Thought's on the Reality of Living in this Fallen World

Since Charlie Kirk’s murder last week, I have been trying to figure out how to respond. It was only in the last four months that I started to follow Charlie on Facebook, so I certainly did not know him personally, but I liked what he was doing. If a person can get people to think and do it in a way that shows self-control and kindness, that’s awesome. I have seen a number of people talk about Charlie since his death and it sounds like he was one of the good guys: a young man who had a passion, not only for conservative values, but for God and His word. Was he perfect? Of course not, none of us are, but to dedicate your life to connecting and talking with others means something.

When deciding what to write about, I thought it best to honor Charlie by taking us back to God’s Word.

The Roaring Lion

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“8 Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”

— 1 Peter 5:8 (NASB 1995)

While we do have enemies made of flesh and blood, our real enemy is much more crafty than any human being. He was an angelic being, created by God to serve Him, but given a free will Lucifer decided he should be the one making the decisions and tried to take God’s throne. God banished him from heaven along with a large number of angels who followed him. Earth is their dwelling place, and Satan loves to play with God’s most precious creation, humanity. (See Ezekiel 28:13-17, and Isaiah 14:12-14)

As I have said before on this blog, what better plan could an enemy concoct, but that which makes the prey think he doesn’t exist, and that the thing that matters most is their own selfish desires. The problem is, Satan has his fingers heart-deep in so many people’s lives due to his adept skill at manipulating the truth.

Charlie Kirk spoke truth. He spoke ideas and thoughts that aligned with God’s Word, and many lives were changed because he had the bravery and desire to make a difference. Yes, a 22 year old man shot him, but it was the unseen enemy, Satan, who was moving and manipulating behind the scenes. He moves and manipulates every time there is a school shooting, a child is forced into the sex trade, families wonder where their next meal is coming from, bullies try to have the upper hand, church ladies gossip; the list is endless. Look at the darkness in the world and you will realize Satan is at the core of all of it.

Difficult Times will Come

Isn’t it interesting that the lion above and the man below have a similar facial expression?

Image by Engin Akyurt from Pixabay

“1 But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come.
2 For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy,
3 unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good,
4 treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
5 holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these.”

— 2 Timothy 3:1-5 (NASB 1995)

Why are we surprised by the responses that many people are leaving on social media in the aftermath of Charlie Kirk’s murder? These verses could not be any more accurate than if a news reporter wrote them this past week: boastful, revilers, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good…lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.

The last sentence in this group of verses tells us to avoid such men/women as these. Charlie Kirk did not avoid them. He met them face to face, and head on he broached the hard topics - racism, abortion, gun violence, and others.

Living According to God’s Word will Bring Persecution

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“12 Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.
13 But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.”

— 2 Timothy 3:12-13 (NASB 1995)

We are told if we desire to live godly in Christ Jesus we will be persecuted. In addition, Jesus said,

“33 These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.””

— John 16:33 (NASB 1995)

In this world we will have tribulation, but Jesus has overcome the world.

Our Purpose through it All

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No matter what is going on in the world around us our identity and purpose does not change. We are made in the image of the almighty God (Genesis 1:26-27), and our purpose is to honor and glorify Him with our abilities, talents and our voices (Colossians 3:23). Charlie Kirk knew this and used the gifts God had given Him to lift up His truth and glorify Him. What is God’s will for us during these difficult times?

“14 We urge you, brethren, admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with everyone.
15 See that no one repays another with evil for evil, but always seek after that which is good for one another and for all people.
16 Rejoice always;
17 pray without ceasing;
18 in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
19 Do not quench the Spirit;
20 do not despise prophetic utterances.
21 But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good;
22 abstain from every form of evil.”

— 1 Thessalonians 5:14-22 (NASB 1995)

These principles, are the same today as they were 2000 years ago. Evil has been here since Satan chose to defy His God and Adam and Eve chose to listen to his half-truth whispers. Thankfully our God has not changed. Whether you are angry at the injustice of Charlie’s murder, or you are rejoicing that his voice has been silenced, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8) and no one on this planet can change that.

Do Not Lose Hope

Image by Muhammad Haseeb Muhammad Suleman from Pixabay

I felt the aftermath of Charlie’s death as if he had been a close relative, and in a way he was. For those of us who believe, he was our brother in Christ and his wife is our sister in Christ. While I didn’t know him other than through social media clips, Charlie represented truth I believe in and qualities I want to have: love, boldness and joy.

My dear friends, do not lose hope.

“Be strong and let your heart take courage,
All you who hope in the Lord.”

— Psalm 31:23 (NASB 1995)

“My soul, wait in silence for God only,
For my hope is from Him.”

— Psalm 62:5 (NASB 1995)

“Sustain me according to Your word, that I may live; And do not let me be ashamed of my hope.”

— Psalm 119:116 (NASB 1995)

“1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
2 through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God.
3 And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance;
4 and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope;
5 and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”

— Romans 5:1-5 (NASB 1995)

Our hope does not disappoint! We know that Charlie is now with Jesus, as are my father, father-in-law, and many, many others who have gone before. They are rejoicing in the presence of their Savior and the troubles of this world are dim compared to His eternal burning love.

Thank you Father for sharing your love with this world through people like Charlie Kirk, and thank you Charlie for being exactly who God wanted you to be.

Mulling It Over - Part 6

It is always refreshing when we can learn something new. It is also good for our brains. As we age things in our bodies change and that includes in our brains. That is why I like to do this blog. It has helped me learn many new things, such as how to build a post and actually get it out there where you can see it. It also has given me the opportunity to go back to Scripture and learn new things. I am a graduate of Moody Bible Institute. I was brought up in a Bible believing church where the word was preached every time the doors were open. My husband and i brought our children up in a Bible based church where both of our daughters were involved in Bible quizzing. To say that God’s word is important to us is obvious.

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However, that doesn’t mean life has been perfect. We have walked through some very difficult times and probably will walk through more, but then that is the beauty of a life walked out with Jesus Christ. He is always there, through every difficulty, and with each difficulty He brings new light and depth to our understanding of Him. It doesn’t matter how many times I have read through the Bible. It doesn’t matter that my education revolved around the Bible. Today, I still learn new things from God’s word, and that is exactly why I like to do this series.

Let’s review by reading through this passage in 2 Peter 1 again:

“1 To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ:
2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord;
3 seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.
4 For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.
5 Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge,
6 and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness,
7 and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love.
8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
9 For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins.
10 Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble;
11 for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you.”

— 2 Peter 2:1-11 (NASB)

Today we are concentrating on verse 7:

“7 and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love.”

— 2 Peter 1:7 (NASB)

…and in your godliness…

Last week I spend some time discussing what it means to be godly. We looked at how godliness enables us to persevere. You can read that full post here.

I’d like to take a closer look at this idea of godliness; what it is and is not. Let’s look at some verses:

“1 But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come.
2 For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy,
3 unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good,
4 treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
5 holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these”

— 2 Timothy 3:1-5 (NASB)

We are told in this passage that in the last days difficult times will come. If you look at the descriptions that follow, we would probably agree that these times are already on us. The words that describe these “men” are, unfortunately, words that paint a picture of the daily news. Words like unloving, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, conceited….all describe people we either know first hand or that we have read about or seen on various forms of media.

The point I want to emphasize is in verse 5. “Holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power…” How many people do you know that say, “I believe in God,” but their lives show no evidence that they really know who that supreme being is? Their form of godliness goes under the guise of good deeds, kind words and harmony. There is nothing wrong with those things, but those things do not make us godly. Those things do not have any power.

It is true, that being kind and doing good deeds are beneficial. What a better world we would be living in, if everyone actually did those things, but it is God who makes us godly, not the things we do. As much as we don’t like to hear it and as much as we want to be the good guy, the Bible tells us that we are wicked.

“9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?”

— Jeremiah 17:9 (KJV)

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I found it interesting as I looked for this verse. I memorized it in my younger days in the King James Version, so that is what I was looking for. As I looked at various translations it was interesting to see the condition word that was used to describe the heart. These were some of the descriptors: desperately wicked, exceedingly corrupt, mortally sick, desperately sick, incurable, beyond cure, desperately corrupt. How does that make you feel? These are words God inspired to describe our hearts. So when it says that men are holding to a form of godliness, yet there is no power in it, it makes perfect sense. We cannot be godly without God, and it seems that the One True God is being shoved to the back seat, as an after thought, rather than a priority. For many, He is not even an after thought, except to take His name in vain.

…brotherly kindness…

I just got done saying that only God makes us godly, so why then is brotherly kindness attached to godliness? The Bible is full of examples of what modern day philanthropists would title a social gospel. Before there was a politically correct way of looking at the world, the God who created the heavens and the earth, had already put into motion a social system that took care of those who had to do without. If you are ever interested do a study of the complex social system God places on the Jewish people. This system did not allow the unseen to fall through the cracks. People were taken care of, either by family or by the community in general. If they didn’t have food, those that did were instructed to leave their excess for the use of those without. Brotherly kindness also transcends the bounds of our immediate community as it is an attitude that we can take with us any where.

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What does this have to do with godliness? The ability to extend brotherly kindness, reminds us of who we are. We are created in the image of a God whose lovingkindness is everlasting. When we look beyond ourselves to the needs of others we are doing what God Himself did when He offered His only son, Jesus, for our redemption. We cannot be godly, if we are not trying to become more like Him, by living our lives in the service of others.

…and in your brotherly kindness, love.

Many of you who regularly read God’s word are familiar with the 1 Corinthians 13 chapter on love. The chapter, which is all about the characteristics of true, godly love, ends with this simple culmination:

“13 But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.

”

— 1 Corinthians 13:13 (NASB)

How fitting that this list of characteristics of Christian virtue, ends with love. As Paul said in his famous chapter, anything I try to do without love, means nothing. All those acts of brotherly kindness will only reach as deep as our love for the people we are serving. Many acts of brotherly kindness have been done in the name of self. After all, doing things for others, makes us feel good. However, only real, godly love will make the acts that we do last. We can take water and food to people who have none, but if we leave having done, only that, the food and water will run out and the difference that was made will only be temporary.

Love fuels brotherly kindness. Without love we are a noisy gong or a clanging symbol; making a lot of noise, but not making an impact on people’s lives.

As you go about your week, this week, think about what you are doing. When you are serving someone else, is it a reminder to you of your position before God? Are you extending brotherly kindness, but doing so with love?