I turned 48 this month. It seems strange to have made it this far. Time goes so fast…I can literally remember being 3 years old! What I can say now is that I can clearly recognize just how far humanity has fallen.
Have you ever seen the movie The Shadow (1994)? In this movie, the Shadow and his nemesis have the ability to “cloud men’s minds.” The villain used this ability to cause people to commit crimes and self-harm. In one scene it was revealed that he had clouded the minds of an entire city! Not only could they not see what was in front of them, but they did not even remember this magnificent hotel ever being there! The world today seems a lot like the controlled and hoodwinked individuals of this movie.
Humanity’s nemesis, the enemy of our souls, has many walking around with clouded minds; they are deceived to the hilt. I see young people who cannot bring themselves to listen to sound advice. I watch as they are being drawn further away from God, but they cannot see or recognize the hook their enemy has in their noses. They don’t realize they are walking double-minded, caught between two opinions, wanting only to share the throne of their heart with God. God is okay as long as He does not impinge on their time and activities. Their minds are clouded and they do not know it.
There is so much evil going on now; from the white house to the poor house, as they used to say when I was a kid, evil is the order of the day. Lies abound, crime is up all over the place, people dying left and right. People are doing every wild thing that comes to their mind to do; some of the evils committed are so horrendous I won’t even mention it here. And suicides are increasing at an alarming rate.
The enemy of mans souls has clouded the minds of people all over the world, and the demonic forces of darkness are just wreaking havoc, tossing men, women and children to and fro. People cannot think clearly; you can often look in their eyes and tell that all cylinders are not firing! We seriously live in a day where wickedness has taken over.
Humanity has been hoodwinked, thinking themselves “woke.” They do not realize they are actually sleepwalking through this life. Walking in the demonic cloud has them thinking “their truth” actually holds water, and since they have been deceived to believe there is no absolute truth, they reject the only true hope they have.
Jesus Christ is the answer humanity’s soul needs! The Way, The Truth and The Life stands with arms outstretched, but those with clouded minds reject this absolute truth as they travel to hell with a smile. It is a sad state of affairs indeed, and the even sadder situation is the many clouded minds that gather to do church every week.
As so many get caught up in what the world is doing, and so many want to be like the worldly around them, we are presented with a number of important questions. Questions such as,
- Who is holding up the light so needed by those walking in the cloud of darkness?
- Who is actually praying for the grip of satan to be broken over the lives of the ungodly?
- Who is devoting time to battle in the spirit for the cloud to be lifted from those in their family and communities?
- Who actually has the heart of Christ to the point that the condition this world is sinking deeper into breaks their hearts; breaks their hearts to the point of turning down plates and resting on bended knees, going to war for hell bound souls…pulling as many out of the cloud and onto the Kingdom’s path as they can?
I have news for each and every professing believer today. The Great Commission, the job Christ left for us to do, has nothing to do with obtaining the “American Dream.” It has nothing to do with personal comforts here on earth. Look at the examples left us by Jesus Christ, Paul and the Twelve.
Their minds were not clouded by the evil one. Look at where their priorities, what they focused on, and what they accomplished. What a vast difference in them and many professing believers today. If their minds were not clouded then what does it say for many church folks in America today?
To return to our opening example, when The Shadows’ nemesis was brought down, his hold over the minds of the city was broken. Everyone was able to see the humongous hotel, and those who were being controlled by him were now free. In the movie, The Shadow was the competent rescuer relieving humanity of the nemesis’ powerful hold. In reality, our rescuer is Jesus!
Young lady, young man, turn to Jesus. There IS absolute truth, and you will be judged by Him one day. Nothing and nobody is more important to your life than Him. Settle down and make an intelligent decision. Your eternity depends on your choice for or against Christ.
Church person, open your eyes. Follow Christ’s example. Remove your eyes from the ways of this world. Develop a heart for that which is important to God. Poke fingers in the eyes of the enemy and tell him to take his cloud back to the pit where it and he belongs.
Our society today is saturated with bad influence. From individual people to music and entertainment, encouragement to make eternal reservations in hell abound…and in any form you require. We have to be on guard as we walk through this wilderness of sin. And we need to be ready to help those in the darkness come into the light. There are a few things we can do to keep our head out of the cloud.
We know that 1st and foremost, true repentance is required. With Salvation one becomes a new creation and can walk free of the cloud. To stay free of the nemesis’ cloud here are a few of the things we must do.
PRAY: Every step of your journey should be made with prayer (Luke 18:1-8; Phil 4:6; 1 Thess 5:17; Rom 12:12; Col 4:2…). Pray for your heart, mind, eyes and ears. Pray to always know THE TRUTH, to see and understand clearly. And don’t forget to pray for others as well. Those family members and ungodly persons you come in contact with etc…. the needs are great and prayer goes where you cannot.
STAY IN THE WORD OF GOD: Know The Truth, by knowing His Word. As believers we should not study the playbook of satan so closely and deeply as so many do today. We need to know the Word because it is the Word of God that will help us discern what is right and avoid being swallowed up in the cloud of deception that covers the world today. I cannot stress this enough. There are many believers who are so focused on the evils going on, willingly swallowing fear pills every day, and they can’t tell you one promise of God to bring comfort and encouragement to their hearts regarding what they see. I don’t care what anybody says, that is not right and God is not pleased with it at all!!
WATCH YOUR COMPANY: I know, I know…so many professing believers today think they can live for God without changing their lifestyle or the company they keep. So, they hold fast to following the culture of the world, spend all their free time with ungodly friends, and they bounce around like yoyos spiritually due to being double-minded. And, it is very obvious they are not with them to lead them to Christ because they are the one who’s becoming more and more worldly while their friends are not being drawn to the Lord. So, choose dear one. You must choose.
The company we keep is important, because human beings are more easily influenced that many would like to think. And if you think you are not, then that just tells me that you definitely are!
Make sure those you spend time with, those you talk to and get input and advice from, are traveling the same road you are on. If you are going to the Celestial City then your traveling partner should not be touring the road to hell. Just sayin’.
PRACTICE!: We have to put the instructions from the word into practice. Practice letting the mind of Christ be in us. Practice living by faith and not by worry. Practice thinking on those things that we are instructed to think on (Phil 4:8), no matter what the world pushes that seems more attention grabbing. Practice BEING CONTENT (Heb 13:5; Phil 4:11-13; 1 Tim 6:6-8) in whatever situation we are in. Practice being thankful for ALL things, and stop practicing being the same ungrateful little complainers the children of Israel were. Practice truly loving people according to 1 Corinthians 13. Practice compassion. Practice esteeming others MORE highly than you do yourself. Practice Humility! You can’t just say you are a believer and talk about one or two things the Bible says. We have to practice obeying God. If we don’t, we will not be ready when those skills are needed in the heat of the battle.
We are facing serious times ahead, and we do not know for sure what we will have to endure or for how long. But those who truly live for God know there is no need to fear, for God loves and will take care of His people.
I encourage everyone to get your head out of the enemy’s cloud, and stay out of the enemy’s cloud. Get close to God and as far away from this world’s way of thinking and doing as you can. Stand up and commit to being a True Disciple of Jesus Christ.
God bless you!
Until next time,
