Be Strong or Become Corrupted with Flattery

The book of Daniel has powerful insights and imagary of future events and cycles of the rise and fall of powerful rulers who work with similar powers and patterns of behaviour, so what is coming is like what has happened before.
There are two very stark contrasts of people found: either mighty in the exploits of God: or those who are deceived by the master of persuasive lies.
Daniel 11:32 -
32 Those who do wickedly against the covenant he shall corrupt with flattery; but the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits.
So what is the method of operation of deception, for keeping people under the deceivers influence and control? In this instance it is good old corrupt with flattery - the god of forces- he has some resources - abilities.
Flattery works a gifted ruin - it is artfully delivered and gladly received - puffs the ego and inflates the soul larger than life.
What a cunning tool in the hands of a wicked craftsman - he looks for victims to tempt with his cleverly devised bait.

The news prints a sorry story daily of the extremes of evil, mankind is capable of and then of cause we only need to study history to see, the atrocities of wars, dictatorships, control of the masses, slaughters of innocents and the list goes on.
Lets look at one instance in history, to see what men are really capable of, when left to their own devices and what may have influenced them to go that far?
The Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1) was built by the collective civilisation in the ancient days of history, when mankind was recently re-established, following the days of Noah.
Before the flood and up to the time of this monolithic, construction and achievement by mankind, they all spoke the same language and people worked together with the same mind and purpose.
When the flood came it took out most of mankind, as they had become very wicked in their imaginations, as they completely followed the ways of darkness, engrossed by their own fallen nature; on top of this; they were aided by a bunch of fallen angels, who took things to a very extreme and bizarre state.
There was only one way to prevent all of the future generations from becoming totally corrupt and beyond redemption, the flood had to come to put an end to the annihaltion by wickedness and start again with a hope of a coming saviour.
After the great flood and a restart with Noah and family, the following generations made another quick fire decline and they did what was right in their own eyes, which sadly because of their bent imagination and openess to dark counsels was increasingly evil, in similar ways and influence to the days before the flood.
They decided to build in their own greatness with dark, collective thinking, a monument and a reaching for the heights of how far they could go.
They began to make a tower that reached towards the heavens
- they also wanted to make a name for themselves (sound familiar).
When you have mankind going after corrupt practices, they will reach for the heights of power.
Now there exists in the heavenly places of the spiritual realms, three levels or seperate domains. The 3rd level of the heavenlies in the unseen regions, is where Heaven exists and where God resides and is full of light and the presence of God, where the nature of love exists fully.
Then there is another unseen realm, a place in the 2nd level heaven, where darkness rules and the beings that reside there have dark intentions to those living below.
That leaves the 1st heaven, which is the visible region of our skies and atmosphere. Now the surroundings of our atmosphere are influenced by beings, that exist in these higher levels of existence and depending on their motivation and which side of the fence they come from, 2nd or 3rd level, they either want to inhabit us or form an alliance, for good or evil.
We will find that in the 2nd level of heavenly places, that there are ruling forces of darkness and evil beings and that they are very cunning and know how to use deception, with alluring devices to influence people into their grip, especially those who are open to pursuits of corruption and ungodly power.
The evil beings are looking for bodies on earth to express their evil personalities, so we can be under their influence and controlled by their powers if we are open to their suggestions. They are so wickedly deceptive, as they need to offer us something in exchange to persuade us to make a connection and they can appear in first encounter to be quite friendly, with seemingly good intentions for us and they promise us many benefits from the allegiance.
They would do deals just like the most cunning and slick salesperson, or a seemingly benign dictator, to win our favour before they completely take control and take over our lives.
Often their human hosts are not looking for beings from the invisible world, but an unknown supernatural and helpful force from the universe.
So, it may start out seemingly innocent, with a gradual luring away by sinister means; but when they are eventually ensnared by these forces of evil, their victims are overcome by much influence and it is now part of who they are, so they have no strength to withdraw from the dark, domination.
These twisted hellbent, beings rely on our curiosity to be satisfied with some show of power and our natural desire to connect with the unseen world, they look for a loophole in our thinking and makeup, which allows entry by their stealth.
That is why it is important to know who you are dealing with and what their personalities are really like before you join forces.
Ephesians 6:12 -
12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
Beware when you fall into this thinking and are looking to make a name for your self, what may influence you and pull you into evil minded delusions of fame and corrupt practices, to expand your natural abilities with super-powers from the supernatural realm.

John 8:32 -
32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
We were made in His image and we can be restored to our rightful authority in this world, with the newness of Gods life.
We can choose to be conformed to His image - the image of His Son Jesus.
We do not need to make it on our own and cannot achieve perfection without Him.
Lets be the man or woman we were created to be.
However, if we are separated from the one who knows all and created everything - that does not sound very smart - so what if we become a god of our own world?
Bruce Almighty (Jim Carrey Actor in Movie by this name) discovered a thing or two when he took on the god complex.

Continuing on in
Daniel 11:32-35 -
32(b) but the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits.
33 And those of the people who understand shall instruct many; yet for many days they shall fall by sword and flame, by captivity and plundering.
34 Now when they fall, they shall be aided with a little help; but many shall join with them by intrigue.
35 And some of those of understanding shall fall, to refine them, purify them, and make them white, until the time of the end; because it is still for the appointed time.
These people are tapped into the very resources of God and the God nature and energy flows out of them in a demonstration of power.
This comes from knowing God in a continual relationship, depending on His ability and a mind that has the faith type of thinking which is motivated by love.

We also see, that there is a process that goes on when you are connected to God and it is one that develops through life experiences, that will cause us to become strong in the might of God even though we have our initial weaknesses.
We read "they shall fall to purify, refine, make white"
So even if we fall and come under persecutions, trials, temptations, we can be transformed under His loving care to be an overcomer.
There is still victory - so even if we are weak in some areas - He will be strong in us - this exchange works out for the best for us and is a process even when things go bad and the wars come against us through persecutions, or we miss the mark in some area.
John 16:13 -
13 However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.
We have a helper, the Holy Spirit has been given to us to show us the way and help us to tap into the strength of God.

And now lets study an oracle about man and how flattery works ruin; and then Gods lovingkindness and the Light of His Truth in a dark and corrupt world.
Psalm 36
An oracle within my heart concerning the transgression of the wicked:
There is no fear of God before his eyes.
2 For he flatters himself in his own eyes,
When he finds out his iniquity and when he hates.
3 The words of his mouth are wickedness and deceit;
He has ceased to be wise and to do good.
4 He devises wickedness on his bed;
He sets himself in a way that is not good;
He does not abhor evil.

5 Your mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens;
Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.
6 Your righteousness is like the great mountains;
Your judgments are a great deep;
O Lord, You preserve man and beast.

7 How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God!
Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Your wings.
8 They are abundantly satisfied with the fullness of Your house,
And You give them drink from the river of Your pleasures.
9 For with You is the fountain of life;
In Your light we see light.

10 Oh, continue Your lovingkindness to those who know You,
And Your righteousness to the upright in heart.
11 Let not the foot of pride come against me,
And let not the hand of the wicked drive me away.
12 There the workers of iniquity have fallen;
They have been cast down and are not able to rise.
When we give ourselves over to flattery and the lies of wickedness, we have ceased to be wise and the way is ruin.
When we dont have a reverence and acknowledge that God created everything and all of us and therefore, He knows best, we become corrupted, which is not good.
You see, Gods mercy is so great and way above anything that we can imagine, the lengths He goes to reach out to us like the endless vastness of the clouds above us; His love is way up there from our understanding of love.
What He is offering us is life, this life comes from the sweetest fountain which is full of light, to show us the right ways and fill our beings with Gods river of pleasures.
It is no point continuing on in wickedness and allowing our false perception of greatness to corrupt our future.
It is not wise to turn away from all that God is offering us, when pride will drag us to a place of a great fall.
The foot of pride is like a stamp and hold that is placed on us, so we become trapped under its clutches, however, pride will not be able to keep us bound if we resist the lies it suggests to our wayward imagination.
2 Timothy 2:26 -
26 and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.
When we allow ourselves to go with pride we are going with the thoughts and intentions of Satan and anyone that is in his grip, are captive for his will and purposes.
Now there is opposition in this world, with the devil and his hordes opposing those in the Kingdom of God and sadly, there are also those, that are captive and doing the enemies will in opposition.
When people remain in Satans hand and do not choose life, they are cast down and not able to rise and that is a sad state for anyone who has the potential of true greatness in God.
The workers of iniquity are drunk on its devices and the lure of false pleasures and power and they spread their dark philosophy to others to also bring them into captivity.
The opposition to living life in righteousness can come by the hand of the wicked, which wants to drive away those in the faith from the blessings of God.
So if people are given over to the ways of Satan, they become his tools to bring distress and bewitch others by false religion and philosophy using deceptive, false signs and wonders.

Opposition can take on many forms, depending on the principle mindset and traditions of a region or a country.
There can be persecutions by violence and hatred or ridicule and then there is sinisterly, clever arguments and false portayal of who God is and what He is like.
Then on a large scale there are powers that are in positions of large influence and control over economies and the commodities and the markets of supply.
Ephesians 4:14 -
14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting.
If we are not strong in the knowledge of Gods word and His truth and we dont really know Him on a personal level, then the cunning devices and schemes of the enemy can overtake us and notice the enemy uses people who are all around us and that we have contact with; either directly or indirectly by influence.
Ephesians 4:17-19 -
17 This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind,
18 having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart;
19 who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.
The enemy uses our inclinations to corruption and greed in order to compel us into domination by him and his devices, where we become a tool for his destructive ways.
These destructive ways are often inflicted upon others and also innocent people and can be a very evil activity that is very dark indeed.
Other translations use the word dark imaginations instead of the word understanding and I think imaginations is better, as it is the gateway into the spirit world, where it can either be influenced by light for good or gross darkness in deception.
We are created to be creative people in our own individual ways and we can shine our talent and greatness to the world for the common good.
Unfortunately if we are given over to Satan for his will, then our creative gifts in the arts, like music, painting, writing and film and other medias like the internet, can be used as tools of darkness to captivate and influence others into the dark imaginations of our souls.
Ephesians 4:20-24 -
20 But you have not so learned Christ,
21 if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus:
22 that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts,
23 and be renewed in the spirit of your mind,
24 and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.
If we are in Christ, then that is the place where the fountain of life flows through our imaginations and gifts and then we are able to put off the old destructive ways of lust.
God has provided for each of us His Light and no matter what our background was and how corrupt our imagination was, whether we felt like we were Satans right hand man and the biggest tool he had on earth; we can still choose to switch off those dark imaginations and put on the new, which is created, new in Jesus.
The world is very corrupt and full of darkness, but there is Good News!!! God has made a way to come out of a life of corruption and yielding to its seduction, to take hold of His plan of redemption by His love and compassion for all He has created.
I say, start again and make all things new, by making a switch from darkness to light, Jesus died for all of our sins and set us free from the power of Satan and all of his devices.
Receive Gods love and His power to be free.
Isaiah 60:1-3 -
Arise, shine;
For your light has come!
And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you.
2 For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth,
And deep darkness the people;
But the Lord will arise over you,
And His glory will be seen upon you.
3 The Gentiles shall come to your light,
And kings to the brightness of your rising.
I say that all that read this will come into contact with the light and see Gods Glory Light, if you receive it, Gods light and truth will set you free.

In conclusion, there is an ultimate promise from Jesus who went about doing good, delivering all from oppression, healing the sick, performing miracles, signs and wonders, raising the dead and demonstrating the Kingdom and the Love of God on earth with unlimited power.
Go to
John 14:12-14 -
12 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.
13 And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
14 If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.
There is what is known as the greater works