And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. Hebrews 10:24-25 KJV https://bible.com/bible/1/heb.10.24-25.KJV
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Psalms 46:1 KJV https://bible.com/bible/1/psa.46.1.KJV
America has had too much violence and hatred spread during this past year. It has stretched our ability to handle everything that has happened in this past year and some of us have snapped! COVID, politics, the election…the list could go on and on but there is one person who is actually in control of it all whether you believe in Him or not and that is God. He has always been the One Who placed kings and Presidents in their offices and He has been behind the scenes giving them a nudge here or a suggestion where it was needed. There is also another ruler who has done these things behind the scenes and that is Satan. He has been there to counteract anything that God has tried to get done since before the flood that Noah saved his family from.
All of the things that we have had to deal with in this past year were foretold by prophets and by Jesus Himself. Maybe not word for word prophecy but in Matthew 24 Jesus said that there would be those who called evil good and good evil. There would be rumors of wars and wars and all sorts of diseases (pestilence) and quakes and other things happening in various places. Our world, not just America, has been experiencing these things for years but they seem to be growing in number and intensity just like labor pains for a woman.
What does that mean exactly? Well, when the number of labor pains begins to increase and their intensity increases it usually is a sign that the baby will be born soon. In Jesus’ prophecy it simply means that the day of His return for His Bride, the church, is getting closer to fruition. When I wrote “the church” I am not speaking of a specific church, I am speaking as Jesus did in general terms. The church in this scenario is made up of those who are watching for His return and who believe in Him for their salvation. Satan and his demons believe in the existence of Jesus and God as well, but they determined not to serve them long, long ago.
That is one of the unique qualities that all of creation doesn’t have but the angels and humanity do…we can choose to serve God and Jesus Christ the Son of God or we can choose to follow some other “path”. The problem with choosing another path is that it doesn’t lead to an eternity with God in heaven. The only pathway which allows us to walk through the gates of Heaven is by following Jesus as our Lord and Savior.
We place too much faith in our politicians and our “heroes” in sports and the movies in our society today. We follow people on Facebook and Instagram that we idolize and we have no clue who they are or anything substantial about them. We like the clothes they wear or who they are married to or even the movies that they are in and yet the people that we idolize would not be able to truly live up to their “fans” expectation or ideal of them. Just as the “ideal” husband or wife doesn’t really exist, the people that we want to dress like or even be like…don’t exist either. An ideal is just an idea with an -l attached to it.
God know you intimately because He is the One that brought your parents together so that you would be the result of their union. He knit your DNA together so He knew your personality and your abilities even before you were born and it is because of this that we can fulfill our lives in so many more ways by accepting Jesus as our Savior and work for Him in this life and into eternity. Seek Him out because if you have ever felt a tug on your heart during a sermon, He is searching for you as well.
When I was much younger I drew pictures of how cars would look like in the year 2020 and later. They would be more like what I saw in the cartoon, The Jetsons except without folding up into a briefcase. They wouldn’t run on gas or diesel and they would float above the ground (how I was thinking they would pull that off I have no idea). It was my imagination after all.
Believing in God and His home in Heaven is like that as well except we don’t have to imagine it, we can read some descriptions in the Bible. Even though the prophets couldn’t describe everything they saw because we don’t have words that describe that kind of beauty. Heaven is a place that we go to when our work here is done and God has made it so that everything that we need or will ever need is there. I can’t describe it because He hasn’t given me a vision of it nor has He described it in more detail since I began to read His Word every day for the past ten years or so. I’m hoping to go there one day soon.
It is written by Paul the Apostle: “What no eye has seen, and no ear has heard, and has not entered into heart of man, what God has prepared for those loving Him.” 1 Corinthians 2:9
Unless we are following Jesus and learning from His Word, we may never know the joy of being called “up yonder” one day soon. I pray that this year will see a true revival in America and around the world for those who are searching for a Savior that is Jesus Christ. Consider this and seek Him while you can because when the call comes if you are left here on Earth the world is going to become far worse than it is today.
Waiting on God • Devotional https://bible.com/reading-plans/20231/day/3?segment=0
Life is hard but God’s love toward each of us is far above anything that we can imagine.
I pray that our world goes through this night and the next year with far less drama and hurt feelings than we had in 2020. It seems like this past year everyone stepped on everyone else’s toes at some point almost every single day. We, as people of the Earth, should be trying to get along more than we do. But…since Satan caused all of the trouble in the Garden, we have been at each other’s throats in one way or another for the past few thousand years. He is still stirring up trouble between Abraham’s descendants and all of the people in the world who believe differently or look different and he’s doing a good job of it too.
Christians are being persecuted in places sometimes to the point of death or life imprisonment. According to the Bible, we are at the very beginning or the end of a very important part of history. The end of the Grace Age and the beginning of the time of Tribulation. There is little that we can do to change things for good or bad regarding the condition of the world but we should seek Jesus as our Savior on a personal level and tell others about Him as well. As long as the church is here there is a Restrainer called the Holy Spirit that is keeping Satan from doing more damage. Once Jesus comes to call the church to heaven, the Restrainer will leave and the condition of the world will become far worse than it is today.
Drama on Facebook and Twitter won’t even matter when the Tribulation begins. Drama will be whether to take the mark so that you can buy food and pay your bills. Testing of your faith will be a daily struggle for those who choose to follow Jesus after the church is gone. Your faith in Jesus will be an anchor to hold onto but according to the rest of the world at that time, your faith in anyone except the Anti-Christ will be a death sentence. You can choose to believe this or you can read the Bible in the book of Revelation. Life will be cheap and for those who choose to be faithful to their belief in Jesus it will be dangerous. God will not forget you but the world will hate you for your faith, even in your own family. Make sure of your salvation before you hear the news about people disappearing from their jobs and their cars on the highway.
I know, it is not a happy note to leave this year on but this year hasn’t been very happy to begin with. I pray that all who read this will think about their salvation and seek out Jesus as their Savior today because we are not guaranteed tomorrow morning. Happy New Year and pray for our leaders who are in power. Pray that this new year will be a lot better than we’ve had in the past few years. Give your problems and your heart to Jesus for this year and for eternity.
This is a question that we are all wondering about but…we’re not sure we really want the answer right now. This past year has been a real rollercoaster ride for the whole world. A virus that came out of China and took the whole world by storm! We didn’t see it coming at least not until a few people were really sick and there was a lockdown going on in China. By that time it had moved across borders to many countries and it just kept spreading. It hasn’t stopped and there are mutations of it now that we really don’t know what they will do…yet. Will the vaccine work on it? Will the vaccine work at all? For how long will we be immune or will we be immune period?
Here in America we will be enduring the next administration coming to the White House. They will undo everything that our current President has done and yet we have to endure it no matter if we voted for Joe Biden or not. I believe that God is punishing us because we haven’t listened to Him and we have not changed as a culture to seek Him. Instead we are pushing Him out of our schools and the workplace and as much as possible we are trying to take any mention of Him out of our government.
Could you truly blame God if He did punish our country and even the world because there are many billions of people on Earth who reject Him and His Son, Jesus? It will not be very long before the entire world will know that He is True and His Word and the prophecies in it are real. Every prophecy in the Bible has come to pass except for the taking away of the church and the prophecies in the book of Revelation. If you don’t believe my writing, seek out the answers in His Word, the Bible, because there are no more prophecies that will come to pass except the two examples that I wrote in the sentence above.
I pray that anyone reading the words that I have written here for the past ten years has taken the advice that I give and sought out Jesus as your Savior. If you have not, please do not put this off because God could require your soul tonight or tomorrow. Not one of us knows when our expiration date here is but God does know. Make sure that you believe in Jesus for your salvation before that day comes because once this life is over, there are no do-overs or respawns after you die.
The Birth of Jesus (Luke 2:1-19)
(Isaiah 7:10-16; Micah 5:1-6; Matthew 1:18-25)
1And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. 2(And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) 3And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. 4And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) 5To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. 6And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. 7And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.
The Shepherds and Angels
8And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. 10And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. 11For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. 12And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. 13And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
14Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
15And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. 16And they came with haste and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. 17And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. 18And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. 19But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them. Luke 2:1-19
May everyone who reads this be blessed and have a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice. Philippians 4:4 KJV https://bible.com/bible/1/php.4.4.KJV
Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation. Isaiah 12:2 KJV https://bible.com/bible/1/isa.12.2.KJV
The Lord is my strength and my deliverer, whom shall I fear? He is my rock and my shield, my Protector and the Victor in all things.
