There was no nonsense when it came to dealing with enemies, or those who were evil.”

                    –Louis L’Amour  (The Lonely Men)

       “For Zion’s sake I will not hold My peace, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until her righteousness goes forth as brightness, and her salvation as a lamp that burns.”
                    –Isaiah 62:1 (NKJV)
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       Do you feel panicked by the darkness of our culture?  Is it beginning to overwhelm you?  It seems that Christians, in these times, are more fearful than faithful.  We need to be calm, rest in that calm assurance of the Lord.  There are many out there groping in the dark for answers; it is not becoming that Christians join in with them when we have the “Light” to guide our way.  This Monday morning we look at the first part of Psalm 72.

               1 — Give the king Your judgments, O God, and Your righteousness to the king’s Son.
               2 — He will judge Your people with righteousness, and Your poor with justice.
               3 — The mountains will bring peace to the people, and the little hills, by righteousness.
               4 — He will bring justice to the poor of the people; He will save the children of the needy, and will break in pieces the oppressor.
               5 — They shall fear You as long as the sun and moon endure, throughout all generations.
               6 — He shall come down like rain upon the grass before mowing, like showers that water the earth.
               7 — In His days the righteous shall flourish, and abundance of peace, until the moon is no more.  (NKJV)

       Notice how many times righteous or righteousness is mentioned in the Scriptures above.  Righteousness is the doing of what is right.  But how is “right” determined?  Is it relative or absolute?  Our culture today is saying that there is no absolute right or wrong; it is all relative and up to the individual.  How wrong they are! (and that is an absolute)
       Who, today, determines what is right?  The government, the court system, the individual–no, it has already been determined.  God’s holy law is written within the hearts of man.  Sure he can disregard it, to his own peril and that of those near him.  Society will suffer when it is decided that they will go away and against God’s declared moral laws.
Culture/society will break down when it moves away from the righteous standards of the Almighty God.  However, that is what the postmodernists (the woke culture) wants to happen–the deconstruction of moral standards.
       George Wood states, “Any branch of government losing this perspective [the standards of God’s moral laws] descends into the quicksand of moral relativity and ethical chaos.”    Of course, chaos is the great cleanser according to Nietzsche.  Break everything down, do away with God and His laws, start over again with the new, enlightened woke society.  To do that the refreshing of the Holy Spirit will leave the nation.  And to think of that is frightful.  We already have a taste of inadequacy when man tries to establish his own laws contrary to what God has set.
       Stay calm…never forget–God is still in control.  No matter what man might try to do, he cannot thwart God’s purposes.

                   “Hail to the Lord’s Anointed,
                   Great David’s greater Son!
                   Hail in the time appointed,
                   His reign on earth begun!
                   He comes to break oppression,
                   To set the captive free;
                   To take away transgression,
                   And rule in equity.”
                             –James Montgomery

There is no other book on earth more inviting, soothing, encouraging and life changing than an opened Bible.”

                    –Ken Pratt  (Return to Willow Falls)

        “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through Me.'”

                    –John 14:6 (NKJV)
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How to Live in a Pagan, Apostate, and Foolish World

Key Verse:  “We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.”  –1 John 5:19 (NKJV)

       I pray that those reading these lessons take them to heart.  This world is evil and the devil desperately wants to destroy, especially the children.  Study the history of Israel–the false gods that the people brought into their worship believed in child sacrifice.  Our country is no better for there are many children offered to the devil via the form of abortion.  The killing of the innocent.  However, there are many ways to sacrifice children and one of them is to not teach them about God.  Let them wander and stray in the abyss of the evil in this world.
       My daughter sent me the following.  Read it and see if you don’t agree that we are moving more and more to an apostate culture.  “Where are the true believers?”  So shouted the prophets.  This study was made in 2012, so I wonder how it has changed.  I do not think it has improved.  The study was made by McDowell, Barna, and Nappa regarding the Christian teenager.  Remember this was 2012 so this group are now in their twenties.

               –41% were uncertain whether Jesus was physically resurrected.
               –63% didn’t believe Jesus to be the son of the one true God.
               –44% believed the Bible to be just one of many authoritative voices about Jesus.
               –33% believed that Jesus is not the only way to heaven.
               –only 5% studied the Bible daily.
               –a growing majority believe the Holy Spirit is only a symbol of God’s presence or power rather than a person of the Trinity.
               –60% are uncertain, unsettled, or confused about whether the Bible can be trusted.
               –70% express persistent, measurable doubts that what the Bible says about Jesus is true.

       These were supposed to be “Christian teenagers,” however, in their beliefs/doctrines there is a doubt as to the depth of their Christianity.  There is a growing trend toward heresy and I’m waiting for parents, preachers, and leaders to proclaim, “Thus saith the Lord!”  The atmosphere of our culture is to doubt the Bible, mock Jesus Christ, and serve whatever god they want.
       Why do I speak about doctrine so much?  Go back and read the above statistics.  We are to guard the truth–the doctrine.  We are to trust the holy written Word of God–the Bible.  What is being taught in our homes, for that is where it must start?  What standards are being laid by the parents regarding the truth of the Bible and Jesus Christ?
       I didn’t refer to the Scriptures that I had planned for today’s lesson, but one of them states, “…and there is a sin leading to death.” (1 John 5:17)  I will not get into detail about this now, but part of it is believing the doctrines of the antichrists, and refusing the testimony of the Holy Spirit in regard to the Son of God.  Some say that revival starts in the church, but I will say that revival starts with the individual and moves to the home.  This world is under the control of the devil and his evil, wicked way; do not give into his or sacrifice the children to him.

A good cowboy don’t quit in the middle of the work and leave the boss shorthanded.”

                    –Elmer Kelton  (The Smiling Country)

       “For they were trying to make us afraid, saying, ‘Their hands will be weakened in the work, and it will not be done.’  Now therefore, O God, strengthen my hands.”

                    –Nehemiah 6:9 (NKJV)
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If your mind was an art gallery in which your thoughts could become visible like pictures hanging on a wall, would you be willing for them to be on exhibit?  Hmmm?  I think I mentioned that I had been reading Samuel and the Kings.  The people of Israel were a mess.  For example, in the Book of Judges, right at the start, “They forsook the LORD and served Baal and the Ashtoreths” (Judges 2:13, NKJV).  It was different in Samuel’s time and onward.  Idol worship in one form or another became a disgrace in Israel.  
       Some people worshiped the false gods openly.  How?  Why?  Some people merged the worship of Yahweh with the worship of Baal or other gods.  This was a despicable practice, some involving child sacrifice.  How could Israel, the children of God, the chosen ones, do such an abomination in the sight of the Lord after all He had done for them?
This was not only done by the common man, but the leaders, including the priests, took part in the pagan practices.  Read Ezekiel chapter 8 and he speaks of the abominations of the leadership.  In one verse he mentions people doing that  in the dark, thinking others would not see.

                “Then He said to me, ‘Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the room of his idols?’  For they say, ‘The LORD does not see us, the LORD has forsaken the land.'”  
                              –Ezekiel 8:12(NKJV)

       Note that this was during the exile–a time when people should be seeking God for redemption and renewal.  Instead they were serving and worshiping idols.  They adorned the walls of a room in their houses with ugly idols.  This they did in the dark, not permitting others to enter and see what they had in that room.  Then they complained that God had left them and did not answer their prayers.  What hypocrisy and mockery.
       Idols!  It is hard for me to imagine serving Moloch, Dagaon, or Baal after seeing the Lord continually provide for Israel.  Joshua foretold it.  The Judges had to deal with it, and throughout the history of Israel they were constantly being warned by the prophets to put away idols and to turn to Yahweh.  
       However, do we have some idols in the art gallery of our mind?  These would be things that we covet.  Things that take the place of God–not going to His house but rather becoming in some form of recreational activity… Idol.  What have we replaced God with in our minds and hearts?  Oh, some will say they still worship God, but along with their special idols.  What is on the wall of the mind that separates you from God?