The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

“Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good.” Romans 12:9

My own interpretation of Romans 12:9 is “Hate what is evil and Love what is good.”

At times we look at the world as bad and even downright ugly.  We may look at it carefully, but often we can’t see any good. Watching the news one can say, “Why can’t they put something good on the TV?”  The reason being, is that bad and ugly news sells.  Let’s take a look in the Bible for the reason it’s that way.

Genesis 1:31 “Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good.”  What a beautiful place earth was.  God wanted a perfect place for his people to live; it was truly a Paradise.  We all long to have a Paradise in our own lives, but will never be in our lifetimes.  You may think that living on a south sea island would be paradise, but it’s not true.  We will still have sickness, sorrow and pain.  The only time we will experience paradise is when we are with Jesus.

When sin entered this world through Adam and Eve, it began to grow in the human heart.  It grew so evil that God decided to destroy what he had made perfect in the beginning.  “So God said to Noah, “I have decided to destroy all living creatures, for they have filled the earth with violence. Yes, I will wipe them all out along with the earth!” Genesis 6:13 (NLT) Only Noah and his family survived because Noah was a righteous man.

Think about this; the good turned to bad and then to ugly in a short amount of time.  Now there were only Noah and his family on the earth and in a short time sin began to raise its ugly head and as time went on, it grew and grew and grew.  Why?  Why couldn’t it stay good; they had a second chance?  As it says in Romans 3:10, “As it is written: "There is none righteous, no, not one.” 

I know that God is over all mankind, but Satan in the ruler of this world.  You might not believe this, but in 2 Corinthians 4:4 tells us, “Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News.”  You see, if you are not a Believer, you are open season for Satan.  No matter how wise you think you are; no matter how much of a Christian you think you are, if you are not born again and serving the Lord, Satan controls you.

The Holy Spirit is continually drawing you, but if you don’t want any of the Lord, he will not keep you away from the enemy of your soul.  Here is what happens, “According to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience….” Ephesians 2:2.  This is why God has given us complete instructions to fight Satan and keep on God’s side. “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places”. Ephesians 6:10-12

We’ve been showing the Good, the Bad, but not the ugly.  Turn on the news and watch the extreme evil, which I call, the Ugly.  Men, women and children who are being tortured, heads cut off and put in prisons which are like the pit of hell.  There are those which are so evil there are no words to describe them.  This is the ugly!  Yet we have people in our own country of hope for man who can’t see beyond the lies of the enemy.  They stand on the corners and in the streets crying for our country to invite the good, the bad and the ugly to come and be part of their godless lives. 

Yes, not all who enter into the USA are evil, but until there is a way to sort through them and their past we are not safe.  This is not hate; it’s being careful and not allowing danger to come into our lives.  Satan has been very busy at dividing our country; he is smarter than you think.  Go back and read Ephesians 6:10-12. Note that we need to be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. What does that mean?

Wiles means, “cunning, stratagem, ploy, schemes, lure, entice, devious, guile, craftiness, etc.; none of this is good, so that means it’s bad and evil.  God gives us a warning in Romans 12:21, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”  How do we do that?  Be obedient to the Word of God.

“And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.' This is the first commandment.”  Mark 12:30