Episode Summary:

Dive into the heart of a cosmic narrative where our brains' innate craving for stories aligns with the ultimate tale ever told—God's story.

This episode of The Field Journal Podcast unveils the unique aspect that sets God's narrative apart from all others: a dynamic opposition actively working to obscure its truth.

Discover how this opposition influences our perception and engagement with the divine story, and why understanding this battle is crucial for navigating life.

Join us as we explore the strategies and tactics employed against humanity's comprehension and participation in God's unfolding story.

Key Timestamps:

00:00:00 - 00:00:36: Introduction to God's unique story

00:01:06 - 00:02:31: Recap of previous episodes and the challenge posed by God's story

00:03:04 - 00:05:10: The unique opposition to God's story

00:05:34 - 00:06:25: The disbelief in Satan's existence and its implications

00:06:49 - 00:08:10: Satan's strategy: Telling a different story

00:09:26 - 00:10:40: Satan's ultimate goal and strategies against humanity

00:14:51 - 00:15:50: The shift from storytelling community to religious systems

00:19:58 - 00:22:30: Closing thoughts and the importance of choosing to understand God's story

Key Takeaways:

"God's story is unique because it's the only one actively opposed by its antagonist, aiming to prevent us from understanding it." This insight highlights the spiritual warfare aspect of our engagement with divine narrative.

"The enemy's primary strategy is to tell a different story, better than those telling God's story, to deceive humanity." Understanding deception as an alternative narrative offers a profound way to discern truth from lies.

"Satan's ultimate goal is to rule the earth, subdue all people, and become the object of worship." Recognizing this goal reshapes our understanding of global events and personal spiritual struggles.

"The Church's success in spreading the good news is directly opposed by Satan's tactics to neutralize believers." Awareness of these tactics can empower individuals and communities to stand firm in their faith and mission.

"Prophecy is opposed because knowing the future could help people understand the present and believe in the story." Emphasizing the importance of prophecy in the Christian faith as a tool for understanding and preparation.

"Understanding God's story, including the active opposition against it, equips us to navigate life more effectively." This takeaway encourages believers to delve deeper into the narrative God is unfolding and to participate actively in it.

This episode invites listeners to see beyond the surface of biblical stories, recognizing the cosmic battle that frames our existence and calls us to play an active role in God's ongoing narrative.

Connect with us:

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God is telling a story.

2

One that he wanted all of humanity

3

to know and understand.

4

He even wired our brains

5

that we would understand

6

the world through story terms.

7

But there is something

8

amazing about his story

9

that makes it unique

10

above all stories

11

that have ever been told.

12

There is one thing that truly makes

13

God's story different

14

and one of a kind.

15

You likely

16

have never even considered it.

17

But understanding this

18

one thing about God's story

19

could be the key

20

to unlocking

21

how you navigate this life.

22

We reveal this and more

23

on this episode

24

of The Field Journal Podcast.

25

Navigate these uncharted times

26

of chaos and confusion

27

with The Field Journal Podcast,

28

where each episode

29

we decipher the events

30

unfolding all around us

31

with the steadfast

32

truth of the Kingdom Story.

33

Together,

34

we'll focus on developing

35

an eternal perspective

36

so we can have peace and hope

37

despite our circumstances.

38

Now here's your guide, Kirk Buckner.

39

Welcome to episode four of

40

The Field Journal Podcast.

41

We're in a five episode challenge

42

where if you're new to the podcast,

43

we're encouraging you to listen

44

to the first five episodes to decide

45

if you are in the right place.

46

Let me just get you caught up.

47

In episode one, we talked about

48

what is The Field Journal Podcast

49

and why we need it.

50

And the answer was

51

to provide clarity

52

and hope in a world

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full of chaos and confusion.

54

In episode two,

55

we discussed how

56

science has revealed

57

that our brains are wired

58

for stories.

59

Not just that we like stories,

60

but are wired to process the world

61

through stories.

62

And the big idea was

63

that God created our brains

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to be wired for stories,

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so that his story could be conveyed

66

and understood

67

across all people,

68

across all time,

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regardless of technology,

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geography or culture.

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In episode

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three, we outline

73

that God's story has key lessons

74

that God wanted us to understand

75

in order to navigate this world.

76

And the bottom line being, that

77

the story is a Kingdom Story,

78

signifying the magnitude

79

and impact

80

of what's going on in the world -

81

the ultimate battle of good

82

versus evil.

83

And the challenge question

84

that leads us into episode

85

four is this...

86

if God wired our brains for story,

87

and his story follows

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the trajectory

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of all good stories,

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as per Freytag’s Pyramid...

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Why isn't there

92

a greater understanding

93

of his story and greater

94

amount of people living it out?

95

Why isn't God's story

96

more effective?

97

The answer to this question is also

98

what makes God's story

99

unique among all stories ever told.

100

It's this...

101

God's story is opposed,

102

and what makes the story unique

103

is that the antagonist of the story

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is a dynamic influence,

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an active force

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that is working to affect mankind

107

from properly understanding

108

the story God is telling.

109

Let me explain.

110

If you're watching a story unfold

111

and the story reveals the antagonist

112

and their nature and character,

113

strategy and tactics.

114

Most of us,

115

if the story is any good, root

116

against the anti-hero

117

or the antagonist,

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and for the hero to prevail.

119

This is part of good storytelling

120

and the extent of our participation

121

in the stories that we watch.

122

But in God's story,

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not only is the nature, character,

124

strategy, and tactics

125

revealed about the anti-hero,

126

about the antagonist,

127

but the antagonist of God's story

128

is actively working against you

129

to keep you

130

from understanding the story.

131

That's right.

132

The enemy

133

in God's story

134

is actively working against you

135

to keep you

136

from understanding the story.

137

Let me give you an example.

138

Let's say that you go

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to the movie theater

140

and you get your popcorn,

141

your coke, and you sit down

142

and you went to watch

143

Star Wars, right?

144

And in Star Wars,

145

we know that the antagonist,

146

the evil, is portrayed

147

by Darth Vader.

148

And as you're watching the movie

149

and they're revealing the nature

150

and character of Darth Vader,

151

there's other people around.

152

You start making noise

153

and they're just

154

talking amongst themselves,

155

and it's making it

156

hard to concentrate.

157

And also, the people around

158

you are telling stories

159

of other space adventures

160

that might have

161

a different type of evil,

162

and that it's a better story,

163

or one that's more compelling,

164

like Star Trek or Space Odyssey.

165

And then all of a sudden you

166

hear this deep

167

voice of James

168

Earl Jones, and

169

he's on your shoulder

170

doing the Jedi

171

mind trick thing

172

that says, this is not the enemy

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you're looking for. Right.

174

All of these things are distractions

175

and noise

176

and things

177

that keep you away

178

from understanding what is going on.

179

As you're watching the villain

180

be exposed.

181

This is the dynamic influence,

182

and God's

183

story is the only one

184

where the enemy in the story

185

is trying to keep people

186

from understanding the story.

187

It's really mind blowing

188

if you think about it.

189

There's really no disputing

190

the evidence of this upon

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biblical examination.

192

What the Bible teaches about

193

the devil or Satan is extensive.

194

In the biblical portrait,

195

we see names like adversary

196

and slanderer

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and tempter

198

and deceiver and liar, murderer,

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accuser and evil one,

200

that are all applied to Satan,

201

providing us

202

with a great understanding

203

of his nature and character.

204

Yet with all the evidence,

205

six out of ten Americans,

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59% in a 2002 Barna Research survey,

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rejected the existence

208

of Satan, indicating

209

that the devil or Satan is

210

merely a symbol of evil.

211

And not only that, in

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2009, another Barna

213

survey reported

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that 40% of professing Christians

215

indicated

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that Satan is not a living being,

217

but is a symbol of evil.

218

How is this possible?

219

It's possible

220

because of effective storytelling.

221

And there's evidence to this.

222

And if we just think about it

223

for a minute,

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it's only been a few decades

225

that scientific research in fields

226

like psychology or neuroscience

227

have realized

228

that the human brain

229

is wired for story.

230

But the enemy of God

231

has known it for thousands of years.

232

Therefore, his primary strategy

233

is to tell a different story,

234

to tell stories

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better

236

than those telling God's story.

237

This should change

238

how we think about deception.

239

If our brains are wired for story,

240

then deception is really just

241

telling a different story.

242

There's many

243

examples in the Bible,

244

but the primary example goes back

245

to the serpent in the garden.

246

He was an effective storyteller.

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He moved Eve into processing

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what God commanded to Adam

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into a different story,

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one where she believed

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that there was a benefit

252

to transgress

253

from God's commandment,

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to not eat

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from the Tree of Knowledge

256

of Good and Evil.

257

She believed it was a benefit.

258

This is why the serpent is described

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as being crafty and cunning.

260

And here's the bottom line...

261

The serpent,

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whether you call him

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Satan, the devil,

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the enemy,

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the deceiver - is

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an effective storyteller -

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likely the most effective on earth,

268

and he's been at it

269

for thousands of years.

270

Well, how does he do it?

271

A careful study of the Bible

272

reveals

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that Satan has schemes

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‘methodia’ in Greek

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- kind of sounds like the word

276

method in English,

277

but really in the Greek language,

278

it would literally

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mean cunning arts.

280

He's so good at it.

281

He's artistic in it,

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and I don't mean good

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as a praiseworthy type of way,

284

but I mean it in

285

an effective type of way.

286

And the way

287

I picture the way it works

288

is that he has a war room,

289

and he has these whiteboards

290

and chalkboards

291

around on a big table

292

that he assembles his team around.

293

Satan gathers

294

his senior leaders,

295

and yes, he has them.

296

And he lays out the goals

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and strategies and tactics.

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And they build a plan,

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a go to war plan.

300

And we really have to ask ourselves,

301

is this such a ridiculous scenario?

302

The Bible lays out

303

that Satan is highly intelligent,

304

a created being.

305

He has a kingdom,

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so he has an army of various

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other created beings under him.

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He has schemes and he tells lies

309

and is the master of deceit.

310

How can we not think that he

311

doesn't have a battle plan?

312

So what if we could peek

313

into the enemy's war room

314

and gain insight on the goals

315

and strategy

316

and tactics of his dark kingdom?

317

Now, you might say

318

this would be fictional and made up.

319

And yes,

320

looking at a war room

321

and how this might be an approach

322

could be a story.

323

But the reality is the scriptures

324

tell the story of God

325

and they portray

326

the nature and character and schemes

327

the ‘methodia’ that the devil has.

328

So we're going to lay that out

329

and talk through

330

that in this episode.

331

And let's start

332

with the ultimate goal.

333

Satan has the ultimate goal

334

of ruling the earth

335

and subduing all people,

336

ultimately becoming the object

337

of worship for mankind.

338

And he has two main

339

strategies to do that.

340

One is to keep mankind

341

from knowing the story of God,

342

and two,

343

for those

344

that are in the Kingdom of God

345

that are believers

346

to neutralize them

347

so they're not effective

348

or reclaim them

349

to the domain of darkness.

350

Now the question we might ask

351

is the Satan really desire worship?

352

Is that his goal?

353

Well, in

354

Matthew 4:7-9,

355

as Jesus is interacting

356

with the devil in the wilderness

357

and being tempted,

358

Jesus responded that, “the Scripture

359

also says, you must not test

360

the Lord your God.” And next

361

the devil took him

362

to the peak of a very high mountain,

363

and showed him

364

all of the kingdoms of the world

365

and their glory..

366

And he said, “I

367

will give it all to you.”

368

He said, “if

369

you will kneel down and worship me.”

370

Well, how interesting is that?

371

Right? Here's what happens.

372

Jesus didn't dispute that Satan

373

could give him all the kingdoms.

374

He didn’t say, well, that's false.

375

You have no authority

376

to do such a thing.

377

He didn't dispute that at all.

378

And so we understand from this

379

that he wants, to be worshiped,

380

and he's trying to get

381

Jesus to worship him.

382

And this translates

383

over to the rest of mankind.

384

It also tells us about the battle

385

that's going on, right?

386

That there literally is a battle

387

that's over the earth.

388

And the ruling over it.

389

Because remember

390

in the garden,

391

in the creation story,

392

in the very

393

first part of the story in Genesis 1

394

and 2,

395

it says that “God blessed them

396

and said to them,

397

be fruitful and multiply

398

and fill the earth and subdue it,

399

and rule

400

over the fish of the sea,

401

and over the birds of the sky,

402

and over every living thing...

403

that moves on the earth.”

404

So we understand

405

and are oriented by this battle,

406

and that Satan ultimately is ruling,

407

and he wants to be worshiped.

408

And the strategy

409

that he's trying to keep mankind

410

from knowing the story of God

411

really goes to those

412

that don't believe

413

in the story of God.

414

Right?

415

In Ephesians

416

2:1-3, Paul is writing

417

to the church in Ephesus,

418

and he says this to them,

419

“you were dead

420

in your trespasses

421

and sins

422

in which you formerly walked

423

according to the course

424

of this world,

425

according to the prince of the power

426

of the air, of the spirit

427

that is now working

428

in the sons of disobedience.”

429

Which gives us the idea

430

that he's at work,

431

right?

432

Falsely teaching,

433

giving information against God,

434

telling other stories

435

opposed to God's story,

436

to get people

437

to believe in a certain way.

438

It also says in 2nd Corinthians 4:4

439

that “the

440

god of this world has blinded

441

the minds of the unbelieving,

442

so that they might not see the light

443

of the gospel

444

of the glory of Christ,

445

who is the image of God.”

446

And he has tactics

447

aimed towards this deception.

448

Tactic number one

449

would be characterized

450

like ‘shame the story’ -

451

strip away the supernatural

452

by shaming the story believer.

453

Stories are just fairy

454

tales, and belief in

455

God is just a crutch

456

for the weak minded.

457

And you point to natural solutions

458

only - data or science.

459

And anyone who doesn't think

460

that way

461

towards data and logic

462

and science is stupid...

463

And a science denier.

464

Tactic two would be characterized

465

as ‘truth cannot be known’ -

466

that to generate confusion,

467

you tell a more compelling story

468

or bury the story

469

with multiple stories.

470

You create a whole bunch of noise,

471

like in the movie

472

theater where there's just confusion

473

going on.

474

Evolution might be the other story

475

that is more compelling

476

than creation by God.

477

You would say, well,

478

evolution is science.

479

It's not a story.

480

Oh, well,

481

if your brain is wired for story,

482

I guarantee you

483

evolution is told in story terms.

484

Other religions are just stories

485

to create doubt and uncertainty,

486

that if you think about it,

487

there must be no right way

488

or we can't understand

489

what the right way might be,

490

because there's

491

so many different people

492

that believe

493

so many different things.

494

And you have to ask yourself,

495

what if that's manipulated?

496

Tactic number three,

497

would be the idea

498

of overwhelming busyness, right?

499

And if you could generate

500

enough distractions

501

by creating busyness

502

and self achievement

503

in first world civilizations,

504

or busyness for just survival

505

in third world

506

civilizations, you get people

507

overwhelmingly busy

508

where they don't even investigate

509

or don't even think about God.

510

Or obviously would just say

511

that I don't need God

512

or have no use for God

513

or God doesn't help me.

514

You just move them away

515

from the Story of God

516

and the reality of God.

517

Now the other strategy,

518

which is really meant

519

for those that are believers,

520

that believe

521

in the Kingdom of God,

522

is to neutralize them

523

so they are not effective

524

or even reclaim them

525

to the domain of

526

darkness if possible.

527

And tactic one is to move

528

believers away

529

from a storytelling community

530

and into a religious system.

531

What do I mean by that?

532

Well,

533

the very first thing

534

that happens after the Spirit of God

535

falls at Pentecost...is

536

recorded in Acts 2:42,

537

that the people that believed

538

were “continually

539

devoting themselves

540

to the apostles teaching

541

and to fellowship,

542

and to the breaking of bread

543

and to prayer.”

544

They were

545

in a storytelling community

546

where everything about God,

547

powered by the Holy Spirit,

548

was central to their lives.

549

And what was the result?

550

It says in Acts 2:43

551

that “everyone kept

552

feeling a sense of awe,

553

and many wonders

554

and signs were taking place

555

through the apostles.”

556

This storytelling community

557

had power and it had momentum,

558

and it was people

559

living out their

560

mission for God together.

561

I think it's deliberate

562

that Satan has moved that

563

into a structure,

564

that he has promoted the idea

565

to put it into a system.

566

Now,

567

don't hear what I'm not saying,

568

I am not against the Church.

569

The Church can be

570

a storytelling community,

571

but it often gets lost

572

in religious systems.

573

Think about it for a second.

574

Nowhere in the Bible

575

it says that there is a service.

576

That this storytelling

577

community didn't have a service.

578

They lived life around God's Story.

579

We now move things into a service.

580

We think in terms of

581

going to a church service.

582

Hear again, I'm

583

not against the Church,

584

but I do think

585

it's easy to point out how Satan,

586

the dynamic influence,

587

might be moving

588

to keep people away

589

from the Story of God,

590

especially those who believe.

591

In tactic

592

two is to

593

introduce false teaching

594

within the Church.

595

It says in 2nd

596

Peter 2:1,

597

“there will also be false

598

teachers among you

599

who will secretly introduce

600

destructive heresies.”

601

And it says in 2nd

602

Corinthians 11:3, Paul

603

says, “I'm

604

afraid that as the serpent

605

deceived Eve by his craftiness,

606

your mind will be led astray

607

from the simplicity

608

and purity and devotion to Christ.”

609

And he tells you

610

why in the next verse,

611

why is he warning the Church

612

at Corinth about this?

613

Because they happily put up

614

with whatever anyone tells them,

615

even if the different gospel

616

was preached,

617

or a different Jesus,

618

or a different kind of spirit

619

than the one that they believed.

620

And you see, this is a warning to

621

the Church

622

because Satan believes

623

he can move you

624

by introducing false teaching.

625

The Apostle Paul

626

clearly believed that

627

the Church needed to be warned

628

about that as well.

629

Tactic three

630

against the believers,

631

to neutralize them,

632

is to create a great amount

633

of distractions

634

like he does with the unbelievers,

635

pulling people

636

away from discipleship

637

and devotion to Christ.

638

Listen to what it says in

639

1st John 2:15-16, “do

640

not love the world,

641

nor the things in the world.

642

If anyone loves the world,

643

the love of the Father

644

is not in him...

645

For all that is in the world,

646

the lust of the flesh

647

and the lust of the eyes

648

and the boastful

649

pride of life

650

is not from the Father,

651

but is from the world.”

652

And so again,

653

a warning

654

that there are things set up

655

by the ruler of this world,

656

which is the dynamic influence,

657

to move

658

even believers

659

away from the devotion

660

and discipleship of Jesus.

661

Now this was an

662

overview of the overall goal,

663

with corresponding

664

strategies and tactics.

665

And so it's easy to kind of

666

look at the overall story

667

and go, yeah,

668

the story is going to be opposed.

669

And if there is a dynamic influence,

670

he's going to go after

671

and attack the story.

672

He's going to attack

673

meaning and purpose

674

and the calibration to God.

675

He's going to attack the importance

676

of walking with God.

677

He's going to attack

678

the understanding

679

of the origin and existence of evil.

680

He's going to attack

681

that there's a battle that mankind

682

is having over the earth

683

between an unseen rebel

684

and a kingdom of unseen

685

rebel beings that are evil.

686

He's going to attack the problems

687

that mankind has to resolve.

688

He's going to attack the sin problem

689

and the heart problem

690

and the calibration problem

691

and the supernatural battle.

692

He's going to try to keep it

693

from being known and understood.

694

He's going to attack Jesus,

695

as the

696

hero, the one that

697

brings about all the solutions.

698

He's going to make sure

699

that the agents of Jesus

700

don't understand the assignment,

701

and don't walk in the equipping

702

that Jesus secured for.

703

And he's going to make sure that

704

people don't know what

705

the final season

706

and the age to come

707

is going to look like.

708

They're just caught unaware.

709

And we're really in

710

this red

711

pill kind of blue pill scenario

712

where you have a choice.

713

And it starts with this question.

714

Do you believe that

715

there is a dynamic influence.

716

an active force of evil

717

at work in this world?

718

If you don't,

719

then you can stay with the blue pill

720

and stay in the story you're in.

721

Or you can work

722

to discover a different story

723

that helps your brain

724

make sense of this world.

725

But if you

726

believe there is a

727

dynamic influence

728

active in this world,

729

then I encourage you to fully

730

take the red pill

731

and join us

732

as we dive into the Story

733

God is telling.

734

Because in this Story,

735

which is conveyed

736

through the scriptures,

737

there's a great understanding

738

of this dynamic influence...

739

Named the devil or Satan,

740

where his nature

741

and character is revealed

742

as a slanderer,

743

tempter, deceiver,

744

liar, accuser, and murderer.

745

You see, the story

746

God is telling informs us

747

we are in a battle of good versus

748

evil, and understanding

749

God's story

750

helps us navigate this world

751

and step into the fullness

752

of our agency and assignment

753

that Jesus secured for

754

us, called us into,

755

and equips us for.

756

I hope you'll join me

757

in this calling.

758

Well, where do we go next?

759

As we wrap up this episode,

760

I wanted to try to leave you

761

with something

762

to think about, to meditate

763

on or pray about.

764

It's a good exercise

765

to challenge your heart

766

and your mind

767

to get you

768

out of the distracted

769

busyness of your life.

770

Here it is.

771

If we understand

772

that God is telling us a story

773

that there is an enemy,

774

a dynamic influence

775

opposing the Story of God...

776

How can this help us navigate

777

and prepare us for

778

what God tells us

779

is going to take place?

780

hope you'll join us

781

in the next episode.

782

Until next time,

783

may the grace of the Lord

784

Jesus Christ,

785

and the love of God

786

and the fellowship

787

of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

788

Thank you for being a part

789

of this episode of The Field

790

Journal Podcast,

791

a production of

792

Truth of the Kingdom.

793

And while we've reached

794

the end of our journey

795

today, the conversation continues

796

at truthofthekingdom.com.

797

Until next time,

798

may the Kingdom Story

799

be your source of truth

800

and hope...no matter

801

what's happening around you.