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Cleared
Larry Steffee


 

        A few months ago, a 33-year-old woman was arrested for drug and stalking charges.  In an attempt to evade imprisonment, she decided to pose as a county prosecutor to file false documents on the state electronic system to have the charges against her dropped.  Officials became suspicious and discovered that the documents were falsified, and learned what happened after further investigation.  In the end, the original charges were reinstated and additional charges were filed against her.

        “Words from Above” in the Bible tell us about an angel named Lucifer decided to rebel against God, and convinced one-third of the other angels in heaven to join him in his rebellion.  Ezekiel 28:17 tells us that he apparently became so impressed with his own beauty, intelligence, power, and position that he began to desire the honor and glory that belonged to God alone.  No argument is ever given in the Bible that Lucifer, now identified as Satan, is not guilty of sin against God.  However, if anyone were to ask Satan about his guilt, he would use every means to clear his name.

        We are told that Satan tries to prevent people from knowing the truth of the gospel, like the woman who filed the false court documents.  In his letter to the Corinthian church, the apostle Paul said, “The god of this world has blinded the minds of unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God.”  The “god of this world” is none other than Satan himself.

        Like the woman who tried to clear her name in the court system, the apostle Paul tells us in II Corinthians 11:13 that false prophets and deceitful workers transform themselves into the apostles of Christ.  He goes on in the next verse to point out that “Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light, which is the total opposite of his true identity. 

        Not only did Satan rebel against God, but he also launched a personal attack on God’s Son, Jesus.  Matthew 4 tells us that Satan attempted in three separate ways to convince Jesus to worship him.  First, he suggested that Jesus turn the stones on the ground into bread, knowing that Jesus had not eaten for forty days.  Then he dared him to jump off the temple and let God rescue Him, and finally to worship him in exchange for having all the kingdoms of the world.  Jesus in each case quoted the Scriptures to resist these temptations of the devil.  Jesus cleared Himself, and we can always be forgiven of our sins, but the devil will never be cleared of his evil ways.

Larry R. Steffee is pastor of the Center Hill Brethren In Christ Church on Miller Road in Smithville.  Everyone is welcome to attend.  For information, you may email lrsteffeetn@yahoo.com.

 

       

 

 

Driving Someone up the Wall
Stan St. Clair

Well, Halloween is upon us, and I guess a lot of people are not crazy about it, but hopefully not many are driven up a wall preparing for it at the last minute, or wishing it didn’t exist.

Very seldom have I experienced being “driven up the wall,” but occasionally there is a person who manages to do this to someone else. Of course, this is not an intentional endeavor, but, nevertheless, it is real.

“Driving someone up the wall” is an idiomatic expression which means that someone or something is extremely annoying. It derived from the idea of two people being together in a locked room with no way to escape and one annoying the other to the point to wish for a means of escape. Since there is no way out, the person is ‘climbing the walls’ figuratively. Like many other metaphors, there was a similar phrase before it came into being. This one was used in Tales and Novels by Maria Edgeworth, 1833 in ‘Drama’ on page 239:

      “…since you drive me to the wall I must say no, and I do say no.”

Here the meaning is somewhat ambiguous. The actual phrase started showing up in writing about 1970. A very early example is found in Desperate Characters by Paula Fox, published that year:

     “They drive me up the wall. Don’t make wife jokes to me.”