There is Still Time

God is merciful as well as righteous. He never sends judgment on a person or nation until He first sends a multitude of warnings through prophets, nature, inner promptings in our soul or spirit and the natural consequences of our behavior.

He does not want anyone to perish, but for everyone to share in His blessings of eternal life. He is like a mother hen who wants to gather her chicks under her wings and protect them all (2 Peter 3:8-10; Matthew 23:37).

In these later days, God ramped up natural disasters, wars around the world, a famine of His Word; and He allowed the rapid growth of debauchery in our world in order to call us to repentance.

Yet, the pride and rebellion of many cause them to ignore His warnings and His attempt to draw all men to Himself (John 12:32). People think they know better than God and disdain Him for what they perceive as His failings.

Comedians turn the hearts of many away from God with their human logic and satanic lies. So many people run from God rather than into His outstretched arms.

In our modern society, men's hearts daily fail them for fear (Luke 21:26). They use suicide, alcohol, drugs and amassing worldly riches to assuage their discontent - to no avail.

Archeological discoveries persist in proving the veracity of the Bible, but this news is hidden in the back pages of annals and ignored or belittled.

Science continues to uncover never before seen species of God's creation; but they refuse to give God credit for the creature's magnificence and the fact that they thrive in almost impossible living conditions.

People also ignore the fact that these creatures did not evolve, but are exclusive in their designs and functions. They stubbornly uphold a theory with missing links as their truth.

God will continue to send warnings, tribulation and amazing discoveries to prove His existence and to turn hearts to Himself, until the day He raptures His Saints from the earth and sends His Great Tribulation on our godless civilization.

Prayer:

Father God, You attempt to draw everyone into Your loving embrace and You use every means available to bring people to their knees in repentance and belief in You for salvation. You never give up on anyone, even when they condemn themselves by their unbelief (John 3:18). 

However, there will come a day when Your cup of wrath is full and You will pour out judgment on the nations of the world in a period of the greatest tribulation the world has ever known. You will send strong delusion on the Gentiles, once this age is finished; and then it will be too late for them to repent. However, You will give Your chosen race of Israel one final chance to choose You as their God and Savior.

We praise You for Your patience with mankind and Your plan to redeem us all back into Your embrace. Teach us to humble our self under Your mighty hand and to heed Your warning signs designed to draw us back to You.

Thought for the Day:

God sent His Word full of prophecies that prove His existence, and He continues to warn people of His coming judgment and the culmination of life as we know it; He is patient and long-suffering, and He chooses to store up His wrath and to pour out His mercy on the world every single day. There is still time. Won't you believe?

God Haters - Why Serve a God Who Kills

Some people ask, "How can you worship a God who started wars, commanded that women and children and animals be killed, and who causes trials for His own people?" This is an interesting question in light of the fact that humans have killed many more people through murder, human sacrifice and abortion than God ever "killed".

To answer the question: God is the God of justice, as well as mercy and grace (Job 37:23). He wounds, but He also heals (Job 5:18; Hebrews 12:10). When whole nations turn against God, after He gives them many opportunities to come to Him, He sends warnings of judgment for years (Ezekiel 3:17-18). Some nations turn from wickedness, like Nineveh when Jonah preached to them.

However, when nations refuse to repent and come to God, He uses other nations to judge them, or He uses nature, like with Noah's great flood (Psalm 119:71). It is interesting that Noah's great-grandfather, Enoch, knew there would be a flood. God warned people for hundreds of years that a flood was coming.

Then, Noah himself warned the people for 120 years that God wanted them to repent and to turn to Him. God even used the ark as an object lesson that a flood was actually coming. Yet, people mocked Noah and ended up perishing.

God is love and He cares about every one of us (1 John 4:8; John 3:16). God loves us so much that He became one of us to pay the penalty of our sins (John 3:16; John 1:1). He made His laws for our benefit, not His. He does not want us to hurt one another, and He wants us to honor Him for who He is, what He does for us and for our very life. He is waiting for you to come to Him.

Prayer:

Father God, You amaze me with the abundance of love, which You showed over and over again on the nations You had Your prophets warn. You warn modern humanity too by your prophets' Biblical history and through the preachers of your Word. The problem with the human race is our pride and self-reliance. Our penchant for giving Satan control of our life allows him to steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10). This grieves Your heart (Lamentations 3:33). Thank you for always turning around every negative aspect of life for our good (Romans 8:28).

Thought for the Day:

What Satan means for evil, God always uses for our good. - Genesis 50:20

Our Rest Secured

 

Speaking to the Hebrews, Paul showed concern over those who heard the Word, yet did not enter God’s rest. The Word they heard did not help them, because they did not turn away from their sinful lifestyle and put their faith in Christ (Hebrews 4:1-2). Due to their disobedience and unbelief, they simply prayed a hollow prayer and then hardened their hearts and continued their routine of sin (Hebrews 4:3-7).

The Bible is very clear on the topic of those who are convicted, yet are never truly converted from their behavior. They are not truly Born Again. God intends for us to fully enter His rest, relinquishing our hold on sin and living our life in God’s truth (Hebrews 4:8-9). Rest is a symbol of heaven; however, we can enter God’s rest now (Hebrews 4:10). It takes a bit of effort on our part to stop striving and to realize that we are dead and that our life is hidden with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3).

If we continue to reject God’s free gift of salvation or to work FOR God, then we take a chance of walking in disobedience and living life our own way (Hebrews 4:11). The Bible warns us not to allow works, and eventually sin, to take the place of faith and obedience in our life (Hebrews 3:12-13). We are called to hold each other accountable in love, so that no one falls short of God’s rest (Hebrews 3:19). Even though some may come to resent our care and call it interference or pressure, God calls us to warn one another.

We can also take a warning from the life of Israel. God spent decades attempting to draw them into His rest; however, they continued in stubborn disobedience and compromise with their world.  As we mature in our faith, we learn to trust God’s Word, to live according to its precepts and to be led by God’s Spirit. We live in more peace and fulfillment as we submit to God gifts of both the desire and the power to live the abundant Christian life (Philippians 2:12-13).

Prayer:

Father God, You promise us a future and a hope (Jeremiah 29:11). We can take the gospel of Christ to the ends of the earth without fear, if we first fear You (Hebrews 10:31). We are not afraid of You, but we tremble at Your awesome power (Jeremiah 33:9). We praise You for sending Your Son, Jesus Christ, to save us from our penchant for sin and for setting us free from the degradation and despair of a life of sin. You are compassionate, gracious and slow to anger. You always abound in love, kindness and forgiveness (Exodus 32:6-7).

Thought for the Day:

When we fear the Lord, we have no need to fear anything in life, because all the power of the Trinity dwells within us. - Proverbs 9:10; Colossians 1:27

 

God Never Condemns

When Adam and Eve sinned, they lost everything God created for our enjoyment in Paradise. At that time, the spirit of man died. Human beings are all born with a living body and a living soul - our mind, will and emotions; but our spirit is dead in Adam’s sin (Ephesians 2: 1). When we accept Christ as our Savior, He not only rebirths our spirit through salvation, but He renews our soul through a lifetime of sanctification. Since our thoughts and actions grow more positive, our body is healthier as well.

The influence of sin in the world from the time of Adam and Eve causes all of the sickness and trials we have now, but God uses them for our good and for His higher purpose (Romans 8:28; Isaiah 57:1). God never sends judgment without first sending a warning. He warned the people in the Old Testament through the prophets, but few people heeded their admonition. God even took the form of a human being and came to earth as Jesus Christ to warn the people of coming judgment, and His contemporaries crucified Him. Those in the early church heard about judgment through the Apostles. Today, we have the Word of God as our warning.

Since the book of Revelation was written and circulated, we have had a clear harbinger of things to come. Most people have a Bible in their home, but very few ever read it or take it seriously. This is Satan's doing. He appeals to mankind's intellect and convinces them that the Bible is nothing more than fairy tales, that Jesus’ divinity is improvable and that God does not exist – all lies. Biblical prophecy is the major proof that the Bible is true. Every prophecy is either already literally fulfilled, being literally fulfilled today or soon to be literally fulfilled through end time events.

Jesus will soon rapture His Church. Receiving our rewards and marrying Jesus, our bridegroom, along with our wedding feast, takes seven years. Those unbelievers left behind on the earth after the rapture will go through horrid torment during this same seven years. That is why we try so hard to talk to people about Christ now in order to give them a chance to hear the truth before the judgment comes. Revelation chapter 6 begins with the seals that represent the beginning of God's judgment of unbelievers on the earth during the Great Tribulation period (Matthew 24:4-31.)

We condemn our self by our unbelief (John 3:18; 1 John 3:20). God condemns no one (John 3:17). God desires that no one will perish, but that all will come to repentance and faith in Him (John 3:16; 1 Timothy 2:4; 2 Peter 3:9). Jesus actually came to seek and to save those who are lost in sin (Luke 19:10). If we sin, Jesus is our advocate with our Heavenly Father (1 John 2:1). God calls us to continue living in Christ so that when He appears, we may be confident in our salvation and stand before Him unashamed (1 John 2:28).

Prayer:
Father God, we are so impressed with the length and breadth and width of Your love for Your People (Ephesians 3:18). You made promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob that You will fulfill in the Millennium. The Bride and Israel will dwell together with You as joint heirs with Jesus of all that You have in store for us. Thank You for the opportunity for us to choose You and to follow You and to live for You now and for eternity.
 
Thought for the Day:
Those who refuse to love God’s Truth and be saved, because they delight in wickedness, will receive powerful delusion during the Great Tribulation; so that they will believe the anti-Christ’s lie and be condemned for eternity with Satan and his demons. - 2 Thessalonians 2:10-12