to tell you that what's been 0:38:28 - 0:38:48 revealed to you is the fullness of the immortal God. How could anyone live up to that couldn't be farther from the truth. You can't handle the fullness of the eternal God. That's why you're here and not with him, right? That's why he doesn't appear to you all the time. That's why angels don't come to 0:38:48 - 0:39:06 you every day. That's why you don't have billowing revelations on your mind. Every moment of the day. If you could take that your life would be a lot different than it is. So, what exactly are you getting when you, you have this idea of, I should say something nice to this person I've never met before 0:39:06 - 0:39:28 because the spirit has showed me has shown me that they're having a really hard time. Um Or here's a piece of trash on the ground. I didn't put it there but I can sure pick it up or, you know, uh I could try a little harder at work and I know no one's gonna notice and I'll get paid the same either way 0:39:27 - 0:39:50 , but I'm really not doing my best or whatever it is. That's God, that's his voice to you and you get to choose which way you're gonna go. So he can only protect you if you listen to him and he will do everything he can to guide you in the path of safety and peace. But he can't force that on you. Uh 0:39:49 - 0:40:10 It, it better, it's better to say not that he can't. But like the whole reason he did all this was to give you opportunities that you can't have if he's forcing you, right? So he's not gonna violate this massive gift he's given to all of us in terms of opportunity just to force you into a little temporary 0:40:09 - 0:40:27 comfort and, and at the expense of everything greater still recording. All right, the, the wonder of quick time is like, is it gonna stop? We don't know. Hm. Time is going video is not what's going on.