Acceptance

I was discussing my beliefs with someone the other day and he asked me,

"What about acceptance?"

(accept: to receive, esp willingly; to approve; to agree to, to believe in; to agree to pay)

There can be no tolerance for the Devil or for his children. We will never agree. We are at constant war with each other because of the Devil's own choice to declare war on the Kingdom of God!

Therefore we must be continually on the alert, on guard and on the attack against all the lies and imitations, tricks, scams and half-truths of our Public Enemy Number One. Satan is clever. He is ancient and has knowledge and maneuvers that can outsmart us all.

We must be especially careful when on his territory to be in constant prayer and communication with our Commander in Chief. He alone holds the keys to death and hell.

No, it's not about tears and emotions. Emotions come and go. We walk by faith. Faith is key. Faith alone can save you. Faith alone can bring you out of the darkness.

"Acceptance" is one of the Devil's favorite words because it calls for compromise on many levels. It accuses the saints. The Devil is the accuser of the saints!

(compromise: settlement of a dispute by mutual concession; a middle course or view between 2 opposed ones, to adjust by compromise; to lay open to suspicion, disrepute, etc.)

The Devil knows that when we say "acceptance", we think of good, kind and loving and considerate attitudes toward our fellow man. So, he loves to accuse followers of Christ of not being "accepting" of other cultures and religions.

We are not accepting of idol-worshiping, sacrificing to false gods or satanic devices! God says,

"I will have no other gods before Me."

Does that mean God is jealous and possessive of us?

Yes! He is! God is a jealous God. And, thank God He is because it's for our good. He is jealous over us with a protective, constant and unconditional love. But, if we turn to false gods, He gets very angry.

(jealous: apprehensive of or hostile towards someone thought of as a rival; envious of, resentful; anxiously vigilant or protective)

We cannot compromise with the Devil or false beliefs. (In fact, we all probably have a few false beliefs picked up along the way that need to be weeded out of our systems.) We need to allow the Light of God to shine on every dark corner of our hearts and minds to expose every false way, every false teaching that would weaken us in any way.

Jesus said,

"By the traditions of men, ye have made the Word of God of no effect."

Acceptance can also be a good thing and, in fact, Jesus told us to love our enemies which is pretty accepting. We're supposed to love those who want to kill us. Jesus asked God to forgive the men who nailed Him to the cross.

That didn't mean Jesus accepted and believed in the Roman government. He realized the men who nailed Him to the cross were just doing their job as they had been trained.

So, it's like you "love the prisoner but hate the prison". Or, you "love the sinner but hate the sin". That's the kind of acceptance we should implement.