Friday, October 31,
2014, 4:13 a.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song “For Our Nation.” Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I read 2 Timothy 3 (NASB).
Lovers of Self
But
realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be
lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to
parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips,
without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited,
lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness,
although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these. For among them
are those who enter into households and captivate weak women weighed down with
sins, led on by various impulses, always learning and never able to come to the
knowledge of the truth. Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men
also oppose the truth, men of depraved mind, rejected in regard to the faith.
But they will not make further progress; for their folly will be obvious to
all, just as Jannes’s and Jambres’s folly was also.
The “last days,” from what I understand, actually began with
Jesus’ life on this earth, and yet it is also a reference to the final days on
this earth before Jesus Christ’s return for his bride. Although what is
described here concerning people’s attitudes, mindset, and behaviors has always
existed, because we are all born with sin natures, the indication here is that,
near the end of time, this type of evil will be much more prevalent.
I believe one of the main reasons for the increase in
wickedness in our day is that our generation has been inundated with sinful
attitudes and actions, and worldly values and perceptions, via TV, movies, the
internet, music, and social media sites, et al, and especially due to the
proliferation of home computers, tablets (IPads) and smart phones in people’s
homes and now in their pockets and purses. Even children now have smart phones
and IPads and have around the clock access to the internet, oftentimes
unguarded and unprotected against all the evil available to them at their
fingertips.
Handing a child a smart phone or an IPad, and thus giving
them private internet access, even in their bedrooms, is a lot like handing
them a stack of pornographic magazines to take with them back to the privacy of
their bedrooms. Even if a parent is conscientious enough to put parental
controls on these devices, children are a whole lot smarter than us in knowing
how to use these devices, and there are always ways around these types of
controls. As well, semi-pornographic images can be found most anywhere on the internet,
including on news sites, YouTube, social media sites, and even on Christian
song lyrics sites.
This evil has always existed, yet because we now live in a
generation where all sorts of evil is so readily available to people of all
ages 24/7, and in the privacy of their own homes, and because so many people spend
so much time on these various devices and on these various media sources, many
people, even those who claim to be followers of Christ, have adopted the
mindset, attitudes, values and behaviors of this ungodly world. As well, all
this has infiltrated into the church, and the church is disseminating much of
this ungodliness and worldly attitudes and behaviors, too. The church is barely
recognizable as the church anymore, and there is not much difference between
the church and the world at all. And, the thing is, this has been so gradual
and so subtle that many are deceived and have become desensitized to all the
evil they are taking into their minds and hearts day in and day out.
My husband and I attended a marriage retreat a year ago. The
retreat center was in the mountains and it had facilities which appear much
like hotels with hotel rooms. Most public hotels supply TV sets in every room
they rent, so for someone who has never been to a Christian retreat center, but
who has stayed in a hotel, the expectation might be that the rooms would have
TV sets, but they did not. One young couple sat at dinner with us and
exclaimed, “There is no TV in the room! What will we do?” They were serious.
And, that is the sad reality of so many in our generation. When the power goes
out, and thus the TV is off, many don’t know what to do. I have been there
before, so I know.
Because the church itself has adopted the ways of the world,
and because so many professing Christians within the church are so worldly, and
because they take in the ways of this world daily into their minds and hearts via
these various devices and media sources, is it any wonder that so many professing
followers of Christ today have a form of godliness but are denying its power in
their lives? Yet, how can we have the power of God in our lives if what we
daily take into our minds is the garbage of this world, and we spend so little
time with God in his word, in prayer and in obedience to all that he teaches
us? It is time for the church of today to evaluate their lives and practices
against the word of God and see if how they are living is what the word teaches
the Lord’s servants with regard to holy living.
Lovers of God
Now
you followed my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, patience, love,
perseverance, persecutions, and sufferings, such as happened to me at Antioch,
at Iconium and at Lystra; what persecutions I endured, and out of them all the
Lord rescued me! Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be
persecuted. But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse,
deceiving and being deceived. You, however, continue in the things you have
learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and
that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give
you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for
correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be
adequate, equipped for every good work.
Sometimes I think it would be a blessing for the church here
in America if we lost all electrical and cell phone power and we no longer had
access to the internet, TV, tablets, and smart phones, and we had to return to
how things were a long time ago. People would be forced outside their homes
into being with other people, working with them, talking with them. Families
would actually talk with each other instead of sitting and eating together
around the TV set. Certainly this would not put an end to all evil, but if the
church had all of these inputs removed, and if they began to spend that time
with the Lord and in his word and in obedience to him and in ministering to the
needs of others, instead, then the church would no longer have a form of
godliness but deny its power in their lives. I believe we would begin to see
the church revived, drawing on the power of the Spirit in their lives.
Then the people of God, free from all these other inputs
which often fight against the Spirit, and which often crowd out the input of
the Spirit in our lives, would follow the teachings of Christ and of the
apostles, and would desire to have the conduct, purpose, faith, and love, etc.
which is in line with the word of God and with the character of those who live
godly and holy lives pleasing to God. Yet, the church revived here in America,
and on fire for God, and out sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ, will also be a
persecuted church, much like the church throughout the rest of the world. But,
persecution can be a good thing in that it stimulates us and moves us to be
even more serious about our Lord and to follow in his ways. Through
persecution, the gospel will spread more rapidly, as well.
Yet, evil will go on until the day when Jesus Christ returns
to judge the earth and to take his bride to be with him. Nonetheless, the less
time we spend taking in the ways of this world, and worldly attitudes and
values, and the more time we spend with our Lord in prayer, in his word, and in
obedience to what his word teaches us, the less we will be desensitized to
evil, and the more we will be able to recognize evil and will be able to
discern lies from truth so that we are not easily deceived, and so that we won’t
follow imposters, thinking we are following those who are truly walking in the
ways of the Lord. I can tell you from personal experience that getting rid of
our TV six years ago was a very good move. I have not missed it at all, and I
have found that I have been much more sensitive to the Spirit’s voice without
all the junk we were taking into our minds via the TV, mainly via the News.
So, if we want to walk in the ways of the Lord, and continue
in the things we have learned from him and from his word, and we want to have
the wisdom of God guiding us in how we conduct ourselves on a daily basis, then
we need to take the time to evaluate our lives and how we live them. We need to
pray through all the things we do each day, and what we daily take into our
minds and hearts, and inquire of the Lord Jesus as to what conflicts with our
walks of faith and what enhances our fellowship with him. We need to cease
filling our minds with the garbage of this world, which works against the
Spirit, and we need to spend more time in the Word, in prayer, and in following
our Lord Jesus wherever he leads us. His word is a lamp unto our feet and a
light unto our path. Through the word we gain wisdom, knowledge and
understanding. His word teaches, reproofs, corrects and trains us in righteousness,
so that we may be complete, equipped for every good work.
For Our Nation /
An Original Work / September 11, 2012
Bombs are bursting.
Night is falling.
Jesus Christ is gently
calling
You to follow Him in
all ways.
Trust Him with your
life today.
Make Him your Lord and
your Savior.
Turn from your sin.
Follow Jesus.
He will forgive you of
your sin;
Cleanse your heart,
made new within.
Men betraying: Our trust
fraying.
On our knees to God
we’re praying,
Seeking God to give us
answers
That are only found in
Him.
God is sovereign over
all things.
Nothing from His mind
escaping.
He has all things
under His command,
And will work all for
good.
Jesus Christ is gently
calling
You to follow Him in
all ways.
Men deceiving: we’re
believing
In our Lord, and
interceding
For our nation and its
people
To obey their God
today.
He is our hope for our
future.
For our wounds He
offers suture.
He is all we need for
this life.
Trust Him with your
life today.
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