First of All, Pray: Blog
Bringing Biblical Truths to Daily Life
Passivity
Part Three
Passivity. I almost didn’t write about this topic because I just didn’t feel like it; I was thinking if I kept putting it off, you would do it for me.
The primary complaint concerning passivity in marriage comes from women whose husbands who have laid aside the leadership role in the household. Although he tends to lead everywhere else, she laments, he doesn’t do so at home. There are many underlying reasons for this, but passivity on the part of a man toward his God-given responsibility can be extremely harmful to a healthy marriage. For an excellent outline about this, I am including a link at the end of today’s blog.
Since passive people, due to their characteristic avoidance of conflict and submissive demeanor, don’t create waves, you might think that passivity is a key to godliness. However, passivity toward God-given responsibility is a primary cause of ineffectiveness and unfruitfulness in Christian life.
For example, you probably eat three square meals a day without giving a second thought to the big bites of your time that eating consumes. However, have you ever thought that feeding your spirit with God’s Word was too time-consuming? When you can’t spare five or ten minutes sometime during the day to read or meditate on the Bible, you just might be spiritually passive.
“Seven days without prayer makes one weak” flash signs in front of many churches. Corny? Yes. True? Yes, again. But when you can’t seem to find the time to communicate with God, you just might be spiritually passive.
Jesus called you, His disciple, the salt and light of the world. The salt in you was not meant to rest forever in the shaker; your light was never meant to sit permanently idle under a barrel. No matter how thrilling it is to hear testimonies of souls won, lives changed, and prayers answered, those miracles didn’t occur without the salt being poured out first or with the light still turned off. In every case, someone rose up out of passivity and lived boldly, spoke freely, or prayed fervently. God used someone’s salt and light to perform His wonders.
With the world squeezing in against you from every direction, you can’t afford to live a passive life. You will never be able to address the persistent twisting and distortion of truth in our generation effectively with bland passivity or wishy-washy conviction. As the old saying goes, “If you stand for nothing, you will fall for anything.” Only by soaking up the nutrients of the Bible and by spending time in fellowship with your God on a daily basis will you find the ongoing strength, wisdom, and power to face off with the assignments that God will send your way.
Wishing the world would straighten up on its own won’t make it happen. Wishing the rapture would just take place now won’t make that happen, either. You are salt and you are light, and since the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He Himself will quicken and empower you to do all that He’s calling you to do. But He cannot do these things in you without your active cooperation.
“‘Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.’ Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.” Ephesians 5:14-17, NIV
Stay salty and shine brightly,
Dorothy
For an outline from bible.org on the origins and effects of passivity in marriage, see https://bible.org/seriespage/passive-men-wild-women-part-1-genesis-31-5
Control
Part Two
Among the most destructive attitudes in marriage according to my pastor’s wife is the drive—whether you are the husband or the wife—to always get your way, to win arguments at any cost, or to control your spouse. She teaches that both partners are accountable to fight for the marriage, not to dominate it. If not dealt with, this mindset will erode and destroy the foundation of what could be a good, solid, and satisfying lifelong relationship for both individuals.
The quest to control a relationship, however, is not unique to husbands and wives. While I was a teacher, I had a ringside seat to the human drive for dominance over others. During my thirty-two years as an educator, I watched as boys, girls, and teens positioned and maneuvered for control over their peers (and sometimes their teachers!) in every grade I taught, from second through ninth.
Winners and losers in the power game unfortunately continue to emerge—without anyone giving it a second thought—throughout society, with both genders, at every age, among all races and ethnicities, and indeed, even among Christians. This desire to be right, to be better than others, to be top dog, is so prevalent that we don’t even blink an eye when we observe it. Strategies are employed to ensure that “I” come out on top and that “I” craft a winning persona. Little thought is ever given to the ones who may be hurt or destroyed so that “I” can secure “my” rightful place as the best, the brightest, the prettiest, the funniest, or the most powerful of all.
And here’s where it gets really weird. We can sometimes cop the same attitude with God! Have you ever caught yourself viewing Him as an accessory to your own success? OUCH! Have you ever spent time in prayer declaring to God how you will become the most anointed, most beloved, most amazing, most prosperous person this generation (or church) has seen? These attitudes very likely originate from the same place that playground “pecking orders” come—from the drive to rise above others so you can get the recognition and success you feel you so “rightfully deserve”.
Such desires are not birthed by the Holy Spirit and are not in accordance with the heart of God. That’s why when such praying is not actualized, it is due to God’s love for the one seeking the “bump up”. It’s His will to form Christ within all of us—in our thinking, attitudes, desires, and behaviors. He refuses to undermine His supreme purpose for our lives by handing out superficial success—like a genie—to anyone who craves or demands it.
Think about this: when one partner in a marriage refuses to be a doormat to the other—while at the same time remaining faithful to his or her vows to love, honor, and cherish—the lust for control is met head on. Despite the accusations of the demanding partner to the contrary, the husband or wife who lovingly refuses to be manipulated or controlled is actually walking the love walk.
In my Christian walk, if I do not yield my frustration and anger to God when things don’t go my way and allow Him to redirect me, then I just might strike out in vengeful self-righteousness at anyone who I perceive as standing in my way. In my desire to be in control, I may stop at nothing—including ruining the reputation of others—to justify my indignation at not getting my way.
When God does not help me to fulfill my driving desire to have my way, however, it is truly a wonderful opportunity for me to reassess my personal motives and methods. He doesn’t condemn me for being a control freak; instead, He lovingly reproves, corrects, and redirects me. At this point, if I yield to His grace and seek His will (not mine), I can patiently anticipate rising up in His timing to fulfill all that He has ordained for me to fulfill.
Neither bullying control nor nagging harping are endorsed by the Word of God for marriage—not for husbands, nor for wives. And when it comes to my relationship with God, I have a choice to make. Will I yield to Him and joyfully embrace and take part in His precepts and purposes for my life OR will I petulantly insist on my own plan and nag Him incessantly to do what I think He should do throughout the rest of my time on this planet?
The choice is up to each individual.
- It is dangerous and it will turn out badly for you to keep kicking against the goad [to offer vain and perilous resistance]. Acts 9:5b, Amplified Bible
- I call Heaven and Earth to witness against you today: I place before you Life and Death, Blessing and Curse. Choose life so that you and your children will live. Deuteronomy 30:19, Message Bible
- …in order to live the remaining time in the flesh, no longer for human desires, but for God’s will. 1 Peter 4:2, Holman Christian Standard Bible
May God bless and help you as you daily yield control of your life and will to God.
Dorothy
Role-reversal
Part One
I’ve never married, but I go to a church that is very family-oriented, and I’ve heard many messages on healthy relationships and how to keep the balance within marriage partnerships.
I’ve also lived a lot of life and have observed the whole gamut of marriages, from the best to the worst, both among Bible-believing couples and those with less interest in Christ. And working with singles, I have prayed and cried with more than one devastated soul as they attempted to crawl out from under the wreckage of a marriage or relationship they once thought was rock-solid.
One thing central to each marriage mess up, I’ve observed, is a blurring of personal boundaries within those relationships and an accumulated disrespect of partners over time for the value and distinct personhood of the other. Whether it’s overstepping boundaries in the marriage covenant or a passive-aggressive refusal to do one’s part to grow the relationship, lines of courtesy are crossed and the human value of someone once cherished is cheaply discarded.
And again, as someone who has not been married one day of her life, I’ve just given you the full extent of my wisdom on marriage. However, as a human who has had a 38-year ongoing relationship with God, the mistakes we make with Him are strikingly similar to some of the undermining behaviors in marriage. This week, I want to write about four of them: role-reversal, control/nagging, passive inactivity, and lack of appreciation and regard.
Our culture delights in role-reversal; as a teacher in public school, I was instructed by the “PC police” to display boys and girls in non-traditional roles, whether I chose posters for the wall or wrote word problems for math. As a believer, however, I was sensitive to each child’s strengths and weaknesses, and sought to empower each one—including boys interested in more “masculine” pursuits and girls interested in more “feminine” pursuits. Why re-engineer what God had set in motion and viewed as “very good”?
Similarly, one of the greatest destabilizing challenges that you as a Christian may deal with in your relationship with God is that of “role-reversal”.
Simply put, God is God and you are you. He is not you; you are not Him. Many believers can spot a woman who is attempting to take over her husband’s role from miles away. And yet, there is an almost epidemic phobia rampant in the Church in regard to acknowledging your own humanity and vulnerability. Why is this? I think it’s because of a skewed concept of what being a new creation in Christ is all about.
You’d better believe that in Christ your sins are washed away; in Christ you are a new creation and you have been made the righteousness of God in Him (see 2 Cor. 5:17, 21). As you embrace these truths, you are liberated into a new freedom in your walk with God. Just as a young woman is liberated to experience the full-range of emotions and joy in her new marriage covenant with her husband, so too is the new believer free to walk in the grace, righteousness, and power of God.
However, if that same young woman determined that by virtue of marriage, she was now the husband, himself, you would advise her to see a counselor or shrink, post-haste!
And yet, have you experienced a subtle pressure to portray that you have it all together because of your relationship with Christ? I know I have in my Christian walk, and those are the times I’ve been the most miserable. I’m telling you, that pressure does not come from God! You’re in relationship with Him, but you’re not Him. All the blessings and promises that He has poured out on you are not competitive devices by which He expects you to prove yourself to the rest of the Church or the world. No! What He pours on you and into you is due to His great love for you and for those to whom He sends you. You’re not in a God-apprenticeship, so stop expecting yourself to become Him!
When I learned to embrace my role as the human in my relationship with God is when I stopped yielding to the pressure to “be” God. I don’t have to have it all together because I know the One who does. I don’t have to have all the answers because I am deeply loved by the One who understands everything. Being the human in my relationship with God has given me the courage to face the chaotic flow of national and world events because I know I don’t have to figure them out or fix them. I just know that in my role as human, I have the right and responsibility to ask my God to intervene. And as a human, I then listen for Him, my God, to instruct me as to my part in bringing about solutions. Then I do my part, and leave the results to Him.
If you are under pressure to “perform” in your Christian walk, then possibly you have entered into role-reversal without knowing it. I challenge you: step back, delight in God as God, and fully enjoy the fact that you are the human in this relationship. It will set you free.
Dorothy the Human
The power of dry times
We cry out for the grace of God to be able to seek Him, and He gladly endues us with His grace and power. We, in turn, are strengthened and sustained and get much accomplished in life and in prayer.
Then the rest of life happens, distractions or fatigue set in, and we feel like deadweight in regard to anything spiritual. And we think we have blown it—“how could I have fallen so far?”
Have you forgotten how you rose up in spiritual strength to begin with? It was never by your own power, holiness, or deeply spiritual ways. Remember when you cried out to the Lord for help to follow and obey Him? You acknowledged then that your own ability was insufficient. What makes you suppose that you should be able to sustain yourself now?
I propose that our dry times are every bit as powerful as those times we walk in the ease of spiritual strength. Here’s why: Our times of spiritual drought bring us to one conclusion–that He is Lord, we are not, and that we desperately need Him no matter how mature or equipped in the things of God we may become.
So when you hit a dry time, rejoice. You have the opportunity once again to acknowledge your humanness and to declare your utter dependence on the living God.
And as you draw near to Him, He will draw near to you as well.
- Are you so foolish? Although you began with the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by human effort? Galatians 3:3, NET Bible
- And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. 2 Corinthians 12:9, NASB
- But we have this treasure in clay jars to show that its extraordinary power comes from God and not from us. 2 Corinthians 4:7, International Standard Version
When you experience drought, spend some time rejoicing in the fact that He is God and you aren’t; He is the Source and you never will be. Then any pressure to become a perfect spiritual specimen will roll right off of you as you relax in the blessed truth that you’re not Him—He is! Be comforted in this, and let Him overshadow you again, filling you with the knowledge of His presence and His merciful grace.
Dorothy
Independence Weekend: Why I pray for America
Hope you had a safe and blessed Independence Day. Since it is a holiday weekend, I will be taking the rest of the weekend off from my blog to celebrate the freedom this nation still enjoys (and by the grace of God, will increasingly embrace and defend).
I wanted to repeat a portion of what I wrote on June 12. This is because it is my passion to inspire you to continue to take your place before God on behalf of our nation, standing in the gap wherever He places you and in the manner in which He leads you. No one is a non-essential partner in this massive prayer initiative; you just have a differing role to play and a custom-made way in which He uses you. And you do have a role; you are used before the Throne of God in a unique, perfect-for-you approach. This nation needs you to refuse to back off in prayer on her behalf.
This is why I pray for America:
As I look at my nation, I must pray. It’s in my DNA; it is built into the very fabric of my relationship with God. When I see obstacles in my nation, I am challenged by my rich heritage to stand my ground and trust God. I feel I owe it to the Founders who pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor to guard, nurture, protect, and defend the fledgling nation. I owe it to Charles Finney, D. L. Moody, William J. Seymour, Billy Sunday, Aimee Semple McPherson, and all the rest, both known and unknown, who took full advantage of their American liberty to pour out their lives for the cause of Christ. I owe it to my dad, who although he never claimed to know God intimately, was willing as a young man to risk his life in the service of a country which guaranteed that his daughter, yet to be born, would bear the sacred right to lead her own life, speak openly, and worship God freely without fear.
I must pray. I must pray the Word of God over my nation. I must seek her deliverance when evil threatens her. I must stand my ground even if it takes the rest of my life. I can do no less, so help me God.
God bless you and God bless the U.S.A! Don’t give up on her!
Dorothy
Praying for America on her birthday
I love being prayed for on my birthday. About a decade ago, however, I realized that I never really prayed for America on her birthday. So I started a new personal tradition—every 4th of July morning, I spend some quality time praying for my nation.
Each year is different. Some years I pray about issues. Other years, I pray for specific government leaders. One year, I gathered a group of praying people at my home for breakfast and we interceded primarily for the church in America.
With so many different national concerns to bring before the Father, you may wonder where to begin. You have a unique and specific piece to this puzzle about which to pray, so a good place to start is to ask God! I’ve noticed that as I spend time thanking, praising, or worshiping Him, a direction typically bubbles up from my spirit, and I pray over that in whatever way I sense the Lord is leading me.
Let me tell you what happened on the morning of July 4th, 2009. I began praising God and seeking Him about His specific prayer direction for the nation. I expected to pray for the president or for one of the many issues our nation was facing at the time.
Instead, I couldn’t get the portion of Scripture I had read earlier in the morning out of my mind. It was Luke 2:41-51, about twelve-year old Jesus’ adventure in Jerusalem. Verse 43 haunted me. “…the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. But His parents were unaware of it.” Panic began gripping my insides as evidently I was relating on a very deep level to what Mary and Joseph must have felt when it dawned on them that their Son had been missing for an entire day! (Things were a little different back then when communities traveled in a caravan. Back off of the lawsuits against Joseph and Mary, OK?)
I reread verses 44-46. “…[They] went a day’s journey; and they began looking for Him among their relatives and acquaintances. When they did not find Him, they returned to Jerusalem looking for Him. Then, after three days they found Him...” My attention was fixed upon the horror of having a missing child, not knowing whether he was dead or alive. Since I could not shake the sense of heaviness, I yielded to it and began praying for the children and teens of the nation.
In particular, that July 4th Saturday morning, I found myself praying for all children, ages 0-18, to be safe in their activities for the entire holiday weekend. I prayed against children getting separated from their parents and teens losing their friends in a crowd. I prayed in the name of Jesus against abduction attempts of all sorts—that they would be thwarted and for adults in charge of kids to be on high alert.
When I realized that I had prayed along this line most of the morning, I honestly felt a tad disappointed. I had wanted to pray for the nation, but I ran out of time and needed to leave for a holiday event. But on the inside of me, I sensed the correction of God. “You did pray for the nation.”
Monday evening, July 6th, I was in the kitchen listening to the teasers opening the local news from the TV in the other room. “Tonight we will take you to a local church where an alert volunteer stopped a child abduction Sunday morning.”
I dropped what I was doing and raced to the living room, waiting for the opening story. And this is what I learned.
A 10-year old girl was attending children’s church Sunday morning at the church I used to attend. A registered sex offender–a pedophile–had been skulking outside her class, unobserved. He motioned to her to step outside, and when she walked into the hall to see what he wanted, he put his arm around her and started walking her out of the building. However, an alert volunteer noticed what was going on just in time and abruptly demanded the offender to stop. The girl was led to safety by another volunteer and the pedophile was arrested.
I remembered my intense time of prayer two days before on the 4th, interceding to thwart child abductions. I realized that God’s desire is for each of us to yield to His leading, whatever that may be, and as we do, our prayers will hit the target. And as more and more of us make ourselves available to God to direct us in prayer on behalf of the nation, more and more bull’s-eyes will be hit, effectively producing the change we long for in America and around the world.
Have a happy and safe Fourth of July!
Dorothy
Jugglers
“But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.” 2 Timothy 3:13, NASB
“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
Folly
“But they will not make further progress; for their folly will be obvious to all…” 2 Timothy 3:9
“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
Pray for Syrian Christians
I just received a post about the beheading of a Syrian Catholic priest by the rebels in Syria. Pray for these precious Catholics and other believers as they face the unthinkable. http://cnsnews.com/news/article/reported-beheading-syrian-priest-boosts-fear-christians-safety
“God is to us a God of deliverances. To God the Lord belong escapes from death” (Psalm 68:20). Father, we pray for protection for the Christians of Syria. Grant them signs and wonders and miraculous escapes from death. May their enemies see Your hand on the behalf of Your people and be thwarted. As it is written, Lord, “…By their own devices let them fall!”* Watch over those called by Your name, Father, throughout the earth and not only defend them, but also thoroughly route and terrify those who would seek to assault them. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
*See Psalm 5:10
Impostors
2 Timothy 3 describes in list format the types of godless people who will be alive in the last days. Each generation since Christ likely saw some characteristics of its own unique time in that chapter’s description, to be sure, but now, unfortunately, in our time the list in 2 Timothy 3 appears to be a perfect fit.
Verse 13 says, “But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.”
I would like for you to look more closely at the word “impostors” in this verse. First, consider the definition of impostor—one who “assumes [a] false identity or title for the purpose of deception” (MerriamWebster.com). To assume an identity or title that is not your own is lying.
Next, impostors are grouped in verse 13 with evil men. Since lying violates the Word of God, it’s not hard to understand why impostors are placed alongside evil men in Scripture as those to watch out for in the last days.
The verse continues to reveal that impostors will proceed from bad to worse. A lying individual who supposes he or she will not get caught in their falsehood will, more than likely, continue in the lie. In fact, their lying gets more and more far-fetched as they increase in the assumption that they will not face consequences. And since lying violates the Word of God, obviously telling a lie is bad. However, as the person continues and their lies snowball, they get worse. Impostors—unless they repent—will proceed from bad to worse, just like the Bible says.
Last of all, verse 13 tells us how impostors spend time. They are busy deceiving and being deceived on an ongoing basis. If a person spends his time deceiving, he will eventually end up believing his own lies. Deceivers become very deceived. In other words, impostors don’t live in reality. And if those in leadership posts throughout the nation are involved in any part of the deception cycle, their grasp of reality is, at best, faulty.
This scenario spelled out in 2 Timothy 3 has caused many in the Body of Christ great concern. If the evil men and impostors among us are going to proceed from bad to worse, then what hope is there for us to even dream that our prayers will be answered?
In Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s blogs, I want to show you some “inside facts” I discovered while studying this chapter which gave me great encouragement and resolve. It is my desire that you also will find comfort and be fueled to continue in effective prayer for our nation despite what you see with your eyes.
Stay tuned!
Dorothy