TODAY’S PROPHETIC WORD

When we put our attention on the ways of Jesus and walk in His truth, our thought process changes and we become overwhelmed by evil, or thoughts from the enemy that are contrary to the Word of God. James 4:7 says to submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. What a promise!

FASCINATED BY BAD

My life as a pastor has taken me to some amazing places — the Great Pyramid in Egypt, the Trevi Fountain in Rome. I’ve cried out to Jesus at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem, seen Stonehenge, the Taj Mahal, the Amazon and, yes, Graceland!

But a major player on my geographic bucket list was Mount St. Helens in Washington State. The wonder of my childhood, it’s most notorious for its catastrophic eruption on May 18, 1980.

I was 13-years old when it erupted and it was a game-changer for me. That was the year I really started reading because I couldn’t get enough information about what had happened. The eruption was amazing, but that wasn’t the big deal for me. It was the landslide — the largest in recorded history where a mountain moved 17 miles and took 57 people with it.

Yes, I was attracted to the devastation and the death toll.

Our flesh is naturally attracted to “bad” and is fascinated by evil. There is something about us that is impressed with it. I’m no psychologist, but I suspect it has something to do with our survival instincts and how we want to understand the things we fear.

Whatever it is, it causes traffic in the northbound lane to slow down when there’s a wreck in the southbound lane. It causes ratings to skyrocket during disasters and scandals, and the tabloid racks to empty when a celebrity gets divorced or when a grandfather decides to become a female sex object.

What’s more amazing is that when we can’t get enough impressive bad things to look at, we invent new forms of evil to entertain us. We throw in a little sensuality and turn these monsters into romantic attractions. Face it — we love bad and it’s not a good thing.

“And do not be conformed to this world… Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good.” 
– Romans 12:2,9

It’s important to learn to no longer love what the world loves. We have to hold tight to goodness instead of evil. Knowing Jesus and following Him is simply this: love what God loves and hate what He hates.

TODAY IS A GOOD DAY TO RESIST GIVING EVIL A FOOTHOLD. WHAT FASCINATION WITH BAD CAN YOU GIVE TO THE LORD SO YOU CAN FIGHT EVIL WITH GOODNESS TODAY?

From my book: GOOD OVERCOMES EVIL