THIS IS A SPIRITUAL WAR!! So – Lets Stop Fighting It In The Flesh!!!

Think about your last week’s conversations about; The Virus, Quarantine, Government, the Economy, or Jobs. How much of your conversation was focused just on those issues? How much of your conversation turned to things of God? This crisis can be a great way to lead another to saving faith in Christ. Have you guided a fellow believer away from the crisis, but instead, attempted to comfort them with scripture and prayer? What percentage of your conversation quoted scripture about God’s involvement with viruses or governments, or His sovereignty?

Those questions should be convicting for all of us (as they did me). To a certain degree, we are all “guilty” of keeping our focus on the physical world at times. But lets be real, brothers and sisters in Christ – Satan’s objective is to draw us back into the flesh – and away from God. This battle caught many of us off guard, and so far, he’s been winning. But, we can change that. This is a huge opportunity for all of us to be of service to the Lord!

The biggest tension in the New Testament is the Spirit verses the flesh. When Nicodemus confronted Jesus, Jesus’ response was “You must be born again” (John 3:7). Nicodemus asked “how can a man be born when he is old, he cannot enter a second time into his mothers womb?” (John 3:4). Jesus reply was “Are you the teacher of Israel and you do not understand these things?” (John 3:10). 

Paul chastised the people of Galatia by asking “Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?” He also exhorted them in 5:25 “If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.”. If our entire conversation focuses on our frustration with government or the virus but leaves God and His Truth out, how is that “walking by the Spirit”?

All we have to do is spend a little time with Ephesians 6:12 to understand this is a Spiritual War: “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” Flesh and blood conflicts aren’t limited to other humans. This virus and resulting economic impact is physically very real – and a spiritual war.

So, have you recognized this virus as a Test from God – testing you whether you are walking by the Spirit or (like the Galatians), resorted back to walking by the flesh?

Like most of us, I was suffering from quarantine fatigue. I didn’t want to default to “to heck with this” from an emotional standpoint, so I began to research on my own. I prayed hard for clarity and wisdom, studied the Bible regarding plagues and pestilence, and learned a lot about viruses in history and how they turned out. 

And God answered my prayer…

THIS IS A SPIRITUAL WAR!!! 

Knowing there have been many flu epidemics, I found it interesting that the majority comparison/discussion is the Spanish flu of 1918. There were extenuating circumstances which included gathering soldiers for World War I. Finding the comparison a bit odd – especially since it can give the impression these viruses are rare – I dug deeper. 

I found the Asian flu of 1957 killed over 1 million world wide, and over 100,000 in the US, and the Hong Kong flu of 1968 (which I lived through but don’t remember) ALSO killed over 1 million world wide, and over 100,000 in the US. A quote from Wikipedia says “In Berlin, the excessive number of deaths led to corpses being stored in subway tunnels, and in West Germany, garbage collectors had to bury the dead due to insufficient undertakers.“  It also said “The CDC estimated over 100,000 people died in the US, most excess deaths were in those 65 and older. However fewer people died during this (Hong Kong) pandemic than in previous pandemics”. 

In 1968 the population of the US was 200 million. As horrific as those viruses were, the probability of death was .0005 (or .05%). Today the population in the US is 330 million. For today’s pandemic to be as deadly as those two pandemics, over 165,000 people would need to die. You would think we would compare our current virus to those two rather than reach back 100 years. Are there clandestine motives for comparing to the Spanish flu? There is no way I can say, other than: the Spanish flu was first identified in Spain but it originated in Asia – which seems to be an unpopular label today – so maybe people will think the Spanish flu came from Spain? In addition, referring to a pandemic that happened 100 years ago would make this one seem rare – which it is not. Hmmm…

Regardless of what conspiracy theory you want to chase, I found it odd that the Asian flu actually attacked children, and pregnant women died at a very high rate – yet 10 years later, when it happened again, the world didn’t shut down. 

The question I asked was “what is different between then and now?” 

I landed on a current government web site. The National Center for Biotech Information (NCBI). It is under the control of the US Library of Medicine, which is under the control of the National Institute for Health (NIH). The following statement written before this outbreak is fairly clear that medically, we aren’t much further along than we were 50 years ago:

“Preparing for the Unpredictable

Yes, we can prepare, but with the realization that no amount of hand washing, hand wringing, public education, or gauze masks will do the trick. The keystone of influenza prevention is vaccination. It is unreasonable to believe that we can count on prophylaxis with antiviral agents to protect a large, vulnerable population for more than a few days at a time, and that is not long enough. How long will they be given? To whom? What are the risks in mass administration? All of this is unknown.

But vaccination against what? We do not know. Perhaps against H5N1. But do we not already have a vaccine? No, we do not; no vaccine of adequate antigenic potency is available in sufficient supply.”

So, if these pandemics are really fairly common, and people have faced them since we walked the earth, why is this the first time in the history of the world that we ever quarantined the healthy for this long and shut down healthy economies – which are turning anemic before our eyes?

If this feels like this is leading to another “Conspiracy Theory”, you’re spot on! It’s just that it’s not a theory and the conspirator is not human. And believers have a significant role to play – so suit up and keep reading!

So, what IS different in the past 50 years?

1. MEDIA!!!

In additions to newspapers, in 1968 we had 3 primary TV channels that carried all sorts of programming. “News” only occurred for an hour or two in the evening. But, that’s just TV! On top of thousands of channels and 24 hour “news”, we now have every other form of electronic medium like social media and even video games vying for our attention. Why do they “vie” for our attention? Because, like everything else… it’s all about the dollar! When we click on it, when we watch it, it sells advertising – which raises money!!!

The worst day of your month in the news business is no bad news! No one will click on you, watch you, or pay the advertising dollars! Why is news all bad? Because no one clicks on someone doing something nice. Look at how unique that is on TV right now. It shouldn’t be – those things happen every day. But in the words of music great Don Henley – “give me dirty laundry!” Because it sells!!!

Do not underestimate the role media has on our lives. All media feeds itself through views and clicks – and that only happens with sensationalism. We are what we eat. And, unless you are “lifting weights in the Spiritual Gym” (studying scripture and in prayer on a regular basis) and are “spiritually fit”, you have no reason to believe you can “discern (the difference between) good and evil”. Hebrews 5:14 states “But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil”. Are you equipped to know that what you are eating might be poisonous to your soul?

2. THE DECLINE OF CHRISTIANITY AND BIBLE KNOWLEDGE

The decline of Christianity in America is off the charts. It is a true epidemic – and patients are dying everywhere. Arizona Christian University released a study in March 2020 that states 6% of Americans have a Biblical World View. This is a disaster – because Perspective is Everything!

Did you know that King David counted the people of Israel and was punished severely for it? The story is in a few places but 1 Chronicles 21:1 says “Then Satan stood up against Israel and moved David to number the people”. (The action demonstrated David’s reliance on numbers of warriors rather than on God.) As a result of David’s sin, verse 14 recounts “So the Lord sent a pestilence on Israel; 70,000 men of Israel fell.”

There are almost 100 listings of “pestilence” or “plague” in the Bible. One thing most of the references have in common… they came from the hand of God.

While those passages might raise an eyebrow, there is also amazing comfort in scripture. Psalm 91:1-3 says “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, “my refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust!” For it is He who delivers you from the snare of the trapper and from the deadly pestilence.”

Hold it! So, the Bible says God is sovereign over a pestilence… and He delivers us from them?

Yes, and He determines whether you live, or breathe, or die. In fact, He planned it from the beginning. Psalm 139:1-4 says: “O Lord, you have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I raise up; You understand my thought from afar. You scrutinize my path and my lying down, And are intimately acquainted with all my ways. Even before there is a thought on my tongue, Behold, O Lord, You know it all.” Verse 16 adds: “And in your book were all written the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them.”

The book of Acts is very clear that God does not just “allow things to happen” (a very common Christian comment made in error),  He causes things to happen. Acts 4:27, 28 recounts: “For truly in this city there were gathered together against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose predestined to occur.” That’s God’s Part in this virus. 

They go on to declare Our Part in this virus in verse 29: “And now, Lord, take note of their threats, and grant that Your bond-servants may speak Your word with all confidence, while You extend Your hand to heal…” Are you a bond-servant of the Lord Jesus Christ? Jesus didn’t set us free from sin and pay the biggest price ever paid so we can have a happy life and look forward to the hope of heaven. Yes, those are huge benefits of being believers, but we were slaves to sin and His precious blood bought us to be slaves (bond-servants) to Him. 2 Corinthians 5:15 “And He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.”  Revelation 19:5 says “And a voice came from the throne, saying, Give praise to our God, all you His bond-servants, you who fear Him, the small and the great.” Do your thoughts and conversations regarding this virus sound like you are living for Him or for yourself? Are you equipped with knowledge of His word to serve Him as His bond-servant? Have you prepared your heart to do that?

Psalm 78:7,8: “That they should put their confidence in God and not forget the works of God, but keep His commandments, and not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation that did not prepare its heart and whose spirit was not faithful to God.”

I was blessed a few years back to read a book that is a compilation of diaries of the Generals and some Lieutenants written during the Civil War. I was shocked at how much scripture virtually every man hand wrote into his diary. Most entry’s were actually prayers. It didn’t matter which side of the war they were on. The point is – there was a time in the history of the US that Christians knew the Word of God. Washington and Lincoln are known for how much scripture they quoted – along with many others… because they knew it.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer in World War II declared that Nazism and the slaughter of millions of Jews would not have happened if more people in Germany knew their Bibles. Hitler’s belief in the superiority of a race (which the entire war was based on) was due to his belief in evolution. Although most of Germany considered themselves Christian, they were actually just religious. Few people knew their Bibles and didn’t see anything wrong in what Hitler was doing (Hebrews 5:14). I’m sure those who questioned his motives were also called “conspiracy theorists!”

“Senses trained discern good and evil.” Not what culture says is evil, what the Bible says is evil.

Hmmm…. seems like a good strategy (for someone opposed to God) would be to diminish Bible knowledge of the people, and crank up the scare tactics over media via devices that are now permanently attached to every human!!! That way they WOULDN’T put their trust in Him! Yes, it’s actually that simple…

3. THE EMASCULATION OF MEN

“Mom, tell me about Grandpa in the big war…” “Oh, he doesn’t like to talk about it much. It must have been very horrific.” “What did Grandma do while he was gone?” “She helped with war bonds… she was a nurse for all the men who were wounded… she prayed for him a lot”. 

There is a reason that throughout the history of mankind men go to war… not women. Because God created men and women to perform different roles. So, why has that fact become more and more blurred? (The answer is #2.) Together, a man and a woman reflect the image of God. All of our positive attributes are a reflection of Him. Yes, logic is an attribute, and so is emotion. The idea that we teach girls to love playing with dolls or  boys to dig in the dirt and catch frogs is absurd. Are there girls who like to do boyish things? Sure. Are there boys who like to shop? Sure, and there is nothing wrong with either. But there is also a reason for the term “boys will be boys!” It’s because God made them that way. And, they will remain that way if we don’t teach them to become spiritually mature men.

One of the greatest reasons for the decline of Christianity in the US is the clouding over of role of the male and the female. The majority of main line churches today have women as pastors, elders, and even senior pastors. 

It appears that most churches join with  Secretary of State Hillary Clinton when she famously screamed “WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE!!!” (She was testifying because a number of American government officials were murdered in Benghazi, Libya and the government covered up their lack of support.) The Apostle Paul seemed to think it makes a big difference and explained why in great detail:

In Paul’s letter to Timothy in 1 Timothy 2:11-14, he said “A woman must quietly receive instruction with entire submissiveness. But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet. For it was Adam who was first created, and then Eve. And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression.”

Whether we like what’s in the Bible, or whether we don’t, is not the point. The point as Christians – is our obedience to God. Granted, there are some passages that aren’t all that clear, and have been debated for centuries. This passage is crystal clear. And it has been followed for all of history… except the past 50 years.

It is interesting that most arguments against male headship are based in some form of evolution. Some say it was the culture of Paul’s day that women were treated that way, and we are no longer “Neanderthals”. But, lets look at his reasons for stating it:

 1. The order of creation. Genesis is quite clear that Woman (out of man) was created as man’s “helper”. Genesis 2:18 Then the Lord said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.” Shortly after creation, the issue of the difference between man and woman is impacted by sin. As a result of the curse brought by the fall, God said in Genesis 3:16 Yet your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.” Just before that passage part of the curse is pain in childbirth. I know of no woman who “gets used to” or “looks forward to” childbirth! And I’m not aware of many woman who are excited about their husband “ruling over them”. It appears that we hate “curses” placed on us – which may be  the main reason we have failed at following this command. 

2. His second reason deals with our roles. “It was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression.” Women are not being punished because Eve was first to be deceived. Paul is simply acknowledging the differences between men and women. We are built for different roles.  There is no legitimate debate that men are generally based in logic and women are generally based in emotion – and we each have some of both. Are there some women who are more logical than some men? Yes, I am unbelievably blessed by a very logical wife. Do we know men who are more emotional? Yes, but that doesn’t open the door to disobey one of God’s commands. Why are “men from Mars and women from Venus”? Logic and emotion! 

3. Paul’s third argument for male headship in the home and the Church is our relationship to the Trinity. In 1 Corinthians 11:3 he says “But I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ.” He also repeats (as in Timothy) in verses 8 and 9: “For man does not originate from woman, but woman from man; for indeed man was not created for the woman’s sake, but woman for the man’s sake. 

These are obviously not popular passages of scripture to even think about, much less follow. No doubt, they can create a lot of conflict. But don’t forget, Paul was a co-author… with God. Those passages are there for a reason… and each is inspired by God. It doesn’t take much intuition to see that God intends for the final decisions dealing with His Word as well as the home – to be made by the man of the home. That fact doesn’t open the door for man’s tyranny. Each one of us will stand before Jesus and give account for how we dealt with this issue! (2 Corinthians 5:10): “For we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body according to what he has done, whether good or bad.”

Also note, I can find no passage of scripture that tells a man to “make sure your wife is in submission to you”. Just like we can’t take pieces out of scripture, it’s a real bad idea to add to it. One of the reasons you want to be “equally yoked” (before you decide to get married) is because it is illogical that a non believing woman would ever be in submission to her husband. Even strong believing women will struggle with being in submission to – and respecting – their husbands, just like husbands will often fail at loving their wives. We are all sinners and need to forgive one another just as we ask God to forgive us. 

Satan’s strategy has always been to question the Word of God. He said to Eve “surely you will not die!” (Genesis 3:4). He tempted Jesus in the wilderness by misquoting scripture (which is interesting because it shows that even Satan knows scripture – but doesn’t believe it). And he is tempting us every day by saying “that was a long time ago, it isn’t relevant now, besides, do you want to go home and explain that to your wife?”

Many think that a father walking his daughter down the isle is a beautiful custom – because she is so beautiful on that day – and is the focal point of the ceremony. Actually, that custom is depicting Headship! The father is escorting her – and presenting her – to the man she is about to marry. When the officiant asks “who gives this woman”, many have unknowingly (Hebrews 5:14) erred in saying “her mother and I”. That is not the point. Why isn’t anyone “giving” the man? It is because the father has headship over the daughter – as long as she lives – until he approves of the man He is going to now confer headship to. That is why the father always answered “I do”, until Feminism began to rule our society – and we unwittingly submitted to that instead of God.

Ecclesiastes 3 verses 1 and 8 states: “There is an appointed time for everything… a time for war, and a time for peace.” God commanded war quite often in the Old Testament. There are times – like the tyranny of Hitler where there is no option but to take up arms and go to war… and it has always been men that do that.

In the war that created our Nation, at least 50,000 died fighting for our freedoms and independence in 1775. Washington and the rest of the male leadership knew many would die before the war began. The population at the time was about 2.7 million. That puts the death rate at 1.85% of all Americans. But, of the 200,000 who fought, the death rate was 25%. The Civil war is notorious for having 600,000 American casualties (both sides). The population at the time was 35 million. That puts the death rate at 1.7% of all Americans. Of the 2.75 million who fought the death rate was 22%. For perspective, as of this writing on 5/21/20 total deaths from covid 19 are 93,061 in the US. With a population of 330 million, that is a death rate of .03% after about 4 months of exposure to the virus. Men chose to go to war which resulted in death rates 60 times the amount we are experiencing today. 

Since mothers are created to nurture and care for their children (and their children are always their children), how many mothers would participate in planning to send their sons to war? Paul stipulated men to be the head of the home and to teach other men because there will be times when we must go to war with others, but also with sin. It may be the unrepentant sin of one of our “of age” children that we need to “go to war” with. Mothers will always look for reasons to accommodate their child. Men are required to make the hard decisions. The lack of spiritually mature men is the reason secular society created the term “Tough Love”, because they figured out a glimpse of the way God intended it to be.

The War for Independence and the Civil War were based in choices that weren’t as clear as World War II. It became clear Hitler was coming and we had to protect what we had – as well as help the rest of the world. But our independence was based on taxes! And the Civil War was based in a practice that had been done for centuries and even our government leaders practiced – slavery. Praise God that men of character and valor made those decisions to gain our freedom – as well as that of the slaves in America! But, if mothers have an equal say in the matter, they will protect their children and decide to not send them to war. This is also why the church is so weak. Our weakness has caused us to tolerate unrepentant  sin within the body. In addition, we have given up the freedom our ancestors fought for at a 1.85% death rate in fear of a .03% death rate. Wow.

The Trinity is a complex subject because it is in the spiritual realm and we are physical. Jesus is equal with God in His deity. However, He clearly accepted and embraced a role that is very different than God the Father. In the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus (in His humanity), cried out and dripped sweat as though it were blood because of His anguish – and asked  “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me, yet not as I will, but as You will.” (Matthew 26:39) Jesus is in submission to the Father And is God! But, roles are different from equality: Galatians 3:28 says “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ.” That statement declares everyone is equal before God – just as the Trinity are equal with One Another. But, it is clear God has given us different roles – just as each Person of the Trinity has different roles. 

Matthew 10:22 states “you will be hated by all because of My name.” In addition, the world is blinded to the Word of God. “You are of your father the devil and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the Truth because there is no Truth in him… he is a liar and the father of lies.” (John 8:44). The world hates that scripture clearly states a difference in role between a man and woman. Look at the venom and hatred that comes out of the Feminist Movement. They have created a term “toxic masculinity” which is now widely accepted. jezebel.com (prepare your stomach if you look at it), has a report: “Top Easiest Ways to Emasculate a Dude.” Google the 17 Goals set by the United Nations which they have every intent of accomplishing – throughout the world – by 2030. Goal number 5 is “Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.” 

No doubt there are many bad men in the world, men who give “manhood” a bad name. The only solution to that problem is salvation and the pursuit of spiritual maturity. Feminism is completely opposite of the word of God. It is anti – submission. It teaches that it is bad even though Jesus is in complete submission to the Father.

Marriage and family are institutions of God. Satan knows that if he can take down the family he can take down Christianity. Over the past 50 years, he has been very successful at that – and the Church has accommodated him in its ignorance. Psalm 106:34 “they did not destroy the peoples as the Lord commanded them, but they mingled with the nations and learned their practices”.

Most Christians’ greatest concerns for their young sons is no different from the world: “to be good and get the best college education and career, and marry the right girl, and have a family.” They typically add “and go to church”. How are they supposed to become spiritually mature men of God? Is it even a goal? In the moment, it is very difficult for mothers to embrace James 1:2 when thinking about their sons: “Consider it all joy, my brethren when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance, and let endurance have it’s perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” Another word for “perfect and complete” is spiritually mature. Mothers nurture. It is what they are built to do! Praise God for that! But, they will also prevent their sons from experiencing as many “trials” as possible, unknowingly – resulting in their immaturity. And with a nation of spiritually immature men, (Psalm 78:8), the women take over and create more spiritually immature men. 

There are some who advocate for Christianity to change culture and make a positive impact on society. We don’t have any evidence of Jesus or any of the Apostles engaging in that objective.  Jesus came to save the lost and the Apostles pointed the way to Spiritual Maturity. Does true Christianity have a positive impact on society? Of course it does! However, the point of this paper is not to change culture, but to impact the body within our sphere of influence to follow scripture – and not the lies of this world. We need to raise our boys to become God fearing men who aren’t afraid to lead and make hard decisions… and open doors for women! Spiritually mature men declare like Peter did in Acts 4:20 “we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard!”

The Conspiracy

By now, it should be very clear that there IS a conspiracy – and the conspirator is the devil. His goal is always to take our focus off God and put it on ourselves and things of this world. Unfortunately, due to the changes we have seen in the past 50 years, he has been very effective. His minions are the lost of the world. 1 John 5:19 says “We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.” 2 Corinthians 4:3, 4 states “And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel  of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”

And, Satan uses people to do his bidding – along with his legions of demons. 

As for what I have discovered through research – there are a lot of things  that don’t make much sense in view of how governments are dealing with this virus throughout the world. In addition to the above comments about past viruses, the experience of the USS Roosevelt and the Diamond Princess cruise ship are very informative. Both are excellent test cases to tell us exactly how contagious and how deadly this virus is. 

USS Theodore Roosevelt 

4,500 crew median age 26

1,200 test positive 24%

3        hospitalized .07%

1        death           .02%

Diamond Princess Cruise Ship

3,700 passengers and crew – (median age of passengers 70)

712.   test positive. 20%

331.   symptomatic 9%

13.     deaths           .35%

It has been difficult to get real information from anywhere. However, the above two cases are very clear. It’s also ironic that they cover both ends of the spectrum: The carrier – young healthy people; the cruise ship the most at risk age group. Thirteen deaths on a cruise ship is horrific. Those people were going to vacation to have fun. But, as far as pandemics go, the numbers are extremely low – and certainly don’t warrant most actions that have been taken. 

A recent report from Swiss Policy Research states: “According to data from the best-studied countries and regions, the lethality of Covid 19 is on average about 0.2%, which is in the range of a severe influenza (flu).” When you combine the two ship death rates – which account for both ends of the age range – the lethality is 0.17% – very similar to the Swiss data.

It is my understanding that numerous Corona Viruses have infected humans. And we have Never created a vaccine for a Corona Virus… It also took us 40 years to create a vaccine for Ebola. Ebola is highly infectious and kills 50% of its victims. The only reason it doesn’t spread as much is that it kills it’s victims so fast. After all of it’s publicity, we still don’t have a vaccine for HIV- which is a… Virus! But, we’re now waiting for a cure from a disease that has the same probability of killing you as your commute to work. (Remember back when we commuted to work?)

Of course it made sense to make sure hospitals weren’t overrun. And it appears the whole world was fairly effective at that. The plan was “flatten the curve”. On May 18, 2020 the CEO of Spectrum Heath (the largest healthcare organization that serves Western Michigan) said that they are at 60% of capacity and staff is on layoff. When asked if the organization could handle a resurgence, she said “we can handle anything”. As of May 21, Western Michigan is still closed down. 

Is this all about China? Is this as simple as a “blue state/red state” issue? Is it just “Never Trumpers”? Is Michigan’s governor pursuing as much publicity as possible?  It could be, but I personally find that the 17 goals that the United Nations wants to achieve by 2030 seem to have it’s “finger prints” all over what we have been experiencing for some time. The only way they can accomplish their goals is through world wide socialism via  One World Order. It is definitely worth reading their goals, as most nations of the world have endorsed and signed up to accomplish them. 

Regardless of any flesh and blood conspiracy that is occurring, know that those people are only pawns of the devil. As believers, we need to understand what is taking place in the world, and be a light in that world. The only way I know of to do that is through knowledge of the Word of God and abiding in Christ.

By the way, Romans 13:1 says “Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.” Well, once again, scripture is quite clear. Does it mean we shouldn’t protest? No. That is perfectly legal – at least for now. Each one of us will stand before our Creator and give an account of our lives. That includes how you obeyed this command as well. 

In summary, what has changed in the past 50 years, and how should believers respond?

Media – you are what you eat. Don’t believe just because you are a believer you don’t damage yourself by what you consume. Be aware of the schemes of the evil one. He wants to divide and disrupt, God wants us to live in peace and unity. The devil is the ruler of this world and owns all media.

Bible knowledge – Psalm 119:115 “your Word is a lamp to my feet”. Turn on that lamp by basking in the Word of God. The more you lean into Him, the more He will lean into you and protect you from the lies of the world. A very wise bible teacher once said, “if you don’t know prophesy, you will follow the antichrist”. When you study prophesy, you can see why that statement is probably true. Will you know the antichrist when he comes?

Emasculation of Men – teach your sons and the men you disciple to set a goal of becoming – and how to become – the mature man God desires all of us to be. Women – fight the desire and lies of Feminism and teach our daughters the amazing role God has given you – and thank God for it. We have an epidemic of 30 year old Christian women who can’t find spiritually mature men to marry. Lets change that.

This virus is a test

It is a Spiritual War. If it has convicted you that you have work to do – as it did me, understand our Purpose. Our goal is not to win the war in the flesh. If God wants to bring the world to its knees for its rebellion, He will. Our goal is to use this war to be the light which sets the captives free from oppression of sin. Introduce others to freedom in Christ, grow in your knowledge of – and obedience to – the Word of God. Abide in Christ, and encourage and support one another. This too, shall pass. Don’t waste it.

God Bless!

Stay in the Spiritual Gym!