John 3:18-20 (NLT)
“There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son. And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed.”
Is the dandelion a flower or weed? It is according to one’s perspective, I guess. As a child, one who lacks wisdom might consider it a friendly flower. Searching diligently until one is found so snatch up the furry-headed flower blowing all the tiny seedlings into the air and watching them race in the wind. However, to those who are battling this weed in the lawn and beds surrounding their home it is quite a nuisance. In the midst of war to reclaim green grass and lush flowerbeds, they are bent on destroying the offensive growth and tacking its roots as the blissful ignorance the children are spreading the seeds creating more of a problem. The wind can do enough damage without the help of tiny lungs enabling the reproduction of the little spores. Such is the battle between good and evil begun in the Garden of Eden. Ignorance gave people the notion that evil may be good so we chose to know evil personally. This choice came at a great price that would cost Jesus Christ, Son of God, His Precious Life. The Knowledge of Good and Evil was not God’s Intent. He desired for His Precious Children to only know His Goodness. But when we chose to acquaint ourselves with both, it would demand a choice. Now everyday humanity is faced with the decision to choose good over evil, sadly failing miserably in the midst of our salvation. God sent His Son to be the Light of the World and lead us from the darkness of poor choices. However, most people choose to love darkness more than light choosing evil over good! We must make the choice between good and evil thanks to our ancestors Adam and Eve. It is not a lifetime choice but moment-to-moment lifestyle of moving out of darkness and living in His Glorious Light. But watch out – there are “dandelions” along the way.
Genesis 2:16-17 (NLT)
But the LORD God warned him, “You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden— except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die.”
God created mankind and put us in the midst of His Goodness, Provision and Love with one mission which was to prosper. Knowing only good, there would be no choice to make. Talk about stress-free living at its best.
Genesis 3:4-6 (NLT)
“You won’t die!” the serpent replied to the woman. “God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.” The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too.
Welcome to the birthplace of every sin, bad choice, sickness, disease, stress and horror that you can ever imagine. Knowing only good – the people were not satisfied and chose to know evil, too. Now our life would demand a choice between good and evil. This would be the greatest lie ever told and it reverberates through history as a dandelion catching the wind. It still makes people look. It still captivates one’s attention. Even knowing its full potential and consummate devastation, every day there is a battle for the human soul who choose death or life and a lie ignoring the Truth.
Genesis 3:22-23 (NLT)
Then the LORD God said, “Look, the human beings have become like us, knowing both good and evil. What if they reach out, take fruit from the tree of life, and eat it? Then they will live forever!” So the LORD God banished them from the Garden of Eden, and he sent Adam out to cultivate the ground from which he had been made.
Knowing good and evil sadly has revealed the true intentions of mankind. God had to banish His People from His Presence as sin consumed their heart and life. To eat from the Tree of Life would be their destruction as eternal torment would be their reward. No one could enter His Presence again until they were redeemed. Jesus Christ became our Redeemer. God established Eternal Life in the Beginning. It was always His Plan for His People to live forever. Good and evil existed too as evidenced by the Tree of Knowledge. Humanity chose to become acquainted with evil forcing an internal choice. Now what? We must somehow win the battle of our heart and choose good over evil. Every man, woman and child is in for the fight of their life. The freedom to choose comes with great responsibility and restraint because the world loves evil over good and God loves us all!
Matthew 5:44-46 (NLT)
But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much.
The choice between good and evil is sometimes a very fine line. God has provided light and darkness. There is good and evil. He sends His Provision (rain) to both the just and unjust making it difficult to discern the powerful potential of choice. God loves every person that He ever created. He promised to provide for them no matter what the choice and does whether it is appreciate, acknowledge or accepted. There is no clear definition between good folks and godly people as the world has faded to shades of gray and compromise. Grace is viewed as permission to sin rather than a pardon from the penalty of sin. Freedom is used to return to darkness rather than live in the Light. Love your enemies is just one of the many stumbling blocks of a prideful, corrupted heart. The Truth is that human beings are all in this together. Sin touched every person’s heart and must be brought to justice to face judgment.
Galatians 5:16-17 (NLT)
So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions.
Mankind wants freedom of choice but does not want to take responsibility for their actions. This is clear in the Body of Christ today. The human heart is weak and frail. The contents are not as one would suppose being corrupted to their core, we attempt to love and be loved coming up short every time. God’s Spirit knows the battle that rages in our heart between good and evil. He was there when it all began. Jesus provided His Spirit to settle the score and allow people to see the Light and come out of darkness once and for all. But we still love the dark, enamored by its mystery and continuing to journey there in rebellion against God’s Goodness and now Grace. Good and evil are two forces constantly fighting each other hindering us to be intentional Christians. Everything is permissible under the provisions of grace but not everything is beneficial as outlined by God in His Law. (I Corinthians 10:23) His Commands were never intended to restrict His People but to keep them from evil and the danger of death – yet knowing this – we still dive back to the darkness or walk as close to the line of gray compromise so we do not miss a thing. Jesus made a Way for you to leave the darkness and live in the Light of His Love. He has told you the Truth about evil and its reward. Why can’t we walk in His Way, accept the Truth and live the Life?
Matthew 20:13-16 (NLT)
“He answered one of them, ‘Friend, I haven’t been unfair! Didn’t you agree to work all day for the usual wage? Take your money and go. I wanted to pay this last worker the same as you. Is it against the law for me to do what I want with my money? Should you be jealous because I am kind to others?’“So those who are last now will be first then, and those who are first will be last.”
In the motion picture, “Talladega Nights” fictional racecar driver, Ricky Bobby, lived by the motto, “If you aren’t first, you’re last.” I wonder what would happen if Christians chose to embark in the Race of Faith the same way. Maybe if we would realize through God’s Revelation and this motto that there is only good and evil without compromise, we would come to understand that there are only two positions in life. You cannot love the world and things of the world and still love the Lord with full devotion. No man can have two masters. Compromise is an illusion of some form of peace treaty with God forged by Grace. The Truth is there is only good and evil. (2 Corinthians 5:10) You will make it in to Heaven or miss the mark completely. God’s Commands are not optional for Christians but the salvation of their soul as God’s Spirit uses them to mold and shape our life leading us from darkness into the love as we fall in love with His Goodness leaving this world behind. God’s Kindness, Goodness and Mercy is for everyone. The only difference between you and everyone else is what you choose to do with His Grace, Mercy and Love. Being a good person or Godly Christian does not exalt you in His Kingdom because there is no hierarchy of faith. You love evil or you hate it!
Matthew 13:37-39 (NLT)
Jesus replied, “The Son of Man is the farmer who plants the good seed. The field is the world, and the good seed represents the people of the Kingdom. The weeds are the people who belong to the evil one. The enemy who planted the weeds among the wheat is the devil. The harvest is the end of the world, and the harvesters are the angels.
These are the instructions concerning final judgment. There will be good seed that grew into faithful people with confident hope in their hearts harvested in this life. There will be weeds (dandelions) who belong to the evil one whether they knew it or not. Judgment will reveal the contents of one’s heart and each will be judged accordingly. God is looking for one of two things: good or evil. Only those who chose goodness over evil and darkness over the light will live with Jesus forever. Salvation comes when we say yes to Jesus, believe in our heart and turn from our sin. God would not let His People choose forever without the freedom to choose between good and evil. But we don’t know the difference anymore as life has become one big middle-of-the-road journey. Only the Spirit of God there from the beginning to end can reveal the difference and lead us out of the darkness into the Light. (Isaiah 41:4)
Psalm 34:14 (NLT) Turn away from evil and do good. Search for peace, and work to maintain it.
It all comes down to this. Turn from evil. Do good. Search for peace. Work to maintain it. Most Christians miss the mark with the first step – turn from evil. Such a task requires a daily commitment to do the will of God and continue to move out AND away from the darkness delving deeper and deeper into the Light. God sees clearly in both places. (Psalm 139:11-12) Like the landowner who paid all his workers the same wages, God has a place for you in the Light. You have not missed a thing as long as you make the transition when you make the move. Do good. This requires revelation knowledge from God to remove all the fine lines that give us false hope and deceiving comfort to reveal the true line of justice that rightly divides good and evil. God’s Word is the two-edged sword that will make this dissection complete. Searching for peace is to take on the Mindset of Jesus Christ and striving to maintain it which is a combined effort cooperatively joining godly knowledge used to become wisdom fortified with the Word of God which is the whole truth, uncompromising righteousness enabled by Jesus Christ and guidance from His Spirit in every footstep of life. We work to maintain it by fighting to be faithful every day of our life. We do so by leaving darkness and living in the Light of His Love. It is the decision to live in God’s Goodness turning our back on evil for good! “Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.” (Romans 12:21)
Revelation 22:10-13
Then he instructed me, “Do not seal up the prophetic words in this book, for the time is near. Let the one who is doing harm continue to do harm; let the one who is vile continue to be vile; let the one who is righteous continue to live righteously; let the one who is holy continue to be holy.” “Look, I am coming soon, bringing my reward with me to repay all people according to their deeds. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.”
You cannot change the rotation of the earth or the end of the story. God is the Beginning and the End. Jesus Christ is the Alpha and Omega. When the Lord returns, He is bringing a reward for each person. There are people who will continue to do evil and never ever change consumed by inner darkness. It is not your job to change them but pray for them, share the Gospel with them, and love them. The only difference between you and them is Jesus. There are Christians who will continue to compromise and cause strife and division in the Body of Jesus Christ with false teaching and artificial love with lackluster commitment. So be it. It is not your job to change them either. Just pray for them, share the Truth with them and yes, love them, too! Then there are the righteous who choose to be last now to be first in the Kingdom. Your mission concerning them is the same! You cannot change anyone not even yourself. The only thing you can do is choose to walk in the Light. You must look at the reality of evil in this world and choose to avoid it at all costs. It takes great restraint to hold a dandelion in one’s hand and not blow it into the wind. The best way to avoid this temptation is to walk away from the dandelion altogether! God is calling you to live in His Goodness once more! He is the Light that leads the way out of darkness. Leave evil behind. Do not touch it. Toy with it. Entertain it. Or even look at it! You will benefit from such a choice attaining forever by doing good! Don’t be misled to love evil more than good. Do not be enamored by darkness it is just an empty place. Choose to live in His Love today and He will give you forever!
3 John 1:11 (NLT)
Dear friend, don’t let this bad example influence you. Follow only what is good. Remember that those who do good prove that they are God’s children, and those who do evil prove that they do not know God.
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