So many are so easily distracted. It was thus with the ancient Israelites.
Do you remember how about 3500
years ago Moses led the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt and into their long
trek to the Promised Land, to Israel? Of
course, it was really God who was leading them out through Moses. God did great wonders right in front of their
faces on this journey. Remember the
parting of the sea so they could escape from pharaoh and his chariots and
soldiers? Remember the water that came
out of the rock? The food, the manna,
from heaven? Remember the encounter with
God on the mountain, where Moses received the law?
All these Israelites saw this
great escape, these great wonders. Yet
when they soon came to the Promised Land, their faith, their belief,
evaporated. Moses picked one man from
each tribe, and these went as spies into the Promised Land. When they returned ten of these brought
reports filled with fear, reports of how the Israelites couldn’t overcome the
giants of the land. And the Israelites
were filled with fear. They moaned and
complained about being there, about their state. Only Joshua and Caleb had faith and knew God
would make it all happen, that they could be victorious in the new land.
And because of the disbelief and
fear of the ten and then the entire population, God sent the Israelites back to
roam in the desert for forty years until all the adults who had been present at
that time of the terrible behavior and disbelief had died out (all except
Joshua and Caleb). Only then could
Joshua lead the now grown children and their children back into the Promised
Land, into the physical place of rest.
Only then.
And now we are here, at the very
time so long talked about and wondered about by all those great believers and
prophets and writers and preachers who have preceded us. We are living in the days of the return of
the Lord. Now. Of course we do not know the specific day or
hour, but we surely can recognize the season and we know it is now. Jesus told us signs to look for, and we have
seen them. We have seen the fulfillment
of so many Biblical prophecies, that fulfillment only beginning in earnest
really in the last century and continuing up to today.
Now we are confronted with a
multitude of disturbing things in our home areas and in the world at
large. Terrible violence. Frightening “monsters” of evil
operating. Deception in so many
places. An abundance of people who
cannot discern truth from falsehood. And
all of us who are born anew, who have been filled with and baptized with the
Holy Spirit, look with shock and anguish at all of this. We are so distressed by the multitude of
those who call good evil and evil good, who in fact cannot tell the difference
between truth and falsehood, who obviously cannot distinguish when people are
lying to them. We watch with shock as
those around us at work or in the family or neighborhood or wherever, readily
believe words and ideas and plans spoken on television or written on the
Internet that we immediately see are false.
How do we so recognize that?
Because we have the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the gift of
discernment. People who do not cannot
see.
The Bible clearly says the god of
this world (the devil) has blinded the minds of unbelievers (2 Corinthians 4:4). They cannot see the truths of the
gospel. And in fact it has become
abundantly clear, they cannot see and recognize truth from falsehood in any
walk of life. They are lost. And they are the majority of people in our
society and on earth today. So
many. What is especially disturbing is
that this group not only is made up of total nonbelievers but also includes
many who attend church on a regular basis but have never been born of water and
the spirit, as Jesus said to Nicodemus.
They can’t see either.
But you, you can. And because you can, it is essential you
continue to keep your eyes on Jesus.
Stay focused spiritually.
Certainly take whatever steps are wise to protect yourself and your
family in this world. But at all times
keep your eyes on the Lord. He is coming
soon. The prophesied events of the end
times have been unfolding right before our eyes. We see that right now in the rearrangement of
alliances among the world’s countries, in the coming together of nations who
are involved in end times wars, in the atrocious behavior of certain radical
groups and individuals, and in the gigantic moral fall of the people in the
country.
Years ago God told me a
parable. He said that when a person does
a small thing, and he does it over and over, and I do not pay attention, soon I
will not notice it at all. That is what
has happened in America. Individuals and
groups who surely are not believers have chipped away on so many fronts against
the moral and constitutional structure of the country, and as this chipping
persisted, people just didn’t pay serious attention. And now, kaboom. The moral structure of society, even the
basic concept of government and the constitution, has been horribly damaged.
But again, you know the truth,
you know the Lord. His return to collect
his followers is imminent. And then the terrible tribulation period will
begin for those left behind. In these
final days, months, and possibly even years before that happens we will find
living here increasingly difficult, as recent months have already shown.
Every day pray that God will
orchestrate your day. Ask the Holy
Spirit to arrange whatever encounters the Lord would have you have, that he
would soften the hearts of those you might speak with about the Lord. Ask the Lord to bring glory to himself and
the Father through you. And go forward,
having put on the full armor of God and having prepared yourself for the
day. Believers must step out, must be
out there professing the Lord and standing up for Jesus wherever the Holy
Spirit leads. There are still people God
would lead to Jesus. He never stops, and
we cannot either.
1
Peter 4:7
Luke
21:8
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