"Being Prepared"
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Christian Encouragement
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July 2, 2001
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<b>Hello to my brothers and sisters in Christ! It's been a long time since I've sent out a
"Christian Encouragement", but after a conversation I had last night with a relative, the
Lord has laid one on my heart and I believe He wants me to share it with you. </b>
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<b>II Timothy 4:2-4 states: "Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season;
correct, rebuke and encourage--with great patience and careful instruction. For the time
will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own
desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching
ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths."
You know, I spend way too much time doing daily chores, running errands and watching TV
Okay, I DO keep reminding my kids of what God has to say about different matters. Most of
the time, I believe they are listening. I have such a fiery, passionate desire in my heart
and mind that, not only my kids, but every one of God's children be so utterly grounded in
His Word, that no matter what this world says or does, it cannot turn us away from the
truth. I am finding more and more that even "saved" people don't want to hear what God
says, or know what He really thinks and feels (yes, He feels too!) about certain issues. I
find this in my family, extended family, church family, friends and acquaintances. I
expect it from the lost, but I'm always amazed when I encounter this amongst those who
claimed to be saved. </b>
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<b>Please understand....I am not talking about such issues as WHEN the rapture will take
place or who the two messengers are in the book of Revelation. I'm talking about basics.
Sexual immorality, having close bonds with homosexuals, going to bars, people dying and
going to a "limbo" so they can come back and do it better, the church not disciplining for
fear people won't come back, Christ being the Son of God, but not being actually God
Himself, mixing the New Age movement with Christianity, thinking you can be saved by grace
forever and pick for yourself how you will serve God. Honestly? I'm tired of hearing it!
I'm frustrated and grieved by it all. Do I think I'm a preacher of some kind and know all
there is to know? Absolutely not. Are the answers to these subjects addressed in the
Bible? You bet, but fewer and fewer people want to hear it! It greatly saddens me and
weighs heavy on my heart and mind to see and hear all that I'm seeing and hearing. I spoke
with an extended family member last night and the conversation turned to spiritual things.
She told me she truly loves Jesus Christ, but also stated she doesn't study the Old
Testament because THAT God is harsh. She believes Jesus is the Son of God, but not God.
That the Trinity are 3 separate beings and she only wants to follow what Jesus says in the
New Testament. I thought to myself, "Gosh, if you only read the part that's in red, you're
missing an awful lot!" Now, when I'm having such discussions with people, the Lord always
brings certain scriptures to my mind for me to share with that person depending on the
issue. Last night, I went blank! She became hostile and started bashing me for being "a
bible-thumping, hell, fire, and brimstone fundamentalist". I just hate that label.......
and I hadn't even given her any scripture yet. While she was yelling at me, I whispered,
"Lord, why am I blank all of a sudden? You always bring scriptures to mind. Please give me
one!" A couple came to mind, but when I started to share them with her, she cut me off and
blasted louder. It was obvious she didn't want to listen to what God actually says, so I
told her it was time to hang up the phone. I felt shell-shocked. Russ reminded me that God
didn't bring any, because she wasn't searching. I still felt like an idiot. I felt I had
been totally unprepared for such a situation. I had no idea she believed so many "myths".
I have another relative who is saved, but has embraced the New Age Movement. She claims
she sees auras around people and can psychically heal other peoples negative energy. She
has "patients". She claims to be able to detect and heal you of allergies by cramming her
elbow into her thigh. She says she prays constantly that God will work through her and
does believe that Jesus is the Christ and God. Yet, she only knows 2 or 3 scriptures
because she doesn't study. She also believes that God's Word doesn't have all the answers
and only until recently, did she finally believe me when I told her that dead people can't
come back (Luke 16). She thought she was being haunted by her dead ex-husband! I asked her
once if she ever tells people about Christ as she's "healing" them. She said, " Well of
course not, I don't preach to people". She grew up in a Missionary Baptist home with a
deacon for a father. She's almost 60. She can read "energies", but not her bible. Go
figure. I spoke with a couple of young adults about a month ago. I know one is saved and
has been taught God's Word since childhood, the other, I'm not real sure. They think it's
okay to take on the appearance of the world and to have homosexuals as good, close
friends. I told them what God's Word says, they blew it off. A couple of months ago, a
Christian friend told me we shouldn't exclude members because they don't come back. I was
excluded once.....and the Lord was able to bring me back. How? I chose HIS way. You know,
when the Apostle Paul told Timothy to "be prepared in season and out of season" to share
God's Word, he wasn't just talking about preaching it to the lost. Take a look around!
Even saved people are heaping to themselves people who will tell them what they want to
hear and not what they need to hear. I watch people. I listen to people. I think, "Gee,
we're supposed to be running the race in such a way so as to get the prize, but I'm
talking to Christians who think they see angels in the trees, who don't want to read their
bibles, who want to serve God the way that's most comfortable for them, who embrace the
lies of this world, who don't want to be held accountable for their actions, and some who
insist on following their "intuition" without checking it against God's Word." Paul says
in I Tim. 6:2 and in II Tim. 4:7,8 to fight the good fight of faith. Is it really a
"fight"? Yes. And what are we fighting against? Unbelief and principalities....evil in the
heavenly realms.....the prince and the power of the air.....Satan and his lies. Also in
Eph. 4:14 note that we are not to be infants, tossed to and fro by every wind of teaching.
"Study to show thyself approved...", II Tim. 2:15. "Test the spirits..", I John 4:1. </b>
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<b>The world is full of myths and lies. It says that "right is wrong and wrong is right",
"good is evil and evil is good". Let's not go out of this world still being babes. Have
family bible studies every evening. Start a weekly bible study in your home. Invite the
saved as well as the lost and let's "rightly divide the truth". Be bold about God's Word.
You know, people thought John the Baptist was a nut walking around in animal skins, eating
bugs, dirty and preaching boldly about Jesus.</b>
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<b>Oh, may we all be counted worthy to be called such a "nut"! :)</b>
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<b>Love in Christ,</b>
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Debbie Reed-Parman
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