2 Timothy 2:12-13

Good morning all. God is good all the time, all the time God is good.  TOO BLESSED TO BE STRESSED!  JESU JEVU!
 ¹² Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.

   At first glance or reading we see if we live godly in Christ Jesus then we are going to suffer persecution.  Whaaaaa?  Now, that just ain't right.  Well, let us go a little deeper.  First of all, if you truly know Jesus Christ as your LORD and saviour - then you will know you are living in a foreign land.  YOU ARE NOT HOME YET!  (Home is in heaven with Him)

   Second, we know who the ruler of this "foreign" land is.  Yes, unfortunately it is satan.   Next, you will know that if you have a personal relationship with Christ Jesus, then you are indeed a target for persecution.  Now what is persecution? 
This does not, in America, necessarily mean we are going to be executed by firing squad, guillotine, or hanging.  But it does mean that we may be persecuted by injury done to our feelings, our family, our reputation, our property, our liberty, our influence; it may be by depriving us of an office which he held, or preventing us from obtaining one to which we are eligible; it may be by subjecting us to fine or imprisonment, to banishment, torture, or death.

     Count this not as all bad; if these persecutions do come your way; then you are living for Christ and the world is definitely against you.  Use your weapons against this - PRAYER, fasting, the ARMOR of GOD! 

    However, look at verse 13:  ¹³ But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.

Interesting! Evil men and seducers - we are talking about people who thrive on evil, that live in the darkness and enjoy this type of existence.  Seducers - not meaning sexually, but by conveying thoughts that are in direct contrast to the Bible, the True Word of God, and then convincing others it is right or acceptable.

    The dark side leads us to believe in what is not!  Look at the politics today - not just the presidential candidates, but the corruption in government, Federal, State, and Local, and even in the work place.  They tell us the same lies so much that eventually they believe their own lies and it becomes reality to them.  Where have we gone?  We want to believe lies that make us feel better.  Many wish Enron had continued their deception - financially they were better off (so they thought).  We need to step back to the truth. Share the WORD with many and any who will listen, even those who will not listen.  Some think a lot of what we older people believe is just our generations belief.

    I recently had a conversation with a young lady in her 40's about things going on in the world - homosexuality, transgender restrooms, etc. and just what is going on in the world.  Her comment to me was she thought this was just my generations way of thinking and beliefs.  I explained that no, this is in the Bible.  Now she grew up in the church, however her father did not push Bible studies nor did he "live" what his mouth said he believed.  Therefore, there is no proper education or study of the Bible.

   Because of this lack of spirituality leadership in the home, many of the worlds ideas can invade and overcome the true word.  I for one, took the family each Sunday to Sunday School and Church; however, did not push my children to seek after the word and grow in the word. I was naive enough to think just taking my children to church on Sundays was enough.  Would I do it differently today?  You betcha I would.  All my children has accepted Jesus but are not comfortable in their knowledge of the word.  Whose fault is this?  The spiritual leader of the household - ME!

  So, men and women of the WORD, what are we going to do about being persecuted, being led astray by deceptors?  What are YOU going to do? Love you all.

Soli Deo Gloria

Johnny