Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Posts Tagged ‘evil’

Resist Evil

Posted in Lent, tagged , , , , , , , on March 18, 2010| Leave a Comment »

I used to think that “resisting evil” was a matter of putting up strong walls, keeping my sword sharpened, and looking into corners for ambushes. Evil was clever so I had to be even more clever and watchful. But here is a different way: do good.

Romans 12:17a, 21
Do not repay anyone evil for evil . . . Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Note to myself: it’s not about “being” good (which is next to impossible anyway), but doing . . . overcoming . . . practicing good. And in this activity, evil gets the shaft. Novel idea eh?

How could I have missed this? It’s the same tactic when dealing with anxiety or fear: fill up with the positive thoughts along with love and the result is less room for the other crap.

We underestimate the power of good.

OK, so the next question is, “What is good?” In the same way that God’s laws are written on the heart of man [and woman, of course] (II Cor 3:2-3; Ps 40:7-8), so is the capacity for good. There is a choosing process, an agreement within, an acceptance of what we know to be good or right. Can we choose otherwise? Of course. That is, until evil takes over the heart, then more supernatural stuff has to happen to make the better choices.

But, just regular day to day folks can draw from this well of good, particularly if the Holy Spirit is present. This is the whole point. First we must choose to embrace the good and then we can act on it. And each time we choose good and then act, the power of good becomes stronger, more natural and more effective.

Taste and see that the LORD is good;
blessed is the man who takes refuge in him. . . .
Turn from evil and do good;
seek peace and pursue it. [Psalm 34:8, 14]

Keep me mindful today of this truth, dear God. Keep me drawing from the well of good. Selah.

Read Full Post »

Raised for a Purpose

Posted in Lent, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 26, 2010| 2 Comments »

It’s difficult to see something with new eyes or get new understanding when our memories abound with old movie images and Sunday School bible stories. Who can forget Yul Brynner’s angry, jealous, heart-hardened Pharaoh who would not let Mose’s people go?

Romans 9:17
For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”

I used to believe that people who were marked for despicable acts by God were literally “born and bred” for those moments. I limited my definition to the word, “raised” to be “reared” as in a child who is reared by his parents. But there are over 31 meanings for the word including “setting in motion” or “to cause” something to happen. That means someone could be “raised up” in a single moment, a single choice.

We will never know much about the childhood of Rameses or what challenges he faced as he was being trained for leadership. Perhaps he had always struggled with making decisions and his tutors put heavy constraints on him to “stick to his guns.” In any event, he came to a point in his life, when he was confronted by Moses and said, “No.” And with each “No” he uttered, the future of a people was set into motion.

I cannot assume that Rameses was particularly evil or cruel as a child, teen, or even young man. In fact, a quick trip over to Wikipedia shows that he was actually known as “Rameses the Great” and ruled for nearly 66 years. Or was it Rameses I (even that is unclear historically)?

Whichever Pharoah oppressed the Israelites and then later tried to block their “exodus,” his “raised up” moment could have happened in a heartbeat and God used that encounter to birth a nation.

I don’t believe I’ll ever be comfortable with the idea that a child is born with an evil future. Depending on the scenarios and the choices made along the way, there will be always be turning points that can bring a person to an evil day and time (or not). Does God know how a life will go? Sure, as I have written before, God is outside of linear time. And yet, a life still has more to it than a signature event or time period. Men and women who are remembered for evil may have kissed a child, planted a tree, loved a mate, or created something of a beauty as well.

If I love someone today, anyone, that moment could turn the tide the other way, for me as well as for the “other.” It is why the power is in the now. We can all be change agents for God through touch, compassion, friendship, love: koinonia.

Read Full Post »

30-60-100 Fold

Posted in Christmas Through Epiphany, tagged , , , , , , on January 17, 2010| Leave a Comment »

I think the multiplication principle noted in Matthew 13:8 which is based on “good seed and good soil” is the same for “bad seed and good soil.”

Romans 1:29a
They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, …

The list of evil in Romans 1:29-31 is pretty overwhelming: wickedness, evil, greed, depravity, envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice, gossip, slander, God-hating, insolence, arrogance, boastfulness, disobedience, senselessness, faithlessness, heartlessness, and ruthlessness. One evil runs into another. One sin breeds the next. One sorrow bleeds into another.

Most people put their emphasis on the sexual depravity that is described in the verses that precede this list and that implies, it’s those who participate in non-traditional sexual activities who will dive bomb into the list of evils. In fact, however, I believe the sexual sins are just one more in the list. Really, the list, including “sexual behaviors” is the result of the “suppression of the truth.” This is the first sin that plants the seed and changes the relationship that people have with God and the Christ.

There are no easy answers.

Read Full Post »

Wickedness Suppresses Truth

Posted in Christmas Through Epiphany, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on January 14, 2010| 1 Comment »

People will often say, “what is truth?” And perhaps that can be debated, particularly in philosophical or academic circles. But I will hold to this: wicked (corrupt, evil, unethical) people will suppress whatever truth there is.

Romans 1:18-19
The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.

Truth is dangerous. Truth is in your face. Truth demands justice. Truth is messy.

One of my children has perfected the art of the lie. He actually believes the lie simplifies his life (at least at first). A quick lie will delay explanation. A clever lie will satisfy curiosity. A believable lie will delay consequences.

The biggest problem with lying is that if one does it regularly, pretty soon, the lie becomes one’s personal truth. This is the lie that births wickedness. And at this point, actual truth is much more difficult to discern.

It’s not just children who metamorphose lies into a manufactured truth. Adults do it all the time. Couples do it. Leaders do it. Companies do it. Governments do it.

Anything that “man” has not made, is God’s handiwork. God is in nature. God is wind. God is sun and moon and stars. God is dirt and insects and animals. God is energy. God is light.

God is truth.

People can try to suppress God, but in the end, truth is always revealed (sometimes sooner, sometimes later).

Give way to truth. Give way to God. And the knots of wickedness will be untied by the power of Spirit. Today.

Read Full Post »

Viper Bites

Posted in Christmas Through Epiphany, tagged , , , , , , , , on January 6, 2010| 1 Comment »

Even when we’re doing all the right things, we might get a viper bite. Intellectually, I know that life brings all kinds of challenges and we can’t expect the way to be smooth all the time and the key is how we respond to them. Why doesn’t that knowledge make it easier?

Acts 28:3, 5
Paul gathered a pile of brushwood and, as he put it on the fire, a viper, driven out by the heat, fastened itself on his hand….But Paul shook the snake off into the fire and suffered no ill effects.

I feel as though I’m in a good place “spiritually.” In fact, it’s probably the best place I’ve been in a long time. I’m more disciplined in my devotions, I’m reading, I’m praying, I’m confessing my sins, I’m giving and receiving forgiveness. In general, my life circumstances are pretty stable. I’m working, my husband is working and we are both in good health. Our children are almost all graduated from high school (only a year and a half to go).

And yet, we keep getting nipped by things that are disconcerting: 4 car break downs or fender benders in the last month (totally over $3000) and then two trees were felled by the wind ($500 minimum – our deductible). We just discovered our one son will add $2000 to our car insurance annual bill and the other two kids have to repeat their driver’s schools ($700). The crown our daughter had to get after a root canal was not covered by insurance ($1200). And we just maxed out one of our main credit card with a second one on the way. Clearly, the viper in our life is the dollar. Financially, we are living on the edge.

Lord, I confess, we are really terrible at this part. Help! Teach me… teach us how to shake this viper off into the fire.

Read Full Post »

Akeldama

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on September 23, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Acts 1:19
And all the residents of Jerusalem became acquainted with the facts [about Judas], so that they called the piece of land in their own dialect–Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.

The Field of Blood was also called the Potter’s Field because some believed it to be the same place that Jeremiah visited the potter. “So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.” [Jeremiah 18:3-4]

Akeldama was used as a burial ground for “foreigners,” for strangers, and for betrayers. This is one of the hardest truths in the Bible for me: some people are destined for evil, some are destined to be buried in the Field of Blood, some are destined to be a marred pot.

God integrates evil into our lives and from these experiences, we grow, we change, we adapt, and we learn. These are the hard lessons of life. But what of the one who is the tool of evil?

Is there a moment in that life when he/she has a choice? Can this destiny be aborted by faith? Can the one turn and cry out for mercy? Or is the the mercy extended only after the fact? Is it forgiveness that brings a destiny of evil around to hope?

I don’t know the answers.

From my few years working with a potter’s wheel, I know a pot can be re-fashioned with the same clay… but only up to a point. Eventually, the clay becomes hard, unwieldy and unusable. Usually, a potter will not throw out the clay until it’s hopeless.

Keep me pliable today. Give me mindfulness toward those who struggle with their destinies, that they might turn before Akeldama becomes an unavoidable fate.

Read Full Post »

Is There an Evil One?

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , , , , , on September 2, 2009| Leave a Comment »

John 17:15
“My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.” [Jesus praying]

Is there an evil one? You’re kidding! On what planet are you living? Of course there is an evil one and he/she is having a party down here.

The question is how do we engage evil.

According to Jesus, truth is the great weapon against evil [vs 17]. Harumph! We don’t use that tactic much. I think we try other things instead: isolating ourselves from evil, condemning evil, running away from evil, lumping evil in with a lot of other things, avoiding evil, and worst of all, pretending evil doesn’t exist.

In order for truth to have power, it must have complete foothold within our being. We must take a stand within before we can venture forth. We must choose honestly, love honestly, act honestly, speak honestly. Here is where truth begins. It is out of this truth that we can become equipped to engage the evil one. This is the power of union with Christ. This is the point. We can only be honest with ourselves when we are authentic with the Christ within.

The evil one uses guerrilla warfare, secret agents, emotional manipulation, and brainwashing. It’s scary out here. I take hold of truth today in my heart, soul, and mind.

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts