To my brothers and sisters who are struggling with the knowledge of evil all around them. May the Lord comfort you with the following article. As I was sitting in bed this morning with my coffee pondering all that is happening around us, the Lord gave me this encouragement and directed me to write it down to encourage others.
God wants us to be ignorant of evil. The more we know about evil the more desensitized to it we become.
What happened when Adam and Eve partook of the knowledge of evil, they fell, beginning to think in ways that did not please God.
Why do we not tell our young children all the details of evil going on in the world? We don't tell them because we want them to think in good ways, not worried about the evil or influenced to act like the evil.
God says "bad company corrupts good morals." 1 Corinthians 15:33 "Be not deceived: Evil companionships corrupt good morals."
Romans 16:19-20
"Everyone has heard about your obedience, so I am full of joy over you, but I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent (lacking knowledge of the details) about what is evil. The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you"
The more details we know of evil the more desensitized we become. When we do not indulge in knowledge about the evil we are shocked when it walks in front of us, more likely to reject it.
The more desensitized we are to evil through the continual indoctrination of it, the less we are appalled by it. Even those who think they are not being affected by looking at evil find themselves fearful, angry, and disconnected from Christ.
When evil walks in front of us we will deal with it properly and diligently resist it because it is so foreign to us. The more we are desensitized the less we will be shocked while becoming more accepting of it.
The devil wants us to believe we should know it to fight it, this is not what Christ teaches us, He tells us to avoid the evil entirely, and to resist knowing its details.
Even if you see yourself looking at the details of evil to be informed, as so many think is necessary, we are indulging the flesh and weakening the spirit.
Ephesians 5:11-13 "…11 Have no fellowship with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. 13 But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for everything that is illuminated becomes a light itself.…"
If you are ever criticized for not wanting to know the details of the evil in the world, answer with this; "God told me not to dwell on those sorts of things.
They may say to you; "you just putting your head in the sand to remain ignorant." This is nothing more than the devil attempting to mock and intimidate you into putting filth into your mind that he can use later to disquiet you as he takes your focus off of Christ and onto his filth.
Philippians 4:8
"8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things."
When we are focused on Christ we can show the world how steady and confident we are because the Lord dwells in us.
When we are focused on the world and all its ills we are showing the world we are no better than them. They are frightened and upset too, and so are the Christians who spend much of their time enjoying the knowledge of evil in the world.
We are living in the end times, everything will be evil continually, we must be different from the unsaved and keep our eyes on Jesus Christ.
This does not mean that we deny something that happens in our sphere of influence or community. However, it does mean that if it is not walking our way then we do not go looking for it.
We need to seek Christ about those things He has given us to do, knowing those details as He leads is far different from going out in the world looking under every rock to see what muck we can scrape up to share and upset our brothers in Christ.
I am reminded of a story I heard years ago about a person who worked for the treasury. This person was taught how to spot counterfeit bills when they came across the desk.
He was not shown any counterfeit bills in this education, he was shown only authentic ones and all the intricacies of the authentic bills. The reason he was not shown the counterfeits is that the treasury instructors knew it was best to deeply know the real bills so that when a fake one comes along they will know immediately that it is a counterfeit.
Knowing God intimately, seeking Him continually for all things will make us so connected to Him and His principles that we will know when something or someone false crosses our path. We have much greater discernment by seeking Christ and far less discernment when we seek to know the evil.
The same principle holds true to knowing God and His Ways. When we know Him so well that our minds are deeply entrenched in His thinking, we will know anything that crosses our path if it is not authentic.
The devil says things like; “you need to know the ways of evil.” God says; “know the ways of God and evil will not come into your thinking.
Have you noticed how utterly desensitized to sin the modern church is today? It's because they do not know their Bibles and are so immersed in the thinking of the world that they have a hard time telling the difference between truth and lies.
Sadly many Christians today know the ways of evil far better than they know the Bible, so their response to life is more about accepting what they see in the culture because they do not know the authentic heart of God.
God cannot look upon evil, this is why our bodies stay on earth when we die, they are corrupted, only those who have the Spirit of Christ in them go to be with the Father. Why would we seek to know the filth of this world when our Father cannot even look at it Himself.
Genesis 2:16-17 “And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
God told Adam and Eve to resist eating the forbidden fruit that divulges both good and evil. They disobeyed and it condemned the rest of mankind. Are we not eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil when we indulge our curiosity about evil? I think we are returning to the ways of Adam and Eve when we indulge in seeking out the details of evil on the internet.
This practice of seeking out evil to know about it is causing desensitization to the evil, even if it burdens those who look at it they seem to keep looking as though it has become an addiction they cannot break.
What did God say;
Jeremiah 29:12-13 …12 Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.”
I see no scripture that says; “seek out all the filth of the world you can find and make sure you tell everyone.” God says to seek Him, those who do not know the Lord will wonder why we are so steady, joyful, and unaffected by what is going on in the world and perhaps will want to know more.
The world has no reason to ask us anything when we are walking around worried and nervous just like them. Our peace comes from within from Christ, it will never come from without in worldly knowledge.
Deuteronomy 4:29 “But if from there you will seek the LORD your God, you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul.”
When we seek the Lord our peace returns and we are unaffected. Yes, we do feel something as we yearn for souls to be saved, but the world does not rob us of our joy and peace because we are deeply connected to the Holy Spirit Who dwells in us.
Our food should not come from the newspapers or other media, it should come from the Holy Word of God. So many are worried about what they put into their bodies but not concerned about what they put into their minds. Our mind is far more important than what we put into our bodies.
Matthew 6:31-34 “ 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
Hallelujah…. Keep looking up, not sideways, not down and not backward, but up!!!
