"They feared the Lord, and served their own gods, after the manner of the nations..." -II Kings 17:33.
The great, great majority of people still believe in God; "the devils also believe, and tremble." -James 2:19.
It is also apparent that a majority believe in Jesus, but so very few receive Him for who He is;
"...his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." -Is. 9:6.
This last of the last days' Christianity could be called many things; it is certainly Laodicean in nature (Rev. 3:14-19). Sometimes I refer to it as "anything goes" Christianity, for it seems that the professing Christian Church has few boundaries in what is considered right, or wrong. The Bible is treated as opinion, or suggestion, and is a far cry from what it claims itself to be; God's perfectly preserved Word (Ps. 12:6,7), and the believer's final authority in all matters of faith and practice (II Tim. 3:16,17).
"...for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name." -Ps. 138:2.
In my current devotions, I am reading in Hosea, and came across a very relevant verse for our time;
"They will not frame their doings to turn unto their God: for the spirit of whoredoms is in the midst of them, and they have not known the Lord." -Hos. 5:4.
The Bible often refers to spiritual whoredom; having more than one committed affection to things that basically supercede Christ's Lordship in our lives; varieties of idolatry. Biblical instruction has been written off, and all manners of compromise have entered in. Professing Christian churches embrace homosexuality, rock music, women leaders, Catholicism, pro sports, TV and movies, New Age teachers, and preemptive wars which kill tens of thousands who hadn't hurt us in the least. Does anyone remember to "love your enemies"? Probably a year ago now, we even saw that a church was having a huge prize-winning giveaway, including a new car! Do you really think that those drawn to church by the chance of enhancing their material possessions will come to know Christ that way? "Ye can not serve God and mammon."
"For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows." -I Tim. 6:10.
When it comes to money, heed (and read) the warnings given in the Bible, such as to the Laodiceans in Rev. 3:17,18; or in the account of the rich man and the beggar Lazarus in Luke 16:19-25. Brethren, we need to separate from this world and its lusts as much as is possible! Let's look at an example or two, for "by their fruits, ye shall know them." -see Matt. 7:16-20.
Orel Hershiser was a great pitcher for the L.A. Dodgers back in the 1980s & 90s, and often touted to be a Christian. Whether or not he ever was, I do not know. Nor do I know where he is at spiritually today, or if he will die in right relationship with Christ. But I was witness to behavior that told me otherwise; he was the Baseball Player's Union representative, which was revealed during the 1994 strike! To say that this union is greedy, is highly understated- their demands showed as much. When a local pro player, Len Dykstra, expressed his frustration with the strike, saying that they ought to keep playimg for the fans' sake, Orel H. was extremely critical of him! Orel H. was just another money-grubbing pro athlete at this time; his god was mammon, and not Jesus Christ (Matt. 6:24).
Back in the summer of 2010, I worked unloading trucks at a dept. store. Music was played to work to, the greatest part of which I found offensive. Yet there was a song that caught my attention, and touched me deeply; we still occasionaly play Jesus Take the Wheel, performed by Carrie Underwood.
From the start, I never thought that the singer of such a song had to be Christian. No matter what she may claim about herself, the "fruit" in her life says that she is not! Without any initial study of this young woman, and about at the time I was hearing this song, I saw her picture on the cover of a Cosmopolitan magazine. She was in a tight, revealing red dress, with her face directly across from the title article, "Sixteen ways to touch a naked man." No, I needn't look into it any more deeply! She also got her start in fame from the show, American Idol, which is another ungodly source. Why would a Christian want to be on such a show?
A co-worker at this store said that Ms. Underwood claimed to be a Christian, and also that she was sexually "saving herself" for the right man in marriage. I never looked into it, but I take his word for it, not thinking he would deliberately lie about it. But with the claim of being "chaste", and then the cover & article of the magazine, it made me think of Carrie U. as a Pharisee referred to in Matt. 23:4; "For they (Pharisees; verse 1) bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers." This is what C.U. was doing in Cosmopolitan; she was making herself an object of lust, and causing many to sin sexually, all the while touting that she was sexually pure!
In what research I did, in the video for the song, she wasn't as bad as many. But still, there was abundant makeup, expensive jewelry, and close-fitting jeans. I looked up her magazine photo shoot, just to see if she perhaps got herself into a bad thing ignorantly; only to find out that it was her third photo shoot with them! A corrupt tree brings forth evil fruit!
Remember what the Bible says, and lay it to heart:
"Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness?...or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?...Wherefore come out from among them and be ye separate, touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you," - from II Cor. 6:14-18.
"Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be the friend of the world is the enemy of God." -James 4:4.
"Set your affections on things above, not on things on the earth." -Col. 3:2.
"Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world." -I John 2:15,16.
"But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ." -Philip. 3:7.
Stop being your own Lord, and binding Jesus' name to it- that's what we used to do! Seek the Lord. Seek His righteousness, and stop giving undue respect to supposedly Godly men. Be led by the Lord directly, to please the one who bought you.
"Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the Lord, till he come and rain righteousness upon you." -Hos. 10:12.
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