April 7, 2023: 2 Peter 2:18 - They Allure with the Lusts of the Flesh

“For when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who have actually escaped from those who live in error.” - 2 Peter 2:18

To allure through the lusts of the flesh has been with us since the beginning of time, when the serpent - Satan - allured Eve with the lusts of her flesh, to look upon with the desire to eat of the fruit of the only tree from which God had commanded Adam not to eat. Eve looked, she desired, she was tempted, which led to the doubting of the word of God and what He had said, and she gave in to that temptation. How many lusts of the flesh are acted upon in this manner? How many people have committed adultery and ruined their marriages because they looked upon someone who was not their spouse, they lusted after that person in their heart, they were tempted by that person, they doubted what God said about marriage and that adultery is a sin, after all, it’s just a one-time thing and it won’t hurt their spouse if they don’t know about it, and they gave in to the lusts of their flesh.

The apostle Paul wrote about the various lusts of the flesh and how we should not fulfill them, we should not act upon them:

“I say then: Walk in the Spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication [sexual immorality], uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another; envying one another.” (Galatians 5:16-26)

The apostle John wrote about this as well:

“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world - the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life - is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.” (1 John 2:15-17)

As Paul wrote in Ephesians, before we were saved by believing in Jesus Christ as our Savior, we were all guilty of some of these lusts:

“And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.” (Ephesians 2:1-3)

Even after we are saved, we still struggle with these same lusts of the flesh, as Paul wrote about in Romans chapter 7. He even said, “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (Romans 7:24) He followed this cry of despair of his sin by the proclamation that it is Jesus Christ who has delivered him and made him free:

“I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin. There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death…For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally [fleshly] minded is death, but to spiritually minded is life and peace…So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.” (Romans 7:25, 8:1-2, 5-6, 8-9)

Paul wrote how we are to put off the works of the flesh and to put on Christ; we are not to mirror the world but to mirror Jesus:

“And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.” (Romans 13:11-14)

The Bible, the word of God, is clear on where God stands on the works of the flesh: avoid them like the plague, for they are plagues that lead to death and destruction. However, in many churches today, there are pastors and teachers who are accepting, lifting up, and promoting as good the many works of the flesh, especially with sexual immorality and lewdness; they are luring back to sin those who may have barely escaped those works previously. Why? Because they are deceivers, just like the serpent of old - Satan - who deceived Eve. They speak “great swelling words of emptiness,” promoting that which is evil as good and calling that which is good, evil. The prophet Isaiah wrote of this long ago:

“Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” (Isaiah 5:20)

These false pastors and teachers are not of God and have been blinded by the god of this age, Satan, who himself has lured them through the lusts of their flesh because they have chosen darkness over light:

“But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.” (2 Corinthians 4:3-4)

I cannot urge you strongly enough that if you sit in a church where a pastor or teacher is promoting as good, as acceptable anything which God calls sin, you are being deceived; get out of it before your mind too becomes blinded by the god of this age. Jesus does not want you to be condemned to darkness. He wants you to turn to Him and be saved, and once you are, that includes turning away from sin and temptation, for it only leads to destruction. It’s not a sin to be tempted, but it is a sin to act upon it. When we walk in the Spirit of God, we will be able to escape it, to walk away from it:

“No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear [endure] it.” (1 Corinthians 10:13)

Don’t let false pastors and teachers allure you with the lusts of the flesh; rather, listen to and heed the words of Jesus, the light of the world, the only one who can save us from our sins:

“And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.” (Jesus Christ; John 3:19-21) ✝️

April 6, 2023: 2 Peter 2:17 - Wells Without Water, Clouds Carried by a Tempest

“These are wells without water, clouds carried by a tempest, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.” - 2 Peter 2:17

For 34 years of my life, I lived in a desert, eight years as a teenager with my family and 26 as a married mother. When my family first moved to New Mexico, we came from beautiful Santa Barbara, California, where water was definitely more abundant than it was in New Mexico. My grandparents had also moved from Santa Barbara to New Mexico about a year prior to us. We all lived out in the country, off of a dry, dusty, and bumpy dirt road. I remember when my grandfather decided he wanted to hire someone to drill a well so that he could have water off of his own land instead of getting it through the county’s water system. I remember that big machine that was used to drill the well. My grandparents didn’t have a lot of money, and they were hoping that they wouldn’t have to drill too deep before they hit water. I remember going out and looking at the well that had been dug. Each time they drilled, there was no water. They went a little deeper, and no water. I can’t tell you how far they drilled, but eventually, they said they had to stop. That well was a dry well. They were so disappointed and had spent all that money and time for nothing. They capped the well, and that was the end of it.

In New Mexico where we lived, we only had an average eight inches of rainfall a year. I have also lived in Florida, and we received eight inches in a week or two sometimes; it was quite different than living in a desert! Most years in New Mexico were dry, but then again, it is a desert. I remember getting excited when I would see storm clouds. I would hope that it would rain and refresh our dry and parched land. When it did rain, it didn’t take a lot to make New Mexico beautiful. The wildflowers would come out with just a little bit of rain, and everything would smell fresh and clean. I remember the smell of the land right after a good, cleansing rain shower. The trees in the neighborhood just soaked it in, and even the birds seemed to chirp and sing a little louder. Most of the time, however, we did not receive our average rainfall and sometimes we were in drought mode. There were several summers when we were in extreme fire danger, with just the slightest spark lighting whole forests on fire. The storm clouds when they came, the dark clouds, were tempting us, giving us hope of cleansing water but instead, they would bring the wind with them, which further dried things up, leaving us more barren than before they came.

The same is true for false teachers, as Peter the apostle describes in this chapter of his second epistle. False teachers claim to preach and teach the word of God, but like the dry well and the storm clouds that delivered no water and no rain that provided nothing beneficial, they leave their congregations dry and thirsty and even more barren than they were before. What good is a pastor and teacher if they were to say to those who came to listen to them to tell them the word of God something like, “Just keep doing what you’re doing, God loves you as you are. You don’t need to accept Him as your Savior because all roads lead to heaven. He knows that your sin is accepted by society and it’s okay, you’re okay”? These types of words are being preached and taught in many churches today; they are puffing people up, making them feel comfortable in their sin so that they have no reason to believe that they are dead in their sins and need to turn to Jesus to be forgiven and let Him change them from the inside out, to change their hearts so that they are offended by their sin and begin a process of turning away from it. The words of false teachers do nothing but destroy people, and that is exactly what Satan wants. He says, “Continue in your sin,” whereas Jesus tells us, as He told the woman caught in the sin of adultery, “…go and sin no more.” (John 8:11). Jesus knows that we are incapable of not sinning as long as we are in this world in our fleshly bodies. However, he wants us to stop returning to a lifestyle that causes us to sin and to actively fight against it instead of giving into that temptation. Sadly, this is the complete opposite of what is being taught by many false teachers in the pulpits today. Instead of giving people the living water they need through the truth of God, they are tempting people with the lies of Satan that will eventually lead them into the fire, for eternity.

Jesus is the living water that we all need to forgive us of all our sins and restore and refresh us, and anyone who believes in Him will receive that living water:

“Jesus answered and said to her, ‘Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” (John 4:13-14)

“On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, ‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” (John 7:37-38)

As Peter wrote, these false teachers who are deceiving many will spend their eternity in darkness, in hell, that God Himself has reserved for them because they rejected the truth of God for the lie of Satan.

As Paul said in the Scripture passage below, I pray that both unbelievers and believers alike who are listening to false teachers will take heed to his words of warning:

“…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.” (Ephesians 4:14)

“This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. But you have not so learned Christ, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.” (Ephesians 4:17-24) ✝️

April 5, 2023: 2 Peter 2:15-16: God Does Try to Stop Us from Sinning, but Do we Listen?

“They have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; but he was rebuked for his iniquity: a dumb donkey speaking with a man’s voice restrained the madness of the prophet.” - 2 Peter 2:15-16

In these two Scriptures, Peter is comparing false teachers in the church to the wicked prophet Balaam from the Old Testament book of Numbers (see Numbers 22:1-41 - 25:1-3). Balaam was a prophet from Mesopotamia, in modern day Iraq. When God was bringing Israel out of Egypt and into the Promised Land of Canaan, Balak, the Moabite king saw them when they had moved into his territory and he sought Balaam to put a curse on them. He offered Balaam a diviner’s fee, money or valuables, so that Balaam would curse them, and Balak told Balaam, “…for I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed.” Instead of telling Balak that he absolutely would not put a curse on God’s people, he opened the door for sin to enter into him, for he was tempted by the money that Balak offered him. Balaam responded to Balak, saying, “Lodge here tonight, and I will bring back word to you, as the LORD speaks to me” and the Moabite princes did so. Balaam had let sin enter his house, opening the door for it to come in. Balaam did inquire of God, and God told him, “You shall not go with them; you shall not curse the people, for they are blessed.” The next morning Balaam told Balak, “Go back to your land, for the LORD has refused to give me permission to go with you.” Notice that Balaam didn’t say that God said he should not curse Israel, for they are blessed; rather, he only told Balak that God forbade him to go with Balak and his princes. Why didn’t Balaam tell them all that God said? Again, he left the door open to sin, for his heart was wanting of money and not God.

Balak then decided to send to Balaam more princes and of higher honor than the prior ones, who told Balaam what Balak had said, “Please let nothing hinder you from coming to me; for I will certainly honor you greatly, m and I will do whatever you say to me. Therefore please come, curse this people for me.” Next, Balaam spoke out of both sides of his mouth. With the first side, he rightfully said, “Though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the word of the LORD my God, to do less or more.” With the next side of his mouth, he left the door open to sin once again, ‘Now therefore, please, you also stay here tonight, that I may know what more the LORD will say to me.” Had God not been crystal clear to Balaam when he came to Him the first time? Didn’t God say that Balaam should not curse Israel? Balaam was demonstrating where his faith was and it wasn’t in God. God came to Balaam at night and told him, “If the men come to call you, rise and go with them; but only the word which I speak to you - that you shall do.” Balaam then went with them in the morning, riding on his donkey.

Rightfully so, God was angry with Balaam because he had went with them. Balaam knew Balak and his princes’ intent of contacting him in the first place was only to curse Israel and to pay him for doing so. Balaam had become a prophet for hire. While riding the donkey on his way to Moab with his two servants, “the Angel of the LORD took His stand in the way as an adversary against him.” The donkey saw the Angel standing in the way with His sword drawn but Balaam could not see it. The donkey turned aside and went into a field. Balaam then struck the donkey to get him back on the road, but the donkey “pushed herself against the wall and crushed Balaam’s foot against the wall; so he struck her again.” The Angel went up ahead to a more narrow place, where the donkey would not be able to turn to the left or the right. The donkey saw the Angel again and this time, she lay down under Balaam, who struck her again. Three times Balaam had struck the donkey. “Then the LORD opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, ‘What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?’ And Balaam said to the donkey, ‘Because you have abused me. I wish there were a sword in my hand, for now I would kill you!’ So the donkey said to Balaam, ‘Am I not your donkey on which you have ridden, ever since I became yours, to this day? Was I ever disposed [accustomed] to do this to you?’ And he said, ‘No.’” God then revealed the Angel standing in the way with His sword to Balaam, who “bowed his head and fell flat on his face.” The Angel asked Balaam why he had struck his donkey three times, and said to Balaam, “Behold, I have come out to stand against you, because your way is perverse before Me. The donkey saw Me and turned aside from Me these three times. If she had not turned aside from Me, surely I would also have killed you by now, and let her live.” Balaam acknowledge he had sinned and said if “it displeases You, I will turn back.” The Angel told him to go ahead and go but speak only the words that He would give him. Balaam did go to Balak, who gave Balaam oxen and sheep.

What happened next was a series of seven prophecies by Balaam. Balak took Balaam to the high places of Baal, who was the supreme false god worshipped in Canaan and Phoenicia. What on earth was Balaam thinking of by even going to these places of idol worship? Three times Balaam told Balak to “build seven altars for me here, and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.” Notice that Balam said the altars and sacrifices were for him, not God. Three times God gave Balaam a prophecy of how He would bless Israel. The third time Balaam prophesied, Balak told him, “I called you to curse my enemies, and look, you have bountiful blessed them these three times!” Balaam then gave a fourth prophecy of the latter days, which was a prophecy of the Messiah, who will crush His enemies and have dominion:

“I see Him, but not now; I behold Him, but not near; A Star shall come out of Jacob; A Scepter shall rise out of Israel, and batter the brow of Moab, and destroy all the sons of tumult. And Edom shall be a possession; Seir also, his enemies, shall be a possession, while Israel does valiantly. Out of Jacob One shall have dominion.” (Numbers 24:17-19)

Balaam continued to tell Balak the rest of this fourth prophecy, and when he finished, Balaam left and returned home and so did Balak. What the enemy, Satan, had intended for evil, God used for good. Satan intended to curse Israel, and it backfired on him.

Balaam, who was double-minded, eventually gave over to the evil in his heart and found a way to get the diviner’s fee. “Now Israel remained in Acacia Grove, and the people began to commit harlotry with the women of Moab. They invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. So Israel was joined to Baal of Peor, and the anger of the LORD was aroused against Israel.” In Numbers 31:16, Moses puts the blame for this clearly on Balaam, “Look, these women caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to trespass against the LORD in the incident of Poor, and there was a plague among the congregation of the LORD.” For this plague, 24,000 people were killed by the judges of Israel.

Again, Peter is comparing the false teachers in the church to this wicked prophet, Balaam. God even enabled Balaam’s donkey to restrain him, but Balaam had evil in his heart, though he pretended to be following God. Instead of listening to God the first time when God told him he should not go with the princes of Moab to curse Israel before Balak, Balaam left the door open to sin. Balaam ended up being killed by the sword by Israel when it came into the Promised Land, “The children of Israel also killed with the sword Balaam the son of Beor, the soothsayer [diviner], among those who were killed by them.” (Joshua 13:22) In his farewell address, the Lord God spoke to Israel through Joshua, who had brought Israel into the Promised Land:

“Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose to make war against Israel, and sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you. But I would not listen to Balaam; therefore he continued to bless you. So I delivered you out of his hand.” (Joshua 24:9-10)

Jesus Himself even warned the compromising church in Pergamos:

“But I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality…Repent, or else, I will come to you quickly and will fight against them with the sword of My mouth.” (Jesus Christ; Revelation 2:14, 16)

How many false prophets and false teachers are doing the same things in churches today, putting a stumbling block before those in their congregations, especially in America? False prophets and teachers have always existed but none have ever prevailed against God, and they never will. While God gives them opportunities to turn from their sin and turn to Him, if they don’t, they will receive the due penalty of their sin against Him. There are many false prophets and false teachers in churches today. How many of them are ignoring God’s warnings to them? How many of them are opening the doors to let sin come in instead of firmly rebuking it at the beginning? How many are doing this because they don’t worship the One true God, but worship the god of mammon, money, just as Balaam did? How many will end up as Balaam did, with a donkey being wiser than him, dying with his money and in his sin, because he refused to listen to the words of God?

April 3, 2023: 2 Peter 2:14 - False Teachers Entice Unstable Souls

“…having eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease from sin, enticing unstable souls. They have a heart trained in covetous practices, and are accursed children.” - 2 Peter 2:14

The apostle Peter holds nothing back when he describes the damage that false teachers cause to those who listen to them. Under the direction of the Holy Spirit, he wrote an entire chapter warning those who heard him at that time and to those of us who read God’s word now, nearly two thousand years later, about being aware of false prophets and false teachers and the smooth, lying words they will preach to appease the masses so that we are ourselves would not be deceived.

Another apostle, James wrote of men who desire to become teachers:

“My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment…Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things. See how great a forest a little fire kindles! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell.” (James 3:1, 5-6)

In this epistle by Peter, he is specifically discussing false teachers, those who are not saved by believing in Jesus and are purposely teaching false doctrine in order to deceive people and turn them away from God or from even seeking Him.

Just as the serpent Satan enticed Eve by causing her to doubt God’s commandment to Adam when Satan asked Eve, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden?’” (Genesis 3:1), so do false teachers entice with their deceptive words, causing unstable souls to doubt the word of God, that all of it is from inspiration of Him, and that all of it is applicable today. When there are false teachers in churches, they preach that which is from sinful man and not from God. What does the Bible tell us about man? Jesus discussed this with the Pharisees and scribes when He told them that defilement comes from within us, within our sinful heart:

“And He said, ‘What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a man.’” (Jesus Christ; Mark 7:20-23)

It is only when we turn to Jesus Christ, recognizing that we are sinners in need of a Savior, and that only He can save us from our sins, that we are forgiven of all our sins, we are saved by His grace, by His precious blood.

Something is deadly wrong in our churches today that would cause the shocking results of a May 10, 2022 survey conducted by Dr. George Barna, Director of Research at the Cultural Research Center. In this survey, he reported on the percentage of American pastors and teachers that hold a biblical worldview, which he defined previously on December 3, 2003 as shown below. (See: https://www.barna.com/research/a-biblical-worldview-has-a-radical-effect-on-a-persons-life/):

“For the purposes of the research, a biblical worldview was defined as believing that absolute moral truths exist; that such truth is defined by the Bible; and firm belief in six specific religious views. Those views were that Jesus Christ lived a sinless life; God is the all-powerful and all-knowing Creator of the universe and He stills rules it today; salvation is a gift from God and cannot be earned; Satan is real; a Christian has a responsibility to share their faith in Christ with other people; and the Bible is accurate in all of its teachings."

The following are some of the statistics reported in the May 10, 2022 survey. (See: https://www.arizonachristian.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/AWVI2022_Release05_Digital.pdf):

• “Among all Christian pastors in the United States, slightly more than one out of every three (37%) possess a biblical worldview.”

• “Among Senior Pastors, four out of 10 (41%) have a biblical worldview - the highest incidence among any of the five pastoral positions studied.”

• Worse yet was only 13% of teaching pastors and 12% of children’s/youth pastors hold a biblical worldview (reference the table titled “The Percentage of Christian Pastors That Possess a Biblical Worldview” on page 2 of the aforementioned survey).“

• “The lowest level of biblical worldview was among Executive Pastors - only 4% have consistently biblical beliefs and behaviors.”

• Regarding pastors who do not have a biblical worldview, “their prevailing worldview is best described as Syncretism, the blending of ideas and applications from a variety of holistic worldviews into a unique but inconsistent combination that represents their personal preferences. More than six out of 10 pastors (62%) have a predominantly syncretistic worldview.”

• Only 29% of teaching pastors have a biblical worldview regarding God, creation, and history; 18% regarding matters of sin, salvation, and one’s relationship with God; and only 21% regarding the Bible, truth, and morals. (See the table titled “Percentage of Pastors Who Have a Biblical Worldview in Relation to Categories of Belief and Behavior” on page 3 of the aforementioned survey.

George Barna’s comments on the survey results raise grave concerns not only for the church but for the future of the United States:

“A person’s worldview primarily develops before the age of 13, then goes through a period of refinement during their teens and twenties. Therefore, from a worldview development perspective, a church’s most important ministers are the Children’s Pastor and the Youth Pastor,” Barna said.

“Discovering that seven out of every eight of those pastors lack a biblical worldview helps to explain why so few among the nation’s youngest generations are developing a heart and mind for biblical principles and ways of life, and why our society seems to have run wild over the last decade,” Barna explained.

It is no wonder that when Jesus’ disciples asked Him, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” that He answered them, saying, “Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many.” (Matthew 24:3-5) It is clear by the statistics in the survey mentioned above that the majority of pastors and teachers in churches today are preaching a false Christ, twisting the words of Scripture so that it “represents their personal preferences” instead of preaching the word of God, no matter who it offends.

Persecution of Christians in America is on the rise, and it will increase as the love of many grows cold in the end of the age, as Jesus foretold. The time is now to wake up from the slumber that many in the church have been in and realize that deception is all around us. The time is now to pray to God for discernment, to be able to recognize a man of deception from a man called by God to preach and teach His word. The time is now to take the blinders off of our eyes and to understand why God gave us warning after warning of what is to come, and realize that we are in those days now. We truly are living in perilous times, and Satan is doing all that he can to entice you, to deceive you, and to turn you from God. He won’t do it in a red suit with a pitchfork tail and horns on his head; rather, he will do it as a “pastor” or “teacher” in a church, blending in and undiscernable to those who are not standing firmly on the firm foundation of God.

April 2, 2023: 2 Peter 2:13 - False Teachers will Receive the Wages of Unrighteousness

“…and will receive the wages of unrighteousness, as those who count it pleasure to carouse in the daytime. They are spots and blemishes, carousing in their own deceptions while they feast with you…” - 2 Peter 2:13

In today’s Scripture verse, the apostle Peter continues with his description of the depravity of false teachers who infiltrate churches in order to deceive people and take advantage of them. Strong’s Concordance defines “carouse” as “softness, daintiness, luxuriousness.” The associated HELPS Word Studies states: “5172 tryphḗ (from thryptō, "to break down due to over-indulgence, i.e. living in excessive luxury") – properly, feebleness brought on by self-indulgence (luxury); (figuratively) moral and spiritual breakdown ("enfeeblement") from over-indulging in dainty ("delicate") things, i.e. "dainty living" that deteriorates soul and body.” (See: https://biblehub.com/greek/5172.htm). These definitions are perfectly fitting to the false teachers in churches today. Many of them are pastors of modern mega-churches who live, as Peter described, in excessive luxury and over-indulgence in moral and spiritual breakdown. There are pastors who live in excessively large mansions and even own their own jets with one “pastor” owning three of them, as they tell their congregations to keep the donations coming.

What does the Bible tell us of the wages of unrighteousness?

“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.” (Romans 1:18-19)

The truth is that while these pastors may live luxuriously, owning houses most of us could only dream of, they truly are living their best life now. If they are not saved by the blood of Jesus Christ by believing in Him as their Savior and are only pretending to be so that their flocks keep coming to them in hopes that they too may one day be rich like them, they will be judged by their works, by the things that they did while they were alive on earth. (Revelation 20:11-15) The Bible tells us that no works that we do can save us from our sins and anyone not saved by Jesus Christ will be found guilty in their unrighteousness.

“He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” (Jesus Christ; John 3:18)

“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)

These false teachers in the churches are stains upon that which is meant to be holy, and I believe this is one reason why Christianity in the USA is in spiritual free fall, and as it goes, so does our country. They are not serving God Almighty but are serving their false god: money. Money in and of itself is not evil, but the Bible tells us:

“For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.” (1 Timothy 6:10)

“No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon [riches].” (Jesus Christ; Matthew 6:24)

“Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” (Jesus Christ; Matthew 6:19-21)

If we truly believe that, as one mega-church pastor wrote in a book, we can have our best life now, does that not mean that we will do whatever is needed in order to obtain it and once we have it, to sustain it? As a pastor, does this also mean that one must soften the word of God so that it doesn’t oftend anyone? If people are offended, they won’t keep coming to church and putting money in the money boxes. Having our best life now is contrary to what the Bible says because this world is filled with sin and those who reject the only One who can save them from it - Jesus Christ. No, in this world are sorrow, pain, suffering, and tears. If these false pastors who have made themselves rich by deceiving the masses were to lose everything, what then would they be saying to their congregation? Would they still be saying their best life is now, or would they realize that that is a lie and that our true hope is in Jesus Christ? Our best life is still yet to come, when we are resurrected to new life in Jesus Christ, and when we will live and be with Him at His second coming, during His 1,000-year reign on earth, and then when He destroys this current earth by fire and creates a new heaven, a new earth, and a new Jerusalem. It is only then when, as the apostle John wrote in the book of Revelation:

“And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, ‘Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.’” (Revelation 21:2-4)

But entry to this new earth will be denied to anyone who has not accepted Jesus as their Savior, to those who choose to live in their unrighteousness instead of being made righteous by the cleansing blood of Jesus:

“But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” (Revelation 21:8)

I pray for these false teachers, for they themselves are deceived in their own deception. I pray they will wake up to the truth of God and turn to Jesus Christ as their Savior. I pray they will look to His promises that our best life is not here and now, but in our eternity. We are all born sinners, as the Bible reminds us, and it is only through the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ that we can be washed clean and be made righteous in Him.

“For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” (Titus 3:3-7)

“The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is long-suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9) ✝️

April 1, 2023: 2 Peter 2:12 - False Teachers will Perish in Their Own Corruption

“But these, like natural brute beasts made to be caught and destroyed, speak evil of the things they do not understand, and will utterly perish in their own corruption…” - 2 Peter 2:12

In this Scripture verse, Peter continues describing the consequences of being a false teacher. He compares them to “natural brute beasts.” Humans are made in the image of God and are given a brain and a conscience, and the Holy Spirit convicts us of our sin:

“And when He [the Holy Spirit] has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world [Satan] is judged.” - Jesus Christ; John 16:8-11

There is a good article on gotquestions.org that explains the difference from having a guilty conscience and being convicted of our sin by the Holy Spirit (see: https://www.gotquestions.org/conviction-of-sin.html). The article states:

“The word convict is a translation of the Greek word elencho, which means “to convince someone of the truth; to reprove; to accuse, refute, or cross-examine a witness.” The Holy Spirit acts as a prosecuting attorney who exposes evil, reproves evildoers, and convinces people that they need a Savior.

”To be convicted is to feel the sheer loathsomeness of sin. This happens when we’ve seen God’s beauty, His purity and holiness, and when we recognize that sin cannot dwell with Him (Psalm 5:4). When Isaiah stood in the presence of God, he was immediately overwhelmed by his own sinfulness: “Woe to me! . . . I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips . . . and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty” (Isaiah 6:5).”

However, false teachers, as Peter discusses, have abandoned not only their conscience but also have completely ignored the convicting of the Holy Spirit. They are acting like animals that are driven by their natural brute instincts. What does “brute” mean? Dictionary.com provides several definitions:

• Characteristic of animals; of brutal character or quality.

• Not characterized by intelligence or reason; irrational.

• A brutal, insensitive, or crude person.

When we abandon God, we become like animals, fearing not any consequences of our actions. Doesn’t society today tell us that we are animals created over millions of years by the process of evolution, and not made purposely by God and in His image? Does not our society today act and behave like animals, driven by impulses and feelings instead of using our God-given brains and feeling conviction by the Holy Spirit to see that we need to turn to Jesus and be led by His commandments which are to protect us and enable us to live as civilized human beings?

In 1963, the US Supreme Court made school-sponsored prayer and Bible readings unconstitutional. In 1980 the Ten Commandments were removed from public schools. Instead of man wanting to be led by God, man commanded that our society would be led by man, and look at the utter failure of that. When man takes God out of its culture and society, it sets them up for implosion, and that is exactly what we are seeing not only in America but also in American churches today. Thousands are closing each year, and a recent Barna poll reported that only 4% of Americans hold a Biblical worldview (see: https://www.arizonachristian.edu/2023/02/28/biblical-worldview-among-u-s-adults-drops-33-since-start-of-covid-19-pandemic/). Is it any wonder why churches are closing when many pastors no longer preach the full word of God and Scriptures that illustrate time and time again what happens when man decides to take control and leave God out of everything and the resulting societal, moral, and spiritual collapse? Today, we have pastors who are speaking evil of the word of God because it goes against what society is holding up as acceptable and right in its eyes but is wrong and sinful in the eyes of God.

Let’s revisit this statement from gotquestions.org: “To be convicted is to feel the sheer loathsomeness of sin.” In our God-rejecting society today, we not only NOT loathe sin, we wholeheartedly embrace it and we wrap it up in feel-good words to make it acceptable and that which everyone must approve of. We call adultery an “affair,” the murder of an unborn baby a “choice,” lying as “misrepresented,” stealing as okay as long as it’s under $1,000, rioting and burning down cities as “our right to protest,” and other sexual sin as “I was born this way.” All the while, for those of us left who DO believe in the word of God and have chosen to accept Jesus Christ as our Savior, we are mocked and scoffed and called narrow-minded, even sadly by some in the churches, and some are even called “domestic terrorists.” Today, we see pastors who are embracing what God calls evil and mocking and turning away from what God calls good. They do this at their own peril, “and will utterly perish in their own corruption.” They can fool themselves, they can fool those who attend their churches, but they cannot fool God.

If you are reading this and you have not made a decision to accept Jesus Christ as your Savior, I urge you to consider your future. Are you guaranteed another minute of life? What would happen to you if you died today? Do you know where you are going when you die? As we get older, we realize just how short our life here on earth really is, and each day of life truly is a gift from God. We are rapidly heading toward a time of tribulation that will come upon the earth for a period of seven years that is prophesied in the Bible. Jesus Himself spoke of this coming time period to His disciples when He was asked by them about the signs that would signal His return to earth at His second coming and of the end of the age. He told them:

“For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened.”

What we are witnessing in the world today Jesus described as the “beginning of sorrows” or birth pangs; it is nothing compared to what is coming. If the events we are witnessing are rocking you to your core, be prepared, for we have seen nothing yet compared to what is coming. I strongly urge you to consider your life. Are you prepared for what is coming? The only thing that matters is that you get saved by Jesus and when you do, instead of seeing His wrath, you will receive His love and mercy, His free gift of salvation of sins. He is perfect and holy and will judge the wicked in all their unrighteousness, and nothing and no one, including Satan and all who choose to follow him, will be able to stop Him. Don’t be deceived by the world that says God doesn’t exist and Jesus isn’t the only way to heaven. Don’t be deceived by false teachers who preach lies and deception. Call out to Jesus and ask Him to save you. He will. ✝️

March 31, 2023: 2 Peter 2:10-11 - To Walk in the Lust of the Flesh is to be Judged by God

“…and especially those who walk according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise authority. They are presumptuous, self-willed. They are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries, whereas angels, who are greater in power and might, do not bring a reviling accusation against them before the Lord.” - 2 Peter 2:10-11

In this passage of Scripture, the apostle Peter continues to describe the doom of false teachers and how God will “reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment.” The society we live in today, including in and one could argue especially in America, is one that promotes doing whatever one wants as long as it makes them happy, no matter how wrong it is in the sight of God. Peter gave three examples in prior Scriptures of how God delivered His wrath upon the ungodly. First, He did not spare the angels who sinned and fornicated with human women. Second, He did not spare the ancient world that Noah lived in and destroyed them all by sending a massive flood because of their sins, sparing only Noah and his family. In the third example, God completely burned up Sodom and Gomorrah because of their rampant sexual sin. All of them saw the wrath of God because they refused to turn away from their sin and turn to Him, and we are doing exactly the same thing today. God is sending us warning after warning, trying to wake us up, but we are ignoring all of His warnings. In the days of Noah and Lot, they did whatever made them happy and whatever felt good to them, and so are we. They felt the wrath of God, and so will we. The sad thing is that most of American churches look no different than the unbelieving world.

Why do we as Christians think it’s acceptable to live like the devil six days a week and go to church on Sundays, many which are being led by false teachers/pastors, dress up in nice clothes, listen to worship music that doesn’t even mention the name of Jesus and is as loud as a rock concert, listen to a brief 30-minute sermon, and think that makes us Christians? God calls His people to be set apart from this world, and yet we have so many pastors who are doing all they can to appeal to the world. To do that, they water-down the word of God so that it becomes mores appealing, more palatable to the unbelieving world because they don’t want to offend anyone, in order to keep them coming back and hoping they will keep contributing financially to the church. Well guess what? The Bible IS offensive and it is intended to be! If you had an illness and the only thing that could save you is for you to go to the doctor and receive a treatment that could save your life, and that treatment has been tested and proven time and time again, would you want the doctor not to tell you that you have the disease because it might offend you? Would you want the doctor not to offer treatment and just tell you that he or she hopes you get better by doing the same things you’ve always done? Of course we wouldn’t. So why do we expect pastors to tell us only good things about ourselves, when we are not good? We are all sinners, and we all need Jesus Christ to save us. He alone is the antidote to the poison of sin. He alone can redeem us of all our sins. If there is anyone we should want to be more like it is Jesus Christ, the only One who ever lived on earth who was without sin, which is why only He can save us from our sins. If we think we are without sin, we are liars and we are deceiving ourselves. If we think God isn’t real and that He did not send His Son Jesus Christ to save us from our sins, we are antichrists. (1 John 2:22)

When I look at the horrific state of our nation, the USA today, I look at the pastors and how they have failed us. Yes, we ourselves, the attendees of these churches must take responsibility for our own actions, but it is the leaders of the churches, the shepherds of the flocks whose primary task is to feed the sheep, to ensure they know the word of God so that they are clear about how salvation comes - through faith in Jesus Christ alone - and that they can stand upon the word of God when tribulations come and they do not fall away from the faith. This feeding includes teaching Bible prophecy by reading from the prophetic books in the Bible, for without this, the flock is left unprepared and vulnerable to being deceived, and that is exactly what has happened at least in the past 50-60 years, and especially in the past three years, and many more will be deceived by the antichrist when he comes.

When soldiers go to war, they don’t go unprepared. They are trained right from the start after they enlist in the military. They go through a period of basic training, and after they complete that, they received specialized training in what their job in the military will be. Once they finish all of their training, they have units they are assigned to and they have their commanding officers who are over them. Periodically, they have exercises when they put their training to the test for a conflict or war-time situation. Military officers must also have graduated from college and have their own specialized training. When war or a conflict hits, there is no time for them to get up to speed in order to defend themselves, their fellow servicemen and women, and their country; no, they must rely on their prior training and be ready to use it at a moment’s notice. The same is true for the believer in Christ, for we are in a war with Satan for our souls, and he will use every weapon in his armament to steal them from us, and this includes infiltrating the churches with deceivers who are wolves disguised as sheep. To recognize them, we must know the word of God for ourselves so that when they preach something that is not true and is not from the word of God, we will recognize it as false and that the person is trying to deceive us and we must stop listening to that person, even stop going to that church. The best way to defeat your enemy is to infiltrate it without them even knowing, and that is exactly what Satan has done with the church. How many times have we heard recently that Jesus would be this or Jesus approves of that, Jesus is not the only way to heaven, and that we should do away with the Old Testament, when they are lies from the pit of hell?

We are at what is perhaps the most critical point in human history. During COVID, it was a time like no other, when the entire world shut down, and every country was singing to the same sheet of music. Churches were deemed “non-essential,” while marijuana dispensaries and strip clubs remained open. Intense pressure was put onto people, including by some church “leaders” to receive an injection that was rushed through when the typical time to safely develop and test a vaccine is 5-10 years (see link from John Hopkins University: https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/vaccines/timeline), many businesses closed and people were paid to stay home instead of coming into work. Chaos and turmoil exploded, especially in the western nations, and governments became tyrannical. I believe we are drawing very close to the prophesied time period when antichrist, the worthless shepherd, will step on the world scene and sadly, many who say they are believers in Christ will be deceived by him, for they do not know the word of God, they do not read the Bible for themselves, do not know Bible prophecy, and will look upon this “man with a plan” as their savior. As the apostle Paul wrote in 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12:

“The coming of the lawless one [the final antichrist] is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders; and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”

The false teachers and pastors in the churches today are speaking out against the true pastors and teachers and anyone in authority who stands on God’s truth because, as Peter wrote in today’s Scripture verse, they are walking “according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise authority” and are presumptuous and self-willed. While they may thrive temporarily in a society that craves not the word of God and seeks not to be holy like Jesus, God has reserved them “under punishment for the day of judgment.” God’s delay is not God’s approval; rather, it is God’s mercy as He patiently waits before He withdraws His hand that holds back judgment and releases His wrath upon them.

Writing about these Scriptures in 2 Peter has been challenging for me. I am a positive person, an optimist, but I am also dedicated to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. That includes telling others about Him and warning people of the time in history I believe we are in because many believers have no idea and will be completely blindsided by what is coming. I cannot urge you strongly enough to pick up the Bible and read it for yourselves, relying on the Holy Spirit to give you understanding of it; He will. We have never been at a point where the events prophesied in the books of Daniel and Revelation are lining up, converging, as we are now. Israel is back in its homeland, and it’s looking for the one they think is their messiah, and are ready to build its third Jewish temple. Chaos is ensuing in Israel and is increasing. We didn’t used to have the technology to support the prophesied mark of the beast, until now, with the implementation of a Central Bank Digital Currency worldwide just around the corner, and the extremely rapid advances in artificial intelligence. We have never been at a point when nations are willing to give up their sovereignty in order to form a one world government, until now. COVID was the event that pushed this into overdrive. And, we have many religious leaders who are pushing for a one world religion, including the opening of the Abrahamic Family House in Abu Dhabi that opened on March 1, 2023 that seeks to unite the religions of Islam, Judaism, and Christianity. Instead of being blindsided by what is coming, let us immerse ourselves in God’s word, put on His full armor, and be battle-ready, standing in His power and might. For anyone reading this who has not accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior, ask yourself this: will you be able to tell the difference from one who proclaims to be the true Christ, or will you be deceived by the lie and be reserved by God under punishment for the day of judgment? Turn to Jesus Christ and be saved from all your sins, before it’s too late. ✝️

March 29, 2023: 2 Peter 2:9 - The Lord Knows how to Deliver the Godly

“…then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment…” - 2 Peter 2:9

When we are overwhelmed by this world, by all the horrible things we see happening not only every day but every hour, we must remember that God’s word, the Holy Bible, warned us of what would come in the last days before the rapture of the church, Israel’s signing of a 7-year covenant/treaty with the antichrist, followed by the 7-year tribulation period known as the time of Jacob’s trouble, and then the second coming of Jesus Christ. Satan wants us to be overwhelmed and full of despair and to think that God has left us, that He has forgotten us, but that is a lie from the pit of hell. For those of us who have put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ to save us from all our sins, we know that something so much better than the world here awaits us, and that is when we are with Him, the righteous King of kings and Lord of lords.

Just as God delivered Noah and his family through the flood and took Lot and his family out of Sodom, He knows how to deliver His people out of temptation. The apostle Paul wrote:

“No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.” (1 Corinthians 10:13)

May we remember the words of Paul when he encouraged believers in Thessalonica for their faithfulness when they were being persecuted and suffering for their faith in Jesus Christ:

“We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is fitting, because your faith grows exceedingly, and the love of every one of you all abounds toward each other, so that we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that you endure, which is manifest evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you also suffer; since it is a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you, and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, when He comes, in that Day, to be glorified in His saints and to be admired among all those who believe, because our testimony among you was believed. Therefore we also pray always for you that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfill all the good pleasure of His goodness and the work of faith with power, that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Thessalonians 1:3-12)

May we remember that this world is not our home and that our true Home is with Jesus. May we remember the promise of our King, Jesus Christ, to those who believe in Him:

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Jesus Christ; Matthew 5:10-12) ✝️

March 26, 2023: 2 Peter 2:7-8 - God will Deliver the Righteous

“…and delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked (for that righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds)… - 2 Peter 2:7-8

How many of us who have put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ, who believe in Him as our Savior, the precious Redeemer of all our sins, are feeling like Lot must have felt in the days of Sodom and Gomorrah? How many of us are tormented by what we see in our nation, in the world today? How many times have we prayed for salvation of the lost, including many in our own families, who have wholly rejected God, not partaking of His free gift of salvation through believing in Jesus Christ, but instead have chosen to follow the god of this world? Oh, does our heart break when we see children being ensnared in the web of lies and in the trappings of the devil, as he propagates his lies and confusion among the masses, as the prince of the power of the air! When we see such celebration of sin and perversion, we recall the warnings of God and what He did to Sodom and Gomorrah, knowing that our ways are much worse than even theirs, and what wrath must be being made ready to fall upon us. We have a sense of dread, as we hear the ticking of the clock, knowing the time is short, oh, so short, until God sends His hand of judgment upon us, only patiently waiting in His love and mercy for more to turn to Him so that they can be delivered from wrath, as Noah and his family were delivered through the flood and Lot and his family were delivered out of Sodom.

How do our hearts hurt when we hear people professing to be pastors of God’s churches twisting the divine Scriptures, the word of God, so that it accommodates their sins and the sins of those who sit in their church pews, as they feed them poison disguised as the bread of life? Can we not see what is happening to the Christian faith, especially in the western nations? As Peter warned us in 2 Peter 2, it has been overtaken by false teachers, “who will secretly bring destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed.” (2 Peter 2:1-2) Is our sin not even worse than Sodom’s, for we in these countries and in the USA are blaspheming God, all the while acting as though we are servants and teachers of God? We have exchanged the truth of God for the lie of Satan, and our society, our culture has become exactly as Paul described in Romans 1:18-32, “who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.” (Romans 1:32)

I’ve heard it said before that Noah is an example of the remnant, the one-third of the Jews who will be delivered through the time of Jacob’s trouble, also known as the 7-year tribulation period, and that Lot is an example of the church, those who believe in Jesus Christ, who will be delivered out of the world, caught up to Christ, during the time of Jacob’s trouble. Whether that is true, we will see, but I do know this: God is a righteous God and He will take care of His own. Let us recall Abraham’s question to Him before God destroyed Sodom: “And Abraham came near and said, ‘Would You also destroy the righteous with the wicked?’” He had asked God if He would spare Sodom if there were fifty righteous people in the city, and God said He would spare the city for the fifty righteous. Abraham kept lowering the number until he finally asked God if He would spare Sodom if only ten righteous people were found in it, and God answered him, “I will not destroy it for the sake of ten.” However, God did go on to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah because not even ten righteous people were found in them, but God delivered Lot and his family by removing them out of Sodom.

Let us remember the words of David in Psalm 28. David cried out to God, and He heard his voice:

“To You I will cry, O LORD my Rock:

“Do not be silent to me, lest, if You are silent to me, I become like those who go down to the pit. Hear the voice of my supplications when I cry to You, when I lift my hands toward Your holy sanctuary. Do not take me away with the wicked and with the workers of iniquity, who speak peace to their neighbors, but evil is in their hearts. Give them according to their deeds, and according to the wickedness of their endeavors; give them according to the work of their hands; render to them what they deserve. Because they do not regard the works of the LORD, nor the operation of His hands, He shall destroy them and not build them up.

“Blessed be the LORD, because He has heard the voice of my supplications! The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in Him, and I am helped; therefore my heart greatly rejoices, and with my song I will praise Him.

“The LORD is their strength, and He is the saving refuge of His anointed. Save Your people, and bless Your inheritance; shepherd them also, and bear them up forever.”

Finally, let us remember the words of Paul in Colossians 1:13-14, and let us hold on to these truths, waiting for the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ:

“He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.” ✝️

March 25, 2023: 2 Peter 2:6 - We're Ignoring Examples of God's Wrath on the Wicked

“…and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly…” - 2 Peter 2:6

Peter not only gave the example of the angels who sinned and had sexual intercourse with human women and the example of the ungodly world at the time of Noah when God flooded the world, he now also uses Sodom and Gomorrah as an example of when God did not spare people who had become so ungodly that He brought His wrath upon them. The context of this is when Peter was describing the doom of false teachers who “will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed.” (2 Peter 2:1-2) It is crystal clear that God will not be mocked by these false teachers, and He will “reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment” (2 Peter 2:9) and destroy them, just as He destroyed those who lived in Sodom and Gomorrah.

What were the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah? The book of Genesis, chapter 18:16-33 and chapter 19 tell us, and so do the books of Ezekiel and Jude. It takes a lot for God to send His wrath upon people. He gives us many chances to stop sinning and turn to Him. He also withholds His wrath from the righteous, as He did with Abraham’s nephew and his family. God told Abraham, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grave, I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry against it that has come to Me; and if not, I will know.” Abraham’s nephew Lot and his family lived in Sodom. Abraham then asked God, “Would You also destroy the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there were fifty righteous within the city; would You also destroy the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous that were in it? Far be it from You to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be as the wicked; far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” God answered Abraham, “If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes.” Abraham then asked God if He would spare the city if 45, then 40, then 30, then 20, and finally if 10 righteous souls were found, would He not destroy the city. God answered, “I will not destroy it for the sake of ten.” If there were only ten people in Sodom and Gomorrah who were righteous in the eyes of God, He would spare the city and let the people live. However, there were not even ten righteous people in the city.

God sent two angels to go to Sodom and Gomorrah to bring Lot and his family out of the city before He would send His wrath upon it. In the Bible, angels are always represents in the masculine form, including Michael and Gabriel, and are referred to as “he.” They went to Lot’s house. He invited them in and said they could wash their feet, spend the night, and then get up early the next morning and be on their way. But they told Lot they would spend the night in the open square. Lot, however, knowing the sins and depravity of the people in the city, strongly insisted they come into his house, and they did. Before going to bed, “The men of the city, the men of Sodom, both old and young, all the people from every quarter surrounded the house. And they called to Lot and said to him, ‘Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may know them carnally [to have sex with them].’” Lot interceded for the angels and said that the men could have his two virgin daughters instead, but the old and young men of the city pushed against Lot and tried to break down the door. However, the angels pulled Lot out of their hands, pulled him into the house, and shut the door. The angels then blinded all the men outside the door so that they could not continue in their attempts to get the angels.

The angels told Lot they were there take him and his family out of Sodom because God had sent them to destroy the city. Lot told his family, including his two sons-in-law, to get out of Sodom. However, his sons-in-law thought he was joking and did not leave with him. Early the next morning, the angels told Lot to hurry and take his family and leave but Lot was lingering. The angels literally took Lot and his family by their hands and brought them outside of the city. Then they told them, “Escape for your life! Do not look behind you nor stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountains, lest you be destroyed.” Lot asked if they could go instead to a small city named Zoar nearby instead of to the mountains, and they said yes but to hurry, for they would not overthrow (destroy) the city until Lot and his family arrived in Zoar. “Then the LORD rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, from the LORD out of the heavens. So He overthrew [devastated] those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. But his wife looked back behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.”

Abraham went early the next morning and saw the smoke of the land “which went up like the smoke of a furnace. And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God had remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when He overthrew the cities in which Lot had dwelt.” God had previously told Abraham that He would spare the city if there were only ten righteous people who lived there, but there weren’t even ten there in Sodom and Gomorrah. Like the world was during the times of Noah, sin and filth were the norm and not the exception, and God sent His wrath. However, as with Noah and his family, God spared Lot and his family who obeyed God’s instructions. Lot’s two sons-in-law could have been spared, but they didn’t obey God’s instructions, and neither did Lot’s wife. She had been told not to look back, but she did, she was longing for the city she had just left, the perverted and wicked city; it was where her heart was, and she saw the wrath of God for it.

The USA is just one country that is not heeding the example of what God did to Sodom and Gomorrah, “making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly.” Israel is another, and there are many others. When we ignore God’s warnings to us, we are subject to His condemnation of us, His wrath upon us. And sadly, unbelievers are ignoring God’s warning, which is not surprising because they don’t believe in God or His word, but we also have people who say they are Christians, who also are not heeding His warnings. Further, there are false teachers who call themselves pastors who are not heeding it. As the Bible demonstrates, where sin is approved, sin abounds, and sin is being outwardly approved and promoted in many so-called churches today. Anything that God calls sin in the Bible should not be promoted and touted, especially in churches, whether it be adultery, thievery, homosexuality, murder, including abortion, lying, etc. Do we hate the sinners? Absolutely not! All of us are sinners, and that is exactly why God sent Jesus, so that we can be saved if we believe in Him as our Savior. But after we are saved, does Jesus want us to remain in our sins? No, He told us, “If you love Me, keep My commandments.” (John 14:15) Jesus’ commandments are the word of God, and it is clear that all sin is an offense to God.

We learn more about Sodom’s sins in the book of Ezekiel. At the time when Israel was divided into the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah, when writing about the sins of Jerusalem, during approximately 593-517 BC, the prophet Ezekiel wrote of the sins of Sodom:

“Look, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: She and her daughter had pride, fullness of food, and abundance of idleness; neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. And they were haughty and committed abomination before Me; therefore I took them away as I saw fit.” (Ezekiel 16:49-50)

In Ezekiel 16:48, God said the sins of Judah were even worse than the sins of its sister Sodom, “‘As I live,’ says the Lord God, ‘neither your sister Sodom nor her daughters have done as you and your daughters have done.’”

In the next to last book of the Bible, the book of Jude, he also wrote about God’s judgment and the sins of Sodom:

“But I want to remind you, though you once knew this, that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. And the angels who did not keep their proper [own] domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day; as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.” (Jude 5-7)

Let us read the characteristics again that Ezekiel used to describe Sodom:

• Prideful

• Fullness of food

• Abundance of idleness

• Did not help the poor and the needy

• Haughty (dictionary.com defines as: “disdainfully proud; scornfully arrogant.”

• Committed abomination (sexual sin; Leviticus 18:22: “You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination.”

What nation in the world today has all of these characteristics? I would say the USA has all of them, and other countries, including Israel, have many of them. We have the word of God that He has given us so that we are not ignorant of His commands and of His way, the only way, of salvation from sins through faith in Jesus Christ. Just as the people of Sodom and Gomorrah chose to ignore God, believing that destruction, His wrath could never come, thinking like Lot’s sons-in-law that Lot was joking when he warned them of what was coming, when he told them, “Get up, get out of this place; for the LORD will destroy this city!” (Genesis 19:14), so are we ignoring God’s warnings, and many pastors are not even preaching about them in the churches. They are acting like everything is good, and the USA will be made great again. No, it will not. Our only hope is Jesus Christ. There are some pastors who are preaching prophecy and relating it to events we are seeing in our world today and are readying their flocks so that they know what will happen before it happens, and when it does happen, their faith in Jesus Christ shall not be moved; they will stand strong in His power and might. But, sadly, these pastors are the exception and not the norm. Most are leaving their flocks unprepared, and I would say an increasing number of them are leading them astray, away from the One true God to the god of this world, Satan. May we heed the warnings of Peter. May we heed the warnings of Jude and the apostle Paul and not be led astray by false teachers who are wolves in sheep’s clothing:

“Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Jude 3-4)

“But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.” (Jude 20-21)

“But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come…Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:1, 12-17) ✝️

March 22, 2023: 2 Peter 2:5 - God Sent a Flood on the Ungodly World

“…and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly…” - 2 Peter 2:5

Continuing in this section of Scripture, the apostle Peter gives a second example of when God sent destruction on the ungodly. As Peter described in verses 1-3, this will include destruction upon false teachers who pretend to be Christian and preach destructive heresies, blaspheming the truth of God. I have taken some time in this devotional today to describe the times of Noah, as written in the Bible, and how they relate to the times we are living in today, and just how seriously wicked they are, and to emphasize that God’s judgment has come before and I believe it is coming again, soon and very soon.

The world we live in today has many similarities to world of Noah. Sin abounds and the earth is filled with violence. We also have people corrupting the DNA of not only animals and plants but also with mankind, and not for good. It is worth noting here a prophecy made by Daniel in the book of Daniel. Daniel was a Jew exiled to Babylon after its king, Nebuchadnezzar, had conquered Judah. In chapter 2, Daniel is explaining a dream that Nebuchadnezzar had had. In his dream, the king saw a great image, which Daniel interpreted, by God’s power, as four kingdoms that were represented by the body parts of the great image. The last kingdom was described as having “legs of iron” and “its feet partly of iron and partly of clay.” The kingdom of legs of iron will be divided into ten kingdoms made of iron and clay, “so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly fragile.” During this last time in history, when these ten kingdoms, represented by the ten toes on the statue, are ruling the world, Daniel says, “As you saw iron mixed with ceramic clay, they will mingle with the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another; just as iron does not mix with clay.” (Daniel 2:31-43) I suspect that this prophecy has a dual meaning, but could it be that the statement, “they will mingle with the seed of men” also means the tampering of human DNA, particularly semen? On March 8, 2023, it was announced, “Scientists create mice with two fathers after making eggs from male cells.” The scientists took skin cells from two biological men and created eggs from those cells. They then took normal sperm and fertilized the eggs, and produced the mice. While this has not been done in humans yet, it certainly is their goal, as stated in the article. (See: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2023/mar/08/scientists-create-mice-with-two-fathers-after-making-eggs-from-male-cells). Or, could it be the combining of human DNA with technology to make transhumans, with the ultimate goal of making us immortal? Below are some articles relating to these topics.

• https://www.iflscience.com/futurist-predicts-humans-will-achieve-immortality-by-2030-67965

• https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/04/transhumanism-advances-in-technology-could-already-put-evolution-into-hyperdrive-but-should-they/

• https://www.thecollector.com/5-ways-transhumanism-is-changing-our-lives/

In the passage of Scripture below from the book of Genesis, some people believe that the “sons of God” is referring to angelic beings or the fallen angels (I have copied here a link to one article discussing this: https://www.gotquestions.org/sons-of-God.html).

“Now it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose. And the LORD said, ‘My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years. There were giants [Nephilim, fallen or mighty ones] on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who are of old, men of renown. 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. And the LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. So the LORD said, ‘I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.

“This is the genealogy of Noah. Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God. And Noah begot three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. So God looked upon the earth, and indeed it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.” (Genesis 6:1-12)

The Bible tells us that God told Noah:

“The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth. Make yourself an ark of gopherwood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and outside with pitch.” (Genesis 6:13-14)

“But I will establish my covenant with you; and you shall go into the ark - you, yours sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you.” (Genesis 6:18)

God gave Noah specific instructions for building the ark, including its dimensions of length, width, and height. He also told Noah of the types of animals, both clean and unclean, Noah should bring into the ark with him and his family. Did Noah tell God that He was an unjust God for wanting to destroy the entire earth? Did Noah stand up for his wicked generation and make excuses for their vileness? Did he embrace their evil ways? No, he did exactly as God instructed him to do. One man built a massive ark, which is estimated to have been 550 feet long x 91.7 feet high x 55 feet wide (See an article from gotquestions.org on how this is estimated: https://www.gotquestions.org/Noahs-ark-animals.html) to save him and his family from the judgment that was to come upon the entire world.

I could only imagine the mocking and scoffing Noah must have had when people saw what he was building and for what purpose he was building it. People probably said something like, “You’re crazy Noah for believing that there is a God!” or “God won’t destroy us, life will continue to go on as it has,” or “Why should we get on the ark with you? God’s judgment is not coming!” Sadly, in our world today, there are false teachers who do not believe that God’s judgment is coming to our world, followed by the second coming of Christ. However, instead of it coming this time with a worldwide flood of water, it will come with a worldwide period of tribulation that will last seven years.

After God told Noah to get on the ark with his family, seven days later, God sent the flood of destruction on the world. Instead of pastors today warning their congregations about what is prophesied in the Bible, they are telling them that their best lives are now, ignoring prophetic Scriptures or corrupting them, as they leave their flocks unprepared for what is to come. Peter talked about how this will happen in the last days:

“Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle (in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder), that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior, knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, ‘Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep [died], all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.’ For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water.” (2 Peter 3:1-6)

Like the people in Noah’s day, how many people in our world today believe that God’s judgment will not come upon them? How many don’t even believe in God and outright reject Him? How many believe they can continue in their sin, which we have seen elevated to a new level of wickedness and vileness that many could argue we have not seen in modern history? The Bible tells us God’s judgment is real, and this also includes judgment on fake pastors preaching fake doctrines in fake churches, leading to fake salvation.

Let’s read a little about the contrast between what lies ahead for the righteous, those saved by the blood of Jesus, and what lies ahead for the wicked.

“Do not fret because of evildoers, nor be envious of the workers of iniquity. For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb.” (Psalm 37:1-2)

“The wicked plots against the just, and gnashes at him with his teeth. The Lord laughs at him, for He sees that his day is coming. The wicked have drawn the sword and have bent their bow, to cast down the poor and needy, to slay those who are of upright conduct. Their sword shall enter their own heart, and their bows shall be broken.” (Psalm 37:12-15)

“The LORD knows the days of the upright, and their inheritance shall be forever. They shall not be ashamed in the evil time, and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied. But the wicked shall perish; and the enemies of the LORD, like the splendor of the meadows, shall vanish. Into smoke they shall vanish away.” (Psalm 37:18-20)

“But the salvation of the righteous is from the LORD; He is their strength in the time of trouble. And the LORD shall help them and deliver them; He shall deliver them from the wicked, and save them, because they trust in Him.” (Psalm 39-40)

In a time when fake news abounds, those who are saved by believing in Jesus Christ must draw even closer to Him during these turbulent times and trust in His divine truth, no matter what the media, government, entertainment, social media, educational system, etc. tell us. God’s judgment is real, and I believe we are drawing very close to the tribulation period, a time of such horror as has never been known on earth nor ever will be again.

If you are not saved by the blood of Jesus Christ, by believing in Him as the only One who can save you from your sins, I pray that right now you would ask Him to save you, and He will, just as the Scripture says:

“But what does it say? ‘The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart’ (that is, the word of faith which we preach): that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says, ‘Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.’ For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For ‘whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.’ ” (Romans 10:8-13)

For my dear brothers and sisters in Christ, may we read the Bible for ourselves, and may we ask God to let us be able to discern true pastors and teachers from false pastors and teachers. May we let Jesus be our strength, trusting that He will help us and deliver us from the wicked, knowing that our inheritance shall be forever with Him. ✝️

March 20, 2023: 2 Peter 2:4 - God did not Spare the Angels who Sinned

“For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment…” - 2 Peter 2:4

In this section of Scripture, Peter is now describing the ultimate consequences of false teachers and false prophets preaching false doctrines and destructive heresies in God’s church. Peter gives three examples of times past when God held not only people accountable but also the fallen angels, those who sinned against Him. In this first example, God holds the fallen angels to account for their actions. Similarly, while a teacher/pastor may have previously been faithful to God but for whatever reason turned against Him and started preaching heresy, a distorted version of God’s truth, then they will experience the wrath of God if they do not turn back to Him. Like humans, fallen angels, those who turned against God and chose to follow Satan, will be held accountable for their actions at God’s final judgment of the wicked. Jude 6 also discusses this:

“And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day.” (Jude 6)

Why would pastors who were previously faithful to God turn away from Him? There are many reasons, but I think the ultimate reason is pride, as that is the reason why Satan, the Devil, turned against God; he wanted to be God. Satan will use whatever he can to get people who have decided to accept Jesus as their Savior to turn against Him, and pride is one of the things he uses. Satan lures them into his net, building them up, puffing them up with pride, until one day, they announce to the world that they have left their Christian faith. I believe we have seen this happening at an increasing rate just in the last five years. Just how much damage they did to their flock we cannot quantify, but if we look just at the USA today and the lack of morality within it, it is evident the damage is significant, and it is killing our country and we have exported it to the world.

Let us read what the Bible says about the worst of the fallen angels, the devil also called Satan. Some also believe he is called Lucifer in the Bible. Isaiah the prophet foretold of the fall of the Babylonian king in Isaiah 14, who had taken the people of Judah captive for 70 years. However, because of certain statements in this passage, many believe it is also referring to the fall of Satan, also called Lucifer. “Lucifer” means “Day Star,” “Morning Star,” or “Bearer of Light.” It is critical to remember this because Satan masquerades or disguises himself as an angel of light; he does not appear as Hollywood and the entertainment/music industries portrays him. Why? Because it’s much easier to deceive people when he doesn’t appear as who he really is. He wants people to believe that he is God, to follow him, and reject the One true God.

“For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.” (2 Corinthians 11:13-15)

Let’s read Isaiah 14 and see what the Bible tells us of the fall of Lucifer:

“How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer [Day Star], son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart:

‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend about the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’

“Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the Pit. Those who see you will gaze at you, and consider you, saying: ‘Is this the man who made the earth tremble, who shook kingdoms, who made the world as a wilderness and destroyed its cities who did not open the house of his prisoners?’

“All of the kings of the nations, all of them, sleep in glory, everyone in his own house; but you are cast out of your grave like an abominable branch, like the garment of those who are slain, thrust through with a sword, who go down to the stones of the pit, like a corpse trodden underfoot. You will not be joined with them in burial, because you have destroyed your land and slain your people. The brood of evildoers shall never be named. Prepare slaughter for his children because of the iniquity of their fathers, lest they rise up and possess the land, and fill the face of the world with cities.” (Isaiah 14:1-21)

I have heard it said by one pastor that “Satan has an ‘I’ problem.” The second paragraph of the Scripture above has five ‘I’ statements, as shown below. If these statements do not speak to the pride of his heart, I don’t know what does. Not only that, it seems that Satan not only wants to exalt himself to be equal with God, but also to be above Him, as worded in the second and fourth statements below.

1. I will ascend into heaven.

2. I will exalt my throne above the stars of God.

3. I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north.

4. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds.

5. I will be like the Most High.

What does our society tell us about pride? It promotes it, lifts it up, and has a whole month dedicated to it, all the while it mocks humility. What does the Bible tell us about pride?

“Everyone proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD; though they join forces, none will go unpunished.” (Proverbs 16:5)

“Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. Better to be of a humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil [plunder] with the proud.” (Proverbs 16:18)

“The lofty [proud] looks of man shall be humbled, the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day. For the day of the LORD of hosts shall come upon everything proud and lofty, upon everything lifted up - and it shall be brought low…” (Isaiah 2:11-12)

“The loftiness [pride] of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be brought low; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day, but the idols He shall utterly abolish. They shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, from the terror of the LORD and the glory of His majesty, when He arises to shake the earth mightily. In that day a man will cast away his idols of silver and his idols of gold, which they made, each for himself to worship, to the moles and bats, to go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the crags of the rugged rocks, from the terror of the LORD and the glory of His majesty, when He arises to shake the earth mightily. Sever yourselves from such a man, whose breath is in his nostrils; for of what account is he?” (Isaiah 2:17-22)

There is a time of judgment coming for Satan, for the fallen angels, and for all humanity who choose to follow them and reject God and His Son, Jesus Christ. The time is now to decide in whom you will believe, who you will follow.

If you are going to church, listen to what is being preached and see if it aligns with what Scripture says. Does your pastor teach Bible prophecy or does he avoid it like the plague? Does he preach on the difficult things in the Bible, things that might offend many? Is your pastor female? Do you leave your church most days feeling good about yourself? Does your pastor tell you Jesus loves you as you are and there’s no reason to change your sinful ways? Is your pastor lifting up that which God calls abominable? Does your pastor live like a king when the true King lived humbly?

The time that we live in is a time of great deception, and it is happening on both sides of the political aisle. Both sides have pastors and people who say they are Christian and are touting and promoting that which they call is “good” and that which they call the “truth.” There is only One who is good and that is God and there is only one divine truth and that is His word. May we read His word for ourselves, as led by the Holy Spirit, ask God for discernment, and beware of false teachers, for many are serving the god of this world and not the One true God, and they will be brought low before Almighty God.

“The nations have sunk down in the pit which they made; in the net which they hid, their own foot is caught. The LORD is known by the judgment which He executes; the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands. Meditation. Selah

“The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God. For the needy shall not always be forgotten; the expectation of the poor shall not perish forever. Arise, O LORD, do not let man prevail; let the nations be judged in Your sight. Put them in fear, O LORD, that the nations may know themselves to be but men.” (Psalm 9:15-20)

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them.” (Jesus Christ; Matthew 7:15-20) ✝️

March 18, 2023: 2 Peter 2:3 - By Covetousness they will Exploit

“By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber.” - 2 Peter 2:3

“Covetous” is defined by dictionary.com as “inordinately or wrongly desirous of wealth or possessions; greedy.” What does the Bible tell us about the qualities of those who are shepherds, overseers, teachers and leaders of the flock? First, the apostle Paul made it very clear about men and women’s roles in the church:

“I desire therefore that the men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting; in like manner also, that the women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with propriety and moderation, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing, but, which is proper for women professing godliness, with good works. Let a woman learn in silence with all submission. And I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression.” (1 Timothy 2:8-14)

Paul then wrote in 1 Timothy 3:1-7:

“This is a faithful saying: If a man desires the position of a bishop [overseer], he desires a good work. A bishop then must be:

• Blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach;

• Not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but gentle not quarrelsome, not covetous;

• One who rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence (for if a man does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the church of God?);

• Not a novice [not a new convert], lest being puffed up with pride he fall into the same condemnation as the devil.

• Moreover he must have a good testimony among those who are outside, lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.”

In Titus 1:7, Paul wrote:

“For a bishop [overseer] must be blameless, as a steward of God, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but hospitable, a lover of what is good, sober-minded, just, holy, self-controlled, holding fast the faithful word as he has been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine, both to exhort and convict those who contradict.”

Paul also wrote in the book of Acts as he spoke to the elders of the church:

“For I have not shunned [avoided] to declare to you the whole counsel of God. Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves. Therefore watch, and remember that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears. So now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. I have coveted no one’s silver or gold or apparel. Yes, you yourselves know that these hands have provided for my necessities, and for those who were with me. I have shown you in every way, by laboring like this, that you must support the weak. And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” (Acts 20:27-35)

How many pastors, leaders of the church are adhering to what the Bible says are the qualities required of those who lead the church of God? In today’s world we have read time and time again of megachurch leaders owning massive homes, and sometimes more than one, airplanes, and dressing in expensive clothing, as they feed off those who attend their churches not to hear the message of salvation of God and the whole counsel of God but to be told that “Good things are coming for them” and “God wants them to be rich.” Oh, how far have we fallen and are continuing to fall. How many are storing up their treasures here on earth instead of heaven? The apostles Peter and Paul warned us this would happen, and so did Jesus. Thus, we must be very discerning to whom we choose to listen, even in the churches, and especially in the churches.

In 2 Peter 2:4-11, Peter describes the destruction of these false teachers if they continue in their ways, and I will discuss that in the new several daily devotionals. Needless to say, not only are the deceiving those who listen to them, they are deceiving themselves, to their own peril.

Jesus is the model, He is the good shepherd. He is the One any pastor should desire to be like, to imitate, but sadly, many are imitators of the world, of Hollywood. Those who follow the world are hirelings and are not following Jesus, the true Shepherd, but Satan, the thief. Let us heed Jesus’ words about them:

“The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own.” (Jesus Christ; John 10:10-14) ✝️

March 17, 2023: 2 Peter 2:2 - Many will Follow Blasphemers

“And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed.” - 2 Peter 2:2

What is blasphemy? Dictionary.com defines it as, “To speak impiously or irreverently of (God or sacred things).” Strong’s Concordance defines it as, “To slander, hence to speak lightly or profanely of sacred things.” In this Scripture verse, Peter is referring to the false teachers he discussed in verse 1, “who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction.” Peter is saying that the congregation - the people attending the churches who are listening to these types of people teaching and leading them - instead of opposing the false teachings and holding the church leaders to account, or even leaving the churches, not only stay in them but follow their destructive ways. When they do, they are blaspheming the way of truth.

What is the way of truth? This could be referring to several things, including:

• God is Truth: The song of Moses declares of God:

“He is the Rock, His work is perfect; for all His ways are justice, a God of truth and without injustice; righteous and upright is He.” (Deuteronomy 32:4)

• Jesus is the Only Way to God the Father: The words of Jesus in the Bible tell us in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” Jesus tells us that narrow is the way that leads to life:

“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” (Jesus Christ; Matthew 7:13-15)

Ephesians 2:8 tells us we cannot earn our entry into heaven by anything that we do: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”

When Jesus was brought by His accusers before Pontius Pilate, Pilate asked Jesus, “Are You a king then?” and Jesus answered him:

“You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.” (John 18:37)

• Spirit of Truth: God sent the Holy Spirit to guide us into all truth and to bring glory to Jesus. “But when the Helper [or Comforter] comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me.” (John 15:26) “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.” (John 16:12-15)

• The Bible is the Truth of God: “All Scripture is given by the inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16)

When a false teacher denies any of these truths - that there is only one true God; all of the Bible is given by inspiration of God; He sent His only begotten Son Jesus Christ “that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved” (John 3:16-17); and after Jesus died, was resurrected, and ascended to heaven, He sent His Holy Spirit to testify of Him, then they are blasphemers and will be held accountable to God, as Peter discusses later in this chapter.

This chapter of 2 Peter is a difficult one. It is difficult to read, and it is difficult to write about. However, Peter did write about this to warn believers in Christ that it is critical to beware of false prophets, false teachers and false doctrines so that we are not deceived and led astray. I think it is also no coincidence that in 1 Peter chapter 1, Peter spoke of the importance of prophecy. Fulfilled prophecy is confirmation for us that the word of God is true, for no one could prophesy with such accuracy all of the events that have happened hundreds and even thousands of years before they were foretold unless they were prophesied by God; only He knows the end from the beginning. He is truth, and belief in His Son Jesus is the only way to Him.

During His time of ministry, Jesus met a Samaritan woman at the well and was talking with her, which was not customary since Jews did not speak to Samaritans. He had asked her for a drink of water, and she had given Him some. After talking with her about the living water that only He can provide, He told her that she had had five husbands and the man she was with was not her husband. She told Jesus that she perceived He was a prophet. She said to Him:

“‘Our fathers worshipped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.’ The woman said to Him, ‘I know that Messiah is coming’ (who is called Christ). ‘When He comes, He will tell us all things.’ Jesus said to her, ‘I who speak to you am He.’” (John 4:20-26)

The word of God tells us what happens to those who reject the truth, and it is not good. In the book of Romans chapter 1 verses 18-32, it speaks of the consequences of those who reject the truth of God.

“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that He made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their own thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man - and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.” (Romans 1:18-23).

The Scripture above clearly says that those who reject the truth of God are without excuse because everything that is made speaks to a Creator. I would say this is especially since the discovery of DNA and the realization of just how complex it is and how it demonstrates purposeful design by our great God and Creator.

This passage of Scripture also goes on to tell of three times that God gave them over and why:

1. Romans 1:24: “Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.”

2. Romans 1:20: “For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another…”

3. Romans 1:28-32: “And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.”

In the Scriptures above, I have emphasized in certain words bold text above. How many times just in the past few years have we seen prominent church leaders, including pastors and worship leaders, leave the church for the same reasons described above?

There is coming a day, and I believe it’s not far off, when the man of sin, the son of perdition, the final Antichrist will be the ultimate deceiver and will lead the majority of people alive at that time to destruction. He is the one “who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.” (2 Thessalonians 2:4) The apostle Paul tells us who will be deceived by him and why:

“For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, when the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming.  The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason, God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” (2  Thessalonians 2:7-12)

This aligns perfectly with what Jesus told Nicodemus, a Pharisee and ruler of the Jews:

“He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come into the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.” (Jesus Christ; John 3:18-21)

For unbelievers, I cannot urge you strongly enough to turn to Jesus Christ and believe on Him as your Savior today, before it’s too late. Please, do not be deceived by the lies of Satan.

For my dear brothers and sisters in Christ, I leave you with the words of the apostle John, who tells how we can guard ourselves against false prophets and false teachers and not be deceived:

“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world. You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them. We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.” (1 John 4:1-6) ✝️

March 15, 2023: 2 Peter 2:1 - Beware of False Teachers in the Church

“But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction.” - 2 Peter 2:1

Peter the apostle knew Jewish history and that there had been false prophets who deceived many and because of it had brought God’s judgment. One example is during the time after Israel was divided into the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah. Ahab, the king of Israel, who worshipped false gods and “did more to provoke the LORD God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him,” (1 Kings 16:33) didn’t want to hear the truth; instead, he wanted to hear only good news of himself as spoken of by his so-called prophets. When he asked the king of Judah, Jehoshaphat go fight with him at Ramoth Gilead to take it out of the hand of the king of Syria, Jehoshaphat wanted to inquire of the Lord as to whether or not they should do it but Ahab instead wanted to inquire of his 400 “prophets.” Of course, his prophets told Ahab, “Go up, for the Lord will deliver it into the hand of the king.” Jehoshaphat, still wanting to inquire of the Lord said to Ahab, “Is there not still a prophet of the LORD here, that we may inquire of Him?” Ahab told him there was one and his name was Micaiah. However, Ahab said of Micaiah, “…but I hate him, because he does not prophesy good concerning me, but evil.” Ahab ended up calling Micaiah to him to prophesy but the person who worked for Ahab, his messenger, had gone to get Micaiah and told Micaiah, “Now listen, the words of the prophets with one accord encourage the king. Please, let your word be like the word of one of them, and speak encouragement.” However, Micaiah told him, “As the LORD lives, whatever the LORD says to me, that I will speak.” Micaiah told Ahab what the Lord had told him and what he had seen, including “I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd.” (1 Kings 22:17) Then Micaiah said, “Therefore look! The LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these prophets of yours, and the LORD has declared disaster against you.” (1 Kings 22:23) One of the false prophets to the king then struck Micaiah on the cheek and Ahab had him imprisoned.

Ahab and Jehoshaphat went ahead and invaded Ramoth Gilead, ignoring what the Lord had told Micaiah. Ahab disguised himself and went into battle. Unbeknownst to him, the Syrian king had told his army only to fight Ahab, the king of Israel, and not anyone else. When the Syrian army saw Jehoshaphat, thinking he was the king of Israel, they went to attack him but Jehoshaphat cried out. They realized he wasn’t king Ahab and turned back. However, one man of the Syrian army drew a bow and struck the disguised Ahab. Realizing he was going to die, Ahab sent all of the men fighting with him and Jehoshaphat back to their land and they fled, and king Ahab died. 1 Kings chapter 22 provides more detail than I did, but everything that Micaiah prophesied would happen, did happen. Yet, Ahab had chosen to ignore the words Jehoshaphat had spoken through the Spirit of God, instead listening to the smooth words of his false prophets, to his own death and destruction.

The prophet Micah also warned of false prophets. He warned the princes and people of Jerusalem who were rich and influential and were oppressing and abusing the poor for personal gain:

“Her heads judge for a bribe, her priests teach for pay, and her prophets divine for money. Yet they lean on the LORD, and say, ‘Is not the LORD among us? No harm can come upon us.’ “ (Micah 3:11)

Oh, how do we see these types of false prophets in our world today! We see this type of attitude and perspective from the rulers in the USA and all over the world today! I think there is a majority of Americans who think like those prosperous rulers in Israel that Micah was speaking to that America is untouchable, that nothing can bring it down. Judges, priests, pastors, and prophets are bought and sold to the highest bidder, judging and preaching as they are told. But as we have seen in Israel and in Judah, and also in the times of Noah and Lot, God’s judgment will come, and I believe God’s judgment is already happening in America, and will continue. Why? Because the churches have been and are still being led at an increasing rate by false teachers. Instead of standing up for what is right in the eyes of God, they are caving to the dictates of powerful, wealth, sinful, and deceptive rulers who have thrown God out of everything, such that there are even so-called “pastors” who are proclaiming that the Christian faith must be “unhitched” from the Old Testament. We have pastors who during COVID chose to close their doors to their congregants for worshipping God and yet re-opened them as vaccine sites and received payment by the government.

There are people who are leaders in churches who openly support and promote abortion and living lifestyles that God calls out as sinful in the Bible. Instead of encouraging their congregants to pray to the Holy Spirit to help them stop committing these sins, they tell them they are approved of by God Himself. They have opened the wide gate and are leading many down the broad road that leads to destruction. Yes, we are all sinners, and yes, we all need a Savior and that Savior is Jesus Christ and salvation only comes through believing in Him as the One sent by God to save all who believe in Him. Once one has made that decision, however, God does not expect us to just go on with our sinful lives and do whatever makes us happy. No, God wants us to fight against that temptation to sin by putting on His whole armor and not letting the enemy - Satan - have his way with us.

When the Jewish religious leaders had caught a woman in the act of adultery and brought her to Jesus, He said to the leaders who wanted her to be stoned to death, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” None of them cast a stone at her and instead walked away after Jesus twice wrote something on the ground. We don’t know what He wrote, but perhaps it was something that they themselves had done, something that was sinful. After they left, Jesus asked the woman where were her accusers and had any of them condemned her. She answered, “No one, Lord.” Jesus told her neither did He condemn her but He also said something else to her. What did He say? Did He tell her to go and continue to sin because it makes her feel good? Did He tell her that adultery wasn’t a sin? Did He say that as long as society thinks it’s acceptable that it’s okay for her to do it? No! He told her, “…go and sin no more.” I believe He was talking about her specific sin of adultery, not that He never expected her ever to sin again in her life, because that is not humanly possible as long as we are still alive on this earth in our fleshly, non-perfected, non-glorified bodies. Jesus then said this: “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” (John 8:1-12) Clearly Jesus sees committing what the Bible calls sin as walking in the darkness. Sadly, that is what our country is doing, we are walking in darkness while we claim to be Christian. If most professing Christians would read their Bibles for themselves and stop attending churches that do not preach the whole counsel of God, they would know that in the end times it is prophesied by the true prophets of God that darkness - perilous times - would increase and false teachers will arise and will deceive many.

Is it any wonder that as our nation is distancing itself further and further from Jesus Christ that we see increased chaos and immorality in our nation? Is it any surprise that in a recent Barna Research poll that only 4% of American adults have a Biblical worldview? Before I discuss that further, let’s look at an excerpt from a January 12, 2004 from barna.com regarding a Barna Research poll at that time of protestant pastors (See: https://www.barna.com/research/only-half-of-protestant-pastors-have-a-biblical-worldview/):

“Based on interviews with 601 Senior Pastors nationwide, representing a random cross-section of Protestant churches, Barna reports that only half of the country’s Protestant pastors – 51% – have a biblical worldview. Defining such a worldview as believing that absolute moral truth exists, that it is based upon the Bible, and having a biblical view on six core beliefs (the accuracy of biblical teaching, the sinless nature of Jesus, the literal existence of Satan, the omnipotence and omniscience of God, salvation by grace alone, and the personal responsibility to evangelize), the researcher produced data showing that there are significant variations by denominational affiliation and other demographics.”

Based on this poll and fast-forward to 2022, it is no surprise that only 4% of American adults have a Biblical worldview and only 9% of professing Christians say they have a Biblical worldview (See: https://www.baptistpress.com/resource-library/news/barna-biblical-worldview-held-by-only-4-of-adults/):

Barna’s definition of a biblical worldview included a belief that absolutes exist and a belief that the Bible defines them. Additionally, the definition stipulated a belief that: Christ lived a sinless life; God is the “all-powerful and all-knowing Creator of the universe and He stills rules it today”; salvation is by grace and not by works; Satan is a real being; Christians have a responsibility to witness; and the Bible is “accurate in all of its teachings.”

Why is this happening? Because we have wolves in sheep’s clothing leading the sheep, exactly as the apostle Peter warned about and as was prophesied would happen during the end times. How better to try and bring down the church than to plant false teachers within it? The book of Jude echoes the apostles’ warnings of false teachers that will deceive many in the last days:

“These are grumblers, complainers, walking according to their own lusts; and they mouth great swelling words, flattering people to gain advantage. But you, beloved, remember the words which were spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; how they told you that there would be mockers in the last time who would walk according to their own ungodly lusts. These are sensual persons, who cause divisions, not having the Spirit.” (Jude 16-19)

Paul warned of perilous times and perilous men in the last days:

“But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Now as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, disapproved concerning the faith; but they will progress no further, for their folly will be manifest to all, as theirs also was.” (2 Timothy 3:1-9)

These are the characteristics of the general population in the world during the last days, and we are absolutely there. Paul goes on to warn those who have put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ:

“Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. But evil men and imposters will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing them from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:12-17)

“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.” (2 Timothy 4:3-4)

Jesus warned His disciples about the signs of His second coming and of the end of the age:

“And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.” (Jesus Christ; Matthew 24:10-11)

How many pastors are not preaching and teaching about this to their congregation in churches today? How many don’t because they don’t want to offend anyone by convicting us of our sins? Instead, they are preaching all about love: love, love, love. Yes, Jesus does love us, and He loves us so much so that He doesn’t want us to remain in our sin but to turn away from it. He even told us, “If you love Me, keep My commandments.” (John 14:15). Why? Because sin destroys, and it is what Satan uses to tempt us and turn us against God. Remember his words to Eve when he said to her, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” (Genesis 3:1). He questioned the word of God, just as so-called pastors today are questioning that the Bible is the word of God and they are destroying many lives. Jesus loves us so much that He doesn’t want us to remain in sin and be slaves to it, just as He demonstrated when He said to the woman caught in adultery, “Go and sin no more.”

We clearly live in the time of the last days before the return of Jesus. If you are attending a church that does not preach the whole word of God, including the prophetic books, if your pastor is not warning you about deception that is occurring all around the world but perhaps instead is preaching and teaching what was warned about by Jesus and His apostles, I strongly urge you to pray about it and ask God if you should get out of that church. Ask the Holy Spirit for you to be able to discern who is of Him, who is not of Him, and only listen to who is of Him. Also, listen to what the pastor says and see if it aligns with the word of God. If it doesn’t, then you are being deceived by an end times false pastor that is leading you astray. Don’t let Satan win, don’t listen to his lies; while they are smooth and appealing, so can poison be when a little is mixed with water.

I leave you with the words of the apostles Peter and Paul:

“Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for:

‘God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.’

“Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.” (1 Peter 5:5-11)

“Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to the flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.” (Galatians 6:7-8) ✝️

March 13, 2023: 2 Peter 1:20-21 - Bible Prophecy is Not of the Will of Man but of God

“…knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.” - 2 Peter 1:20-21

How many times have we seen in our modern, high-tech world today when so-called prophets prophesied that certain events would happen only to see that they in fact did not happen? When it comes to prophecy, you have to look at the track record of fulfilled prophecy, how many times the predictions actually came true. The same is true with Bible prophecy. It has been said that at least 27% of the Bible is prophecy, the telling of events before they happen, hundreds and sometimes thousands of years before they happen.

Sometimes it takes a long time for the prophetic events to be fulfilled. One example is the prophecy in the first book of the Bible, Genesis, that prophecies there would be enmity or hatred between the serpent, the devil, and Eve, the woman.

“And I will put enmity between you and the woman [Eve], and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head; and you shall bruise His heel.” (Genesis 3:15)

Satan took on the form of a serpent in the Garden of Eden and deceived Eve into eating the fruit of the one tree that God forbade her and Adam from eating. Because of it, God said there would be hatred against Satan and the woman, and since all people descend from Adam and Eve, this extends to all of humanity. Satan and his fallen angels hate humans and have been warring against them since the fall in Genesis.

The second part of this prophecy in Genesis 3:15 is that there would be hatred between Satan’s seed and Eve’s Seed. Women do not have seed, only men do. The Seed prophesied here is Jesus, whose name means “Savior.” Jesus wasn’t conceived by the seed of a human man and the egg of a woman. Rather, He was conceived by the Holy Spirit through a young virgin named Mary, who was related to Eve.

After Jesus was baptized by John and before Jesus began His ministry and chose His apostles, Satan tempted Him three times. When did Satan do this? It was after Jesus had been led to the wilderness and after He had fasted 40 days and 40 nights. Jesus was hungry and likely weak after not eating for 40 days. After each of the three temptations by Satan, three times Jesus quoted Scripture to him. Why did Satan do that? He wanted to try and kill Jesus before He could tell people the reason why He came to earth: to offer salvation from sins by believing in Him, God’s only begotten Son. Satan wanted to stop Jesus even before He even started, but he did not succeed. How many times has Satan tempted us when we are weak?

Genesis 3:15 prophesies that Satan will bruise Jesus’ heel but Jesus will bruise his head. Satan did bruise Jesus’ heel when Jesus was crucified and nails bore Him to the cross, including one or more nails through His feet. An article from forbes.com dated December 8, 2015 writes about crucifixion and includes photographs of an ancient foot bone of a man that had been crucified and shows a nail through the heel of the foot. It also shows a reconstruction of the placement of the nail through the heel of the foot. (See: https://www.forbes.com/sites/kristinakillgrove/2015/12/08/this-bone-provides-the-only-skeletal-evidence-for-crucifixion-in-the-ancient-world/?sh=3e168c75476d)

Per the article (emphasis in bold added):

“When nails were involved, they were long and square (about 15cm long and 1cm thick) and were driven into the victim's wrists or forearms to fix him to the crossbar.  Once the crossbar was in place, the feet may be nailed to either side of the upright or crossed.  In the first case, nails would have been driven through the heel bones, and in the second case, one nail would have been hammered through the metatarsals in the middle of the foot.  To hasten death, the victim sometimes had his legs broken (crurifragium); the resulting compound fracture of the shin bones may have resulted in hemorrhage and fat embolisms, not to mention significant pain, causing earlier death.”

The method of crucifixion was not even invented until approximately 300-400 BC and yet the book of Genesis prophecies of something that would in fact happen to Jesus Christ long before it happened in approximately 33 AD. While the Bible does not explicitly state who wrote the book of Genesis, it is widely believed that it was written by Moses, and that it was written during the time when he led the Israelites out of Egypt between 1440-1400 BC. One article discusses this and gives reasoning as to why it is believed that Moses did write it (see: https://www.blueletterbible.org/faq/don_stewart/don_stewart_678.cfm). Thus, we have the prophecy written approximately 1440-1400 BC and being fulfilled in approximately 33 AD.

In the Bible, there are many descriptions of Jesus being compared to a Lamb. John the Baptist even proclaimed, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). Isaiah the prophet prophesied of the Savior in Isaiah 53:6-7 being led as a lamb to the slaughter. This was fulfilled when Jesus was tried and found guilty during the mock Jewish and Roman trials, prior to being crucified:

“All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and He was afflicted yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth. (Isaiah 53:6-7)

The night before the Exodus, when Moses would lead God’s people, the Israelites, out of their 400-year period of bondage in Egypt, God instituted the Passover with His people. The Passover involves slaughtering an unblemished 1-year old male lamb, taking a bunch of hyssop, dipping it in the blood, and then striking the doorposts and the lintels of the houses with the blood. The blood would be a sign that when God sent the tenth and final plague of the death of all the firstborn of all people and animals in Egypt, when He saw the blood on the doorposts and lintels, then God would pass over the door and prevent all of the Israelites’ firstborns from being killed. The Pharaoh of Egypt finally relented after this plague after his own firstborn was killed.

As part of the Passover, God also commanded the Israelites to roast the slaughtered lamb in the fire in its entirety and then eat it: “Do not eat it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but roasted in fire - its head with its legs and its entrails.” (Exodus 12:9) God also commanded: “In one house it shall be eaten; you shall not carry any of the flesh outside of the house, nor shall you break one of its bones.” There is a psalm that reads: “He guards all his bones; not one of them is broken.” This is a prophecy of Jesus, the Passover Lamb, that was fulfilled when Jesus was crucified.

To understand just how brutal and horrific crucifixion was, I have copied a link below to a Pubmed article that discusses the inventors and "perfecters” of it and which also describes the process of crucifixion. I highly encourage that you read this to understand all that Jesus suffered in order that we might be saved. (See: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/14750495/).

In the referenced article, it states:

“Death was probably commonly precipitated by cardiac arrest, caused by vasovagal reflexes, initiated inter alia by severe anoxaemia, severe pain, body blows and breaking of the large bones. The attending Roman guards could only leave the site after the victim had died, and were known to precipitate death by means of deliberate fracturing of the tibia and/or fibula, spear stab wounds into the heart, sharp blows to the front of the chest, or a smoking fire built at the foot of the cross to asphyxiate the victim.”

However, in the gospel of John after Jesus said, “It is finished,” and He bowed His head and gave up His spirit (John 19:30), it reads:

“Therefore, because it was the Preparation Day, that the bodies [i.e., Jesus’ body and the two other men who were crucified at the same time Jesus was] should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and they might be taken away. Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who was crucified with Him. But when they came to Jesus and saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs. But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out.

“And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you may believe. For these things were done that the Scripture should be fulfilled, ‘Not one of His bones shall be broken.’’ And again another Scripture says, ‘They shall look on Him whom they pierced.’” (John 19:34-37)

The Scripture above from John fulfills a prophecy from the book of Psalms, written by King David, and two prophecies from the book of Zechariah, a prophet:

“For dogs have surrounded Me; the congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me. They pierced My hands and My feet; I can count all my bones. They look and stare at Me.” (Psalm 22:16)

“And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.” (Zechariah 12:10)

“And one will say to him, ‘What are these wounds between your arms [hands]?’ Then he will answer, ‘Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.’” (Zechariah 13:6)

A prophecy in Psalm 22:17 was fulfilled and was also written about in John’s gospel account:

“Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His garments and made four parts, to each solider a part, and also the tunic. Now the tunic was without seam, woven from the top in one piece. They said therefore among themselves, ‘Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be,’ that the Scripture might be fulfilled which says:

‘They divided My garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots.’ (Psalm 22:17)

Therefore the soldiers did these things.” (John 19:23-24)

I have provided just several of the many prophecies that have already been fulfilled, and there are many, many more yet to be fulfilled. I would venture to say that the majority of the Bible is prophecy, and that prophecy was given to us so that we would read God’s word for ourselves, study it, and be able to recognize that when we see the signs of things that were prophesied that have not yet been fulfilled, we would be ready for the fulfillment of those things to come. The first coming of Jesus was foretold long before He came. His word gave the world signs to look for, events that would happen, and yet, His own people, the Israelites, did not recognize Him as their Messiah. And, neither did the rest of the world who were there when He walked the earth, seeing Him perform miracles.

So here we are today, having not only the Old Testament Scriptures written but also the New Testament, both of which prophesy of His second coming, and the New Testament prophesying of the rapture of the church prior to His second coming. Both the Old and New Testaments prophesy of a soon-coming and to-be revealed antichrist who will rule the world during a 7-year tribulation period that will precede Jesus’ second coming. But how many people alive today are aware of these coming events? How many people, including many Christians, have no idea what is coming? How many have been lulled to sleep with sweet lullabies of Satan, as he uses false pastors in false churches whispering sweet lies to the congregation, all the while making them feel good about themselves as they continue in sin that is promoted and accepted by their “church”? This in and of itself even fulfills Bible prophecy. In the book of Daniel in the prophecy of the end times in chapter 12, it states:

“Many shall be purified, made white, and refined, but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand.” (Daniel 12:10)

The book of Jude speaks about this occurring in the last time:

“These are grumblers, complainers, walking according to their own lusts; and they mouth great swelling words, flattering people to gain advantage. But you, beloved, remember the words which were spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ: how they told you that there would be mockers in the last time who would walk according to their own ungodly lusts. These are sensual persons, who cause divisions, not having the Spirit.” (Jude 16-18)

Jesus even said that prophecy was fulfilled when He explained why He spoke to the people in parables:

“He answered and said to them, ‘Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given, For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says:

‘Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, and seeing you will see and not perceive; for the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them.’

“But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear; for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.” (Matthew 13:11-17)

I believe Jesus’ words absolutely apply to all of us in our world today. Most people don’t believe He is the risen Savior, the One sent by God to offer salvation from sins and be given everlasting life through belief in Him. Most have succumbed to the lies of Satan, most are asleep at the wheel, and sadly, I believe this includes the majority of people in the church. There is only one way to God the Father and that is through Jesus Christ; yes, He alone is the narrow way that leads to everlasting life.

God’s word is full of prophecy, and God’s word is validated as the truth by fulfillment of such prophecies. For we who believe in this, we also know that unfulfilled prophecies will be fulfilled, in His perfect timing. For those who don’t believe, they are like the ones who were alive at the time Jesus lived and yet seeing Him with their own eyes, they did not believe and hearing Him with their own ears, they did not believe. Unbelievers in the world today have God’s word and for whatever reason, they either reject it after having read it or they refuse to read it. His word is a love letter to all the world that tells us things before they happen so that when they do happen, we won’t be filled with fear but will know that He is in control of all things and that He has a plan for all who believe in Him and His Son Jesus Christ, the Savior.

My prayer for anyone reading this is that if you are not saved by the blood of Jesus Christ, by believing in Him as your Savior, that you would turn to Him quickly, that today would be the day of your salvation, for we are not guaranteed another day of life. Don’t be lulled to sleep by the lies of Satan, only to wake up in hell, forever. Turn to Jesus, the One prophesied of from the very beginning, the One who will bruise Satan’s head and cast him and all who follow him into the everlasting lake of fire and brimstone. ✝️

March 11, 2023: 2 Peter 1:19 - We Do Well to Heed God's Prophetic Word

“And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts…” - 2 Peter 1:19

Dictionary.com defines “prophecy” as: “Something that is declared by a prophet, especially a divinely inspired prediction, instruction, or exhortation” and “a divinely inspired utterance or revelation.” Prophecy confirmed, prophecy fulfilled; it is what sets the Bible apart from any other book ever written. The Holy Bible is God’s sure word, breathed through the Holy Spirit to men chosen by God to write it down for generation upon generation to read and to heed. God’s word truly is a light in the darkness, and that is why many tyrannical rulers seek to ban it from their citizens in order to control them. They don’t want their citizens to believe that they have hope in anything or in anyone but in them, the ruling governments. But as believers in Jesus Christ, He alone is our hope; our hope is not in this world but in Him.

Something happens to the reader, under the leading of the Holy Spirit once a person has decided to seek Jesus, a light is poured out in the words so that the Bible begins to make sense to the reader. Years ago when I had not accepted Jesus as my Savior, I was always seeking to know the truth. Even as a teenager in high school, I wrote a term paper called “Creation vs. Evolution.” I wish I still had that paper as I would like to go back now and read what I wrote, but even then I was interested in knowing about God. After going to several churches during my early years of marriage and it was clear that they were more interested in our money than salvation of our souls, I stopped looking for a church to go to. While I believed in God, and that He held me accountable for my sins, I did not know Jesus.

When I was in my 40’s, I remember taking a class on Evolutionary Anthropology, and I remember the professor speaking of the Christian faith as mysticism, fables, and something that was not real, like he claimed evolution to be. It wasn’t too long after taking that class that I decided I had to know for myself: is God real, and why is Christianity the only religion that is right? Why is it so narrow? Around 2007 I decided, after failing a few times before, that no matter what, I would read the Bible for myself, no matter how long it took. After finally making it through Genesis, pushing through all of the genealogies, which is where I had previously stopped reading, I pushed through. I persevered. During that time, I had started going to church, where I heard God’s word read to me, and on June 27, 2010 I accepted Jesus as my Savior. About four years later, I finally finished reading the Bible on August 29, 2011. While I still did not understand a lot of what was written, I knew with absolute certainty: the Bible is the word of God and salvation from sins only comes from believing in His Son Jesus Christ as one’s Savior. I also knew that it had to be the word of God because there was the same common thread written throughout the entire Bible, even though it was written over a period of approximately 1,500 years by 40 different men who put God’s word down on papyrus scrolls. That common thread could not have happened by human thoughts alone; it had to be inspired by God Himself.

During my time of reading the Bible, it did something to me that no other book had done, it drawn me in and caused me to want to know more and more about God, His word, and His Son. And so I continued to read it, especially the prophetic books, the books that told of things to come sometimes hundreds and even thousands of years before they happened. I was especially interested in the nation of Israel. What was it about this tiny nation that causes such hate towards it all across the world, even today, and not only in the secular, non-believing world, but also in many churches?

I’ve heard it said that Israel is God’s timepiece, with the nation itself being the hour hand and the city of Jerusalem the minute hand; everything centers around Israel, and if you want to know what time it is in history, look to Israel. I absolutely believe that is true. While I have learned much more about the prophecies in the Bible since I believed in Jesus as my Savior, I think one of the main prophecies that convinced me His word is true is the return of Israel to the land that God gave them in the Abrahamic Covenant, as written about in the book of Genesis.

Throughout history, the Jews have been scattered from Israel after being conquered by nations, including the Babylonians, Assyrians, and the Roman Empire. Prior to 1948, most of the Jews had been scattered across the globe but after World War II ended, many came to Israel when the modern state of Israel was formed. “On May 14, 1948, David Ben-Gurion, the head of the Jewish Agency, proclaimed the establishment of the State of Israel. U.S. President Harry S. Truman recognized the new nation on the same day.” (See: https://history.state.gov/milestones/1945-1952/creation-israel). This momentous day fulfilled a prophecy by Ezekiel, who was a priest and a prophet who wrote it between approximately 593 - 565 BC. Ezekiel wrote it when Israel was divided into two kingdoms, with the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah. During the time Ezekiel wrote it, Judah had been conquered by Babylon and the majority of its people were exiled to Babylon for 70 years. Ezekiel prophesied that though God was judging Israel and Judah, He would restore them and bring them back into their own land, unified. Below are some of the prophecies in the book of Ezekiel of a united Israel returning to its homeland:

“For thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Indeed I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out. As a shepherd seeks out his flock on the day he is among his scattered sheep, so will I seek out his scattered sheep, so will I seek out My sheep and deliver them from all the places where they were scattered on a cloudy and dark day. And I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land; I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, in the valleys and in all the inhabited places of the country.” (Ezekiel 34:11-13)

Ezekiel 36 says it was God Himself who scattered His people among the nations because of the blood they had shed and for their idol worship. Because they had profaned His holy name, He would sanctify His great name by showing the nations that He is the Lord God by bringing them (Israel and Judah) back into their own land, and when He would be hallowed before their eyes:

“So I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed throughout the countries; I judged them according to their ways and their deeds.” (Ezekiel 36:19)

“But I had concern for My holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations wherever they went. Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “I do not do this for your sake, O house of Israel, but for My holy name’s sake, which you have profaned among the nations wherever you went. And I will sanctify My great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst; and the nations shall know that I am the LORD,” says the Lord GOD, “when I am hallowed in you before their eyes. For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all the countries, and bring you into your own land.” ‘ “ (Ezekiel 36:21-24)

“Then say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Surely I will take the children of Israel from among the nations, wherever they have gone, and will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land; and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king over them all; they shall no longer be two nations, nor shall they ever be divided into two kingdoms again.” ‘ “ (Ezekiel 37:21-22)

And this is what happened on May 14, 1948 when the nation of Israel was reborn, and the Jews began returning to Israel from among the nations to which they had been scattered. It continues today as “Aliyah,” meaning immigration to Israel. In fact, immigration to Israel is increasing, likely due to increased worldwide persecution of the Jews and because of the prosperity of the nation of Israel. In an article dated September 19, 2022 by the Jerusalem Post, the number of Jews who immigrated to Israel in 2022 was up 128% from 2021, which had also seen a significant increase (See: https://www.jpost.com/aliyah/article-717539). After Israel was reborn as a nation in 1948, the following year, 1949, saw the largest number of Jews - 239,954 - immigrating to their homeland. The Jewish Virtual Library has a table showing Jewish immigration from 1948 - 2022 (See: https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/total-immigration-to-israel-by-year).

Another prophecy that has at least been partially fulfilled in Ezekiel is from Ezekiel 36:30: “And I will multiply the fruit of your trees and the increase of your fields, so that you need never again bear the reproach of famine among the nations.” It is amazing to think that this small country, only slightly larger than the American state of New Jersey, is able not only to produce enough fruit to sustain itself but also to export it to other countries. Per trendeconomy.com (See: https://trendeconomy.com/data/h2/Israel/08), in 2021, Israel exported “edible fruit and nuts; peel of citrus fruit or melons” to countries including France, United Kingdom, Russia, Germany, Canada, and the USA.

There is a prophecy by the prophet Zechariah that centers around God’s holy city of Jerusalem. Per an article from therefinersfire.org (see: https://www.therefinersfire.org/recent_prophecy.htm), “Zechariah 8:7-8, the prophet said God would bring the Jews back from the east and the west to their homeland (Israel) and that they would be able to live in the city of Jerusalem again. This prophecy has been fulfilled more than once. About 2600 years ago, Babylon destroyed Jerusalem and took many Jews as captives to Babylon. But many Jews later returned from Babylon. The Jews rebuilt Jerusalem but the city was destroyed about 1900 years ago by the Romans. The Romans killed more than 1 million Jews and forced many more into exile. The Jews did not have control of Jerusalem again until 1967 when the Jews recaptured the city during the Six Day War.” Below is the referenced prophecy from Zechariah.

“Behold, I will save My people from the land of the east and from the land of the west; I will bring them back, and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. They shall be My people and I will be their God in truth and righteousness.” (Zechariah 8:7-8)

While it is true that Israel now has control over Jerusalem and dwells in the midst of it, I believe the last part of this prophecy that states, “They shall be My people and I will be their God in truth and righteousness” is a future prophecy that will happen after the time of Jacob’s trouble and the remnant of the Jews who survive that time will believe on Jesus as their Messiah, as described below.

There is another prophecy of Jerusalem when the world will be fixated on it, and oh, do we see the turmoil in Jerusalem in our world today. To think of all the cities in the world and yet the world is fixated on Jerusalem. This is not by chance or by coincidence; it is the plan of God unfolding right before our very eyes. I do not know if this will happen before, during, or after the tribulation period, but I do know this: God said it would happen and it will happen, in His perfect timing. The prophecy is:

“Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness [or “reeling”] to all the surrounding peoples, when they lay siege against Judah and Jerusalem. And it shall happen in that day that I will make Jerusalem a very heavy stone for all peoples; all who would heave it away will surely be cut in pieces, though all the nations of the earth are gathered against it…In that day the LORD will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; the one who is feeble among them in that day shall be like David, and the house of David shall be like God, like the Angel of the LORD before them. It shall be in that day that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.” (Zechariah 12:2-3, 8-9)

We have these prophecies from long ago that have either been partially or entirely fulfilled, and we also have those prophecies yet to be fulfilled. A prophecy that has not yet been fulfilled but which seems to be in preparation is when “Gog, of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal” (Ezekiel 38:2) and his alliance of countries attack Israel on the mountains of Israel. Many believe that “Gog” is from Russia. Per an article from gotquestions.org (see: https://www.gotquestions.org/Russia-end-times.html):

“Magog is a land “in the far north,” from Israel’s point of view (Ezekiel 38:15; 39:2). Most Bible commentators interpret “Magog” as Russia—and, indeed, Russia is straight north of Israel, all the way up to the Arctic Circle. According to this view, “Rosh” is a reference to Russia, “Meshek” is either Moscow or the people north of the Black Sea (the area of southern Russia and Ukraine), and “Tubal,” which is always listed with Meshek in Scripture, is identified as a city in Siberia or an area in central Turkey.

“Others see “Magog” as a general term used in Ezekiel’s day to identify barbarians living near the Black and Caspian Seas. Regardless of the exact locations of Magog, Tubal, and Meshek, there is no doubt that the general area includes portions of Russia and the former Soviet Union, and possibly some Arab countries.”

Per Ezekiel 38:5-6, the countries that align with Gog to invade Israel are:

• Persia, which is the former name of Iran

• Ethiopia, referred to in some Bibles as “Cush”

• Libya, referred to in some Bibles as “Put”

• Gomer, believed to be modern day Turkey

• Togarmah, believed to be the countries of Turk-speaking peoples.

Ezekiel prophesies:

“…and say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Behold, I am coming against you, O Gog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal. I will turn you around and put hooks into your jaws, and lead you out, with all you army, horses, and horsemen, all splendidly clothed, a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords.” ‘ “ (Ezekiel 38:3-4)

“You will come up against My people Israel like a cloud, to cover the land. It will be in the latter days that I will bring you against My land, so that the nations may know Me, when I am hallowed in you, O Gog, before their eyes.” (Ezekiel 38:16)

As Ezekiel prophesied, all of the nations that come against Israel will be utterly destroyed:

“‘And it will come to pass at the same time, when Gog comes against the land of Israel,’ says the Lord GOD, ‘that My fury will show in My face. For in My jealousy and in the fire of My wrath I have spoken:

“Surely in that day there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel, so that the fish of the sea, the birds of the heavens, the beasts of the field, all creeping things that creep on the earth, and all men who are on the face of the earth shall shake at My presence. The mountains shall be thrown down, the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground.’ ”

‘I will call for a sword against Gog throughout all My mountains,’ says the Lord GOD. ‘Every man’s sword will be against his brother. And I will bring him to judgment with pestilence and bloodshed; I will rain down on him, on his troops, and on the many peoples who are with him, flooding rain, great hailstones, fire and brimstone. Thus I will magnify Myself and sanctify Myself, and I will be known in the eyes of many nations. Then they shall know that I am the LORD.’ “ (Ezekiel 38:18-23)

The book of Ezekiel prophesies that Israel will not only be reborn physically but also spiritually, through believing in His Son, Jesus Christ, as their prophesied Messiah. While Israel has the blessings of God who brought them back into their own land, they are still living in unbelief with rampant sin against God, just as any nation that rejects Jesus. However, the time is coming when the unbelieving Jews and the rest of the unbelieving world will go through a time of hell on earth that will last for seven years. This period of time is known as the time of Jacob’s trouble. It is also known as Daniel’s 70th-week prophecy (see Daniel 9:27, 12:1-3) and the tribulation period (see Matthew 24:1-28). It is a time when God Himself sends a series of judgments upon a wicked world that Has rejected His Son, giving them time to repent and turn to Him before Jesus returns to earth to righteously judge all peoples and begin His 1,000-year reign on earth as King of kings and Lord of lords.

The Jews who survive the tribulation period will finally turn to Jesus as their Savior. Zechariah prophesies of the time when Israel will recognize Jesus as God’s Son, the One sent by God to save all who believe in Him, and they will mourn for Him:

“And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.” (Zechariah 12:10)

Zechariah also prophesies of the then-future first coming of Jesus Christ, referred to in the Scripture below as the “Shepherd,” His death, followed by the scattering of the Jews and the still future prophecy of the 7-year time of Jacob’s trouble, when at the end of it one-third of the Jews will survive and will be saved:

“‘Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, against the Man who is My Companion,’ says the LORD of hosts. ‘Strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered; then I will turn My hand against the little ones. And it shall come to pass in all the land,’ says the LORD, ‘that two-thirds in it shall be cut off and die, but one-third shall be left in it: I will bring the one-third through the fire, will refine them as silver is refined, and test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, and I will answer them. I will say, “This is My people”; and each one will say, “The LORD is my God.” ’ ” (Zechariah 13:7-9)

Ezekiel had also made a similar prophecy which has yet to be fulfilled (bold text added for emphasis):

“Therefore says the Lord GOD: ‘Now I will bring back the captives of Jacob, and have mercy on the whole house of Israel; and I will be jealous for My holy name - after they have borne their shame, and all their unfaithfulness in which they were unfaithful to Me, when they dwelt safely in their own land and no one made them afraid. When I have brought them back from the peoples and gathered them out of their enemies’ lands, and I am hallowed in them in the sight of many nations, then they shall know that I am the LORD their God, who sent them into captivity among the nations, but also brought them back to their land, and left none of them captive any longer. And I will not hide My face from them anymore; for I shall have poured out My Spirit on the house of Israel,’ says the Lord GOD. (Ezekiel 39:25-29)

These are just some of the prophetic Scriptures that I think are absolutely critical to be aware of in the days to come. Every single thing that is happening in our world today is pointing to the time when the world as we know it will collapse. I believe that immediately before the collapse, the rapture of the church will occur, when Jesus calls all believers in Him, both dead and alive, up to Himself in the clouds (see 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17), Then, a strong man - the antichrist - will step onto the scene and shall as Daniel said in Daniel 9:27, “…confirm a covenant [treaty] with many for one week [7 years; the final week of Daniel’s 70-weeks prophecy in Daniel 9].” Antichrist will sign this “peace” covenant with Israel and many nations, and halfway through, he will break the covenant. Once antichrist signs it, the 7-year tribulation period will begin.

Why then do I tell you all of this? Because I believe that we are living in a time like no other and that time is oh, so short for unbelievers to turn to Jesus and be saved before that time that Jesus said, “For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened.” (Matthew 24:21-22) All of the prophecies of Jesus’ first coming were fulfilled, and all of His second coming will also be fulfilled, as well all of the prophecies of Israel. I ask you this: if you haven’t turned to Jesus and accepted Him as your Savior, what makes you think you will be courageous enough to turn to Him during the tribulation period when it will most likely cost you your life? The antichrist will demand that all worship Him and if you do not, you will be killed. If read this devotional stirs anything in you, that causes you to consider what is happening in the world today and how it relates to Bible prophecy, I strongly urge you to pray to Jesus to save you from all your sins, before it’s too late and you die in them, forever sealing your fate in hell, apart from Jesus. As Peter said in today’s Scripture verse, “And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place…” ✝️

March 8, 2023: 2 Peter 1:17-18 - This is My Beloved Son, in Whom I am Well Pleased

“For He received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to Him from the Excellent Glory: ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.’” 2 Peter 1:17-18

Six days after Jesus had predicted His death and resurrection to His disciples, Peter was one of only three disciples, James and John being the other two, who were led by Jesus up on a high mountain, where they witnessed the transfiguration of Jesus:

“His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, ‘Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, let us make here three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.’ While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!” And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces and were greatly afraid. But Jesus came and touched them and said, ‘Arise, and do not be afraid.’ When they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only. Now as they came down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, ‘Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man is risen from the dead.’ And His disciples asked Him, saying, ‘Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?’ Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Indeed, Elijah is coming first and will restore all things. But I say to you that Elijah has come already, and they did not know him but did to him whatever they wished. Likewise the Son of Man is also about to suffer at their hands.’ Then the disciples understood that He spoke to them of John the Baptist.” (Matthew 17:2-13)

Peter, James, and John had seen the glorified body of Jesus Christ. Notice that God had not said for them to hear Jesus, Moses, and Elijah, but to “Hear Him!”

The description of the transfigured Jesus is reminiscent of what John wrote when he was exiled to the island of Patmos and through the Holy Spirit was given the revelation of Jesus Christ to write:

“I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet, saying, ‘I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last,’ and '‘What you see, write in a book and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia: to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.’ Then I turned to see the voice that spoke to me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire; His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters; He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, ‘Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last. I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death. Write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after this. The mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands which you saw are the seven churches.’” (Revelation 1:10-20)

It is very interesting to me in John’s description of Jesus above, he says, “His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace.” Daniel in the Old Testament wrote of the time that his three friends from Judah - Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego - all of whom had been exiled to Babylon, had been found guilty of not falling down and worshipping the image of gold that Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar had made and ordered that everyone fall down and worship the image or be killed. He sentenced them to death by fire in the furnace and had heated it seven times hotter than it normally was heated. When Daniel’s friends were thrown into the fire, the intense fire killed the men who had cast them into the fiery furnace. Then King Nebuchadnezzar said to his counselors:

“‘Did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?’ They answered and said to the king, ‘True, O king.’ ‘Look!’ he answered, ‘I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.’” (Daniel 3:24-25)

Not only were none of Daniel’s three friends killed, their hair wasn’t singed and they didn’t even smell of fire. After having witnessed this with his own eyes:

“Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying, ‘Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, who sent His Angel and delivered His servants who trusted in Him, and they have frustrated the king’s word, and yielded their bodies, that they should not serve nor worship any god except their own God! Therefore I make a decree that any people, nation, or language which speaks anything amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made an ash heap; because there is no other God who can deliver like this.’” (Daniel 3:28-29)

Returning to today’s Scripture, God Himself had previously shown to Peter, James, and John the transfigured, glorified Jesus Christ, and it changed their lives forever. Though Peter, as prophesied by Jesus, would later deny Jesus three times before Jesus was crucified, He would later restore Peter’s faith and would tell Peter to lead His church: “Feed My lambs,” “Tend My sheep,” and “Feed My sheep.” (John 21:15-17) And that is exactly what Peter did until his death. Peter had been the first to proclaim correctly that Jesus is the Christ, and had said to Jesus, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (Matthew 16:16). Peter knew this in his own heart even before he had seen Jesus transfigured on the mount.

Today, we who believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of the living God, in whom God is well pleased, have the accounts of the disciples in the New Testament and we have the prophesies in the Old Testament that foretold of Messiah’s first coming, all of which were fulfilled. We also have the prophecies of the rapture of the church and of His second coming. We have the book of Revelation and in chapter 21, we read of the time when the current earth will be replaced with a new heaven, a new earth, and a new Jerusalem, where, as John wrote:

“But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light. And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it. Its gates shall not be shut at all by day (there shall be no night there). And they shall bring the glory and honor of the nations into it. But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.” (Revelation 21:22-27)

May we remember these words that give us hope, for this world is passing away, right before our very eyes. Everything is lining up exactly as the Bible says it would, including in the prophetic books of Daniel and Revelation. May we remember that Jesus is God’s beloved Son, sent to offer the only way of salvation from sins by believing in Him as our Savior, the One when after He was baptized by John the Baptist:

“Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:16-17)

Are you trusting in God’s beloved Son, the One in whom He is well pleased, for your salvation? ✝️

March 7, 2023: 2 Peter 1:16 - Eyewitnesses to the Majesty of Christ

“For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty.” - 2 Peter 1:16

Peter was one of twelve apostles chosen by Jesus Himself to learn from Him the message of the everlasting gospel: we can only be saved from all of our sins by believing in Him, the One sent by God from heaven, who would be crucified, spill His precious blood, die, be resurrected on the third day and walk the earth for 40 days, and then ascend to heaven to the right hand of God, where He is today. There is no other way to salvation; Jesus is the only way, and His word is truth and only He can give us everlasting life with Him and the Father.

“The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captive and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.” (Luke 4:18-19)

Peter was a simple fisherman, along with his brother Andrew, and they were fishing one day by the Sea of Galilee in Israel when Jesus approached them and said, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” (Matthew 4:18-19) They immediately followed Him. Soon after, Jesus saw two more brothers, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were also fishermen and were mending their nets. Jesus called out to them, and they immediately followed Him as well. What made these men, and later the other apostles, give up everything they had in an instant, their families, their homes, their livelihood as fishermen, and all that they had worked for to follow this Man? What was it about Him? How could He cause them to abandon all that they were and all they had to follow Him? They must have known there was something different about Him that would result in them following Him immediately, without hesitation. I would think that they had previously read in the Scriptures about His long foretold coming to earth, perhaps looking for their Savior, and that the Spirit of God had prepared their hearts for Him. Whatever it was, it was something so powerful that when Jesus was before them, before their very eyes, they left all they had and followed Him. Yes, there have been similar occurrences, even in recent history, when people gave up everything to follow people who claimed in some way to be the way to salvation, and many people died because they were not following the true Christ, the only way to salvation; instead, they were following deceivers and false christs who led them to destruction. Jesus even warned His disciples of this as a sign of the end times before His second coming. Peter also warned of these deceivers and their false doctrines in 2 Peter chapter 2. As we get closer to the return of Christ - His second coming - I believe we will see more and more of this.

How can you tell the difference between cunningly devised fables and the truth of God? The answer is prophecy. The Bible is the only book that has ever foretold events before they happen, hundreds and even thousands of years before they happen, that were later fulfilled. Shown below is a link to an article from gotquestions.org that lists some of the prophecies that were fulfilled by the first coming of Jesus Christ. It is estimated that a conservative number of prophecies of His first coming that were fulfilled is 300.

https://www.gotquestions.org/prophecies-of-Jesus.html

Today, we are seeing even more prophecies either being fulfilled or are close to being fulfilled. One of those is in the book of Revelation, chapter 13 when it is the time of the 7-year tribulation period and the antichrist will be in power. His false prophet, some type of one-world religion leader, will require that every single person alive in the world at that time take the mark or the name of the beast [antichrist] or the number of his name and worship his image in order to buy or sell or else they will be killed. We have never been at a time in history where this type of technology existed and could be used to restrict the buying and selling of every person in the world until now. Enter CDBC. What is CDBC? It stands for Central Bank Digital Currency. It provides the ability for every single purchase to be tracked digitally, and I believe ultimately controlled by a centralized bank that will be used by the antichrist during the 7-year tribulation period to prevent people from buying or selling unless they have his mark or the number of his name in their right hand or in their foreheads.

Per a November 14, 2022 article from crowdsourcing.com (see: https://crowdsourcingweek.com/blog/countries-with-cbdcs/):

“We are also very well aware that many people do not welcome CBDCs, and regard them as instruments of growing centralization, invasive government control and a threat to privacy. This has been covered in an article on our BOLD Awards platform, so we won’t re-run those opinions here.

“105 countries, representing over 95% of global GDP, are exploring a CBDC. 10 countries have fully launched a digital currency, with China’s pilot set to cover 23 cities.”

As I was writing this post today (March 7, 2023), I received a notification from endtimeheadlines.com that “Central banks of Israel, Norway, and Sweden are all preparing for digital currency payments.” (See: https://endtimeheadlines.org/2023/03/central-banks-of-israel-norway-and-sweden-are-all-preparing-for-digital-currency-payments/) I also think that the image of the beast that people will have to worship could be some sort of hologram that is displayed on their phone, and we do see holographic technology in our world today. And, the rate of people owning smartphones is increasing, with one estimate that in 2023, 89% of the world’s population will own smartphones (see: https://www.oberlo.com/statistics/how-many-people-have-smartphones). Perhaps when CDBCs are implemented worldwide, every single person must have a smartphone in order to conduct their banking.

The apostles of Jesus Christ witnessed His power through all of the miracles they saw Him perform with their own eyes, they heard Him preach the gospel of salvation through believing in Him as Messiah, and as I will discuss more in the next Scripture devotional, it was Peter, James, and John who were present at the moment when Jesus was transfigured right before their very eyes. They were eyewitnesses to His majesty. While we have not seen Jesus with our own eyes as they did, we can trust in the eyewitness accounts of all those who did see Him. We also have the evidence of the written word of God Himself, the Bible, of all the prophecies that were made and have already been fulfilled, the prophecies that are in the process of being fulfilled, and the knowledge and assurance that those not yet fulfilled will be fulfilled, in His perfect timing. You can choose to believe in Jesus as your Savior or not. You can choose to believe in His power and His second coming or not. If you reject Him, your choice does not change the truth; it only means you denied His majesty for a cunningly devised fable by the one who sought your destruction instead of your salvation - Satan. I pray that you don’t let Satan have your soul, but that you would turn to Jesus Christ and give it to Him, thus guaranteeing that one day you will see and experience His power and majesty for yourself, just as Peter the apostle did. ✝️

March 6, 2023: 1 Peter 2:12 - May Our Conduct Glorify God

“…having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation.” - 1 Peter 2:12

Peter was speaking to Jewish believers in Christ in this epistle (letter) to them. They were being persecuted for their faith in Jesus, just as many Christians today are being persecuted, at an increasing rate. The “Gentiles” referred to in this Scripture verse were the non-Jewish people who were not believers in Christ, who were persecuting the Jewish believers. How many of us believers in Christ have been persecuted, mocked strictly for our faith in Jesus, and how many of us wanted to lash out at the ones persecuting us? I am guessing many of us have felt that way, but that is not what God wants us to do. Whether we are being persecuted for our faith or just living our lives in this world that is our temporary home, we should live a life that is pleasing and honorable to God.

So, how do we do that? We use Jesus as our model. When He was crucified on that cross, continuing to be mocked and scoffed after having been scourged and beaten beyond recognition, spat upon, and now with Roman soldiers at His feet, casting lots for His clothes, did He call them names, put curses upon them, and lash out at them? No. Instead, He said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” (Luke 23:34) What powerful words He spoke, in love, for the lost, for the unsaved, for those who didn’t know Him. I wonder if any of those who heard Him speak those words recognized that He was more than a man who hung dying on that cross, that He truly was the Son of God, sent to the world not to condemn it but to save it, for all who would believe in Him as Savior. How many would remember His words when they themselves were dying? How many of them would glorify God by turning to Him in their last moments on earth, before they entered their eternity? Perhaps none did, dying in their sins, but maybe, just maybe, some did.

If we truly believe in Him and all that He did for us, we will do our best to keep His commandments, remembering what He said to His disciples, “If you love me, keep My commandments.” (John 14:15) If we live our lives six days a week as non-believers and on the seventh day proclaim that we are a believer in Jesus Christ, how in the world can we expect anyone to think that we take our faith in Him seriously? Isn’t there enough hypocrisy in our world today with world, national, state, and community leaders continually telling the populace to do one thing while they themselves do not do it, and then they do the things that they told us not to do? Our world today is saturated with hypocrisy. Why in the world would I do something or believe in something that they themselves do not believe? No, if we truly believe in something, we won’t be hypocritical about the thing in which we believe; our belief would be demonstrated by the things which we do. If Jesus tells us we should live a certain way, that we should stand out, be set apart, from the rest of the world and not try to mimic the world, then we should do it, to the best of our ability. Yes, I know that we can never be perfect and free from sin while we are still alive and breathing in this world, but we should sin less and less after turning to Jesus Christ and believing in Him as our Savior. Otherwise, those who do not believe in Him will look at us who do believe in Him as our Savior as hypocrites and would likely not turn to Him, and that is not glorifying God.

When I was a teenager growing up, I used to look at all the teen magazines and the beautiful, young models on the magazine covers. I wanted to be just like them, to smile like them, to have their same hairstyle, and to dress the way they do. I must admit that at that age, I wasn’t a believer in Jesus. I was following the world, and by following it, I wanted to mimic it. It wasn’t until my mid-40’s when I turned to Jesus and believed in Him as my Savior that I started to realize that my sin wasn’t honoring God. I was living a double life. I then took steps to stop doing the things that didn’t glorify Him, including stopping watching pornography with my husband. While I still struggle with sin today, I am aware of it and I have guilt in my heart when I do sin, just as the apostle Paul wrote about his own struggles with sin in Romans 7:13-25. I realize now that the Holy Spirit has been working on me since the day I got saved, and I thank God for that. Now, my mind no longer desires to mimic the world but to mimic Him, to be like Him. Please, let me be clear, that trying to be more like Him doesn’t save anyone; rather, it is only through having a change of mind and believing in Him as the only One who can save us from all of our sins, the One who shed His perfect and precious blood, that saves us.

As Paul wrote in the book of Romans, let us remember the God whom we serve, and may we do all that we can to glorify Him. To those who persecute and mock us, or even when they are just observing us, let us not return hate with hate but instead shine the true and pure love of Christ and perhaps one day, they too will have a change of mind, turn to Him and be saved, and glorify God.

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” (Romans 12:1-2)

“And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.” (Romans 13:11-14).

“For whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.” (Romans 10:13) ✝️