Seraphim: More Than Ghost Stories

By Alan Trujillo

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• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Nov 29, 2011
• ISBN: 9781465396013

Alan Trujillo

Alan Trujillo lives in Pueblo Colorado where the story takes place. After high school he attended several colleges and studies. He now works in healthcare where he experienced a true presence of compassion, and in compassion he found God. Trying to prove God’s existence by experiences with evil and by science doesn’t prove God’s existence, but in turn God proves their existence’s.

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Copyright © 2011 by Alan Trujillo.

Library of Congress Control Number:       2011960456

ISBN:         Hardcover                               978-1-4653-9600-6

                   Softcover                                 978-1-4653-9599-3

                   Ebook                                      978-1-4653-9601-3

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without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the

product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance

to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

This book was printed in the United States of America.

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This book is dedicated to Tina.

You’re my love and my world.

None of this would have been possible without you.

Forever yours, Alan

CONTENTS

Preface

Acknowledgements

Chapter I

Chapter II

Chapter III

Chapter IV

Chapter V

Chapter VI

Chapter VII

Chapter VIII

Chapter IX

Chapter X

Chapter XI

Chapter XII

Chapter XIII

Chapter XIV

Chapter XV

Chapter XVI

Chapter XVII

Chapter XVIII

Chapter XIX

Chapter XX

PREFACE

This book started as an entertainment based on true ghost stories, but eventually revealed the truth behind them. It revealed the truth, which is the word of God. May the truth help and inspire many to follow in Jesus’s path. After reading this book I hope the true realm will be revealed to you, for your salvation. No need to be scared if you start seeing creepy things from this realm, because they show that there is an opposite side, a good side, and in that Good side, God. God will always protect his people, and he is with you. In this book I speak of magic and sorcery, which at this time in my life I figured magic wasn’t always bad. People who practice magic say that there is white magic, which is thought as being good. In the book to follow I delve into this subject more critically, but for now know that all magic, sorcery, and fortune telling are all done by use of deities, and not God. They reveal God’s will, and even change it. They should not change his will for they got their power from God, and they themselves were made by God, but defy him. If these things are not done by God, or revealed to you by him or his obedient angels, then they are from the evil one. These may be able to do these powerful things according to the rules he placed on the earth, but shortly these powers will be admonished, and anybody caught up in using, or believing in these false Idols will be severely punished. Jesus redeemed us by the cross, and the word. In The Revelations, the word is revealed as a sword that comes from Jesus’s mouth that will destroy the evil during his second coming. What does the cross appear as in resemblance, but as an upside down sword that pierces through the earth and into the devil’s heart? It pierced through the devil’s heart as he defeated him, and it stands as a reminder of his triumph that he will come again to save us, may we all be worthy of his promises.

In Jesus Christ’s name, Amen

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Is it necessary to know the stories about evil? Do people need to know the parts of the gospels that contain stories of demons? Yes to true know God and live according to the words that came directly from his mouth, we must accept all writings. To know the enemy we learn how to defeat him. There have been revised bibles with many parts taken out, but without the fullness of the scriptures we lose the fullness of God. As St. Jerome once wrote, "Ignorance of scripture is ignorance of God." This work will be tested as well. As St. Paul wrote, (Corinthians 3:10-3:15) According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid a foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. For no other foundation can anyone lay than which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw. Each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of which sort it is. If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.

During St. Dominick’s life the Catholic Church had just broke apart due to Martin Luther and Calvin. Needles to say there were many heretics he argued with daily. He preached the gospel from the Catholic perspective. He preached with little gain until the Virgin Mary told him to pray the rosary, and gave him a rosary. After, many were converted back to the Catholic Church. On one occasion he argued with heretics for days. Finally, they decided to test their beliefs exactly as St. Paul described. The heretic and St. Dominic threw their writings into a fire to settle the dispute. Their belief was that the work that was true would survive the flames. An act like this requires a vast amount of faith. The heretic’s work burned instantly, but St. Dominick’s floated in the fire as if held up by an invisible hand, and remained in perfect condition. After some time his work was tossed out of the fire by a mystical force. The judges told St. Dominick to throw it in again, and after several times of being tossed out of the fire, the judges still didn’t give St. Dominick the victory, even after the miracle. This is where the phrase, Trial by fire, comes from. The work of God will be proven, and as St Teresa said, People recognize the truth.

Many hours of hard work, strife, spiritual struggle, and financial problems made this book very hard to write, but it would not have been possible without my wife. Her patients, support and understanding made this book possible. I’m truly blessed, with each day she grows even more beautiful inside and out which doesn’t seem possible. To her this book is dedicated, and to many others who made it possible. To God, who made all possible, Jesus, The Holy Spirit, The Virgin Mary, St. Michael, St. Peter, St. Paul, St. John, St. Luke, St. Matthew, St. Mark, my guardian angels, and all saints and angels too many to name, this book is in your honor, to you oh Lord, my savior, my strength, my friend, and my love, may glory and honor be yours forever, Amen.

CHAPTER I

Somebody asked me once, When did you realize God exists? There were several people sitting around waiting to hear my response. I thought about it for a second; I couldn’t remember on the spot. I have always remembered having faith in God. Sure, there were a few times that I was doubtful, but I knew he was there. Instead of taking more time to think about it, I just blurted out whatever came to mind. I was nervous, and to top it off, I didn’t like talking in front of crowds, especially people I barely knew. The question itself poses a threat of humiliation because of one’s innermost beliefs. Even if the people believed in God themselves, this question can make you sound like a genius or an idiot. I said I realized God existed when I won the Gary Dhare Award. It wasn’t an award to be downplayed, and it wasn’t insignificant at all. It was awarded annually to the most outstanding football player, and it was presented to me on my senior year.

Each year toward the end of the school year, the high school has a grand award assembly. They invite all the nominees from all the boys’ and girls’ sports. The entire night is elegant. You are told to dress formal, and the hall where it takes place is catered. I really wasn’t even planning on going. A couple of my friends convinced me to go, and the coach mentioned that I should show up at least because I was one of the captains of the football team. My entire family was invited, so we all went.

After dinner, they began presenting awards. I really didn’t expect to receive anything, even though at the back of my mind, I hoped I would, and tried not to show that I would be disappointed if I lost. The night dragged on, and every time the football coach walked directly by our table to announce another award at the podium, my family gave him a dirty look. They meant well on my behalf, but it still wasn’t something they should have done. I was just trying to survive the night. I wondered how a teammate convinced me to go. One of the last awards the coach announced was the one he presented to me. It was for the most outstanding player, and one of the most prestigious. He said many great things about me, but the high point of the night was still to come. It was after we left the ceremony. We were in the minivan, and my mom gladly gave up the front passenger seat to me in honor of my award, I didn’t really want to, but she insisted. We began to drive and we were several blocks from the building where the ceremony took place when we came to a stop light. The coach pulled up next to us they all car-pooled together and recognized me because I was in the passenger seat. Just the formal night ended when my brother Greg who was sitting in the back seat noticed an old malt shake that was half eaten. It was now just a dark brown liquid. I don’t know what came over him, but for some reason, for the first time in his life, and never since he became aware that he wanted to clean the van. He pulled the sliding door open triggering the lights to turn on in the van reaffirming our identity, and threw the melted chocolate malt in the street. The large cup slashed and all I could do was hope it didn’t get their vehicle, we had one brief moment of a classy night and it was shattered showing our true colors. Looking back at it now, it is a very funny story to tell, and the first and last time Greg decided to clean out the van.

The story of receiving the award as being the moment I realized the existence of God was a lie, and as soon as soon as those words left my mouth, I knew how ridiculous they sounded. Lying was bad enough, but lying about something that had to do with God made it worse. People in the crowd responded with Oh, how nice and How neat. It was stupid. Everyone was supposed to take a turn and share his or her own epiphany of when they found God.

It was a retreat that Catholics are required to take in order to receive their Confirmation. It was about three to four days long, which included staying there overnight combined with fasting. I really hated cheesy crap like this. I’m not talking about the retreat but sharing with complete strangers some of the most intimate feelings you have. At first, the people who ran the retreat came off overly enthusiastic and overzealous. There was no way anyone could naturally be that happy, it was as if they popped pills. They always seemed to be on a natural high. I wish I could always be happy. They were a little silly and goofy, but they seemed to be happy no matter what was going on around them. They were the kind of people you see on television sitting around a campfire playing a guitar and singing Kum By Ya.

Surprisingly, I ended up having a lot of fun once I let my guard down. It ended up being a really good experience. They were a little annoying at first, but they were volunteering their time and doing such a noble thing. I guess one could say they grew on me. It was nice to be in a place where you could freely speak about God and not be looked at like an idiot. It was an old, abandoned church. It was probably prohibited to celebrate mass there. The ceiling was decorated with unwanted stains from leaks of years past. The floor creaked as if aching from every step placed upon it. It probably wouldn’t hold the weight of an entire crowd. The church so close to death was held up by the life preached inside.

Strangely, the experience and the environment made me feel close to God. It was in a very poor neighborhood. The humble quarters imitated Jesus’s life of poverty. Jesus had the opportunity to be born in any type of lifestyle, in a palace with fancy shrouds. Instead, he was born in either a stable or a cave. It is still debated, because in those times, a cave was called a stable. Regardless of what it was, it was still unfit for our Lord.

It’s not very different from what an animal would do. He lived a humble life by choice, to set an example. He was said to take up the same trade as Joseph. However, there is no mention of Saint Joseph after Jesus’s childhood, and that is because he died. Now, Joseph was believed to be a carpenter, but that isn’t true. The town where they lived was very small and could not afford to have a carpenter. Joseph would now be described as a modern-day construction worker, but there is no doubt that he worked with wood and other hard materials too. Why didn’t Jesus live the rich lavish lifestyle of a king? He most certainly could have.

In one of the gospels, Jesus and his disciples were traveling from town to town to spread the word; they are faced to pay a toll that foreigners were required to pay. They didn’t have any money, so Jesus instructed Saint Peter to go to the waterfront and drop a line into the water. When he pulled up the line, he caught a fish that contained a gold coin in its mouth. They used the money to pay a toll that foreigners were required to pay. He could have had any riches he desired, but his life is an example of what we should imitate. One doesn’t necessarily have to be poverty-stricken to follow Jesus. We need to strive to follow him and live by faith, and we need to know that whatever one needs, he will receive. The environment at the church where the retreat was held ran parallel to the praiseworthy life of poverty, just as Jesus’s. I felt closer to God then if I would have been in the biggest, most lavish church in the world.

Jesus has said, Blessed be ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are ye that hunger now: for ye shall be filled. Blessed are ye that weep now: for ye shall laugh. Woe unto you that are full, for ye shall hunger. Woe unto you that laugh now! For you shall mourn and weep (Luke 6:20 and 6:25). A lot of saints who were chosen came from poverty-stricken families. Mary and Joseph were both from modest families. Maybe it’s because there is a sense of humbleness, piety, and trust that comes along with being poor. Does this mean that God wants us to suffer and have a hard life, to not enjoy this life? Of course not, but those who have everything they could desire have no need to seek God. There is some sort of sacrifices we must make to please him. Whether we chose these sacrifices or not, they are still pleasing. However, if we choose to partake in suffering, then the rewards are grand. For example, depriving our body of its desires, such as abstinence, or even a necessity, as eating, is pleasing to God. They are both considered a form of suffering.

Sexual urges force us to want to commit adultery or some form of licentiousness. Depriving ourselves of these urges strengthens us. People are exploring the advantages of fasting lately, and it’s a very popular fad. They say it’s a healthy way to lose weight and explain that they experience something very spiritual. This is not a new concept. It is found everywhere in the Old Testament. Anything that the body naturally wants, we should not indulge ourselves with if we want to strengthen our souls while proving to God that we love him. If a husband tells his wife that he loves her but then has an affair or beats her, his words are different from his actions. His actions are the true testimony to his feelings for her. His words are empty. Like as it has been written, faith without works are just words. We need to prove to God that we love him. We should tell God every day that we love him. Don’t let a sophisticated prayer hinder your advancement, especially if you can’t remember it. We should tell him every day as we do our spouses. In fact, there is piece of scripture that says we should love him more than our spouses and children. It sounds questionable. Everything they are, and as great as they are, is because of God. US being blessed with their presence is also through God.

Why do we have a hard time saying to God that we love him? Even for a very religious person, we never think of it, or it’s an odd thing to say. Saying it to him shouldn’t be weird; we should not just repeat the words in prayers. We need to say every prayer as if they were our own words and pay attention to the meaning of the prayers. I myself didn’t know that the Our Father was created by Jesus himself. His disciples asked him how they should pray, and he cited the Our Father. The last part of the prayer is actually a little different, but it’s similar even though it changed over time. I recently looked up the part where it says Hallowed be the name because I didn’t know what it meant. Hallowed be thy name means blessed is your name. We should know what we believe and why we say what we say.

Sin shows God that we don’t care how it makes him feel. Even though he has unconditional love for us, it still has the same effect as a loved one hurting their spouse. What if we don’t know we are sinning? He will unmask their identity somehow eventually. Even though we commit these sins, he will show us mercy until we learn that we are sinning. If we continue to commit the same sin over and over while asking for forgiveness, then we show no regard for his feelings. Those with means to sin are more likely to do so, but in the same token, they have all more reason to thank God for their blessings. Not only will the wealthy have more temptation, but it’s likely they will also be blinded by a false sense of security. Their sense of security is that they alone are responsible for their own success and nobody else. This world will blind them with its temporary highs. They believe they create their own fortune, so why is there a need to thank anyone else?

They believe they achieved it on their own. They are naive, not knowing that only through God all things are achieved or at least allowed to happen. Needless to say, this world is unfair at times. How else can one explain a corrupt man whom is blessed with a fortune as he piles his money higher and higher while the poor suffer, never finding relief? The poor need to hold fast to their faith, doing everything they cannot turn to sin, such as stealing, even if they feel like they have the right or even if they are obligated. Not only will they have the sin of stealing against others, but also not truly having enough faith in God. He will give them everything they need. Men have gained fortunes by unmoral ways from the beginning of time without any trouble. Maybe it’s the way in which we perceive the situation.

I caught a glimpse of a show where a blind priest was thanking God for his condition. He was born blind, and he was going on how he was so thankful that God made him that way. He is crazy is the first thing that went through my mind. Most people would probably curse God for their handicap. Just imagine, he has never experienced the vision of a sunset, or even himself, and never will. Yet he thanks God. I came across another man who was barely reaching his forties who developed MS. He could barely control his arms, and even then, they shook so violently that they were barely of any use. His legs and body control were completely diminished. He was so upbeat about his condition, yet he held to his faith and obedience. He was in a nursing home when his wife and two kids weren’t taking care of him. There is nothing he could do for himself, yet he too thanked God for what he has. How can two men so cursed in this life be so upbeat? What is the reasoning behind their mentality? The priest thanks God for his condition because he doesn’t have the same temptations every other man has. But I say unto you, that whosoever looketh on a women to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart (Matt. 5:28). It is so much easier to resist temptation when one doesn’t have the means to do so, just as the man with MS has to go out of his way to sin. It’s not like he can be a normal man and be tested as a normal man would be. For example, a normal man might have the opportunity to commit adultery or to steal. Even though his life is full of pain and torment, he will gain so much more from this condition.

Through their weaknesses, they are made strong. It is easier for them to resist temptation, so a curse might appear as a curse in this life, but maybe it isn’t because of the profit they will gain. Maybe we should reevaluate what we think. Maybe we should not think that being poor, ill, or being handicapped is as bad as it appears. Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but of this world. And the world passeth away, and the lust there of: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever (John 2:15).

Then how are we to live? My entire life I have heard, Get an education and you will be successful, which translates, money will solve all your problems. America was founded by manifest destiny, right? We are a nation that makes our own destiny. It was written in Matthew 6:24-34, No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or either he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye can not serve God and mammon. Mammon is translated as money, and later people referred to mammon as the son of the devil. Therefore I say unto you, take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not life more than meat, and the body raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why ye take thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore if God clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, what shall we eat? Or, What shall we drink? Or Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles, (nonbelievers), seek :) for ye heavenly Farther knoweth all of these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought of the marrow: for the marrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

Matthew continues in Matthew 7:7-11, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For everyone that asketh recieveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?

Our thinking is backward, and faith is a key ingredient because, if we have faith, then we will know that God will hear us and take care of us. Through faith, these words will prove to be true. In this passage, he compares the gifts of bread to a stone. There are several times when the gospels use bread as an example. The bread has an underlying meaning. The bread of life is Jesus. Even in the Old Testament, the Jews were given bread that fell from heaven when they were starving in the dessert. The bread gave them life literally and figuratively, and it was given from God, just as Jesus was given. Then he mentions a metaphor that includes a gift of a fish rather than a gift of a serpent. Everybody knows that the serpent represents the devil, but the fish represents Jesus.

Jesus ordered Saint Peter to catch a fish that contained money in its mouth. If Jesus was represented as the fish, does that mean that if we capture Jesus we will receive a reward? Yes, it does, but our gold coin is not just money but eternal life and it will never perish or drop in value. He told Peter, who was a fisherman by trade, that he would make him a fisher of men. These days, that can describe every priest, evangelist, pastor, minister, bishop, cardinal, and the pope. Most Catholics eat fish during lent instead of meat. On several occasions in the gospels, Jesus blesses fish that multiplies for thousands to feed. After Jesus is crucified, he reappears after his death to sit down and eat baked fish with his apostles, which is not only an interesting story that he returns to eat but is a proof that it is possible to eat even after death. When the Pharisees asked him to perform a miracle to prove he was the Son of God, he declined to show a wicked and perverse generation a sign and explained that a sign would be given, like the sign of Jonas.

In the Old Testament Jonah was a prophet and was instructed by God to deliver a message. The message was to a certain kingdom. He was to tell the king that because of their sins, their kingdom would be conquered by a neighboring kingdom in forty days. Jonah was too scared to complete his mission. He boarded a ship to escape in the opposite direction. A terrible storm ravaged the ship, and in these circumstances, it was customary to throw their cargo overboard to prevent sinking. Jonah knew that the storm is his fault and confessed to the crew. Jonah succumbs to being thrown overboard. Just as he is, the storm halts, and Jonah is immediately swallowed by a large fish. For three days, he was in the fish and considered was dead. He prayed for forgiveness and vowed to complete the mission. On the third day, Jonah was regurgitated on the shores where he was to deliver the message. The king listened to his message and instructed his entire kingdom to repent in sackcloth and ashes.

God revealed to Jonah that he will spare the kingdom, and Jonah was angered at his mercy. Jonah was so upset at his mercy that he set up a shelter on the bank adjacent to the kingdom. He wanted to see if God was going to spare them or not. The sun beat down on Jonas as he was sitting there and a large plant grew around his shelter. Jonas was thrilled because it kept him cool in its shade. The next day, the plant shriveled up and died. Jonas was angry.

God asked Jonah, Why are you angry? He replied that he was mad because the plant died. God responded that he shouldn’t be mad. He didn’t create the plant, so he should not care whether it lived or died. The plant was a metaphor for the kingdom. The story happened a long time before Jesus, but yet it involved another fish, which represented God. Jesus was referencing how he will die and resurrect after three days, like Jonah. Translated in Hebrew, the word Jonas means dove. Hence, the dove is Jonah; the dove is the Holy Spirit that came down on Jesus; Jesus is the fish, lamb, or bread; and all are God.

Even the forty days the kingdom repented is symbolic too. Jesus fasted for forty days in the dessert. There is an icon of forty soldiers killed for Catholicism. The Jews wandered in the desert for forty years for repentance. The story of Noah’s ark is intertwined as well. It rained for forty days and forty nights to create the flood. Sometime after, Noah sent out a dove to see if any land remained, and if there was nowhere for the dove to land, then it would return to the ark. Eventually, the dove came back with a leaf from an olive tree. Of all the birds he could have sent, he sent a dove. One can go on for days to describe all the symbolism.

Jesus is always represented as a fish even as a symbol found on a given car trunk. One reason Jesus is represented as a fish is because the letters F, I, S, H, in the Greek language stand for a phrase. Each of the letters in fish means Jesus Christ, the Son of God, our Savior. The first letter in the Greek language is alpha, and its shape resembles a fish. Everyone has heard I am the alpha and omega, the first and the last (Rev. 1:8). After Jesus’s resurrection, Christians were persecuted by the Greeks and Jews alike. To confide in other Christians, they would draw the top part of the fish in the dirt, and if the other person was a Christian, then they would draw the bottom part, finishing the symbol of the fish.

There is a vast amount of symbolism, and it never ceases to stop. Like I said, throughout the Bible, there are several symbolic things that become redundant: the bread, fish, snake, sheep—which is easily understood—and the dove. The name Jonas in Hebrew means dove. When John the Baptist baptized Jesus, he saw the Holy Spirit come down from heaven like a dove and stays on Jesus. This was a sign that John the Baptist was given to prove that God had arrived. Hence, the Holy Spirit is depicted as a dove. In respect to the story of Jonas, it comes back full circle and explains how Jesus is resurrected and comes back like Jonas. The cross itself was called a tree in those days. It was Adam and Eve who ate from the tree called the Knowledge of Good and Evil and plummeted mankind into original sin. And it is from a tree that Christ redeemed mankind from sin forever.

Why all this talk about God and religion? There isn’t a subject more debated or more cumbersome. Most people rather not talk about it to steer clear from an argument. It’s not something we should fight about, and certain people don’t have the capability to understand, so you don’t have to throw your pearls before swine, but don’t deprive them who can benefit from God’s word. It doesn’t matter if one doesn’t believe in God or the devil; the time is coming where everyone have to choose. There will be no in-between. As Jesus said, So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I will spit you out of my mouth (Rev. 3:16). There has always been a war, but lately, the war has intensified. The devil is recruiting and plucking off God’s army one by one. He uses fear, insecurities, weaknesses, and human urges against God’s army. Trust your senses given to you by the Holy Spirit. There are seven gifts given by the Holy Spirit. An individual may possess all or a few of them. They are as follows: wisdom, understanding, piety, fortitude (courage), counsel, knowledge, and fear of the Lord. All are important, but why is fear of the Lord a gift? Granted that if we are close to perfect, then we shouldn’t have any fear, but amongst us, there aren’t man y that are. When God enriches one with these powers, he exalts them, then that person might start to believe it’s coming from them and not God. At the same instance, the devil makes us believe that we aren’t powerful enough to be entrusted with these gifts to prevent us from doing them. On the other hand, a sense of arrogance arises, and they believe they are powerful. They don’t need or respect God, and the figure stands alone. The greatest example is none other than the devil. Grace gives us many tools. Not only are the gifts bestowed upon us, but grace helps fight evil. I get so worn down fighting continuously—it’s endless. The fight doesn’t end until we die or when Jesus comes back. Every day is a fight. As I get closer to God, the devil wants even more to loosen my grip from him. He increasingly claws at me, nipping at any weakness or addiction. Just like an exhausted soldier, I am tired; but each day, Jesus strengthens me and gives me knowledge, strength, and perseverance. If I ask for help, He gives me the assistance of angels. He is with me whenever I please, and the devil attempts to bewilder me and tries to place pride in between us, or the feeling that I’m weak and I need to be stronger instead of calling for help.

How does grace help fight evil? It gives us a sense of guilt when we sin. Guilt is a good tool that steers us to repentance, purifying us and bringing us back to God. Other than that, grace will empower our angel to warn us when we are going to be faced with an obstacle, whether it’s a temptation or a cross you will have to bear. Grace will allow you to smell evil or sense its presence. Smell, how absurd. How can one smell evil? In the movie The Exorcism of Emily Rose, she described a burning wood smell before she was possessed. I have smelled a variety of smells that let me know before that something is going to attack. I have smelled the burning wood smell. There is also the smell of burning incense, smoke, sulfur, and a smell of some sort of feces. Even as odd as all this sounds, feces is still a weird one in the group. If one hasn’t experienced these things, they sound outrageous, but it does exist.

When I smell any of these things, I know I’m on the brink of something testing me or a struggle I will face. Every time I smell these things, something happens. It warns me what I will face, which allows me to prepare mentally and how I will handle the situation. One or more of these smells can also pertain to somebody partaking in a séance to hurt you. For example, a Wiccan or some sort of magic being use burnt incense to attack. As a matter of fact, the biology of the nose does not only detect smell. As a matter of fact, the nose does not only detect smell but also pain according to biology research. When we smell chili or ammonia, the smell is not a smell at all but pain. The evil that we can smell is not a smell at all but pain of the afflicting demon or curse. Dogs are said to be able to sense