Never tire of doing what is good.

‭‭2 Thessalonians‬ ‭3‬:‭13‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Doing good comes at a price most would rather not pay.

Costs to image, reputation, and relationships are likely casualties despite the best of intentions.

But not everyone has the best intentions.

I don’t always get it right and when it’s clear I don’t I clarify or rescind, make my private apologies and reconciliations insofar as it’s up to me, and learn a thing or two for the next time.

I won’t tire of doing what I know to be good, but I also won’t be continually fatigued by those whose intentions for me are clearly to be cruel or personally demeaning and destructive.

Fortunately these instances are rare for now but not for much longer.

As polarity of belief and opinion becomes more publicly enunciated and pronounced, more is at stake. The fields of faith and politics are bloody for all the righteous reasons.

Do not regard them as an enemy, but warn them as you would a fellow believer.

‭‭2 Thessalonians‬ ‭3‬:‭15‬ ‭NIV‬‬

These days and always, faith and politics are both matters of life and death. One for the sake of our spirits, one for the sake of our nation. And while far from equal in significance, both require voices to plea their case for what should be.

Paul said Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst, but I should probably be asking him to hold my beer.

I will never tire of being good while so much is still at stake.

Coming soon to a future near you:

The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie, and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.

‭‭2 Thessalonians‬ ‭2‬:‭9‬-‭10‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Biblical prophecy is coming true more and more these days unreported by MSM to render anyone’s recognition of it as pure conspiracy theory, “serving the lie.” Indeed, this is how Satan works.

Believers everywhere, desperate to persuade the world of the Truth they continue to deny at the consequence of their perishing, are finding fewer and fewer willing to listen, see, and believe.

But giving up is never an option taught nor modeled in the Bible.

Prophecy will continue to materialize before our eyes as the world winds up into a meteoric rise of evil and deception because prophecies were given for the edification and faith-building of believers in these end times.

Continue to testify of the gospel and let your words take root in the hearts and minds of men and women who still have ears to hear, hearts to soften, and minds that seek a much better way.

Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction.

‭‭2 Thessalonians‬ ‭2‬:‭3‬ ‭NIV‬‬

A spiritual decline and falling away from the truth are earmarks of this rebellion. The current state of our nation would be a good example, giving rise to curiosity about the emergence of the one who will lead the world into its final destruction.

But hold on.

This letter to the Thessalonians is much more a warning guarding against being deceived than a footnote about revelation of the Antichrist.

Whether it speaks about today, tomorrow, or years from now, the command is “do not be deceived” about the coming of the Lord. A lot of things still need to happen.

So in the interim, how do we guard our hearts and minds from would be deceptors and their seemingly convincing messages?

At the same time these deceptions are emerging, notice all the public figures, entertainers, and sports figures coming out of the woodwork for Christ. Notice the rise in bold defenses of our faith and values at great social, professional, and political cost.

The lines are being drawn and rebellion is in the air.

Read, understand, and live your bible. Gather near to godly people. Immerse yourself in truth and prayer for wisdom.

Act like tomorrow may not come and if so, may increasingly not arrive as we might hope or expect.

Guard against being deceived more than discovering the identity of the man of lawlessness.

His time will come.

Your time is now.

For you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief.”

‭‭1 Thessalonians‬ ‭5‬:‭2‬-‭4‬ ‭NIV‬‬

All days are last days. There is no preparation except to know Christ and in doing so, to live on as instructed.

Though the evidences appear to mount daily, they are yet just speculation on circumstances, not destinations to get caught up in as so many are doing and losing sight of the remaining mission at hand.

Live fully like today is the last day and tomorrow might just be payday.

I was invited to a business networking breakfast yesterday as a prospective member and introduced myself and our nonprofit as a fine agency with 10,000 new clients every year, all of whom have absolutely no benefit to anyone in this room except me.

Serving the underserved, the forgotten, and those on the margin’s edge is not a pretty cause but the results can be a thing of beauty.

Experiencing people, seniors, and entire families once homeless on the streets lifted out of the rolls of poverty, into good housing and good jobs, and into a renewed hope for a thriving future is an incentive to show up every day rarely found in for profit work.

For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life.”

‭‭1 Thessalonians‬ ‭4‬:‭7‬ ‭NIV‬‬

A life lived holy is one that sets itself apart from things that would steal away our conscience.

Every person we have slept with has stolen a small part of our heart and soul leaving us a little less gratified than the carnal experiences might suggest.

My “body count” as they refer to it anecdotally is shameful and the losses of my heart and soul should have left me bereft of both.

But amazing grace saved a wretch like me when I went celibate over a decade ago and God restored all that I’d lost in my selfish pursuits.

My former off trail escapades served a purpose though, and enlarged the capacity of my heart and soul for people in my pathways today.

Far from pure, most importantly I’m forgiven.

He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.”

‭‭Colossians‬ ‭2‬:‭13‬-‭15‬ ‭NIV‬‬

To disarm literally means to take one’s weapon by surprise, rendering them harmless.

The laws, rules, and traditions under which people had been governed were weapons instantly snatched away, proclaimed in a single act of Jesus, defying a stupefied class of elite Jews.

The converted commoner was instantly released from the burdensome Jewish weights and measures of righteousness, traded for freedom through faith in Christ and His work on the cross.

To be a disarming people today, we must break from Christian stereotypes and provide others with the same unexpected love, care, and compassion shown to us, and demonstrate our salvation in action in an unforgiving world.

No weapons formed against us can succeed against that.

Isaiah 54:17