Arise, O Lord

November 16

“Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life,” Galatians 6:7, 8.

“You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit,” Matthew 7:16-18

There is much deception afoot today. Some people are deluded into believing that doctrines of demons are truth and that serving the tenets of evil is following the authority of heaven. These duped individuals are sacrificing honor and integrity and ultimately salvation to pursue the purveyors of the one who “comes to steal, kill and destroy,” John 10:10.

Anyone who is versed in the Bible knows the Ten Commandments and understands that to be guilty of even the smallest infraction of the holy law is to be guilty of all. No one stands innocent before Almighty God. Everyone stands in need of a Savior. But many who disdain the veracity of the doctrines of the Judeo/Christian Scriptures are steeped in a lawlessness that defies understanding by those who know “Vengeance is Mine, says the Lord,” Romans 12:19.

Those who mete out flagrant counterfeit justice are serving the purposes of the enemy of the Living God and they are bound by their bogus interpretation of who God is and what His purposes are and how He will achieve His righteous control of earth and man and all that exists.

A day is coming when each individual who sees life and truth and God from a skewed perspective will anguish for his failure to pursue truth, the truth the Word of God assures will be ours if we seek it, according to John 8:32 which says, “You will know the truth and the truth will set you free.”

Those who are bound by deception are trapped by their own unwillingness to search for truth; they are deluded by the pseudo power of the seductive doctrines and lies of the enemy.

Our Holy God has said, “You will seek Me and find Me when you shall search for Me with all your heart,” Jeremiah 29:13, but many are content to embrace the false gods of power and wealth and domination. Many are deceived by the seeming success of the purveyors of lies who appear to have the upper hand.

They fail to understand that the flourishing of the wicked is only for a season. In Jeremiah 12:1, the prophet asks, “Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all the faithless live at ease?” Many of us have asked that same question.

Psalm 10:1-18 addresses the issue:

“Why do You stand afar off, O Lord? Why do You hide Yourself in times of trouble? The wicked in his pride persecutes the poor. Let them be taken in the devices they have imagined! The wicked boasts of attaining his heart’s desire and blesses the covetous, whom the Lord abhors!

“The wicked, through the pride of his countenance will not seek after God, for God is not in his thoughts. His ways are always grievous for Your judgments, O God, are far above him and out of his sight. The wicked one puffs at his enemies. “He has said in his heart, ‘I shall not be moved for I shall never have adversity.’

“His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and fraud; under his tongue is mischief and vanity. He sits in the lurking places of the villages; in the secret places does he murder the innocent; his eyes are set against the poor. He lies in wait, secretly, as a lion in his den. He lies in wait to catch the poor; he catches the poor when he draws him into his net…that the poor may fall by his strong ones. He has said in his heart, ‘God has forgotten me; He hides His face; He will never see my sin.’

“Arise, O Lord! O God, lift up Your hand! Forget not the humble. Why does the wicked condemn God? Why has the wicked said in his heart that God will require no penalty for his sin?

“You have seen it, O God! You behold the evil and You will requite it with Your hand! The poor who has committed himself to You will find You to be his Helper. O, Lord, break the arm of the wicked, evil man! Seek out his wickedness until he is gone! You, Lord, are King forever; the heathen will perish out of the land! You have heard the cry of the humble and You will no longer allow the wicked to oppress them.”

There is a day coming when the Lord God will triumph and His godly people will “be more than conquerors through Christ who loves them,” Romans 8:37. God is not mocked; His righteousness will establish those who embrace Jesus as Savior and Lord in the glories of everlasting life.