What Are You Teaching Your Children at Home?

One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity. 
— 1 Timothy 3:4

As parents, we have a responsibility to train and prepare our children to be successful in life, and there is no better classroom for teaching them the responsibilities of life than in our own homes. God expects us to teach our children how to conduct themselves, how to respond to authority, how to cooperate with others, how to work as a part of a team, and how to successfully execute daily responsibilities. By giving our children this kind of training, we prepare them for the real world where they will one day be employed and make a living.

This issue of properly training our children is extremely important. In First Timothy 3:4, the apostle Paul wrote that leaders are to set the example in this area for everyone else in the church. A leader must be “one that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity.”

Today I want to focus on what Paul said about how children should behave. What he says applies to all children, for there are no double standards. We are commanded by God to train, teach, prepare, and equip our sons and daughters to victoriously enter the arena of life.

Paul says that our children should be “…in subjection with all gravity.” The word “subjection” comes from the Greek word hupotasso. It means to set things in order or to be subject to someone else, and it strongly suggests the idea of obedience to authority. One expositor notes that this word implies a subjection to authority that can happen voluntarily or that can be required by force. It is important that Paul uses this word when speaking to parents, for it affirms that parents have the right to exercise godly authority over their children. If children don’t voluntarily submit, parents have every right before God to force their children to obey.

Further confirming the strength of the word hupotasso, this word was a military term that was used to describe soldiers who were under the command or authority of a superior officer. As with all soldiers, they knew who their superior was; they understood how to respond to that superior officer; they knew their own place, function, and assignment in the army; and they understood both the rewards for obedience and the penalty for disobedience and disrespect. Let’s consider how this example of a soldier in the military applies to the training of our own children.

First, a soldier never questions who his authority is. He knows from the first day who is in charge and to whom he reports. Having this knowledge clears away any confusion about whom he is accountable to. He has been given clear instructions about who is the boss, and this sets things in order so he never has to wonder who is really in charge.

Likewise, parents need to make it clear from the time a child is young that Dad and Mom are the ultimate authority in the home. When a parent doesn’t exercise authority and lets a child get away with whatever he or she wants, it brings confusion into the home.

Set things straight by making it known to your children that you are assuming your godly role as the leader of your home. By teaching your children to respond correctly to your authority at home, you are preparing them to respond properly to their future employers.

A soldier understands his daily responsibilities. For example, no soldier in the army wakes up and says, “Gee, I wonder what the sergeant will ask me to do today?” The soldier knows that certain responsibilities are regular and routine. He understands that he is expected to fulfill these basic duties each day — duties such as making his bed, combing his hair, grooming his face, shining his shoes, and wearing clothes that are pressed.

Likewise, your children need daily duties to teach them responsibility. By using the word hupotasso, Paul is telling us that, like soldiers, children need daily discipline — including responsibilities that are required and expected of them each day. This kind of “basic training” helps children understand the realities of work, the responsibilities of life, and how to be a part of a team.

It is my personal view that it’s wrong for a parent to make a child’s bed, clean up his room, pick up his mess after he showers, and wash his dishes after he eats while he sits and watches television. This kind of “schoolroom” represents an unrealistic picture of life for the child. In the real world, no one will do everything for him when he’s an adult. He’ll get a big shock when he goes out into the world and suddenly discovers that no one is going to be easy on him in the workplace and that he has to carry his own weight of responsibility.

If a soldier fails in performing his basic duties, he knows beforehand that it will result in some kind of penalty. By using the word “subjection” (hupotasso), Paul embraces this picture of military order that includes rewards for a job well done and penalties for poor performance.

Rewards are very important as you teach your children. Rewards become goals and aspirations to help motivate a child to achieve bigger and better results. Teaching this to your child at home will help him later when he gets a job and wants a bigger salary. He will understand that to receive better wages, he will have to put out better work. Teaching our sons and daughters that nothing comes free in life is imperative if we want them to be blessed as adults.

But as important as it is to give your children rewards for a good performance, it is also important to give them penalties for a poor performance. Why should a bad job be rewarded? Will your children be rewarded for a bad performance when they go out into the workplace and get a job? Of course not! Therefore, it is part of your parental responsibility to ingrain into your children the principle that good work reaps a good reward, but poor work produces undesirable consequences. That doesn’t mean you have to berate them for unsatisfactory work. You just need to take the time to lovingly explain and demonstrate how different levels of work are rewarded differently.

It is amazing that all these concepts are concealed in the Greek word hupotasso, translated in First Timothy 3:4 as the word “subjection.” Unfortunately, we live in a day when parents are afraid to be the authority in the home as God has called them to be. But you have no need to be afraid. God has designated you to be a leader and a teacher for your children. If you don’t assume this place of responsibility and teach them the necessary principles for success, who will prepare them for life?

So follow God’s pattern of parenting. Give your children responsibilities to regularly perform. Make sure they understand the rewards and penalties for not doing what is expected. Do everything you can to help prepare your children for a successful, disciplined life. When they grow up and begin to work in the real world, they will thank you for investing your time and love into preparing them for life!

My Prayer for Today

Lord, I thank You for speaking to me about teaching my children the responsibilities of life. I want my children to be godly and successful, so I want to lead them and teach them from the Word of God. I know that my personal example is the strongest message I have to preach to my children, so help me be real and authentic, not hypocritical in my Christian life. Parenting is such a huge responsibility that I must have Your help to do it properly. I look to You and Your Word to guide me as I rear the children You have placed in my care.

I pray this in Jesus’ name!

My Confession for Today

I declare by faith that I am a godly parent and I lead my children in the way of righteousness! I am not afraid to step up to the plate and take my leadership role. I do it boldly, proudly, and reverently, realizing that this is one of the greatest honors and responsibilities of my life. I recognize that my children are gifts from God, and I treat them with the greatest respect as I teach them how to become successful young adults. With the help of God’s Spirit and the guidance of His Word, I am doing exactly what I must for my children to be anointed, godly, and blessed.

I declare this by faith in Jesus’ name!

Questions to Answer

1. What impact did your own parents make on your life? Did they prepare you for life, or did you go out into the world feeling like you were totally unequipped for living on your own?

2. What are you doing right now to teach your own children how to be prepared for life? Do you require daily duties of them and hold them accountable for how  well they perform the jobs you have assigned to them?

3. As you look at your own children and their attitude toward life, toward work, and toward authority figures, what changes could you make in your own leadership style in order to produce better results in your children?

For men shall be… unthankful, unholy….
— 2 Timothy 3:2

In the 1970s, a book by a well-known Christian leader was published that shook the entire Christian community to its core. The reason it so deeply impacted so many people was the dreadful predictions it made about the future. Perhaps the most shocking prediction was that a day would come when sexual situations and homosexuality would be seen on television in people’s homes. People were aghast!

The Christian community reacted sharply. Across the nation people resounded, “The man who wrote this book is obviously off in his predictions, because such things could never happen in America.” But now years have passed, and what this man predicted is exactly what has come to pass. No one would have believed that the trash now seen and laughed at on television every night would become so commonplace that people wouldn’t even be disturbed by it.

This downward spiral that has occurred in the moral code of Western society is hooked to another modern trend that we can trace through the years. Western nations — and especially America — are extremely blessed with financial prosperity and material possessions. So who could ever dream that people in such a blessed environment could be ungrateful for the blessings they possess? Yet instead of focusing on the blessings they have and thanking God for them, a lost and selfish world focuses on what they do not have — claiming they deserve more than they are getting.

As we continue looking at signposts of the last days outlined in Second Timothy 3, we see that an unthankful attitude is listed with unholiness as two major indicators that the final stages of the last days have begun. Paul told us that society at the end of the age will become “unthankful.”

The word “unthankful” is a translation of the Greek word acharistos. The word charistos on its own simply means thankful, but when an a is attached to the front of it, it reverses the condition and turns it into an attitude that is unthankful and ungrateful. It is a picture of people who previously had a thankful heart but now are unthankful and unappreciative. They no longer focus on their blessings they have in their lives; instead, they fixate on what they don’t have. These are people who have become unappreciative and unthankful and who live their lives void of any sense of gratitude.

The only other place where the word acharistos is found in the New Testament is Luke 6:35. There Jesus connects unthankfulness with evil, which lets us know that ingratitude is evil in God’s sight. It is spiritually criminal to not be thankful for what we have.

The unsaved man is selfish because iniquity rules his heart. And a chief manifestation of iniquity is ingratitude, which is a symptom of selfishness. But Christians are not immune from a selfish, ungrateful attitude. Christians can also succumb to the sense of entitlement and selfishness that marks the spirit of this age.

You need to know that as long as an ungrateful attitude prevails in your life, you will never be happy. Thankfulness is a prerequisite to happiness, because only a thankful heart can be a happy heart.

Unfortunately, we live in a world today where people are so self-focused and self-consumed that they are rarely grateful for anything. In fact, people have been blessed with so much that they take their blessings for granted and don’t even realize how fortunate they truly are. Rather than being thankful — the Greek word charistos — they are unthankful (acharistos), and Paul taught that this is a signpost of the last days.

Before we proceed to Paul’s next point, I want to ask you:

• Are you grateful and thankful for what you have, or has unthankfulness begun to poison your spiritual life?
• How long has it been since you took time to thank God for what you do have?
• Taking your words and actions into account, would God count you to be among those who have thankful and grateful hearts, or would He count you to be among the ungrateful and unthankful?
• How long has it been since you considered your blessings and set aside time to specifically thank God for what He has provided in your life?
• When you are thankful, it not only changes your attitude, but it also transforms the environment around you. So isn’t it time that you took time to thank God for His blessings in your life and thereby positively affect your attitude and environment?

One thing is clear: Unthankfulness and unholiness are connected. One always leads to the other. That is why Paul lists the word “unholy” immediately after the word “unthankful.” When people stop expressing a heart of gratitude toward God, unholy attitudes inevitably begin to materialize, and these attitudes are soon followed by blatant unholy behavior.

Think of it — in our world today, nations that were established on godly principles have become infested with godlessness and wickedness. Things have changed radically even within the span of our lifetimes! In just a few short decades, society has devolved from sanctioning open prayer in public schools to outlawing God altogether in those places. Instead of acknowledging God as the Supreme Creator, society refuses to recognize Him at all. And when the recognition of God is removed, everything evil has room to take root and propagate. As long as a society recognizes God, it will live by a higher moral code — but when God is removed, man immediately begins to slide downward into sin and debauchery. Unthankfulness always leads to unholiness.

The word “unholy” that Paul used in this text is from the Greek word anosios. The Greek root, nosios, refers to that which is holy, sacred, pure, or sanctioned by God. However, when an a is attached to the front of the word, it reverses the condition. Just as an a attached to the front of the word charistos changes the meaning from thankfulness to unthankfulness, an a added to the front of the word osios changes its meaning to unholy, unsacred, impure, and unsanctioned by God. This word anosios describes a person who once was ruled by holiness, but who now has become dominated by the rule of unholiness. At one point, this individual revered that which was holy, sacred, pure, and sanctioned by God — but he became contaminated by the unholy, unsacred, and impure. He made the choice to embrace attitudes and actions that are unsanctioned by God.

In addition to describing that which is unsacred, the Greek word anosios (“unholy”) can also be used to describe activities or actions that are impure, ill-mannered, improper, unclean, indecent, coarse, vulgar, offensive, crude, lewd, and rude. That book I mentioned earlier produced a sharp reaction from the wider Christian community when it was published in the 1970s because no one believed such things could happen in a God-fearing nation. Yet in the years since that time, that author’s predictions have proven true, time and time again. God has been removed from classrooms and from public places — and the nation has slidden into a moral downward spiral. One visit to an evening of television will quickly show that which is impure, ill-mannered, improper, unclean, indecent, coarse, vulgar, offensive, crude, lewd, and rude is dominating the airwaves and society. What was once considered vulgar is now widely considered appropriate subject matter for jokes and entertainment. What God calls unholy is what society thinks is funny. What has happened to us?

These are all signs of the last days.

However, just because you live in the last days does not mean that you should be affected by this moral downslide. By making God’s Word your standard and upholding it in your life, you can stay free from the spiritual corrosion that is eating away at the world today. What is happening to a lost society does not have to happen to you or to your family.

To remain untouched by this moral degeneration, you must make the decision to keep your eyes on Jesus and live to please Him. Choose to make His Word the guide for your heart, and never permit yourself to entertain or find funny those things that God deems “unholy.” This situation is not funny — it is spiritually deadly and damning. The world laughs while it goes to hell. Lost society is oblivious to the deception that is dragging it lower and lower into depravity and judgment. What is funny about this scenario? Nothing!

If society focused its gaze on God and kept Him in their minds, it would be more difficult for Satan’s deception to work its plan in the world. But when man becomes unthankful — ceasing to acknowledge God and to be thankful for His abundant blessings — that is when he begins to sink into decadence.

These words in Second Timothy 3:2 are so packed with meaning that this part of the verse could be expanded and paraphrased to read:

“…Although they were once thankful and appreciative, people will become void of gratitude and generally unappreciative of everything in the last times. As a result, impurity will seep into society and cause it to become unholy — impure, ill-mannered, unclean, indecent, coarse, vulgar, offensive, crude, lewd, and rude, behaving and carrying on in a way that God would never sanction….”

The same effect can happen to you as a believer if you cease to recognize God and express thankfulness to Him. You see, a Christian may not slide into the same sins to which the world quickly succumbs, but ungratefulness, bitterness, and other heart-hardening attitudes will worm their way into your soul if you do not maintain an attitude of thankfulness and constantly recognize God’s goodness in your life.

This is exactly why King David spoke to his own soul in Psalm 103:2, saying, “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.” In a moment of difficulty, David paused to remind himself that God had been good to him. By rehearsing in his mind all the good things that God had done in his life, it created in him a thankful and grateful heart.

So before you do anything else today, why don’t you take a few minutes to be alone with the Lord and express your thankfulness to Him for the wonderful things He has done for you? If you are tempted to feel sorry for yourself or to think that others are more blessed than you, this is an indicator that you may have slipped into the sin of being more focused on what you don’t have than you are on all the good things you do have — and on the wonderful things God has already done for you. The truth is, you have a lot to be thankful for if you’ll just take time to think about it. Regardless of what you are facing today — God has been good to you, and it’s time to thank Him for His blessing in your life!

MY PRAYER FOR TODAY

Father, I ask You to help me remember all the good things You have done for me! Forgive me for being so focused on what I don’t have that I’ve overlooked what I do have. I refuse to be unthankful. Today I pause to rehearse all the good and wonderful things You have done in my life. I repent for allowing ingratitude and a lack of thankfulness to creep into my life when the list of things I have to be thankful for is so long that I don’t know if I can even recall all of Your goodness. Thank You for being so good to me!

I pray this in Jesus’ name!

 

MY CONFESSION FOR TODAY

I confess that I have a grateful and thankful heart! My soul blesses the Lord, and I forget not all His benefits toward me! The world around me may forget God’s goodness, but I will not be guilty of this neglect. He saved me from sin; He rescued me from myself; He delivered me from harm and destruction; He has kept me safely through all kinds of situations in life; and He has given me His Word as His promise and His Spirit to empower my life and to help keep me free from sin. He has done so much for me! I make the decision right now that my mouth is going to be filled with His praises, and thankfulness will spring forth from my heart. By recognizing Him and what He has done in my life, I will positively affect my attitude and super-charge my environment with the Spirit of God!

I declare this by faith in Jesus’ name!

 

QUESTIONS FOR YOU TO CONSIDER

1. How long has it been since you made a list of the things you are thankful for that God has done for you? In order to keep your heart soft before the Lord, it is necessary for you to maintain a grateful attitude, so today I want to encourage you to take a little time to reflect on all God has done for you and to make a list of the things for which you are thankful.
2. As you’ve watched television, have you noticed how so much of what is broadcast into people’s homes is impure, ill-mannered, improper, unclean, indecent, coarse, vulgar, offensive, crude, lewd, and rude? As you listen to unholy jokes or watch subject matter that is grievous to God, what effect does it have on you?
3. What changes do you need to make in your own life to be more pleasing to God in the way you live and think? What do you need to eliminate in order to keep your mind pure and your thoughts clean? Has the Holy Spirit been dealing with you about any areas you need to change — and if yes, what are those areas?

Dip and Dye!

Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
— Matthew 28:19

One year our Moscow pastoral staff had a debate over whether or not it was right or wrong to dye Easter eggs for the annual Easter celebration. In the Russian Orthodox Church, Easter eggs are a very big part of tradition. Therefore, I wanted to include Easter eggs in our church celebration in order to help those from an Orthodox background feel more comfortable in their new Protestant surroundings. My goal was for our children’s ministry to dip, dye, and decorate several thousand eggs — one for each member of the congregation — and then to publicly present them on stage to the church before giving one to every person in attendance.

Because the children would be presenting the eggs on stage, I knew this special presentation would attract their unsaved parents to the service, allowing the parents to hear the Gospel for the first time. Some of the pastoral staff thought this was a great idea, but others thought it was inappropriate to use a symbol that also had alleged ties to paganism from the past.

At the same time we were debating this question, I was preparing to preach a message about water baptism. To prepare for my message, I pulled out my Greek New Testament, opened it to Matthew 28:19, and began to look at the Greek word for “baptism.” I honestly thought, What new revelation could I possibly learn about the word “baptism” after studying it for so many years? But I’ll open all my books and give it a shot to see if there’s anything about this word I’ve never seen before.

Wow! Was I ever shocked at what I discovered that day! After all those years of studying, I saw something I had never seen before about baptidzo, the Greek word for “baptism.” I saw that this word baptidzo originally meant to dip and to dye. For instance, in very early cases, baptidzo described the process of dipping a cloth or garment into a vat of color to dye it; leaving it there long enough for the material to soak up the new color; and then pulling that garment out of the dye with a permanently changed outward appearance. When I saw this, I just about leaped out of my chair with excitement!

In Second Corinthians 5:17, Paul wrote, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” A person who comes to Jesus Christ can be likened to an old garment that needs to be dipped into a vat of dye so its color can be changed. However, the person isn’t dipped into a vat of colored dye, but into the precious blood of the Lamb! This person is so totally transformed by Jesus’ blood that he becomes a new creature. His countenance is so changed that he even looks different. You could say that this new believer has been “dipped and dyed”!

What a new light this shed on baptism! Paul wrote, “Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4). Water baptism is a symbolic proclamation of the fact that believers have been buried with Christ and raised with Him. When a believer is placed in the baptismal waters, it symbolizes being immersed in one condition and coming out looking brand new. In other words, it is a picture of what happened to that person when he got saved! This outward symbol represents the fact that he has been dipped in the blood of the Lamb, and now his entire life has been newly colored and transformed to be like Jesus!

When I saw this meaning in the word baptidzo, I told my pastoral staff, “This year we’re going to let the children dye Easter eggs. Then we’re going to use this as a teaching tool to show them what happens when a person is born again!” I instructed the teachers to tell the children that each egg represented a person who has been saved and dipped in the blood of Jesus Christ — newly colored, transformed, and changed forever.

The time came for the children to dye and decorate those eggs. As they dipped those eggs, they imagined that they were baptizing people who were newly saved. It turned out to be quite a hallelujah time! Each Easter egg became a declaration to those children that several thousand new people would soon be saved and water baptized!

Aren’t you thankful that Jesus totally transformed your life? Don’t you see things differently from the way you used to see them? Hasn’t your entire outlook on life been altered? In a certain sense, couldn’t you say that there is new light and color since Jesus came into your life? Just go ahead and rejoice in the fact that you have been dipped and dyed in the blood of Jesus and that you’ll never be the same again!

My Prayer for Today

Lord, I am so grateful that You accepted me when I was dead in sin and washed me with Your precious blood. When I was placed inside You, everything old passed away and everything in me became brand new. For this great gift of life and salvation, I want to serve You the rest of my days. I am so thankful to You for giving me a new view of life and a whole new reason to live. When You came to dwell in me through the Person of the Holy Spirit, the drab, dark days of sin passed away, and a new world of light and color filled my life. For this, I am forever thankful!

I pray this in Jesus’ name!

My Confession for Today

I boldly declare that I am a new creature in Jesus Christ. Old things have passed away, and all things have become new! I am not who I used to be anymore. I don’t think like that old man; I don’t see like that old man; I don’t talk like that old man; and I don’t behave like that old man anymore. Now I am in Jesus Christ, and I think like Him, see like Him, talk like Him, and behave like Him. I have come alive with vibrant life because of His resurrection power that works inside me!

I declare this by faith in Jesus’ name!

Questions to Answer

1. Can you name the ways your life radically changed after Jesus Christ came into your heart? Make a list of ten ways your life changed after you got saved.

2. When you first got saved, can you remember how the world looked different to you? What seemed to be the most different?

3. Have you obeyed the Lord and been water baptized? If not, when do you plan to take this fundamental step of obedience that Jesus demands of every serious believer?

For men shall be…boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents….
— 2 Timothy 3:2

Today let’s continue looking at the signposts the apostle Paul wrote about to let us know when we have entered the very last of the last days. If we see all of these signs simultaneously occurring in society on a widespread basis, the Holy Spirit wants us to know that we have crossed an invisible prophetic line and have now entered into the very last of the last days.

Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, Paul next wrote that society at the end of the age will be filled with people who are “…boasters, proud, disobedient to parents…” (2 Timothy 3:2).

Let’s begin today with the word “boasters.” The Greek word used here is the alazon — a word that is only used in the New Testament twice: in this verse and in Romans 1:30. It expresses the idea of someone who is a braggart or boaster. However, this person is not just a braggart — he is a liar, for the Greek word alazon actually represents a person so committed to his own self-promotion and agenda that he is willing to exaggerate, overstate the facts, stretch the truth, embellish a story, and even lie if it will get him a new position or goal that he desires. Today we call this situational ethics: adjusting your morals, beliefs, and convictions to fit any situation. In essence, it is doing and saying whatever you must in order to further your agenda, even if it clashes with your conscience or convictions.

Unfortunately, this philosophy is precisely what is being taught in public schools across the world today. Moral absolutes have been replaced by floating ethics, and the rights and wrongs concretely stated by the Bible are now deemed obsolete. The truth of the Gospel is actively supplanted by the immoral minority, who want to remove the Bible from every courthouse and every place of government and to turn each nation into a secular society free from the rule of Scripture and the mention of God. Ask your own children or grandchildren about the situational ethics being promoted in school.

The only other place this word alazon is used in the New Testament is Romans 1:30, where Paul described a world that lives apart from God. According to Romans 1:29-31, a godless society is “filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity, whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful….” Notice the italicized word “boasters” in the middle of this text. It is exactly the same word as in Second Timothy 3:2. But here we see this word “boasters” — the Greek word alazon — positioned in the middle of the godless deeds of a world that has thrown moral absolutes to the wind.

It is truly amazing that this anti-God culture will carry out all of these unrighteous deeds with a haughty, bold, proud, “we-know-better-than-you” attitude. That’s why Paul next mentioned the word “proud.” The word “proud” is the Greek word huperephanos, which is a compound of the words huper and phanos. The word huper means above or depicts something that is superior. The word phanos means to be manifested.

When the two words are compounded, the new word depicts a person who sees himself as above the rest of the crowd. This represents an arrogant, haughty, impudent, snooty, high-and- mighty, insolent attitude that thinks it is intellectually advantaged and therefore has the right to set the agenda for everyone else. What an accurate description of those who would like to remove God from our lives and force their liberal agenda on the rest of us. According to Paul’s prophetic words in Second Timothy 3:2, this will be a mark of society at the end of the Church Age.

Paul elaborated by telling us that these high-minded, immoral agenda-setters will also be “blasphemers.” The word “blasphemers” in Greek is the word blasphemeo, which can refer to blaspheming God, but most often means to speak discourteously, slanderously, and reproachfully or to rail against by bringing abusive, debasing, degrading accusations against those with whom one does not agree.

Peter used blasphemeo in Second Peter 2:11 to describe people who are disrespectful of the things of God. People in this category see themselves as superior to those whom they deem to be resistant to change and stuck in a primitive mode of thinking — that is, moral absolutes that uphold righteous conduct. They disdain, mock, slander, and speak ill of them. That is precisely what the Spirit is forecasting about the end of the age as Paul laid out the telltale signposts that declare the last of the last days is upon us.

But wait — there’s more! In the midst of this last-days society where situational ethics reign and Bible absolutes are thrown to the wind, Paul prophesied it would produce an epidemic emergence of “disobedience to parents.” The word “disobedient” in Greek is the word apeithes. The root of this word is peitho, which means to persuade. However, with the Greek prefix a attached to the front, this word apeithes takes on the opposite meaning. It carries the idea of being unpersuadable or uncontrollable and thereby unleadable. Thus, the phrase “disobedient to parents” in Second Timothy 3:2 actually carries the idea of children that parents can no longer persuade, control, lead, or exercise authority over. In other words, a day is coming when children will no longer be required to submit to or follow the orders and leadership of their dad and mom.

This problem is already widespread in the world today. Children speak disrespectfully to their parents; they don’t want their rights violated by parents telling them what to do; and the court system has stood by the right of a child to sue his or her parents. Parents are so bound by the laws of the new moral agenda that they are fearful to discipline their own children, lest they be arrested for child abuse. Although some children have certainly been protected by such laws, the fact is that these laws have put the child in a superior position in the eyes of the legal system and weakened the leadership of the parents to teach, discipline, and lead their own kids. Just as Paul prophesied, the day has come when parents are under pressure to surrender their parental authority to rule their own children.

If you put all these words and phrases together, an interpretive translation of this verse could read:

“…These boasters are so committed to their own self-promotion and agenda that they are willing to exaggerate, overstate the facts, stretch the truth, embellish a story, and even lie if it will get them the position, advantage, or goal they desire. They are arrogant, haughty, impudent, snooty, and insolent. They disdain, mock, slander, and speak ill of anyone that stands in the way of their plans. And in this environment, parents will no longer be able to persuade, control, lead, or exercise authority over their children….”

All of these are signposts that the last of the last days is upon us. Based on these scriptures and Greek word meanings, can you see the marks of the last days in the world today? Does any of this sound familiar to you?

Just because this is what will happen in the world in the last days doesn’t mean it must happen to you. These are events that will occur in the lost world — not in the Church of the living God! We are in the world, but we are not of this lost world’s system (see John 17:14-16). And since the Holy Spirit warned us of these things in advance, we must take heed to His prophetic word and take action to protect families and homes while we march forward with speed to preach the Gospel to people who are lost and without Christ.

This can be our greatest hour if we will keep ourselves pure in the love of God, live separate from the lost standards of the world, maintain the moral code of God in our hearts and homes, and shine the light of Jesus Christ into the darkness that has flooded into nearly every corner of society. People are looking for solutions to their deeply embedded moral dilemmas, and we have the answers they need — so let’s let our light shine brightly!

MY PRAYER FOR TODAY

Lord, I am deeply moved by the accuracy of Your Word and Your long-planned desire to prepare us in advance for the developments that are happening in the world around us today. Thank You for loving us so much that You desired to tell us in advance what would happen in the last days. Because Your Word is so clear, I know exactly what I need to do to protect my heart, safeguard my home, and keep Your law alive and fresh in my mind. Holy Spirit, I ask You to help me stay free from the distorted reasoning of the world and to stay on fire with the love of God. And I sincerely ask You to help me reach out to others who have been affected by the lost and deceived thinking of the world and whose lives have been made shambles as a result of no moral law. They need Your Word and help — and I know that You are asking Me to be Your hand extended to them. So today I surrender my life to be Your helping hand to this hurting world around me.

I pray this in Jesus’ name!

 

MY CONFESSION FOR TODAY

I boldly declare that regardless of what the world or society says, I will live my life according to the law of God. The world does not dictate my moral code or standard because I am a child of God. When the world around me mocks, laughs, or ridicules me for taking a stand that is contrary to theirs, I am empowered by the Spirit of God to stand strong and to remain true to my convictions. God’s Word is unchanging — and just as the truth of His Word never changes, I will not change my behavior or my convictions to be like the world. Rather, I will live in a righteous manner to please God, and by so doing, my life will shine a great light to people who sit in darkness. Due to my conviction and godly life, I will be a beacon of hope and help to others who have been devastated by the lost immoral standards of the world.

I declare this by faith in Jesus’ name!

 

QUESTIONS FOR YOU TO CONSIDER

1. As you read today’s Sparkling Gem, did any of it sound like the society in which you live today? What part especially hit you as being relevant and pertinent to our modern-day world?
2. Can you think of any areas in your life or thinking where you have allowed the world to affect your view? Maybe you once held tightly to a strict moral code, but in recent years you have let some of your convictions slip to accommodate people who are different from you or people you like but who are living outside of God’s will and His ways? What are those areas where you have compromised your convictions and beliefs?
3. In what way should you respond to what you have read today? Is the Holy Spirit tugging at your heart? If so, what is the Spirit of God asking you to do to get back in line with His Word and His unchanging truth?

For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous….
— 2 Timothy 3:2

As you drive down the highway to a town or city, signs are regularly posted along the side of the road to keep you on track and help you monitor how far you are from your destination. Those signposts are guides, markers, and indicators intended to point you in the right direction and keep you on track until you finally arrive at your destination. When you reach your journey’s end, a prominent sign usually stands at the entrance of the town, which reads in large, bold letters “Welcome!” When you see that welcome sign, it is the declaration that you have finally arrived!

Similarly, in Second Timothy 3:2, Paul listed the events that will act as spiritual signposts, indicating that we are headed toward the very last of the last days. He wrote, “For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous….” If all of these events are occurring simultaneously, we need to take it as a big “welcome” sign that lets us know we are no longer journeying toward the last of the last days; we have finally entered them. If all of these things are in evidence in society around us, we are already there — in the last of the last days.

At the first of his list, Paul said, “For men shall be lovers of their own selves….” Speaking through the apostle, the Holy Spirit alerts us to the fact that one of the principal signs of the last days will be self-love, self-consumption, and selfishness. When Paul wrote, “…Men shall be lovers of their own selves…,” he packed this announcement full of insight!

This verse presents the picture of people who are self-focused, self-centered, and self-consumed. These are self-absorbed people whose wants and needs are the very core and center of their world. Rather than live selfless lives in service to others, their first consideration is always their own self-interests and desires. Everything else takes a back seat to their needs being met.

Paul clarified this truth when he stated that they will be “lovers of their own selves.” The phrase “lovers of their own selves” is very strange in the Greek language, because it is the Greek word philautos — a weird compound of two Greek words. The first of these Greek words is philos, a form of the Greek word phileo, which mean to love or to be fond of someone else. It denotes the love, fondness, attraction, or romantic feelings that people have toward one another. In fact, the Greek word for kissing also comes from this word phileo.

As you know, kissing is something you do with someone else; generally speaking, no one stands in front of the mirror and kisses himself. The word philos should never be used to describe oneself. However, in this verse, the word philos is used in conjunction with the Greek word autos, meaning oneself. Thus the compound word philautos does not describe the love, fondness, romance, or attraction for someone else — it refers to one’s love and attraction for oneself.

This word philautos is the picture of complete self-absorption, self-focus, self-preoccupation, and self-love. When you pile all these words on top of each other — the words eimi, meaning I am, and the word philautos, depicting inordinate self-consumption and self-love — the message is plain: In the last days, society will be utterly consumed with itself.

With this in mind, I advise you to take a look at the world around you today. Do you see a high level of selfishness and self-centeredness permeating every sphere of society? If you do, you need to take heed! This is a major sign that you have entered the last days.

Next, Paul said that men will be “covetous” in the last days. This is a translation of the word philarguros, which is another strange adjective used to depict people in the last days. Similar to the word philautos described above, this word is a compound of the words philos and arguros. As we saw, the word philos refers to love, fondness, romance, or attraction. But the second part of the word is the word arguros, which is the old Greek word for silver or money. When these two terms are compounded as they are in this verse, the new word describes a love of money.

In ancient Greece, the word philarguros was often used to depict covetousness, a love of money, or someone who is money hungry. Even more specifically, it portrayed people who had funds available but were so self-absorbed that they refused to share their wealth with others. Thus, they were so involved in self-embellishment that they were miserly about using their money for others. By using this word, Paul let us know that at the end of the age, a lost society will be so self-centered, they will spend ridiculous sums of money on themselves. Being primarily preoccupied with themselves, they will spend, spend, and spend on themselves — constantly searching for ways to treat themselves to more and more while they give less and less for the sake of others.

A major sign that we have entered the last days will be an epidemic of this type of lavish self-spending by people who are self-consumed and self-absorbed. When you look at the world around you, do you see society moving in this direction?

This verse could be interpreted to mean:

“People will be self-consumed, self-absorbed, self-focused, and in love with themselves more than anyone else. As a result of this self-love, they will hoard money for themselves while spending very little to help others….”

Certainly God wants His people to be blessed and prosperous, but as riches increase, we must remember that the Bible warns us: “If riches increase, set not your heart upon them” (Psalm 62:10). Our goal is not self-consumption but to use the riches God gives us to fund the preaching of the Gospel around the world. Deuteronomy 8:18 says, “But thou shalt remember the Lord thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day.” Establishing His covenant on the earth is our greatest assignment!

How do you know if you have fallen into the same trap of self-centeredness that is so prevalent in the world today? Let me ask you this question — if the Holy Spirit speaks to your heart and tells you to give, can you say no to the things you were planning to buy so that you can obey the Spirit’s unction instead? Or do you find that you regularly hold yourself and your desires above the Lord’s calling to help others?

If your first response is to obey the Holy Spirit, it is a sure sign that the self-consumed attitude of the world does not have a place in your heart. If, however, you find it hard to say no to your own creature comforts and regularly ignore the invitation of the Holy Spirit to help someone else, it is a sign that the attitude of the world is worming its way into your heart and soul.

We are in the world, but Jesus has called us to be different from the world. Therefore, we must ask the Holy Spirit to help us guard our hearts lest we fall into the trap that the world has fallen into in these last days.

MY PRAYER FOR TODAY

Father, I ask You to help me keep my heart free from materialism and to keep the Gospel as the greatest and highest priority in my life. I know that You want me to be blessed and to be financially and materially increased, but I don’t want to set my heart on riches and fall into the trap of this lost world in these last days. Help me stay focused on souls — what You love most — and to do my part to help establish Your covenant in every part of the earth. With the help of the Holy Spirit, I know I can maintain the godly balance You desire for my life regarding possessions and finances.

I pray this in Jesus’ name!

 

MY CONFESSION FOR TODAY

I am sensitive to the Spirit of God in regard to money, materialism, and riches. God wants to massively bless me, but He also wants me to make Him and the preaching of the Gospel worldwide the greatest priority in my life. Jesus gave His life for souls — and I must give my all to help see that those souls hear the Good News. Therefore, I will walk in balance in regard to money and possessions. I will pursue the things I know the Lord wants me to have, but I will not overstep and become so self-absorbed that I ignore the souls that need to know about the saving knowledge of Jesus. I refuse to be self-consumed, so I make the willful decision to let the Holy Spirit rule this area of my life.

I declare this by faith in Jesus’ name!

 

QUESTIONS FOR YOU TO CONSIDER

1. When you read this Sparkling Gem today, did you think about the way the world lavishes upon itself with no restraint? Because of easy-to-get credit, people spend money without even thinking of the ramifications of their expenditures. Do you think this signpost of the last days is evident in the world around you today?
2. What does your own spending reveal about you? Do you have a difficult time saying no to your flesh and practicing restraint and budgetary control? Have you fallen into the trap that the world is in by spending more and more all the time?
3. Have you ever sensed the Holy Spirit speaking to your heart that you have gone over the limit in spending on yourself and that you need to stop being so self-consumed? How did you respond? How will you respond in the future if He lets you know that you need to make an adjustment in this area?

What Should You Do When You Get Offended?

Then said he unto the disciples, It is impossible but that offences will come.…
— Luke 17:1

Every so often, everyone has an opportunity to get offended. In fact, Jesus said, “…It is impossible but that offences will come…” (Luke 17:1). The word “impossible” is the word anendektos, meaning something that is impossible, inadmissible, unallowable, or unthinkable. One scholar notes that it could be translated, “It is simply unthinkable that you would allow yourself to dream that you could live this life without an opportunity to become offended.…”

But what is an offense? The word “offense” comes from the Greek word skandalon, from which we get the word scandal. This is a powerful picture that you must understand! The word skandalon originally described the small piece of wood that was used to keep the door of an animal trap propped open. A piece of food was placed inside the trap to lure the animal inside. When the animal entered the trap and accidentally bumped the skandalon, or the small piece of wood, the skandalon collapsed, causing the trap door to slam shut and the animal to be caught inside with no way to escape.

However, the New Testament also uses the word skandalon to refer to a stone or an obstacle that caused one to trip, to stumble, to lose his footing, to waver, to falter, and to fall down. In First Peter 2:8, the word skandalon is used to describe how unbelievers react to the Gospel when they don’t want to hear it or believe it. Peter said, “And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word….” Rather than accept the message and be saved, these people stumble when they hear the truth, tripping over the message that could set them free.

But in Luke 17:1, Jesus used the word skandalon to warn us about events that happen in life with the potential to trip us up. Sometimes Satan baits us with something — drawing us into a trap in which he knows we’ll become offended. When we bump into a moment of offense, the trap slams down shut — and like an animal that is trapped in a cage and can’t get out, we suddenly find ourselves caught in a miserable situation, trapped in detrimental and negative emotions!

This means Luke 17:1 could be translated:

“It is simply unthinkable that you would allow yourself to dream that you could live this life without an opportunity to be lured into a situation that could potentially snare you in the feelings of offense.…”

If this is really what Jesus meant, we need to know the nature of the bait Satan uses to get to us. What is the “offense” the devil uses to trap most people?

An offense usually occurs when you see, hear, or experience a behavior that is so different from what you expected that it causes you to falter, totter, and wobble in your soul. In fact, you are so stunned by what you have observed or by a failed expectation that you lose your footing emotionally. Before you know it, you are dumbfounded and flabbergasted about something. Then your shock turns into disbelief; your disbelief into disappointment; and your disappointment into offense.

We’ve all experienced this kind of disappointment at some point in our lives. According to Jesus’ words in Luke 17:1, the opportunity to be offended comes to every one of us. As long as we live and breathe, we must combat this nuisance and refuse to allow it to have a place in our hearts and minds. Even worse, we’ve all been the source of offense at some point or another. It may not have been intentional on our part; in fact, we may not have even known we offended anyone until the person later came and informed us of what we did.

In light of all this, I’d like you to consider these questions:

• Have you ever offended someone?
• When you found out about the cause of offense, were you shocked?
• When the news finally reached you that you had offended that person, were you surprised to hear how he or she perceived what you did or said?

Through the years, I’ve learned to do the best I can to avoid being a source of offense to anyone. At the same time, I try not to be too shocked if I find out that someone, somewhere, has gotten offended. Because people come from different backgrounds, wake up in bad moods, have a bad day at work, don’t physically feel well, and go through a whole host of other negative experiences in their lives, their interpretation of our actions and words may be very different from our original intention.

We can be almost 99-percent sure that someone along the way will misunderstand what we do or misinterpret something we say. Therefore, as Christians, we must: 1) do everything in our power to communicate correct messages to one another; and 2) do everything in our power to bring healing and restoration whenever misunderstanding and offense occurs between ourselves and someone else.

If you discover that you have been a source of offense to someone else, take the mature path and go ask that person to forgive you. And don’t get defensive, for that will only make the problem worse. It may even lead to a deeper conflict, so just say you are sorry and move on!

Do everything you can to bury that offense and destroy what the devil is trying to do between you. Make it your personal aim to help that other person overcome what he thinks you did or said. Sometimes it is more important to help the other person attain a position of peace than it is to prove who is right or wrong!

My Prayer for Today

Lord, I want to repent for ever being a source of offense to anyone. I am asking You to forgive me for fighting to prove my point in the past when I should have just gone to that other person and apologized, asking for his forgiveness. If I ever find out I’ve offended someone again, please help me deal with it more maturely than I have in the past. Jesus, I also need You to help me remember that when others do things that make me sad or that disappoint me, they probably didn’t mean to do it. Help me give them the same mercy and grace that I hope others will give me.

I pray this in Jesus’ name!

My Confession for Today

I confess that I am a source of blessing and not a cause of offense! I do everything in my power to communicate correct messages, and I immediately move to bring healing and restoration whenever misunderstanding and offense has occurred between myself and someone else. I do everything I can to bury that offense and to destroy what the devil is trying to do. I make it my aim to walk in the Spirit, to speak the love of God into every situation, and to refuse to let the devil use me to cause others to trip and fall.

I declare this by faith in Jesus’ name!

Questions to Answer

1. Can you think of an occasion when you unintentionally offended someone, and you were totally shocked when you heard how he or she perceived what you said or did?

2. Have you ever been offended by someone, only to find out later that the person never intended to offend you and was genuinely sorry when he or she found out how you felt about it?

3. What do you think is the most mature way a person can respond when he or she is tempted to get caught in the trap of offense? How do you think you should deal with a potential offense when someone hurts your feelings or lets you down?

This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
— 2 Timothy 3:1

It is simply a fact that we are living in the last days. All around us, the world is changing at a staggeringly rapid pace, and events long ago foretold in Scripture are unfolding before our very eyes. In light of the increasing turmoil in the world, it can be tempting for us to succumb to feelings of uncertainty or anxiety regarding the future.

But as we talked about in yesterday’s Sparkling Gem, we as believers are to hold fast to God’s higher perspective and take our place as victors in this hour — no matter what is going on around us! We don’t have to wonder about what the future has in store. God’s Word provides us with a clear picture of what we can expect in the coming years and gives us the spiritual tools we need to face these turbulent times and remain victorious. His Word also lays out our role in the midst of this gathering darkness: to live as children of light, reaching a lost generation with His love and His message of hope in Jesus Christ!

In Second Timothy 3:1, Paul wrote, “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.” Notice he said these events will occur in the “last days.” The word “last” is from the Greek word eschatos. This word always points to the ultimate end of a thing — such as the last month of the year; the last week of the month; the last day of a week; or the very extreme end of an age. In other words, eschatos doesn’t merely describe the last days in general; it depicts the very last of the last days. It was used in Classical Greek literature to depict a place furthest away, such as the very ends of the earth. It also signified something that is final. It is from this Greek word eschatos that we get the term eschatology — which is a theological term for the study of last times.

By using this word eschatos in this verse, the Holy Spirit is vividly declaring what characteristics will be indicative of society at the very last of the last days. Therefore, the depictions in the following verses of Second Timothy 3 are intended to be signposts that you have entered into the final stage of the last days. If you see these things occurring commonly or on a widespread basis, you are to take it as a signal that we have passed across the line and have entered into the final chapter of history as we have known it.

Thank God that by studying the Scriptures, we can identify where we are on God’s timeline. Because God loves us, He spoke through the apostle Paul to enlighten our eyes and help us see what the world environment would be like in the concluding moments of the Church Age. Having this knowledge before us helps us live soberly with eternity in our view. Time is short, so we must use the time that remains wisely and shine the light of the Gospel into the lives of those whom Satan has blinded.

Because of the word eschatos in Second Timothy 3:1, an interpretive translation of this verse could read:

“You emphatically must know what I am about to tell you. In the very last part of the last times — at the very end of the age and at the very last of the last days — hurtful, harmful, dangerous, unpredictable, uncontrollable, high-risk periods of time will come.…”

As a committed Christian, you have a responsibility to live with your eyes wide open to the events that are occurring around you. And if you have friends or family who are unsaved and blind to the truth, it is time for you to fervently pray for God to open their eyes so they can see and know the truth! Because of the events described in Second Timothy 3, we know that we have already entered into the very last of the last days.

Soon Jesus will come, and everything will change forever. Until then, we have time to pray for those whom Satan has blinded. It’s not that they are naïve — they are blind. Satan has blocked their view and affected their minds. They have no eyes to see. Eyes are created for them when the light of the Gospel, through the work of the Holy Spirit, touches their hearts and minds.

Are you the one God wants to use to share the Good News of Jesus with the people you encounter today so their eyes can be opened to the truth and find true hope in the midst of this turbulent time we live in? Maybe you should quit praying for someone else to do the job and accept the fact that God is asking you to share the Gospel with those who come across your path and need the saving power of Jesus Christ. And you don’t have to do it on your own! He has thoroughly equipped and empowered you to be His witness to a lost world in these very last of the last days!

MY PRAYER FOR TODAY

Father, I recognize that I am living in the last of the last days. Your Word gives me a clear description of the end times and the characteristics that will be evident. Help me live more soberly than ever before with a constant awareness of eternity. Show me day by day how to fulfill my responsibility not only to pray for people to awaken to righteousness, but also to spread the Gospel to the uttermost parts of the earth, starting with those nearest to me now. I ask You, Father, to give me a spirit of boldness to speak and live without compromise. Jesus is coming, and soon everything will change forever. Help me to be prepared and to prepare others also.

I pray this in Jesus’ name!

 

MY CONFESSION FOR TODAY

I confess that I live soberly in this hour. I set my affections on things that are eternal as I seek first the Kingdom of God and pursue His ways. I do not allow myself to become entangled in low-level living or distracted by the cares of this life. I give myself to prayer, to the study of God’s Word, and to a lifestyle that honors God and blesses people. I keep myself in the love of God so that I remain strong in faith to please God in all things.

I declare this by faith in Jesus’ name!

 

QUESTIONS FOR YOU TO CONSIDER

1. Do you know a person or a group of individuals who seem blinded to the fact that we are living in the last days? How does this spiritual blindness affect the way they are living their lives?
2. Do you pray for these people on a regular basis? If not, why don’t you make a list of people you know who are lost and begin to pray for their salvation every day. Ask God to send someone to reach their hearts so they can know Jesus Christ as you know Him.  Aren’t you glad someone prayed for you?
3. Is it possible that you are the person God wants to send to them? Why wouldn’t you want to tell them this good news so they can escape an eternity separated from God? What is holding you back from telling them the most important news they could ever hear?

Cast All Your Care on the Lord!

Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
— 1 Peter 5:7

When we were constructing a huge church facility many years ago in the Republic of Latvia — a former Soviet nation where our family once lived and worked — worry and anxiety tried so hard to control me. In fact, worry nearly broke me until I really came to understand and embrace the meaning of First Peter 5:7.

At the time, no credit was available for building churches in that nation. This meant we had to believe for all the finances to come in quickly so we could pay cash as we constructed the massive facility. Then the local authorities gave us a deadline by which the building had to be complete and occupied; otherwise, there was a possibility we could lose everything we had invested. With this kind of pressure on me, I found myself continually worrying that we wouldn’t have enough money to finish the project on time. I was constantly fighting thoughts about losing the building if we didn’t make the deadline that the government had given us.

I would lie in bed at night, rolling this way and that way, turning again and again, unable to sleep because my stomach was churning with acid and my mind was spinning with doubts, worries, fears, reservations, and concerns. My heart pounded harder and harder each day and night as anxiety reached out its demonic fingers to grab hold of my emotions and twist them into a mangled mess of panic. My wife would tell me to quit worrying and start trusting the Lord, but instead of appreciating her advice, I only got angry that she wasn’t worrying with me!

Finally one night, I got up, walked down the hallway to my study, opened my Bible, and read these words: “Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you” (1 Peter 5:7). I had read this verse thousands of times in my life, but that night it was as if it reached out from the pages of the Bible and grabbed hold of my attention. I read it and read it and read it again. At last, I picked up my Greek New Testament and began to dig deeper into the verse. What I discovered in that verse changed my life and set me free from worry, anxiety, fretting, and fear!

That night, I saw that the word “casting” used in First Peter 5:7 was the Greek word epiripto, a compound of the words epi and ripto. The word epi means upon, as on top of something. The word ripto means to hurl, to throw, or to cast, and it often means to violently throw or to fling something with great force.

The only other place this word epiripto is used in the New Testament is in Luke 19:35, where the Bible says, “And they brought him to Jesus: and they cast their garments upon the colt, and they set Jesus there on.” It is important to note this passage, for it correctly conveys the idea of the word epiripto, which in secular literature often pictured the flinging of a garment, bag, or excess weight off the shoulders of a traveler and onto the back of some other beast, such as a donkey, camel, or horse.

We are not designed to carry the burden of worry, fretting, and anxiety. This load is simply too much for the human body and the central nervous system to tolerate. We may be able to manage it for a while, but eventually the physical body and mind will begin to break under this type of perpetual pressure. In fact, the medical world has confirmed that the major source of sickness in the Western Hemisphere is stress and pressure. Man was simply not fashioned to carry pressures, stresses, anxieties, and worries; this is the reason his body breaks down when it undergoes these negative influences for too long.

If you are struggling with sickness or depression, your condition very possibly could be related to stress and pressure. In First Peter 5:7, it is almost as if Jesus is calling out to you and saying, “Your shoulders are not big enough to carry the burdens you’re trying to bear by yourself. This load will eventually break you — so please let ME be your beast of burden! Take that load and heave it with all your might. Fling it over onto MY back, and let ME carry it for you!” Just as Luke 19:35 says they cast their garments upon the back of the donkey, now you need to cast your burdens over on the Lord and let Him carry those burdens for you!

But exactly what problems and cares are we to throw over onto the shoulders of the Lord? The apostle Peter says we are to cast all of “our cares” upon Jesus. The word “cares” is the Greek word merimna, which means anxiety. However, in principle it described any affliction, difficulty, hardship, misfortune, trouble, or complicated circumstance that arises as a result of problems that develop in our lives. It could refer to problems that are financial, marital, job-related, family-related, business-oriented, or anything else that concerns us.

This means anything that causes you worry or anxiety — regardless of why it happened — is what you need to throw over onto the shoulders of Jesus Christ! Nothing is too big or small to talk to the Lord about, Peter says, because He “careth for you.” The word “careth” is taken from the Greek word melei, which means to be concerned; to be thoughtful; to be interested; to be aware; to notice; or to give painful and meticulous attention. Peter uses this word to assure us that Jesus really does care about us and the things that are heavy on our hearts. In fact, He gives meticulous attention to what is happening to us. He is interested in every facet of our lives.

So don’t ever let the devil tell you that your problems are too stupid, small, or insignificant to bring to Jesus. The Lord is interested in everything that concerns you!

Because of the Greek words used in First Peter 5:7, this verse carries the following idea:

“Take that heavy burden, difficulty, or challenge you are carrying — the one that has arisen due to circumstances that have created hardship and struggles in your life — and fling those worries and anxieties over onto the back of the Lord! Let Him carry them for you! The Lord is extremely interested in every facet of your life and is genuinely concerned about your welfare.”

When I saw these Greek words and perceived how deeply Jesus cared about the burdens that were on my heart, I realized I was carrying a load I didn’t have to bear by myself. Jesus was standing right at my side, longing to help me and inviting me to shift the weight from my shoulders to His shoulders. By faith, I heaved those financial cares onto the back of Jesus — and when I did, I was set free from the stress, anxiety, and pressure that had been weighing me down at that time in my life.

You don’t have to carry the whole weight of the world by yourself. Jesus loves you so much and is so deeply concerned about you and the difficulties you are facing that He calls out to you today, “Roll those burdens over on Me. Let Me carry them for you so you can be free!”

If you are lugging around worries, cares, and concerns about your family, your business, your church, or any other area of your life, why not stop right now and say, “Jesus, I’m yielding every one of these concerns to You today. I cast my burden on You, and I thank You for setting me free!”

My Prayer for Today

Lord, I thank You for what I’ve read today. I regret having carried these burdens and worries so long by myself when, in fact, You were always ready to take them from me and to carry them on my behalf. But it’s never too late to do what is right, so right now I make the decision to yield to You every one of these matters that are bothering me. Thank You for coming alongside me to take these weights from my shoulders. Because You are so loving and attentive to me, I can now go free!

I pray this in Jesus’ name!

My Confession for Today

I confess that Jesus is standing right at my side, yearning to help me and inviting me to shift the weight from my shoulders to His shoulders so I can go free! By faith I have already cast my cares onto Jesus. As a result, I am liberated from stress, anxiety, worries, pressures, and all the other things that have been bothering me! 

I declare this by faith in Jesus’ name!

Questions to Answer

1. Do you habitually worry and fret about certain things? What are the issues that weigh on your mind more than anything else?

2. Are you able to cast these cares over onto the Lord, or do you keep stirring yourself up with thoughts of fear, reigniting the fretting and the worry all over again even after you have already released those cares to the Lord?

3. What triggers worry, fretting, and anxiety in you? Have you noticed key words, phrases, or events when worry and fretting begin to operate inside you? Recognizing those moments may help you prevent them from reoccurring, so consider well what kinds of situations arouse these emotions in you.

Peace That Passes Understanding

And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
— Philippians 4:7

Are you tired of letting the devil get you all stirred up? Has it been easy for the enemy to throw you into a frenzy of panic and anxiety? Maybe it doesn’t happen continually to you, but every once in a while, something happens or someone says something that pushes a button inside you and throws you into a tizzy! When this occurs, do you say and do things you later regret? Do you feel sorry that you allowed the devil to get to you again?

If what I just described sounds familiar, I have help for you today! In Philippians 4:7, the apostle Paul writes, “And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

As we begin our study today, I want to draw your attention to the word “passeth” in the verse above. It is the Greek word huperecho, which is a compound of the words huper and echo. The word huper literally means over, above, and beyond. It depicts something that is way beyond measure. It carries the idea of superiority; something that is utmost, paramount, foremost, first-rate, first-class, and top-notch; greater, higher, and better than; superior to; preeminent, dominant, and incomparable; more than a match for; unsurpassed or unequaled. The second part of the word “passeth” is the Greek word echo, which means I have, as someone who holds something in his possession. It can be translated to keep; to possess; to have; to hold; or even to acquire.

When these words are compounded into one, they form the word huperecho, which Paul uses in Philippians 4:7. This Greek word denotes a peace so superior that it is held high above all other types of peace. This is a peace that transcends, outdoes, surpasses, excels, rises above, goes beyond and over the top of any other kind of peace. The implication is that people may try to find peace in other places, but there is no peace like the peace of God. The peace of God completely outshines every other attempt to produce peace, causing it to stand in a category by itself. There is absolutely nothing in the world that can compare with the peace of God.

Paul continues to tell us that this peace surpasses and excels above “all understanding.” The word “understanding” is the Greek word nous, the classical Greek word for the mind. This word refers to the ability to think, to reason, to understand, and to comprehend. It also depicts the mind as the source of all human emotions. In Greek, the word “mind” represents the inner powers of a person and thus the place from which a person rules and controls his environment and the world around him. The Greek word emphatically depicts the mind as the central control center for a human being. Therefore, it was understood that the condition of the mind is what determined the condition of one’s life.

Then Paul tells us what this powerful peace will produce in our lives! He says that this peace “…shall keep your hearts and minds….” The word “keep” is the Greek word phroureo, a military term that expresses the idea of soldiers who stood faithfully at their post at the city gates to guard and control all who went in and out of the city. They served as gate monitors, and no one entered or exited the city without their approval.

The apostle Paul uses this word phroureo to explicitly tell us that God’s peace, if allowed to work in our lives, will stand at the gates of our hearts and minds, acting like a guard to control and monitor everything that tries to enter our hearts, minds, and emotions. When God’s peace is ruling us, nothing can get past that divine “guard” and slip into our hearts and minds without its approval!

This is the good news you’ve been waiting for! It means you can refuse to allow the devil to access you, throw you into a state of panic and anxiety, or push any button inside you any longer. When the peace of God is standing guard at the entrance of your heart and mind, the devil has lost his access to your thought life and your emotions!

Taking these Greek words together, Philippians 4:7 could be understood in the following way:

“And the peace of God — a peace so wonderful that it cannot be compared to any other type of peace; a peace that stands in a category by itself and rises far above and goes beyond anything the human mind could ever think, reason, imagine, or produce by itself — will stand at the entrance of your heart and mind, working like a guard to control, monitor, and screen everything that tries to access your mind, heart, and emotions.”

By using this word, Paul tells us that the peace of God will keep and guard your heart and mind! God’s peace will surround your heart and mind just as a band of Roman soldiers would keep dangerous nuisances from entering a city or from breaking into special, private places. In the same way, peace keeps fretfulness, anxiety, worry, and all the other wiles of the devil from breaking into your life. When this peace is active in your life, it surpasses all natural understanding. It protects, guards, keeps, and defends you.

Nothing compares to this powerful, protective, guarding peace that God has positioned to stand at the entrance of your heart and mind! When this peace operates in you, it dominates your mind and your life. Since what is inside you is that which rules you, peace rises up and conquers your entire being. It stands at the gate of your heart and mind, disabling the devil’s ability to disturb you by preventing his attacks from bypassing and slipping into your mind. The devil may try his best to find access to your mind and emotions, but this guarding peace will paralyze his efforts.

So make sure Philippians 4:7 is a reality in your life. In every situation you face today and every day, let God’s supernatural peace rise up to dominate your heart and protect your mind and emotions. If you’re tired of the devil getting you all stirred up and throwing you into a tizzy, it’s time for you to let this supernatural peace go to work and start monitoring, guarding, and approving what does and does not get access to you!

My Prayer for Today

Lord, I thank You for placing Your wonderful, powerful, protective peace in my life. I am grateful that You have positioned it to stand at the entrance of my heart and mind and that it dominates my mind and controls my life. Because what is inside me is what rules me, I choose to let this peace rise up and conquer me. With this peace standing at the gate of my heart and mind, I know it will disable the devil’s ability to attack my emotions and will not permit his lies and accusations to slip into my mind! Thank You for loving me enough to put this powerful peace in my life!

I pray this in Jesus’ name!

My Confession for Today

I confess that I am guarded and protected by the powerful peace of God that works in my life. It rises up to dominate my mind; it controls my thinking; and it determines the condition of my life and the environment where I live and work. I am unaffected by the circumstances that surround me, for this supernatural peace stands at the gate of my mind and emotions to monitor everything that tries to access me. Because no fretting, anxiety, panic, or worry is allowed to enter me, I remain free, calm, and peaceful — even in difficult situations that in the past would have upset me! 

I declare this by faith in Jesus’ name!

Questions to Answer

1. Have you noticed specific events or moments in your life when the devil seems to be able to access your mind and emotions to upset your peace and throw you into one of these regrettable fits I’ve described to you today? If your answer is yes, do you know the “buttons” he pushes to throw you into this state that you detest?

2. What can you do to slow your reactions down long enough to let the peace of God rise up and conquer your emotions so you don’t end up saying and doing things you later regret?

3. Why don’t you really think this through and ask the Holy Spirit to help you come up with some ideas you can write down and pray about?

This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
— 2 Timothy 3:1

Few people would question that we are living in dangerous and treacherous times. Especially for people without God, the last decades have brought fear and terror into the hearts of people around the world. Regardless of where you live — whether in the United States, Europe, Asia, or the former Soviet Union — people have been rudely awakened to the truth that the world is no longer the place it used to be.

This is definitely a different age, far removed from the world many of us remember as children. Even today it is difficult to imagine how things could have spiraled out of control so quickly; however, nearly 2,000 years ago when the apostle Paul wrote the book of Second Timothy, the Holy Spirit spoke through him to alert us that such a day would come. By the inspiration of the Spirit, Paul wrote, “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come” (2 Timothy 3:1).

The word “know” in this verse is a translation of the Greek word ginosko. The word ginosko is a common word that is normally translated knowledge. In this verse, Paul used ginosko in the present imperative tense, which means this message is something so critical that it must be known, must be recognized, and must be acknowledged. Whatever the Holy Spirit is about to say, it is so important that hearing it is not optional — it MUST be known and understood.

Paul then told us what we must know. He let us know that “perilous times shall come.” The word “perilous” comes from the Greek word chalepos, a word that is used only two times in the 27 books of the New Testament. This word chalepos was used to denote spoken words that were hurtful, harsh, cruel, ruthless, cutting, wounding, and therefore hard to bear. But it was also used to describe animals that were vicious, ferocious, fierce, unruly, uncontrollable, unpredictable, and dangerous. In nearly every place where this word is used in secular literature of the ancient world, it depicts something said that is harmful or an environment besieged with high risk or danger.

The only other time the word chalepos is found in the New Testament is in Matthew 8:28, where Matthew used it to describe two demon-possessed men. Matthew 8:28 vividly tells us, “And when he was come to the other side into the country of the Gadarenes, there met him two possessed with devils, coming out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man might pass by that way.”

This phrase “exceeding fierce” in Matthew 8:28 is actually a translation of this very same Greek word chalepos. Because the word chalepos is used to describe these two demon-possessed men, it categorically conveys that they were vicious, ferocious, fierce, unruly, uncontrollable, unpredictable, and dangerous. In fact, if you read the entire story in Matthew’s gospel, it’s clear that the people who lived in the region of the Gadarenes kept a safe distance between themselves and these two men because they knew that being in close proximity to them would put their lives in jeopardy. These two demon-possessed men were chalepos — vicious, ferocious, fierce, unruly, uncontrollable, unpredictable, and dangerous. But they represented no threat to Jesus because He knew that He had authority over them. Therefore, instead of running like everyone else, Jesus stood up against those dark forces and set those men free.

This brings us back to Second Timothy 3:1 where the Holy Spirit prophesies through Paul that “perilous times shall come.” If you take all of the original Greek words into consideration, it delivers a potent message from the Spirit of God.

Taking the definitions of all these words into consideration, Second Timothy 3:1 could be taken to mean:

“You emphatically must know what I am about to tell you! In the last days, periods of time will come that are hurtful, harmful, dangerous, unpredictable, uncontrollable, and high-risk.…”

The Holy Spirit warned us 2,000 years ago that the world would become a dangerous place at the end of the age. However, we had no idea how fast or how far it would spin out of control. But as we live in the world today, we are waking up to the harsh reality of a world that is exceedingly fierce.

Because the word “perilous,” the Greek word chalepos, is used to describe the demon-possessed men in Matthew 8:28, I personally believe that the Holy Spirit was warning us that demonic activity will be released in the last days that will bring about hurtful, harsh, cruel, ruthless, cutting, wounding situations that will be emotionally hard to bear. As a result of demonic activity, the world will become a place that is vicious, ferocious, fierce, unruly, uncontrollable, unpredictable, and dangerous. We are living in a generation that faces threats that no other generation has ever known. As always, the Holy Spirit was correct in what He was trying to tell us.

• So how should we as believers respond to all of this?
• Should we stay in our houses, close the blinds, and hide from what’s going on in the world?
• Should we never fly on a plane again or take public transportation?
• Should we stop sending our children to public schools?
• What should we do in response to these Spirit-predicted truths and the external reality that continually faces us in the world today?

Instead of retreating in fear, you and I must accept the challenge to step forward as Jesus did when He encountered the demon-possessed men of the Gadarenes. What terrified other people and made them retreat in fear is exactly what beckoned Jesus to action. In this hour, we must not retreat in fear!

The situation in today’s world beckons you to action. This is the time for you to step forward and use the authority Jesus Christ gave you to bring deliverance, freedom, and peace to each place that the devil has tried to bring chaos, harm, hurt, hazard, and risk. The situation that exists in the world today is your opportunity to let the power and glory of God shine through you!

Read carefully the words of Isaiah 60:1,2. Accept the challenge of the Holy Spirit as He cries out to you and me: “Arise, shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee”!

Although the world is sinking deeper into fear and darkness, this is our finest hour as children of God! So tell fear to leave you in Jesus’ name, and embrace the opportunities you encounter along the way to bring deliverance and freedom to people gripped with fear by the news they hear each day. Think of it — God considers you well able to live for Him and to fulfill His purpose for your life, even in the midst of these perilous last days! Embrace the honor of that position in His plan, and determine to trust Him with your life and be who He needs you to be every moment of the day!

MY PRAYER FOR TODAY

Father, I thank You for choosing me to live in the last days when prophecies are being fulfilled before my very eyes. I ask You to help me keep a soft heart and not become hardened when others around me grow cold and hardened through the deceitfulness of this age. People everywhere need freedom, and deliverance from the torment of fear and pain. Instead of retreating into self-preservation mode, I will deliberately yield to Your heart for the hurting world that is all around me. Your love is shed abroad in my heart by the Holy Spirit who was given to me. Therefore, I give place to Your love within me to see them with Your eyes, to feel for them as You feel for them. I hear and respond to Your call that is beckoning me to step forward with the authority of Jesus to make a difference in the lives of everyone near to me.

I pray this in Jesus’ name!

 

MY CONFESSION FOR TODAY

I declare by faith that I am anointed by God to live in this day and age! I am alive today for a purpose. God has chosen me to be a part of this special generation so that I can shine His glory and power into the darkness that exists in so many places and in so many people’s lives. I will not allow fear to paralyze or intimidate me. Instead, I will allow God’s goodness, power, and love to operate in me for the freedom, deliverance, safety, and preservation of those who are near me. I am fully equipped by the Holy Spirit to glorify God without compromise in these difficult times. God is depending on me to do my part to bring His authority, His peace, His rule, and His reign into every place where Satan wants to create hurt, harm, hazard, and fear. Jesus commanded me to occupy until He comes. Therefore, I choose to establish His Kingdom and to enforce His will on the earth as it is in Heaven!

I declare this by faith in Jesus’ name!

 

QUESTIONS FOR YOU TO CONSIDER

1. Can you think of someone who is seized with fear because of the events happening in the world today? What effect has fear had on that person’s life?
2. What does the Spirit of God want you to do to bring deliverance, freedom, and peace to people in your life who are tormented with fear? You have the answers they need — so what is He asking you to do to make a significant difference in their lives?
3. When you step into a situation where fear or panic exists, in what ways can you exercise the authority of Jesus Christ — publicly or privately — to bring peace and safety to that situation? Have you made a practice of doing this?