Steven Garofalo
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PLEASE PREPARE-A Biblically Grounded Message to My Followers
(Daily Devotional) By Steven Garofalo, March 23, 2023
March 23, 2023

In today's devotional, I would like to ask you to read Genesis 41 in it's entirety for yourself. Here is a the passage I will mostly focus on today:

28 “It is just as I said to Pharaoh: God has shown Pharaoh what he is about to do. 29 Seven years of great abundance are coming throughout the land of Egypt,30 but seven years of famine will follow them. Then all the abundance in Egypt will be forgotten, and the famine will ravage the land. 31 The abundance in the land will not be remembered, because the famine that follows it will be so severe. 32 The reason the dream was given to Pharaoh in two forms is that the matter has been firmly decided by God, and God will do it soon.

33 “And now let Pharaoh look for a discerning and wise man and put him in charge of the land of Egypt." (Genesis 41:28-33)

Here are some take aways that we ought to ponder, accept, and prepare for:

  • THE PLENTY WILL BE FORGOTTEN (41:29-30): The famine in Joseph's time would be so severe that everyone would forget the years of plenty. For us today in the United States especially, most of us cannot understand this becasue we grew up into plenty for the most part. The world's default currency, meaning the U.S. dollar was weaponized with the Russia-Ukraine war. As a result, this put into fast motion the rapid growth of the BRICKS Nations. Google that (The Bricks Nations) as you need to understand what BRICKS is. In a nutshel, is a group of growing nations that started over 20 years ago to trade within their group as trade partners. The Bricks nations now include Russia, China, India, Brazil, and many, many other countries. Their default currency will be based on a basket of currencies anchored on the gold standard. Their goal to begin to use their own basket of currencies as opposed to continuing their dependency on the U.S. dollar. For most of us, we only know times of good and a world that revolves around the United States and the U.S. dollar.
  • By the plenty will be forgotten, we must understand that most everything we buy is cheap/inexpensive due to the simple fact that we are the worlds currency. Ten years ago, a 25K Toyota Camry cost 75K in most any other country. Why only 25K? Because the United States was the worlds currency. The point is this: What we have, we have if we can hold onto it: A house, a car, a boat, etc. But, those days will be forgotten as times of famine and trials begin. This is not designed to be a doom and gloom devotion, but a biblical wake up call to look at God's Word in light of the fact that nothing is new under the sun. God's people have become soft and failed to be salt and light in a materialistic world. I feel like an old man saying that. Let's now jump into some application, bridging Genesis 41 and 2023.
  • In applicaiton, I will make some observations and application to this entire chapter due to the fact that this chapter is very pertinent and very applicable to where the West, especially the United States is today. I am not a prophet, as prophet's no longer exist in our modern age. I have the spiritual gift of "Discernment", a desire to understand God's Word, and to share it with others. It's within that context that I enter today's devotional. At this point in the history of the United States, there are many probabilities, but in most cases, no certainties. That being said, with God, there are certainties. One thing that is certain is that the U.S. dollar is beginning to fail more rapidly than we have ever seen in our lift time. As a result, the quality of life will be downgraded for many if not most Americans. Many will be wiped out, most will be vastly negatively affected, but for those who follow old fashion biblical principles, they will prevail, even prosper in times plague and famine. God commands us to read His Word and to "PREPARE" when we see storm clouds on the horizon. When I speak with many (if not most) Christians in Charlotte and around the United States. In America, it seems that most Christians are not preparing for times of famine, which is at our door step. It seems that many people think that things can get back to normal. I am baffled as to the differences between the Christian of 20-30 years ago and the Christian of today (2023), which by the way are the same Christians in many cases. We have just become complacent and off track. In today's modern age, I see paralysis, confusion, and fear in the body of Christ. Yes, we are called not to worry about tomorrow, but to worry about today. But the Bible is clear that we as well are to wisely prepare like the ant for times yet come. As a result, this causes Christians to get stressed out because we simply don't know where to go or what to do. This is understandable but unacceptable. In Genesis 41, God raised us Joseph to speak to the Pharoah regarding the impending famine that was about to come upon Egypt. God did what God most always does: He instructs His people, or in this case Joseph, to help others through God's wisdom and help. In reading this chapter, you will see that Joseph says this: "
  • SOME OBSERVATIONS: "...God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about do" (vs. 25). Notice that Joseph did not take credit for this himself but gave all credit and glory to God. LED by the Spirit of God, Joseph revealed that the "DREAMS" have the same meaning (22:15). "GOD HAS SHOWN PHAROAH": Again Joseph testified to the living God in a pagan court (39:3). Joseph emphasized his reference to the true God as he witnessed to the reality of the only true God. He made it clear that he was speaking about the one God, not the numerous false gods that filled the Egyptian court, or even Pharoah himself who was believed to be god (22:1; 42:18). We too, in applications should be equipped biblically, emotionally and spiritually to share the truth of Jesus Christ with a hurting world. We as believers are called to be the rock, the strong adult in the room to a lost and dying world. Times of trial will bring a harvest of opportunities to share the Christian faith with our neighbors as never seen before in history I believe. 
  • Verse 33 makes clear that it was God who sent Joseph, "a discerning and wise man". God sent the dreams; God enabled Joseph to understand them; and ultimately. God controlled and will control all things. For us today, God gives us the same wisdom, warning and ability to prepare through his Word, the Bible. There are many episodes on "preparation" on the Reason For Truth Podcast. Please check those out.
  • IN CLOSING: I want to be clear that I am not a "prepper". But I believe in being prepared. This is no small thing and I did not have plans for today's devotion before I read today's passage. The good news is that God provides, protects and even prospers those who look to Him for guidance in preparing for the famine(s) yet to come in life. With that said, I want to encourage you to read Genesis 41 for yourself in light of what I have said today. Then take some time in prayer, asking God, how He might have you prepare for the upcoming days. Why do this? For your sake, for your children's sakes, your grandchildren and your neighbors sake. If we as God's people are prepared, we can help others in need and be a witness for Jesus Christ just as Joseph was a witness to the true biblical God of the universe in a pagan society void of God.
  • Thank you for hearing me on this one. Should anyone want to discuss this or do a livestream or video chat, please let me know. I am happy to share with my community some of what I know, what I see and think, and how we might as believers in Jesus Christ better prepare, just as Joseph did thousands of years ago.

 

 

 

 

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1) God IS Light. “5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all” (John 1:5).

2) God Created Physical Light and called It GOOD. WHY? Because the light we see reflects God’s Goodness, Love, Warmth, and Provision. Hos essence.

“3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness.” (Genesis 1:3-4)

Welcome to the start of a short new week. God is reflecting His Light upon you this fresh new morning as His mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3:22-23). And great is His faithfulness! I pray these beautiful words of God encourage you today!-Steven

UPCOMNG ADDITIONAL AUDIO COMING TO THE COMMINITY!

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Not Serpents of Skin, but From The Falsehood Of Sin: Uncoiling The Ending of Mark’s Gospel
By Del Potter, M.A.A. (Copyright 2025)

Not Serpents of Skin, but From The Falsehood Of Sin: Uncoiling The Ending of Mark’s Gospel

By Del Potter, M.A.A. August 27, 2025

Opening Remarks

From the outset, this article is NOT contending whether or not the ending of Mark 16 should be included. Although, it is in my humble opinion that some of the strange language in the ending of Mark actually affirms the truthfulness of the events inserted into the ending of Mark. There are several striking words in Mark's longer ending (Mark 16:17–18):

“These signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them...”

As a first impression, the imagery suggests a miraculous ability to resist snakes and poison. It is nevertheless important to note that serpents and poison consistently function within Jewish, Biblical, and early Christian thought as symbols of false teaching and spiritual corruption, not simply physical danger.


Serpents in Scripture: Symbols of Deception

From the beginning of Genesis through Revelation, the serpent is never merely zoological—it is the archetype of deceit. In Genesis 3, the serpent slithers into the Garden not to bite with fangs, but to inject Eve with poisonous doubt about God’s word. Later Jewish wisdom literature follows this thread:

  • Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) 21:2: “Flee from sin as from the face of a serpent: for if thou comest too near it, it will bite thee.”
  • Psalm 140:3: “They make their tongue sharp as a serpent’s, and under their lips is the venom of vipers.”

This same imagery flows into the New Testament:

  • Matthew 23:33: Jesus calls the Pharisees a “brood of vipers,” not because of biology, but because of false teaching.
  • 2 Corinthians 11:3: Paul warns that, just as the serpent deceived Eve, so false teachers corrupt the simplicity of Christ.
  • Revelation 12:9: John describes Satan as a serpent “And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.”

Therefore, when Mark refers to "serpents" and "deadly poison," his Jewish-Christian readers would have recognized the metaphor: heresy slithering into the church among the people with its false doctrine poisoning the entire church (2 Peter 2:1).


The Poison Of Heresy: A Dangerous Drink

The early Church frequently described heretical teaching as venom or poison. Ignatius of Antioch warned the Trallians:

“I therefore, yet not I, but the love of Jesus Christ, entreat you that ye use Christian nourishment only, and abstain from herbage of a different kind; I mean heresy. For those [that are given to this] mix up Jesus Christ with their own poison, speaking things which are unworthy of credit, like those who administer a deadly drug in sweet wine, which he who is ignorant of does greedily take, with a fatal pleasure leading to his own death.” (Letter to the Trallians 107 A.D.).

This language reflects the very pattern of Mark 16—poisonous teaching disguised as nourishment. The faithful, however, are promised preservation: “it will not harm them.” The believer, rooted in Christ, can discern and resist corruption.

No early Christian expressed this more vividly than Tertullian of Carthage (c. 200 AD). In his treatise Scorpiace, he likens heresy to venomous creatures:

  • Heresy “creeps into the church like a scorpion,” injecting spiritual poison.
  • The faithful must resist with the antidote of Scripture, wielded like the staff of Moses against the serpents of Egypt.

Tertullian believed that the danger was not from reptiles in the marketplace, but rather from false teachers within the church. Similarly, heresy pierces the souls of believers in a quiet and lethal manner, just as the scorpion stings unseen. As a result, he viewed Christ's promise in Mark not as a test of reckless physical stunts, but as a promise that the faithful will not suffer from the venom of falsehood if armed with the truth. As Paul rightly reminds his audience:

 "Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil (i.e. snakes & poisons)." - Ephesians 6:11


Mark’s Ending and the beginning of the Early Church

NT writers wrote within a culture steeped in metaphor. The early church never staged snake-handling rituals to “prove” faith. Instead, they testified by enduring persecution, refuting heresy, and preserving sound doctrine.

The apologetic force of Mark 16 is not spectacle—it is survival. The church would face vipers in pulpits, scorpions in councils, and poison in doctrine. Yet Christ promises: “These things will not harm you.”

Just as in the first century, serpents and scorpions creep into the church today—not in the form of reptiles, but in the form of false witnesses, compromised truth, and distorted gospels. The call of Mark 16 is not to chase miracles, but to guard against lies.

In a world full of theological poison, the believer’s protection is not daredevil faith, but faithful discernment: Scripture, the Spirit, and the witness of the saints.

“But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers [i.e. snakes] among you, who will secretly introduce destructive [i.e. poison] heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves.” - 2 Peter 2:1


Closing Remarks

The ending of Mark’s Gospel, far from a literal dare, is a prophetic warning and promise:

  • Serpents = false teachers.
  • Poison = heretical doctrines.
  • The promise = Christ’s people, if grounded in truth, will not be overcome.

Tertullian’s scorpions, Ignatius’ poison, Paul’s vipers, and Jesus’ own words unite: the greatest danger to the church is not fangs and venom in the field, but lies and venom in the pulpit.

In Christ, the Church endures—immune not to biology, but to blasphemy.

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MAN'S PROBLEM-"HIDDENESS"
By Del Potter, M.A.A., August 16, 2025

The Problem Is With Man's Hiddenness Toward God, Not Vice-Versa

Why Doesn’t God Make His Existence Unmistakably Clear to Everyone?

One of the most common objections to faith is: “If God is real, why doesn’t He just show Himself beyond all doubt?” Skeptics ask why God doesn’t write His name in the sky or make His presence undeniable. But Scripture, reason, and the earliest witnesses of the Church tell us a different story: God has already made Himself known, yet it is humanity that hides.

God’s Self-Revelation in Creation

Scripture consistently teaches that God’s fingerprints are everywhere. The Apostle Paul writes:

“For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—His eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.” (Romans 1:20)

Psalm 19:1 echoes this truth: “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands.”

Job reminds us that creation itself—beasts, birds, earth, and sea—all testify to the Creator:

“But ask the beasts, and they will teach you; the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you; or the bushes of the earth, and they will teach you; and the fish of the sea will declare to you. Who among all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? In His hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind.” (Job 12:7–10)

God’s existence, then, is not hidden. It is written into the very structure of reality. As St. Athanasius later argued, creation itself acts as a universal witness, speaking of God’s power to every culture and language without need for words.

Why Does God Seem Hidden?

The real issue is not divine silence but human resistance. Moses records God saying:

“I will surely hide My face in that day, because of all the evil which they shall have wrought, in that they are turned unto other gods.” (Deuteronomy 31:18)

This is not a statement about God being unknowable but about mankind turning its back to Him. God’s “hiddenness” is a moral and relational reality, not an intellectual one. As Isaiah wrote:

“Your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God.” (Isa. 59:2)

Early Christians echoed this. Justin Martyr argued that those who live according to reason (logos) recognize the true God through creation and conscience. Clement of Alexandria explained that ignorance of God is not due to His absence, but due to the blindness of the soul enslaved to passions.

The Attributes of God are Revealed According To His Nature.

If God were to force belief by overwhelming proof, He would violate the very nature of faith and love. Love cannot be compelled; it requires freedom. Blaise Pascal later captured this well: “There is enough light for those who desire to see, and enough darkness for those who do not.”

The early Church understood that God provides evidence sufficient for faith, but not coercion. Origen taught that God “gives signs to those who are willing to see, but hides from those who shut their eyes.” This allows space for genuine seeking, humility, and love—rather than forced acknowledgment.

God Is Not Hidden—We Are

When people ask, “Why doesn’t God make Himself clear?” the biblical answer is: He already has. The problem is not with God’s silence but with our ears. The witness of creation, conscience, Scripture, and Christ Himself leaves us without excuse.

It is not God who hides, but man who hides from God—just as Adam and Eve once hid in the Garden. And yet, even then, God sought them, calling out: “Where are you?” (Gen. 3:9).

The same God still calls today through the beauty of creation, the testimony of Scripture, and the living Christ. The question is not whether God is clear enough but whether we are willing to see Him more clearly!

"For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully, just as I also have been fully known." - 1 Corinthians 13:12

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INFALLIBILITY IS GREATER THAN INERRANCY
By Del Potter M.A.A.
 
God's truth (Infallibility) is greater than man's inability to write down or transmit His word (Inerrancy) perfectly. God's truth remains true regardless if man regards or disregards it to be true.
 
Allow me to explain more in-depth. Inerrancy, is defined as the belief that Scripture contains no errors in its original manuscripts, so obviously inerrancy struggles with textual variants like John 8:1–11. The story is missing from the oldest Greek manuscripts (e.g., Codex Sinaiticus, Vaticanus) and its stylistic differences raise red flags for many textual critics. But if our faith rests solely on inerrant transmission, what happens when that transmission wavers? Are such passages now less inspired? We are warned from scripture itself that errant transmission could and can occur. God through Moses warns the Israelites that "You shall not add to the word which I am commanding you, nor take away from it, so that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I am commanding you" (Deuteronomy 4:2).
 
Jesus seems to place an exclamation point on this line of thinking and says “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments" (John 14:15) clarifying further that if you love God you will not tamper with His word. God places a capstone on this discussion by warning His readers at the close of Revelation "and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book" (22:19). My point? We are warned through scripture itself there is and would be a problem with those that would add or even take away from God's infallible word thus making it errant and not inerrant. This is where the strength of infallibility steps in.
 
Infallible simply means “incapable of error.” The difference is God is incapable of error and is against His nature to error. "As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the Lord is flawless" (Psalm 18:30:). Inerrancy is like a flawless earthly mirror. Crack it, and it’s compromised. However, Infallibility is like the sun: Even if seen through a foggy lens, it still gives light and heat because its origin is not of the earth.
 
Psalm 119:89 reminds us that truth originates not in human manuscripts, but in the eternal counsel of God. Combined with John 21:25 - "Jesus did many other things... if all of them had been written down, the world itself would be unable to contain the volumes" We are confronted with a key theological insight: not all truth has been written, but all truth is known. In Scripture, it is clarified that omission from man's history does not imply absence from God's history. So, even when the earthly record is incomplete, the heavenly record has been completed.
 
Again, it is true that manuscripts such as Codex Sinaiticus omit stories like the Pericope Adulterae (John 7:53–8:11), leading some to question its authenticity. Yet, early Christians like Didymus the Blind (pre-Nicene era) affirmed the passage’s existence in "certain Gospels." Augustine later wrote that some scribes intentionally excluded the story out of fear it could be misused to justify sin using the story of the Pericope Adulterae.
 
“Certain persons of little faith... removed from their manuscripts the Lord's act of forgiveness toward the adulteress.” (Augustine 'De Adulterinis Coniugiis' - 419 A.D.)
 
This demonstrates that the story may have been removed due to fear, politics, or human discretion, but not by divine silence. In light of Psalm 119:89, we must remember that God's word is "SETTLED" [Greek: Natsab = stationed/established] in heaven before it’s written on earth.
 
This challenges an empirical view of truth. If divine revelation is only accepted when it aligns with surviving manuscripts, the church’s oral tradition, apostolic memory, and lived theology are undermined. The early church did not rely solely on manuscripts, but on witnesses, oral, and Spirit-led preservation. As Tertullian wrote in the 2nd century:
 
“We do not need curiosity after Christ Jesus, nor inquiry after the gospel. When we believe, we desire to believe nothing more. For this we believe, that there is nothing else which we ought to believe.” - Prescription Against Heretics, Ch. 7–8.
 
Scripture acknowledges its own incompleteness—yet affirms the completeness of God's eternal counsel.
 
The failure to accept any truth that has not been recorded in early papyri amounts to ignoring the 'heavenly library' where truth is established. There is a consensus among Scripture, tradition, and theology that the absence of paper does not imply the absence of preservation. Despite the fact that earth has not penned it, that does not mean heaven has not done so. As Christians, we believe that the eternal Word, who is Jesus Christ, the Logos (John 1:1-14), has embodied and preserved all truth, some written, some spoken, and some remembered in the heart of the Church. The Word of God cannot fail - even if manuscripts do. That is the beauty and greatness of infallibility over inerrancy.
 
"And there are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they were written in detail, I suppose that even the world itself would not contain the books that would be written." (John 21:25).
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