Sometimes, well, quite often, when reading or listening to scripture, things jump out at me.

This is what I heard last night and reread today:

Lord , do not let evil people have their way. Do not let their evil schemes succeed, or they will become proud.
Interlude
Psalms 140:8 NLT

Evil abounds everywhere and in every thing.

"But there is no evil," I've heard some say. Really? There is no "good" if there is no evil with which to compare it.

One evil is subjective truth - your truth. Or my truth.

There are no absolutes...

If you say there are no absolutes, you hold that as an absolute truth thereby destroying your own argument.

All sincerely held beliefs are valid...

If this is true, Nazis actions were valid because of their sincerely held beliefs.

So was Stalin.

Bill Gates has a sincere belief that the population should be reduced drastically. The fact that you may be and probably will be one of the ones he wants to reduce does not matter because... sincere belief.

Your sincere belief that you should not be culled conflicts with his belief.

Who is right?

That is the evil of subjective truth.

Other examples:

I'm rioting and destroying other people's property because...

I lie constantly to get my way because ...

I steal anything from businesses that I don't normally shop at because ...

I shout down or beat up people that don't agree with me because ...

Solomon had this to say:

People may be right in their own eyes, but the Lord examines their heart.
Proverbs 21:2 NLT

He also said this:

When a crime is not punished quickly, people feel it is safe to do wrong.
Ecclesiastes 8:11 NLT

Who are the people about which this is being said? Who is evil?

15 Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
Revelation 22:15

9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.
1 Corinthians 6:9–10

19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Galatians 5:19–21

5 For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.
Ephesians 5:5

9 understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers,
1 Timothy 1:9

14 Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.
Hebrews 12:14
Source

So what are these people to do? Is there any hope?

As the Scriptures say, “No one is righteous— not even one. No one is truly wise; no one is seeking God. All have turned away; all have become useless. No one does good, not a single one.” For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.
Romans 3:10‭-‬12‭, ‬23 NLT

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6:23 NLT

But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.
Romans 5:8 NLT

If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved. For “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
Romans 10:9‭-‬10‭, ‬13 NLT

Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.
Romans 5:1 NLT

So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:1‭, ‬38‭-‬39 NLT

Believe these things or don't. And the arguement, "I can't believe that" holds no water. You believe what you choose to believe.

In closing, Paul (Saul) of Tarsus said this:

And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world.
1 Corinthians 15:19 NLT

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