Messenger Of Satan, Or The Adversary

Ever feel like you're completely unworthy of anyone's affections, especially those of One who is holy and pure? Ever feel like no matter how upstanding people think you are, you still fail God constantly? Ever feel like you're a waste of God's time and care?
That's how i often feel. Some people call it humility--it's not. In my case, it is not humility. This is self-criticism. This is a "messenger of Satan" picking at wounds, tormenting me. Rampant inadequacy.

How about this; you ever feel preposterously alone? Perhaps you are comfortable being alone, but you still get lonely?
Maybe you're surrounded by friends and family, but you still feel lacking companionship? Maybe not that of a spouse or anything like that, but just someone you can sit and talk to for hours and they will sit there and listen, hanging on your every word, no matter how dark the subject matter?
Again, that's me much of the time.
This isn't a pity-post, i promise. I want to offer some encouragement to those like me who feel always laced with shortcomings, be it physical, mental, or spiritual.

There's something to be treasured about those kinds of feelings, no matter how pervasive they may be.
See, when the Bible mentions the "messenger of Satan," it notes that Paul pleads to Christ three times to remove it. He doesn't. You know why?
Of course you know why, everyone knows the story.
I'll quote it regardless. “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
That was Jesus' response. But if we dissect this, along with the following verses, we get more than just a bit of encouragement--we get a tidal wave of worth.

"But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me." (2 Corinthians 12:9)

Jesus' grace is sufficient, yes? Of course it is. But let's look at that grace.

A multi-billionaire faces financial ruin, losing all but a couple million. This person would be poor in relation to what they were. If they gave away billions to the point they were "merely" (that term being used in relativity) a millionaire, that would be a great measure of grace.

If a millionaire sold most of what they had and gave it to the poor, leaving them a hundred thousand or so, they'd still be financially stable in comparison to most, but they'd have given practically all away--and exhibited a great measure of grace.

If a person with but two pennies to her name gave it to God as an offering, that would be grace.

Now let's look at Jesus' grace. In John 1, we see that through Him, all that exists came to be. With that said, we have the Creator of the universe here, the Infinite, the Holy. He is the King of all creation, Ruler of all. And he gave that up to live as one of us, a Man -a lowly Man at that- who would be mocked, tortured, beaten, crucified in the supposition that He's being executed in the name of God, His Father. He goes to Hell and faced God only knows what, and was resurrected. He did this for a people who deserve Hell, so they would become heirs along with Him. That is more than just grace. That is beyond human capability or comprehension.
So when you face issues like that first paragraph mentions, remember to "boast all the more gladly about [your] weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on [you]." Because His grace covers you, and showing grace is one aspect of His power.

In Proverbs, it says this: "If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; if he is thirsty, give him water to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head,
and the Lord will reward you." (25:21-22)

Basically, as Paul said, "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good."

If your enemy (Satan, or a messenger of him) wishes to make you feel as Paul felt, then boast in your flaws. Heck, 1 Corinthians 12:10 says to delight in weakness, insults, hardships, persecutions, and difficulties. It says to because, when you are weak, you are strong.
Why you're strong is because the less of you that's in the way, the more room there is for Christ's power to be made manifest. Don't submit to the things Satan tells you, but delight in the fact that he has to bring up who you were, because that means he doesn't like who you are.

Regarding the loneliness . . . Well, to quote a song by The Almost, "We were made with fear inside our bones; the kind that makes you feel alone. So hold on, just breathe and figure out, we are not alone. This makes us feel alive"

In essence, God created us with a void inside of us called loneliness. It makes us crave a companionship that only He can fill.
So run to Him (and find that He will run to you), and let Him fill that void, that aching emptiness.

The Lord's Prayer (pt. 2)

"Give us this day our daily bread."

In another verse, Proverbs 30:8, the author, Agur, pleads for only two things, one of which is to have neither poverty nor riches. For in poverty, we may become thieves and "profane the name of my God," whereas in riches we will forget where our hope rests and where our blessings come from.
Not only this, i find the whole aspect of "daily bread" to be quite interesting. It's long been in my thoughts to always have a need, but not poverty. I want just enough, nothing more. I'd prefer a little less than enough rather than a little more, so i have to strive, i have to better myself, and i have to trust God wholeheartedly to provide.
But daily bread; the literal translation of that is "the bread of my portion" (in Proverbs).
Enough, nothing more and nothing less. Paraphrased, that could imply "give us this day [just enough so that we rely on You always]."
But we're not to live by bread alone, but by every word of God. The basics of this world, and the blessings of the spiritual. Adequacy here, and abundance in our soul . . . And our cup will overflow.
¹² 
"And forgive us our debts,
As we forgive our debtors."

I'm analyzing these two as the same line . . .
Forgiveness is something we have to strive for from mankind. We have to earn it. Jesus earned forgiveness of sins for us and gives it freely to us, all we have to do is ask.
But to forgive, that's not just an empty phrase. If we say we forgive someone, we should mean it. We should eliminate that wrong from our memory as best we can and live as though it never happened. In Romans chapter 10, it says "For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."
Forgiveness is much the same way; to forgive, we must believe in the heart that we've forgiven, and by mouth we utter that the wrong has been washed away. It's an oath to not throw a past sin in someone's face after it's been said that you've forgiven. Jesus was God's oath to us that He'd not hold us accountable after we've been forgiven. By Jesus' blood, our 'debts' against God and man have been washed away. His blood is grace, and we're covered in it. It's not that He can't see our sins, it's that He chooses not to.

"And do not lead us into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one."

God does not tempt us to do wrong, so i've caught myself wondering why we'd ask God to not lead us into temptation.
But it's simple, really. In Romans chapter 1 (i'm using other verses to make my point a lot this go-'round), we can see where God doesn't lead people into wickedness, but 'gives them up to uncleanness'. Their hearts were darkened.How do you darken something? You remove the light. God is the light of salvation. He removed Himself from them, and left them to their own hearts' desires. Without a glimmer of God in our hearts, we revert to things that are unnatural, diseasing (not a word, but its intended meaning should be obvious), and crippling. They professed wisdom, all the while becoming fools. Their hearts became void of God's light.
Romans 1:29-32 says: "being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them."See, this shows that it's God alone that keeps us from evil.
To me, "And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one" is much as a plea to have God continue to shine His light in our hearts, which will keep us from evil.

"For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen."

By Him, through Him, and to Him are all things; all things were made for His glory, and this is stating that all glory will be properly directed to Him. All power we may gain, whatever strength, ability, respect, honor, or place among men, it is His. He gets our glory, He gets the power appointed us by man, and His is the Kingdom that is established with such power.
The kingdom of God; this universe but a territory. His is the kingdom.
Forever. It's hard to think of something infinite with a mind as finite as ours. Let me put this in a finite manner: The Voyager I Probe was launched in 1977. That's 35 years ago. It's travelling nearing to 50km per second. Each breath you take, it travels the distance it would take you an hour and a half to drive. And it's been going for 35 years. It's 33 hours away at the speed of light. Now picture walking that distance. It would take millennia, and that's 1/265th of one lightyear. Our galaxy is 100,000–120,000 lightyears across. Now imagine walking that. There are galaxies billions of lightyears away . . . Imagine walking back and forth between here and one of them . . . Now picture it a thousand times. And that's a flash in the pan compared to God's eternal glory.
To Him is our glory, and our power (our all), and our kingdoms. Forever.
Amen: to be firm, confirmed, reliable, faithful, have faith, believe, so be it.

Love . . .

Love . . . What is love (I'm not going to follow that up with "Baby, don't hurt me")? Some say a chemical reaction in the brain, others a feeling, etc.
However, I have another opinion. I believe love is everything, but is isn't everything . . . 

So, we know that it is, in fact, a chemical reaction in the brain; when certain synapses and hormones are produced, we feel 'love'.
Also, it is merely a feeling; those synapses and hormones and chemical reactions combine to cause an adrenaline rush upon the sight of the object of our affection. In other words, everything about us is 'heightened'. Our emotions, heart rate, sensitivity (physically and emotionally), mental state, respiration, strength, speed, everything is heightened to its peak because of that adrenaline rush.

Also, 1 Corinthians says it's patient; it waits without tapping fingers, without pacing, without sigh or groaning. It simply waits.
It's kind; it is being nice, generous and encouraging. Graceful. I could go on about grace, but I won't. Not this time. But it is kind in that it doesn't cause any harm, only good.
It does not envy; it doesn't want anything, or wish for wrong upon another. It brings peace and dissuades us from conflict. It doesn't make people think they need something they don't have.
It does not boast; it builds others up, doesn't say "look at me", doesn't step in front of people just to make its presence known. It lets them realize it through other means, such as the way it is kind.
It is not arrogant; it doesn't poke fun at others for not having it, doesn't try to make people envious--no, it encourages them to find love for themselves. It doesn't put others down.
It is not rude; it does not belittle anyone, it does not disinclude (that's a real word starting now) someone. It doesn't try to cause anger, and does not make others feel bad.
It doesn't insist on its own way; it encourages people to bring their own ideas to light, to embrace other ideas, disinclines one from being judgmental. It has open arms and an open mind, always saying "Let me know, let me in. You have a beautiful mind; express it. I want to know your thoughts."
It is not irritable; it doesn't get angry. It is at peace. It hears rude comments and ignores them. It leaves one happy and joyful. It is a sense of calm, always finding the positive things.
It is not resentful; it doesn't hold a grudge. If someone does wrong, it lets it go, forgives and forgets. It will not say "Remember when you did that one thing?" in an argument, but rather says "Remember when I did that one thing?". It embraces the idea of forgiveness. It doesn't demand people get even, but that they forgive. It bears the judgments and wraths of others, but does not retaliate.
It does not rejoice at wrongdoing; it doesn't cheer on those who are bitter or angry. It wards off sin. It doesn't tell someone that wrong is right. It does not contort or twist what is false into a half-truth. It is black-and-white, knows the defining line between wrong and right, and abhors the former.
It rejoices with the truth; it brazenly declares what is true and does not keep secrets. It is always honest, boldly so. It is made stronger with honesty and is fortified with the truth.
It bears all things; it is mocked and laughed at and scorned, yet stands strong. It meets these things head on and repays them with joy and still waits. It strengthens. It emboldens.
It believes all things; it trusts. It trusts because it itself is honest and true. It is a confidant when all others have turned away. It is faithful. It is precious. It is a child-like faith and adoration.
It hopes all things; it is naive. It is wondrously simple in the way it simply 'hopes'. It is positive and optimistic. It disinclines pessimism and a lack of faith. It wants and expects, but does not anger when all its dreams don't come true. It is courageous yet feeble in its hopes.
It endures all things; it sees unfaithfulness, anger, wrath, shame, and bears them. It hopes that things will always be positive in the end, therefore it holds on. It never lets go. Ever. It waits. And keeps waiting. It gets picked on, it gets overlooked, it gets forgotten and abandon, yet it holds fast. It never lets go. It never lets go. It will always be there. It will always persist. Nothing can satisfy it nor extinguish it. It gets strengthened by everything, but is not diminished by anything. It never lets go. Do you understand? It holds on for hours, days, weeks, months, years . . . And it never. Lets. Go. It stands through every storm, every trial, every ache, pain and hurt, and it comes out stronger. It endures. Forever. It waits. It always waits.

And no matter what we do, if we don't have love, it's all for nothing.
Love is everything. Love is life. Love is beauty. Love is strength, honor, hope, faith . . .  If we don't have all those things listed, if we don't refuse to do the things it refuses to do, all our life is forfeit. Nothing becomes of us. We live and we die and that's it. Ashes to ashes.
But if we love, we endure. We make a difference in the world, an anti-cancer. We brighten one person's day, they brighten another's. And through six degrees of separation, we can cure the planet of negativity . . . If we simply love. Like a spreading flame that keeps burning and consuming until every soul has been set ablaze with love.
The absence of everything is nothing. If we have no love, we have nothing--an absence of everything.
Love is everything.
In 1 John chapter 4, we find out something . . .  God is love. God is love, and love is everything. God is everything. Without God, nothing we do means anything at all. Without God, we become absence; we become nothing.

Show your love to the world. Be a disciple of Christ by being a disciple of Love. Let the world know that God is Love.