Category: spiritual warfare

Found Out and Fractured in Twain #25

Tuesday, February 2, 2021

“But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out” (Numbers 32:23 KJV).

Doubtless, we never want to sensationalize or exaggerate. However, the fact remains, some dark days are ahead for the United States and the rest of the world. What can we Bible-believing Christians do?

We previously discussed how sin works slowly: it takes an extremely long time before its damaging effects are fully comprehended. An illustration helps here. Think of a beautiful edifice, with a fresh coat of white paint on its exterior. Entering the front doorway, however, we notice the inside walls are rotting! Looks are deceiving. Despite its nice outward appearance, the structure is actually quite weak and liable to fall at any moment. Our final “incentive” to leave is the sight of a casket containing a corpse! What seemed to be a “lovely” house is nothing but a crumbling tomb!

Likewise, Israel in Christ’s day had a religious external form, but, upon closer investigation, there turned out to be thorough rot and decay internally! In Matthew chapter 23, He condemned their spiritual leaders who corrupted them: “[25] Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. [26] Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. [27] Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness. [28] Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.”

Frankly, this is America—and has been for centuries. We were not a true Christian nation, but merely one in name only. “Having a form of godliness,” we “denied the power thereof” (cf. 2 Timothy 3:1-5). Nationally, we were the epitome of hypocrisy, but it took decades before people finally realized just how hideous our national soul was. We looked spiritual, like we were worshipping God, but we were really rejecting His words in unbelief. Now, we can fake it no longer….

Found Out and Fractured in Twain #24

Monday, February 1, 2021

“But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out” (Numbers 32:23 KJV).

Doubtless, we never want to sensationalize or exaggerate. However, the fact remains, some dark days are ahead for the United States and the rest of the world. What can we Bible-believing Christians do?

Talk with Americans who have lived several decades. Those over age 60 have a greater context with which to compare social changes of recent years. For instance, I once spoke with a family member nearly 100 years old. She just could not fathom the news she was hearing in her final months here. The world she left at death was far worse than the world in which she arrived at birth. However, it does not bother those ages 40 to 60 to that extent, because the transition to this “new” culture began early in their generation. Those between ages 20 and 40 are even more deadened to society’s downward spiral because the transition encompassed their whole generation; some older members such as me (30-40 years) saw the fleeting moments of the old culture. The transition now complete, anyone under 20 years old has known nothing but the “new” culture, so they are most anesthetized. They did not even witness a glimpse of the world their parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents knew.

Read 2 Timothy chapter 3: “[1] This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. [2] For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, [3] Without natural affection, trucebreakers [insatiable, cannot be pleased], false accusers, incontinent [no self-control], fierce [violent, aggressive], despisers of those that are good, [4] Traitors, heady [rash, impulsive], highminded [conceited, arrogant], lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; [5] Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.” Is this not today’s news?!

What people find most disturbing is how the “religious” and “Christian” United States could go down this dreadful path. How could we become so anti-God, and be proud of it? So anti-Bible, and flaunt it? So anti-Christian, and revel in it? The answer to these “riddles” has already been provided in Scripture. We just read it, but let us re-read it with analysis….

Our latest Bible Q&As: “Who were the ‘chief priests?’,” “What was the Sanhedrin?,” and “Who were the “elders?’”

Found Out and Fractured in Twain #23

Sunday, January 31, 2021

“But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out” (Numbers 32:23 KJV).

Doubtless, we never want to sensationalize or exaggerate. However, the fact remains, some dark days are ahead for the United States and the rest of the world. What can we Bible-believing Christians do?

While social problems affect every age group, they have compounded among young Americans in recent decades. Youth—particularly Millennials (my generation, born 1980–2000)—were not adequately disciplined at home. They did not learn to esteem and trust the Scriptures, discern right from wrong, respect authority, learn the roles of the two sexes, avoid drug and alcohol use, be faithful spouses and responsible parents, accept and handle losses, appreciate their national identities, and so on.

Having discarded the Bible, the resultant vacuum in our nation’s heart has sucked in anything and everything. Boundaries and benchmarks are long gone. Many have no idea what constitutes personhood. Hence, in the name of “tolerance,” we continue to accommodate increasingly deviant behavior. “I allow my children to choose their gender!” “Since we have not gotten our way, we are vindicated in rioting and vandalizing!” “I can marry anyone I love, and we can even cohabitate without marriage as well!” “Skin color must determine beliefs and values!” Utter, complete, hopeless confusion. There is no longer a standard for anything; all is in flux, subject to perpetually change with every whim and feeling. Life founded on shifting sand—a civilization based on vacillation—will perish.

We go to great lengths to justify aborting (murdering) unborn members of our species. “It is just a clump of cells and tissue, not an actual human!” How paranoid we have become as touching environmental issues—global warming/climate change, clean energy, et cetera! “Science, science, science” is a golden calf, a mantra mindlessly repeated. “Racism, racism, racism” is another overused and cheapened term. Allegedly “woke,” conscious of social injustices everywhere, they really do not have a clue as to what really matters. Boasting in their “light,” they languish in spiritual pitch blackness. Our society is scrambling so frantically to fix its problems. Nevertheless, proceeding without sound Bible doctrine (and even unaware it lacks that knowledge!), it will only aggravate its misery….

Found Out and Fractured in Twain #22

Saturday, January 30, 2021

“But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out” (Numbers 32:23 KJV).

Doubtless, we never want to sensationalize or exaggerate. However, the fact remains, some dark days are ahead for the United States and the rest of the world. What can we Bible-believing Christians do?

Lacking a clear understanding of the most fundamental concepts—that there is a Creator God, that He has spoken to us through the Holy Bible, and that He holds us accountable to walk in that revelation He gave us—our society is confused about what else it should believe. This ignorance, of course, is courtesy of the home where the parents, especially the father, did not serve in his capacity as Bible teacher like that Creator intended. Most regrettably, the man’s children left his house as defenseless prey for the evil world system to seduce, entrap, and ruin!

Friends, mark these words well. There is only sure way to destroy a nation from the inside out: use worthless information to indoctrinate each successive generation during its most impressionable age. The LORD God knew that, which explains the Bible’s numerous admonitions to guard the youth with sound doctrine. Unfortunately, we have not heeded those warnings. Consequently, with the breakdown of American homes (over 100 million, remember), everyone else was willing to teach those children. The teachers—particularly college professors—swayed countless millions of young, unsuspecting minds to adopt their warped philosophical outlooks on life. Also, children learned from other children, leading to non-reality-based information. Moreover, we have allowed electronic media to brainwash us and our younger generations for well over a half-century. Televisions, computers, and internet websites (namely, social media these last several years) all serve—even to this very minute—as “educators” in the absence of the fathers with an open Bible!

As adults, the children in the above scenarios have further contributed to the deterioration of society. They are the individuals in power, leading our governments, businesses, schools, churches, and so on. Using the worthless information they learned, they will make spiritually-poor decisions, impacting mankind as a whole. That destructive cycle will continue, both small-scale (individual and home) and large-scale (state, nation, and world). Let us see specific examples of the results….

Found Out and Fractured in Twain #21

Friday, January 29, 2021

“But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out” (Numbers 32:23 KJV).

Doubtless, we never want to sensationalize or exaggerate. However, the fact remains, some dark days are ahead for the United States and the rest of the world. What can we Bible-believing Christians do?

Re-read Moses’ advice: “But if ye will not do so [obey the LORD’S words], behold, ye have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out.” Stated another way, “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap” (Galatians 6:7). We as a nation have thrown away the Scriptures, and taught our younger generations to do likewise. Our sin has found us out. The expression “what goes around, comes around” is true: the consequences of one’s evil actions catch up in a negative way, and, behold, our bitter harvest is finally here!

All evils in society start in the home—and never forget it! “And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up” (Deuteronomy 6:6-8). “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6). “And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4). Notice, the duty of spiritual instruction is given to the father, not the mother.

Since most fathers have overwhelmingly failed in their spiritual responsibility, youth have grown up and are growing up in households that are breeding grounds for instability, immaturity, and misinformation. These children grow to adulthood physically, but are emotionally and spiritually undeveloped. Alas, it is even worse than that. They repeat the pattern, passing on their ignorance and weakness to their own children. Multiply that one such spiritually-darkened household by more than 100 million, remembering that process spans several decades, and the result is staggering. We have arrived at our present-day fatal culture….

Found Out and Fractured in Twain #20

Thursday, January 28, 2021

“But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out” (Numbers 32:23 KJV).

Doubtless, we never want to sensationalize or exaggerate. However, the fact remains, some dark days are ahead for the United States and the rest of the world. What can we Bible-believing Christians do?

Anyone who wants to see and hear can perceive our culture is undergoing irreversible transformation. Through eyes of faith, having insight from the Scriptures, we realize our numerous problems have two fundamental sources. Firstly, of course, is our ungratefulness for even the scant Bible knowledge our ancestors had. No matter how shallow they were in doctrine does not excuse our lack of gratitude! Secondly, we have passed on our spiritual thanklessness to our descendants, and those youth have begun the next step in that endless cycle of man’s downward spiral. No matter how shallow we were in doctrine does not excuse their lack of gratitude either!

The LORD knew human tendencies and frailties. Hence, He repeatedly warned Israel about how their nation would be ruined if they allowed sin to enter their land and run its course through their soul. Re-read Deuteronomy 4:1-10. They were to be thankful for God’s words to them. Under no circumstances were they to alter them in any way; adding to or taking from those Divine words was strictly prohibited. These statements were God’s wisdom, and they were to be Israel’s wisdom. Israel was to teach that unchanged Bible to their children.

Verses 9 and 10: “Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons’ sons; Specially the day that thou stoodest before the LORD thy God in Horeb, when the LORD said unto me [Moses], Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children.”

Like ancient Israel, we have refused to hear and fear God’s Word. Our carelessness has thus resulted in costliness….

Redeem the Year!

Friday, January 1, 2021

“See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is” (Ephesians 5:15-17 KJV).

What great advice for 2021!

Despite 2,000 years of Bible schools and seminaries, 2,000 years of a completed Bible canon, 2,000 years of Bible reading in churches, several decades of “Christian” television and radio, and just over a decade of widespread use of “Christian” websites, how sad that Bible ignorance is still quite extensive (it is as if God never gave His Word to start with!).

Frankly, the Church the Body of Christ needs to wake up! The verse previous to today’s Scripture says, “Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light” (verse 14). Paul, loosely quoting Isaiah 60:1, reminded us that the spiritual ignorance that gripped Israel in Isaiah’s day seized Christians in his day—and it still grips Christians 20 centuries later. Feel-good sermons, enjoyable “worship” services, and rites, rituals, and ceremonies will NOT solve this problem—they exacerbate it!

“[God] will have all men to be saved…” (1 Timothy 2:4a). Do you want this New Year to count for God’s glory? First, you need to get saved from sins and hell! You need to become a Christian by trusting in and relying on Jesus Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection as sufficient payment for your sins (1 Corinthians 15:3,4). That is only part of God’s will for you, for 1 Timothy 2:4b continues, “[God] will have all men… to come unto the knowledge of the truth.” Now, God’s will for your Christian life is daily, personal Bible study to renew your mind, so your faith in those verses can cause God to work in your life—it will be His life, thus making you “perfect [spiritually mature], throughly furnished unto all good works” (2 Timothy 3:16,17).

Today’s Scripture urges us to buy back the time Satan has robbed from God (time created for God’s glory). By faith, we need to make that time glorify the Lord Jesus Christ by applying His Word, particularly Paul’s epistles of Romans through Philemon, to our lives. Have a good year in Christ! 🙂

You can download our free “One-Year Bible Reading Schedule.”

See our archived Bible Q&A: “What Scriptural advice can you give me for the New Year?”

The Misunderstood Messiah #5

Wednesday, December 30, 2020

“Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God” (John 8:41 KJV).

Did you ever notice the magnitude of the insult put forth toward Jesus Christ in today’s Scripture?

Once Christ replied with sound doctrine (verses 42-47), Israel’s religious leaders simply resorted to name-calling again (verse 48): “Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil?” A Samaritan was half-Jew/half-Gentile, and “the Jews [had] no dealings with the Samaritans” (John 4:9). Notice Jesus was insulted twice more—they called Him a “Samaritan” and “devil possessed.” Throughout the rest of John chapter 8, Israel’s religious leaders continue arguing with Jesus and nearly stone Him to death (verse 59)!

Why did Jesus not simply “zap” these religionists and instantly throw them into hellfire? They belittled and blasphemed Him several times in this one account, and then attempted to murder Him, but rather than Jesus killing them with His spoken word (which would have been justified), He only conversed with them. Why?

Remember, when the Apostles James and John saw how the Samaritans refused to accommodate Jesus, they asked Him if He wanted them to call down fire from heaven and consume those sinners, He replied, “Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them” (Luke 9:55,56). This First Coming of Christ was His “meek and lowly” coming: He did not come to judge man’s sins, but to die for them!

Even today, God is still not pouring out His wrath on wicked mankind (2 Corinthians 5:19), creatures who still snicker at Jesus Christ, deceive others in His name, persecute His saints, ignore His Word, and “rub His nose” in their sins. Lost mankind is wasting God’s grace and mercy that He is offering so freely. When His grace is finally exhausted, the undiluted wrath that has accumulated will finally be poured out (His Second Coming). May we trust Jesus Christ as our personal Saviour now so we have our sins forgiven now, lest we face that angry, righteous God in judgment (2 Thessalonians 1:7-9)!

For more information, you may also see our archived Bible Q&A: “Did God ‘rape’ Mary?”

The Misunderstood Messiah #4

Tuesday, December 29, 2020

“Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God” (John 8:41 KJV).

Did you ever notice the magnitude of the insult put forth toward Jesus Christ in today’s Scripture?

Society’s anti-Bible, anti-Christian attitude is nothing new. While today’s Bible-believing, Bible-quoting Christian is accused of “hate speech” and “bigotry,” the “non-narrow-minded” face no repercussion for their slandering of the Lord Jesus Christ and their trampling His Word under foot. Due to sin, the world is upside down, and when the Christian attempts to expose it, he or she is to blame. The world wants Romans 3:4 to read, “Let every man be true, but God a liar!”

Like the (self-righteous) Pharisees of old, lost mankind, despite religious participation, has no capacity to stop sin. Never become angry at the world and never let their behavior puzzle you. Sinners do nothing but sin: by nature, man literally knows nothing but sin. As Jesus said to the lost Pharisees, “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do” (John 8:44a). What they need is not simply to stop their activity (sins); they need a new nature from God! Today’s Scripture demonstrates the Pharisees’ willful ignorance of their sinful state.

Like the (“educated”) Pharisees of old, lost mankind, despite several degrees, has no capacity to understand the Bible. The Pharisees studied their Old Testament scrolls, yet they were equivalent to today’s average seminary graduate—years of Bible “study” and no (!) Bible understanding. Today’s Scripture demonstrates the Pharisees’ willful ignorance of one of hundreds of Old Testament prophecies that foretold Jesus Christ’s coming. They had plenty of philosophy and religion, but they had no capacity to understand and appreciate the Bible. People today do not need degrees to comprehend the Bible; they need the Spirit of God! “But the natural [lost] man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned [judged, evaluated]” (1 Corinthians 2:14).

Let us summarize and conclude this devotional arc….

NOTE: Praise our Lord Jesus Christ, as this is devotional #3500! Onward to #3600! 🙂

The Misunderstood Messiah #2

Sunday, December 27, 2020

“Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God” (John 8:41 KJV).

Did you ever notice the magnitude of the insult put forth toward Jesus Christ in today’s Scripture?

Like the Bible scoffers of today, those during Christ’s earthly ministry rejected the notion of the virgin conception of a human (His own conception).

“Then Joseph her husband, being a just [righteous, fair] man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily” (Matthew 1:19). Joseph, still wondering what happened to Mary, decides to divorce her in secret to spare her from becoming a public spectacle. Suddenly, an angel appears to Joseph in a dream and informs him that the Holy Ghost has generated the Christ child in Mary (verse 20).

Imagine the humiliating rumors that circulated: “Mary was a pregnant virgin before she consummated her marriage to Joseph.” The story just did not make sense to most. Evidently, the general Israeli public, unwilling to believe God’s fulfilled Word, believed Mary was unfaithful to Joseph. That gossip lingered for over three decades, which is why the Pharisees said to Jesus what they did in today’s Scripture: “We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.” In other words, they called Jesus Christ, the Son of God, an illegitimate child, and they claimed they were God’s children! (You can sense the vicious attitude these self-righteous religionists had toward our Lord Jesus, another attempt to intimidate Him into silence, seeing as to they are all in the Temple and a crowd of people is listening to this entire conversation.)

At this point, we need to remember that Satan is actively working in and through these Pharisees. Jesus Christ’s deity is being questioned and His credibility is being attacked, which causes those in the Temple to doubt God’s Word (thereby leaving room for Satan’s error to creep in). Our Lord is aware of this, but He does not waver in His Father’s Word. Let us see how He wisely responds to this insult….