“…cling to what is good.”
Tuesday, January 17th, 2023
by Ken Pullen
What is needed in the world? What, how should a Christian think, speak, write and respond in the world? In their church?
“Love without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good.”
Straightforward, precise, direct words of God working in the apostle Paul.
We’re going to take a journey. I will attempt to be straightforward, precise, and direct and pray to be led by the words of God in His Word to every person who has ears and is willing to hear.
What is needed in the world is surely the gospel, which is Jesus Christ. And for the unbelieving to become believing souls in God, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, and the Word of God.
What is required to bring that about are not only truth-tellers, telling of God, Jesus, and all that is contained in the Scriptures, but truth-tellers who LOVE the truth. Love the truth and words of God in His God-breathed Book of Life, eternal life, the Holy Bible.
What is needed are faithful believers not on the defensive, not fearful, not attempting to placate and appease the corrupted world in order to gain favor, or believing half the truth mingled with the world’s delusion and lies is acceptable. Such behavior and actions are not acceptable.
The world is corrupt, fallen, in bondage to evil, in bondage to sin, in bondage to the devil. Nothing but the truth of God’s Word can break those chains of bondage and speaking, writing, and living to be liked by the world and not upset anyone is greatly upsetting to God our Father, Jesus our professed Lord, and the Holy Spirit — going against the Word of God.
Tragically, far too many professing to be faithful Christians in our time have themselves a terrible malady and illness. A spiritual malady and illness. Too many are in accord with the lost world in bondage to Satan that God, if admitting He exists, is harsh. Mean. Unfair. Fickle. Unjust, and on and on the humanistic lowering and blaspheming of God goes on when…
…there is nothing, NOTHING about God or that God has done, is doing, and will do THAT IS NOT TOTALLY GOOD!
The world spews venom, hatred, and lies in their vengeance against God giving false witness while working from a position of total ignorance. Especially the well or over-educated, some popular writers of well sold books, who may have read the Bible, parts of the Bible, and know the importance and history of Christianity and proclaim it is good and people ought to pay attention to Christianity, but it isn’t for them. Imagine that?
The Word of God is despised by the world. Hated. Mocked. Twisted and misspoke, critiqued in great error, misunderstood — commented on from a position of Bible illiteracy and an utter lack of Bible fluency, of history. Real history and the impact globally of the Word of God. The world imagines and confesses God and the Bible to be a book of hatred and bigotry, an angry God.
Yet…
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
And not one person, even the evilest, most faithless among us does not receive their every breath, their every heartbeat, all that they have were it not for our Great and Good God!
The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, for
“‘In him we live and move and have our being’;
as even some of your own poets have said,
“‘For we are indeed his offspring.’
Not one person, not one living thing anywhere at any time past, present, or future has life, breath, everything they have without God! We the people are made in His image! Yet the overwhelming majority, including at this time a large and growing number of professed Christians do not bring this to mind or heart in the course of their day, their every breath, every heartbeat, in everything that they have. The spirit of thankfulness, of humility, of not only being a lover of the truth, but knowing and proclaiming the Good News of the gospel, which is Jesus Christ, we often fail in our fear of the rejection unbelievers, the world will cast our way for our faith — we utterly fail, we’re utter rubbish at going beyond apologetics and defending the faith to speak boldly, write boldly, live boldly as a light unto the world AS TO THE PURE GOODNESS OF OUR GREAT GOD!
There is no shadow within Him. No darkness of evil no lies lie within Him. And while we’re made in His image we do not, we cannot comprehend the full goodness of God as the fallen sinners we are, within our finite minds. We will not see, know, and understand that full beyond human fleshly comprehension of God’s infinite goodness until we are totally perfected and residing in our eternal home with the Lord.
Want revival? Don’t know how to address an individual in the grasp of the world and its deceptions, delusions, and darkness captives of the devil? Want a better home church? A better individual life? A better family life?
Then become a true lover of the truth. God’s truth. The Scriptures truth. The only true truth on earth. Lovers of the truth. Not mere tellers. But lovers! And do not shirk or hide from the lies, deceptions, delusions, illusions, banality, and insanity of the world. Do not permit the world to contend and get away with profaning our GOOD God, our God Who is ONLY GOOD and there is no evil, no human trait within Him. Nor in His living and active inerrant and infallible Word.
Do not be weak nor fearful in dealings with individuals who are not only in the darkness Satan casts over them, but who ARE darkness filled to the brims of their minds and hearts with all the lies, confusion, noise, misdirection, and myths created and perpetuated by this world and he who has dominion here for a season, the father of mayhem, lies, rebellion, and confusion — Satan. As they have everything upside down and backward contending God is a myth, the resurrection of Christ is a myth, and the word of god is a myth while God, the risen Lord, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, and the Word of God are the truest individuals and history, instruction on this earth.
Take time to learn REAL history. Do not be lax, lazy, or like those in the world so easily manipulated and prone to believing that which is tainted, untrue and takes one down a wrong path on this daily, nightly journey all are on until our Great and Good God in His infinite wisdom knows when it is time to withdraw breath, stop the beating heart, and the flesh dies.
Become a well-trained, well-equipped soldier in the spiritual war at hand.
There are myriad examples in Scripture of how holy, good, righteous, pure, without sin, no evil within Him, how He blesses the evil as well as the righteous our Great and GOOD God is. Seek them out. Learn them. Hold them in your heart. Be quick, humble, patient, and secure in the telling of these things to others. To yourself. Faithfully, totally, truly trusting, and believing every word within the Word.
Doing such, holding to such, firm and solid in such we can see how we ought not to be mired in this world, in politics, in left versus right which is utter nonsense, rubbish, and we ought not to become mired in endless debates with regard to every social and political matter if we are well grounded, versed, secure and believing in the Word of God, not only tellers of its truth, but lovers of its truth, and not only defenders of the faith, apologetics folks, but in all our telling we reveal the goodness and vastness of our Great God. Our Great Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, and our Great Comforter and Helper, the Holy Spirit.
There is no issue, no matter, anything this world can offer up at any time in history anywhere that the Word of God, our Triune God cannot better reply to. Have faith. Trust totally in the Lord — and in His Word.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE:
![Complete In Prayer: Jack Hibbs on Spiritual Warfare [This completes the series]](https://acrookedpath.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/0-71-500x383.jpg)
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