Chapter 38 – Jesus is on the side of good against evil!
My wife Shirley and I had an interesting conversation this morning as we were doing our Bible reading. We were both sharing that it is amazing the amount of out and out evil that is taking place in our country right now. We realize that there has always been the ongoing battle of good against evil in this world, however, evilness doesn’t even seem to be hiding in the shadows anymore.
Good principles and morals are belittled and made fun of like never before. Evil is touted as the way to be, and it is accepted as normal by a large faction of our society. I guess this blatant display of evil shouldn’t surprise us, the Bible in Isaiah 5:20 and 1 Timothy 4:1 does warn us of this very thing happening:
1 Timothy 4:1 (NLT)
1Now the Holy Spirit tells us clearly that in the last times some will turn away from the true faith; they will follow deceptive spirits and teachings that come from demons.
Isaiah 5:20 (ESV)
20Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!
As we watch the news now days, we have seen a big difference between Conservative individuals and Liberal individuals. We agreed that in general our observation is:
- Conservative people are by nature “conservative!” They tend to hold onto traditional values and moderate behavior. They are mostly nonconfrontational and strive to get along with others. They seem to hold fast to, and live by Biblical principles.
- Liberal people tend to be open to nontraditional ideas! Anything goes, and the more shocking it is the better. They seem to push the limits on all moral and conservative values. The more anti they can be to Biblical principles the better.
Many people say that Jesus was more liberal than conservative because he went against the religious leaders of the day. The truth is, he went against the religious hierarchy because they had perverted the heart and truth of the Old Testament. Jesus himself upheld the Old Testament of the Bible and solid conservative values, as in his battle with the devil in the wilderness:
Matthew 4:1–11 (ESV)
1Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4But he answered, “It is written, “ ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ” 5Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple 6and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, “ ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and “ ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’ ” 7Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ” 8Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 10Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “ ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’ ” 11Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.
Jesus answered every attempt of the devil to trap him with Old Testament Scripture. That would be a good plan for each one of us!
Galatians 5 below describes the fruit we will exhibit as we follow Jesus and are led by the Holy Spirit. It sure sounds conservative to me:
Galatians 5:22–23 (NLT)
22But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!
Heavenly Father, please help each one of us be led by the Holy Spirit in our daily lives as we strive to be more like Jesus! Amen.