By Anna Von Reitz
Evil comes into our lives in many ways and every day. It tip-toes through the door and flies in through the windows we unwittingly grant it, every single day we live. Evil is, in fact, more familiar to us than Good. Given the common and ubiquitous nature of Evil, one would expect that we are all equipped to recognize it for what it is, and avoid it.
Sadly, this is not the case. Instead, when we are confronted with new or threatening conditions, our tendency is to assume the worst and take refuge in Evil, allowing our imaginations to romp through an endless field of negative suppositions, fears, dreads, triggers of anger and ego-protective damage control mechanisms we have developed in our long every day acquaintance with Evil. At the precise moment when we are called upon to respond with Love, we respond with Evil instead, because that is how we are programmed to react.
Literally programmed, like a computer program.
Actual combat with Evil is always anti-intuitive.
Observe Yeshuah on the cross. He didn't have to go there. He went to have it out with Satan, one on one, a knockdown, drag out, no holds barred, winner take all fight. Satan won easily against Yeshuah's mortal body, but he lost the eternal war. Yeshuah won the crown of life, and all of Satan's power was useless.
All the "power" of Imperial Rome, all the "power" of the Sanhedrin, all the "power" of the Moneychangers, all the "power" of Death itself -- overthrown.
Nothing about this battle made sense to people at the time.
They were all expecting a different kind of battle.
And a different outcome.
His own Mother had to come to the foot of the cross and weep and be numb with grief, the object of public shame.
His Disciples and all who had followed him into Jerusalem just the week before were thrown into dismay and they must have thought, well, this is how it all ends. Rome and the Devil and the Moneychangers win again.
This is the way it is when we confront Evil. It's never easy. It's always anti-intuitive. Nothing about such combat makes common sense, because the ways of God are not the ways of men.
The very first bit of information decoded from our DNA and announced by Gregg Brayden to a numb and disbelieving world was: "God eternal within the body."
That's what the first few DNA codes say in five different ancient languages. Were any of us ready for that?
Where is the mainstream media?
God exists. He wrote the code of life; the entire story and template is recorded in each one of our cells.
So against this startling background, someone asks me, what is evil?
How, they ask, can anyone declare that anyone else is evil?
We've already been told. Evil reveals itself by its fruits.
Lies cause confusion and wasted time and energy and loss of focus and loss of joy and goodwill. Gossip magnifies and spreads the impact of lies. Doubt (faithlessness) leads to lack of trust and unity, so that we don't stand together against Evil.
And all of this adds up to lack of progress, loss of joy, and more of the same-old-same-old for mankind. Rome, the Devil, and the Moneychangers win again.
Yet, we are not defeated by Satan. We are tricked into defeating ourselves.
We lie. We pass on the falsehoods of others, knowingly or unknowingly.
We indulge in fear-mongering, and fear leads to anger. Anger leads to violence. Soon, we are killing each other, and the actual Perpetrators are making money on this.
We are not always our best selves. We don't always, reliably, recognize Evil, even when it is staring us in the face. So what can we do to gird ourselves for the daily battle?
(1) We can become more aware. We know that lies and gossip are Evil by their very Nature, so we stop ourselves from telling lies and from gossiping. We make the extra effort to research and know the truth.
(2) We likewise don't attack and name-call, even when others do. We observe facts that others can observe, so that they can see the truth we have been blessed to see. We respect ourselves and others. We don't resort to the weapons of our enemies.
(3) We don't make insinuations and seek to dishonestly or covertly influence others. Things that are underhanded and mean-spirited, things that are divisive and destructive, things that are unkind, we do our best to avoid.
(4) We don't use "law" to harm anyone; we know that true Law harms nobody and nothing. So long as we don't injure others or harm their property, we have fulfilled man's law, and if we love others, even those who hate us, we have fulfilled God's Law.
(5) We realize that combating Evil requires discernment and accept the often anti-intuitive nature of the struggle. Often what appears to be good is in fact evil, and vice versa. We know we can be deceived. We ask our Creator for help to know the truth and hold it fast.
(6) We allow our hearts and minds to dwell in peace and with appreciation for all good things, for all that is harmonious, all that is kind, all that is generous, all that is healthy, all that is noble and best and alive. We make our mental and emotional home a fortress of integrity, goodwill, and strength.
(7) When we observe the fingerprints of Evil in our lives and our homes and our work --- confusion, spitefulness, selfishness, suspicion, greed, power-mongering, controlling behavior, anger, excessiveness, insults --- we stop buying into whatever narrative is causing this. We take control of it and of ourselves and decide to keep faith with what is good.
We have suffered many setbacks this past year, and many misunderstandings that have cost us time and money and peace -- and all of these are unnecessary losses made possible by Evil that we have allowed to enter into our lives and our thoughts.
Remember Yeshuah on his cross, fighting the ultimate battle against Evil. Remember the strange anti-intuitive nature of that conflict.
And most of all, remember that he won.
It's the same way with us and our battle with Evil; when we decide to act against it and organize all our forces to face it.
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