I got up one morning and after going through my morning rituals of getting ready for my day, worked my way to my den. I passed by the cat's food bowls.  As I filled the bowls, the sound of the dry food falling loosely into the plastic bowls was a clear message that there was FOOD!!!   ...and cats came running from all directions. Then I'd gone into the den to get my coffee started.  Needing water for the coffee pot, I had to go to the kitchen.  As I passed, I saw my four (at that time) cats eating heartily.  While I was in the kitchen, and pondering the site at the cats, I thought something just didn't look right.  there was too much grey there. As I returned to the den, I glanced down and there were the five cats still munching away, all with their noses in the food bowls....   But wait a minute!!   ...there were not four, there were five. I looked more closely and one was a funny looking grey cat.  No, not a cat...   Not at all. It was a possum!!  There was my four cats and a young adolescent possum which somehow got into the house and was eating with them. This little possum was a little smaller than the cats and was right in there with them. We are known for taking in feral cats, raising them, and finding good homes for them...   and in the process, we kept a few.  It seems that the cats may have thought this was some new kind of cat.  Some with a disability of ugliness.  The ugliest cat they'd ever seen.  But he wasn't hurting anyone, so he could stay if he had to.  Besides, this cat was so ugly that he was in need of serious reassurance and encouragement. I took the little possum by the tail and realized I really had something here.  I had a little critter that had BIG sharp teeth, claws, and an attitude that would make Osama bin Laden look like Mr Rogers. As I tried to move him to the door by the tail, he'd try to climb up the tail, teeth showing clearly, in an attempt to bite my hand.  But I wasn't wanting that either...   so I would shake his little grey carcass loose so he can't reach me. Ultimately, instead of going for the door, I took this dangerous little thing to a wildlife trap into which I dumped his toothy carcass. Was he ever MAD!! This is like some things that come into our lives.  Oh, this isn't so bad, it's only a little thing...   So we take it in and feed it. Then something else comes along and we look at it and, well it might not look too pretty, but I can do it in private so others can't see...   And now it becomes part of our life just like the first little thing. Eventually, we have so many little, ugly, and dangerous things, that we're in trouble.  I find that just one bit of danger in our lives is plenty. However, when we allow more and more of these devilish little dangerous things into our lives, they can and will bring us down to where we risk destruction. I consider 1 Peter 58 which says, "Be sober, be vigilant;  because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:" I wonder...   Does a lion look for dead things to devour?  Not at all.  He's looking for something that's alive that he might chase down, kill, and eat. A sinner is living in death.  He's spiritually dead.  Christ is the One who gives "life" (John 146).   We Christians are alive in Christ (John 2031; Romans 817; 64). A lion will never look for a dead human to devour.  He will look for one which is alive.  Christians are the ones with life.  Not Spiritually dead unBelievers.  So who is the devil seeking to devour?  Those who pose him the greatest harm.  The Believers. He's already got the sinners following him, and he wants the Believers.  That's why the Believers are instructed to remain strong and focused and beware if the difficulties of life (James 1). Also see Topical Studies - Backsliding vs Eternal Life. AEAMT Home Our Mission     Our Vision     Tenets of Faith From Us     The Pastor     Contact Us