Reality

In the midst of a culture that is susceptible to deception, we can call upon the Lord for His presence. He will calm our hearts and clear our minds, so that we can see His truth. Zechariah 10 states:
1 Ask the Lord for rain In the time of the latter rain. The Lord will make flashing clouds; He will give them showers of rain, Grass in the field for everyone.
2 For the idols speak delusion; The diviners envision lies, And tell false dreams; They comfort in vain. Therefore the people wend their way like sheep; They are in trouble because there is no shepherd.

People make up their own truth and live in their own realities apart from God.  But, we have someone, declared to be the "way, the truth, and the life," who will show us God's ways and keep us on track in our spiritual life.  He is the Good Shepherd, our Lord Jesus, who wants to show us the way we should walk and empower us with His Word, the truth that we need in order to stay locked in to His reality and to make good decisions that reflect His wisdom.

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Satan is the author of lies and his aim is to, as Jesus said, "steal, kill, and destroy."  We must guard our own minds and lives, recognizing that there is a deceiver who is working to overturn the plan of
God. In 2nd Thessalonians 2, we find a description of the times in which we live; we can read:
9 The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders,
10 and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
11 And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie,
12 that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

In an attempt to create a "new reality," perhaps, people are literally attempting to take outrageous steps in order to deny what is real and factual and enter into some substitute world, a parallel universe, of sorts.

For instance, when you start saying that a person can change their gender simply by declaring a new identity, and when gender is regarded as fluid rather than fixed, you are, in a sense, denying biological reality.  And, it can actually lead to some extreme consequences.  For instance, the Guardian reports:

A 69-year-old Dutch “positivity guru” who says he does not feel his age has started a battle to make himself legally 20 years younger on the grounds that he is being discriminated against on a dating app.

Emile Ratelband told a court in Arnhem in the Netherlands that he did not feel “comfortable” with his date of birth, and compared his wish to alter it to people who identified as transgender.

The article went on to say:

Doctors had told him his body was that of a 45-year-old man, Ratelband argued. He described himself as a “young god”.

The judge conceded that the ability to change gender was a development in the law. “I agree with you: a lot of years ago we thought that was impossible,” he said.

Ratelband says his age is an impediment to "love."  A Japanese man has decided that he loves - an animated character and spent thousands of dollars to marry her recently.  Business Insider reports:

Akihiko Kondo was determined to never marry after being bullied by female seniors at his previous workplace. He picked Hatsune Miku instead – a hologram who won't "cheat, age or die".

The 35-year-old school administrator has certainly married into fame. Miku is an animated 16-year-old with saucer eyes and lengthy aquamarine pigtails, known as a vocaloid. The virtual reality singer is one of the most popular pop-culture icons in Japan, known for selling out live concert performances.

Kondo has a desktop version of Miku, which is a home device likened to Alexa or Google Home. He sleeps with the doll version, which has its own wedding ring.

Apparently, Kondo apparently is not alone in this type of arrangement. The article states that: "Hologram device manufacturer Gatebox has distributed 3,700 marriage certificates for these 'cross-dimension' marriages, according to Geek.com."

And, the desire for love and intimacy has resulted in the opening of brothels around the world, using robots.  Fortunately, the city of Houston has resisted the dubious distinction of being the host city for the first such place in the U.S.  The Houston Chronicle reports:

A Toronto company’s plan to open a sex service in Houston offering “adult love dolls” available “to rent before you buy” has sparked opposition from city leaders and an online campaign to keep so-called robot brothels out of the city.

The article says that the mayor is reviewing city ordinances or could be looking at new ones to prevent such an enterprise from opening in the city or at least to regulate it.

These are some extreme versions of departures from objective, Biblical truth and from biology.  A person cannot identify with an age different than his or her real age.  A person cannot "marry" an animated character and call it marriage.  And, having some form of relations with a robot is a twisted departure from true intimacy.

I think there is certainly an element of desperation here, and desperation can bring delusion.  But, even in our own lives, we have to watch out for ways the enemy would deceive us and draw us away from reality.  We can become captive to our own thoughts - our ideas and perceptions of situations can be inappropriately distorted because of errant thinking.  We have to stay grounded in reality.  Worry and anxiety can result in developing the incorrect view of situations.  Jumping to conclusions based on uninformed observations can harm relationships.

God's Word is a powerful force in order to renew our minds.   The Bible warns against fear, which can produce departures from truth - we are told that instead of a spirit of fear, we are to possess power, love, and a sound mind.  We must think Biblically and stay grounded in reality.  The enemy would try to get us off course and we can adopt ideas that are patently contradictory to Scripture.  That's why the spiritual disciplines of Bible study and prayer help to keep us on track.

These instances I cited show what happens or what can happen when a culture adopts ideas that are contrary to God's standards.  And, we remember that a departure from God's laws and standards is at one's own risk.  We must remain devoted to upholding His truth in a culture that is willing to accept less.