From: Francis Harper
wbfrmsup@iowatelecom.net
Francis Harper Message for 1/17/2020
The Roaring Lion
God speaking through Isaiah said: “I form the light and create darkness; I make peace, and create evil; I the Lord do all these things” (Isaiah 45:7). I recall a lively discussion at church long ago, that was sparked by the question; Did God create evil? Some were saying, “Why would he do such a thing?”
Nephi wrote: “For it must needs be (it is necessary), that there is an opposition in all things. If not so . . . righteousness could not be brought to pass; neither wickedness; neither holiness nor misery; neither good nor bad . . . Even the forbidden fruit in opposition to the tree of life . . . the Lord God gave unto man that he should act for himself . . . man could not act for himself save it should be that he be enticed by the one or the other” (2 Nephi 1:81-82, 99-100). My wife has often asked; “Why didn’t God just create us good in the beginning?”
God created Satan; our opposition. We must remember that he is a formidable foe. We need to be constantly aware that our “adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (2 Peter 5, 8). “. . . for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time” (Revelation 12:12).
We need to understand that we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places . . .” (Ephesians 6:12-18). Knowing Satan and his devious ways will help us overcome his efforts to destroy us. Every soldier in the U.S. Army is taught; Know the Enemy.
Alma counseled: “Cry unto him (God) against the power of your enemies; cry unto him against the devil, who is an enemy to all righteousness” (Alma 16:219). Praying the precious phrases of the Lord’s prayer will help us: “Suffer us not to be led into temptation, but deliver us from evil (from every form of corruption, deception and confusion) (Matthew 6:14 IV). “The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptation” (2 Peter 2:9). He has delivered me from temptation, and I know he will also help you if you ask for his assistance!
Jesus met “the enemy of all righteousness in the wilderness (Matthew 4:2-10 IV; 4:3-11 KJV). Likewise Joseph Smith, Jr., encountered the powers of darkness in the Sacred Grove. We are deceived if we think we are immune to the power of the evil one.
A missionary in China, James Fraser, wrote of his struggles against the power of darkness. Satan tried to wreck him as a missionary. First he noticed a strange uncertainty beginning to shadow his inward life. All that he had believed and rejoiced in, became unreal. Uncertainty, doubt and depression began to destroy his witnessing. His foundations were being shaken until he realized Satan was seeking to overwhelm him.
Sometime later the young missionary was much tried by persistent evil thoughts. He wrote: “I went out of the city to a hidden gully on a hillside, one of my favorite prayer haunts, and there voiced my determined resistance to Satan. I even shouted my resistance to Satan and all his evil thoughts. The opposition collapsed then and there like a pack of cards, to return no more. In times of conflict, I find deliverance through repeating Scriptures out loud.” (Behind the Ranges, by Geraldine Taylor pp 104-105).
I was asked to administer to a young lady who was being troubled with seizures. After returning home she began to experience the signs of another seizure and she surmised that it was a satanic attack. She shouted: “Satan, leave me alone, I belong to Jesus.” She suffered no more with seizures! Resist the devil and he will flee from you” James 4:7).
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Dear Ones,
Some believe Satan does not exist. Satan wants us to ignore or think he does not exist. Nephi wrote: “Behold . . . he saith unto them, I am no devil, for there is none (2 Nephi 12:27). Denying the reality of Satan is denying the Lord and his experience in the wilderness!
Satan is Real
(Testimony of my mother Bessie Harper)
“All the family was in bed except for my sister Thelma and I. She had just told me that she had a girlfriend in college who had something called a Patriarchal Blessing. I told her I also had one and asked her if she would like to read it. I told her it was very sacred to me and asked her to consider it carefully, even as sacred scripture. She would read a sentence or two, and we would discuss the meaning before we proceeded. She seemed very interested and pleased.
“During our discussion, I lifted my head and looked toward the kitchen of our house. I felt a cold chill go through me as I noticed a personage just inside the door! I knew immediately who he was and why he was there. He was dressed in black. I can’t say if he had eyes, nose, and mouth, but he was in the form of a man. He was there because my sister was believing. I couldn’t endure looking at him for more than a moment. I was filled with fear by his appearance, yet I felt I must watch him. I looked up three times, and each time he was nearer.
“I recalled that my mother-in-law [Minnie Fry Harper] once told me that if I ever had an encounter with Satan, all I needed to do was pray because God has power over him. I didn’t dare let my sister know what I was witnessing because I was afraid she wouldn’t be able to see him, and she might think I was losing my mind.
“I bowed my head and said, “Dear God, take him away!” That was a very short, humble prayer, but it did the work because when I looked up again he was gone.
“I thought to myself, “Old fellow, you are not going to get the best of me. I’m going to stay right here and talk to my sister as long as she is interested.” But when she said we better go to bed, I didn’t say we should stay up longer because I was still very frightened. I immediately went upstairs to bed and awakened my husband, Francis. I told him my experience, and cried because I was extremely upset. And every time I tell of this experience, even to this day, it still affects my emotions.
“I have always been rather disgusted that I had to see Satan. I have always thought how much more pleasant it would have been to be permitted to see an angel of light. Yet, seeing Satan has been a blessing to me because now I know how near he can be to us in this life and how he is always right there to discourage us whenever we want to do good. I have always guarded against him. Always remember to pray if you encounter Satan. He has no power when God comes to your rescue.”
“Neither will ye suffer that your children transgress the laws of God, and fight and quarrel one with another, and serve the devil, who is the master of sin . . . he being an enemy to all righteousness” (Mosiah 2:26).
My Love to All,
High Priest Francis Harper
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