The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in John 8:42-47,
"Jesus said to them, 'If God were your Father, you would love me, for I have come here from God. I have not come on my own; God sent me. Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me! Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don't you believe me? Whoever belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.'"
Here is an amazing passage! Jesus explained to those who opposed him why they were opposing him.
These Pharisees and opposing Jews thought they were in good stead as Abraham's descendants. Abraham had a good standing with God, and as his physical descendants, these people thought they were as well, "'We are not illegitimate children,' they protested. 'The only Father we have is God himself.'" These people had deluded themselves and could not see they were influenced by someone other than God. Jesus told them directly, "You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desires." Their thinking, their desires, their actions, their perceptions, were all entirely distorted and twisted because of this influence. The ultimate damnation of their situation is clear in what Jesus told them, "The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God." They didn't listen to Jesus because they marched to a different drummer than God, that is, the devil who influenced their thinking.
It appears to me today that many fail to understand just why we see a cultural and political shift on the move - where is it coming from? Many believers are bewildered at the insistence of leaders within our country and society that are hellbent on indoctrinating children in schools and society as a whole on the moral excellence of questioning gender identity, embracing homosexuality, the delusion of a woman's "right to choose" to murder her unborn baby, the imperitive to banish Christianity, Jesus Christ, God, the Bible, from schools, the workplace, the public square. The history of a nation that was built upon the founding principles inspired by its Christian influence is now to be replaced with Critical Race Theory, BLM with its underpinning of Marxism, the removal of monuments and remembrances reflecting its Christian founding, and on and on. An insane push to exchange freedom for a godless collectivism and domination. (God wants mankind free - free to choose him!)
"Jesus said to them, 'If God were your Father, you would love me, for I have come here from God. I have not come on my own; God sent me. Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me! Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don't you believe me? Whoever belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.'"
Here is an amazing passage! Jesus explained to those who opposed him why they were opposing him.
These Pharisees and opposing Jews thought they were in good stead as Abraham's descendants. Abraham had a good standing with God, and as his physical descendants, these people thought they were as well, "'We are not illegitimate children,' they protested. 'The only Father we have is God himself.'" These people had deluded themselves and could not see they were influenced by someone other than God. Jesus told them directly, "You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desires." Their thinking, their desires, their actions, their perceptions, were all entirely distorted and twisted because of this influence. The ultimate damnation of their situation is clear in what Jesus told them, "The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God." They didn't listen to Jesus because they marched to a different drummer than God, that is, the devil who influenced their thinking.
It appears to me today that many fail to understand just why we see a cultural and political shift on the move - where is it coming from? Many believers are bewildered at the insistence of leaders within our country and society that are hellbent on indoctrinating children in schools and society as a whole on the moral excellence of questioning gender identity, embracing homosexuality, the delusion of a woman's "right to choose" to murder her unborn baby, the imperitive to banish Christianity, Jesus Christ, God, the Bible, from schools, the workplace, the public square. The history of a nation that was built upon the founding principles inspired by its Christian influence is now to be replaced with Critical Race Theory, BLM with its underpinning of Marxism, the removal of monuments and remembrances reflecting its Christian founding, and on and on. An insane push to exchange freedom for a godless collectivism and domination. (God wants mankind free - free to choose him!)
The result of this, of course, is the inevitable huge clash between two (and only two!) influences on the ground. There are those of us who march to the drumbeat of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The other side follows another drummer.
Reread that passage above and think about our current cultural and political war. (Politics is the public expression of a person's spiritual condition.) The devil's followers are unable to hear the drumbeat of God that many of us follow. The devil's followers want to carry out the devil's desires. Those who follow the devil cannot hear what the rest of us are saying because they do not belong to God, they belong to the devil.
Nothing new here. It is all on display in the account of Cain and Abel. The relevance of all this lies in how we approach the other side if we can recognize that the two sides march to different drummers. Never the twain shall meet until a conversion to Jesus Christ takes place, one individual at a time.
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.
Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com
"Yet to all who did receive Jesus Christ, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God." John 1:12
trevor.fisk@gmail.com
"Yet to all who did receive Jesus Christ, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God." John 1:12
No comments:
Post a Comment