Deception is rampant
Yesterday was a dreary day, one of those early winter days when your body doesn't get much sunlight and it messes with your brain. That's one of the things I dislike most about winter - my body needs sunshine to produce a good level of melatonin. Melatonin helps your body know when to sleep and when to wake. These gray-brown days make me want to hibernate, but instead of doing that I just try to take it easy resting or catch up on reading. But sometimes, I don't feel like reading so I turn on the tube.
We have a lot of shows we enjoy but occasionally, I like to watch something that doesn't require brain power. On those occasions, I usually choose to watch something entertaining but creative, so I began looking for something in that category and came upon one of our old favs - Project Runway. We used to watch it all the time but over the years have found it becoming distressing. (If you've never seen it, it's a show where a group of creative designers are given challenges to make something runway worthy. They're given a specific amount of time, a concept, and a dollar amount. Then their work is judged as one by one of the designers are booted out. Eventually, a winner is declared.) It's always interesting to see what each designer comes up with and since I've always loved the arts, creativity, and sewing, I figured why not check it out again.
Whoa...
The most recent season of the show available for us to stream was shocking. Not only have the designers changed, but also their concepts.
We only watched one of the newest shows before turning it off. Why, you ask? Well, I'll tell you. It was disgusting. I couldn't believe the number of designers that had no idea who they were. There were guys dressed in skirts with polished nails. It was evident they worked hard at portraying femininity even though they were clearly men. The women weren't as blatant with their outward appearance, although a couple of them did appear to lean toward more masculine versions of themselves. It broke my heart to see these late 20-mid 30 people in such a confused, deceived state. Not only did they act proud of their persona, they flaunted it.
One of the guys, who was clearly gay, sat with his legs crossed and would bring his hand up to his mouth while shaking his head slightly to toss his hair as if he were a distressed female. All I could think was you poor, pitiful thing. When did you forget who you were? What happened in your life to cause you to think you needed to be someone God didn't intend you to be? Do you even know God????
And that's when I realized this is the generation that's prevalent in our time - the deceived, the confused, the unsure.
We've all heard the gender identity issues many in our society have accepted- children that think they're cats or dogs, boys who feel more comfortable dressing and acting like girls and vice versa. Satan has surely pulled the wool over the eyes of so many and instead of standing for truth, people just shake their heads and think c'est la vie (such is life.)! But not me, buddy!
That's why I think it's so important that believers not only learn to love these confused guys and girls, but we also help point them to the truth. And that makes me wonder how many of us (believers) know who we truly are?
Our identity, as believers in Christ, is and should always be strong! The Bible gives us Scripture after Scripture that tells us who we are in Him. Look at these verses below and commit them to memory, and if you ever have a chance to encounter one of the deceived, don't be so harsh - remember they're not thinking straight. They need help but much more than that, they need God.
We won't be watching any more Project Runway shows but I'm glad we were able to see the depth of the deception this generation faces. And that brings up one more thing (and I'm sorry this post is so long and so very opinionated, but it is what it is...) as believers, we need to be extremely careful of what we watch on TV or in movies. There's so much filth. Remember that little song from Sunday School - "Oh be careful little eyes what you see???" To keep that nasty stuff out of our minds, we have to guard it. Just think about putting an imaginary steel door at the forefront of your brain. See the steel rivets, the big metal bar across it, the huge lock...you get the picture, and only you hold the access to open it and before you do, you're going to shoot up a prayer to God asking whether or not you should, that's called discernment.)
Thanks for taking time to read today. I hope something I said ignites your soul with not only sadness but a desire to love the deceived a little harder. They need it so. And yes, you have to do it gently. You can't condemn. The Bible says judge not lest ye be judged...that's not what I'm trying to do here, although it probably seems that way. My goal is just to bring awareness.
Do you know WHO you are? This is what the Bible says about you:
John 1:12: "I am a child of God"
Romans 8:16: "I am a child of God: I was chosen in Him before the foundation of the world, that I would be holy and blameless before Him"
Ephesians 2:10: "God gifted you to fulfill His purpose"
1 Corinthians 6:19-20: "Our physical bodies are no longer ours when we give our lives to Christ"
Colossians 3:3: "The ultimate surrender and integration of our identity into Christ"
Galatians 4:7: "You are free"
2 Corinthians 5:17: "You are a new person"
Philippians 3:20: "You are a citizen of Heaven"
1 Peter 1:5: "You are protected by God"
Isaiah 43:4: "You are precious to God"
Galatians 3:13: "You are rescued"
John 15:15: "I don't call you servants any longer. . . . I call you friends"
"But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.6 They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over gullible women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires, 7 always learning but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth." 2 Timothy 3:1-7
Everyday Devotionals Bonnie Annis
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