The natural reaction or response for all of us is to somehow justify ourselves. But in truth only the Lord can accurately assess the state of our hearts.

There is no higher pursuit, privilege or pleasure than to know God. Unlike all of the man made gods of all other religions, the God of the Bible is a living God, a relational and knowable God, who longs for we humans to know Him fully and completely as He is.

So you who are not born again by the Spirit of God and still in darkness can know just how dark your darkness is, how real your slavery to sin and Satan is, and that you will repent and cling to Christ while He still is giving you breath and time.

One of the reasons we believe David was called a man after God’s own heart is because he so passionately sought after God even though he had all the responsibilities of presiding as King over a kingdom. “Oh God, You are my God, I shall seek You early; My soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You,…” was his increasing passion - Psalm 63:1

You know no one I know, perhaps no one alive in the United States today has ever experienced a full on widespread Revival. The last one was in 1904, 1905.

"...for new believers from non Christian backgrounds or even older believers from non Christian backgrounds - learning to give generously by the leading and empowerment of the Holy Spirit as a lifestyle is often a huge mountain to climb."

When becoming righteous in your thoughts and words and actions becomes your passion, you not only will begin to experience that righteousness, but you will receive the satisfaction that comes from being found pleasing to God and being able to be used in His hands.

The fact that Jesus and Paul were able to stay so focused on their mission of making disciples when the rulers over them were far more evil (do you know much about Nero?) in some ways than the ones over us here in the U.S. is something that needs to be pondered in this discussion.

One of the reasons I am doing this study is so we sons and daughters of Christ can not have any confusion or uncertainty about what God deems as evil. Once we know this clearly, then we must go to Him to find the strength and courage to stand alone (as far as humans are concerned) if it comes to that, which in some cases it probably will.

If Er was evil in the sight of the Lord, he was unmistakably evil. God's acts of judgment are never rash or knee jerk. He knew/ordained that the Messiah would come from the line of Judah. They (God's judgments) are always in view of what is to come or what is to be.