We have an indoor cat who really should have been a barn cat. He is big and burly, and pure muscle.
I literally can not hold him in my arms like a normal cat with his front feet in my one hand and his back feet in my other hand. I either hold his bottom and then his front feet or draped him across my hip like carrying a wolverine.
photo from "The Wolverine Way" by D. Chadwick
This cat's feet are huge, designed to grab and hold on. He can leap in the air quicker than the eye to catch whatever you throw for him to play with, or when he is trying to humor me, all he has to do is reach out his long arm and he will catch this "prey" with his huge paw. Even more amazing is his jaw which is designed to catch and kill.
If this guy wasn't such a sweetheart of a kitty he would be very dangerous.
This morning while it was a bit rainy I went out into the fenced back yard. It was the perfect time to fit in a supervised jaunt for him and his little sister. One minute later our nemesis, the vole, was caught by our would-be barn cat. Excitement filled the air as little sister kitty wanted to see and our wolverine proudly carried his prey here and there.
Soon enough I confiscated the vole and our wolverine was on the hunt for another one. He knows all the myriad places to look and he spent the next half hour loping from one spot to the next and then he would begin again.
Our wolverine didn't catch another vole, but I watched in amazement as his fluid movements of running, loping, jumping, and grabbing. He is good at hunting and catching his prey no matter if it is a live vole or a fuzzy toy.
All of this behavior brought to my mind our great nemesis, our evil adversary, the devil or satan who is always on the prowl, like sin as it crouches at our doorsteps.
In Genesis 4:7 the LORD said to Cain, "If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.”
..."Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.
Be of sober spirit, be on the alert.
Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world.
After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you.
To Him be dominion forever and ever. Amen..."
Over these long years I have seen and I have known so many parents who have raised up their precious children well in the LORD and His Truth.
*not legalistically, cruelly, contemptuously, selfishly, flippantly, heartlessly, possessively, disrespectfully...
These children had the freedom of Christ in their hands, many of them strong second generation Believers, but when grown up they seemingly have thrown this freedom all away for selfish, worldly reasons. Meanwhile, the parents are in constant anguish over the radical changes in their behaviors.
Yes, sin was crouching at their door steps, and even though they had been taught God's Word in His truth, they followed after their own heart's desires which were actually gift wrapped poison by the evil one.
How does this happen to people who have had the truth in their hands which we thought set them free?
There is no time to give all the scenarios which have a choice of wrong thinking ...drugs, power, politics, violence, legalism, alcohol, childishness, etc...but there is a way to understand many of the "whys?" from this article by Daniel Greenfield:
..."Brainwashing isn’t a secretive event that takes place in hidden rooms. No hypnotists or vials full of chemicals are required. It takes place every day on a massive scale across the United States...
...Brainwashing isn’t magic, but it can look like magic. The sleight of hand that causes us to think so is our firm belief in our reason and free will.
It’s easier to believe in changing minds through hypnotism and drugs, than to understand, what the successful practitioners of brainwashing do, that the human mind is more malleable than we like to think, and that the subconscious is more powerful than the conscious.
The art and science of brainwashing is well known. We don’t know it because we choose not to.
Brainwashing happens every day. It doesn’t have to mean a complete transformation of identity. On the simplest level, it means compelling someone to believe something that isn’t true...
... The key elements of brainwashing are ...
...control, crisis and emotional resonance.
To successfully brainwash someone,
you have to control their environment,
force a crisis on them,
and then tap into core emotions,
fear,
love,
guilt,
hate,
shame,
and guide them through the crisis by accepting and internalizing a new belief.
The belief can be anything, but the pseudo-religious ritual taps into an emotional core requiring them to believe that they were bad people, and that by accepting this new belief, they are now good people.
This false conversion is the essence of brainwashing and of leftist political awakening narratives.
The human mind, like the human body, adapts to a crisis with a fight-or-flight response.
Brainwashing forces the mind into a flight response.
Once in flight mode, the mind can rationalize a new belief as a protective behavior that will keep it safe.
Even when, as in the case of the suspect, (in the article on line) the new belief will actually destroy his life.
Fight or flight mode inhibits long term thinking.
In panic mode, destructive and suicidal behaviors seem like solutions because they offer an escape from unbearable chemical stresses..."
* Please go to FRONTPAGEmag to read the entire article, and then reread it to begin to understand what has been happening to our children and our nation.
A big thank you to Mr. Greenfield for explaining this difficult-to-understand subject of Brainwashing.
Psalm 28:6-7
"Blessed be the Lord,
Because He has heard the voice of my supplication.
The Lord is my strength and my shield;
My heart trusts in Him, and I am helped;
Therefore my heart exults,
And with my song I shall thank Him."
*
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