Which Spirit Speaks?

God's spirit stills our racing hearts.  In that spirit we find reassurance, we find enlightenment, we find forgiveness and comfort and if we allow it that spirit leads us.
Satan's spirit does not forgive, it condemns.  It rushes us and pushes us.  Satan's spirit discourages us, it frightens us and it confuses us.  The reason is that for Satan to be in power we must be controlled but for God to be in power we must be in control to be able to serve God out of choice and due to our own free will.  If Satan plays to our fears we become panicked and are controlled by our fears.
If God plays to our strengths we become truly free and become better more perfected versions of ourselves, of who He created us to be.
Jesus tells the story of a Sheppard with 100 sheep and one goes missing, that Sheppard knows the 99 will stay put so he goes after the one who is missing and the point is that we are never so lost that we cannot be found and that there is great rejoicing in Heaven when one who was lost is found again.
But there is jealousy on the part of some who feel that the sinners do not deserve redemption, the prodigal son's older brother is a good example another are the laborers in the vineyard who say much the same thing against those who only worked one hour out of the whole day and yet receive the full days wage.
 
20 For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard.² And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard.
³ And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace,
⁴ And said unto them; Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. And they went their way.
⁵ Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise.
⁶ And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle?
⁷ They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive.
⁸ So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the labourers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first.
⁹ And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny.
¹⁰ But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more; and they likewise received every man a penny.
¹¹ And when they had received it, they murmured against the goodman of the house,
¹² Saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day.
¹³ But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny?
¹⁴ Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto this last, even as unto thee.
¹⁵ Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good?
¹⁶ So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.  Matthew 20:1-16
Is thine eye evil because I am good?  This I think refers to these men being angered at the generosity of the man of the house. Why is it that kindness shown towards those who are viewed as less causes so much bitterness, anger and jealousy?
I wrote a post awhile back that had one facebook commenter saying "Show me the scripture that shows that these drug addicts are the same as the beggars in scripture."  This shows that many have the view that these people don't count because some people don't want them to count.  It's not that they don't count, it's that they are viewed as lesser and unworthy of God's love.
But who are they to deny God's love to anybody?  God denies His love to no one.  Jesus forgave sins of all who had a humble heart and repentance within it.  A woman who washed Jesus' feet with her hair is a good example of a sinner becoming loving and kind and in return becoming redeemed.
And one of the Pharisees desired him that he would eat with him. And he went into the Pharisee's house, and sat down to meat.
³⁷ And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster box of ointment,
³⁸ And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment.
³⁹ Now when the Pharisee which had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him: for she is a sinner.
⁴⁰ And Jesus answering said unto him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And he saith, Master, say on.
⁴¹ There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty.
⁴² And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most?
⁴³ Simon answered and said, I suppose that he, to whom he forgave most. And he said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged.
⁴⁴ And he turned to the woman, and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head.
⁴⁵ Thou gavest me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet.
⁴⁶ My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment.
⁴⁷ Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.
⁴⁸ And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven.  Luke 7:36-48
To me there is a lesson here that Jesus served as compassionately as this woman served Him.  He washed the feet of His disciples as would a servant though He was their master.  He healed the lepers, the lame, the blind and He forgave the adulteresses, the murderers that hung on the crosses next to His.  His love was limitless as the word agape entails the meaning of unconditional spiritual love, the love Jesus had for us and commanded us to have for one another.
He asks us to minister to one another as He did for us when He walked the Earth.  To care for each other when in need as He cared for so many while alive.  He feed the multitudes and showed them what His love was like, He didn't just preach that love He made it live in the hearts of all those He touched with it, all those lives that were changed forever not just by His words but by His deeds.
And those deeds have been so extraordinary that in every culture and in every language those stories are told they burn in the hearts of so many who've heard them with the power of the Sun nourishing and enlightening His disciples of every generation and standing guard like a lighthouse in a storm signalling the way home for all us tired and poor huddled masses yearning to breathe free until we land ashore and set foot on the soil we will call home once more.

 That light is what enlightens all who see it and embrace its message.
Embracing the better angels of ourselves and using the discernment we all have to know which spirit is speaking and which to listen to is what can save not one of us but all of us.  Jesus said no one hides a lamp to hoard its light but instead keeps it in the open so its light may shine for all to see.  He also said a city on a hill cannot be hid.  One who has been saved cannot be hid or go unnoticed either.
This kind of love is life changing for all involved it leads to a total transformation.