There is pain being felt in this world. There is suffering in this world, all around us…but God is alive and He is in control! It doesn’t bring Him pleasure that we suffer in our human bodies but He is joyful when even one of us gives our heart to Jesus!
God loves us! Each person on Earth regardless of their religion, ethnicity, or beliefs is loved by Him but our sinful lives and the things that we do in this life that are against His commandments are not loved by Him at all. Even if we are religious and call ourselves followers of Him and yet we have only followed the “god” that we have made in our image that we can tolerate, then we are not actually following God or Jesus but we have become idolators because of the “god” that we have made.
Many people have made a god in their image and their likeness because they don’t want to follow the One True God. They want one that they can claim and understand. This is why there is such a revival and an outpouring of God’s Spirit in America right now. Because people are hungry for the Real Jesus! Many have finally realized that the “god” that they have made is not real and cannot help them in any way, especially when it comes to bringing salvation into their lives and eternity into their hearts.
John 3:16,17,18 says it best: 16 For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him. 18 Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.
‘In the last days,’ God says, ‘I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams. Acts 2:17
The day I began writing this was March 7th. This would’ve been my father’s 98th birthday if he had been blessed to live that long. But in God’s timing, he took my father from this world in August 2001. So…back to the original question in the title: the last days. Are we really living in them? With everything happening in the world and in the different media outlets, I would answer that with a hard YES!
There are so many things happening in the world that are fulfilling the prophecies found in the Bible that it would be hard for you to say that we are not living in the end times. Granted, a nuclear war has not started, thankfully, and the economies of the world have not bottomed out but those things won’t happen until the time of the tribulation foretold in Revelation. The best news that I can give you is that the church will be taken up before these things happen.
Some people do not believe that believers will be taken up before this time happens but the church, the Bride of Christ, will not be here while God lets His wrath loose on those who refuse to believe in Jesus as their Savior. It is your choice of belief in Him that determines where your eternal destination is, not the choice of God. He would like to save every person but He knows that everyone won’t believe in Jesus for their salvation. Some will turn to Him like some young people are doing now in America…but not all.
Life will go on until that day when He comes for His Bride just like it has for many years. Then things will change drastically for the whole world, at least for the next seven years. Make sure that you know and believe in Him as your Savior before that day comes.
Thou art my God, and I will praise thee: Thou art my God, I will exalt thee. O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: For his mercy endureth for ever. Psalm 118:28-29 KJV https://bible.com/bible/1/psa.118.28-29.KJV
God provides for us, no matter how bad the day may be. Jesus Christ paid for your sins and all that you need can be found in Him.
What experiences in life helped you grow the most?
This started my dependence on God and when I became a pastor of a small church in 2011, I began to dig deeper into His Word. Growing up in the natural sense, physically, wasn’t the problem but growing up was. My parent’s divorced when I was only five years old so my sense of who I was and why things went wrong, thinking that it was somehow my fault, was the real hindrance to how I looked at myself and those around me. I was angry for many years and I had no idea who I was angry at. Was it my Mom or my Dad? Was this my fault or was this God’s fault? I didn’t have a clue and that added to my frustration and anger.
So…what experience helped me to grow the most? Getting older and raising my son was the experience that helped me the most because if it had not been for him being born, I don’t know how my life would’ve turned out.
I never discussed how I felt about our family situation during my childhood. It never really came up because nobody asked me. I know that I’m not the only person to have gone through this but it is part of my testimony so here goes.
In kindergarten, my life seemed to be fairly normal but at the age of five, my parents got divorced. I won’t go into the reason for it because I didn’t learn about it until much later in life because it isn’t relevant here. As I grew up I went through a lot of periods where I tried different things like Eastern philosophy and meditation. I didn’t know what I was doing but I was trying to find some meaning for life itself I suppose.
When I felt the call from Jesus, I could barely believe that He wanted me. Why? Who would want me, especially Jesus? He chooses each of us for His Kingdom and for the message that we can tell others about what He has done for each of us. Your ministry comes by telling your story, your personal story. Each of us has a story to tell. It is our example, our witness because of what we have lived through. God calls us because of our humanity. Sometimes our humanity causes us to feel like we are less than others but sometimes it is our weaknesses that God uses to show His strength and power through us to others.
Weakness shows the strength of the Holy Spirit which is your helper. God loves us enough to make us able to endure the trials that will come upon us. I pray that if you don’t know Jesus Christ as your Savior, please seek Him as soon as you can. Not one of us is guaranteed to be here tomorrow, so make sure of your salvation today.
The Living Message of Christ 