We are living in a world of complacency and conformity. In today’s world where people are taught there are no absolutes or truths sometimes it is easy to shrink back and be silent when confronted with a question about your faith.
There is no doubt that we are in the end times and there seems to be a famine of the Word of God. It is not like there is a shortage of Bibles or Christian books around it just seems like not many Christians take the time to read them. How can we fight for truth if we don’t know what the truth is? I think about the young people that were raised in godly homes by God fearing parents who enter college and are persuaded by their professors or peers to abandon their faith. We live in a time when we need to hide God’s Word in our hearts so that we can draw on the reserves that we have hidden in there when our faith is being bombarded by the evil one and the un-believing world around us.
There seems to be a lack of faith and power in the church today. How do we receive faith? The Word says in Romans 10:17, “Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.” So hearing is very important and reading the Word is essential to spiritual growth. Where do we receive power not to shrink back but to be witnesses? Jesus said in Acts 1:8 to His disciples, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.” (NIV Bible) If they needed this power so do we in our day. I believe every believer should seek the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
We live in a time of mockery towards Christians and it seems to be getting worse daily. In the book of Jude, believers are warned about false teachers and leaders that teach false doctrine. Jude was Jesus’ half- brother along with James, and Mary was their mother and Joseph was their Father, but God was Jesus’ real Father. I thought I would throw that in just in case you didn’t know. Like I said, there were false teachers in Jude’s day and there are false teachers today. Jude wrote to combat the false teachers of his day who taught that Christians could do whatever they wanted without fear of God’s punishment. They took a light view of God’s holiness and righteousness. Jude warned of false teachers and leaders who rejected the Lordship of Christ leading others astray. He also warned against apostasy, turning away from Christ.
There are also false teachers today that can deceive believers who don’t study the Bible. It is so important to know the truth, Jesus said in John 8:31 to the Jews that had believed Him, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” In Jesus’ day they didn’t have Bibles so they needed to listen carefully to Jesus and His disciples and walk by faith receiving what they heard. We have all kinds of Christian literature and Bibles so we have no excuse for neglecting to read and study them often. I don’t want any of you to be deceived so if it is not a daily habit now to study and pray and spend time with the Lord you should start today. Someday Bibles may be outlawed and only what you know and have memorized is going to help you at that time. So don’t put it off any longer, it may make a world of difference to you and your loved ones when the Word is taken away. Something to think about, God bless you and have a great day!!
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