November 3, 2026

Bad Guys

We wish there were no bad guys in this world.  But when we read the Word, starting in Genesis, we realize murder happened between Adam and Eve’s children.  When we follow the Ten Commandments, when we pray, love others and give generously from the things we’ve been given, we wonder why everyone doesn’t attempt to see how far they can go serving God, using the favor and gifts He gives. 

But bad guys do exist.  As a child, they hid in the closet or under the bed.  We were warned against talking to strangers.  There was a message threading through our parents’ words that we should stay close to them to stay safe.  The worst part of today’s news reports tends to be the stories of robbery, assault, destruction and murder.  Sometimes we just need God to intervene. The greedy, angry world will not let go.

My company, Ice Chips Candy, has had many attempts to rob us.  But we’ve also had God watching our backs.  One time we had a scammer send a photo of a large worm in a tin of Ice Chips.  When the email extortion attempt was made, two FDA employees were sitting at our conference table doing one of their frequent surprise visits.  They looked at the picture and laughed.  “That’s a pantry moth larvae,” one said.  “We’ll handle this.”  Apparently they did because we never heard from the scammer again.  Our broken and crippled legal system has managed to make these crimes easy.  Owning a business means to open your empty wallet to an army of thieves who live their lives robbing and stealing and destroying. A perfect biblical description of the devil.

How have we managed to make everything so complicated?  Jesus made it easy. If everyone simply loved everyone else, the division in the world would go away. Following Jesus’ first great commandment to love the Lord with all our hearts, is only one additional rule, “Love each other as you love yourselves!”   The world complicates and makes difficult something designed to be easy.  

So, we live alongside the bad guys because we live in the world.  Jesus did it without sin.  We do not do as well as He did.  In spite of the chaos and pain these people bring to the world, God still loves them. He still believes they could discover that hidden master of words, art, speaking or leading the world He hid inside them when they were born.  Great bad guys, once redeemed, become great ambassadors for the kingdom.  So pray, believe for redemption as God does, and walk among them with care.

Father, Thank You for warning me that there are dangerous people in the world.  Thank You for protection, for the Angel Army, and the truth that You walk beside me every day.  I ask for safety as we walk alongside the valley of the shadow of death, as we go about our mission and our call.  Help me to move and operate in faith so my tasks are never compromised.  Lord I pray for revelation and commitment for every bad guy in the world. 

Rescue me from these criminals; save me from these murderers.  Psalm 59:2