Bible

Heart Check

Valerie Cullers 10 Comments

“Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.” 1 John 3:15

When I first read these words in the Bible, I thought they were a bit harsh. If you hate someone, you are a murderer? But I have reflected on these words a lot in the last ten days.

I was deeply saddened by the murder of Charlie Kirk. Let me tell you, I didn’t know who the man was. I had heard his name mentioned a few times, but that’s it. What saddened me was that he was killed because of his political and religious beliefs. I was also distressed by some of the reactions to his murder.

It seems to me there are not too many steps between hatred and murder. When we begin to hate someone, we naturally devalue them in our hearts. Their life matters little to us as we allow that hatred to grow and overtake us. Most of the time, we don’t murder them with a gun, but we can certainly assassinate their character with our words. We look at one person killing another and think, “I would never do that.”

But what is the real truth? Once we begin to hate someone, our heart begins to rot. We may think we are justified when we hate another person or group of people but the Lord doesn’t see it that way. He sees hatred for what it is, the antithesis of who He is and who He wants us to be.

Jesus told us, “to love our enemies” and “to pray for them who persecute you.” It is only love that will break the bondage of hatred in our hearts. As we pray for those we disagree with or have hurt us, we begin to see them for the flawed human beings they are. Their value goes up in our eyes. We also begin to see ourselves for the flawed humans we are.

Let us all do a “heart check.” Do we hate anyone or any group of people? If so, let’s ask the Lord to help us change our attitude. We can hate the things people do or say, but we are not supposed to hate them. We want God’s spirit (eternal life) abiding in us. And surprisingly, it is our willingness to pray for them that will usher in God’s grace and free our hearts from the bondage of hatred.

Photo by Mohamedgado15. Courtesy of Pixabay.

Unrecognizable

Valerie Cullers 14 Comments

Have you ever gone to a town where you had visited and something devastating had happened there? You start to survey the landscape and look for familiar landmarks, but don’t see them. The scale of the devastation is so great that the area is unrecognizable. You aren’t sure exactly which street you are on, and it is impossible to find the features you remember. Has that ever happened to you?

If it has, you know that the first thing you do is get out your phone and call up Google Maps. You hope there is some way to get your bearings and find what you are looking for. You desperately search for something familiar so you can orient yourself to your surroundings.

That is exactly how I feel when I look at the culture around me. I feel I am living in a society that is unrecognizable from the one I grew up in. Almost every social metric has plummeted in a negative direction. Just to name a few: criminal behavior has skyrocketed because it is rewarded with a slap on the wrist and a get out of jail free card. Homelessness is accepted as a normal part of society, and few public officials are able to find a meaningful solution to the problem. The benchmarks on the education of our students are abysmal, and yet billions are thrown in that direction with little or no improvement in literacy or mathematical skills.

Unfortunately, I can’t call up Google Maps for help to try to navigate our culture. How do I, as a believer in Jesus Christ, live in a meaningful way in an unrecognizable society? The only thing I know to do is to go to the Scriptures to help me find my bearings. When I read them, I can somehow get a perspective on what I see taking place. When I look at some of the last words that Jesus spoke to his disciples, they open my eyes and help me see the signposts I am looking for.

Jesus said that the last days would be like the days of Noah. Those days were marked by violence and genetic engineering. He also said they would be like the days of Sodom. Those days were filled with sexual perversion and children being misused by unscrupulous adults. Jesus talked about the love of many growing cold, and if that isn’t one of the primary mileposts of our day, I don’t know what is. Man has stopped caring about his fellow human beings, and meaningful compassion is in short supply.

Rather than walking around dazed and confused, each of us can look to the Scriptures for clear direction. We can ask the Lord to fill us with His Spirit so that we may love our fellow man. We can do whatever is within our capabilities to make a positive difference in the lives of those around us. Then and only then will we make a significant impact and the landscape we see will become more recognizable.

A Full Pardon

Valerie Cullers 11 Comments

For the past few weeks, our society has been focused on the Presidential Pardons being given out at the White House. The President granted his son a full pardon and today has pardoned over 1,500 people. Some of his pardons have been controversial, and others, not so much. Like it or not, over the next several weeks, we are likely to see many more pardons.

Pardons are not something that we see happen a lot. Judges don’t usually give them out and there are not many other entities that are allowed to give out judicial pardons. Because pardons are such a rare thing, they gain a lot of attention.

A lot of us have not been in jail or prison and do not have a record that is limiting our life choices. We do not normally think about pardons in the judicial sense but we are aware of the need for them in our relationships. When we apologize for something we have done that may have offended someone, we want to be pardoned (or forgiven) our wrong. If people are unable or unwilling to forgive or pardon others, they can lead to a very difficult life indeed.

When I think about pardons, I immediately think about the fact that I was given a full pardon several years ago. I was in my mid-twenties, had lived a bit of a wild life, and needed the forgiveness of God for my sins. They were weighing heavily on my mind and I wished to make a change in the way I had been living. I learned that I was not alone and that the Scripture says, “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” I found out that God was waiting to grant me a full pardon; if only I would ask for it.

I was grateful that his Son, Jesus, had come to this earth to die in order that I might be pardoned for the sins I had committed. He paid the penalty for my sin so that my relationship with the Father could be restored and that I could live a new life. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life,” John 3:16.

Did I deserve a full pardon? No. Did some people not understand how I could be forgiven and begin to live a new life? Yes. It didn’t matter to me. I was and am eternally grateful to the Father and his Son, Jesus, for the full pardon.

When we think about pardons, we should look inside of ourselves and see if we need a full pardon. Let’s not look at others and think about their unworthiness but look at our own unworthiness when it comes to the ability to stand before a holy and righteous God.

After looking inside, do you feel the need a full pardon? Don’t be afraid to reach out to Jesus and ask for it. He has paid the full price for all of your sins and He is more than willing to give you one if only you will ask.

Photo by Chil Vera. Courtesy of Pixabay.

Instrument Rated

Valerie Cullers 13 Comments

When I was a teenager, I had a friend whose uncle had an airplane. We had a lot of fun when he would take us on one of his trips. I really liked flying in a small plane…it was a great way to get where you wanted to go in a hurry! Fast forward to my twenties. I lost a few friends in small plane accidents because they or their pilots were not instrument-rated. Both planes ended up crashing into a mountain. In both accidents, when the search parties found them, no one survived the accidents.

You see, you can be a pilot and not be instrument-rated. You only have clearance to fly in good weather where you can see the horizon and the ground below you. If you get into the “soup,” as pilots say, then it is impossible to determine where you are in relation to the horizon. A person can be flying right side up, but it may seem like they are upside down. Perhaps the most famous incident in recent history is when JFK Jr. crashed when he was flying over the ocean. He was not instrument-rated, and when he became disoriented because of low visibility, he ultimately crashed into the water.

As we move forward in the future, it will be imperative to be instrument-rated in our lives. If we only have a cursory knowledge of God and his word, we can easily become disoriented and crash when events happen around us. Our survival will be dependent upon our skill in the cockpit of life. In order to become instrument-rated, we must become close to the Lord (the Control Tower) and take our guidance from him and his manual (the Bible).

It is fairly easy to become a beginner pilot, but it takes a lot of studying and over a hundred hours in the air to become an instrument-rated pilot. It will be the same for us in order to be instrument-rated in life. We need to spend a considerable amount of time studying his word and walking with the Lord in order to travel safely through what is coming. There may be economic upheaval, natural disasters, and incredible deception just over the horizon. Those who are not instrument-rated will crash and burn, but those who are instrument-rated will be able to follow the manual and handle each situation with an element of peace and a passage of safety that will be elusive to others.

Photo by Michi S. Courtesy of Pixabay.

The Last Laugh

Valerie Cullers 3 Comments

“He who laughs last, laughs best.”

Most of us are aware of the pushback that came after the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics. People were especially outraged at the parody of Da Vinci’s Last Supper. To paraphrase the Art Director of the ceremony the day after, he basically said that we should all just have a good laugh and move on. The pushback continues, and now he has come out and said it wasn’t a parody of The Last Supper at all. It was supposed to represent a 17th century Dutch painting, The Feast of the Gods by Jan Harmensz van Biljert. Really? It only took him four days to come up with that explanation. If it was the truth, why didn’t he set the record straight initially instead of talking about how he accomplished his goal of inclusivity at the Opening Ceremony?

I’ve thought a lot about it and to say I was disappointed at the display is an understatement. My spirit was grieved that again Christian symbolism has been upended to make a point for those who wish to display their sexuality in a public in-your-face performance.

Those who put on that performance probably had a good laugh that night and several good laughs since then. But how do you think the Lord felt about the performance? Was he up in heaven wringing his hands and saying, “Oh dear, Oh dear!”?

I don’t think so. He knows those who oppose him and his moral laws, and he knows what their end will be. To quote Psalm 2, verses 1-5, “Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against his Anointed One. “Let us break their chains, they say, and throw off their fetters.” The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them. Then He rebukes them in his anger and terrifies them in his wrath.”

Take comfort, there is coming a day when those who oppose the Lord will have to face him and it will be a very sad day indeed. Better to come to him now while it is possible and the Days of Mercy and Grace are still before us. His hands are always held out for those who will turn from their wicked ways and come to him. No sin is too great for him to forgive. Come while there is still time.

Lost

Valerie Cullers 14 Comments

When our oldest son was about three, we met some friends up at a lake. I was standing on one side of the boat ramp, and my husband and his friend were standing a few feet away on the other side of the ramp. Our son wanted to come over to where I was, and my husband said, “Sure.” He took off, and my hubby just assumed he was with me. He was busy chatting with his friend, and since I was in plain sight, he didn’t give it a second thought.

A few minutes later, my husband came over to where I was and he didn’t have Shawn with him. Shawn had walked right past me and was who knows where. Inside of me, I began to panic. There were lots of people at the lake that day, which only added to my consternation. My friends took off down the path, and I just stood there frozen. I could barely breathe. If something happened to my son, I knew I would not be able to live with myself. Second after second ticked by as I fought back hysteria. Thankfully, a few minutes later, our friends found him following the path along the lake, looking for me. To say I was relieved would be an understatement.

The Lord brought this incident back to my mind recently. When I think about the way I felt about my son being lost, it may, in some small way, reflect how the Lord feels when He looks down at His children and sees so many of them lost. I do not believe the Lord is panicked or hysterical, but the thought of losing them forever must be heart-wrenching. Millions are looking for Him, but because they are on the wrong path, they will never find Him. They will just continue walking until they walk right past Him into a Christless eternity.

Luke 19:10 says: “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” That means that if you are lost, if you are looking for some sort of meaning in this life, some sort of God, some sort of something but don’t know what; He is looking for you…right now. He wants you to stop, turn around and look for Him, Jesus, the One who can save your soul and give your life meaning.

He cares for you more than you can ever know and He has no desire for you to spend eternity without Him. He will be crushed to lose you, a precious part of His beloved creation. No matter where you are, what you have done or where your search has taken you, it is not too late to find Him, the One your soul is ultimately looking for. His name is Jesus Christ and He will more than meet you half way. Turn around while you still can, while you’re still safe and while you still have hope.

Photo by Pexels. Courtesy of Pixabay.

Delusion

Valerie Cullers 6 Comments

Delusion – 1. a false belief or judgment about external reality, held despite incontrovertible evidence to the contrary, occurring especially in mental conditions. 2. the action of deluding or the state of being deluded. Oxford Languages

I have had a deep concern lately about deception, especially about the deception that will be coming on the world in the near future. I have already talked about AI. The advancements it has made in the past year are staggering. I have recently seen videos that have been produced by AI that are realistic and almost impossible to tell they were computer generated. For a point of reference, think about the movies you have seen in recent years with their computer generated images. Didn’t the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park seem real? What about the scenes in Star Wars? Those movies were made decades ago and think about the advancement that has been made since then. Now with AI, soon you could watch a person on a newscast with a computer generated image give you the “news,” and you will not be able to tell if it is real or not. Sound too futuristic? Believe me, it’s coming.

Yes, yes, yes, you may say to me…so what? I would say to you that that is just one level of deception that is on the horizon. There is even a deeper level of deception, i.e., delusion, that will affect the people of the world. As many have rejected God and His word, they will be open to the delusion that God Himself will send upon them. As they have rejected the real Savior, they will readily accept the false Christ that is coming to “save the world.” As we read in 2 Thessalonians verses 9-12, “The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”

How scary is that…that a holy and righteous God will actually send people strong delusion to believe the lie? And what lie is this, you might ask? Well, there will be one coming who will look like a man of peace, a man who can solve all the world’s problems, and people will believe him. At one point, he will declare himself to be the God and Savior of the world, and he will be satanically energized and show the world all power, signs, and lying wonders with all unrighteous deception. Sounds pretty far out, doesn’t it? But just think about it.

Already we have people searching for someone who can bring peace to the world; one who can solve all the world’s problems. At the moment, they are thinking in political terms. Where is the person who can bring peace to the Middle East, stop the war in Ukraine, solve the food shortages, put an end to the violence, and have a solution to the economic problems? I know people who are looking at certain political figures and believe their guy is the one who can do it.

When we are looking for a human to provide the world’s answers, we are only a step away from accepting the man who will come on the world scene, one who looks and acts the part. It is not too far out to think that people will fall at his feet. Think about what Paul-Henri Spaak, former Belgian Prime Minister and Secretary General of NATO said, “We do not want another committee, we have too many already. What we want is a man of sufficient stature to hold the allegiance of all people, and to lift us out of the economic morass into which we are sinking. Send us such a man, and be he god or devil, we will receive him.” He made this statement decades ago before the world was in the state it is in right now.

This man is coming on the scene, the world is looking for him. The Bible says he will come, and I believe he is alive today, waiting in the wings to fulfill his role in the end times. It is important that we know these things ahead of time so that we can make the right choices now while we still have the chance.

Photo by Gerd Altman, courtesy of Pixabay.

Discernment ~ the Antidote for Deception

Valerie Cullers 29 Comments

Deception – 1. the action of deceiving someone, 2. a thing that deceives. The Oxford Language Dictionary

We live in a world cloaked in deception. In every area of society, lies are told as truth and then expected to be believed. Whether it is in the political, educational, social, or spiritual arena, we are fed lies daily. How do we sort through the fog and get to the truth? Well, for sure, we are going to have to do some digging to find the truth. However, sometimes the lies are so egregious that we wonder how those telling them can say them with a straight face. What we really need is discernment as we make our way through this miasma. What is called for is discernment.

Discernment – 1. the ability to judge well 2. (in Christian contexts) perception in the absence of judgment with a view to obtaining spiritual guidance and understanding. The Oxford Language Dictionary

Some of the lies we are being told are so obvious we can reject them outright. Others are presented by the media in a way that is portrayed as positive when, in reality, it is just the opposite. Have you ever seen a movie where people are hooking up with one another? It is just a bunch of fun and portrayed as normal. What could be wrong with a simple one-night stand? No one ever mentions pregnancy, STDs, or the emotional wreckage that can go along with the negative consequences of this type of behavior. A person needs discernment, i.e., the ability to judge well, before engaging in this kind of behavior.

What about the lies that are told daily in the political arena? “Age doesn’t matter,” The border is secure,” and “We care about crime,” are just a few we hear spouted daily and are obviously untrue. One doesn’t need much discernment to know they are lies; we just need to open our eyes and see what is going on around us to discover the truth.

Soon, we will need more than human discernment to pierce through the deception that is coming in the spiritual arena. We will need the discernment that only the Holy Spirit can give to be able to sort out the truth. Jesus warns us over and over in Matthew 24 to watch out for deception. It will be the hallmark of the end of the age. Many will be sucked into and fall for the spiritual deception that is coming. As they look for a savior to bring the world peace, they will fall for those who pretend to have the answers to the world’s problems. Jesus said in Matthew 24:24: “For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand.”

For your own sake, don’t wait until these things come upon the world, seek the Lord now while He may be found. Get in His word and discover the truth for yourself. Pray for the discernment that only the Holy Spirit can give so you will not get sucked into the lies that are coming just over the horizon.

Photo by Stefan Keller. Courtesy of Pixabay.

Predictive Prophecy

Valerie Cullers 26 Comments

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Anyone who has gone through the University system has met many a professor who does not believe in a Supreme Being. They can be quick to denigrate the Bible and tell you that it is just an ancient book that has no relevance in today’s society. When they say that, you may go back to your dorm room and look at your Bible and think, “Is that really true? Does it indeed not have any relevance for today?”

So what makes the Bible unique? What makes it different from any other book that has been written? How can it stand the test of time and still come out as a best-seller even in modern times? Why can we indeed depend on it as a source of truth and inspiration? Two words…predictive prophecy. The Bible claims to be the very words of God. What authenticates it and has authenticated it through centuries past? Predictive prophecy; that is what makes it different from any other source of wisdom and verifies the authority of its words.

What is predictive prophecy? Throughout the Bible, there are hundreds of prophecies about Jesus, Israel, the nations, and specific people. Hundreds of these prophecies have already been fulfilled accurately. They are so accurate in their fulfillment that they cannot be denied. For example, there are hundreds of prophecies about Jesus, the Messiah. During the course of his birth, life and death, he fulfilled over two hundred of them. The odds of that happening are astronomical, to say the least. We know that if these were fulfilled at his first coming, the remaining prophecies will be fulfilled during his second coming and reign.

The nation of Israel strayed from God, and there were many prophecies predicting its judgment. Over and over, these prophecies were fulfilled. They were scattered among the nations, and the prophecies concerning their regathering are happening right to this very day. Even the prophecy in Isaiah 66:8, “Can a nation be born in a day?” was fulfilled on May 14, 1948. 

The ruler, Cyrus the Great, was named in the book of Isaiah one hundred and fifty years before he came into power. Is that some sort of coincidence? I don’t think so. In the book of Daniel, the eleventh chapter encompasses a brief history of the wars and ensuing intrigues between the Seleucids of Syria and the Ptolemies of Egypt. It is so accurate that historical scholars have a hard time believing it was written hundreds of years before the events took place.  

These are just a few of the examples of predictive prophecy in the Bible;  there are many more within its pages, too numerous to count. One thing we can be sure of is this; if the previous prophecies were fulfilled, the future prophecies will be also. How could this happen? I believe that God sits outside of time and sees the end from the beginning. He inspired the prophets of old to write things that they themselves did not see or understand, things that would come to pass in the future. We can rely on the truth of the Bible, and know that its predictive prophecy is the proof of it.