Pervasiveness of Evil: Guard Your Heart - Part 2

The predictability of evil’s being everywhere is undeniable to the point of evil’s being accepted as commonplace. Explicit sex in films and on T.V. is a prime example. Newscasts are so inundated with violence that we become numbed to its power and influence. Evil invades our belief system and cleverly begins to question our values and morals.

Initially President Richard Nixon’s highest aim was integrity for himself and his presidential office. Yet the dark side of himself and his advisers eventually gained power to the point of corruption and destruction.

Balaam, an Old Testament prophet, purposed to believe in God. Listen to his testimony. "How can I curse those whom God has not cursed? How can I denounce those whom the Lord has not denounced? Let me die the death of the righteous and may my end be like theirs." That sounds like a man of faith, but his dark side contaminated by evil upstaged his best intentions. How unfortunate. 

Holding on Through Failure and Success - Part 2

To think of defeat as being an impostor is easy to accept. But to consider success as an impostor is hard to swallow. Very few people set themselves up to fail because success is a primary objective. However success as well as failure has the power to corrupt. Success can give birth to disregarding the rules for a healthy, godly life.

Success can blind a person to boundaries that were earlier a guiding force in life. Success can create an illusion of being invulnerable to failure. Rudyard Kipling's poem, Rewards and Fairies, regarded success as being an impostor whenever it has the alluring capacity to erase from consciousness the need for God.

The Apostle Paul, speaking to the church at Rome, prayed that God, who gives endurance and encouragement, would create such unity of heart and mind that each believer would give him recognition and praise for all they have, whether a little or in abundance. This attitude sees success or failure from God's perspective.