End Time Events

In 1948, God orchestrated three major signs of the times of His soon return to the earth: Israel was given land and made a nation again, the World Council of Churches was formed, and the European Union organized and started to grow into the Revised Roman Empire.

Most people are not even aware of these three major fulfillments of Biblical prophecy, nor would they even care if they knew about them. They are just too preoccupied with building their own little kingdom in the earth.

The famine of the Word of God being preached, the apathy in people in these later years, and the great falling away of whole generations of children and young adults are three more signs of the close proximity of Christ's return.

We often wonder why our prayers seem to hit the ceiling and bounce back, why God is silent when we seek Him or what is causing our lack of desire to read God's Word.

It could be because we are taking God for granted. We are dull of hearing and lack fervency in our prayers. We stopped seeking Him a long time ago, except when we need a favor or for Him to rescue us from a tight spot in our life.

We find every excuse to stay home from worshipping with the church, and we use the money we earn that belongs to God to pay for our numerous "toys" and vacations every year.

God calls us to make Him a priority in our life and to serve Him with our whole body, soul and spirit as the temple of His Holy Spirit, directed by the Spirit to make a difference in our world for Christ.

Prayer:

Father God, our focus in this life is preoccupied with this world and the affairs of our own personal life. We forget that we are no longer citizens of this world, but we are now strangers and pilgrims here (1 Peter 2:11). We get so wrapped up in our own goals and desires that we fail to see Your will for our individual life.

The urgency we used to feel for the return of Christ to claim His Bride waned. Issues in this world take precedence over our maturity in the spiritual realm. Therefore, we need You to strike a spark in our heart that will catch our soul on fire. Drive us to return to our first love with You; and out of this love, to share the Gospel with anyone willing to listen. 

Thought for the Day:

It is important for us to stop taking God for granted and to start sharing the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ with everyone we meet. They may reject us; but we lead them to a crossroad in their life, and they must then make a decision to believe in Jesus as their Savior or to reject Him and condemn their own life to eternity in hell. - John 3:18

God Delights in Blessing Us

God blesses us all day long in so many ways; we are just too busy to notice. If we focus on our to-do list or the negative issues we are facing, we miss seeing the blessings.

God delights in blessing His children (Psalms 8:4-5, 139: 6-7, 17). He rejoices over us with singing (Zephaniah 3:17). When we ignore or do not appreciate what He does for us, we get disappointed and frustrated by what we wanted Him to do, and what we perceive that He failed to do.

God arranged our genes, gave us our parents, and had us born in the city and country that He chose in order to give us the personality and talents we have, so that we can use them for His purposes.

Self-improvement is our carnal attempt to perfect our self. God wants to lead us, and for us to take the back seat (Mark 8:34). As we focus on praising God in the midst of our short-comings, He will replace our imperfections with His Spirit's fruit.

As we yoke up with Jesus, we find rest in God's grace. His mercy allow us to submit to His Spirit's direction each and every moment of every day. His presence eliminates the emptiness, fear and depression in our soul.

We develop a friendliness with others. We share the gospel with anyone interested in hearing that God loves them and has a plan for their life. We love God and His Kingdom as our priority and then we love others as we love our self (Matthew 6:33; Mark 12:30-31).

Prayer:

Father God, You hold us securely in Your love. We have no fear of life's storms, because You are in control of them all. You bless us with Your contentment, joy and fulfillment even in the midst of negative circumstances. You calm the storms and cause the sun to burst through the clouds, illuminating our days with Your peace.

As You shed Your love in our hearts, teach us to love others as our self. Remind us to look for Your blessings all through our day and to share Your blessings with others as You give us the opportunity to bless them. Help us not to miss Your divine opportunities or to take Your divine provision for granted.

Thought for the Day:

God does not ask us to trust one another, because we are frail humans and hurt one another - often without realizing it; but He does expect us to trust Him to bless us in His timing, will and way.

A Happy Marriage - Simplifying Life

 

Happily ever after is a misnomer. Marriage is tough by any standards. Some marriages are better than others, but we all struggle with disagreements from time to time. Let's face it, we even frequently argue with our self.

Arguing is not really a negative issue. It is how we argue that makes it a problem. We can mildly disagree, vehemently disagree or destructively disagree. These destructive fights tear the fabric of our marriage, which affects our society as a whole.

Family life is stressful at best and almost impossible at its worst. We allow our children to be involved in more activities than they can bear, which puts a strain on the whole family.

Attempting to watch 4 different ball games played by 4 different children at 4 different gyms or parks all played at the same time is an example of the crazy conflicts that can stress us out.

The best rule of thumb is to sign up our children for one extra-curricular activity at a time, and to make sure that their schedules do not conflict. If they are interested in various hobbies and venues, this will be so much easier.

The financial strain on marriages today is enough to break the back of the strongest couple. With both partners working fulltime, the stress of homemaking and child rearing is also daunting, especially if everyone needs their own room, TV and smart phone.

Simplifying life can be overwhelming, but will drastically reduce the amount of stress on the family. With a more fluid schedule, we have more time to enjoy each other's company.

Spending time together allows relationships to evolve on the same level and in more mutually satisfying ways. We weather the shifting winds of life as a family rather than alone.

Staying healthy emotionally, mentally, physically and spiritually demands that we follow God's will for our individual and corporate life. He has a perfect plan that sustains us through troubled waters and allows these trials to strengthen rather than to dissolve our relationships.

Prayer:

Father God, remind us that the only way to achieve lasting peace and joy in our life is to follow Your Spirit's direction each moment of the day. As we increase our intimacy with You, our intimacy with others improves as well. Teach us to keep our focus on our own fallacies and idiosyncrasies rather than allowing our spouse's issues to take precedence in our mind.

Remind us that we tend to blow their faults out of proportion unless we humbly compare them with our own flaws. Please change us from the inside out; keep us healthy in body, soul and spirit; strengthen us as individuals, a family and a society. Allow us to be that shining beacon of light to help others avoid the jagged rocks on the coastline of life. Help us to continually work on changing one aspect of our life at a time that will improve our relationships.

Thought for the Day:

As we take a searching moral inventory and decide what will make us more fulfilled as a Christian and as an individual, we will strengthen our personal life, our marriage and our family unit, and insure that we can better respond to the grace of God in the midst of every conflict.