September 6 - Anonymous Sinner
"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever (Hebrews 13:8)." Knowing where we came from and where we are hopefully going is any believer's deepest joy. Comparatively, humanities history has also been "the same yesterday, until present day", but it stops short there. The only thing that has changed is technology, while humanity itself hasn't changed a tiny bit. We call it "progress", and also know it's hard to stop. The difference in today's time than the times from Adam to 2023 AD, is that man never had the ability to communicate worldwide in seconds, translate languages, and potentially impair the earth.
Let's face it, "The stone age didn't end because there was a shortage of stones." The onset of artificial intelligence and other tech has brought on a new brand of hotbed for scammers and anti-Christ personalities to practice their craftiness. However, I also know that this tech can also be well utilized to spread the gospel of Christ Jesus. In fact, my beginning God moment is realizing that everything the Lord has prepared me for throughout my life and experiences, are the actual gifts that are being nurtured in me. Utilizing this technology has enabled the start of 3 viable missions, plus getting bibles out to people who never had one, which is one of the most joyful experiences a believer can ever have.
Knowing that Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever, is also a huge defense of armor for our confidence, but it's way much more than that. They say "The best defense is a good offense" which couldn't be more appropriate because the word of God is immutable and doesn't change at all and is our solid anchor. So how I expressed myself prior with an anti-Christ type, was letting the "situation dictate my theology", when it should be the complete other way around, by letting my theology dictate the situation, in which I found out is the best "offense" toward an anti-Christ personality who is doing everything in their power to stop our meetings.
It is quite amazing to watch when we incorporate God's knowledge in the spirit of the discussion to naysayers. The bigger God moment for me was watching how he lost the confidence of his own piers nearby, therefore having a moot argument to stop us. The power of God's word is also the same yesterday, and today, and forever, which is guiding our discussion as a gift through the Holy Spirit when we don't even realize its happening. Yes, we do serve an amazing God!