Proverbs 14:5 A faithful witness will not lie: but a false witness will utter lies.
Joel Osteen said, “Don’t make permanent decisions on temporary feelings.”
When we look all around us and see the human spillage that is polluting the earth, air, and waters that we need to live in – we can only wonder how we have made it this far without blowing up the entire world. This same polluting attitude and resulting uncertainties have spilled into the spiritual lives of people worldwide. 2 Tim. 4:3 For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.
The Messiah syndrome – as in we need a Superman from another galaxy to save us – is rampant with people claiming to have found the way to deliverance from all the mayhem that is about to come upon mankind. Whether for spiritual growth or for daily living, people are looking for some kind of Messiah to save their solipsistic existence. Matt. 24:5 For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray.
The pendulum swings of belief are so incredibly vast and wide that people feel forced to make decisions at a rapid speed. They feel caught up in the momentum of multiple choices of ideas and beliefs that are dangling before their hearts on a continual basis. This zeitgeist has created a feeble condition that has reached a tipping point of worldwide saturation that people are having a hard time hearing a clear and honest message. Matt. 24:23 At that time, if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There He is,’ do not believe it.
The Lord warned us that these days would come and sin would increase in intensity as the end times approached. His encouraging word to us who walk in Christ was straightforward. He said to keep your peace that you have in the Lord and make your life decisions based on His word and not what you see going on around the earth. John 16:33 These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.
God also admonished us to stay faithful and continue to trust in Him. Prov. 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.
The human condition is manifesting such cravings and needs for personal identity and fulfillment that anything seems to be accepted and eaten up with ravenous gluttony. If you have the Lord’s peace in your life and heart, then it is easier to shun the multiple snake oil cures offered as true salvation. However, if you are desperate in heart, soul, and mind then anything goes. Prov. 27:7 A person who is full refuses honey, but even bitter food tastes sweet to the hungry.
How badly can humanity corrupt its life? We know from history past that God endured to the point where He said it was enough. The heart of man was exhibiting corruption beyond understanding and had reached a dreadful saturation point of evil. Gen. 6:5 And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. Will it get that bad again? I do not know, but some say we are there already.
We can be encouraged that grace is at work in the dispensation that we are living in today. Rom. 5:20 God’s law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were. But as people sinned more and more, God’s wonderful grace became more abundant. 21 So just as sin ruled over all people and brought them to death, now God’s wonderful grace rules instead, giving us right standing with God and resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
We do have the advantage of the finished work of the cross and the blood of Jesus at work in our hearts and lives. The generation before the flood did not have that blessing working in their hearts. However, we do. So as we look around and see the human spillage affecting the world, let us keep making our permanent decisions based on the leading of the Holy Spirit and not the noise in the streets. Blessings and peace to us all.
Finish Strong
Jeremiah 12:5 If you have run with the footmen, and they have wearied you, then how can you contend with horses? And if in the land of peace, in which you trusted, they wearied you, then how will you do in the floodplain of the Jordan? Finish strong, or...
Every good thing in a Christian's life is the result of when Jesus, on the cross, said. "It is finished". This means that God's perfect plan of redemption was completed at Calvary. All our faith must be focused on Jesus and Him crucified to have victory in our lives.
Thanks Norm. Love the blog.
Good write Norm. Simply Profound.
Great article!