I am a Christian, a retired teacher, a mother and a grandmother. I love to read and I love the Lord Jesus Christ! Unless otherwise specified ,all visual illustrations are from the YOU VERSION APP of the Bible.
I don’t know about you, but I was beyond excited on the day that I first got my driver’s license. Like Pinocchio, I felt like a real person, with a real identity card for the first time. As the years progressed, my photo aged with me, but the identity stayed the same.
Fortunately, we don’t need to renew our ID card with God…we accept His free gift of salvation, our names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life and we are headed to Heaven. At least, that is the way I have always thought of it. But God has been talking to me lately through His Word about bearing fruit for Him, being a real disciple instead of just a card-carrying imposter.
I want to do all I can whenever I can to further God’s kingdom, just because I don’t want others to experience His final judgment and wrath. So, my new ID is the photo above. What does your ID look like?
At our church, we just finished the study of the Book of Revelation. The good news is that there’s a new Heaven and a new earth and God is the ruler, so no more corruption or temptation or sin. The bad news is that the good is preceded by God’s wrath, the final judgment. God has judged many nations throughout history and as I have been reading Isaiah for my devotional, I have seen that the wrath of God against Babylon parallels the wrath He demonstrates against the earth in Revelation.
I am not a Bible scholar, but I do know that in Isaiah God is speaking directly to Babylon and says that He will punish them severely. He will crush those who have shown only arrogance. God is not tolerant of pride at all. Think back to how Satan rebelled; he demonstrated pride and arrogance. To me, Babylon represents all nations, all people who stand up to God and say that they don’t need Him will be judged by God.
God’s original plan was for a perfect world without sin, but His plan was thwarted by Satan’s temptation and the choice of mankind to sin. God’s judgment cannot be stopped. It is coming. Babylon was an example, a prototype, if you will, of the judgment to come. I know that God must be looking on the world with deep sorrow because He has done all He can to save mankind from itself and the desire to follow their own ways. But once His wrath is unleashed, He will not be stopped by anyone.
I am not fearful of God’s wrath. I am fearful of how much destruction mankind will cause with their wickedness before God judges. God’s timing is perfect and I trust Him to stop the madness at just the right time, just as He sent Jesus at just the right time. In the meantime, I am praying for many to come to the Lord so that they don’t face God’s great judgment and wrath.
Since I was a small child, I have feared the darkness. I always had a night light as I grew up, although my mother wouldn’t allow one plugged into my bedroom socket. Instead, there was a street light just outside my window that shone brightly all night long. When I went to college, I left the bathroom light on when I didn’t have a night light. When I moved into my first apartment, I had a night light in the kitchen and in the bedroom. These days, I have one in the living room and in the bathroom. I just hate it when the electricity fails and I am in total darkness until Dominion Power restores it. I don’t fear the darkness so much these days because I know that God made it just as He created the light. But I much prefer the light and being able to see things instead of stumbling around in the darkness. After all, God called the light “good.”
I feel very bad for those who live in darkness day in and day out. They don’t know about the light that can shine into their world and lead them on the path of eternal life. How difficult it must be for them when they are facing death, eternal darkness! We don’t have to walk in darkness, but some people choose to do so because they prefer not to be seen. They don’t want people to know them as they really are. I’m not sure that they realize that God sees them wherever they are and whatever they are doing. Our sins are always known to the Father who made us and yet He provided a way to save us from the darkness of our sins even before we are aware of His great love for us and His gift of salvation.
The darkness that is in the earth today is because sin is rampant and it doesn’t seem that it’s going to get better. People seem to prefer the darkness of sin and living for the evil one rather than choosing light and living for God. As I stated at the beginning, I don’t like the dark. I am not afraid of what it can do to me these days. Rather, I fear what it is doing in the hearts of mankind, with their permission. They allow darkness in and push the light away, much to the detriment of their souls. I like light. God made it and said that it was good. God separated the darkness and the light for a reason, and He wants us to choose to live in the light. However, mankind wants to confuse the two so that their sin is justified in their own minds. Again, I am afraid of the dark…not for what it will do to me because I am a child of the light, but for what it is doing to sinful man who continues to make the wrong choices and is even leading small children in their sinful ways. God will have the last word just as He had the first ones. He will speak and judgment will fall…darkness on those who chose darkness, for all eternity. I pray that many will repent before that Day of the Lord comes!
May you be blessed with the light of life shining in your hearts and may it reach out to others in the darkness.
Now that the hysteria about Covid-19 seems to be dying down, I want to address a plague that is even worse than Covid or the Black Death or anything that the earth has seen as deadly and dangerous. That plague is the plague of accepting sin as normal and this acceptance leads to certain eternal death and separation from God. No matter what we call sin, it is still wrong in God’s eyes and He will one day judge all of it. We have nice names so that what we are doing wrong doesn’t sound so bad. Abortion is a “necessary procedure”, fornication is “hooking up” and adultery is “playing around.” Even homosexuality is called by a euphemism, “switching teams.” God just calls all of it sin and it has become a plague that is destroying society and our values as we have known them. What was once seen as sinful is now accepted and the current mantra is not to judge others, just let them be, accept others the way they are, etc. Unfortunately, that attitude of letting others just live with their own sin leads to devastating consequences for the entire society. The more we normalize sin, the more rampant it becomes and the actions become even more outrageous. So, what is a Bible-believing Christian to do?
In this chapter in Numbers, the Israelites had once again sinned and God’s response was to judge them with a plague. Korah had rebelled against the leadership of Moses and his punishment was to be swallowed up by the earth. The people did not learn from that judgment from God because the very next day, they started mumbling and complaining about what had happened to Korah. God wanted to just wipe them out, but Aaron and Moses stood in the gap and asked God to have mercy. In the verse above, Aaron stood between those who were dead and those who were still alive, with a burning censer and a prayer on his lips for mercy, and God spared most of the people. However, almost 15,000 died because of this rebellion against the leadership that God had established, which was really a rebellion against God Himself. The Israelites are much like people today. They thought they knew more than God and were able to judge what God was doing in their midst. Think about that. Does anyone know more than God? Of course not! But in their arrogance and lack of right thinking, they proudly rebelled and paid a high price.
I believe that the high price of today’s sin is coming and as Christians, we need to stand in the gap as much as possible, pleading for God’s mercy, that some might accept the truth and live. God will not always be willing to look at the sin on the earth and just shake His head with sorrow. One day, His wrath will unfold and it will be a “great and terrible day,” especially for those who have turned from Him and decided that they have no rules to follow or moral code to govern them. So, I implore you to pray daily for God’s mercy and to pray specifically for specific people who need to know and accept the truth. Speak in love to them as God leads you, tell them the truth of God’s Word. Trying to scare them with God’s coming judgment won’t work because they simply don’t fear God, But perhaps they will listen to the sound of love. Be an Aaron in the midst of the camp of rebels and work earnestly to save as many as you can with the message of God’s truth and salvation. The plague that is coming brings eternal death; some will say that it is already here or God’s judgment has already begun. I don’t believe that because my belief is that when God judges, we will all know it, much as the Israelites did when the earth swallowed Korah and then the plague had the rebels dropping dead. What is happening in the earth today is a natural consequence of our disobedience and utter disregard for the Creator and the moral compass that He put inside us. We cannot turn the tide against the evil but we can stand in the gap and in so doing perhaps lead some to safety with the Lord.
Have a blessed day and may you never hesitate to stand in the gap and be an “Aaron” in a world filled with rebels against God.
We are all part of this multitude mentioned in the Book of Daniel and we will all face judgment. God warns us in the Old Testament and in the New Testament that we will go to everlasting life or everlasting contempt. We make a choice to live with God eternally or to be separated from Him forever. It is our choice, not God’s. He doesn’t want to condemn anyone, but He has established the Only Way to be saved. We must either accept His Son as our Savior or be judged for our sins and face eternal consequences. Yes, we are all part of the multitude, but we can choose to stand apart from the crowd and take a stand for Jesus, giving Him the glory for His sacrifice on the cross for each of us.
May you day be blessed with the knowledge that God has provided the way to salvation and you can choose to be saved!
It’s true, even though many people who call themselves Christians don’t want to admit it. Wickedness is rampant in our nation that once called itself a Christian nation. To our great shame, we have turned away from the Creator and towards our own sinful desires. The laws that are being passed are lawlessness against God and He will not be mocked forever. I am appalled at the churches taking a stand for sin and against God and His Word. I am utterly devastated that there seems to be few who are taking a stand against the “woke” movement that is destroying the fiber of morality in our land. But my hope lies in the Lord because I know that His judgment is coming and in the end, righteousness wins.
Have a blessed day and may you stand for truth and not fall for the lies of sinful mankind.
I am absolutely convinced that the world has lost its fear of God and the judgment to come. I can glance at the headlines or hear the teaser for the news and know that this is true. Parents are befriending their children instead of leading them down the right pathway and disciplining them as they need. The “woke” culture is turning our world upside down and insisting that we accept their lack of morality. Our President has given a speech that is divisive and creates rancor among the people already suffering from his failed policies. All of this, and the people of the world think that they are fine, there is no God and they will just continue on their merry way until one day they are no more. But…
This is truth from God’s Word. We ALL appear before His judgment seat, not just the sinners who never accepted Him. We Christians need to realize that God will hold us accountable for our actions or lack of them.
The good news is that God is in the business of forgiveness. He doesn’t want us separated from Him, but rather, He invites us to draw closer to Him, for our own benefit. We cannot survive what is happening in our world without holding on tightly to the hand of the One who created us and knows us best. The world has gone crazy, but God is still the same. His expectations have not and will not change.
The book of Micah is written to a nation without hope, one that has turned from God and has not remembered all that He did for them. Written to the nation of Israel, Micah encourages the people to hold on to their belief that God will have compassion and forgive once again. We, too, can hold on to that promise of love and forgiveness. Yes, judgment is coming but forgiveness is still available to all who seek Him.
We need to make the first move, drawing near to God and seeking His face. Yes, judgment is coming and the day of God’s wrath will be a terrible one. However, we who believe in the Lord have a hope that He is our Redeemer, that He is our advocate at the judgment and that in the end, we will be with Him for eternity.
But what of our world and the loved ones in it? It is our solemn duty to warn them, just as the prophets of old did. Some listened and repented while others perished in their sins. God has not changed what He expects us to do. The world has changed, with technology making it possible to send out messages in seconds. Should not the message we send out be one of repentance and hope before the day of judgment comes? It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by life’s circumstances and all that is happening around us, but God is not feeling defeated. He is victorious and knows exactly where this world is headed. We are all on a one way course to a collision with the truth of the Word of God, a place where sin is sin, not some nice euphemism that makes things sound better than they are. Adultery is adultery, not an “affair’; extra-marital sex is fornication, not a “guilty pleasure”; and homosexuality is a sin, not a trait you are born with. Men are lost and so they sin, excuse their own sin and think that they will escape judgment. That won’t happen. God’s Word tells us what is coming if we just read it, believe it and tell it to others in the hope that they, too, will believe.
I’m sad for our world and all that is happening here, but the rampant sin lets me know that Jesus is returning soon and Judgment Day is coming. I am not a prophet so I cannot say when He is coming; I just know that He is and that His heart must be breaking because of the sinfulness of the entire world that He died for.
May each of us be blessed by the knowledge that God’s Word stands even when all around us there is chaos. Have a blessed day.
I only hear snippets of news throughout the day because I have purposed to just not listen to all of the negativity. My husband shares things with me that he thinks I need to know and pray about, but my days of watching news broadcasts from morning to evening are long done. I have entered a time of watchful expectation. I see what is going on, I hear what others are saying and I know that the Lord cannot tarry forever. He will have to judge the world for their sins that are polluting the entire earth that He created for good.
No, I am not a prophet and I am not saying that the return of Jesus and God’s judgment are imminent. I am, however, saying to be ready and to be aware that the time is coming. In the Book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon seems like he is on a real downer kind of trip. Solomon, the man with hundreds of wives and concubines, a huge palace, servants to do his bidding all the time, and the one who built an impressive temple for God seems to be in a real depression. That man is having some real “come to Jesus” moments in Ecclesiastes and this verse portrays one of them. I agree with him in that everyone should be mourning. What are we mourning? The death of sanity, the loss of common sense and the complete destruction of the moral compass that God put inside mankind but which man in his own attempt at control has chosen to destroy, not just to ignore. Instead of mourning the sins of ourselves and our nation, we seek constant pleasure wherever we can find it, trying desperately to block out that still small voice that insistently calls us to His throne and to repentance. Earlier in this chapter in Ecclesiastes, Solomon says that everyone dies. Well, of course! But everyone does not have to spend eternity in hell as is the destiny of so many who refuse to acknowledge the King. I never realized before that Solomon’s Book of Wisdom is also a call to repentance if we can only pause and listen. The days are short, we just don’t know how short before the Lord’s return. But we do know that we are called to repent, to turn from wickedness and to change our ways. Thus, those of us who are about the business of the Lord are in mourning, for nations and their people who are burying their heads in the sand and thinking that God cannot see them for what they are. Let’s not be foolish but wise. Let’s mourn for the losses but let us also take up the mantle of the Good News and declare His Truth to all, whether they want to hear it or not. They need to hear, and we need to tell.
Have a blessed day, my friends, and may you find the courage to boldly speak the truth to at least one lost soul today.
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