#245 – The Issue

Gas prices, gun-control, a SCOTUS announcement on abortion, or Ukraine – none are the issue of the day for those who claim to follow Christ. There is but one issue.

Lawlessness is ugly. It is as hideous as the snake whose venom is displayed in the oft-distressing pseudo-issues above, slithers toward you with its menacing eyes set upon you.

We humans inherit Satan’s spirit of lawlessness from Adam and Eve. It is seen in our belief that we can decide between good and evil for ourselves rather than simply obeying God. It is the cause of America’s collapse and is why the Mt. 16:18 Church is hardly recognizable in the institutional church.

SNAKES
I hate snakes and I wish I hated lawlessness at least equally. Rom. 12:9b, “Detest what is evil; cling to what is good,” weighs on me.

The Life of the Promised Land (John 10:10 Abundant Life in the Kingdom of God now, and then in heaven forever) is too often only a distant vision that Satan tries to replace with a mirage of man’s religious rules, good works, and institutions. A lawless bent too often robs us of relief from our soul hunger.

The action of verses 12-13 in Heb. 4:1-13 can literally be felt in our soul (mind/will/ emotions) as God works in us. Relief from infected wounds is worth it but the cutting hurts and the bleeding is messy. (https://biblia.com/bible/esv/hebrews/4/1-13)

I’m on that journey, and God has never wielded a bigger scalpel on my inner parts than in this Day. I see Him working similarly in certain others and I can learn from anyone, but I’ll still never be able to write except as a fellow traveler alongside you.

BACK TO THE ISSUE
But back to the issue. We must first look upward to Jesus for help in looking inward, so that we can deal with our lawlessness; find our identity in Christ; and have a God and righteousness-informed perspective when we look outward.

As a Col. 3:1 disposition enables us to focus on what ultimately matters, the “all these things” of the Mt. 6:33 Kingdom of God will change our view on things that don’t, today, and more than ever when the storms now embedded in the approaching clouds finally reach us.

IN CONCLUSION
As we choose that path, the power of Satan’s lawlessness in us is crushed by the power of Christ’s righteousness in us and we are anointed with the oil of gladness above our companions even as He was. Nothing else matters – even gas at $10/gallon. (Hebrews 1:9, https://biblehub.com/hebrews/1-9.htm)

Ken Stoltzfus
Kidron, Ohio USA
June 11, 2022

– Printable pdf at: www.10minas.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/245.pdf