Did God Create Satan?

We see evil all around us everyday it seems.  We read of children being physically assaulted and killed.  Television transmits violence into our homes on a daily basis.  We see cities being bombed and innocent people being slaughtered.  Hurricanes and natural disasters seem more common than usual.  We hear people say, "Why is there so much evil in the world?"  We even hear people say, "Why did God create Satan?"

The Bible gives us the answer.  God never created Satan, God created Lucifer who was a glorious, shining, beautiful angel.  God created Lucifer but it was Lucifer who chose to become Satan.  Lucifer became Satan when he rebelled against Almighty God.

Darth Vader was the central character of the Star Wars saga.  He appeared as the main antagonist in the trilogy and protagonist in the prequel trilogy.  He was created by George Lucas and I suspect he took this character right out of the Bible.  Darth Vader's original name was Anakin Skywalker, the father of Luke Skywalker.  He was a Jedi knight who was presented in the prophecy as being the Chosen One who was suppose to restore balance to the Force; however, he chose to leave the good side of the Force and join the dark side of the Force.  When he chose the dark side, his name was  no longer Anakin Skywalker but rather now Darth Vader.

 Does this sound familiar?  Lucifer did the exact same thing and chose to follow the dark side.  When he chose the dark side, his name was no longer Lucifer but rather now Satan.

 God created all of us, even angels, with the ability to choose that which is good or that which is evil.  Lucifer chose evil and he is responsible for becoming Satan.  The first sin in the universe was committed by Lucifer.

Why?  Isaiah 14:13-14 reveals the answer, " . . . I will ascend into Heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High."  The first sin was not murder or theft.  The first sin was pride and pride led to rebellion.

John 3:16 is perhaps one of the greatest verses in the Bible.  However, John 3:17 is one that we need to try and understand.  "For God did not send His son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved."

Pride can cause us to become self-righteous and condemn those we do not agree with.  Fully devoted followers of Christ seek to let the Word go forth to save the lost, not to condemn the lost.

One of the cornerstones of the church is found in Luke 14:11:  "For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

God did not create Satan.  God created love.

Panic Attack

Last week you were driving across a bridge when all of a sudden you felt a strange sensation come over you.  You felt very afraid and it seemed to come from nowhere.  You were barely able to make it over the bridge.  When you talked to the doctor about it, you shrugged it off like a fluke, one of those things.  But yesterday it came again and you began to fear you were losing your mind.

Mary just finished her final exams during her first semester at college.  She was just lying on the couch watching TV when she began to feel lightheaded and had trouble breathing.  Suddenly, her heart began to pound rapidly.  She felt shaky, unsteady, sweaty.  It happened so quickly she felt she was having a heart attack.  She frantically searched for her car keys to get to the hospital.  She was totally panicked, "What's wrong with me?"

Each year, thousands of Americans have an experience similar to this.  Many, fearing they're having a heart attack, wind up in the emergency room.  Others try to ignore it, not understanding they are experiencing a panic attack.  According to the America Psychiatric Association, up to six million Americans suffer from panic disorder.  According to the Mayo Clinic, 10 to 20 percent of all Americans will have at least one attack in their life.

Panic attacks typically begin in young adulthood.  An episode generally starts quickly, peaks within 10 minutes and lasts about half an hour.  Signs and symptoms can include hot and cold flashes, sweating, nausea, feeling faint, trembling, racing thoughts, feelings of unreality, difficulty breathing, heart palpitations, chest pain or discomfort, feelings of choking, dizziness, numbness, fear of dying and fear of losing control.

By the time the average sufferer receives the correct diagnosis, they may have been to the emergency room of the local hospital several times, gone through many expensive and time-consuming testing procedures, and experienced fear they would not have thought possible.

It is obviously important to have your family physician examine you to rule out the possibility of a serious medical condition.  If physical causes have been ruled out, it is likely to be a panic attack.

If the panic attacks are frequent, you may have a condition called panic disorder.  If they are left untreated, it may eventually lead to depression and for some people a condition referred to as agoraphobia.  Agoraphobia basically means that the person spends more and more time at home in order to avoid having a panic attack, to the point they may even become completely homebound.

It is very difficult for the average person to understand what a panic attack feels like because there are no obvious outward signs.  The individual looks fine.  The best way to describe it would be like driving your car down the highway in the winter time and doing a "360" (car turns completely around.)  Most people would be scared and out of control.  In general, women tend to have more panic attacks than men and are afraid of losing control and going crazy.  Men tend to fear they will suffer a heart attack.

Getting help.  Panic attacks and panic disorder are clearly treatable and most people are able to resume their everyday responsibilities.  Education, medication and therapy have proven to be successful.  If you are suffering from panic attacks or severe anxiety, you need to see your family physician for treatment or referral to an appropriate therapist and begin the process of becoming free from fears. 

(In August, Dr's Allen and Reva Minor will be presenting a community workshop on "Anxiety/Panic Attacks." ) 

Stress Principles

Stress is the same as anxiety.  The only feeling involved is fear.  Therefore, whenever you are feeling stress, you are anxious and when you are anxious you are afraid.  The definition of anxiety is a response to a perceived danger.  It does not have to be real, it can be imaginary.

"Where your focus goes, your energy flows."  What this means is that whatever you focus on, and the longer you focus on it, the more you will get of it.  For example, if you focus on something very negative, your mood will become sad, even depressed, and your energy will decrease.  Whereas if you focus on positive things, your mood will be positive and you will increase your energy level.

Most people typically only have so much psychological energy each day and if you waste it worrying about things, your energy will be drained to the point all you will want to do is lay on the couch and watch television.  Thus, it is very important to focus on that which is constructive and meaningful and not focusing on destructive and angry things that cannot help you.

Try to think of your brain as a computer and your mind as the software.  If you  tell yourself you are a bad person, your brain will register that as the truth; therefore, you will feel you really are a bad person.  On the other hand, if you tell yourself you are a good person, your brain will register that and you will see yourself as a good person.  Whatever you tell yourself, your brain will take it as the absolute truth and you will act the part.  Try never to call yourself negative names.  

We create our own reality by how we think.  We are the source of our own feelings.  Our feelings come from us.  What that means is we have the choice to feel either happy, sad, angry, or scared.  We create our own feelings and choose how we will react to any situation.  

We have to learn to get outside of our ego for we can never satisfy our ego.  We can never get enough money, power, or material things.  People who are depressed are generally people who cannot get outside of themselves and are constantly thinking of what they are going to do all the time.  

People who are very depressed have very little energy.  Their IQ can temporarily decrease as much as 25 IQ points, which means this person is functioning at a much lower level than he or she should be.  They find making decisions to be very hard and their judgement is poor.  Everything seems doom and gloom.  On the other hand, if you have a great deal of psychological energy you can actually increase, temporarily, your IQ.  Then everything seems so much easier and happier.

When we are too stressed, little things become big things.  When we are happy, we can disregard little things.  Fear is the architect of stress and is always the enemy.  

Remember always, "Where you focus goes, your energy flows." 

If Only

If only I had a chance to do it over again.  If only.  How many people have felt this way in life?  

The person who was hit by a car.  If only it had been a few seconds later it never would have happened.  The person who had his hand cut off.  If only he hadn't been in such a hurry.  The person who missed the most important flight in her life by mere seconds.  If only they had a chance to do it all over.  If only.

Has it ever happened you you?  If only you hadn't put your money in a particular stock.  If only you hadn't trusted a certain person.  If only you hadn't gone to that party.  If only you hadn't bought that car or that house or taken on that project or said the things you did when you were angry.  And so on it goes.

What do we do with regret?  How do we get it out of our mind?  We can't change history.  We can't go back.  It is what it is and you can't change it.  So, what do we do?  

The Apostle Paul had an answer that may help.  Philippians 3:13-14, Paul says, ". . . forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead.  I press towards the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."

 I believe that when we can't get the "if only" out of our mind we have to go the One who created us.  Since we can't seem to do it, it would seem logical to go to the One who can.

Perhaps as a child when something happened to you, you may have had the blessing of a good father who told you, "everything is going to be ok."  What wonderful words.  When you feel so bad inside and feel you have failed in some way, what a wonderful thing to go to your heavenly Father, tell Him your story, and listen to His words for you, "It's going to be ok."  

The Five Basic Fears

When I went to graduate school, I learned that a baby was born with only two fears:  the fear of loud noises and the fear of falling. By the time I got out of school it had changed to one fear.  Scientists discovered that falling was no longer considered a fear.  I always felt that some visual-spatial situations should be considered, but overall a baby comes into the world with only one fear:  the fear of loud noises.  In the animal world, a new born animal has a chance to escape a predator when mother is not around by hearing a strange loud noise.

By the time a baby reaches adulthood, the baby will have learned almost 5,000 fears.  The vast majority of fears are not real; however, many are, e.g., if you touch a hot stove, put your hand around a bee, put your finger in a light socket.  These are all examples of one trial learning.  You don't want to do them again.  What is important is that all of the fears, except loud noises,  are learned.  Which means that if they are learned they can be unlearned.  (That will be another blog dealing with panic attacks and agoraphobia.)     

Although an adult will learn on average about 5,000 specific fears, there are really only five basic fears in life.  They are all losses.  They are also not in any order as each individual will have different fears.  Here they are:  Loss of life, loss of health, loss of wealth, loss of love, and loss of moral values.

Loss of life would mean a person worries that they will die.  Loss of health means that a person worries about having a heart attack, cancer, etc.  Loss of wealth pertains to losing money.  Loss of love means that someone will withdraw their love or affection.  Loss of moral values means a person will allow themselves to be corrupt, e.g., an attorney who gets involved in insider trading; a young man gets involved with illegal drugs; etc.  

Whenever you find yourself worrying about something, you will discover that it is one of these five basic fears.  In a future blog we'll examine fear in great detail.  For now,  know this.  If you can overcome your fears, the Bible says you can do anything.   I believe the number one enemy in life is fear.  Today it is called stress but it is still fear.  The opposite of fear is faith.  Again, in a future blog (I'm still trying to unpack after moving for the past week) we'll focus on the number one thing in life that takes our happiness away: fear.