TIME IS SHORT SO TRUST IN THE LORD AND BE COURAGEOUS!

For years now, with increasing intensity, the world nations have risen up in civil war and against each other; we have heard of major natural disasters, especially crippling earthquakes and tsunamis.  Why, just in the United States alone in 2015 there were 15,696 murders; 90,185 rapes; 327,374 robberies ($390 million in losses); and property crimes (the loss of currency, jewelry, motor vehicles, electronics and firearms) came to more than $12 billion.  Terrifying things are happening all around us.  I am here to tell you that I am a witness for the Truth in all this…my witness to you?  Put your trust in the Lord and be Courageous!

“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power and of love, and a sound mind.” -2 Timothy 1:7

Fear is an emotion that can result in two actions.  There is a healthy fear; a type of fear that shows respect, for instance:  where your Mom told you not to touch the stove because it was “hot!”  When we did not listen to her and we touched it our finger got burned.  From that day on we feared touching the hot stove because we knew the result it would bring.  There is an unhealthy fear; a type of fear that paralyses us, for instance:  where we hear about the murder and mayhem all around us in the world and we withdraw, spending our lives not even venturing out of the house.  It is this second unhealthy fear I believe Timothy was referring to, but I also think that unhealthy fear can manifest itself in more ways than retreating in isolation.  For instance, when we see and greet our neighbor every day but because of fear of rejection we never share with him the greatest thing in our life:  Jesus.  Another example is where we are going through a tough time, a trial or storm in our life.  We tend to withdraw and put on a false face, not letting anyone really see how we are hurting.  We feel hopeless and alone, fearing it will even get worse.  There is only one way this fear can be conquered…by God’s love.

“There is no fear in love [dread does not exist], but full-grown complete, perfect love turns fear out of doors and expels every trace of terror!” – 1 John4:18a AMP

I once said, “Oh to be free from the terror of my health problems,” and even feared that I would die, but God had made a promise to me when I first went into the hospital last September, “This is not unto death.”  Even when I was so despondent I would cling to that promise.  The more I clung to it, the more I felt God’s love envelope me.  The more I felt His love, the more my fear ran away.  Satan tried to thrust the fear back at me many times as I became more ill and ended up back in the hospital but I clung to God’s promise all the more and He surrounded me with His Presence and Love all the more.

“May Christ through your faith actually dwell (settle down, abide, make His permanent home) in your hearts! May you be rooted deep in love and founded securely on love, that you may have the power and be strong to apprehend and grasp with all the saints, God’s devoted people, the experience of that love what is the breadth and length and height and depth of it; that you may really come to know [practically, through experience for yourselves] the love of Christ, which far surpasses mere knowledge without experience; that you may be filled [through all your being] unto all the fullness of God [may have the richest measure of the divine Presence, and become a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself]!” – Ephesians 3:17-19 AMP

Jesus filled me with Himself…he is Perfect Love, and His Presence drove the fear away.  Did my situation change?  No, I was still very ill but I kept reaching out to Him, trusting His Word, and expecting the fulfillment of His promise.  It has been almost a year since I started this journey of illness and fear but I learned that all I had to do was keep reading His Word, grasping every promise I read there, and bask in His Love…filled full with His Presence.  God has delivered me from the fear.  He will deliver you too.

What about fear about the violence in our communities; burglaries, assaults, rapes, people killing police, police killing people, and so on?

“..for He [God] Himself has said, I will not in any way fail you nor give you up not leave you without support.  I will not, I will not, I will not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake nor let you down (relax My hold on you)!  Assuredly not!  So we take comfort and are encouraged and confidently and boldly say, The Lord is my Helper; I will not be seized with alarm [I will not fear or dread or be terrified].  What can man do to me?” –Hebrews 13:5b-6 AMP

In Joshua 1 we learn how the Lord Himself spoke to and encouraged Joshua to take up the cause of His people after Moses died.  He told Joshua to, “…be strong and very courageous;”   God also told him to be reading and meditating on His Word day and night,  “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall read [and meditate on] it day and night, so that you may be careful to do [everything] in accordance with all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous…” then He goes on to repeat, “Be strong and courageous! Do not be terrified or dismayed (intimidated), for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” –Joshua 1:1-9 AMP

So Joshua would find his strength and freedom from fear’s intimidation by reading and meditating on God’s Word.  We can be strengthened in the same way.  The more we read His Word, the more we get to know Him, and the more we are aware of His Presence and Love.  Even the Apostle Paul encourages us to, “…draw your strength from Him and be empowered through your union with Him and in the power of His boundless might,” (Ephesians 6:10 AMP) when He tells us to put on the full armor of God , “…so that you may be able to successfully stand up against all the schemes and the strategies and the deceits of the devil…so that you will be able to successfully resist and stand your ground in the evil day of danger, and having done everything that the crisis demands, to stand firm in your place, fully prepared, immovable, victorious,” (Ephesians 6:11, 13 AMP).

Are you ready, like me, to leave fear in our dust?  There is no room for fear in the Kingdom of God because God is Love and His very Presence expels fear.  Brothers and Sisters in Christ, it is time to move into our victory stance!

“I will pursue mine enemies, and overtake them;

Neither will I turn again till they are consumed.

I will smite them through,

So that they shall not be able to rise:

They shall fall under my feet.” –Psalm 18:37-38 ASV

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Da6MoVvIqEw

Days of Elijah – Twila Paris (written by Donnie McClurkin)

TIME IS SHORT!

This morning I read in the news about multiple stabbings in a day care center in New York City.  Two adults and three babies were stabbed.  How it grieved my heart to read this.  Of course I started to wonder, “Why?”  “Who would stab babies?”  All five victims have survived; one of the babies is in critical condition but expected to survive.  As I continued to ponder this tragedy the Holy Spirit reminded me that as the time of Christ’s return draws near we will see more violence.  Matthew 24 lists many of these violent things (…wars and rumours of wars…nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places…) but it does go on the mention that Jesus’ return will come after the earth is like what it was like in the days of Noah.

The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.  And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.  And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.  –Genesis 6:11-13 KJV

But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.  For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.   –Matthew 24:37-39 KJV

Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.  But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.  herefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.  –Matthew 24:42-44 KJV

Brothers and Sisters, I could go on with more prophecies about the end times but the time is short and I want this article’s shortness to evoke the sense that the end has come.  Will we be caught unaware when the Lord returns, having put off until “later” sharing with our neighbor the Good News (that Jesus came and died for their sins so that they wouldn’t have to)?  Or will we be lauded as His faithful servants, doing his will and gleaning every last person, every last soul, into the Kingdom?

Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?  Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.  –Matthew 24:45-46 KJV

THE HUNGER

What is your deepest desire?  Have you ever thought that question through?  What is it that you truly long for?  What is your end goal?  Have you dreamed of owning a car, a boat, a home?  Would you like to lose some weight, strengthen your health, or build some muscle?  These are all admirable goals but are they your deepest desire?

There are many days that I can say that my deepest desire is for Jesus, many.  Yet I regret there are many where I put Him aside and let other things take precedence.  Doctor’s appointments, visits from friends and family, and even activities of daily living are things I put first before Him, and when I do I regret it.  Is He then like a big powerful ogre ready to punish me when I set other things as more important than Him?  Definitely not!  His Spirit calls and woos me back into spending quality time with Him, reading His Word, talking things over with Him, just being in the awareness of His Presence.  It is during these times with Him that I sense the growing desire to know Him more.

“As the deer pants [longingly] for the water brooks, So my soul pants [longingly] for You, O God.” –Psalm 42:1 AMP

“My soul (my life, my inner self) thirsts for God, for the living God.  When will I come and see the face of God?” – Psalm 42:2 AMP

“Guide me in Your truth and teach me, For You are the God of my salvation; For You [and only You] I wait [expectantly] all the day long.” – Psalm 25:5 AMP

This desire-this longing calls me to draw even closer to Him; the closer I draw, the more I long for Him.  One would ever wonder if there is a limit to this relationship.  There is none because our God is infinite.  We can draw closer and closer and there will always be a deeper place for the relationship to grow for who can know everything there is to know about God?  Brothers and sisters in Christ, it is time to get closer to God.

“Further up, further in!” was the cry of the characters from the book, “The Last Battle” written by C. S. Lewis.  After a great final battle between good and evil the characters who fought on the side of good came into a beautiful land; one so much better, more colorful, and yet with the same landmarks of their beloved Narnia.  When they realized that the Narnia they knew was lost in the battle and was no more they entered through a doorway and found themselves in Narnia, but one that would never end.  "I have come home at last! This is my real country! I belong here. This is the land I have been looking for all my life, though I never knew it till now. The reason why we loved the old Narnia is that it sometimes looked a little like this. Bree–hee–hee! Come further up, come further in!"  This is what Puzzle the donkey said.  This is what the characters did, they went further up and further in.  Coming to a great golden gate they opened it and discovered an even bigger country, but again – it was Narnia:  more colorful, more beautiful, and more brilliant.  Then came the resounding cry again, “Further up, further in!”

Mr. Lewis had an excellent grasp of what it was like in the Presence of God as he portrayed it in this last book of The Chronicles of Narnia, an allegorical series of seven books he wrote for children filled with talking animals and lessons on obedience and the difference between good and evil.  In God’s Presence the believer comes to realize the deepness of God and the desire for more of that deepness.  “Further up, further in!”

“God has looked down from heaven upon the children of men To see if there is anyone who understands, Who seeks after God [who requires Him, who longs for Him as essential to life].” – Psalm 53:2 AMP

“O God, You are my God; with deepest longing I will seek You; My soul [my life, my very self] thirsts for You, my flesh longs and sighs for You, In a dry and weary land where there is no water.” – Psalm 63:1 AMP

“My soul (my life, my inner self) longs for and greatly desires the courts of the Lord; My heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God.” – Psalm 84:2 AMP

Every believer has deep within a desire for more of God but it is not a one-way street.  Just as we desire more of God, He desires more of us.  He is just waiting to have compassion and forgive us for the wrongs we do.  He is ready to move on our behalf at any moment.

“[God Is Gracious and Just] Therefore the Lord waits [expectantly] and longs to be gracious to you, And therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you. For the Lord is a God of justice; Blessed (happy, fortunate) are all those who long for Him [since He will never fail them].” – Isaiah 30:18 AMP

The only problem is man is fickle.  We are not able, in our own strength or resolve, to stick with and respond to that call for getting closer and deeper with God.  As I mentioned before, I (and most believers if they are honest with themselves) let other things take precedence.  I hear Him calling me deep in my spirit yet I let my human obligations or desires come first.  How can I ever change?!

“For it is [not your strength, but it is] God who is effectively at work in you, both to will and to work [that is, strengthening, energizing, and creating in you the longing and the ability to fulfill your purpose] for His good pleasure.” – Philippians 2:13 AMP

There is a Christian song I remember from back in the 70’s that says it best:

I have worked, I have struggled,

Trying to bring about a change,

Just trying to rearrange,

My life to be like His.

I have said, “I’ll be holy,”

If I can change this part of me,

But now I finally see,

That it’s not my work but His.

Do I want to effect real change in my life?  All I have to do is turn to Him and He will enable me to change, to grow closer and closer.  Brothers and sisters in Christ, NOW is the time to turn to Him.  NOW is the time to grow closer so He can enable you to grow even closer.  Do you hear His call?  “COME FURTHER UP, COME FURTHER IN!”