We live in a world where truth is starting to lose its virtue while lies are finding an increasing acceptance.
“Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!” (Isaiah 5:20 ESV).
Isn't this starting to describe the culture we live in more and more?
Some lies are bold and easy to detect. But the truly dangerous ones are subtle and have a hint of truth to them. And if we couple those lies with the ones that also minimize or delay consequences, then we have a lie so insidious that it may lead us as lambs to the slaughter.
I believe that Satan is not concerned with persuading us that there is no God; he is not obsessed with convincing us that heaven and hell are not real. Nor is he banking on the fact that he can get us to believe that we do not need to be faithful Christians to be pleasing to God. No, I am convinced that his biggest lie is this:
God is real. Heaven and hell are real. You need to live a faithful life to be pleasing to God… but you have plenty of time to do that later.
Jesus warns that no one knows the hour of His return.
“But know this, that if the master of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have left his house to be broken into. You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” (Luke 12:39-40 ESV).
Years later, Peter would echo his Lord's warning:
“Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn!” (2 Peter 3:11-12 ESV).
How heartbreaking it will be for people who know what they need to do, plan on doing it later, only to fall victim to the devil's biggest lie, “You have time to get your life right tomorrow.”
Jesus pleads with us to be vigilant. He begs us to be prepared for His return with our lamps trimmed and ready. One day, He will come and gather those who have rejected Satan's promise of tomorrow:
“so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.” (Hebrews 9:28 ESV).
Right now, are you eagerly waiting for His return? If you hear the trumpet and voice of the Archangel announcing His return this moment, will you be filled with joy or dread? How will you feel about Satan's lie for a tomorrow that will never come?
“For he says, “In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” (2 Corinthians 6:2 ESV).
I read something interesting in Jeremiah. It was at the point where the Babylonians were knocking at the gate and God had determined to give Judah into the hands of these ruthless people.
Jeremiah had to tell the people not to fight it and they would be ok. But if they did fight, they would be slaughtered. And you know that King Zedekiah and his officials decided to fight God's judgement.
And as his reward for speaking God's Word, Jeremiah was beaten, thrown into a muddy cistern to die, and locked in prison with chains. Threats of death met him all the time. Yet he was faithful to God's mission for him.
In fact, even when he was banned from entering the temple, he sent his transcriptionist/scribe, Baruch, to read his latest message for him. Jeremiah always found a way to deliver God's message even when he knew it would be held in disdain.
Then something interesting happened. The king privately took Jeremiah aside and asked, “Is there any word from the Lord?” When everyone in the king's administration was ready to kill Jeremiah, the king in desperation went to the only one who could truly offer hope.
Later, the King again secretly comes to Jeremiah for a word from God. Jeremiah tells him that if he surrenders, he will live and God would spare the city from being burned. But the king feared that his own people would kill him if he surrendered to the Babylonians. Jeremiah told him that God would not allow that to happen.
King Zedekiah had a choice. But when the time came, he surrendered to fear rather than to God. And it cost him. As he ran, the Babylonians caught him and burned the city. They slaughtered his sons before his eyes before putting out the king's eyes. Imagine, the last thing he ever saw was his children being killed by his enemies.
It didn't have to be this way. God gave King Zedekiah an opportunity to avoid this, but he relied on his own plans rather than putting his trust fully in God.
What about us? Are we ready to put our faith fully in God or do we still want to do things our way? I pray we all submit to God. For us, the alternative leads to damnation and pain for all eternity.
Good morning. God has given us each another day to enjoy His blessings and to be a steward who works to bring glory to Him. Today, think of ways you can act to end your day with a “Well done” from God.
Today is a whirlwind day... getting kids ready and taking them to school. Work with back-to-back meetings for 6 hours. I finished my last meeting early to have enough time to grab a bite before jumping to the next meeting.
But with 10 minutes left and a cup of coffee, I sit back and can praise God for who He is, sitting on His sovereign throne, and realizing that these thoughts represent my true reality. The rest is simply a pilgrimage as I travel toward my true home.
No matter how busy you get today, take time to set it in perspective. Live each busy moment in a way that takes you a little closer to home, where your rest and joy await.
If you don't understand what I'm saying, PM me and when my day slows, I'll be happy to share more.
God bless.
So, do you want to see two verses that just made my day? Well, I was thinking about this battle between my carnal and my spiritual man.
The thought of not sinning for the next few decades, if the Lord grants me that long to live, seems rather daunting. Then I read this:
“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” (Matthew 6:34 ESV).
I don't have to worry about 10, 20 or even 30 years from now. I don't even have to worry about tomorrow. I just have to make it through today. That is much more manageable. Then, tomorrow, I have to do that again.
But what is really joyously overwhelming is when I combine what Jesus said in Matthew 6 with what Paul says in Ephesians 2:
“and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,” (Ephesians 2:6 ESV).
Isn't that awesome? In addition to only having to worry about today, Paul reminds me that I am not alone. I have been raised up and seated with Jesus in the heavenly places.
So, I will let my spiritual man win the battles today. I will say “no” to the carnal man today. And I will do it because I am with Jesus and He will give me His grace to be more than conquerors today.
Remember, if things start to get even rougher for people who honor and obey Jesus as King, we will have the honor to be His light in a dark and frightening world.
“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28 ESV).
One of the things that Jesus condemned the religious leaders for doing was nullifying the Word of God for the sake of their own traditions. Let us be careful that we do not fall into the same snare.
When we read something in the Word that we don't like, we will always be able to make excuses as to why that does not apply to us.
Often that comes when we say:
“Times have changed. What was written is not applicable to me today.” We know that God's wisdom is timeless and applies from the time it was written to the end of the age.
“Yeah, But...” This is a tell-tale sign that we are about to nullify what is written by offering an excuse as to why it doesn't apply to me today.
“God's grace covers me.” Yes, God's grace covers me, but not for the person who chooses to sin and willfully ignore the council of God. We cannot sin that grace may abound. This nullifies God's Word.
Be careful when you read instructions from God's word and begin to look for ways to nullify it, to set up excuses as to why it does not apply to you today.
Rather, when you read instructions from the Lord, examine yourself to see how you may bring yourself into alignment with what is written. The Word can transform us unless we resist being transformed.
Nullifying the Word, or making it void, in our lives gives us a false sense of safety. Yet the Word that will judge us in the last day will judge us as written. We may nullify it in our lives, but it is not nullified.
“thus making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And many such things you do.” (Mark 7:13 ESV).
Well, this is interesting. I normally get up at 5 am to get in my Bible reading. But the last few days, between my hour reading, my chapter a day group and the Text Talk I do, I have felt rushed in the morning.
So, last night, I decided to try to get up at 4:15 to give myself a little more time to do all that I want. But I woke up before the alarm and grabbed my watch. 3:54 am- Close enough.
So, I turned off all my alarms, said my prayers and fixed a small breakfast and coffee. As I started to get my Bible reading ready to go, I noticed that the time on the computer said 2:30 am. I looked at my watch- yep, 2:30 am. This was the same watch that I thought I read 3:54 on just a few minutes before.
So, having breakfast and coffee, and awake enough to say my prayers, I am not sure what to do. Get another hour and a half sleep or take the opportunity to drink in even more of the Word and tackle the consequences tonight.
I guess I'll think it over as I finish my coffee.
Indeed, all things do work together for good for those who love the Lord...