So many people who enjoy prophesy like I do, focus on the big newsy items having to do with governments and legislation, sometimes missing the things that are up close and personal, those family and personal dynamics that are also indicators of the last days events.
2 Timothy 3:1-5
"3 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."
Everything we see now on the political scene, are present in the personal lives of those who love the Lord. Everything God said would happen in terms of attitudes are playing out everywhere all the time.
The schools, the communities, the political arena, the churches and everything else in between are evidence of the the 2 Timothy 3 mentality, full of emotional irrational responses to everything. I am almost to the point, in our region of the country, where I am delighted and excited when I run into someone who does not act superior, entitled or extreme in their reactions when disagreed with, it is an indicator to me, a microcosm of the world in general.
The irrational responses to a call for morality and reasonableness is too extreme to be believed. The anger that emerges at the smallest challenge is insane, lacking good sense.
What used to be a pleasant disagreement is now seen as an attack, worthy of rage. I ran into this recently with someone in their forties, this person raged in anger when I suggested that God defends, and is for Israel. I was calm, everything was respectful, but the anger that emerged was unreasonable, not commensurate with the tone of the discussion.
Rage and anger is the new standard for controlling discussion these days. It tends to shut everyone down to avoid further escalating warfare. And, it does feel like a war when a simple innocent statement is treated like it is a bomb launcher. This rage is automatic with people who hate to be told they could be wrong. The self exaltation is so strong that even the slightest disagreement is seen as a personal attack.
Can we spell: Completely Irrational!
As the world continues down the path of 2 Timothy 3:1-5, we are going to find it harder to connect with those who Love God and act in reasonably mature ways.
2 Timothy 3:1-5
"3 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."
Pride prevents people from asking forgiveness from those they have offended.
Many people who say they walk with Christ, have offended people but see no need to even discuss what has happened, resistanceto discussion and confession is rampant among many believers.
They prefer to act as though just being nice next time will fix things, but it does not.
As long as someone has been treated disrespectfully, they will not trust those who make a practice of it and then return to pretend it never happened.
Trust is only restored when there is brokenness over having offended another brother or sister. Without this brokenness we can be sure that the same behavior will continue.
Isaiah 57:15 " 15 For thus says the high and exalted One Who lives forever, whose name is Holy, "I dwell on a high and holy place, And also with the contrite and lowly of spirit In order to revive the spirit of the lowly And to revive the heart of the contrite."
Luke 9:23
"23 And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me."
There is no denying of self when we cannot confess sinfulness to be cleansed.
Psalm 34:18
"18 The Lord is near to the brokenhearted
And saves those who are crushed in spirit."
Those who retain their pride through stubborness, resisting confession to be reconciled will not only do it with people but also with God.
There is a tendency for stubborn people to live in a world of pretense, they pretend they did nothing wrong, they pretend it was all fixed by coming back as though it never happened, even though there was never any desire to admit their sin. Those who walk in pretense, choosing to believe things about themselves that are not true to keep from having to humble themselves, only grow in one direction, that is "worse", until they repent, then they will begin the growth process again, cleansed and free.
Those that will not repent, grow more and more guilty in their soul, having to continually justify themselves while becoming more hardened with each resistance to confession.
Let's not stagnate in our growth, stagnation does not remain there it leads to regression, along with more and more bitterness of soul. There is no freedom and peace for the heart that resists correction and confession.
We are to forgive the way Christ forgives, not flippantly to make ourselves feel better, but after a confession so that others know their need to grow and change their behavior.
1 John 1:9 "9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
Luke 17:3-4 " 3 Watch yourselves. If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. 4 Even if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times returns to say, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”…"
We are never to do revenge, we are to treat people respectfully when in their company, but relationships are not restored or continue when someone refuses to admit their sin or when they refuse to change the same continual behavior.
There is no value in everyone just "feeling better", the purpose of requiring a confession is for the cleansing of the one who sinned and the forgiveness of the one offended that the relationship take a new turn toward holiness and reconciliation based on entirely new attitudes.
Our culture has taught a patently unbiblical concept of forgiving without confession. This has led people to believe they don't have to confess, they just have to act a little better the next time. This tactic does not restore a relationship, it is superficially phony and does not restore the trust that was lost.
The only fix for a broken relationship is for the one who broke it to confess to the one they harmed. Hoping bad feelings will go away by pretending nothing bad was done to the victim, is the same as saying, you don't mean anything to me, I just want my status of friendship back.
When someone is not sorry, refuses to do what is necessary to restore a friendship, then they are admitting they are probably going to do the same kind of things again, the relationship gets poked, poked and poked over and over again, until there is no chance of restoring what was lost.
Sorrow over sin and confession to the ones we harmed is the ONLY solution to broken relationships. Until this happens the relationship remains broken and eventually the harmed party walks away forever.
Those who will not confess they need Christ, who will not reconcile to God through faith in His finished work on the cross, will not see heaven. In order to see heaven one must confess their sinfulness, ask to be changed into a new creation, after that Christ will come to live in them and begin the work of cleansing for the rest of their lives.
Love Worth Finding Ministries Devotional
BIBLE MEDITATION:
“Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.” 1 Peter 2:5
DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
Jesus is not only the Cornerstone of the church; He is also the individual building blocks through every believer. Have you ever heard of someone being a “chip off the old block”? That means he shares the nature of his father. In a sense, every child of God is a chip off that Block.
By ourselves we are not all that much. How many one-brick buildings have you seen? One stone can be easily tossed around, but if you take a lot of them and put them together, there is strength.
ACTION POINT:
Our Lord is building us together to gain strength from one another. It is amazing what can happen when the body of Christ is unified.
