Nugget of the day:

And now I make one more appeal, my dear brothers and sisters. Watch out for people who cause divisions and upset people’s faith by teaching things contrary to what you have been taught. Stay away from them. Such people are not serving Christ our Lord; they are serving their own personal interests. By smooth talk and glowing words they deceive innocent people. Romans 16:17-18

Satan loves for God’s children to be divided. Satan knows that if we quarrel amongst ourselves, we will not be able to be a source of strength for one another. The devil is cunning and knows that if he can sway people to believe his lies Christians will struggle with the truth. In this world we see the devil becoming very believable to many people. People are persuaded from believing the truths of the Bible to believing false teachings of humans. All one has to do is step foot into a school and see how people entrusted to teach our youngsters the truth are feeding them with lies. Children are not taught Christian values in school, but the world values are shoved down their throats, and they are pressured into accepting them. When a child or teacher speaks up for their faith, people label them as a troublemaker, and more people try and convert them. Watch the news or television and sin is glorified. It is getting harder and harder for our youth to know the real truth. People of power are corrupting their young minds. They are confused because the parents they trust are telling them one thing and some teachers and counselors who are supposed to keep them safe are leading them astray. Some Employers ostracize their employees for standing up for their Christian beliefs and applaud them for criticizing the truth. If a celebrity or reporter stands up for their faith, they are fired or lose sponsorship, but when the tables are turned they are praised for being brave. If we as Christians do not form a strong bond, defend one another and back each other up when others criticize us, then we are going to lose our children to the world. We have to decide who we believe. If we believe God and the truths of the Bible we need to make a stand. The devil sees this day and age as a perfect time to divide and conquer. The devil knows if he can confuse our children and adults they will not know what to believe.

My prayer tonight is that we realize we have a responsibility to one another and our youth to instill and maintain our Christian values and morals. When we allow society to dictate what we should believe and tell us we are wrong for standing up for our faith, the devil is successful in dividing churches, denominations, and families. As Christians, our first obligation is to stay true to our faith. We should never be unkind, belittle or condemn another person, but we should not accept or mislead others to believe false teachings. One day we will have to answer for our actions, and we do not want to stand before God and tell Him we knowing misled others. Tonight ask yourself are you serving our God with your beliefs and teachings or are you serving your personal interests? If you are in a job or volunteer position are you sharing core Christian values with other adults and children? Would you want your family member or children to hear and accept what you preach to others? These are hard questions, and we all have to address them from time to time to keep ourselves on the right path. At times it takes courage to stand for your faith. If you don’t and you allow others to alter your beliefs, or you sway from God’s teachings, then you too can cause a division amongst believers.