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James 5:1-6 ESV
I live in the United States of America. I have never lived outside of my country, and I have never visited another country, not even Canada or Mexico. So, I can only speak for my nation, but that does not mean that this does not apply to other nations, as well.
But first…
The Lord has given us many teachings in Scripture regarding these final days before the return of Christ. Not everything is spelled out for us in exact detail, and some of it is written in poetic form, or with the use of symbols, and thus must be taken more figuratively rather than literally. The context usually helps us interpret what is literal or figurative.
Thus, some of these passages of Scripture are interpreted in many different ways by various people who read them. So, in order for us to understand what they are teaching us, and how to apply them to our lives and to our world today, it requires much spiritual discernment.
But we are not going to be spiritually discerning if we are heavily being influenced by political parties and platforms, television, the internet, social media, and the mainstream news media and some opposing news sources which are just two sides of the same whole. We must pull away from these influences and focus on hearing the Lord from his word.
When Jesus died and rose from the grave, after about 40 days he returned to the Father in heaven, and then after more time he sent his Holy Spirit to indwell his followers, which he had promised to do when he was still on the earth.
He said that the Holy Spirit would teach us all things and would remind us of all things pertaining to Christ or pertaining to all that Jesus had taught when he was on the earth. The Holy Spirit would be our counselor, helper, comforter, encourager, teacher, and guide, and we are to listen to him.
He is the one who quickens our minds so that we understand the word of the Lord, and he opens our eyes to see truth. And he gives us understanding into how the word of the Lord is to be applied to our lives and world today. For, the word of God is spiritually discerned.
Thus, we need to pray for this spiritual discernment, but again, we are not going to hear the Spirit’s voice if his voice is being crowded out by the voices of TV, social media, our friends, and the like, or if we are not living in purity of devotion to our Lord, but if we are still living in sin.
So, with that said…
The Scriptures warn us of a time when deception will abound, and when a false Christ will appear on the scene and will deceive many. It also speaks of a harlot who rides a beast and then it speaks of two different beasts and of the image of the beast, etc. There are many different views on what all that means.
I want us to strip away all the suppositions and interpretations for a minute and just look at what this means very simplistically. We are being told that a great time of deception is coming, which includes a great falling away (rebellion), and which includes people and entities which are going to attempt to deceive us into following them instead of Christ.
So, if we know that, why are so many believers in Jesus (or professing Christians) following after men, looking to them to save them? Why do they so easily believe whatever someone tells them without seeking the Lord’s face to learn whether or not what they are hearing is truth?
I believe some of that is because we were brainwashed from birth on up by schools, by institutional churches and their leaders, by politicians, by TV, then by the internet, and then social media, etc. In America we were trained early on to worship our government via the pledge of allegiance to the flag.
So, many of us were brought up believing our government leaders, that they were the good guys, and believing the news, and worshiping our nation via the pledge, patriotic songs, patriotic ceremonies, and the honoring of our military as our heroes who are the ones who protect our freedoms.
This is where I was sixteen years ago when the Holy Spirit began to open my eyes to the truth behind all the lies. He began to quicken my mind to what is going on in my nation, and he sent me to read and to do searches on so many different subjects. And then he began to confirm what he was showing me in so many different ways, too.
But, it would be nearly impossible to verify all the Lord spoke to me about our present world, for so much of that information is now hidden or it has been removed or the sources that may be good sources have been deleted or altered or discredited by those who are the deceivers.
But then they are telling the truth of what they are doing, too, if we just pay attention, for the truth is hidden in plain sight. They leave hints for us all the time. It is in the wording in their news stories, either written or verbal, or in their bloopers or supposed slips of the tongue.
But the bottom line…
But the bottom line here in all of this is that we are living in that time prophesied in Scripture, and these things are taking place right before our eyes, and many are deceived into believing the lies because they have been brainwashed and mind manipulated and hypnotized by the media.
The judgment of God is upon us for the reasons mentioned in this Scripture. So, the call here is to repent of your sin, to turn to the Lord in surrender to his will, to pull away from all these worldly influences and to get alone with God and to let him show you what can only be seen through spiritual eyes.
Stop putting your faith and trust in humans and in what they tell you, for many liars and deceivers are out there lying and deceiving the people, even the people of God, and even within “the church.” Don’t trust in the fact check sites, either, for many of them are part of the evil plot to deceive.
Humble yourselves before the Lord, and let the Holy Spirit speak to your hearts. Let him change you and renew you and show you the way of righteousness and truth and expose to you all the evil and deceptions that are blinding people’s eyes. Then commit your way to the Lord and follow him in truth until the day he comes to take us home.
When in The Stillness
An Original Work / September 26, 2011
When in the stillness of this moment,
Speak to me, Lord, I humbly pray.
Be my desire, set me on fire,
Teach me to love always.
Help me to walk in fellowship with You,
Listening to You; sit at Your feet.
Whisper Your words to me,
Oh, how gently, guiding me in Your truth.
While we are waiting for Your blessing,
Lord, in our hearts be King today.
Help us to live for you ev’ry moment,
List’ning to what You say.
May we not stray from your word within us,
Help us obey You, Lord, in all things,
Walking each moment, Lord, in Your presence,
Our offerings to You bring.
Help us to love You, Lord, our master;
Be an example of Your love,
Helping the hurting, lift up the fallen,
Showing them Your great love.
Teach them to love You, follow You always,
Bearing their cross and turning from sin;
Walking in daily fellowship with You,
Making You Lord and King.
“Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days. Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you.”
I live in the United States of America. I have never lived outside of my country, and I have never visited another country, not even Canada or Mexico. So, I can only speak for my nation, but that does not mean that this does not apply to other nations, as well.
But first…
The Lord has given us many teachings in Scripture regarding these final days before the return of Christ. Not everything is spelled out for us in exact detail, and some of it is written in poetic form, or with the use of symbols, and thus must be taken more figuratively rather than literally. The context usually helps us interpret what is literal or figurative.
Thus, some of these passages of Scripture are interpreted in many different ways by various people who read them. So, in order for us to understand what they are teaching us, and how to apply them to our lives and to our world today, it requires much spiritual discernment.
But we are not going to be spiritually discerning if we are heavily being influenced by political parties and platforms, television, the internet, social media, and the mainstream news media and some opposing news sources which are just two sides of the same whole. We must pull away from these influences and focus on hearing the Lord from his word.
When Jesus died and rose from the grave, after about 40 days he returned to the Father in heaven, and then after more time he sent his Holy Spirit to indwell his followers, which he had promised to do when he was still on the earth.
He said that the Holy Spirit would teach us all things and would remind us of all things pertaining to Christ or pertaining to all that Jesus had taught when he was on the earth. The Holy Spirit would be our counselor, helper, comforter, encourager, teacher, and guide, and we are to listen to him.
He is the one who quickens our minds so that we understand the word of the Lord, and he opens our eyes to see truth. And he gives us understanding into how the word of the Lord is to be applied to our lives and world today. For, the word of God is spiritually discerned.
Thus, we need to pray for this spiritual discernment, but again, we are not going to hear the Spirit’s voice if his voice is being crowded out by the voices of TV, social media, our friends, and the like, or if we are not living in purity of devotion to our Lord, but if we are still living in sin.
So, with that said…
The Scriptures warn us of a time when deception will abound, and when a false Christ will appear on the scene and will deceive many. It also speaks of a harlot who rides a beast and then it speaks of two different beasts and of the image of the beast, etc. There are many different views on what all that means.
I want us to strip away all the suppositions and interpretations for a minute and just look at what this means very simplistically. We are being told that a great time of deception is coming, which includes a great falling away (rebellion), and which includes people and entities which are going to attempt to deceive us into following them instead of Christ.
So, if we know that, why are so many believers in Jesus (or professing Christians) following after men, looking to them to save them? Why do they so easily believe whatever someone tells them without seeking the Lord’s face to learn whether or not what they are hearing is truth?
I believe some of that is because we were brainwashed from birth on up by schools, by institutional churches and their leaders, by politicians, by TV, then by the internet, and then social media, etc. In America we were trained early on to worship our government via the pledge of allegiance to the flag.
So, many of us were brought up believing our government leaders, that they were the good guys, and believing the news, and worshiping our nation via the pledge, patriotic songs, patriotic ceremonies, and the honoring of our military as our heroes who are the ones who protect our freedoms.
This is where I was sixteen years ago when the Holy Spirit began to open my eyes to the truth behind all the lies. He began to quicken my mind to what is going on in my nation, and he sent me to read and to do searches on so many different subjects. And then he began to confirm what he was showing me in so many different ways, too.
But, it would be nearly impossible to verify all the Lord spoke to me about our present world, for so much of that information is now hidden or it has been removed or the sources that may be good sources have been deleted or altered or discredited by those who are the deceivers.
But then they are telling the truth of what they are doing, too, if we just pay attention, for the truth is hidden in plain sight. They leave hints for us all the time. It is in the wording in their news stories, either written or verbal, or in their bloopers or supposed slips of the tongue.
But the bottom line…
But the bottom line here in all of this is that we are living in that time prophesied in Scripture, and these things are taking place right before our eyes, and many are deceived into believing the lies because they have been brainwashed and mind manipulated and hypnotized by the media.
The judgment of God is upon us for the reasons mentioned in this Scripture. So, the call here is to repent of your sin, to turn to the Lord in surrender to his will, to pull away from all these worldly influences and to get alone with God and to let him show you what can only be seen through spiritual eyes.
Stop putting your faith and trust in humans and in what they tell you, for many liars and deceivers are out there lying and deceiving the people, even the people of God, and even within “the church.” Don’t trust in the fact check sites, either, for many of them are part of the evil plot to deceive.
Humble yourselves before the Lord, and let the Holy Spirit speak to your hearts. Let him change you and renew you and show you the way of righteousness and truth and expose to you all the evil and deceptions that are blinding people’s eyes. Then commit your way to the Lord and follow him in truth until the day he comes to take us home.
When in The Stillness
An Original Work / September 26, 2011
When in the stillness of this moment,
Speak to me, Lord, I humbly pray.
Be my desire, set me on fire,
Teach me to love always.
Help me to walk in fellowship with You,
Listening to You; sit at Your feet.
Whisper Your words to me,
Oh, how gently, guiding me in Your truth.
While we are waiting for Your blessing,
Lord, in our hearts be King today.
Help us to live for you ev’ry moment,
List’ning to what You say.
May we not stray from your word within us,
Help us obey You, Lord, in all things,
Walking each moment, Lord, in Your presence,
Our offerings to You bring.
Help us to love You, Lord, our master;
Be an example of Your love,
Helping the hurting, lift up the fallen,
Showing them Your great love.
Teach them to love You, follow You always,
Bearing their cross and turning from sin;
Walking in daily fellowship with You,
Making You Lord and King.
