We live in amazing but difficult days. Each day brings special moments, some are sad (like the illness and death of loved ones); some give hope (like seeing birds or crocuses in the spring). Some of the things we see and hear we quickly forget, others we can never forget.

Yesterday a duck walking in the snow some distance from a stream encouraged me that spring was near. It rekindled a 5–6-year-old memory of a mother duck and her six ducklings waddling single file on a crosswalk with all cars stopped as they slowly walked past at a green traffic light.

Hopeful signs like this are good but they do not compare to the hope we have through Jesus Christ. Jesus is the first hope of Christians. God and the Bible provide us with hope every day. In today’s world we are lost without God’s help because everything seems so hopeless.

Each day provides many opportunities to grow physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. When opportunities are squandered, our growth may stop and even regress. Social growth which involves interactions with others, outside of the self, can help or hinder our personal growth.

With age and experience priorities can change. What once was important may lose value as we ponder life and its meaning, especially considering current events. A closer walk with God helps us understand how the biggest distance is often from our heads to our hearts (souls, or spirits).

The brain is the control room of our physical bodies, but as we grow spiritually, our souls or spirits control more of our thoughts, words, and actions as we become more faith-filled and biblically literate (not just knowledge of the Bible but understanding what it says).

We are what we think about. If we are concerned with power, control, and money making, we usually care little about people. Sometimes even our families are unimportant to us, much less the poor, downtrodden, or the imprisoned. When we put God first and work to serve Him, we work to reach people for Him, regardless of their status, because every life is equal before God.

We live in a time of mass confusion and great evil. Even devout Christians find it difficult to untangle what is true from the rampant lies and deception. Media, technology, and AI make it harder to discern. But for our relationship with God, we too would be playing on the wrong team.

Christians know that everything in this world, including themselves, will eventually die and that God will replace it with His perfection. Resting secure in their relationship with God through Jesus, they anchor their lives in His truth, love, and peace and work to spread the good news. They pray for those they know and love who resist God’s call to relationship with Him.

At this time of year, Christians worldwide celebrate lent, a time when they meditate upon the forty days that lead up to Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection from the dead, often coinciding with the Jewish Passover. Jesus was crucified during Passover. Two influential Jewish scholarly sects opposed Jesus and were instrumental in His arrest and death more than the Romans were.

The Pharisees, popular and well-respected by the people, were legalists who strictly adhered to the written Jewish laws and the oral traditions passed down through Moses. They taught of a coming Messiah, believed in angels and demons, the resurrection of the dead, and an afterlife. To them, temple attendance was sacred, but they often bent God’s commands to suit themselves.

The Sadducees, primarily composed of wealthy priestly aristocracy, had a lot of political power. They held most of the seats in the Sanhedrin and controlled the Temple. They wanted to maintain the status quo and therefore cooperated with Roman authorities. Their focus was the first five books of the Bible. The Sadducees denied the resurrection, angels and demons, and the afterlife.

While these Jewish sects are not active today, portions within and outside of Christianity can be compared to and be seen as similar to the Pharisees and Sadducees of Jesus’s day. Just as God works through His beloved, the devil and his demons work through those who have chosen evil over God. In our day, more people oppose Christianity than any other religion. This is especially evident in the elite classes, academics, and the arts and music industries.

God speaks and reveals Himself and His nature to the elite, to the highly academic, and to the creative in the arts and music communities worldwide, just as He speaks to the least of us. He reveals himself to vile sinners everywhere who know that their living is wrong. Some ask for God’s help so that they can repent and live new lives in Christ.

When people see and hear things that point to God, and begin to relate with Him, they have no choice but to find ways to share that which they cannot unsee or unhear; the things that are most important and lifegiving to them. To a large degree, it has been Christians who have unearthed the depravities of drug addiction, pornography, and trafficking and abuse of children. So far, just the tip of the iceberg has been revealed. We know that what is hidden will eventually be brought to the surface, all to God’s glory.

Some of the most astute people on the planet boldly stand with Jesus despite all that threatens them as they swim against the tide like the earliest Christians did. Famous celebrities, Jim Cavaziel, Dave Chappelle, China Anne McClain, and Joe Rogan, to name a few, are exposing Hollywood’s evils. More people are taking note, educating themselves, and warning their children and grandchildren about these evils that lurk around them seeking to maim and destroy.

God will not be mocked. He is victorious. What He reveals will come to the light and be seen and heard.