No Good Thing…
With this title, there are a lot of ways the post could go. It could be a summary of my life’s work. It could be a description of our current political and world climate. Or it could be what it is: the opening of a great promise from Psalms. The rest of the verse says, “does God withhold from those who walk uprightly (Ps. 84:11b).” Think about that. No…good…thing. Have you ever wanted anything that wasn’t a good thing? I can think of a few. But enough about me.
Don’t you love that the Bible is filled with amazing promises that are available to all? If this is true, and it is, why do we not get the answers to prayer we want? Spoiler alert, most of God’s promises come with a condition. In fact, they’re more like a contract with each side having an obligation. It’s like an “if-then” clause in software. IF the user does a certain action, THEN a programmed response happens…every time.
In our verse today,
our obligation is to walk uprightly. What does that mean? It means we’re to “come out from their midst and be separate, says the Lord. And do not touch what is unclean (2 Cor. 6:17).” Today’s church, especially in America, has gotten so far away from God’s standard of holiness, that it’s a wonder God answers any of our prayers. Consider just one example. “He made them male and female” (people and animals). There are 19 references to male and female just in the book of Genesis. Anything else is a lie from Satan. All the gender-identification nonsense, the excuses that blame God for “making me this way,” and parental look-the-other-way because Johnny thinks he’s Jenny are nothing more than the latest version of false religion. And they will reap the fruit of their rejection of the truth. “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, …so that they are without excuse (Rom. 1:18-20).
The church is not immune from this indictment. Many churches (not all praise God, but many) have embraced this aberrant, deviant, “big-tent” philosophy of inclusion, trying to justify it by cloaking it in God’s love. Know this: When eternity is at stake, the most loving thing we can do is tell the truth. The mumbo-jumbo that the world tries to peddle as truth is nothing more than lies from hell, that non-believers, who don’t have the Holy Spirit’s discernment, swallow hook, line, and sinker and regurgitate as though anybody who didn’t embrace this “enlightenment” was an idiot.
Since today is Halloween,
permit one more example. What is Halloween anyway? It began in early practices by superstitious Celtic pagans of building huge bonfires and sacrificing animals and crops to appease Celtic deities. They believed that on this day the lines between living and dead were blurred. At these festivals, they wore “costumes” of animal heads and skins and attempted to tell each other’s future. After a list including witchcraft, sorcery, divination, mediums and spiritists, (all these are forbidden in Scripture) Deut. 18:14 says, “the Lord your God has not allowed you to do so.” And another to the same issue, “He did much evil in the sight of the Lord (2 Chron. 33:6). So it’s clear what God thinks about this demonic activity promoted by the forces of darkness.
Like everything in our world, if it isn’t from God, it starts out innocuous then over time gathers speed and includes followers who aren’t up to date in knowing their Bible. One reason it won’t ever go away is it has become a huge money-making commercial activity. Over one-fourth of all candy sold annually is for Halloween. Over $6 billion is spent on Halloween, second only to Christmas spending. Consider the similarity. The creation of Santa Claus is the hook that reels in millions of kids, greedy for the shiny things on display. Parents cannot say no to the excessive media blitz for commercialism both for Christmas and Halloween. Where is the church in speaking out about this?
But I digress.
IF we walk uprightly, which includes saying no to worldly things which draw us away from God, THEN we will be the recipients of good things from God. How do I know? The Bible tells me so.
If you’re on the fence, I invite you to visit our Steps to Salvation page on this site for a clear picture of how God views you and the wonder and beauty that await all of us who trust Jesus Christ for the righteousness required to enter heaven.