Opinions of Wednesday, 12 December 2018
Columnist: Dag Heward-Mills
The Bible admonishes us to be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. This means that snakes are wise. In that case, there is wisdom leaders can derive by watching serpents. One of the wisdom keys of serpents is that they have developed inner power. The great wisdom of the serpent is to have developed internal power that is called venom. Snakes produce saliva from within their mouths just like we all do. The saliva of a snake is its venom. The venom a snake produces within itself is so powerful that it can kill a human being, a lion or even an entire village.
The great power of a snake comes from within. The snake produces saliva from within itself and this saliva is so potent that a drop of it can send you to your grave. Imagine your saliva being so powerful that you could kill someone by spitting at him.
The venom of the king cobra is so deadly that one bite can kill twenty people or one elephant. The Australian Brown Snake's venom is so powerful that only 1/14,000th of an ounce is needed to kill a human being. Australia's inland Taipan snake (Oxyuranus microlepidotus) is said to possess the strongest venom of any land snake. Fortunately, it seeks unpopulated areas and rarely bites people. Taipan snakes have venom 50 times more toxic than a cobra.
Every man can unleash positive powers or negative powers from within. It is when something comes from deep within that it is powerful. Both positive and negative things gain their power when they are from within and from the heart. Without the heart's involvement, every word and physical action is really powerless.
And he said, “That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. FOR FROM WITHIN, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adultery, fornication, murder, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: All these evil things come from within, and defile the man” – Mark 7:20-23
Consider this young lady who is raped by an armed robber. This young lady has had several boyfriends in the past and committed fornication with all of them. She is well known for her immoral and sexual sins. Now, the armed robber rapes her in a similar style that she used to have sex with her other boyfriends. After the rape event is over, no one accuses the young lady of having committed fornication or any sin with the armed robber. No one even says she has been immoral or unholy. Why is that? Why are people rather sympathetic to her? Did she not do the exact same things with the armed robber that she did with her other boyfriends?
Why is it that the same physical act is considered to be a sin on one day and on another occasion it is not even considered to be wrong? The answer is simple. She did not do it of her free will or from her heart. Because these actions did not emanate from her heart, she is considered to be guiltless and sinless.
Jesus taught us that it is only when something comes from within and from the heart that it has power. It is only when preaching comes from the heart that it is powerful. It is only when teaching comes from the heart that it is powerful. It is only when we do things from the heart that they have power. The real power is from within! Read it for yourself.
And he said, “That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. For FROM WITHIN, out of THE HEART of men, proceed evil thoughts, adultery, fornication, murder, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: All these evil things COME FROM WITHIN, AND DEFILE the man” – Mark 7:20-23
The power that comes from within you is the strong force that can do wonders in your life. It is what comes from within you that determines how powerful you may be. What is on the outside has very little real effect.
Inner Power
Jesus said that the things that defile you come from inside. An evil eye, evil thoughts, adultery, fornication, murder, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, blasphemy, pride and foolishness deplete spiritual power and contaminate you. When you open your inner life to hidden evil thoughts, hidden deceit, hidden thefts and hidden adultery, all your powers go out and you are like a snake without venom!
The great wisdom of the serpent is to fight with internal powers. Work on your hidden internal thinking processes. Your negative thoughts reduce the power within you. To be wise you must seriously work on what is within you! A snake has a lot of power – and the power is all internal. Work on your thoughts! Develop internal power!
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