The Bible Meditation:
Jeremiah, 1: 16;. I will utter my judgments against them concerning all their wickedness, but because they have forsaken me, burned incense to other gods, and worshiped the works of their own hands".
Encouraging Word:
The last couple of years I've seen the moral decline of America on a grand scale. I believe there was a possibility of a national healing and a possibility of a Christian revival, but I have a say with great sorrow, I'm just not so sure that I lean that way anymore. And I'll tell you why. I won't ignore the possibility that things could still get better, however, if it does get better, I believe it will be very short-lived.
I'll give you a few reasons why I tend to lean this way. Over the last half a year or so, I listened to a few modern day prophets that I thought might be legit. Not so much any more because a true Prophet is never wrong.
Matthew, 2: 11-14; says this, "Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many 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."
As I read the part about growing cold, I thought, "Wow" As I just read that, it just hit me like a brick. I've never seen our world so cold like they are right now. Most of the people are like walking around like zombies, however, there are still a lot of good people, so don't get me wrong, but not as many as there used to be. Our country has fallen so deep into apostasy that the only way to reverse It, is by a miracle of biblical proportion by God. And I believed for so long that this might happen, but again, I'm not so sure. But with that being said, I'm not saying it won't happen, because God is in charge and He will do what is right in his eyes. Let me explain why I feel this might be the case. As I was doing my nightly study, I wasn't sure what I was going to study on. As I was searching for a topic to study, the Holy Spirit took me to the Book of Jeremiah. Now, think about that, the Bible has sixty six books, and He took me to Jeremiah. So I thought, okay there's something going on here. So many of you who know what the book of Jeremiah is all about, you know exactly where I'm going with this, but for those of you that have no knowledge of the Bible, I'm going to share with you a little bit about Jeremiah and how it could very well apply to today. First of all God, chooses those that he will use long before it is made known to us.
And we read this in: Jeremiah, 1: 4-5; and this is Jeremiah speaking, "Then the Word of the Lord came to me saying, before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, before you were born, I sanctified you, I ordained you a prophet to the nations."
When the time came for Jeremiah to start prophesying to the nation of Judah, he spoke the words that came straight from the Lord's mouth. Now the next couple of verses tell us what God Said to Jeremiah. First, we read about Jeremiah's first couple of words, and it comes from:
Jeremiah, 1: 6-10; and Jeremiah said, "Then said I, Lord God, behold I cannot speak for I am a youth, and then the Lord said to me, do not say, I am a youth, for you shall go to all to whom I send you and whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of their faces, for I am with you to deliver you says the Lord. Then the Lord put forth his hand and touched my mouth, and the Lord said to me, behold I have put my words in your mouth, see, I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms to root out, and to pull down, to destroy, and to throw down, to build and to plant."
This is what a true Prophet is, it's one who speaks the Word that the Lord gives them, not someone who has a dream and then applies it to something they think it means. So as not to get too lengthy with my message on the book of Jeremiah, I'll cut right to the chase. Jeremiah was a prophet sent by God to tell Judah that unless they repented of their sins and turned back to God, they would be destroyed by Babylon. And to say the least, because of his prophecies of doom and gloom, Jeremiah was not a very popular person at that time. Because of his message of doom and gloom, He was beaten, dragged, thrown in jail, tortured, and thrown into a deep well where he was left to die. This is just a couple of hardships that he had to endure, but through all these beatings and other forms of abuse, God was always there with him. Now at the same time that Jeremiah was telling the truth of the future siege by Babylon, there were hundreds of false prophets of Baal saying that judgment would not come to Judah, but prosperity and wealth would be their destiny, because they felt that God would not allow His people and their land to be destroyed. To shorten up this fifty-two-chapter book, Judah was destroyed years later by Babylon, just as Jeremiah prophesied. All were taken into captivity except for Jeremiah and a couple of his close followers. All those who believed the false prophets of Baal were killed or taken into captivity. And King Zedekiah was the last king of Judah before the destruction of Judah by Babylon. After the siege, King Zedekiah and his sons were taken before Nebuchadnezzar. The last thing that Zedekiah saw was his sons being killed. Right after that, King Nebuchadnezzar blinded him so the last thing he saw, was the killing of his sons.
Now, let me apply all this to what we are seeing here in America. Like I said at the beginning of this message, there are two groups of people that are talking about the days in which we live and they are both sharing what they think is on a near horizon. Those that are speaking about the end of America as we know it, where things will continue to get worse and worse until God finally takes the believer's home are not the most popular people today, the same as Jeremiah. They haven't gotten to the point yet where Christians are being persecuted, but if we continue on the path that we are going on in America and God does delay his coming, it could happen, and right after the catching up of the Saints to meet the Lord in the air, (which is the rapture) judgment will come to America with swift and fierce action. It is then that they will know the truth, but then it will be too late.
There's a Bible verse that says the following,
2 Chronicles, 7: 14; "If my people which are called by my name shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and will heal their land."
A lot of people, including me, have done just that, however, as a nation we have not repented and turned from our evil ways. Our nation is more evil than it's ever been, but I'm not going to get into the details of how evil it really is. If you aren't aware of how bad it is, then you should get a good source that tells you the truth. But as the Bible says, those of us that are born again will not suffer the wrath of God. They will escape the horrors that will come to pass in our nation. Those that have not turned from their evil ways will be here to see America destroyed in whatever way God chooses to do so. Then there are those that I believe are false prophets and they are saying that there will be a revival that will come to America, and we will once again be great and full of prosperity, better than it's ever been.
I personally would love to see this but, as wonderful as it sounds, I wouldn't bank on it. But keep an open mind and watch what is happening in our world, especially in America and what the Bible has to say about the days in which we live. These guys that are sharing this message of prosperity are very well liked and very popular! Sound familiar? Just a side note, America is not in end time Bible prophecy. America is conspicuously absent from all end time teachings in the Bible. I believe America will be judged before all hell breaks out in the Middle East. When will all this happen? Only God knows for sure, Nobody else can tell you what is coming and when it is coming, but those of us that are watching the signs that the Lord told us to watch out for, are seeing all these things that are written and watching the signs converging all at once. To say that people will see prosperity in the coming days is a very dangerous teaching. Let me explain. If we truly believe that America will turn back to the days of prosperity and power, what will that do? It will make people feel that they now have more time to commit their lives to Jesus Christ, and that, my friends, is an extremely dangerous way to look at things. But this is exactly what Satan wants us to believe. He doesn't want us to be ready, he wants us to think that life is going to go on forever, no judgment is is going to behold us. So what happened to all the people in Jeremiah's day that rejected the truth that believed prosperity was coming instead of destruction, they were all killed or taken as slaves because they didn't believe the truth. Now, I'm not saying this is what is going to happen real soon, but it could, I just want you to be aware of what could happen and what you can watch for. Watch the signs that the Bible tells us to look for, watch the direction our country is taken. You still have to choose what you will believe. Another thing that we need to be aware of is what is currently taking place in the Middle East. The Bible tells us what will happen in the end days and everything that is spoken of by the prophets of old is already happening, or close to happening in the near future. It will come to fruition just as prophesied. What was prophesied in the scriptures that would happen in the Middle East is all in place. I heard someone say, "That people believe our world is falling to pieces, but actually, all the pieces are falling together." I believe that the next event on God's prophetic calendar is the rapture of the church and then all hell will break loose in our world where the main focus will once again be on Israel and the Middle Eastern Islamic States.
Read what's going on over there, it's all coming to fruition just as was prophesied in the Book of Ezekiel. Read Ezekiel, chapter 37-38, if you want to hear what is going to take place. If this sounds like it's bad news to you, it is, because you have put your faith in the world and not in Jesus Christ. The world will perish, but God's Word will live on forever. If you have given your life to Jesus Christ, know this, all this that is happening today is leading up to what we as a born-again believers refer to as "The Blessed Hope."
If some of these modern day prophets are getting a message of peace, it could be God speaking to them about the Millennial Kingdom that is also on the near horizon. But where they are missing the boat, if that is the case, is they are leaving out the seven year tribulation where things will be more horrible than anybody could imagine. A lot of these guys are describing what sounds like the Millennial Kingdom, but they may not be aware of that. Peace on Earth is coming when the prince of peace returns, and it will be better than than any of us could ever imagine, but it will only be for those of us that are born again and believe on Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. All this will come to fruition when Jesus returns to earth after the seven year tribulation to set up his Earthly Kingdom, which is also a highly disputed topic among denominational churches, but that is another discussion all by itself, one that I'm not going to expand on at this time. So, with all this being said, the main point that I want to make, whether better days are coming or not, we all need to prepare for the return of Jesus Christ. If you give your life to Jesus Christ, then none of these scenarios will matter to you because you will be in the protective hands of Jesus Christ, and what did He say in the following verse?
Hebrews, 13: 5; "Let your conduct be without covetousness, be content with such things as you have, for He Himself has said, 'I will never leave you nor forsake you'"
These are very comforting words to those that have given her life to Jesus Christ because no matter what goes on in our life, He's with us. Sometimes we may be going through a trial and we don't understand what's going on, but, nonetheless, He is still with us and He will not forsake us. Let me share this next Bible verse with you, one that should give you great comfort.
1 Thessalonians, 5: 9; " For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ."
This is speaking of those that have submitted their lives to Jesus Christ. I personally don't see anywhere in the Bible where there will be a revival before the tribulation, but the Bible does speak of a revival that will take place during the first three and a half years into the tribulation.
We read in Luke, 21: 25-28; where it says, "And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon and in the Stars, and on the Earth distress of nations with perplexity, seeing waves roaring, men's hearts failing them from fear and expectations of those things which are coming on the Earth, for the powers of Heavens will be shaken. Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory, now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near."
The things that are spoken of in the verse that I just read are clearly happening today at an unprecedented rate unlike never before, So, those of us that are watching for the Lord's return, are looking up. We are ready. I still do read some verses in the Bible that might indicate a small national healing, but like I said, I believe it will be short-lived if it happens. Regardless of what happens in the near future, if I were you and didn't give my life to Jesus yet, it'd be a really good idea to do that right away. We don't know when Jesus is coming, but if you're ready to meet Him, it shouldn't matter. If you decide to wait a few years and hope He delays his coming, remember, he's coming at a time when we least expect it. Are you willing to take that gamble that He will delay His coming? I pray for the sake of many that God does give us more time to reach those that need to hear the gospel.
We read in Isaiah, 55: 8; Where Jesus said, this, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways declares the Lord, for as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."
We need to keep this verse in mind when we think we know what God is going to do. What we think He's going to do, He might have a completely different idea, so. every one of us could be wrong, only God knows, but again, bottom line, just be ready.
I'm going to end this with these very comforting verses. 1Thessalonians, 5: 1-11; "But concerning the times and the seasons Brethren, you have no need that I should write to you, for you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night, for when they say peace and safety, then sudden destruction comes upon them as labor pains upon a pregnant woman, and they shall not escape. (And these are the ones that, uh, are not Believers, this is speaking to unbelievers, not Believers, and now we get to the part where he speaks to Believers) but you Brethren, are not in darkness so that this day should overtake you as a thief. You are all sons of Light and sons of the day, we are not of the night nor of darkness, therefore, let us not sleep as others do, but let us watch and be sober, for those who sleep sleep at night and those that get drunk are drunk at night, but let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love and as a helmet, the hope of salvation, for God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through Jesus Christ Our Lord, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him, therefore, comfort each other and edify one another just as you are also doing."
This is a verse that God is telling us that those of us that are saved and believe, be comforted, we're not appointed to what's coming to this world, we are going to escape it regardless of what some religion say. If you give your life to Jesus, you're not going to be part of all this evil that's coming, so again, it's your choice, and these verses are saying that if you are born again into the Holy Spirit the day of the Lord will not come to you as a thief in a night.
My point is this, we, the born-again believers are very aware of where we are in God's prophetic calendar. We don't know the day of his return, but we do know that we are in the season of soon return. The best advice that I can give is this, get ready now, don't wait another day, we don't know the exact day that He will appear, but we believe it could be very soon. What happens between now and the day of his return, nobody knows for sure. It could get a little better and it could get worse, God has a plan and it is going to come to fruition just as He said it would. So, will you receive Him today and be ready or will you gamble your salvation that it will be years from now that He will come. Only you can make that choice, but let me say this, when that day comes, if you haven't made that choice, well, then your choice has been made, because you will suffer the fait that will come to unbelievers. He may not come for a year, He may not come for a couple years, but, He may come tomorrow and only a fool would gamble his salvation on thinking He has a lot of time. That is what Satan wants us to believe. So, if you want to fall for Satan's lie and believe there's a lot of time, then go ahead, I pray you don't make that choice, but, again, it's your choice. Listen to what you will, believe what you will, watch what's going on in our world today, follow what's happening, don't just believe the social media sites, because I'll tell you right now, 90% of them are lying to you. Find someone that can tell you the truth and find some websites that do tell you what's really going on and get ready. Eternity is a long time. So, with all this being said, God bless you in all you do and take care!
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