Which One Are You?

“O God, listen to my complaint. Protect my life from my enemies’ threats. Hide me from the plots of this evil mob, from this gang of wrongdoers. They sharpen their tongues like swords and aim their bitter words like arrows. They shoot from ambush at the innocent, attacking suddenly and fearlessly. They encourage each other to do evil and plan how to set their traps in secret. “Who will ever notice?” they ask. As they plot their crimes, they say, “We have devised the perfect plan!” Yes, the human heart and mind are cunning. But God himself will shoot them with his arrows, suddenly striking them down. Their own tongues will ruin them, and all who see them will shake their heads in scorn. Then everyone will be afraid; they will proclaim the mighty acts of God and realize all the amazing things he does. The godly will rejoice in the Lord and find shelter in him. And those who do what is right will praise him.” ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭64:1-10‬ ‭NLT‬‬

There have always been evil people and, until Jesus returns, there will always be evil people. Wicked men devise their schemes and plot how to fulfill them. With no regard for righteousness they do what naturally flows from their heart, evil. Jesus said that the heart of man is the source of wickedness. “And then he added, “It is what comes from inside that defiles you. For from within, out of a person’s heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. All these vile things come from within; they are what defile you.”” ‭‭Mark‬ ‭7:20-23‬ ‭NLT‬‬ Jeremiah the prophet described the heart as desperately and deceitfully wicked. ““The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?” ‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭17:9‬ ‭NLT‬‬ Because of the sinful nature of the heart, a transformation must take place for man to be changed from his innate, default condition of wickedness. The heart of the problem is the heart. It's all about a persons heart. The heart that I'm referring to is not the muscle in our chest that beats and keeps our blood pumping. The heart is the epicenter of life itself, the spirit of a man. This is the nucleus of life. When the spirit of a man is wicked, so will be his life. When the spirit of a man is righteous, so will be his life.  “A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire. Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions.” ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭7:17-20‬ ‭NLT‬‬ This is why we must be born again! Men are not, innately, good hearted. To the contrary, men are born into sin and they are essentially wicked. Humanistic psychology cannot transform the spirit of a man. Only the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ can wash a black heart with red blood and make it white as snow. We must be born again (see John 3:1-7).  Until we get to our eternal home, we will battle with the wickedness of this fallen world and its sinful inhabitants. The beautiful, glorious, Biblical hope is the return of our Marvelous Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. Every eye will see Him! “Look! He comes with the clouds of heaven. And everyone will see him— even those who pierced him. And all the nations of the world will mourn for him. Yes! Amen!” ‭‭Revelation‬ ‭1:7‬ ‭NLT‬‬ Every knee will bow!  “that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” ‭‭Philippians‬ ‭2:10-11‬ ‭NLT‬‬ Some will bow and receive everlasting punishment and some will bow and inherit everlasting life. 
“and they will rise again. Those who have done good will rise to experience eternal life, and those who have continued in evil will rise to experience judgment.” ‭‭John‬ ‭5:29‬ ‭NLT  Which one are you?