2 Grace and peace to you from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Thessalonians 2
Our present day world and society is Topsy-turvy as evil people will not see themselves as evil but good and in their eyes good people are evil. Christians will become islands of God’s light, love, and goodness as the evil ones grow in God’s world but evil will never consume it.
20 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 are difficult days for us now and evil has found many ways to distract us from Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. There is so much hype about politics and social media that we are more concerned with our digital self than we are with our walk with Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior and our journey and growth as Christians. Admittedly these are not the only things that are happening in our world and present day society there is also murder, killing, greed, anger, stealing, violence, and hatred. Below is a scripture that predicted these days to come that have arrived now.
3 But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. 2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, 4 treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. 6 For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, 7 always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth. 8 Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men corrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the faith. 2 Timothy 3:1-8
I have decided to selectively dissect the above scripture, only because a full explanation would lead this blog to become a dissertation instead of a blog or a rant that’s suppose to be a blog, to show why this particular scripture has truth. Anyone not of the Christian faith would most likely repel this scripture and make various accusations of its validity and truth. I am one of those Christians that say that the bible contains truth, wisdom, and guidance.
For people will be lovers of self
So I looked for the definition of this phrase on the internet and found this. “Lovers of yourself can have different meanings depending on the context. It can refer to self-love, which is a state of appreciation for oneself that grows from actions that support our physical psychological and spiritual growth. It can also refer to narcissism which is an unregulated self focus with little moral compass, leading people live apart from truth.
Lovers of money
Lovers of money are those who are willing to do anything for the sake of money without considering the morality of it. They do not mind killing, stealing, embezzling, kidnapping, bullying others with the intent of making money and they do not feel any compunction for the wrong things they do. The love of money is a decision or desire to pursue wealth for personal consumption and luxury. It can either be deliberate decision or a desire that hasn’t been carefully thought through.
Disobedient to their parents
Disobedient to parents means when a child does not follow the orders, leadership, or authority of his or her parents. It can also mean cutting off the relationship with the parents. Disobedience to parents can be overt or covert, and it can show a lack of gratitude or piety. Disobedience to parents is a sign of bad character of the times.
Slanderous
I found this in the online Merriam Dictionary. It has been my experience that some people would argue documented fact in order to win an argument. Hence why I went to a online dictionary rather than assuming that everyone would know this definition.
: the utterance of false charges or misrepresentations which defame and damage another’s reputation
: a false and defamatory oral statement about a person
slanderous
slanderously adverb
slanderousness noun
swollen with conceit
“Swollen with conceit” is a phrase used to describe someone who is puffed up in his pride. The phrase is derived from the Greek word “typhoō” which is a verb metaphor that takes the concept of rising smoke or mist and uses it to describe someone who is besotted with himself. The phrase is used in the Bible to describe people who are treacherous, reckless and lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God…so says Bing.
Having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power
“Having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power” refers to keeping up a show of observing the outward forms of religion but renouncing its power and its influence over the heart and the life. It means that those who appear to be religious are such only in appearance, and in truth they renounce, repudiate, or deny the inward power and renewing influence of true religion in the heart and life. The phrase is often used to warn against such people…so says Bible and Bing.
Without self-control
- A person without self-control is like a city with broken-down walls.
- A person without self-control is like a house with its doors and windows knocked out.
- Without self-control means being intemperate in the pursuit or use of anything, e.g., money, the tongue, pleasure, the appetite, etc.
- When we have self-control, we will be able to say “no” to the things that we know are going to harm us or others.
- When we do not have self-control, we will not have that protective barrier, and we are going to be more likely to give in to the sin and say “yes.”
So says the Bible so says Bing.
Not loving good
I added this because some people will say, “I know the difference between good and bad and right and wrong I don’t need to be a Christian.” My rebuttal is this. Are you compassionate? Do you forgive others? God gives us wisdom where do you get yours from? Can you love like Jesus Christ loves you?
Avoid such people
So says the Bible.
We Christians are to avoid the evil ones not just for own safety but for our friends and families as well. Our spiritual well being is also at risk if we let the evil ones into our household Christians should be vigilant and strong in faith.
I purposely selected these phrases because some people, non believers, would be confused with the phrase or misinterpret the phrase completely hence why I used the internet to define those phrases and or words as to give them a means to investigate this blog. Regardless it becomes apparent that the above scripture is pointing out that people will become bad or evil or both but is able to pin point the behaviors of the world…which is good that the bible is so accurate but it is not good to realize that we can see this happening now.
In this world there is goodness and evil and many people will think they are not evil because they choose to do the things that are good for themselves which is good for them or so they think. I choose to follow Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior that I know is good and righteous and full of love and wisdom. To do otherwise is to follow the evil one and become like those people in the above scripture, 2 Timothy 3:1-8, that follow the evil one. I have been told that I think in terms of black and white and there is no gray. To those people I would say yes that is true…sometimes maybe often. I am black and white in the Christian faith I would rather follow goodness and love than to follow not-good or evil. I would have my family and friends follow Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior rather than the evil one. Evil will surround me but I will stay strong in my Christian faith and in Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.
Remember:
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16
God bless all that read this with His love, light, grace, mercy, and wisdom. In the name of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Amen.
21 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. Revelation 22:21