Tag: unrest

Chaos+Confusion+Corruption =

On August 14, 2024, a post was composed with this word equation as its title.

Today is September 16, 2024. I would like to share some additional thoughts regarding the post.

It’s no ‘new’ news to those that follow my posts that I have been sharing about the ‘unprecedented unrest’ coming to this nation.

We have seen and heard of events that have escalated the ‘unrest’ in this nation.

As the day of our Presidential election gets closer, things will continue heating up. The political climate will become hotter and hotter each day.

What is contributing to these elevated temperatures throughout the nation?

The clash of words. We are in an incendiary moment. There is a ‘war of words’ that are igniting worry. They are proceeding from both political parties and even from Christian ministries that mean well. Their words can cause anxiety too.

The ‘war of words’ reminds of the story of Chicken Little who is constantly crying out, “the sky is falling, the sky is falling”. I am using these words because we are being told by both political parties that the end of our nation is eminent if the ‘other side’ wins.

The political rhetoric is to emphasize traumatic worry within the minds of the voters.

Let me share my thinking in a more forceful way.

The ‘words of this world’ that generate worry are like ‘water boarding’ a prisoner attempting to break their resolve and vote like they are told.

The words of our political process are like a ‘constant dripping’ of a faucet that needs to be turned off.

The ‘many words’ of the political process are like a heavy weight upon the mind that is pressing down the very souls of the voters.

Strong words, yes; but I believe that they are true.

What is the SOUL of our nation: Saving Our Unalienable Liberties.

Both sides are saying they are the answer to saving the SOUL of our nation.

The problem is that the wisdom of the world does not have the answers.

The wisdom that we need is the ‘Wisdom of the Word’.

The ‘Wisdom of the Word’ does not bring worry. Let me state that again. The ‘Wisdom of the Word’ does not bring worry.

The Wisdom of the Word brings light that exposes the darkness; life that conquers death; peace of mind that overcomes anxiety, worry, fret, uncertainty.

I want to share with you a personal testimony.

Several days ago, I came to the place where I was mentally tired of all the words that were being shared, regurgitated, re-analyzed, dug-up, etc. This realization became apparent to me in spite of the fact that I have been personally avoiding not being caught up in the political rhetoric; yet trying to be somewhat savey of what is going on.

I found myself at a place where I didn’t need to hear any more words. I was at peace in my mind. I had a clear conscience about how I was going to vote.

Now it was time to thank the Lord for His Sovereignty regarding the election in our nation. I was resting in the ‘Wisdom of the Word’.

Regarding the election, it will be God’s will. There is no room for another conclusion.

My choice of vote is not based upon a person or his/her personality.

My choice is based upon honoring my Lord according to His Word.

Jesus Christ is our Wisdom. He is the Wisdom of the Word. He is the Word.

I Corinthians 1: 27-31 NKJV says, “But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound (put to shame) the wise; and God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound (put to shame) the things that are mighty; and the base (insignificant) things of the world, and the things that are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and the things that are not, to bring to nought (nothing) the things that are: that no flesh should glory in his presence. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God, is(became for us) wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption. That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.” (inserts from the marginal notes of the Study Bible)

Thank you Father, I am resting in my Lord, and giving Him the glory.

Therefore, for me, personally, Chaos+Confusion+Corruption is negated by resting in Christ, Who is my Wisdom in the midst of the verbal political conflict perpetrated by the ‘words of the world’ that are foolishness in God’s sight.

These words are connected to the previous post of August 14, 2024.

If you would like to read the original post for the first time, or for a second time I encourage you to do so.

I especially pray that the Lord will fulfill for you Philippians 4:5-7.

I encourage you to read it, reflect upon it, and pray it, believing that the Lord will give His peace of mind in these stressful times.

Blessings, a brother in Christ, deo

Chaos+Confusion+Corruption =

60 Years Ago, Ronald Reagan Said…

Before you read my post, I would like to direct your attention to a speech delivered at the 1964 Republican Convention that took place 60 years ago.

Please go to reaganlibrary.gov and read Reagan’s speech, A Time for Choosing Speech, October 27, 1964.

[Go to Menu, Archives, Speeches-Major Speeches, 1964-1989. Enter Search Terms- A Time for Choosing Speech, then scroll down and read the speech.]

Why do I ask you to do this?

Because, 60 years later, ask yourself, what has our nation become since he shared this speech?

UPON WHAT ARE YOU FOCUSED?

As I survey the political climate and breathe the atmosphere of our nation’s beating heart, I visualize clouds of darkness and despair.

Those are not very encouraging words when addressing an audience of readers.

But, if you are aware of the tension that is gripping our nation, then you know that these words are true.

Many see darkness and gloom, others see light and hope.

It is a matter of perspective.

What is your perspective?

What do you see?

Jesus said, in Matthew 6: 22-23, NKJV, “The lamp of the body is the eye, If, therefore, your eye is good (clear or healthy), your whole body is full of light. But if your eye is bad (evil or unhealthy), your whole body will be full of darkness. If, therefore, the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness! (inserts, marginal notes) (emphasis mine)

Is the ‘eye’ of our nation, ‘good’ or ‘evil’ ?

Subsequent to these words Jesus said the following:

“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” (Matthew 6:24 NKJV)

Q: What master are we serving as a nation?

Upon what is it focused?

Upon what am I focused?

Upon what are you focused?

The notes in my NKJV Spirit Filled Study Bible, make the following observations regarding Matthew 6:22-24.

“The person with the good (“healthy”) eye is one whose intent is to serve God and not mammon (the money-god, used here to indicate the whole system of materialism). The person with the bad eye is selfish, covetous, and miserly. The one’s life is full of light, meaning, and purpose; the other’s life is plunged into darkness, deprived of meaning.” (pg. 1300)

Is it ok to substitute the word ‘nation’ for the word ‘person’ in Jesus’ teaching?

I suggest that it is.

I suggest that our pursuit of ‘mammon’ (the ‘money-god’) is an idol that we, individually, and as a nation have treasured and that that pursuit has taken our focus (eye) off the One True God, and plummeted us into the darkness that we are groping with as a nation. (inserts, emphasis mine)

As we have walked about in our blindness, other philosophies, espousing their opposing ‘isms’, have ‘seen’ our condition and taken advantage of us the past 60 years.

I recommend that you read Deuteronomy 8:1-20.

Notice the progression of Israel taking their ‘eyes’ off the source of their wealth, their God; and transferring its source to their own prideful accomplishments that lifts up their hearts forgetting God.

What does God say will happen to them?

Deuteronomy 8:30-31, NKJV, “Then it shall be if you by any means forget the Lord your God, and follow other God’s, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that you shall surely perish. As the nations which the Lord destroys before you, so you shall perish, because you would be obedient to the voice of the Lord your God.” (emphasis mine)

What is the progression? forget, follow, serve, worship

What does this progression lead to? idol worship

The Apostle John, in I John 5:21 (NKJV) concludes his letter saying, “Little children (believers), keep yourselves from idols. Amen.” (insert, emphasis mine)

Our nation is beset with idolatry.

Does this mean that we, as a nation, have not been generous to other nations throughout our history?

Absolutely not !

We have been very generous throughout the life of this nation.

But, in spite of our generosity, we find ourselves using our resources in ways not for the sole of bringing help and assistance to others; but, for the purpose of selfish gain and supporting causes that are not in the best interest for us as a nation.

Our resources are being used to build up and support causes that are destructive to our founding principles, our Constitutional Republic, destroying the foundation of our government, enhancing the personal priorities of individuals, and enabling a political agenda that undermines us as a nation.

In short, the people of this nation, have been blinded by the darkness of the ‘god of mammon’; and we have fallen asleep as the darkness of evil influenced our lifestyle.

We have pridefully turned away from following the Lord and pursued our own personal idols both as individuals and as a nation.

We need to be awakened.

Please read I Timothy 6:6-21.

I want to draw your attention especially to I Timothy 6:10, NKJV.

“For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.”

I believe these words tell us exactly where we are as a nation.

This is a root cause for the darkness in our nation

The pursuit of the ‘god of mammon’ is not just a non-christian pursuit.

Believers in Christ can also forget, follow, serve, and worship the ‘god of mammon’.

This is the teaching of Deuteronomy 8.

This pursuit of following the ‘god of mammon’ has affected the church.

Let me remind you again of the words, I quoted earlier found in Matthew 6:24, that Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount. (Matthew 5-7)

In context, the Lord is teaching His listeners about the lifestyle for those who choose to follow Him; and explaining to them what to expect as His disciple.

He is very poignant when He says, “you cannot serve God and mammon”.

So , is it correct to assume that ‘all’ of our issues are the result focusing on money and ignoring God?

Some agree with that conclusion and some do not agree with that conclusion; but when you have carefully read Deuteronomy 8, I believe, that you will be hard pressed not to see the parallel between what is said about the nation of Israel and the history of the United States in its relationship to the ‘god of mammon’.

The truth is ‘any idol‘ ‘will change your ‘clear’ eye to an ‘evil’ eye.

What are the first and second commandments ? See Exodus 20: 1-6

Are these commandments relative today in the life of a follower of Christ?

Absolutely.

They are the moral and ethical standards for the followers of Christ to understand and apply to their life ‘in Christ’.

Those standards were taught in principle by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, and outlined throughout the teaching of the New Testament.

Remember, I am NOT saying that America is the nation of Israel.

I am pointing out what I understand to be a parallelism between the nation of Israel and our nation.

As of February 2024, our national debt was $34.4 trillion.

What is the outcome of such indebtedness?

Time will tell.

So ponder this: a) is the lifestyle of the local church governed by its relationship to mammon? b) is the lifestyle of a nation governed by its relationship to mammon?

Re-read what Jesus said in Matthew 6:22-24.

Remember Jesus is outlining His Kingdom beatitudes for His followers to ‘see’ as they follow Him.

Again, you “cannot serve God and mammon”.

Application.

For some time now, I have been sharing about the ‘unprecedented unrest’ that is coming to this nation and to the nations of the world.

These two words, the Lord spoke to me, pointing out the state of affairs coming to our nation and to the nations of the world.

It is obvious that what was brought to my attention is true, has begun, and is escalating.

Like you, I have read and heard people in the media use both of these words.

They speak of things that are ‘unprecedented’ and also of the ‘unrest’ that is happening in our nation.

We, as a nation, are experiencing the fruit of the ‘evil’ seeds that have been sown in the lifestyle of the ‘soils’ of our nation and our individual lives.

We are harvesting the crops of our failures.

We are harvesting the crops of the evil seeds that have been implanted in the ‘soil’ of America throughout its history ,especially since 1900, and more extensively since the 1960’s.

(Please read, if you have not, Ronald Reagan’s speech from the 1964 Republican Convention.)

I do not need to rehearse for you the daily headlines; nor do I need to list the stories of ‘unrest’ that are daily posted on the media apps that we see and read.

What is tragic is the constant watering and fertilizing of those seeds that are producing the crops of ‘unrest’!

This watering and fertilizing takes place daily throughout the media, especially the cable news networks.

I am not picking sides.

I am commenting on the ‘watering and fertilizing with words’ that takes place 24/7.

The cable news networks functions like a farmer taking care of his crops.

What needs to happen is a change of ‘seeds’ that are being planted in the soil of America. We need good seeds to be planted. Those seeds need a healthy ‘watering with words’ that will cause those ‘good’ seeds to grow in our nation.

Unfortunately, we as a nation, have set aside God’s Word, which is the ‘good’ seed that needs to be sown in the soil of our hearts, individually and as a nation.

If we have chosen to forget, follow, serve and worship the One True God, then we are reaping what we have sown.

I want to use the words of a parable that Jesus shared to show you a principle for living as a nation.

In context, Jesus is talking about the Kingdom of God.

Matthew 13:24-28 NKJV, Jesus told this parable.

This parable follows the parable of the sower.

The parable is entitled, The Parable of the Wheat and the Tares. (New Spirit Filled Life Study Bible)

“Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; “but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. “But when the grain sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir did you not so good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us to gather them up?’ But he said, ‘No lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. ‘Let them both grow until the harvest, and at that time I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.” ‘ “

Using the commentary in my Study Bible about this parable, it says:

“The central message of this parable is that the consummated Kingdom of God will be different from the present kingdom (reign) in that the consummated kingdom will be in a perfected environment of only the sons of the kingdom. Currently, sons of the kingdom and sons of the Evil One live together in human society,”

In light of this parable, it is clear that the ‘unprecedented unrest’ that we, as believers and a nation, are experiencing today in ‘human society’ should not be a surprise.

A former Pastor of mine, Dr. Robert Evans said, “The world is going to do what the world is going to do.”

The scripture tells us plainly that we will ‘reap what we sow’. (Galatians 5-6)

What is the Spirit of God saying to the Church, the Ekklesia, at this time?

This parable gives us an example of what has taken place in our nation’s history.

I am NOT saying that America is the Kingdom of God.

We as a nation were founded and established with the ‘good’ seed of Judeo-Christian principles. Since our founding, enemies of this nation have sown ‘evil’ seeds to undermine this nation; to destroy its Christian heritage;and to undo its Constitutional foundation.

Our nation blossomed in its founding; it grew ‘good’ crops that were healthy because of the ‘good’ seeds that were sown.

Unfortunately,seeds of ‘evil’ influence have also been sown in the soil of America and produced crops that appeared to be ‘good’ crops, but are ‘look alikes’.*

*[Note: Look up the difference between darnel and wheat]

These ‘look alikes’ sound correct, look correct, and behaved like ‘good’ crops; but down deep in their hearts their moral and ethical fruits are not like the crops of the original Judeo-Christian seeds sown.

Why?

Their hearts are ‘evil’.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus makes this statement in Matthew 7:15-20 about false prophets.

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, and a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore, by their fruits you will know them.”

My emphasis is focusing on the fruits of the seeds that have been sown.

The witnesses of the ‘look alikes’ to this nation and to other nations are deceptive.

They are a false testimony. They are liars and deceivers.

Who is the father of lies, and a deceiver?

Satan

Like the ‘man who sowed good seed’ in his field, while he and his workers slept, believing everything was ‘good’; his enemies came in during the night (darkness) and sowed their own ‘evil’ seeds of influence among the ‘good’ seeds.

Using this parable as an analogy, what is the result?

We as a nation, have ‘slept’ in our goodness and prosperity.

Our ‘pride of greatness’, as we have called it, has ‘blinded’ us from what has quietly been sown in our midst.

Those ‘evil’ seeds have grown into healthy crops and overtaken us to the point where our ‘good’ seeds have been choked out and our ‘good’ crops can hardly grow and have any ‘good’ positive influence in our nation.

Like the servants of the farmer who awoke and saw what had happened, we as a nation are awakening up to what has happened in our nation.

The ‘evil’ seeds of influence have overtaken much of our society and are flourishing abundantly and manifesting their fruits of ‘unprecedented unrest’.

Our society is being subjected to the philosophical crops of the evil- isms that have matured.

This ‘unrest’ is the result of the ‘evil’ seeds sown by our enemy in the soil of our nation just like into the soil of the farmer in Jesus’ parable.

The ‘evil’ seeds have produced the fruits of ‘unprecedented unrest’.

As a believer in Jesus Christ, one of the first questions, I would ask myself is whether or not I see this ‘unprecedented unrest’ or am I walking in blindness?

This ‘unrest’ is not new.

This ‘unrest’ is the fruit of Satan that he orchestrated in the Garden of Eden.

He deceived Eve; then Adam followed in willful disobedience to God’s instruction to him. (Romans 5)

This is the result of the original sin.

The source is not Adam. Adam is ‘flesh and blood’, a human being “created in the image and likeness of God”.

Satan is the source; but Adam’s response is the source of the ‘evil seed’.

We, the descendants of Adam, are responsible for our lifestyles , actions, behaviors, conducts, and words?

Selah.

Thank you Father, for the Incarnation of Christ, Who came in the likeness of sinful flesh, and knew no sin, that we might become the righteousness of God.

B.U.T. (Believers Understand This), “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood (humanity) but against principalities, against powers, against rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6:12 NKJV) (emphasis mine, insert mine)

Bluntly stated, the source of the ‘evil’ seed is the devil and his demons who deceive mankind to sow ‘evil’ seed because the heart of mankind is ‘evil’ because of Adam’s disobedience.

2 Corinthians 10:3-6 NKJV, “For though we walk in the flesh (a human body), we do not war according to the flesh (using human strength, weaponry). For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal (of the flesh-marginal note) but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds (whose strongholds? Satan’s), casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God (like the evil philosophical influences), bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.” (inserts mine)

We are witnessing and wrestling against the fruits of what is exalting itself against the knowledge of God as we watch and listen to the daily activities of the ‘unprecedented unrest’.

Paul exhorts us to bring every thought to the obedience of Christ. But note, he says that we must bring our thought process into obedience before we are can do battle with the ‘thoughts of the enemy’.

Did he really say that? Yes, go back and read it carefully.

The commentary in my Study Bible makes this true. It says, “Paul is ready to punish the rebels who continue to refuse to repent. First he must be assured of the obedience of the congregation as a whole.”

Paul is correcting the Church at Corinth, not unbelievers.

Is God saying the same thing to His Church today?

Yes!

The Church must repent, confess its sins, take its focus off the world, the nation and its politics, put God at its center, and then God will deal with the issues that our nation is wrestling with.

[Note: What does 2 Chronicles 7:13-14 instruct God’s people to do?]

(Verse 13 sounds like ‘unrest’; verse 14 is God’s instruction for the solution to that ‘unrest’.)

(vs 13) “When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people.” (NKJV)

(vs 14) “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and heal their land.” (NKJV)]

In context, Paul is encouraging the Church in Corinth to withstand the ‘evil’ influences they were facing by setting aside the false doctrines and the ‘evil’ influences, through obedience to Christ.

As a believer, are you ‘so’ focused on the politics of our day that you have been overtly influenced by the evil rhetoric that is rampant in our nation?

Is ‘politics’ an idol in your life? Are you consumed by it? Is it the ‘focus’ of your life?

I believe that before ‘Making America Great Again’, we first come to grips with this: We need to ‘Magnify Almighty God Again’; then the Lord will rid us of the sources of ‘evil’ that ravish this nation and restore to this nation the ‘good’ influence comes from being rightly related to Him, as we, as a nation experienced in our beginning..

There are many in this nation that are in agreement with this outcome.

I encourage you to turn away from the ‘political rhetoric’ that comes from both sides of the aisle.

I am not telling you to bury you head in the sand and ignore our election process.

I am beseeching you not to be governed by the political rhetoric.

If you understand what I just said, then know that the political rhetoric and the ‘unrest’ will get worse as we approach our national election on November 5th.

Don’t let the election rhetoric govern your mind. (2 Corinthians 10:3-6)

Let the peace of God govern your mind. (Isaiah 26:2-8, Philippians 4:4-7)

“Let the peace of Christ [the inner calm of one who walks daily with Him] be the controlling factor in your hearts [deciding and settling questions that arise]. To this peace indeed you were called as members in one body [of believers]. And be thankful [to God always].” (Colossians 3:25 Amplified Bible)

Rest in the Lord….Jesus is our REST.

Remember, Christ is our ARK. He is our place of refuge during the tumultuous storm of ‘unprecedented unrest’.

He is always our Refuge.

We have no need to fear.

“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind (safe-thinking, make right decisions, qualities of self-control and self-discipline) ( notes from Study Bible)2 Timothy 1:7 NKJV

Will those who have done unjustly be judged?

Yes

Is that our responsibility?

No

Why?

Romans 12:17-19 NKJV, “Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. If possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord.”

How do we live between now and November 5th?

1. We rest and wait on the Lord.

2.We watch, be alert, be ready, and we pray. (Matthew 24-25)

3. We take refuge in Christ.

I encourage you to read Psalms 34,35,36,37.

David understood ‘unrest’ and he understood that God was His refuge.

In my Study Bible, Isaiah 9 is entitled, “The Government of the Promised Son“.

Isaiah 9:2, the prophet writes, “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined.” (emphasis mine)

We as a nation are living a land of great darkness; but the Light of Christ is coming to dispel the darkness that has overtaken this nation.

“This is the message which we have heard from Him, and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with Him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.” (I John 1:5-7 NKJV)

The Apostle John wrote in I John 2:17-19 NKJV, “And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever. Little children (believers), it is the last hour, and you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come , by which we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us.” (inserts mine)

The ‘unprecedented unrest’ will reveal who are the wheat and who are the darnel.

Let us return to the Lord, focus on Him, seek His face, walk in His Light, and dispel the darkness that surrounds us in this darkened world.

This is the call to the Ekklesia, NOW, in our nation’s history.

The Ekklesia is to fast and pray for our nation.

This election is not about political parties; it is not about presidential personalities; it’s about the ‘soul’ of our nation.

We, the people, are the ‘souls’ of this nation.

If our heart is right before God, then our eye will be clear to see what needs to be done when it’s time to vote.

If our heart is not right before God, then our eye will be evil and we will not know what is right when it comes time to vote.

Good or Evil, Light or Darkness, those are the options.

The future of our nation is dependent upon our hearts response to God so that we walk in the Light.

If we continue to ignore God (i.e. forget,follow, serve, worship other gods), then we will walk in darkness, as a blind man, and not know the way in which we should go.

Listen to the words of Joshua 24:19-25 NKJV.

“But Joshua said to the people, You cannot serve the LORD, for He is a holy God. He is a jealous God; He will not forgive you transgressions nor your sins. If you forsake the LORD and serve foreign God’s, then He will turn and do you harm and consume you, after He has done you good.” And the people said to Joshua, “No but, we will serve the LORD!” So Joshua said to the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen the LORD for yourselves, to serve Him.” And they said, “We are witnesses!” “Now therefore”, he said, “put away the foreign gods which are among you, and incline your heart to the LORD God of Israel.” And the people said to Joshua, The LORD our God we will serve and His voice we will obey!” So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and made for them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem.”

I encourage you to simply embrace these thoughts about the passage.

Jesus is our Joshua.

Jesus has made a covenant for us with God, His Father.

As believers in Christ, our sins and transgressions have been forgiven.

Let us faithfully declare that we will follow our Lord Jesus Christ, serve Him, obey His voice, and ‘put away’ any thing that takes our focus off of Him.

Be blessed in the Lord, a brother in Christ, deo

THE RAIN/REIGN OF GOD

“It’s beginning to rain, hear the voice of our Father, Saying “who-so-ever will come drink of my water; I promise to pour out my Spirit on your sons and your daughters.” If you’re thirsty and dry, look up to the sky, it’s beginning to rain.”

That is a chorus from IT’S BEGINNING TO RAIN, Words and music by Gloria Gaither, C. Aaron Wilburn & William Gaither.

As I have been sharing in my lastest posts, the storm clouds are gathering and there will be ‘unprecedented unrest’. I am referencing that ‘unrest’ in the context of Jesus’ words found in Matthew 24, 25 (NKJV).

Storm clouds bring rain, some times, torrential downpours, such as the world experienced in the days of Noah. Jesus referenced those days in Matthew 24, telling us, that “as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.” Based upon what He had earlier explained in Matthew 24, those days will not be pleasant.

As we enter a new year, many individuals are looking forward with anticipation to fulfill personal goals and even lofty expectations. That excitement is not wrong; however, as I have been sharing , there is an ‘unprecedented unrest’ thundering in the storm clouds that have and are forming throughout the world. That unrest is ‘shaking’ nations. It is even shaking our nation, and I suggest that that shaking will increase. What kind of ‘flood’ will deluge on our nation will be seen and experienced in 2024 and possibly beyond.

The good news is that while this ‘unrest’ is shaking our nation, God, the Father, has a parallel outpouring that is, and will continue to grow, and take place on the nations of the world, and on our nation.

That parallel outpouring is an outpouring of His RAIN. What is that rain? It is found in the words of the chorus above. He is pouring out the rain of His Spirit on His sons and His daughters. This is an outpouring of His Presence, His Power, and the Preaching of the Gospel. This activity is accomplished by His Spirit poured out upon His Church, His followers of Christ, the Bride of Christ, and His sons and His daughters. Matthew 24:13,14 NKJV, ”But he who endures(holds one’s ground in conflict) to the end shall be saved, And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.” (insert mine)

It is time, not to get caught up in the ‘what ifs?’ of the ‘end-time’; it is time to focus on the gospel being preached to the nations.

Yes, the dark, foreboding, clouds have and are continuing to gather. There are two types of rain being poured out upon the world. The rain of ‘unprecedented unrest’ and the rain of the Holy Spirit.

The first rain is described by Jesus in Matthew 24:4-8; the results of this ‘unrest’ are outlined in Matthew 24:9-12. All of these are “precursors to the end times”. (notes in Spirit Filled Life Bible).

As previously mentioned in Matthew 24:13-14, Jesus alludes to another rain. Let me offer this thought: The rain of the Holy Spirit is a manifestation of the ‘reign’ of God.

God, the Father, sovereignly rules over all rain being poured out on the world.

Jesus is emphasizing His reign as the King of His Kingdom. 

We, as believers, are ‘in Christ’. Jesus is our ARK. The ARK is A Righteous Kingdom. The Kingdom, Adonai’s Righteous Kingdom, is ruled by Christ Jesus who is our King. In the Kingdom, we are governed by the Holy Spirit, God’s rain, who directs us to fulfill His reign in our lives.

We are in the A.R.K. In the ARK, we are safe and secure in the midst of the storm. (We are not immune to suffering) The ARK is our place of refuge. It is our dwelling place in the Presence of the Most High God.

Matthew 24;8, referring to the previous seven verses, outlining the tumultuous times; Jesus says, “All these are the beginning of sorrows.” (Matthew 24:8, Spirit Filled Life Bible study notes: Beginning of sorrows refers to “labor pains”, which were expected to precede the end, making the transition from this age to the Age to Come. The severe labor pains, followed by delivery and fulfillment, are also a pledge to the end and the joy at the time of “delivery”.) 

We are being told what it will be like now, what to expect, what we are to do, and what the end result will be when Christ returns. 

In the previously written posts, we, have understood that this current ‘unprecedented unrest’ is NOT the great tribulation. These storm clouds are bringing God’s Sovereign intervention into the affairs of mankind. There are issues that must be judged; but simultaneously, there will be an outpouring of His grace and mercy seeking to redeem His fallen humanity before the return of Christ. That is the work of the cross.

In Matthew 24: 15-28, Jesus shares the details surrounding the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D..

In Matthew 24:29-31, Jesus redirects His dialogue to the time of His return; then in Matthew 24:32-35, He tells a parable to His listeners focusing them on a natural event that prepares them for His next statement, a parable about the fig tree.

In Matthew 24:36-41, He reflects upon the days of Noah (see posts entitled: The Storm Clouds Are Gathering; The Entrance To The Ark Is Shut; go to livingwordsofencouragemnt.com) explaining what the climate of the culture and the society will be like prior to His return. I think that it is safe to say that we are living in that same climate and that is growing increasingly hostile and becoming more corrupt.

In the previous posts that I recommended that you read, it was emphasized that we needed to be be grounded in our relationship to the Lord, knowing that to be ‘in Christ’ is to be in the ARK. Saying it again, the ARK is a Person; and that Person is Jesus Christ. In Him, we will ride out and weather the storms that impact our nation and the nations of the world.

It’s 2024, It’s beginning to ‘rain’ as He continues His ‘reign’.

I want to encourage you to re-read Matthew 24: 1- 41.

Now, turn your attention to Matthew 24:42-44.

This is where I will begin in the next post.

Blessings, reminder, “It’s beginning to rain, hear the Voice of the Father, if you are thirsty and dry, lift your hands to the sky”… because the rain of the Holy Spirit is coming afresh to fall upon you. You are His sons and His daughters in Christ.

deo

A MOMENT OF DIGRESSION

Part 8

For the past several weeks, I have heard teaching messages from three different pastors at the local church I attend.

The content of their teaching has confirmed the words that I have been sharing in the current post series.

I am grateful for the Holy Spirit’s confirmation of His direction through the Word being shared by other ministers in the Body of Christ.

On November 12, 2023, Jeremy Pray shared from Romans 8:18-30 outlining how the Lord uses suffering in our lives today. He encouraged us by emphasizing that “God is for us!” Life can be hard; but God works it out for our good.

He listed seven statements of hope from the text of Romans 8:18-30.

He closed his teaching emphasizing that as a believer we have no cause to worry as long as everything is ok between the Father and the Son-we have no issues to fear.

Therefore, in the context of the blog series, we have ‘no issues to fear’ as believers in Christ during the time of ‘unprecedented unrest’.

The following week, on November 19, 2023, Matt Rehrer’s, sermon was a continuation of the text found in Romans 8. He shared verses 31-39.

His teaching was entitled: Anchorings, and Moorings of the Soul.

He began with showing a picture of a vessel in a severe storm that was painted by Leonardo da Vinci, entitled ‘The Storm on the Sea of Galilee’.

When I saw the picture on the screen, I immediately thought of the impending ‘unprecedented unrest’.

Pastor Rehrer shared our moorings in Christ.

  1. If God is for us, who can be against us? Who can wrestle me from God? Is my sin too much for God? The answers are unequivocal: No one, No one, and NO!
  2. “In Christ, I am not just, justified, but I am declared righteous.”
  3. Not only did Christ die, and was resurrected, but He, also, ascended to heaven and sits at the right hand of His Father. The act of being seated speaks to us of the permanency of His atoning work. His work is finished. His work is completed. He said, hanging on the cross before He died, “It is finished”. Jesus eternally secured our salvation.
  4. In heaven, He is our High Priest and He ever lives making intercession for the saints. Hebrews 7:25, NKJV, says, “Therefore, He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him since He always lives to make intercession for them.”

Therefore, as we go through the storm of ‘unprecedented unrest’, our High Priest is making intercession for us before the throne of grace. We have that mooring.

Because of our moorings in Christ, we can walk in security. We can ‘ride out the storm of ‘unprecedented unrest’ as we stay focused on Christ.

We are secure in Christ, Who is our Ark. We are safe and secure just as Noah and his family were safe and secure inside the ark being tossed about in the ‘unprecedented storm’ that God unleashed to flood the earth.

After sharing about our moorings, Pastor Rehrer shared from the same passage our anchors in Christ.

Does God have a purpose allowing us to encounter storms in our life? Is there a purpose for suffering?

I ask, Does God have a work He is doing in the earth using a storm of ‘unprecedented unrest’ at this time in our nation and the nations of the world?

As I have previously shared, I see a two-fold purpose. The two-fold purpose is judgment and grace. God’s judgment upon those who need to be judged; and God’s grace available for those who turn to the Lord to receive the message of the Gospel. It’s a picture of Calvary. The Cross judged sin and becomes the instrument of new life in Christ.

As Pastor Rehrer emphasized, ‘in Christ’, we have an anchor of security in the present and security in the coming age. In Christ, we have safety. I do not need to live in fear and doubt. ‘In Christ’, no circumstance will separate me from God’s love. He is the anchor of my soul. ‘In Christ’, my suffering, my trial, my tribulation, my personal turmoil is not pointless.

Let me turn our attention to Hebrews 5: 5 b, 7-9, NKJV. It is written of Christ, “You are My Son, Today, I have begotten You…Who(Christ), in the days of His flesh(in a human body); when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him(His Father) Who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear, though He was a Son; yet learned He obedience by the things which He suffered. And having been made perfect (Gr. teleios, mature, a word that means the goal, purpose or end for which something exists or is performed.) He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him.” (inserts mine)

Q: If God’s Son, Jesus, learned obedience here on earth through suffering, robed in human flesh, how do you think, we, who are here on earth, robed in human flesh ,are going to learn obedience and grow into maturity?

A: Through suffering: suffering is the paramount means that God will use to bring His children to maturity in Christ. It comes by the way of the Cross throughout our life. It is the ‘inwrought’ discipline that takes us through the process of sanctification.

Consider Paul’s words found in Colossians 1:24-29, NKJV.

Q: What is the goal of Paul’s ministry as he understood it from the Lord?

A: “I now rejoice in my suffering for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body which is the church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God which was given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God, the mystery which has been hidden from ages, and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints. To them God willed to make known (ginosko) what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom that we may present every man perfect (teleios, mature) in Christ Jesus. To this end I also labor striving according to His working which works in me mightily. (insert,emphasis mine)

What did Paul understand regarding the impact of his ministry ? Preach Christ, and water that preaching so that believers could mature ‘in Christ’, NOW!

I realize that this ‘diversion’ has been extensive; but I believe that it is necessary because it verifies that God is doing a work in the earth. He is stirring the ‘unrest’; He is moving the puzzle parts of the nations; and He is pouring out His Spirit saving the lost in a darkened world.

In the midst of this ‘unrest’, our security, safety, and refuge is in our ARK, Christ Jesus, the Lord.

Recalling Psalm 64:10, NKJV, “The righteous shall be glad in the Lord, and trust (find their refuge) in Him. And all the upright in heart shall glory.” (insert mine)

We now give our attention to the Senior Pastor at NCC.

On December 10, 2023, Pastor Kent Dresdow, shared from Matthew 20:17-34.

At the conclusion of His teaching, he addressed the congregation forcefully, yet compassionately as a shepherd feeding and tending his sheep.

In Matthew 20: 29-34, it records an interaction between two-blind men, calling out to Jesus, and a large crowd that was following Jesus. The two-blind men called out to Jesus saying, “Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!” The crowd accompanying Jesus, “warned them that they should be quiet; but they (the two-blind men) cried out all the more saying, “Have mercy upon us, O Lord, Son of David! (insert mine)

Jesus stood still and called to the blind-men, and said, “What do you want me to do for you?” There response was direct, “Lord, that our eyes may be opened.”

Pastor Kent confronted the congregation lovingly inferring that we, in the days in which we are living, can be like these blind-men, not seeing what is happening around us and to us. He said that we need to cry out to the Lord that we may see.

How so, you ask? We are blind to the darkness and death all around us.

Strong words, but words we need to embrace in the hour in which we are living, because the ‘days are evil’.

We are not spiritually aware (seeing) what is happening daily in our homes, our families, our community, our work place, our state, our nation. He exhorted us and encouraged us to be like the blind beggars who cried out, “Have mercy upon us, O lord, Son of David!” For what are we crying out? to receive sight!

He warned us that just as the crowd told the beggars to stop it; the world, will tell us to stop it; you won’t find any help from God, from religion, from Christ. Are we going to listen to the world; or are we going to turn to the Lord?

Pastor Kent, told us that we can be as ‘blind-men’ in this age. We need to cry out to the Lord. We need to humble ourselves, ask the Lord to heal us, so that we may ‘see’.

Why? So that we will have eyes to see the world as it is; to see the Lord working in our lives; but most importantly to see the world as the Lord, Himself, sees the world.

In summary, these three sermons have been sharing the same subject matter that the Holy Spirit has been emphasizing in the current series of posts.

Jesus said, Matthew 24:37-39 NKJV, “But as the days of Noah were, so also will be the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know (ginosko) until the flood came, and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.” (insert mine)

Jesus’s words imply blindness to what was happening in their midst. Noah obediently built an ark for the safety of himself and his family, and all the animals, creatures, and fowl God directed to come into the ark. But the people who witness the construction of the ark were blind to what was taking place.

The ark was God’s appointed place of safety for the coming ‘unprecedented unrest’ that He was going to unleash upon the world, in the form of a flood.

As I shared, in the previous post, the storm cloud have gathered; there is ‘unprecedented unrest’ in our world. It is growing throughout our nation, and the nations of the world. Do you ‘see’ it?

God has provided a place of safety for His people during this season of ‘unrest’. We are in a time of preparation to ready ourselves for the ‘unrest’. We need to pray and ask the Lord to ‘see’ what is going on, and how to be prepared for what is coming.

The truth is that all who are ‘in Christ’ are always in have a place of refuge. Do you as a believer understand that? Is that knowledge just a fact or a living reality?

We are citizens of His Kingdom. We live in a Kingdom that cannot be shaken.

Knowing (edoi) that and Knowing (ginosko) that are two different things. (inserts mine) [see the post: Knowing is not Knowing: Edoi is not Ginosko]

We are safe and secure ‘in Christ’.

We will be going through a ‘suffering’ (an unprecedented unrest) that will shake the nation in which we are living and that same ‘unrest’ will be used by the Lord to grow us in our ‘teleios’ (made perfect) which manifests itself in maturity as a son or daughter of God.

end of Part 8

tbc

a brother in Christ, deo

Does Tribulation mean Tension?

Part 4

In October of 2022, I published the following post. I am re-publishing it now in light of what is transpiring in our nation and throughout the other nations of the world.

Does tribulation Mean Tension?

Answer: Of course it does! Now what?

In the post, Habakkuk’s Headlines, it concluded with Jesus’ words spoken to His disciples in the upper room. Jesus said, (John 16:33, NKJV), “These things I have spoken unto you, that in Me, you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

Jesus statement summarizes His words spoken to His disciples in the upper room prior to His arrest the night He was betrayed.

His arrest would accelerate the tension that His ministry had created between Himself and the religious Jewish leaders.

In human terms, Jesus was walking a path of no return. He had been walking that pathway since His Incarnation. That pathway would lead Him to Calvary. There He would be crucified on a cross. On that cross He would die, be put into a grave, and that grave would have a large stone rolled across its entrance so that His body would be sealed in the grave. In essence His life and ministry is over.

But, His death, burial, and a sealed tomb, would not, and could not terminate His life. In actuality, all of this, would only create the framework from which Jesus would be resurrected from the dead just as He had said. Matthew 17:22-23, NKJV, “Now while they were staying in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill Him, and the third day He will be raised up.” And they were exceedingly sorrowful.”

What had transpired during His years of ministry had been a succession of events that caused a growing of tension that was fraught with trials and temptations. His tribulation was great; but His resurrection was glorious.

Hear the Word of the Lord. Hebrews 12:1-2,(NKJV), “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Hebrews 12:3-4 NKJV, continues, “For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. Your have not yet resisted to blood shed, striving against sin.”

For fear that we become complacent in our walk with the Lord, Peter reminds us in 1 Peter 4:12-19 NKJV, “Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part His glorified. But let none of you suffer as a murdered, a thief, an evildoer, or as a busybody in other people’s matters. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter. For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be end of those who do not obey the gospel of God? “If the righteous one is scarcely saved, Where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?” Therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator.”

Question: Are we ready for what is coming?

Let us reflect upon these words found in Hebrews 13:10-16, (NKJV). “We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat. For the bodies of animals, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned outside the camp. Therefore, Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore let us go forth to Him (where?) outside the camp, (for what purpose) bearing His reproach. For here we have no continuing city, but we seek the one to come. Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name. But do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.” (inserts mine)

This is the type of lifestyle we are to be living as believers in Christ Jesus. This lifestyle is not a religious organization. It is the Body of Christ functioning by the Spirit of God, according to Word of God, of Whom Christ is the Head.

Are we prepared to “bear His reproach”? meaning am I willing to be disgraced for the name of Christ, to be joined to His sufferings.

Change is coming. Our religious endeavors are going to shaken and judged; and we are going to have to leave the camp(of religion) and join ourselves to Jesus outside the religious camp. (insert mine) (Hebrews 13:13)

This will cause upheaval and misunderstanding. But it a necessary change that is coming to the church.

Prior to the Passover week when Jesus was crucified, He had raised His friend Lazarus from the dead. Jesus is coming to raise His Church from the dead. Consider the words of the Apostle Paul written to the believers in Ephesus. Ephesians 5:8-21 (NKJV).

“For you were once darkness, but NOW you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret. But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for what makes manifest is light. Therefore He says: “Awake, you who sleep, Arise from the dead, And Christ will give you light.” See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time because the days are evil. Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in the fear of God.” (emphasis mine)

Between the raising of Lazarus from the dead and Christ’s entrance into Jerusalem to celebrate Passover the religious leaders had “plotted to put Him to death”. (John 11:53, NKJV).

We know that Christ’s death was planned from eternity passed before the foundation of the world. See Ephesians 1:3-14. Verse 3, NKJV, says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world…(vs 7), In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace…”.

Question: Is there tension in the world? in our nation? in our family relationships? Absolutely. As Jesus faced His crucifixion, He was totally aware of the tension, tribulation, and trial He was going to personally face. What other conclusion could we assume based upon what He said in John 16:32-33, (NKJV).

“Do you now believe? Indeed the hour is coming, yes, has now come, that you will be scattered, each to his own and will leave Me alone. And yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me. These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

These words were spoken to His disciples the night in which He was betrayed. As we have remembered He was arrested, then mocked and ridiculed, questioned by Pilate, sentenced to death, and subsequently crucified. When the tensions, tribulations, and trials come, how will you react to the pressure of the moment? Will you scatter as the disciples did? will you deny Christ as Peter did? or will you overcome in the hour of your tribulation, trouble, and suffering?

Prior to His betrayal, Jesus had taken His disciples to the garden of Gethsemane. There He asked Peter, James, and John to come with Him to the place where He wanted to pray. The other disciples He left behind in the garden. He asked Peter, James, and John to wait for Him as He went to His place of prayer. There the Lord poured out His soul to the Father. There we witness the Son of Man crying out to His Heavenly Father asking if the cup that He was being asked to drink could be removed; but Jesus knew that it was not a matter of what He wanted or willed to have happen, but what was the Father’s will for Him. Three times He petitioned the His Father, and three times, He resigned Himself to His Father’s will, saying, “O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done.” (Matthew 26:42, NKJV)

But what about the disciples, especially Peter, James, and John? Did they watch as Jesus had asked them? No, they slept. Is the Church watching, or is it asleep? It is time for the Church to wake up, and be the Church. The Lord is coming to awaken, stir, shake, and judge His Church, as necessary, to prepare His Church in these last days, for the propagation of the Gospel.

Read Matthew 24:4-51. Matthew 24: 12-14, NKJV, says, “And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved. And this Gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.” (emphasis mine).

It’s time. Change is coming.

The prophet Isaiah said to God’s people, “Arise, shine; For your light has come! And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and deep darkness the people; but the Lord will arise over you, and His glory will be upon you. The Gentiles shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.” (Isaiah 60:1-3, NKJV)

Revelation 12:10-12 (NKJV), “Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.” (emphasis mine)

I John 5:4-5, (NKJV), For whatever is born of God, overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world–our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believe that Jesus is the Son of God?

As tribulation in our nation and the world increases, the tension that is created will increase too. B.U.T. (Believer Understand This), in Christ, we can be of good cheer. Why? Because Jesus said, “I have overcome the world” and we too overcome because as believers we are in Him.

Arise and shine, Church!

Be encouraged with these words. Jesus said, John 14:27-28 (NKJV).

Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you: not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither, let it be afraid. You have heard Me say to you, I am going away and coming back to you. If you loved Me, you would rejoice because I said, I am going to the Father, for My Father is greater than I.”

As the words of the song says, “There is a place of quiet rest, Near to the heart of God. A place where sin can not molest, Near to the heart of God. O, Jesus, blest Redeemer, Sent from the heart of God, Hold us who wait before Thee, near to the heart of God.” [Composer: Cleveland B. McAfee (1866-1944)]

Let us press into the Lord as we embrace for the coming tension amidst the unprecedented unrest.

In the midst of the unrest, we find rest and refuge in Christ.

blessings, a brother in Christ, deo

end of Part 4

TBC

Upon What are You Focused?

In her book, Discipline, The Glad Surrender, Elizabeth Elliot’s concluding paragraph of Chapter 2, entitled, ‘How Do We Know We are Called, she comments about C. S. Lewis’, the child Lucy, a character in the Chronicles of Narnia, from the book, Prince Caspian.

She writes, “For Lucy, believing was seeing. The others could not at first because they would not. It is always thus. The believer alone will be able to hear the call. It comes from beyond ourselves, beyond our society, beyond our climate of opinion and prejudice and rebellion and skepticism in which we live, beyond our time and tastes. It draws toward the center of all things, that still place of which T.S. Eliot wrote:

Against the Word the unstilled world still whirled

Against the centre of the silent world.

Question: Are you, am I, are we, is the Body of Christ ready for such a moment in which we need to hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church as the ‘unstilled world’ races headlong in circles around us?

Elliot’s words were penned, then published in 1982. Her words reflect the society in which she lived and observed then :what is the condition of our society today? What is “the climate of opinion and prejudice and rebellion and skepticism” in which we live in 2023? Has it grown beyond our “…time and taste…”?

We find ourselves living in uncertain times. There is ‘unprecedented unrest’. Most of us, I believe, would probably confess that we do not really want to live in these uncertain times of unrest. But the reality of the moment cannot be dodged. We might even find ourselves fearful that this unrest may escalate into conditions that will unravel the nations of the world and may even destroy the fabric of our own nation, unhinging a lifestyle that plummets into chaos, fear, turmoil and uncertainty.

It is certainly easy to speculate and collapse mentally into that frame of thought. As T. S. Eliot wrote, “the unstilled world is whirling.” Eliot’s whirling is the ‘unprecedented unrest’ that we are witnessing and embracing in the world today.

Jesus put it this way, “In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33b, NKJV)

Ah!, the word tribulation. A word that engenders much speculation, engaging Bible readers, Bible students, Bible scholars, pastors and teachers to theorize about end-time events.

A lot of that is happening at this time. I am not minimizing that thought. However, I want to encourage you to stay focused on the Lord, His Word and the community of the believers that you fellowship with regularly.

Returning to T. S. Eliot’s words, “the unstilled world (the one in tribulation) is still whirling about becoming increasingly more chaotic and tumultuous; and as Eliot points out, it is whirling (swirling) “about the centre of the silent Word”-God’s Word. Who is the Word of God? Jesus. (see John 1:1-5) [inserts mine]

Visualize with me the following: Can you see the overlay of Christ’s Words to His disciples in John 16:33b placed upon Eliot’s prose? Christ, Who is the Word of God has overcome the world. His position is one of quietness overlaying the whirling tribulation pulsating throughout the nations.

The world may raise its turmoil, chaos, and fanaticism; but it cannot overcome Christ. Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection has brought death to death. The world, the flesh, and the devil have no power over the Son of God. Jesus Christ is Lord. All authority and power has been given unto Him. Jesus ascended into Heaven and sits at the right hand of His Father, God Almighty. The enemy has been defeated and in Christ, we share in His triumphal victory.

That reminds me of the words of a song, “O Victory in Jesus, my Savior forever, He sought me and bought me with His redeeming blood, He loved me ‘ere I knew Him and all my love is due Him, He plunged me to victory beneath the cleansing flood.” (E.M. Bartlett, Victory in Jesus lyrics copyright Albert E Brumley & Sons)

Upon what are you focused? In Whom are you resting? In Whom are you taking refuge? Do not allow yourself to get caught up in the “unstilled world” and its “whirling”.

Let us stop here for a moment and reflect upon Psalm 62:1-8. (Using the Tree of Life Version)

“My soul waits in stillness only for God-from His comes my salvation. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress–I will never be moved. How long will you assault a man to crush him, like a leaning wall, a fence to be torn down? They only plot to topple him from his rank. Delighting in falsehood, they bless with their mouth, but inwardly they curse. Selah. My soul wait in stillness only for God–for from Him comes my expectation. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my strong tower–I will not be moved. On God, my salvation, and my glory is the rock of my strength. My refuge is in God.

The title to this post is ‘Upon What are You focused?’ I trust that your focus has been changed from ‘What’ to ‘Whom’.

Question: Upon Whom Are You Focused?

In our time of turmoil, chaos, uncertainty, and ‘unprecedented unrest’, our refuge must be in God not in political leaders, not in the leaders of the nations of the world, but in the One who rules Sovereignly over all the nations of the world.

Does God use the leaders of nations to accomplish His ends? Absolutely. The history of civilization is a testimony to His Sovereignty.

“There is a place of quiet rest, near to the heart of God. A place where sin cannot molest, near to the heart of God. O, Jesus, blest Redeemer, sent from the heart of God, hold us who wait before Thee, near to the heart of God.

There is a place of comfort sweet, Near to the heart of God, A place where we our Savior meet, Near to the heart of God.

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There is a place of full release, Near to the heart of God, A place where all is joy and peace, Near to the heart of God.

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Author: Cleland Boyd McAfee (1903)

In closing this post, I would like to direct your attention to my post, ‘Finding Refuge in the Lord’. It can be found and read at livingwordsofencouragement.com

Blessings, a brother in Christ,