GOD Morning! October 31 / Brought Up Religious

GOD Morning!

October 31 / Brought Up Religious

 

Titus 1: 10-16 (Amplified Bible)

¹⁰ For there are many disorderly and unruly men who are idle (vain, empty) and misleading talkers and self-deceivers and deceivers of others. [This is true] especially of those of the circumcision party [who have come over from Judaism].

¹¹ Their mouths must be stopped, for they are mentally distressing and subverting whole families by teaching what they ought not to teach, for the purpose of getting base advantage and disreputable gain.

I have fallen into friendships with people like this. At first, I felt like I was helping them. You know, doing God’s work. And then, before I knew it, I felt myself being sucked into their twisted way of thinking.

These types of people are generally very likeable! And very convincing!

¹² One of their [very] number, a prophet of their own, said, Cretans are always liars, hurtful beasts, idle and lazy gluttons.

¹³ And this account of them is [really] true. Because it is [true], rebuke them sharply [deal sternly, even severely with them], so that they may be sound in the faith and free from error,

There is a right time for rebuking someone sharply. When? When someone is engaging in idle talk that leaves you with an uneasy feeling in your gut. These people can be very convincing! Don’t hesitate, for fear of hurting his or her feelings. Just confront the evil spirit that is working in the person. Rebuke the evil spirit sharply. If they continue in this evil behavior, stay away from them!

¹⁴ [And may show their soundness by] ceasing to give attention to Jewish myths and fables or to rules [laid down] by [mere] men who reject and turn their backs on the Truth.

¹⁵ To the pure [in heart and conscience] all things are pure, but to the defiled and corrupt and unbelieving nothing is pure; their very minds and consciences are defiled and polluted.

Okay, back to my personal experience:

I actually thought, by accepting someone like this and loving them, I could lead them out of their deception. But what really happened is they twisted everything I said. And made it seem is if my motives were impure. And I would go away shaking my head and feeling confused!

¹⁶ They profess to know God [to recognize, perceive, and be acquainted with Him], but deny and disown and renounce Him by what they do; they are detestable and loathsome, unbelieving and disobedient and disloyal and rebellious, and [they are] unfit and worthless for good work (deed or enterprise) of any kind.

Just know that this evil spirit is nothing new. It is the same old rebellious spirit that reared his evil head up and tried to rebel against God Almighty, getting himself kicked out of heaven.

Here is the Message version:

^10-16 For there are a lot of rebels out there, full of loose, confusing, and deceiving talk. Those who were brought up religious and ought to know better are the worst. They’ve got to be shut up. They’re disrupting entire families with their teaching, and all for the sake of a fast buck. One of their own prophets said it best:

The Cretans are liars from the womb,
    barking dogs, lazy bellies.

He certainly spoke the truth. Get on them right away. Stop that diseased talk of Jewish make-believe and made-up rules so they can recover a robust faith. Everything is clean to the clean-minded; nothing is clean to dirty-minded unbelievers. They leave their dirty fingerprints on every thought and act. They say they know God, but their actions speak louder than their words. They’re real creeps, disobedient good-for-nothings.

So basically, stay away from these creeps.

Especially those who were brought up religious.

I choose not to name celebrities, but, seriously. Do some research into the background of the most famous people you know who make negative statements about Christianity. Those who embrace everything that is directly against God’s word. You will find that many of them are back sliders. Many of these celebrities have huge followings. They are so likeable. They seem sweet and kind!!! But actually, it’s all a big cover up. They are creeps, plain and simple. They come into homes through TV and internet, leaving their dirty fingerprints on everything and confusing entire families.

Let’s pray together…

“Dear Jesus, please open my eyes. Please help me to follow only after the examples in Your word, and Godly examples that You have placed in my life. Please help me to replace talk shows and news programs (even if they seem harmless) with anointed preaching podcasts. Please help me to fill my mind with Your wisdom instead of the wisdom of this world! Please open my eyes to what is evil and what is true. I humbly repent. I repent for secretly admiring people who are against everything I stand for. Please forgive me and change me! How I love You for opening my eyes this morning. I love You always. I will worship only You, my Dear Jesus. AMEN.”