Final Days

Here it is…the last day of 2010. It's 11pm and the new year is about to begin. What will it bring?

There are so many uncertainties about that. The bible is true and it says that in the last days iniquity will abound. It says that men will be lovers of themselves more than lovers of God. We all know that this is happening right now, not only in our country but in countries all over the world. I believe there is trouble ahead, even for those of us who believe in and trust Jesus Christ as our Savior. Maybe that trouble will not be disastrous in this year, but in the year ahead, or the one after that. But no matter when or how terrible the bad news, there is always good news as well, isn't there?

I've been reading a book written by a Christian author by the name of Terri Blackstock. She has a series of books called the "Restoration Novels" that I have enjoyed reading so much even though I am not big on novels. Most of my reading of the past several years has been books on Christian doctrine or disciplines, never novels. I actually picked the first one up to try to figure out if a friend of mine might enjoy them as I know what type of novels she likes to read, and then I found myself reading the next one and the one after that as well.

What I have found so interesting about these "Restoration" novels is that the premise for them is a catastrophe that affects the entire world…and how people deal with it, some Christians, some non-Christians. Her Christian characters who are nominal Christians really, more influenced by monetary and material things than by the Word of God, find that they can no longer help themselves and MUST trust God completely for everything from finding food to eat, to keeping alive when once neighborly people become desperate and dangerous. It is very easy to imagine being in these situations that Ms. Blackstock writes of. Most of us have pondered these very scenarios in our minds from time to time, and her thoughts on how mankind would handle such disasters are very interesting and informative.

Yet, what I received the most from the 3^rd book in the series is her mention of the 139^th Psalm. For uncertain times are ahead of us, we all must surely be aware of that. And the Word tells us that the rain falls on the just as well as the unjust.

So, I thought I would remind us all of the complete and utter sovereignty of our God, remembering that He is still in control of our future, no matter what the pundits predict. He already has our days numbered according to His own plans for each of us. He knows our worries and our fears and how frail we are made. Yet He will never leave us who trust in Him. It is because of this that we know that there is nothing to fear in what the new year will bring. There is only the Good News of Jesus Christ ahead for those of us who have trusted in Him and walked in obedience to His Word. Note especially the underlined portions:

"O Lord, you have searched me and have known me. You know my downsitting and my uprising; You understand my thoughts afar off. You sift and search out my path and my lying down, and You are acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word in my tongue, but, behold, O Lord, You know it altogether. You have beset me and shut me in – behind and before, and You have laid Your hand upon me. Your knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high above me, I cannot reach it. Where could I go from Your Spirit? Or where could I flee from Your presence? If I ascend up into heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the morning or dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there shall Your hand lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me. If I say, surely the darkness shall cover me and the night shall be the only light about me, even the darkness hides nothing from You, but the night shines as the day; the darkness and the light are both alike to You. For You did form my inward parts; You did knit me together in my mother's womb. I will confess and praise You for You are fearful and wonderful and for the awful wonder of my birth! Wonderful are Your works and that my inner self knows right well. My frame was not hidden from You when I was being formed in secret, intricately and curiously wrought in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance, and in Your book all the days of my life were written before ever they took shape, when as yet there was none of them. How precious and weighty also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand, when I awake, I am still with thee. Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God: depart from me therefore, ye bloody men. For they speak against thee wickedly, and thine enemies take thy name in vain. Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee? And am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee? I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them mine enemies. Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me and know my thoughts; and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."

Have a blessed New Year!

Remembering the Lord

I read the complete book of Hosea in my prayer time this morning. It's sort of hard to stop reading it once you begin. When I study I use all versions of the Bible, but during morning prayer and reading, I prefer the New Living Translation as it is just an easier read.

But back to Hosea, it is mostly God talking through the entire book, which makes it all the more interesting, as you get to really see God's heart throughout the book. Listen to some of the things God says, remember these verses are from the NLT version:

• "There is no faithfulness, no kindness, no knowledge of God in your land….that is why your land is not producing. It is filled with sadness, and all living things are becoming sick and dying." (4:1-3)
  
• "…people don't realize that I am watching them. Their sinful deeds are all around them; I see them all!" (7:2)
  
• "…I wanted to redeem them, but they have only spoken lies about me. They do not cry out to me with sincere hearts. Instead, they sit on their couches and wail…." (7:13-14)
  
• "They look everywhere, except to heaven, to the Most High." (7:16)
  
• "But it is too late! The people…have rejected what is good, and now their enemies will chase after them." (8:3)
  
• "…but the more wealth the people got, the more they poured it on the altars of their foreign gods. The richer the harvests they brought in, the more beautiful the statues and idols they built." (10:1)
  
• "I said, 'Plant the good seeds of righteousness, and you will harvest a crop of my love. Plow up the hard ground of your hearts, for now is the time to seek the Lord that He may come and shower righteousness upon you.' But you have cultivated wickedness and raised a thriving crop of sins. You have eaten the fruit of lies – trusting in your military might, believing that great armies could make your nation safe! Now the terrors of war will rise among your people. All your fortifications will fall…" (10:12-14)
  

Most of you who are believers already know who God is talking about in these verses. But if you didn't know, wouldn't it sound like America? In the literal sense, He is speaking about Israel, but in a spiritual sense, He could be talking about any of us, or any other nation, at least before we came to know Him as our Savior…it makes you think, doesn't it? I think He intended for it to make us pause and think about where we are in terms of remembering God in our daily lives, and remaining dependent upon Him, rather than upon our own resources each day....always busy scrambling for more of our own resources, leaving little time for God.

Fortunately, for us all, the Lord was (and is) merciful to Israel and to the nations of the Gentiles as well, through the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ. God says these things in Hosea as well:

• "So now come back to your God! Act on the principles of love and justice, and always live in confident dependence on your God." (11:6)
  
• "I am the Lord your God….You have no God but me, for there is no other savior." (13:4)
  
• "I will personally free them from their enemies without any help from weapons or armies" (1:7)
  
• "In that coming day" says the Lord, "you will call me 'my husband' instead of 'my master'." (2:16)
  
• "I will make you my wife forever, showing you righteousness and justice, unfailing love and compassion. I will be faithful to you and make you mine, and you will finally know me as Lord." (2:19-20)
  
• "At that time I will plant a crop of Israelites and raise them for myself! I will show love to those I called 'Not loved.' And to those I called 'Not my people.' I will say, 'Now you are my people.' Then they will reply, 'You are our God.' (2:23)
  
• "I am the One who looks after you and cares for you. I am like a tree that is always green, giving my fruit to you all through the year. Let those who are wise understand these things. Let those who are discerning listen carefully. The paths of the Lord are true and right, and righteous people live by walking in them…" (14:8-9)
  

The "crop of Israelites" that God raised up for Himself were believers of all nations who did not resist the new birth, but were in fact "born-again" by the Spirit of God. But care must be given, even among those born-again, not to follow in the footsteps of the Israelites and forget God – forget that He is the One who takes care of us and upon Whom we depend…for everything!

I believe that is why God made sure His Word was preserved down through the ages, as a reminder to us all of where we have been and where we could return if we are not mindful of Him.

"This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance: that ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Savior; knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts…..ye, therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest you also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own steadfastness. But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen" (2 Peter 3 KJV)

Living in Darkness

I was praying and reading the Word this morning and I read this particular scripture from my prayer bible which is the New Living Translation. I found it interesting as I had never heard the term "liars" referred to as "living a lie". The King James just refers to "liars". The NLT version of it seems to expound that word a bit by explaining what it is that liars do: they live a lie. But I am reminded once more of what John tells us:

"This then is the message which we have heard of Him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth…" (I John 1:5-6)

"He that saith 'I know Him' and keepeth not His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth His Word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in Him. He that saith he abideth in Him ought himself also so to walk, even as He walked." (I John 2:4-6)

Let me go back to the NLT for a moment and see how it translates that portion of the second scripture that reads: "But whoso keepeth His Word, in him verily is the love of God perfected". The NLT version reads as follows:

"But those who obey God's Word really do love Him."

The lie that we live begins by telling ourselves and others that we love God, when in fact, our disobedience proves that we love only ourselves and not God. That would make us idol worshippers wouldn't it, as well as liars? The idol in our lives would be us.

Thankfully, the grace of God extends to any who will turn away from sin. I once lived a lie while calling myself a Christian. But by the grace of God I was brought to repentance, turning my back on my sin once and for all time, never to visit it again. I know now that He forgave me my sin, although it took a long time for that to sink in, so terrible was my sin in my own eyes; terrible that I had shamed the name of Christ by my words and even more by my deeds. But the truth is that He is willing to forgive, not while we are IN SIN, but once we are willing to leave sin behind. His grace does not COVER our sin. His grace brings us OUT of sin, out of darkness, into the light. That's what His grace does for us. All through Jesus Christ who delivered us from sin's grip, if we only believe and trust in His completed work on the cross that He bore for our sakes.

When we live in sin, we are not living in faith. We cannot say we trust in Jesus. We cannot say that we believe in God. We cannot say that we love God. His Word makes that very clear to us.

But His Word also says that if we cry out He will be quick to answer, even when His justice demands death as punishment for our sins:

""…suppose I tell some wicked people that they will die, but then they turn from their sins and do what is just and right….if they do this, then they will surely live and not die. None of their past sins will be brought up again, for they have done what is just and right, and they will surely live." (Ezekiel 33:14-16 NLT)

It is the death that Jesus endured and the separation from God that He experienced that now comes into effect when we turn from our sin. Justice is still met, only Jesus is the One who fulfills that justice. It is by faith that we turn from sin and its bondage, step out of the darkness of that living lie, and into the light of truth. It is by faith that we receive God's forgiveness and become whole again. It is by faith that we face all the consequences of our sin, if there be any, honestly and openly, no longer being condemned by it, for even in facing those consequences we are living in truth, no longer in the lie. And we are not here to please man, but to please God.

Our living in the light pleases God.