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Upside Down

Words of Faith Final

Upside Down
Words of Faith 4-4-2022
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2022
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL    
www.faithfellowshipweb.com
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Genesis 19
    The two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city. When he saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground. [2] "My lords," he said, "please turn aside to your servant's house. You can wash your feet and spend the night and then go on your way early in the morning."
    "No," they answered, "we will spend the night in the square."
    [3] But he insisted so strongly that they did go with him and entered his house. He prepared a meal for them, baking bread without yeast, and they ate. [4] Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom--both young and old--surrounded the house. [5] They called to Lot, "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them."
    [6] Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him [7] and said, "No, my friends. Don't do this wicked thing. [8] Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do what you like with them. But don't do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof."
    [9] "Get out of our way," they replied. And they said, "This fellow came here as an alien, and now he wants to play the judge! We'll treat you worse than them." They kept bringing pressure on Lot and moved forward to break down the door.
    [10] But the men inside reached out and pulled Lot back into the house and shut the door. [11] Then they struck the men who were at the door of the house, young and old, with blindness so that they could not find the door.

         I contemplated whether this Scripture was suitable as a devotional start for your day. As sad and sick as this story is, it has a powerful message.
        What do we have here? A tragic story of sin running completely rampant. A culture in which everything had been turned entirely upside down. A city so wicked that virtually every man had turned to depravity. A man named Lot was tragically caught in that culture.
         Remember that Lot had "pitched his tent toward Sodom."  Lot had allowed the allure of Sodom to turn his head. He had accepted the "benefits" of the big city culture in return for living there with his family. It should have been clear that he was in the wrong place somewhere along the line. But Lot never had seemed to "get it."
        The culture of Sodom had become so sick that it sought to rape the Angels of God. That is a bizarre and frightening thought. There is a point at which the depravity of the world aims to invade the places, people, and things of God. There is a depravity that is not satisfied with its own destruction; it seeks to destroy that which is holy.
        Lot was at a total loss as to a solution and found himself offering his virgin daughters to the sick men of Sodom. This is not an example of nobility but desperation. When we compromise with evil, we will often find the cost is frightening. The very things we love most may be lost!
         Of course, the Angels from God were never in any danger. They were simply evaluating this wretched situation. They were confirming what God already knew, that Sodom had chosen a path of total destruction. God never destroys a people. People choose a path that leads to their doom. "There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death" (Proverbs 14:12).
        Today we face many of the same issues. We are surrounded by an increasingly upside-down culture. Evil is praised as good, and good is derided as evil. We grapple with the culture around us and face the same decisions that Lot had. Jesus called us to be in the world but not of the world. We are called to be Ambassadors for Christ.
        But we are also called to holiness. We are called to refrain from compromise. We are called to pitch our tents toward God, not the world. We are called to live by faith, trusting in God's provision rather than the world's allure. Depravity has invaded the church. Depravity has seduced or raped the church in hideous ways in various places.
        Is there hope? For those who are faithful, there is always hope! But we must take great care not to be seduced by the way of the world. Local bodies must stand in the holiness of the Lord even in the midst of a wicked and perverse generation. We must continue to offer the message of Life to those who are dying. Yes, there is hope.

       Father God, make me a minister of reconciliation. Let Your Light shine through me into the darkness. Keep me from the snare of the enemy and keep my eye upon You. Use me today to proclaim the truth of New Life in Jesus. In His name I pray.
 
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© Jeffrey D. Hoy 2022
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy - Faith Fellowship Church (EFCA)        
2820 Business Center Blvd.
Melbourne, Florida 32940 (321)-259-7200
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
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The Words of Faith devotion is published five days a week by E-mail, excluding Federal holidays. Please feel free to forward this devotion to a friend who might be blessed by this devotion. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is quoted from the New International Version (R) of The Holy Bible. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Words of Faith (c) 1997, 2022 Jeffrey D. Hoy. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to forward this copyrighted material or use portions of it with appropriate notation of the source for non-profit purposes.