BIBLE MEDITATION: “That the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ,” 1 Peter 1:7
ENCOURAGING WORD:
America is obviously being thrown into the fire, the question that you must ask yourself is this, how you will come out on the other side. There are so many verses in the Bible that talk about faith testing! If God does not put us through trials, how will we know for sure where we stand regarding our love and trust in the Father? Here is a verse that really needs to be meditated on because it is one that is very hard to accept on the surface. James 1:2-4; “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” I can say with certainty, unless you know Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, you will not find joy in what is taking place in our world today. If you are not saved and you are finding joy in this evil world, then you are obviously lost in a world of evil and you have been given over to the god of this world, Satan! Just to set things straight with what is taking place in our world, God does not cause any evil that is happening in our world, but He will use it for His glory! See, if you are a true born-again believer, know this, everything that Satan uses for evil, God will turn around and use it for good! My authority for making this statement comes 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.” Read it, what does it say,” All Things” not some things."
I read every day where more and more people are coming to the saving grace of Jesus Christ all over the world, especially in the Islamic sect, but here in America, it is the opposite, we are falling into the great apostasy. In 2 Thessalonians 2:3, where this is evident, Paul makes it clear that the day of the Lord, a time of worldwide judgment will not come about until two things happen. First, the falling away, or great apostasy, must occur. Second, the “man of lawlessness” must be revealed, he who is called the “son of perdition,” also known as the Antichrist. Once this person makes himself known, the last seven week period of time as we know it will be in full swing. Numerous speculations about the identity of the man of sin, beginning in the first century, have included Caligula, Caius Caesar, Mohammed, Napoleon, and many of the Roman popes. None of them were the Antichrist.
You will not hear the truth of what is truly taking place in America by the mainstream media, because they want you to remain blind and ignorant of what is coming, so it will be easier to deceive you when the time comes for the one world order to come to fruition. Here is another prophecy that is running in full force right now as the Bible clearly states will take place in the end days. 2 Corinthians 4;4; “whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them” In other words, if you have rejected Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you are spiritually blind and have no way of understanding what is taking place in our world today and what is coming in the very near future.
Looking at this from a biblical perspective, if you are a Bible believing Christian and you have been following the world news and how it lines up with the end time prophecies, you are not surprised at all with what is going on. Good scholars on both sides of the fence are sharing what they believe is going to take place in the very near future. Some believe that the catching up of the saints and the return of Jesus Christ could be right around the corner. Only God knows for sure. Then some believe that we will have a revival where God will use this time as an opportunity to bring more people to Him. I can see both scenarios. I personally do not see in the scriptures though, where there will be a revival before the rapture of the church, but it is very clear that there will be a revival during the seven-year tribulation period. There are, however, many reasons that I would not argue against the case for a revival before the rapture. For those that feel they know when Jesus is coming back, I must share these two verses. Luke 12:40; “Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” When times get bad, as they are right now, people are thinking that the rapture of the church is coming real soon. Okay, if we are expecting Him to come soon, what does the verse above say? “For the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” For those of us that are watching and understanding the days in which we live, we know the time is near, but the day and hour we do not know! Here is another verse concerning the return of Jesus Christ, Luke 17: 26-27; “and as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all." If this verse is referring to the rapture of the church, which I believe it is, then things must be somewhat normal and not so chaotic as they are right now. I do not see people living a so-called normal life today, they are running in fear of the uncertainty of what lies ahead, and to be perfectly honest, you should be, if you do not know Jesus Christ.
My friends, my purpose is to bring hope to a fallen world through the saving grace of Jesus Christ. The reason so many people despise Christians is because so many of them only share the doom and gloom that is coming to the unbelievers, they do not give the message of hope to those that repent and turn to Jesus Christ. When Jesus taught through the scriptures, His messages were mostly about love, repentance and the Blessed Hope. We read in Matthew 5:1-12; where Jesus is talking about blessings to those that believe on Him. There are times when Jesus will bring up messages of despair such as in Matthew 23:1-36 where Jesus pronounces woes to those that reject the teachings of the Bible. The point that I want to make is this, yes, Jesus did teach about judgement, but He taught it to those that have rejected His Gospel, then He warned them of the wrath that is to come to those that reject the truth. He did not take His teaching of doom and gloom to the synagogue where He was teaching to those that were open minded and wanted to hear the truth. Once they rebuked Him, then He would share what lies ahead for those that rejected His teachings. He shared the love of the Gospel first, then judgment, once they chose to reject His teachings. What I am saying is this, when it comes to trying to reach people for Christ, start out with the Gospel and the blessed hope for those that want to hear the truth. Do not start out with the judgment that will come to those that reject Jesus Christ! You want to bring them to Christ with love , not fear. When there is no more hope for those that reject Gods word, then let them know what is coming to an unbelieving world in the near future and then if they still mock you and laugh, then they will eventually have their day in court where they will be judged for every sin that they ever committed.
We are living in some extremely troublesome days, there is no doubt, but we as Christians need to be wise in how we approach those that have questions and need hope. 1 John 4: 9-10; “This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us first and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” This is what we should be telling those that have not heard the Word of God. We should share the good news of His soon return for those that have given their lives over to Jesus Christ! Win them over with Love.
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