If not one sparrow falls to the ground without His knowledge, then my heart takes hope thinking that He, who understood their dilemma more than any of us could, moved with compassion among those women, depositing grace, courage, and the hand of forgiveness and everlasting life to them. I believe that Death cannot win…not even in this.

As I was mulling these thoughts over, I was reminded of a section of Scripture I dove into years ago. It revolutionized my thinking about SHAME. Hebrews 12:1-2 opened my eyes to a nuance of Jesus’s death on the cross that I had never before realized.

Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, DESPISING THE SHAME, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.  Hebrews 12:1-2

Since the entire scope of these two verses is so huge and instructive, in honor of the women and others who have been martyred this week by Syrian jihadis, I will simply focus on the three words that reveal what occurred within Jesus during the excruciating ordeal surrounding His torture, mock trial, and execution by way of the cross—DESPISING THE SHAME.

As I have mentioned, the purpose of stripping these Syrian women naked was TO SHAME THEM. It was to make them FEEL SHAME about themselves. To make the last thoughts they had about themselves to be FILLED WITH SHAME—to THINK “I AM A SHAMEFUL PERSON.”

The same ploy was used on Jesus, believe it or not. How do I know? A quick read through Mark 15 in the New Testament gives several depictions of the mockery and shame-inducing methods used by the soldiers and others upon Jesus, including the final straw before nailing Him to the cross—stripping Him of His clothes, hence any dignity, and hanging Him publicly for all to see.

Now here’s where it gets interesting. When Hebrews 12 says that Jesus DESPISED THE SHAME, it does NOT imply that He felt squeamishly horrified about being embarrassed and humiliated; nor does it mean that the public degradation was so intense that He despised it; NO!!! That word, DESPISING, in the Greek, kataphroneō, actually means this: He “contemned, despised, disdained, thought little or nothing of” the shame being poured out upon Him. [from G2706 – kataphroneō – Strong’s Greek Lexicon (kjv)]

Let’s look at this definition a little more closely. The word “contemned” means that Jesus—while suffering through taunts and torments—treated and regarded all their attempts to personally shame Him with CONTEMPT! He DISDAINED their tactics to make Him feel bad about Himself—in other words, He KNEW that the mockery, the taunting, the torture, and the nakedness was absolutely unworthy of His consideration or respect. He “thought little of or NOTHING” of their determination to make Him feel as if He had blown it, and their strategies of shame NEVER fazed Him.

It is significant that during His entire passion, Jesus never felt ashamed of Himself. But this was the goal of those who targeted Him! Not only did the political and religious leaders want to terminate Jesus in every sense of the word, but they also wanted to so saturate the Man with imposed shame that no one would ever desire to be associated with Him or His “miserable” life again. Disposed! Done! Finished!

However, Jesus DID bear shame on the cross–but not His own. He bore your shame, my shame, and the shame—both earned and unearned—of the entire human race. Had the forces of darkness succeeded in causing Jesus to FEEL PERSONAL SHAME, He never would have been able to bear ours. Had He yielded for a second to personal shame (as planned by the enemy of our souls), His death would have been just that—one man’s humiliation and demise…and this sacrifice would have been made void.

But Jesus—Son of Man and Son of God—disdained and regarded as NOTHING their attempts to make Him ashamed of Himself! He had far bigger fish to fry! He thoroughly and effectively took on OUR SHAME! OUR SIN! And, as a result of His unequaled, excruciating yet marvelous sacrifice, He has made available full REDEMPTION for anyone and everyone who will believe. THIS is His Joy. And THIS is why He died that ignominious death for you and for me.

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:2, Berean Standard Bible

Dorothy

© Dorothy Frick, 2025

I was shocked. It was April Fool’s Day! How could I EVER do something so scriptural on THIS day? Wouldn’t that be mocking God??? Wouldn’t I be committing sacrilege? I poured out my concerns to her.

She had the answer. Obeying God and His Word trumps every label, every date on the calendar, and every criticism that I could ever face.

So that evening, around 7:30 or so, a bunch of us trooped down to the rock quarry just outside of campus. Someone had a bundle of blankets for both me and the baptizer, Rick, to wrap each of us in after we stepped out of the cold April first water, and others built a blazing bonfire. Evidently, that group had everything down pat, having done this many times before, and I myself witnessed many baptisms after that in the very same quarry…some in the dead of winter when we had to break the ice!

I thought long and hard about that word “FOOL” many times after my April Fool’s Day baptism and discovered that the word frequents many passages and verses in the Bible. For example, Jesus told His disciples to stay away from rash name-calling in Matthew 5:22, “…everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘You good-for-nothing,’ shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.”  In other words, He nailed all of us on our attempts to crush others with weaponized labeling. OUCH!

However, the Word of God is not timid in the use of the word “fool”. In fact, scriptures use it multiple times to identify certain individuals—and not due to impulsive rage or outbursts. No, the word is used concerning a whole assortment of behaviors, and in particular, one unique point-of-view. I want to focus on that one perspective—brought to light more than once in the Bible—used to identify a certain type of fool. In this case, in the spirit of calm, reflective study, calling such a person a fool is NOT anti-Matthew 5:22.

“The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God,’ they are corrupt, and have committed abominable injustice; there is no one who does good.” (Psalm 53:1). If you look up Psalm 14:1, you’ll find almost the exact same declaration.

So—not my words, but the Words of the Psalmist—when someone declares that God does not exist; that He is a fairy tale or a Bronze age fabrication—they have effectively identified themselves as a fool. Good news is that right now multitudes of believers in Jesus once said the same thing and embraced the fool’s notion. However, somehow the Living God penetrated their worldview and made Himself known to them. For some, like me, it may take a few “visits” from the Spirit of God before they recognize “Wow! This is GOD! And He’s talking to ME!” but He knows how to work with hard cases. I challenge any of you in that category identified in the Bible as a “fool” (and I challenge agnostics as well, but He’s not so blunt in your case!) to simply ask Him to make Himself known to you. He will. But remember, He’s sovereign. He’s not a genie in a bottle, something you can conjure up in a spell or incantation, a magic 8 ball (do they still sell those things?), or a gum machine where you drop in the quarter and out pops the gumball. He is God, King of kings, Lord of lords, and is subject to no one’s commands. But He is also Love, and in love, He will reach out to you in the way He has determined best suits YOU. Remember, this is not about giving you a goosebump moment, but it’s all about preparing you for a lifelong (and beyond) relationship with Himself through His Son, Jesus Christ.

So, in honor of the 49^th anniversary of my water baptism in a cold rock quarry at 7:30 in the evening, I want to honor God and challenge you on this April Fool’s Day to open your heart and simply ask Him, “Will You reveal Yourself to me?” I will be praying for you in the meantime.

Dorothy

© 2024, Dorothy Frick

I used BlueLetterBible.org to follow David Guzik’s commentary on that chapter to see what he had to say about it. He pointed out that even though Jesus describes the absolute chaos and calamities of that time, the Lord also states that during that season, people will go about a fairly normal day to day life— “eating, drinking, marrying and giving in marriage” (vs. 38).

Guzik asked, “In this, there is a dilemma. How can Jesus” [return at the end of time (my clarification)] “to a ‘business-as-usual’ world, and a world experiencing the worst calamities ever seen on earth?”

I thought about that, and then while comparing his question to our current cultural situation, I feel the answer to this dilemma is easy:

COGNITIVE DISSONANCE: The refusal to recognize that things are spinning apart and that evil is permeating and influencing everyday people’s daily lives and decisions.

Another way to view this dilemma is the frog in the unhurriedly but continually heated water analogy. The frog incrementally becomes more and more adapted to his soon-to-be fatal surroundings because it is all happening so slowly—and so comfortably.

I can see how in the last days people will act like nothing out of the ordinary is happening while chaos and disaster and violence spread like butter over the toasted earth.

Something to think about.

Dorothy

© 2023, Dorothy Frick

In chapter 2 Nebuchadnezzar had dreamt of an enormous statue consisting of sections of gold, silver, bronze, iron, and an alloy of iron and clay. Daniel explained to the king that God had given him a prophetic dream to reveal the kingdoms on the earth, present and yet to come. Daniel also told him that he—Nebuchadnezzar—was the head of gold and that all the other kingdoms would be inferior to his.

Well, this morning I opened my Bible to chapter 3 and got no further than verse one. In the margin I read something I had written on 9/21/19: “I’ll bet Neb was ‘inspired’ to do this [build the idol] because of his dream.” The dream was from God; the subsequent construction of the golden image was NOT. The note I had written started the wheels to spin in my mind.

It hit me—ministries, ministers, and everyday Christians ALL get tempted to pull this same sort of thing whether God speaks to them, uses them, or reveals to them something to come.

We are all quite capable of playing into the same temptation, revering the dream, the prophetic word, or the revealed call of God on our lives, and sometimes we even expect others to do likewise. The gift or directive of God now becomes the object of worship and awe, not God Himself! And without realizing it, we have erected Nebuchadnezzar’s image in our own likeness and name.

When Jesus is Lord and the Father Himself is the sole object of your love, worship, and devotion, you would not expect—much less demand—reverence or allegiance to be shown by others to the vision, word, or gifting that God has given to you. Any respect shown or loyalty displayed to you by others is received as a gift, treated as a free-will offering, precious, and NEVER as that which is due.

Would your refusal—as a Christian or a leader—to set up your own gifting or ministry as an idol mean that you no longer have the right to speak into the lives of others? Of course not! When self-promotion is set aside, discernment is free to operate more purely. Instead of counseling based on partisan affiliation or allegiance status, now the full motive in ministering to others is to help them to embrace the Lord and discover the direction He has for them, not to get them onboard with your church, ministry, vision, or with any particular leader. Nebuchadnezzar image-builders get people hooked on themselves and not on the Father to whom belongs all the glory.

It is my suspicion that most of the partisan, sectarian issues in the church of “I’m of Paul” and “I’m of Apollos” (see 1 Corinthians 3:1-4) has to do with the erection of Nebuchadnezzar-like statues in seeking to immortalize a simple gift, ministry, or prophetic understanding. In turn, these providential blessings from God morph into idols to which full devotion is often demanded.

Stop idolizing humans! Stop idolizing ministries!

Stop idolizing the directives and dreams that God has given to you, and just simply obey them as from the Lord! By the same token, stop expecting others to pay homage to your wisdom, your words, your dreams, your vision, or your ministry.

Let people be followers of Jesus, and as for you, be available to God to use you to help them on the course He has for them. And likewise, receive as a gift—not as what is due—the help others give to you as you pursue His will for your life.

But the bottom line is this: Shun idolatry of all kinds.

Dorothy

© Dorothy Frick, 2021

CONFIDENCE here is the Greek word parresia, which means FREEDOM OF SPEAKING.

So, here is Hebrews 10:35 in its entirety using this definition:

Therefore, do not throw away your FREEDOM OF SPEAKING, which has a great reward.

In other words, you are not required to submit to the rules imposed upon you by those who  do not fear God. You know—rules such as don’t talk about this; don’t refute that; never oppose culturally-held, unscriptural beliefs openly or publicly.

God’s Word gives you a different directive: Hold fast to your confidence. You have as much right to speak as anyone else. Speak Life. Speak Truth. Speak the unadulterated counsel of God.

Dorothy

© 2020, Dorothy Frick

[Men and women of the last days will be]…unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good… 2 Timothy 3:3

Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good… Titus 2:3

I often look up the Greek or Hebrew for a word when I’m reading the Bible. Today, I looked up the Greek word for malicious gossips which I found in 1 Timothy 3:11. Here’s what I found:

Diabolos: [Strong’s Concordance, #1228]

1. prone to slander, slanderous, accusing falsely
2. a calumniator, false accuser, slanderer  [Note: a calumniator is one who makes false and defamatory statements about someone.]
3. metaph. applied to a man who, by opposing the cause of God, may be said to act the part of the devil or to side with him

However, of the 36 verses in which the Greek word diabolos is used, 33 of them—nearly 92%—refer to this:

“Satan, the prince of demons, the author of evil, persecuting good men, estranging mankind from God and enticing them to sin, and afflicting them with diseases by means of demons who take possession of their bodies at his bidding; the malignant enemy of God and the Messiah…” Thayer’s Greek Lexicon

It hit me: Of all the sins described or listed in the Bible, this sin, the sin of making a false accusation, is the ONLY sin that is one and the same with the word uniquely used for the devil.

Therefore, of all the sins described/listed in the Bible, the most Satan-like of all when utilized by a human is not idolatry, stealing, sexual sin, simple lying, cheating, violent behaviors, etc., (all of which must be confessed to God and repented of by the human so engaged if they want to be free of the toxic internal environment caused by such involvement; see 1 John 1:9). Instead, the sin most likened to the devil himself is the sin of false accusation.

My take away is this: Be careful that you don’t jump aboard the bandwagon of finger-pointers and tongue-waggers; there’s a good chance that some, if not all, of the accusations darting around are false. Come to terms with the fact that some men and women have given themselves over to false accusations. They are DIABOLOS—men and women most closely reflecting the devil himself. You don’t want to be counted among that group. Fortunately, however, in Christ, there is redemption and cleansing for such people if they choose to confess and repent; but it is better not to devise, embrace, or further those accusations in the first place.

Some food for thought.

Dorothy

© 2018, Dorothy Frick

Bear with me while I process something.

Two summers ago I awoke one morning in a vacation condo overlooking the beautiful Gulf of Mexico. But my heart was full of concern; I was puzzled. You see, I had just emerged that early Wednesday morning from a dream in which I was attending a Sunday morning service at my church. In the dream my pastor was teaching something that was totally unlike his personality or anything he’s ever said before from the pulpit.

He was teaching us that with times as they are, it would be appropriate for those of us who desired to do so to carry concealed weapons into the service.

He also asserted that if anyone bragged or displayed bravado or arrogance about it, he would immediately kick them out of the church, no questions asked.

I told one of the ladies (my friend Debbie K.) with whom I was vacationing about it first thing. We had no idea what God was saying although the message of the dream was in-your-face clear. It was June 17, 2015.

Imagine my shock and grief that evening when we learned that nine beautiful worshippers were gunned down in their church–the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church–during their Wednesday night Bible study.

And today, once again we are confronted by another slaughter in a Baptist church in Texas, where perhaps twenty or so dear ones have been killed. In addition, across the country, in a Fresno, California, Catholic church parking lot, two more were shot as church was letting out.

We can debate the gun issue; in fact, I’m POSITIVE it will come up. But the dream I had just 10 hours before that weasely young man murdered nine of my brothers and sisters at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church makes me wonder if the tables may have been turned if one or two of those saints had carried a weapon along with their Bible.

I recall one of the instructions that Jesus gave His disciples before He was arrested, brutally tortured, and crucified was different than anything He had ever preached before–and markedly unlike His personality.

He said, “…if you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one” (Luke 22:36).

I’ve thought about this often since my dream the morning of June 17, 2015. I’ve thought about my pastor’s stern dream-warning concerning the attitude that must attend such weapon-bearing. And I’ve sought God concerning Jesus’ goal in giving this uncharacteristic directive.

Despite the Lord’s sword-instruction, nowhere do we see any of the New Testament believers/preachers engaging in swordfights or spreading the Gospel by means of the sword. Nowhere do we see any of the believers even defending themselves by means of the sword.

Nonetheless, it’s inescapable: The Gospel of Luke records that Jesus directed His followers at the time to carry a sword.

Because His disciples obeyed Him in other matters, there is no reason to believe they disregarded the sword-directive. Jesus had commanded them to go into all the world and preach the gospel; to go into the byways and highways; to teach and preach wherever they went.

And Jesus, Who understood the future better than most people can make sense of the past, realized that His followers would be easy prey for bad actors all along the way. Therefore, in His foresight, wisdom, and great love, He made provision for them–“If you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one.”

And again, Jesus–Who is able read the minds and motives of men and women–knew this well: Most thugs are cowardly. If they see a sword slung around the shoulder of even the tiniest of His disciples, they would bide their time and find another–an unarmed victim–and leave the sword-bearer alone.

This is why I support the Second Amendment. I don’t like braggadocious attitudes about weapons; I DO like the idea that criminals will think twice before harming a man or a woman with a gun.

Thanks for reading.

Dorothy

© 2017, Dorothy Frick

“Remove impurities from the silver and the silversmith can craft a fine chalice.” Proverbs 25:4, Message Bible

“First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.” Matthew 23:26, NIV

“Scour the insides, and then the gleaming surface will mean something.” Matthew 23:26, Message Bible

The good news is this: “If a man is in Christ he becomes a new person altogether—the past is finished and gone, everything has become fresh and new” (2 Corinthians 5:17, Phillips).

If you are a new creature and your sin nature is gone, then two questions come up: 1.) Why do you still get tempted to sin? 2.) Why should you even be concerned about sin if everything has been covered by the sacrifice of Jesus?

To answer the first question, in Christ you are forgiven and your past is washed clean. Yet you have this thing called a soul, made up of your mind, will, and emotions. Although your soul is eternal, it was not recreated like your spirit was when you received Christ, and therefore is liable to make wrong choices. Your mind is to be renewed (see Romans 12:2) and your soul is to be saved by receiving God’s Word with a humble heart (see James 1:21). Philippians 2:12-13 says that you are to work out your salvation with fear and trembling; the good news is that God works inside you to help you to be willing to obey Him.

Why should you be concerned about sin? The Apostle Paul asked the same question. “Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace?” (Romans 6:1, NLT.) You can almost hear the apostle blowing a gasket as he answers his own question in verse 2, “May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?” (NASB.)

Your actions, thoughts, and words build your life. They also affect everyone around you, for good or for ill. You are accountable for the choices you make, the words you speak, and the thoughts you think. But because of your faith in Christ, the God to whom you will give an account is the same One who works within you both to will and to work for His good pleasure! He has rigged life in your favor! Only a mindset of rebellion, apathy, or self-importance on your part can gum up the flow of His wonderful grace on your life. If these attitudes arise within you, God is still present; He has not ceased to love you, and He will be ever-ready to work kindly within you to bring about repentance and change in your heart. Help with these destructive mindsets is just a prayer away.

Why exert so much attention on the topic of personal accountability when the world is spinning out of control? Perhaps if more attention had been paid to this subject, our world would not be in its current disastrous condition .

At the beginning of today’s entry the proverb states, “Take away the dross from the silver, and there comes out a vessel for the smith.”  Impurities in silver decrease its reflective properties. Unconfessed sin in your life decreases your ability to reflect the Lord to a hurting world around you. Unchecked rebellion, apathy, or self-importance will block the clear leading of the Holy Spirit when you need it the most. As ungodly attitudes remain in your heart, they become weights to you, and life becomes burdensome, the call of Christ grows more and more faint, and the light that is in you becomes dim, hidden under a pile of flesh and unrestrained soul.

However, if you become aware of “dross” in your life, simply yield it to the Silversmith, and He will gladly remove it from you.

You were created in Christ Jesus to be a vessel for honorable use. Let God take away any dross cropping up in you, for it’s time for you to shine. “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16, KJV).

Let nothing cloud your light any longer!

Dorothy

“But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.”                   2 Timothy 3:13, KJV

In the King James Version of 2 Timothy 3:13, impostors are called “seducers”. According to the Encarta Dictionary, a seducer is a persuader who uses deception to get what he or she wants sexually. However, the same reference further reveals that the term isn’t limited to sexual enticement; a seducer also tries to talk someone into doing other things they wouldn’t normally do by painting a picture of how “amazing” or “truly noble” those things are. Lastly, the same source states that the term seducer can be used to describe a person who manipulates others into giving them their support or agreement.

The term “impostor” used in the NASB indicates the false, illegitimate character of this type of person, whereas “seducer” further reveals the manipulative, self-serving motivation lurking within the individual.

Now look at the Greek definition for the word impostor. That word is goēs and indicates not only a deceiver and an impostor, but also reveals some other very interesting peculiarities (see < http:// www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G1114&t=KJV >).

The first definition right out of the box for this Greek word is “a wailer” and “a howler”. Remember, impostors lie and manipulate, so this wailing and howling is not the genuine cry of pain or remorse—no, the wail and howl of an impostor is a grand charade in the interest of furthering his agenda to con and deceive. Would you be surprised to learn that one of the strategies which activist Saul Alinsky included in his book, Rules for Radicals, to force societal change was to loudly, disruptively, and continuously complain–to howl and wail–against the status quo?

Another definition of goēs is an enchanter, who, according to the source, would utter incantations in a sort of a howl.

But to me, the most intriguing definition of all is included in the second meaning along with enchanter: a juggler. You may wonder how this word, juggler, could possibly be related to impostor or seducer. This is where it gets very interesting.

Think about this: information—extremely important information—gets thrown at Americans constantly. Any attempt to make sense of current events is dizzying and makes you feel as if you are watching…well, a multi-object juggling routine in hyper-speed! You start to learn about one change in society and before you know it, a second, and then a third, and then a fourth fly into view. Changes in health care laws, changes in gun laws, changes in privacy concerns for travel, communication, etc., changes in the military, changes in taxation, changes in prices, changes in the genetic makeup of food, changes in voting laws, changes in immigration, changes in age-old marriage definitions, changes in regulations, changes in China, Russia, and the middle-east, predicted changes in America’s status as the world’s economic leader and number 1 super-power, changes in what is commonly accepted as right and wrong—all these things and so much more fly at us from every direction at the speed of light.

Most of us do not have the reading capacity of JFK who was reported to read four newspapers in 15 minutes every day. And yet the juggling of volumes of important, highly detailed events before our eyes daily intensifies more and more, mocking our inability to comprehend even one piece, let alone grasp the entire scope of information.

Most people just throw their hands up in the air, let the info fall to the ground, and walk away. Who can keep up with it all?

I propose that this is by design to keep men and women of good will and honest heart off-balance as they attempt to bring order to chaos.

But I believe with all my heart that there is a strategy from the Throne Room of God to empower His people to deal effectively in the face of this constant juggling act of disastrous, poisonous events.

It was rumored that baseball legend Ted Williams was able to see, as if frozen in space, the seams on any fastball hurled his way. Could it be that God has been “magnifying your vision” with one or two of the very serious issues facing our nation? Are you passionate about any of the above listed changes going on in our culture? What angers you? What makes you uneasy? What is attempting to rob your peace? Could it  be that the issues that bug you the most are the “seams on the baseball” flying at you? Could it be that the Living God has prompted your ire and is giving you the assignment to hit that issue out of the park in consecrated, heartfelt prayer?

It is my belief that God’s will in these difficult days is to freely send assignments to His men and women, boys and girls, “freezing in space” for each one of us the details about whatever He prompts us to pray for. Look. He’s so much greater than any impostor, seducer, or juggler of oppression that ever existed.

So when you see alarming information being juggled at warp-speed before your eyes, thank God that He has His “Ted Williams” prayer people stepping up to the plate all over the nation and around the world, ready, waiting, bats in hand, anticipating those fastballs, and, seeing the seams, prayer muscles bulging, swing with a force that could only come from God and connect—sending those balls way out of the park.

Get ready to play ball, Ted Williams—you.

Dorothy

“But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.” 2 Timothy 3:13

The above verses couldn’t seem any more contradictory! And yet they both appear in 2 Timothy 3 in the Apostle Paul’s description of the last days. Both verses are about the same type of people, evil men and impostors, men who oppose the truth, have depraved minds, and who are rejected in regard to the faith (see 2 Timothy 3:8).

Verse 9 tells us that these truth-haters will make no further progress. Verse 13 says that they will proceed from bad to worse.

Could both verses be true and about the same godless folks?

Let’s muddy the waters a bit more before we clear them up. Did you know that the word for “progress” in verse 9 and the word for “proceed” in verse 13 are one and the same word?

Both words are prokoptō in Greek. It means to promote, to further, to advance, to go forward, and to make progress (see <www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G4298&t=KJV>).  

According to the Word, evil men and impostors will prokoptō (proceed and advance) from bad to worse. And, also according to the Bible, these evil men will not make further prokoptō (progress or advancement)!

If the evil operatives of the last days:

• will make no further progress, while at the same time they
• are proceeding from bad to worse

then something very interesting is being revealed here.

I believe that the Holy Spirit is letting the generation alive in the last days in on important truth.

1.)  We can put our faith in what God has said about those who oppose the truth, have depraved minds, and who are rejected in regard to the faith. And that is this: They will make no further progress. Why not? For their folly will be obvious to all.

How will their progress be halted? By having their folly openly displayed before all—the rest of the population.

How will it be exposed and made obvious before the eyes of the full population? That’s where we believers come in: We are to pray for truth to prevail and evil to be exposed in God’s way and God’s time.

But then, you may ask, if evil men are supposed to make no further progress, why are things clearly getting worse? My response? This show’s not over! God’s not done. Don’t tell me you’re done!

2.)  We also can bet our bottom dollar on the fact that evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse. God said they would.

Here’s the difference. These evil men and women will make no further progress in their agendas, in great part, because of their folly. Folly has neither the ability nor power to cause the one who embraces it to flourish forever. Many godly souls see right through the impostors and their lies, and many more will start to wake up to the folly of what is being foisted upon them. Our part, as believers in all of this, is to pray for truth to prevail, for folly to be openly and explicitly exposed for what it is, and to cry out to God to intervene on behalf of our nation.

However, the poor souls clinging to their agendas of folly will themselves proceed from bad to worse as they deceive and become even more deceived themselves. Unfortunately, they will be successful in deceiving some; but again, our job as believers is to pray for truth to prevail, for folly to be seen openly for the evil that it is, and for the advancement of the agenda of those who hate the God of the Bible to be set back and restrained on our watch.

May God strengthen, direct, and gird you for your part in this prayer battle as you cling to Him and His Word.

God bless and empower you,

Dorothy