Many people seem to be drifting away from the church and it is not a good thing. Why is it so? Because, at this time in our history, we are coming very close to the end of the age spoken of in the Bible. I am not talking about giving you a date and the hour because neither I nor anyone else knows God’s timing in this. But, the prophetic clues are all around us and if you have never read the Bible, then today would be a good day to begin.
Many of the signs are happening every day on the news and many more of them are coming. The world says that evil and sinful living is correct and a good thing and being a follower of Christ is considered to be hateful toward those who don’t believe. Sermons are being watched by law enforcement and scrutinized during hiring for jobs, if a pastor is a bi-vocational leader. If the sermons have anything deemed as “hate speech” in them, the job offer is taken back or the person is fired if they have been hired.
Even social media posts with a religious bent to them are being criticized and taken down in some cases as well as being scrutinized for job interviews. All of these are the beginning of persecution toward believers which Jesus spoke of and it will get worse before it gets better.
Why am I writing this and also talking about people leaving the church? It seems that leaving the church would be a good thing if you want to get ahead in life, right? Not really. If you are living according to the dictates of the world around you, instead of living like a follower of Christ, then you are bending toward the world and getting off of the path set before you by Jesus.
Christians are supposed to be reflections of Jesus, not clay which bends and twists every which way the political correctness police want you to bend! God is our Shield and our Protector and we are to be following Jesus in all that we do and say! If you claim to be a Christian and you aren’t doing this, you may want to check your heart and your spirit and make sure of what or who it is that you are listening to. Are you sure that you belong to Jesus or some lying spirit from Satan who tricked you into thinking that you are saved?
Satan and his demons or spirits can do this and have done it for thousands of years. They attend church more often than many people do, so they know very well how to fool you. Remember, they were around when all of Scripture was being written and played out, so they know it better than anyone with letters behind their name in the pulpit. They can quote it word for word but often will twist the meaning so that it sounds they way they want it to sound.
Some of the horror movies like “The Exorcist”, “The Omen”, and others show this because the demons know things about the person confronting them that they couldn’t know without being supernatural beings. Don’t discount this because even Jesus had to silence those which He cast out so they wouldn’t scream His name and Who He was to every person around. It wasn’t His time to be known that way yet. Even Paul had to cast a demon out because the girl who was possessed kept telling everyone that they were representatives of the Most High God.
Even though it sounds like a good thing, if a demon is announcing that you are the Son of God or a prophet of God, then it seems like you have the OK from Satan to do what you are doing. That is why Jesus and His disciples cast them out because they wanted their message to be validated by the Spirit of God and not a demon from darkness!
Seek out His Word in the Bible. Study it and learn from it, think on it when you have the time and ponder its meaning (meditate), because God will give you the meaning if you are truly seeking it for the Truth that it contains. Seek His will which is contained in the Bible so that you know Who and what you believe, in order to back up your faith and be able to give it away.
The Living Message of Christ 
As I begin to grow in my knowledge of Christ and continue to decipher these deceptions, I am becoming increasingly skeptical when Scripture is cited out of the blue. My biggest petpieve lately is when I hear someone cite Scripture to justify their actions and the actions of others, or to just twist it to suit their agenda. I may be blind, but I am not a fool! This does not mean I am the best in the world; I still have areas of weakness. But, I can read between the lines. One time, my one-on-one (name omitted) cited a passage about how life and death are in the tongue, when in reality, they were just trying to shut me up and bring up my dark past to justify their actions. It’s happened a lot this school year. They would lie to my face after throwing accusations that are not true. And they has helped me in class for all three years at high school, and it’s like there is a dark side coming out. As much as I hate tearing others down (especially my teachers), it just goes to show you have clever Satan is, and how even well-respected people you are close to for years can be used as his instruments. It doesn’t matter if they are the president or a teacher for 20 years. Tracy, I am not looking for people who know every Scripture in the book. I am looking for a lifestyle that truly testifies to the conformity to the character and the love of Christ. I need people who go above and beyond to live a life defined by love, grace, and peace. I am looking for people who will strive for holiness: Not just through the language of Christianese, but through their lifestyle and their walk. We may live differently, but we all are under the same sandard. I may not be perfect, but I will continue to walk in the light regardless of how many times people bring up my past or reaject me in the future. I am not going back to my old lifestyle of tantrums just to satisfy the crowd that once witnessed them. Tracy, I refuse to bow down to the kingdom of Satan!
Amen!
I may have been through a lot this year, but it sure doesn’t seem like it, because of the strength God has given me to persevere through Covid and all of the tests that came my way! Praise God!
On the flip side, I won an award for mathematics and for my attitude this past semester. Here is the video. If you scroll to 1:00, you should see my geometry teacher’s speech before presenting the award to me. I am the first one in the video.
https://www.d219tv.org/2021/11/04/niles-north-principal-recognition-award-breakfast/
The worst part about her citing that verse is that she has done worse things before then, which I do not want to post online, but I will give you a short load down. She’s a special ed teacher who I had since freshman year. She also knows another teacher who works on daily living skills since I am blind and under an IEP. The vision teacher has been with me since preschool, and has witnessed my dark past as I began to lose my sight. Anywho, this aide whom I had during high school likes to play and sing Christian hymns every day, yet behind my back, she always finds a mistake I make and embarrasses me by bringing it to the attention of the other teacher, who told her about my past. There is a difference between honestly reproving someone and just outright fault finding and accusing out of the blue. But, adding a spiritual twist to your juicy accusations adds more salt to the wound, and should raise eyebrows. She used to be this innocent soul who cracked jokes a lot. But, every since we got back from quarantine, it seems like she is sneaking and showing a dark and clever side. She loves to call me a nerd and compliment on my achievements, yet if I mess up just one time, it’s a whole scandal that could have been handled in a five second conversation. But, when she cited that Scripture that day, it raised serious red flags. All the backbiting and accusation, yet she had the audacity to weave in a Bible verse to secretly highlighting my flaws. Yet she wants to blast hymns every day while I get ready for class at max volume and talk about “praise break”. What hurts me even deeper is that she tells me to pray for wxyz while name-dropping something I did freshman year before Covid. She laughs at my jokes for a few periods, and then when I mess up something minor, it’s like I am the worst teenager on the planet. But, when she said “life and death are in the tongue”, I had zero words to say other than thinking “Satan’s up to something fishy”. There are other things she did, but I will only focus on this particular thing. I just don’t see why people like her see the old “tantrum throwing first grader” rather than a future math teacher and warrior for God’s kingdom.