LEARNING DAILY

 

Galatians 4:9, And now that you have found God (or should I say that God has found you), why do you want to go back to the weak and useless spiritual powers of the world? (NLT)

 

Galatians 4:9, But now after you have known God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements, to which you desire again to be in bondage? (NKJV)

 

Paul is writing chapter 4 of Galatians to the Galatian people to drive home the point that once they had found God’s salvation through Jesus Christ there was no need to return to the sin that had enslaved them (4:1). He wrote to them that when they received Christ, the Holy Spirit takes residence in their heart and gives them the power to become loving and obedient people. He told them that when Jesus saved them the law could be replaced with the love being their guide. He was telling them they had become heirs of God.

 

This leads to the verse above. Paul is shocked that the Believers in Galatia had turned back to a legalistic lifestyle (weak and beggarly elements). They had returned to rituals and rules, and regulations the law had required from them. Jewish leaders came behind Paul and attempted to focus the new Christians to the Jewish laws that Paul had told them they were free from. Can you imagine the confusion the Galatian Believers were in?

 

In Galatians 4:16 Paul tells the Galatians that he will not compromise the truth to make them happy. Paul loved them enough to tell them the truth, that was more important than their friendship. Why is this important? Just like there were those who tried to separate the Galatians from Paul’s teaching there are those who are trying to separate Christians from Biblical teaching. This teaching is done by falsely teaching a set of rules that Christians are to live by.  As Christians, having Christ within us should change our heart desire not just the behaviors people see. The image of Christ should be reflected in us as His followers. That happens as we read and study His Word, pray, worship and do all we can to walk on the narrow way to His kingdom.

 

The Galatians were in a fearful place because they were being deceived into believing that everything physical was evil and they could attain greater spiritual blessing through effort. They were being told that only through following the Jewish rules and regulations they could grow closer to God and achieve heaven. Legalism might give some people satisfaction about being able to do something to achieve heaven; perhaps, it is a sense of control or power that makes them feel superior to others. It might be the attitude of “look at me and how good a person I am; you ought to be like me”.

 

 The walk on the narrow way to eternal life in God’s kingdom is nothing we can earn. It is the free gift of Jesus Christ through His death on the cross. Our responsibility is to live the best way we can according to His plan given to us in His Word. That takes the pressure off of us to live by a set of rules and regulations. 

 

LEARNING DAILY

 

2 Corinthians 10:4-5, For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. (NKJV)

 

Yesterday I used the New Living Translation for these verses. I used The New King James today because it uses the thought I want to emphasize today. Do you understand by now that you and I are involved in spiritual warfare every day? To do our part in this warfare, we must use spiritual weapons because no one is capable of using their own strength or methods in this fight. When we go into battle, we put on the armor God (Ephesians 6) has provided for us; we put on the helmet of salvation to protect our mind because that is where temptation begins. We “bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ”.

 

Why is this important? If we do not bring all our thoughts into alignment with the Lord’s will, it eventually leads to moral and spiritual failure. Remember what you were told as a child about playing with fire – you eventually will get burned. I have said before that all temptation begins with what we see and/or hear. The one who tempts each of us is the devil; he is relentless in doing so. In the letter that James wrote, he told us, “Temptation comes from the lure of our own desires. These evil desires lead to evil actions, and evil actions lead to death. So do not be misled (deceived) my dear brothers and sisters.”  (NLT) All of us are vulnerable to the attacks of the devil because of the sinful nature in us and because of its desire for the things opposed to God. If it is not resisted and put down or eliminated it leads to sin. Our verse above reminds us we must stop sinful desires as soon as they enter our mind. How do we do this? The notes found in the LSSB suggests four things we can do to bring our thoughts under the lordship of Jesus Christ.

 

First, we must be aware that God knows every thought and nothing is hidden from Him (Psalm 94:11; 139:2,4, 23-24).

 

Second, we must be aware that the mind is a battleground (that’s the goal of this today). Some thoughts originate with us and others originate with the enemy; to take every thought captive involves warfare against both. We must constantly resist and reject evil and wrong thoughts in the name of Jesus Christ.

 

Third, we must be firm in focusing our minds on Christ and heavenly things rather than on earthly things. It is interesting that when we do there is peace. Reread Philippians 4:8 and focus your mind on the things that are pure, noble, and excellent.

 

And last, always be careful to focus your eyes and ears on the things that are righteous and good. All of you know the difference between righteous and unrighteous things to see and hear. It is up to us to resist the evil and focus on the godly aspects of our life each day. We do it in the authority of Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit.

 

In these last days evil abounds. It is our responsibility to guard our minds and hearts from the evil that is all around us. We must keep our eyes in God’s Word and our voice and ears involved in Godly conversation. We must be careful about what we watch on television and on our various devices. We must recognize any ungodly attempt to get us off the narrow way to God’s kingdom and resist it. And, we apply Philippians 4:8 as we put on God’s helmet of salvation every day!

 

From now on DJSB will be used to note information or quotes from the David Jeremiah Study Bible and LSSB will refer to information and quotes from the Life in the Spirit Study Bible.  I have added Jimmy Swaggart’s Expositor’s Study Bible to be referred to from now on as JSESB.

 

 

LEARNING DAILY

 

2 Corinthians 10:3-5, We are human, but we don’t wage war with human plans or methods. We use God’s mighty weapons, not mere worldly weapons, to knock down the devil’s strongholds. With these weapons we breakdown every proud argument that keeps people from knowing God. With these weapons we conquer their rebellious ideas, and we teach them to obey Christ. (New Living Translation)

 

 I have been thinking through the last several pages of the blog and have seen an unintended pattern – that of spiritual warfare in these last days. Seek wisdom from above not earthly wisdom. Train yourself for godliness. A famine of God’s Word. Seek to know God with your mind, guard it and get head knowledge down into your heart. Today we use God’s weapons to fight the spiritual forces that are trying to keep us from doing these things. Whether we want to acknowledge or not, you and I must fight a spiritual battle to walk on the narrow way that leads to eternal life in God’s kingdom. Because it is a spiritual war, we must use God’s weapons to fight; human plans and methods are ineffective.

 

First let me define human plans and methods. These would include “aggression, violence, political solutions, human ingenuity, talents, wealth, organizational skills, eloquence, propaganda, charisma, and personality” (from the notes in LSSB) which in themselves are inadequate to fight against the schemes of the devil. The devil’s schemes today include deception, false teaching, and unrighteousness in all phases of society. We even see this in the teachings within the church. We need the weapons, plans, and method that God gives each of His people to fight; He gives us the authority of Jesus’ name, the power of the Holy Spirit, and spiritual gifts, He gives His wisdom from above, His spiritual armor, and the godliness we must train in.

 

These weapons are powerful because they are spiritually given and come from God. It is, therefore, extremely important that each of us be committed to the truth of His Word, righteous living, sharing His gospel, and persevering in prayer. As Christians, we conduct spiritual warfare with God’s weapons in faith and obedience in order to tear down the strongholds of the enemy. We actually become God’s soldiers that are defending the truth against the attacks we are seeing in our world today. The spiritual warfare being “fought in the heavenlies” (Ephesians 6) are being seen in the world around us in the arguments and philosophies becoming so prominent today. Look carefully and see that these philosophies are being preached as good; the reality is they disguise or hide their rejection of the knowledge of God’s truth. The world’s philosophy – humanistic wisdom, philosophy, exciting attractions, entertainment, even church “performances” – often serves as a substitute for our uncompromising commitment to God’s Word.

 

Worldly weapons cannot bring about the kingdom of God because they cannot destroy sin’s stronghold in our lives nor in the world. They cannot overthrow the evil running rampant in the world today. It is tragic to see the church trying to use worldly tactics to draw the unsaved into their services. Their teaching, use of music, and other worldly weapons has only secularized the church and made the weapons of faith, righteousness, and the power of the Holy Spirit ineffective. Any and every teaching that tends to promote and elevate itself above or against the knowledge of God must be cast down.

 

In the next blog I want to explain one of the first things we must do. Hint: it has to do with our thought life. 

From now on DJSB will be used to note information or quotes from the David Jeremiah Study Bible and LSSB will refer to information and quotes from the Life in the Spirit Study Bible.  I have added Jimmy Swaggart’s Expositor’s Study Bible to be referred to from now on as JSESB.

 

LEARNING DAILY

 

1 Corinthians 3:2b-3, And you are still not ready, for you are controlled by your own sinful desires. You are jealous of one another and quarrel with each other. Doesn’t that prove you are controlled by your own sinful desires? You are acting like people who don’t belong to the Lord. (NLT)

 

Many years ago, I was given a cassette tape titled Grow Up Baby Christian; it dealt with 1 Corinthians 3. Here Paul deals with Christians who refuse to mature in spiritual things, thinking it is enough to remain in the basics of Christianity. He calls them “babes in Christ” or carnal. As in our normal growth as humans we should be moving out of childhood/adolescence thinking into adult, mature thinking. Now, we can debate this for a long time; let’s agree that is normal progression for most of us. The blog this morning comes from events happening in my life that refer to this.

 

In the Christian life, Believers should desire more and more spiritual maturity – to know more and more about living the way God desires His people to live. We are to walk on the narrow way to His kingdom and eternal life. Paul writes we should be desiring the meat of the Word and desire to get off the milk of the Word. Growing. Maturing. But, because of envy, conflict, and divisions among them they are behaving like those who have not given themselves to follow Jesus Christ. I encourage you to read 1 Corinthians 3 to see exactly what Paul was writing

to understand the full picture.

 

We all understand that there is a division between those who know Christ and those who do not. Those who accept Him as Savior and Lord are considered to be spiritual because they think the thoughts of God and strive to follow Him on the narrow way. There could also be a distinction made within those who are spiritual. When we accept Christ, we realize He has died for our sins – all of them. However, you know we retain our sinful nature. We are to deny ourselves and resist the temptations the enemy brings against us. That is the war we wage daily. As we resist and deny ourselves and crucify the flesh, we grow in our spiritual maturity. Here’s the big word for this process – sanctification. That is an ongoing process until we reach perfection in heaven.

 

The problem is not all Christians make the required effort to overcome the sinful nature; they remain as ”babes in Christ” or carnal; they are still saved by their profession of faith in Christ’s finished work. Paul is addressing this with the Corinthians. It is still a problem to address today. Baby Christians need to grow up! They must not try to do things as the world does them; they cannot continue to live as those in the world in some areas of their life while still wanting to remain a part of Cod’s people. Babies are only concerned about their own needs, not caring about the needs of other. Babies or immature people are jealous over the success of others and do not want to be outdone by others. They seem to be at the forefront of every fight instead of being people of peace. And they are not producing spiritual fruit in their lives.

 

I have been faced with remembering whose I am due to circumstances. I have been made to face the conditions of my heart – am I really a mature Christian or am I going to walk as a “babe in Christ”? I have decided I am not going to be consumed by the distractions of the flesh; instead walk by faith and trust that God is in control of all situations. Isn’t that what I have been telling you for so long? I need to walk in my own words, huh!

 

LEARNING DAILY

 

Luke 10:27, So he answered and said, “You shall love the Lord your god with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” (The emphasis is mine.)

 

This statement was made by a lawyer who was testing Jesus on the subject of inheriting eternal life.  Jesus had asked him what was written in the law. The lawyer quoted a verse from Deuteronomy 6:5. The lawyer added to the verse “with all your mind”. That is the subject of today’s blog.

 

Have you ever considered the power and complexity of your mind? I have read staggering things about its ability to receive, comprehend, and send on information that is very complex. I would give you some quotes about the mind but they are far beyond what I have in my head. But the interesting thing I have read about your mind and my mind is that it can do what no computer is able to do. It has the potential to “possess the mind of Christ through the ministry of the Holy Spirit” (a quote written by R. Kent Hughes in the book The Disciplines of a Godly Man).

 

Let’s look at some verses that allow us to do this. Colossians 3:2, “Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.” Psalm 26:2 states, “Examine me, O Lord, and prove me; try my mind and my heart.” Philippian 4:8 tells us to think on things that are true, just, pure, lovely, of good report, and anything praiseworthy. God’s desire is that you and I are very careful about what we put into our mind, what we think about and see. In James’ letter, he writes about temptation leading to sin. He states we allow ourselves to be tempted when “drawn away by our own desires and enticed”. We can only be tempted by what we see and hear. The solution is found in Ephesians 6:17; you and I must take and put on the helmet of salvation to guard our minds. The helmet was the part of the armor that protected the soldier’s brain. Since the warfare you and I fight everyday is spiritual, the assurance of our salvation defeats the doubts Satan tries to attack us. It helps us to keep our mind on His thoughts and His desires as we fight to put away from every temptation that so easily causes us to fail.

 

I am amazed that the area between my ears has the capability to read God’s Word, study it, and follow it. No computer or other device has that ability. My concern is too many Christians today are not guarding their minds; we continue to see too many fail in the Christian walk. Perhaps the pastor of CBC is right when he states too many do not transfer their head knowledge fourteen inches to their heart. Another thought is that we, as Christians, be very concerned about what we watch on television and other devices because of what it fills our minds with. What are we reading? The solution goes back to how we follow Philippians 4:8 above.

 

In these last days, you and I must be careful that what we allow our mind to dwell on does not lead us away from the knowledge of the truth. God help each of us!

 

LEARNING DAILY

 

Amos 8:11, “The time is surely coming,” says the Sovereign Lord, “when I will send a famine on the land – not a famine of bread or water but of hearing the words of the Lord.”

 

Amos was saying to Israel that because the people had continually rejected the word of the Lord spoken to them by the prophets, He was going to give them what they wanted. He was going to send no prophets to them to guide them through what was to come. They would only find silence from Him. Isn’t it interesting people today do not want to hear from God either?

 

At different times I have asked students to do this experiment with me. I asked those who had spent more than one hour reading their Bible, not including church or Bible class, in the past week to raise their hand. Usually at least one person would raise their hand. I asked the class to do the same if they had spent about an hour reading; maybe one other student would raise their hand. I did the same thing for reading thirty minutes;  a few more raised their hand. And, I had a few more join them with five minutes of reading. The majority of students had not raised their hand. I was always quite concerned with this because of the Christian school environment. I believe it is representative of our times.

 

I had intended to be more positive and uplifting in the blog. It seems I cannot get away from what seems to be negatives and warnings. People, today, seem to be deceived or trying to find truth and fulfillment everywhere except in God’s Word. Ways of thinking people would never have accepted in years past are being accepted today; those who seek and follow Truth are thought to be narrow-minded and legalistic. People have turned to every kind of philosophy and feel-good teaching instead of the Bible, God’s Word. I cannot help but think of 2 Timothy 3:7 where Paul writes about the last days when people will be, “always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of truth”.

 

It is a pretty scary thing to have God give a person over to their own sinful desires; when that happens the person only plunges further into perversion and ends up in slavery to sin. It seems to be a slow process where the things we watch on television or in the things we do that entertain us, of doing good works we believe is important instead of spending time in God’s Word for whatever time we need has lulled us to sleep has dulled our minds until Truth becomes clouded. The only way to come to the knowledge of Truth is to spend time in God’s Word and in prayer. I fear that God is allowing people to plunge deeper into a famine of His Word.

 

The question each of us is: How much time have you spent in the past week reading God’s Word? I must answer this question as well. What have we allowed to feed our mind regarding truth? It does seem to me that we have entered a time of famine in these last days. This is simply because of the lack of time people spend reading and studying their Bibles. Do not let this be said of you. Diligently seek Him. He has promised when we do, He will be found by us.

Be encouraged and not discouraged. Let this be the day you begin a plan to read His Word so that He might speak to you through it.

 

LEARNING DAILY

 

1 Timothy 4:7, Do not waste time arguing over godless ideas and old wives’ tales. Spend your time and energy in training yourself for spiritual fitness. (New Living Translation)

 

What does godly or being spiritual mean? Read this quote by Thomas Watson. “By nature we inherit nothing but evil, but godliness is the wisdom from above (my emphasis because of the last page of the blog). It is given by the Spirit because a man has no more power to change himself than to create himself.” I use this quote because it refers to the of spending time in prayer, Bible reading, study and meditating on it and walking on the narrow way to God’s kingdom. That is “training yourself for spiritual fitness” or “train yourself for godliness”. If you consider any person who excels in their profession, you will find that person was disciplined in the training it required to become the best at what they do.

 

Coming from an athletic background, I can tell you the best athletes were dedicated to their training routine; it was their discipline to do more than their opponents in order to be better in their performance that made them stand out. Spend more time conditioning, lifting weights just a little longer, shooting the basketball for an extra hour, throwing or catching more passes after practice or going to extra volleyball practices to gain the right habits, shed those extra pounds on the body, increase strength and stamina are all important disciplines in the life of the athlete who excels.

 

Getting rid of things that hinder the performance of an athlete sounds like the writer of Hebrews was saying in last half of Hebrews 12:1, “let us lay aside every weight, and sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run the race that is set before us.” You and I must consciously do all we can to get rid of the things we do that keep us from becoming who God wants us to be in Him. It will often take all the energy we have to not do that. Here is the important part of this, God helps us get rid of the sinful and evil things that so easily grab and demand our attention. Just like the discipline the athlete has, so must you and I have discipline spiritually. The wisdom from above tells us what is evil and what is good. We then need to have the discipline to say no to evil and say yes to that which is good. That process might be difficult – even painful. But that is part of the training we go through to be godly!

 

Godliness is not developed by being inactive; it does not just happen. It requires for you and me to be disciplined every day in Bible study (not just reading), prayer, and making the right choices as we walk on the narrow way. To be able to do this, we determine to trust God which requires dying to our self-centered life. It might even mean we could be ridiculed and laughed at for what we do and do not do. But by knowing that Jesus Christ is the only way to heaven and He has said narrow is the way to His kingdom, we can determine to be disciplined to spend the extra time to do what strengthens our walk with Him now. All the time we spend preparing to enter that kingdom will be worth it. It is certainly a choice each of us must make; the choice to be disciplined just seems to make sense!

 

LEARNING DAILY

 

James 3:15-17, This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual demonic. For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.

 

The letter written by James says a lot about wisdom; it contrasts worldly wisdom with the wisdom that comes from above. In the days we live in it is imperative that you and I walk through the challenges with the wisdom only God gives if we are going to live on the narrow way to His kingdom and eternal life. This wisdom we need is the ability to discern between what is good and what is evil. Think for a few moments how the world we live in is calling good evil and evil good. In Isaiah 5:20. God says woe to those who do this; He is saying judgment is coming to those who do this.

 

“The wisdom that does not come from above promises knowledge but instead produces disobedience (Genesis 3:4-6), seeks to please the body (sensual) instead of pleasing God, creates chaos and strife, and is powered by the forces of hell (Romans 1:21, 22; Ephesians 2:1-3)” (from the notes in the DJSB). David Jeremiah also writes this might be thought of as the ‘wisdom of the crowd”. People with worldly wisdom often do anything to promote themselves or sho how much they know. We have all been around individuals who believe they are the wisest person in the room. But often confusion is the result of what they say.

 

We certainly do not need more confusion in our lives. One only wonders what the “leading doctor” on the covid virus has caused by changing his mind the many times that he has; talk about confusion! The answer to this is to seek the wisdom that comes from above. This wisdom comes through Jesus Christ through the presence of the Holy Spirit and through the study of God’s Word. It is the foundation we are to build on (Matthew 7:24-27).

 

Do you lack wisdom and want to live in this world with the wisdom from above? James 1:5 has the answer; ”If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.” The New Living Translation says it this way, “If you need wisdom – if you want to know what God wants you to do – ask Him, and He will gladly tell you. He will not resent you asking.” You and I are to ask God for wisdom as we walk through this life to His kingdom. It is most often how to get through the circumstances instead of them being removed from us. The wisdom from above is to have spiritual ability to see and evaluate life from God’s perspective. By that I mean we make right choices and do what is right by God’s will as revealed through His Word and by the leading of the Holy Spirit. We can ask for His wisdom and receive it in faith as we draw close to Him. His wisdom comes with His peace, gentleness, with mercy and good fruit. Oh, how we need His wisdom to live in the evil world!

 

From now on DJSB will be used to note information or quotes from the David Jeremiah Study Bible and LSSB will refer to information and quotes from the Life in the Spirit Study Bible.  I have added Jimmy Swaggart’s Expositor’s Study Bible to be referred to from now on as JSESB

 

LEARNING DAILY

 

! Timothy 6:11-12, But you, O man of God, flee these things (go back and read the verses before this verse) and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

 

I have a note written in my Bible that asks: Am I a church member or a disciple? Someone asked me that or I read it somewhere and it left an impression on me. A person who wants to walk on the narrow way is not only known from what he runs away from but who he follows, and who he is willing to be faithful to.  I have written often about the deception that Jesus said would characterize the last days. First and Second Timothy are letters from Paul to Timothy to encourage him to pursue and be dedicated to God. Paul wanted Timothy and God’s people today be dedicated to God, find joy in Him and to live for Him every day.

 

That is a challenge for each of us today. 1 Timothy 6:1-10 speaks of false teachers who teach a different gospel from that of Jesus Christ. They are people who stir up trouble by not teaching the truth; they are those who tickle the ear, teaching what people want to hear in order to justify their pursuit of evil desires and cause them to wander from the truth. Paul tells us to “flee from these things”! I am sure that you noticed that the things we are to pursue is part of the fruit of the spirit found in Galatians 5:22.

 

As a Believer, you and I cannot follow both light and darkness. When we accept Christ, we walk out of the darkness of the world system and into the light of Jesus Christ. Satan does not want to lose anyone to the light of Jesus so he attempts the same thing that he tempted Eve with. “Did God really say …? His attempt is to weaken and destroy our faith. Paul tells us how to defeat these attempts; “we are to fight the good fight”. Later in 2 Timothy 2:22, he writes to “pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace”. The word for fight in the Greek means to agonize and to pursue means to chase after. Paul is telling us that the Christian life is an intense struggle that requires us to persevere in our loyalty, in our walk on the narrow way to eternal life with the Lord. We are called forth to stand firm (Read Ephesians 6:10-20) in our faith and let nothing cause us to wander from the narrow way (Thoughts from the notes in LSSB).

 

Know that my prayer for everyone who reads this blog is to hunger and thirst for the righteousness that Jesus offers. My prayer is for each of you to have the discernment the Holy Spirit gives us so we know when deception comes so we can answer the question Satan tries to plant in our mind. Yes, God did say … and I am going to follow Him!

 

From now on DJSB will be used to note information or quotes from the David Jeremiah Study Bible and LSSB will refer to information and quotes from the Life in the Spirit Study Bible.  I have added Jimmy Swaggart’s Expositor’s Study Bible to be referred to from now on as JSESB

 

LEARNING DAILY

 

John 16:33, “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world.” Jesus

 

Do you become fearful when you read about the end times and all the things that will happen during these times? Are you fearful looking at the conditions of this ungodly, unrighteous world? You know what is happening if you watch the news or read anything that reports what is happening. If you answer yes to these questions, go back to the verse above and reread it. Even if you are a Bible scholar, go back and read it as if you have never read it before.

 

I want you to notice several things that Jesus said. First, you are going to experience tribulations, especially as a Christian. Tribulations come from the Greek word thlipsis which basically means pressure. We experience all sorts of pressures in this world; it is a fact of life. That leads to the second part of the verse. Jesus has overcome the world. I wonder why Jesus said He had overcome the world and not the tribulation(s) we face. David Jeremiah has written, “Jesus doesn’t just overcome the event. He overcomes the environment in which the event occurs.” The note in the JSESB states, “In effect, He says to them, “Things may look dark, however, despite how they look, everything is under control; trust what I have said and believe Me!”

 

 Things that are occurring around us – inflation spiraling out of control, a pandemic that is causing all sorts of fear, craziness in the public schools, and on and on – make us wonder about who we can believe and trust. In the midst of these circumstances, Jesus speaks to us from His word the encouragement we need. He tells us to “be of good cheer. I have overcome the world.” He reminds us that it is “in Me you may have peace”.

 

Jesus told His disciples and us in John 14:27 what He meant about peace, “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” Trusting Jesus does not mean you and I will not have difficulties; anyone who has walked with Him for very long understands that very well. Notice where Jesus said His peace would be. He said, “Let not your heart be troubled.” The JSESB notes give valuable insight. “The peace of the world is but surface; that given by Christ is in the heart. The peace of God heals the troubled heart, and takes away fear.”

 

My desire is to create an awareness of what is happening in this world today. I want each of us to “stay ready for Christ’s return for His Church so no one has to try to get ready” (Ed Newton). At the same time I do not want to create fear because of what is happening in the world today. Only He knows when He will sound the trumpet that calls His Church to Him. It is our responsibility to discern the times and be ready! We stay ready by continuing to grow closer to Him and by walking the narrow way to His kingdom and eternal life with Him.

 

From now on DJSB will be used to note information or quotes from the David Jeremiah Study Bible and LSSB will refer to information and quotes from the Life in the Spirit Study Bible.  I have added Jimmy Swaggart’s Expositor’s Study Bible to be referred to from now on as JSESB

 LEARNING DAILY

 

Genesis 11:4, And they said, “Come, let us build a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.”

 

Revelation 13:3b, And all the world marveled and followed the beast.

 

I bet you are wondering where my thoughts are going this morning. I’m glad you asked. Genesis 10 lists the descendants of Noah’s sons. One individual in the list is a man by the name of Nimrod; the Bible states he was a “mighty hunter before the Lord”. Genesis 10:10 tells us he began the kingdom of Babel in the land of Shinar. The land of Shinar is better known to us as Babylon and the city of Babel was a prominent city of the land. It would be worth your time to research what is written about Nimrod – I did find the Semitic root for his name was “to rebel” and that “mighty warrior” could also be equated to “tyrant”. This is significant as it gives insight to what type of person he was.

 

The other significant take away from what we read in Genesis 11 is that the land of Shinar desired to dominate their world and be independent of God. Genesis 11:4 speaks of their desire to build a city whose tower reached into heaven in order to make a name for themselves. In other words, these people led by Nimrod, wanted to establish themselves through their organizational skills, unity, power and what they accomplished. All this was based on their rebellion against God. Nimrod is known as the first of many dictators whose purpose was to control the entire world. God had intended the people to be scattered across the known world. Nimrod brought them to Shinar which was an act of rebellion against God. It was motivated by pride and to remove God from the hearts of people.

 

How many individuals since the time of Nimrod have attempted to unite the world under their control and dominance? Nebuchadnezzar, the Roman emperors, Hitler are just some examples of those who have tried. Think how man, today, has attempted to prevent world war through a failed League of Nations and now by the United Nations. Consider today how a pandemic has created more and more talk about a one-world government, a one-word economy, and monetary changes. Consider the talk we are hearing about world governments joining together to combat the problems of race, equality, world hunger, climate change and the other issues faced around the world.

 

Consider these issues only becoming worse, not better! What will the world be like when suddenly millions of people simply vanish? Imagine the confusion that will occur because there are no answers! Confusion and no answers until one comes, with amazing charisma that causes people to be amazed and willing to give him what he wants because his promises are to solve the many problems the world is facing. The world is being set up for such a person right now! The world is talking about a global government, economy, and monetary system.

 

Jesus told us deception would come in the days before His return. We are not to be deceived!

 

LEARNING DAILY

 

 

Ephesians 6:12, For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

 

In the last page of the blog, I wrote that Marxism forms the basis of socialist thought today. It wants to remove private ownership of property, allow all to share the wealth and ownership of the means of production, to create a national bank and redefine equality.

 

There is another aspect of Marx that is coming into play. Marx hated God and believed Christianity was the “opium of the masses”. For his teachings to succeed Christianity has to be destroyed; following God has to be replaced by loyalty and faith in the person(s) running the state. Those “progressive leaders”, including the president are making very strong demands that the people place their faith in policies centered in socialist thought. The removal of Christianity has not come forth directly; but it is there. The government is trying to replace the church in people’s lives by promising free college, redistribution of wealth, legislating equality and rights of all sorts. Free vaccines and free testing! Really? You and I pay for all this through our taxes – nothing is free! Any and all competition must be replaced if socialism is to be successful.

 

To achieve success in Marxian thought control must be maintained. We have seen this in every society who has tried to implement Marx’s teachings. Get rid of all teachings centered in God and replace it with fear. Fear is created through lies and propaganda produced to bring people to believe the leader’s beliefs. Or fear could be created by examples made of those who go against that teaching. You don’t think that could happen here? Vaccination mandates could be an example.

 

Marx also taught that history shows a class struggle between “haves” and “have nots”. His evaluation of history showed the class struggle continuing until it got so bad that eventually the “have nots’ rebelled against the “haves” which eventually produced a new and better society. Until the struggle grew again and revolution happened again. His idea of thesis, antithesis equals synthesis involves class struggle. Workers against owners. Poor against rich. Today it includes racial and racial division. It might even include vaccinated against unvaccinated. The president boldly states the continued corona virus issues is due to the unvaccinated.

 

There is not enough space in the blog to write about how our history is being rewritten and stuff being taught in the public schools is being done to indoctrinate our young people. Remember that 61% of those between the ages of 18-24 believe socialism is favorable. Think about the cancel culture; in socialist thought there is no tolerance for those who disagree. And what about the attempts to defund the police? It is pretty obvious that has had very bad results. We just need to look at the countries who have tried this philosophy and see the results – Germany, Italy, Venezuela, Cuba and even Russia.

 

You and I need to open our eyes to what is happening around us. There is so much concentration on covid that I wonder if we are not missing the erosion of our country due to socialist thought. We must not be deceived and must not take information we hear at face value without at least some investigation. It is time all of us “double down” on following godly principles. Peter made a statement in Acts 5:29 I believe to be very important and appropriate here. “But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: “We ought to obey God rather than men.”  

 

LEARNING DAILY

 

Genesis 6:5, Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

 

2 Timothy 3:1, But know this, in the last days perilous times will come.

 

Look carefully at these verses. In Genesis the evil in man caused God to send a flood that destroyed all but Noah and his family; they were righteous in God’s eyes. In Paul’s second letter to Timothy God tells what the hearts of men will be like in the last days. The common factor is obviously the evil in men’s hearts. In the last page of the blog I mentioned that I believe there might be something going on we might not be seeing clearly in this world.  The end of days suggests that we are close to a one-world government and a one-world economy led by an individual who gains power from Satan.

 

Many years ago, I taught a class in world history. I had a very well written textbook that included government and economic theories, and taught about the various religious beliefs held around the world. I had a great time teaching this material. One of the theories I taught is very relevant to today and that is Marxism. Let’s examine the core teachings that Karl Marx wrote about because so many people in this country seem to think they want to follow his teachings. You need to understand these basic concepts of socialism.

 

Marx taught that the conditions of the working class would become so bad that they would revolt and overthrow the leaders and owners of industry. Why work everyday to make profit for the owners and be paid a small hourly wage in return? So, the working conditions would continue to get worse until this revolt had to happen. This is about the overthrow of capitalism and replacing it with a system where everyone would receive earnings determined by the value of the product being made; profit or money being added on to the cost of materials and labor would not be done. What this means is the elimination of what Marx called a society of “haves” and “have nots”. Let’s make everyone have the same amount of everything! That’s true equality – according to Marxist Theory.

 

Other aspects of Marx’s teaching were the removal of private property, heavy taxes on income, the removal of inheritance, a central bank or national bank. The creation of a national bank would mean bank accounts could be monitored (remember Biden’s desire to monitor any savings/checking account with $600 or more in it?) and dealt with as needed. What is the reasoning? On the surface it is a matter of recreating society in order to make everyone equal in order to fix the problems in society. To Marx the problem was due to class struggle. Fix that and all problems would be taken care of.

 

Too many are focused on the problem of covid-19 and its variants. But do not become so focused on this when perhaps our focus needs to be on what our leaders are working on when our focus is being diverted to Covid. I saw a startling statistic written by David Jeremiah.  He stated that 40% of Americans had a favorable view of socialism; this percentage went to 61% when those polled were between the age 18 to 24. I am a little worried about where this country and the world is headed. Socialism is rooted in common ownership in the means of production of all goods and services; that means all decisions for these things are to be done by society as a whole. You are right! That is impossible. In order for this to work government has to make these decisions for the public.

 

You tell me where we are today.  What is the prevalent thinking of government leaders today? Are they really representing you and me when making the decision they do? Think on that today. I will try to give you some more thought to think on tomorrow.

 

LEARNING DAILY

 

Matthew 24:4, And Jesus answered and said to them, “Take heed that no one deceives you.”

 

I never want to take Scripture out of context. Here Jesus is responding to a question asked by His disciples about the signs of the end of the age. The first sign He talked about was deception. He continued to mention that there would be many people coming in His name and they deceive many. There have been many who have come that would deceive even God’s people into following a gospel different from what He taught. You and I must be aware of any deception that leads us away from the truth Jesus taught and is written in the word of God.

 

Today’s blog is about a different type of deception. I am so tired of people who believe they are superior to the rest of us due to education and position telling us what we should and should not be doing. Mandates are being handed down about vaccinations, blame being placed on the unvaccinated for the spread of a virus, and lies and distortions are being told about everything related to it.  A Supreme Court Justice has distorted information and numbers about the severity of covid in children, the number of children in the hospital and the number of children dying from the virus. The President of the United States has issued mandates for vaccination that have caused too many to lose their jobs because of choosing to follow their right to decide for themselves whether to be vaccinated or not. Many of these were health care workers working to give aid to those hospitalized. We have been deceived by the numbers who have died; we are now learning that the majority of those who have died were overweight or had other underlying causes that led to their deaths. Now, the director of the CDC states that the vaccines do not prevent the spread of the vaccine. We are also being told that boosters do not help while others say we are going to need more boosters. Who is right? Who do we believe?

 

What is going on in this crazy world we are living in? I do know this – the people of the world have been too easily led to believe lies that are centered around fear.  I am not saying that covid-19 and its variants have not been dangerous and the cause of many deaths. Please, do not misunderstand. What I am concerned with is the amount of information and direction being given is so deceptive and people have followed it because of the fear it brings. Does wearing a mask really prevent anything. Again, it depends on who you listen to. Look at what the shut down of schools and businesses has resulted in. Our students are falling behind in their education and businesses are failing. They cannot even stay open for full business hours because they do not have enough employees.

 

Perhaps there is other reasons for all of this! Maybe there is more going on that we need to examine. Some might say to me you listen to too many who throw out ideas of conspiracies or what some people call the Great Reset. Or maybe, just maybe what Jesus said would be signs of His return have become more than ”birth pangs”. It is time to dig into what is happening today on our world. Are you with me?