Saturday 17 February, 2018

3 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. 8 Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these teachers oppose the truth. They are men of depraved minds, who, as far as the faith is concerned, are rejected. 9 But they will not get very far because, as in the case of those men, their folly will be clear to everyone.

Wow – this is a very descriptive warning for me to attend to. It reads like a synopsis of a TV drama. It is a description of things commonly observed around me. I read it and take note of the warning from Paul – but there is something else that strikes me here – in verse 5 Paul describes the people this way: “They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly.”

Each time I have read this I have felt the Holy Spirit challenge me about whether I am this kind of person. I have had to ask myself if there is evidence of the power of God in my life daily – making me godly – or if I am merely acting religious. I want to say that God’s power is always at work in my life. And yet I struggle with areas of my life where God’s power is not at work in me.

God I know that your power is real and available to me and yet I struggle to depend on you – opting instead to rely in my own feeble abilities and failing. Thank You for speaking to me through Your word again. I humbly lay down my reliance on self – again- and ask you to fill me with your life changing power. As I trust in You and rely on Your power, may You change my life and the lives of those You have placed around me. May your kingdom come!

Written by Ps. Linda Quinn