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How do you know when your impulse to do something good is from God or the devil?

mikeforjesusmikeforjesus
edited December 1969 in Faith Issues
How do you know when your impulse to do something good is from God or the devil?

Comments

  • nardinnardin
    y wood the devil want you to do good thats 1 thing he tries u to stop doing... no good comes from the devil... if wat u r doing deprives u from loving God or loving others its not from God but mostly the good is from God tho

    GB ALL
    +FROG+
  • SafaaSafaa
    Good answer Fully Rely On God.

    you just ask your self, if the thing I want to do will bring me toward God? or will pull me away from God? Then you will know if you should do that work or not.
  • mikeforjesusmikeforjesus
    well I read something like if the thought tells you to act quickly its from the devil.. because you dont get to think of your intentions of doing this deed..

    well I dont like to think much at all and there is too many impulses I can get..do I have to think much about them all?

    there is an example of a monk who got a thought to visit the brother monks (after a long time of being by himself I think) because he thought it might be a good idea and he kept supressing the thought for like 2 or 3 yrs to find out whether its from God or the devil.. I dont know if I said it accurately or not.
  • Believer in GodBeliever in God
    [quote author=Safaa link=board=1;threadid=2808;start=0#msg43285 date=1133115594]
    Good answer Fully Rely On God.

    you just ask your self, if the thing I want to do will bring me toward God? or will pull me away from God? Then you will know if you should do that work or not.


    Forgive me and correct me if I am wrong, but I think that really, the only way to know whether a sign is from the Lord our God or the devil is to mention the sign to your father of confession. Through that power of the Holy Spirit your father of confession will be able to tell you what is right and what is wrong. For the devil is capable of many things and always uses trickery to try to steer God's children away from God. The devil has laid many traps for God's children and it is very difficult to get out of those traps alone, and definately impossible without God. Please forgive my inhumility but I feel that this message should be spoken for the devil attacks the children of God, especially the youth, very hard and attempts to trick them into thinking that the signs and wonders which they experience are from God, when they really might not be.
  • Believer in GodBeliever in God
    Could you explain to me what that verse means? MarMar91
  • Believer in GodBeliever in God
    [quote author=MarMar91 link=board=1;threadid=2808;start=0#msg45030 date=1136056584]
    It means that every good thing and every good thought, comes from Our Good Father, whereas Satan, who is the source of all evil, cannot give off goodness at all, but that we shud rest assured that every good thing is from God...


    If you recieve a sign you are not sure whether it is good or evil. I think that this was the point of the whole forum to begin with. Please forgive me MarMar91 for being a pain but I see this matter as being interesting and very important, especially for youth. Feel free to argue my points for I am interested in all of your ideas. There are some signs where you are not really dure whether it is from God or if it's from the devil because sometimes one may see a sign as being good even though it is from the devil. That is the way which the devil practices deceipt. Some of the monks of the desert seemed to have encountered this problem and have fallen into a trap. Please see this...: http://www.goarch.org/en/ourfaith/articles/article8135.asp

    Several brothers went to Abba Antonios to relate to him certain visions which they beheld and to ascertain from him whether the visions were true or of demonic origin. They had along with them a small donkey which died on the way. Just as they reached Abba Antonios, he, expecting them, said: “How did the little donkey die on the road?”

    “How did you know this, Abba?” they said to him.

    “The demons revealed it to me.”

    And they answered him: “It is for this reason that we came to see you, for fear of being deceived, since we see visions and many times they come true.”

    Thus, with the foregoing example of the donkey, the elder made it known to them that their visions came forth from the demons.

    *There are more stories like this in other parts of the website. I will try to find them. I do not know if the answer to this is quite so simple and that's why I feel a father of confession is needed for such a matter.

    Please forgive me for my lack of humility for I am a sinner also and have fallen before the devil also.

    Please pray for me,
    Believer in God

  • Believer in GodBeliever in God
    I might havebeen mistaken on the meaning of this thread, not you. Forgive me please.
  • mikeforjesusmikeforjesus
    How do you know when your impulse to do something good is from God or the devil?

    This might not really help to explain my question but I think I want to know this....
    ?

    Sometimes the devil can plant thoughts in your head to do something that seems good I think but the good deed might be ruined? by pride and there might be other reasons the devil puts thoughts in your head to do good I think...
    What are some of the reasons if you know..
  • Believer in GodBeliever in God
    I think I understand what mikeforjesus is saying. My response to this question is that there are instances when the devil attempts to make someone see something as good, although it leads to something evil. It is an example of when the devil attempts to practice deceipt. It usually leads to pride which leads to many other bad things such as lack of humility and others. An example of this might be when one dreams that they get an A on a test, I think I already used this example in another thread, and that person might think that this sign is good and are pleased in this sign. This type of dream, or vision, would have led to pride in oneself and that person might think, well, since I am going to get an A on this test I just shouldn't study for it. That action would have probably led to the failure of getting that A on the test. The devil sometimes tries to do that kind of thing in our spiritual life to lead us away from God. In order to know whether this sign was from God or from the devil I suggest that you reveal this matter to a father of confession. I hope this helped. Forgive me for any inhumility.

    Please pray for me always,
    Believer in God
  • Unknown
    To continue on what Believer was saying ;D Does anyone know how the holiest men fall? It's usually from pride..Now, the devil is no fool. He won't attack holy men with thoughts to 'steal' or 'lie' as they're beyond that..he uses their holiness against them and encourages prayer..encourages fasting..encourages holiness, giving, loving, etc. He encourages this to the extent where one becomes vulnerable to pride..now when he comes to these holy men and whispers in their ears 'what a holy man you are!' they listen..because they feel their actions deserve such praise..the answer to this is simple. We can't know whether the impulse to do good is Heaven sent or tempter sent..all we know is our own nature and goodness..we must do good regardless yet keep vigil in our humility and other aspects that might be lost..we can not become absorbed in doing but one aspect of goodness while forgetting other aspects of spirituality. Keep your focus on spirituality rather than 'good actions' all the time..let all your deeds be forgotten and praise due to Him alone.
  • mikeforjesusmikeforjesus
    thanx for the advice?
  • nardinnardin
    servantofJesus is absolutely right... good stuff ;)

    well here is my 2 cents,
    always obey your FOC no matter wat bcoz hell c wat is good for u... that way u wont fall also most importantly as u r saying by doing sumthing good for eg o i think i can extend my fast for a cuple of hors more and so on and then u will feel pride.. everything u do ur FOC must b aware and by his guidance only an eg. is there was a monk who extended his fast and had self pride so he went to his FOC and his FOC sed to him eat meat in this great lent as he did he realised wat he did was a sin and never wwent back so guys to avoid the devils plans and as u c myt b good coz uthinkn ur gettin closer to God dont do anything without ur FOC knowing

    hope it helped
    pray 4 me plz
    GB ALL
    +FROG+
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