December 2004

           Two Kinds of People:
                      Enemies and Friends
                       By Tennessee Elijah

When two people come together for any reason -- to walk, talk, work or
play -- spiritual forces within their respective souls are churning inside, stimulating them in subconscious ways. If one person is standing on God's side of the Dividing Line, and the other is with Satan, there will be an inner-confrontation taking place beneath outer-superficiality. If any two people are spiritually compatible, when both of them stand with either God or Satan, factors inherent within their relationship will determine how they relate to each other -- and will generally cause them to be more agreeable. To summarize this premise which we will refer to as Two Kinds of People: Enemies and Friends, it might be helpful to remember the often quoted words: "Water seeks its' own level" and "Birds of a feather flock together."

Before we can apply the Two Kinds of People: Enemies and Friends principle to human relationships, we need to understand why it is important to learn how to discern the "spiritual nature" of every person we encounter. If we want to surround ourselves with those who think, act and interact, according to our desires or expectations, we first need to determine which side of the Dividing Line they are standing. As we know from evaluating
the Life of Jesus, "true" Jesus people tend to have characteristics that include honesty, generosity, civility, compassion, willingness to forgive transgressions of others, modesty, respect for creative productive pursuits -- and love for others. On the other side of the line, we know that Satan people have characteristics which tend to make them incompatible with everything that most followers of Christ cherish.

Whether religious leaders, psychologists, sociologists, politicians or anyone else believes it or not, this world is divided between two groups of people -- not three, four or more: One group is composed of those who have a "carnal" mentality that affects their way of making choices, and the other group relates to reality from a "spiritual" perspective.

Be aware of this one important fact:
There is no neutral zone or gray area
between enemies and friends!

It is impossible to stand with one foot over each side of the spiritual Dividing Line. Each "soul" is either dominated by good spirits or bad spirits -- and this is what determines everything about how we humans make decisions.

Those who base their "thinking processes" on tangible evidence in support
of various belief systems will often attempt to deceive themselves or others by misusing terms related to all things of a spiritual nature. They cleverly twist meanings of philosophical theories, pervert the purpose of Christian faith, corrupt the intent of the Father Creator -- and unwisely rationalize their own existence far beyond their ability to comprehend. While Satan people are busy confusing themselves in many different ways, Jesus people often try to reach out to help them correct the error of their ways. Whenever this happens, as we all know, "opposites" never "attract" anything but trouble! Every person found within these two incompatible groups of people are destined to argue and fight until one of them makes a serious change or simply walks away. Any person who is sincerely wrong, choosing to rebel against universal laws while failing to admit it, resents interference from anyone who makes an attempt to define sin. Many Christians are scorned and persecuted by those who endorse Satan's values. Rebellious souls feel
very frustrated and angry with anyone from God's side of the line.

It is becoming my custom to avoid people who take delight in treating me
in negative ways. There is no good to be done during verbal confrontations with individuals who are motivated by jealousy, who often seek to get a competitive edge, who are constantly exalting themselves arrogantly or seem to enjoy making others squirm by reminding them of every mistake they've ever made. The evil motivations of those who get perverted pleasure out of contrary communications and are focusing primarily on materialistic fleshly pursuits can be very detrimental to the serenity of peace-loving souls. People who are motivated by a love of money, political power, illicit sexual relations -- and a multitude of other fleshly appetites -- get real nervous around those of us who are not eager to participate in their corruptible lifestyles.

Another problem I try to avoid is entanglements with selfish people who
care more about doing things for themselves than for others. They seldom want to give their time, energy or personal attention to family members
or neighbors. Sometimes parents, brothers, sisters -- and all of the other relatives we have in our families -- will get in touch only when they want something, want to brag about themselves or get curious enough to ask
for information about our activities. Maybe they want to make sure that
we haven't bought a new house or car, won the lottery or got sick and died while they were busy ignoring us. Some relatives or friends might tend to have a habitual sense of obligation which causes them to make a phone call every couple of weeks or maybe send cards or cheap gifts during holidays -- just to keep their toes in the door of our lives. Otherwise, the seldom-seen familiar-faces might as well be strangers! They have no desire for frequent casual gatherings for reasons they never want to explain. When asked why they are always "too busy" to get together for a cup of coffee, go to a movie, watch a video, take the kids on a picnic or to the zoo, their response is usually some form of justification that allows months to go by without personal contact. Of course, all substitutes -- things like phone calls and birthday cards -- are the only way these meaningless, shallow relationships are able to half-way survive.

People who love and care about each other do not choose to separate themselves! We never make the choice to escape into a room behind a shut door to avoid pleasant conversation or normal companionship. We do not choose to spend most of our time on personal work, personal chores or any other kind of personal activity rather than sharing ourselves with those we love. Our personal priorities say more about who or what we "love" than insincere "love" words that we use to justify our absence.

Most of us do what we really want to do!

The problem for some of us is that we really do love our relatives and
friends more than they love us! We try to make arrangements to get together on various occasions, but resistance to our efforts is consistent. We hear countless reasons why they can't agree to accept our invitations. Eventually, as years filled with disappointments overwhelm us, we stop trying to give ourselves to those who are not willing to become involved in our chosen lifestyle. Satan people do not want to spend time with Jesus people -- even if they are family members, friends or neighbors.

If the money in our pocket is more important than our father, mother, husband, wife, brother, sister, other relatives, friends or neighbors -- then our values need to be changed! Jesus people know that each soul
is more valuable than all of the money on this planet.

If our personal appearance, family heritage, national culture, material possessions, social status, career success, political power or anything else is more important to us than the people we pretend to care about, then we need to change our way of thinking! Jesus people know that
we are all equal in the eyes of God.

If we knew that we had only one day remaining to live at the age of seventy, what would we want to tell children of the world? Would we explain to innocent young people why we desire a monument erected to immortalize our human existence or would we emphasize humility instead? Would we give them advice about how excessive riches are obtained and retained or would we explain that charity is better? Would we want to take our final breath clutching deeds to our property, grasping pillow cases full of paper money or hugging people who made our time on Earth meaningful?

The memories we create for ourselves while making daily choices on earth are a part of the "soul" -- which will not return to dust as human bodies do. Wouldn't it be better to take memories of happy family members and friends with us into the spiritual realm than to take along all of the garbage that we created while alive?

There are many examples we could use to show how the Two Kinds of People: Enemies and Friends principle can be the basis for everything that happens in our lives, but for now, let's just ask a question: Would memories of days filled with happy times around Jesus people be better than memories of heartache and strife with Satan people?

As we all know, many folks who align themselves with Jesus are often guilty of acting like Satan people, and many who align themselves with Satan are very good at pretending to be Christians. When it gets right down to it, only God knows for sure how the idea of Two Kinds of People: Enemies and Friends can be applied accurately to millions of souls who inhabit places where we live. Without Divine help to make identifications, we can only hope that we are on the right side of the Dividing Line.

Have we been too busy to give affection to our family
and friends, give a charitable gift to someone in need,
read the Holy Bible, or pray to Jesus, lately?