“How are we as Christian’s to respond?” – R. Nelson
BIBLE MEDITATION:
“And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” Mark 16:15.
ENCOURAGING WORD:
When events like the current pandemic and other world catastrophes occur, it is at times like this when true Christians should be a shining light for the true Word of God. But unfortunately, from what I see, very few Christians are now putting their lives in the hands of Jesus Christ and trusting Him for their safety. Its times like this, as they say, where the rubber meets the road! As I read through the Bible there are always a couple of verses that really jump out at me as a rather disturbing verse and one of them is found in Matthew 7:13-14; “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” The reason this is disturbing to me is because when God says a few, He means a few. Then I read another disturbing verse in Matthew 7: 21-23; “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, cast out demons in your name, and done many wonders in your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you who practice lawlessness!” If this doesn’t make the hair on the back of your neck stand up, you aren’t listening! There are religious sects of Christianity that teach that we all will eventually be saved and taken to heaven. This is perhaps one of the most dangerous teaching there is. That would give everybody the right to live in sin as much as they would like to believe that they will eventually go to heaven anyway. This is a lie from the pit of hell!
Those that have been following the signs of the times, are not surprised by what is taking place. I remember discussing this with a Christian friend about 15-20 years ago wondering if we would be around to see these events happen in our lifetime. Well, I do not need to wonder anymore, the times that have been spoken of by the prophets of old are here. We read in 2 Timothy 1:7; “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” And then we read this extremely comforting verse in Romans 8:31; “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us”? It is times like this when our true faith is tested. When we start feeling fear, we need to fall back on Bible verses like the two verses above. Believe me, it is not hard to focus on the events of the world and forget where your faith is, but you need to go back to the promises of God. It boils down to this, is your hope in the things of the world or is your hope in Jesus Christ. If your hope is in the things of the world, you have no hope and most likely you are running around in fear as you should be.
The biggest problem that I see from the pulpits today, especially the mega churches is the fact that they are watering down the truth of what is coming, and they are not preparing their congregations for the upcoming judgments. They are more interested in appealing to their senses with feel good messages that are not true just to build their congregations and bring about the prosperity that comes with it. They are referred to as prosperity teachers and seeker sensitive teachers. They are what the Bible refers to as wolves in sheep’s clothing! Here is what the Bible has to say about these false teachers in the end of days, 2 Timothy 4:3-4; “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away [their] ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.” This scenario is at large today in America. Without mentioning any names, check the lifestyles of the mega church pastors. They have million-dollar homes, yachts and some even have their own jets. They are deceiving millions of people. It is all about the money and you are the one funding these false teachers if you are attending one of these churches.
There is another side to those that do not have any fear and they are those that do not believe in God in the first place and have no idea what is coming in the near future. Those are the ones that should be fearing the most, but because of their ignorance about the truth of God and His Word, they just go on about their life thinking all is good not having a clue what is coming. The time is coming and is already here in some cases where the true Bible believing Christians will be thought of as a cult. When you look back at the Gospels; that is exactly what the religious leaders of their day said about Jesus Christ. We read this in Matthew 12:24; “Now when the Pharisees heard it, they said, “This fellow (Jesus) does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, (Satan) the ruler of the demons.” They accused Jesus of being demon possessed, so those of us who serve Jesus Christ will suffer the same criticism. Jesus said in John 15: 18-21; “If the world hates you, you know that it hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will keep yours also. But all these things they will do to you for my name’s sake, because they do not know Him who sent me.” So, let me ask you, do you want to be one of the hated for the sake of Jesus Christ or do you want to be one of the Haters?
What amazes me is the fact that those that condemn and criticize Bible prophecy are the exact people that are fulfilling these same prophecies. The verses above in Timothy 4:3-4 tell us exactly what is happening today by those that reject the Words that describe exactly what they are doing. One of the most tragic examples of history of what I am saying is how the Pharisees and Sadducees of Jesus’s days were also the ones that fulfilled the exact prophesies about the first coming of Jesus Christ. The scriptures prophesied the exact day that Jesus would present Himself to be the Messiah. But yet, those that claimed to be Old Testament scholars and should have known the Bible inside and out rejected Jesus Christ as their long-waited Messiah. We read in Isaiah 50:6; “I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting.” This is exactly what happened to Jesus during His kangaroo court hearings just as Isaiah said it would yeas before it happened. We read this example of an Old Testament prophecy spoken of by Jeremiah 31:15; “Thus saith the LORD; A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rahel weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not.” This was fulfilled inMatthew 2:16; “Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently enquired of the wise men.” Matthew 2:17; “Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying,” These are just a couple of examples of why we should be aware of the days in which we live so that we can be solid voices for God and what the near future holds. We need to be strong and faithful to God’s Word so others will want what we have. We have the promises of God and we have the Hope of salvation and we know this because of all the truth that was written centuries ago by men of God. The Bible was written so that we could know and understand the meaning of life and the blueprints of how we are to conduct ourselves in the presence of the Lord. In the same way that you would study for a final exam, you should also study for the final exam of life and what eternity holds for you. It is all written for you to know, but you need to read and study for yourself what eternity holds for you because that day will come, and nobody really knows when.
ACTION POINT:
So, with all this being said, are you a Christian that is running scarred or are you a born-again Christian that has trusted in the Word of God and turned to His Son Jesus Christ for comfort and peace? The biggest fear from all this comes mainly from the unknown. But if you have total faith in the Word of God, the unknown should not bring you fear, because God is in charge of your life and once again as I commonly share this verse from Romans 8:28; “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” I share this verse because to me, it is one of the most comforting verses written in the scriptures to those that truly have received Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior and have been born-again into the Holy Spirit! Stand strong for Christ in these times of uncertainty and be a shining light to those that need hope. If we do not show the unbelievers the power of God through our actions, why would they want to be like us? So, like I mention repeatedly in all my posts, you are the one that has to make the choice and you will be the one that will be held accountable for the decision that you make. Make the choice today to receive Jesus Christ and ask the Holy Spirit to dwell within you! Like I heard someone just recently say, Jesus is coming back at midnight and the time is 11:59. The days are late and the time is at hand, do not make the mistake of missing out on the greatest gift ever offered…the free gift of grace! “Written To the glory of God, Inspired by the Holy Spirit!” Amen!
From our Chaplin—R. Fritz
How we as Christians respond?
I know that the pandemic has been hard on everybody including Christians. We as Christians should feel more at ease than people in the world. That is if Jesus Christ is your true Savior and you have a relationship with him. A relationship that should be getting better every day if you are hearing the Holy Spirit. John 14:26-27 says and this is Jesus speaking “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” This is why we should mentally and physically be ready to respond when the Holy Ghost gives us orders to speak to people. The Holy Ghost “shall teach” you all things, the Holy Ghost shall help you remember all things it has said to you, it will give you peace greater than the world. It sounds like we were given a lot that the world did not get. We should be thankful and use what the Holy Ghost has given us if we have received the Holy Ghost. We have the tools to overcome the world and to help the world through anything, we just have to open our mouth. Galatians 5:13-18 says “For brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. For all law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another. This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.” The law is fulfilled in one word “LOVE” and we should Love our neighbor as thyself. The love is Jesus Christ taking the beating and the death we deserved. We prove that when we walk in the Spirit and can do anything the Lord wants us to do, but if we walk in the flesh, we do the things of the flesh. The flesh and the laws of the flesh are what is holding us back, the only way to overcome the flesh is to operate in the Spirit which is what I call stepping back and letting the Spirit operate in your life. If we do not have the Holy Spirit living in us, we can not overcome the flesh and are a slave to it and sin. Satin wants to make you believe that you cannot overcome sin, putting thoughts in our mind, when we see things that are good to the eyes, Satin tells you that you need that now. What I am trying to show everybody is you are captive to Satin or you have the liberty of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit requires a commitment your whole life not just words but your actions to go with it. Jesus Christ showed us love first, we need to love back. Obedience is the true reaction that we love him, or its just lip service. One thing I have learned is to judge myself and what I am doing. We need to humble ourselves! 1 Corinthians 11:31-32 says “For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord that we should not be condemned with the world. Humbleness is what the Lord is looking in us. You have to be humble to want to judge ourselves and to see if and how you fall short of the glory of God. God showed us what humbleness was about when Jesus came as a man and humbled himself unto death. Philippians 2: 6-8 says “Who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. The Lord is asking us to be humble and to pray and to look at our inward self. Jesus was the example sent for us to be like. Humble and obedience are what God is looking for in our heart and this is what we should be judging in ourselves and what he will be judging in us. 2 Chronicles 7:14 says “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and heal their land.” Humility is when you forgive somebody or apologize for something that was not necessarily your fault. It is showing you giving a part of yourself (your heart) for somebody else and showing them grace or bearing someone else’s burden. Meekness is a spiritual quality and they shall inherit the earth. Matthew 5:5,10 says, and this is Jesus speaking “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” These are blessings spoken by Jesus to a crowd and meant for us and goes back to the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23 and says “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering (patient endurance), gentleness, goodness, faith: Meekness, temperance (self-control): against such there is no law. And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.” Theseare the “fruits” of the Spirit. You should see these attributes in believers who have the Holy Spirit because they have crucified the flesh.
Walking with the Lord every day shows you believe in him and by following him he will take care of you. It is not easy, But neither is life without him. It is our responsibility to grow that relationship with him, meaning we need to study and pray every day possible. We must be willing to do the right thing on earth and it requires obedience. Disobedience at some point will pay a price. I want to encourage the obedience. I have seen fear try and stop my obedience, which is when the Holy Spirit comes, and in my case, gave me the bible verses to stop fear immediately. It is up to you to decide where you want to go with your relationship with the Lord. I chose to find him, be obedient and overcome when I find no way. Every day for me is a journey and I do not always know where he wants to take me, but trust is the answer. Trust the Lord or trust the world. Which do you trust? When you have made that decision for sure, run to him, study and pray. That decision will change your life forever. The people you meet and speak to will give them the same assurance about Jesus Christ.