The time remaining is short, Satan is firing all his missiles and strategies to do as much damage as possible.
God so loved (John 3:16) the world.
Love not (1 John 2:15) the world.
Does this puzzle you? It is not a contradiction but is the essential Truth of discernment needed for spiritual awareness which the Holy Spirit brings to us as we seek (John 16:13) His continual guidance. (Dr.Jeremiah) reminds us that “in the Bible, the word WORLD is used in 3 different ways.
(1) The world of Nature, the world which God created.
(2) The world of human beings, every one of whom God loved.
(3) The world system which Satan controls. It is in total opposition to God in every way. It tolerates and accepts every wrong and every religion but has nothing but satanic hatred and abuse of Christianity, which it brutally maligns with devilish lies, slander and persecution.” Let’s examine those 3 WORLDS.
(1) Of course, we have admiration and gratitude the world of beauty and produce, which God created and filled with good gifts for us.
(2) We are to love the inhabited world and demonstrate our love to its inhabitants by our kindness and personal witness to the Lord Jesus and our participation in (Matthew 28:18-20) the Great Commission.
(3) The world system is a dangerous place where (Ephesians 2:2) the prince of the power of the air rules. Satan has his H.Q. between heaven and earth and his hordes of demons are rampant throughout all the world system. They are (Ephesians 6:12) principalities, powers, master spirits, wicked rulers of this present darkness in heavenly places, the supernatural sphere.
It is impossible to love this world and love God at the same time. It is where Satan, in appealing disguise beckons us to (1 John 2:16) the lust/desire of the flesh, the lust/desire of the eye and the pride of life. (The word LUST here can also accurately be interpreted as STRONG DESIRE).
The evil purpose in the lust of the flesh is the perversion of the good which God created. So, appetite becomes gluttony, selfless love becomes selfish lust, generosity becomes greed and etc. It is a self-centered demand for sensual gratification with no restrictions. The lust of the eye is the idolatry (Colossians 3:5) of covetousness. You see something that someone else has and you want it. You don’t need it but you not only want it, but also you resent the person who has what you want and don’t have. It is an unholy desire to own more, possess more, though all of this has nothing to do with any actual need.
The pride of life is the deifying of self. It is an ego-driven desire to be noticed, an attempt to impress others with your non-existing importance. Good works become a loud trumpet blast of public declaration and self-praise.
That is Satan’s 3-prong strategy (flesh, eye, pride) to divert a Christian and make him completely ineffective for God’s holy purpose in that individual.
Why did Jesus say (Matthew 5:16) if people see your good works, they will not give you any credit but they will praise and glorify God? Because in ourselves, we are not capable of doing lasting good works. If our obedience is strengthened and energized by the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit, the Lord will call us and enable us to do the good works (Ephesians 2:10) designed and prepared for us and which have eternal value. Born-again believers are the Body of Christ, so the Lord uses our mind, our heart, our voice, our hands, our feet to accomplish His projects and purposes in this world which God so loves.
When John spoke of (1 John 2:12-14) little children, young men and fathers, he was not referring only to men but to the stages, progress and development in Christian growth for all of us. For new believers there is (1 Peter 2:2) the pure milk of God’s Word to nourish and strengthen them. For those growing in faith and obedience, God’s Word teaches them to valiantly overcome the enemy. For those with maturity, experience and discernment, the Word of God (Hebrews 5:14) continues to develop their senses and faculties with the solid food and strong meat of spiritual nourishment. Maturing is (Dr.Jeremiah) “going from a thin skin and a hard heart to a tough skin and a soft heart”. God can take away a heart of stone (Ezekiel 11:19) and replace it with a heart of flesh, a heart (Jeremiah 24:7) to know Him.
Jesus did not die for us in order to give us a pain and problem free life but to restore us to the Divine Image. That is exactly what He is doing through (Romans 8:28-29) the “all things” of our everyday lives. That is why we can (Philippians 4:6) give thanks in all things and for all things because we know that God’s ultimate purpose always is for our spiritual enrichment. Our temporary lifetime on earth is God’s school where we are taught, fitted, equipped for our glorious unending life in heaven. Find your right place now, the place where grumblings, complaints, questions cease and where worship and praise begin and continue. Jesus said (Mark 4:35) let us go over to the other side and (Mark 5:1) they came to the other side. When we obey the Lord, heed His instructions and carry out His orders, do what He says promptly, the storm is never a factor. Then we experience the answer to the prayer of Jesus (John 17:11) and more and more become one with God. In 1450 John Huff was forced to wear a paper crown with devils painted on it, he spoke of Jesus’ crown of thorns, then he was burned at the stake and he died singing in the midst of mounting flames. We can be sure of this, it is better to die after and because of loyally confessing Jesus Christ than to live after denying Him.
We all know that things are worsening all over the world and that is easily explained. Satan is well acquainted with the Bible (James 2:19) and because he believes every word, he trembles/shudders in horror. He knows that (Revelation 12:12) his remaining time is short so he is firing all his missiles and strategies to do as much damage as possible.
There is nothing more up-to-date than (Psalms 2) which mirrors our current times and the involvement of the Holy Trinity. “We see (Dr. Yousef) very clearly the defiant rage of the God-haters. They well know the astounding derision of Almighty God. The unending domination of the Son of God has been irrevocably established”. For a little while longer deliverance by the Holy Spirit is still possible. In these dark and troubled times if we fill our hearts and minds with (Colossians 3:16) God’s Word, we will not be vulnerable to let little things slip and drift slowly away into the pagan philosophy of the wicked culture of the evil world system. If we are wearing (Ephesians 6:13) the full armour of God and are filled with the light (Psalms 119:105) of holy Truth, we will be sheltered in the loving arms of God (Deuteronomy 33:27) and we can be confidently and continually secure in God’s eternal Sovereignty.