There is a banking institution that asks this question at the end of some of its credit card commercials: “What’s in your wallet?®”
Unlike that commercial, with God it is always about the condition of one’s heart.
So, today I pose this question to pastors and ministers who profess they have been called by the living God and are disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ: “What’s in your heart?”
I ask this because over the years I have often been puzzled by words and actions that contradict Scripture like:
But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be. ~ James 3:8-10(KJV) [emphasis added]
Many times I’ve wondered how someone can possibly be serving the living God, reading and applying biblical principles, or hearing the voice of God while spewing forth so much hatred and venom, and shortly thereafter shouting "Praise the Lord!"
Events from 2015 until now have brought my ponderings into even starker relief. Much of the current and past ‘warring’ is, and has been, misdirected against people (flesh and blood) who are made in God’s image, and not our very real unseen and formidable enemy - Satan and his demons. (2 Corinthians 10:3-5; James 3:8-10) As disciples of Jesus, the Lord commands His people to bless and not curse; and not to render evil for evil.
But today in this hyper-charged demonic atmosphere, there are some pastors who are actually trying to curse people. Pastors . . . attempting to curse people . . . in the name of the Lord Jesus! These things ought not to be. They are contrary to the Word.
- Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing? (1 Peter 3:8-10)
- Loving your enemies, doing good to them that hate you, and praying for them that despitefully use and persecute you? (Matthew 5:43-48)
The strong one-word warning the Lord has for those who would call evil good and good evil, or darkness light and light darkness, or bitter sweet and sweet bitter is: Woe!
To paraphrase1 John 4: 20, if someone professes to love God but hates their brother, they are a liar. This then begs the question: How can someone profess to love God whom they have not seen, and hate a brother they have seen?
