1 Timothy 4:1-2 NLT
[1] Now the Holy Spirit tells us clearly that in the last times some will turn away from the true faith; they will follow deceptive spirits and teachings that come from demons. [2] These people are hypocrites and liars, and their consciences are dead.
Good Morning!
I woke up this morning with an earworm. It was the song, Levon, by Elton John. In that song, there is a lyric that says, “The New York Times says God is dead.”
As I started thinking about that, a bit of sorrow came over me for the world in its current state. There are so many that are living hopelessly following deceptive lies of atheism or other false religions that plainly do not teach the truth of the love and grace of our Heavenly Father.
There is so much noise in the air today about the Coronavirus that it is just causing mass panic, worry and fear. The media just thrives on bad news and continues to push out more and more fear into the airwaves. To compound this, the people that do not have a firm foundation in the Gospel, are easily deceived by false doctrines like fortune tellers, false prophets, new age doctrines, eastern religions, and on and on.
Psalm 56:5 NKJV
[5] All day they twist my words; All their thoughts are against me for evil.
God wants us to stand on a firm foundation so that we are not easily fooled into believing these false teachings. This foundation should be “dug deep and laid on rock.” In other words, if we are daily reading and studying the Word of God, we will know the truth and principles that God has established. We won’t be easily fooled by these people that God calls hypocrites and liars with a dead conscience. We will know the tree by its fruit.
Ephesians 4:14 NKJV
[14] that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting,
Luke 6:46-49 NKJV
[46] “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say? [47] Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like: [48] He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock. [49] But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently; and immediately it fell. And the ruin of that house was great.”
Luke 6:43 NKJV
[43] “For a good tree does not bear bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit.
OK, so what does that mean for me?
If we call ourselves a Christian and are daily carrying our cross, we are called to be different. We are to be a light to this world of darkness. The world needs a lot of lighthouses right now for those that are searching and lost. We don’t know God’s sovereign plan. We don’t understand why God allows things like this pandemic to happen. But what we do know is God can use anything that was meant for evil and make it good.
During this time that people are living in a state of panic, we have a unique opportunity to serve and love on all of our neighbors, co-workers, friends and family like no other time. We already see the love coming through in so many ways. Just simple acts of caring can make a huge difference in others’ lives.
Genesis 50:20 NKJV
[20] But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.
Romans 8:28 NKJV
[28] And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
Colossians 4:6 NIV
[6] Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.
Romans 1:16a NKJV
[16] For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes…
Let our seasoning of salt be made known in all of our speech. We have the answer to all of life’s burdens and His name is Jesus. Let us not be ashamed to share His saving grace of hope with others. This hopeless world needs to hear about the Savior that truly loves them.
I love you and am praying for you today!
Dad