There are many layers of truth in the word “difference”. A difference between one person and another can be shown to be based on their culture or their skin color or their race as some relate to it. The human race is only one race but the shades of color that all of us share on the surface of our skin have been causing divisions between people for thousands of years. Some of us have very light skin color, some have different shades of brown or tan or even skin with a yellowish tint to our skin and there are others that have very dark skin even almost black. God caused this to be this way to protect us from the intensity of the Sun’s light in the area that we live in. At least that is what science has told us. The culture that we grow up in can cause many problems between people who don’t share the same culture.
Yes, we have many differences and at times it is those differences that cause much of our problems in every country not just our country.
The differences between religions meaning what or Who they worship or what they believe has caused so many divisions between churches even in the same denomination. Sometimes a church has even split over the color of the carpet on the floor! We have so many options and different ideas that can get in the way of our living the way that God has called us to live. All that we have to do to be His children is to believe in Jesus and follow Him for the rest of our lives. It sounds easy doesn’t it? But following Jesus every day during your life is not easy. Remember what Jesus said, “take up your cross and follow Me”. Your cross is where you nail your old way of living to it every day!
You have to choose to put your old problems, your sins, your addictions, your fears, your family or your career on that cross and give it to Jesus. Leave them on the cross and don’t take them back. Walk with Him, learn from Him because He doesn’t care about your skin color or the culture that you come from but He does care about your eternal soul and where your eternity will be spent! God doesn’t care how famous you are or how much money you have. He doesn’t care about your politics or your previous life but He does care about you. Give your heart to Jesus, ask Him to come in and change you into the person that He knows you can be. The Bible says that when He comes into your life and changes you, then you are a new creation. Your old life and ways are in the past and everything from this point on is new!
The change that comes into your life when the Holy Spirit comes and changes you makes your whole outlook different from what you had before. You are not the same person. You look the same from the outside but your heart is more like Jesus’ heart and it will become more like Him if you feed your mind on the Word of God every day. It sounds boring, I know. But when you have been changed like this, your mind is changed as well. The Bible won’t seem like an old boring book. It will be full of wisdom and stories about God and His power and creativity and His love. Ask Him to show Himself to you while you read His Word and He will do it!
There will be a difference in your life that people can see and it won’t have anything to do with the color of your skin or your culture or the church that you attend. It will be a reflection of Jesus that is shining through you and it will get brighter every day as you learn more and study more about Him in His Word.
For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works. 2 Corinthians 11:13-15 KJV https://bible.com/bible/1/2co.11.13-15.KJV
It seems to be happening more and more today. Fewer people are even claiming to be Christian in today’s society. Today less than fifty percent of Americans even attend church services and likely less than that belong to a church whether they attend services or not. Fifty years ago America was a Christian nation with more than seventy percent claiming to be Christian and also belonging to a church as well. Today that percentage is very different because of the younger generation who don’t want to be identified with any religion at all. This is truly a sad time for our country and those who claim to have no religion at all.
Why do I say it is sad? Because politics and some other “hot” topics have been part of the cause of this. It is also troubling because those of us who are Christians know that choosing to be a non-believer will have terrible eternal consequences. But for many, it seems that the choice has already been made. Life will go on whether you attend church or believe in God or Jesus or whether you choose not to but on the day when God calls the church home…what will you believe then?
At that point, it will be too late to change your mind. But you can still become a believer during the Tribulation although it will be a hard decision to make. Even harder than it is now. Because at some point you will be told if you don’t take the mark or a chip to be able to buy or sell. If you take it you are aligning yourself with the anti-Christ and your soul will be lost because you are on his side. Even if you think you are a Christian and you take the mark, whatever it is, you will lose your soul.
The seven years after the church is taken up will be a terrible time for those on Earth. It will truly be hell on Earth because there will be more demonic activity and there will be judgments coming from God Himself. These are all outlined in the book of Revelation and whether you believe in Jesus or not you should read it and seek Him soon because the world will be much worse during that time than it is today.
In many ways today’s flag and Jesus have many things in common.
The flag of America has had blood shed for it and on it. In America during the Civil War and during the war of Independence years before. It was carried with our troops on the field of battle overseas in Europe and Asia and across the seas. On Navy ships and troop carriers and subs that old flag has taken its hits from fire and oil and gun shots and at home from crooked politicians and those who hate us because of what it stands for.
Our Savior shed His blood for all of our sins, to make men free from the slavery to sin. Our Savior went through some terrible trials before He was crucified. He was spit on and beaten by His own people and priests. They made a mockery of a trial to show that what they wanted was right and that He was a threat. They accused Him of crimes against the Roman state and cast a dark shadow over His fate. He allowed this to happen because He loved them and had He wanted to He could’ve wiped them out with a word but He didn’t because He came to do His Father’s will and not His own.
So, you see that America’s flag has a lot in common with our Savior. They have both been beaten, torn, ripped apart and yet they both were victorious in the different ordeals that they went through. Our flag has been worn down during the wars that she has fought in through the years and the country that she stands for isn’t the same as it was once before. But there is still pride in our country and in that flag that stands for freedom that has suffered so for it.
Jesus and our flag have been through a lot but He came out of the grave triumphant and whole to stand at the Father’s side and to intercede for us when we don’t do the things that we should. Our flag still stands for freedom and human rights although they are being worn away little by little today. Those of us who remember history, our actual history, look at that flag with pride. So, yes I am proud to be an American and I am proud to say that I am a Christian too. Will life ever return to normal here one day? I don’t know, but I will never give up my freedom willingly and I will not renounce my faith in Jesus Christ.
These three are in one of the most beautiful chapters in the Bible, 1 Corinthians 13. Many people call it the love chapter and it is used almost exclusively at weddings and sometimes at funerals for the hope that it gives to those who have lost someone dear to them. Paul writes at the end of this chapter that “the greatest of these is love”. Why?
Because it was love that brought Jesus to Earth to be the perfect Lamb of God for our sins. It was love that compelled Him to minister to all of the people who were not allowed in the Temple because of who they were or what sort of occupation they had. He taught them, fed them, healed them, and set them free through belief in Him and in His message. It was love that caused Him to sweat drops of blood in the garden that night before His crucifixion because the flesh of His humanity was not ready for the punishment that was coming.
Many people think that since Jesus was the Son of God, He didn’t feel pain or fear or helplessness but He did. All of those and more were part of His humanity that He was born into. The pain of a skinned knee as a child and the pain from the Roman soldiers scourging were both equally real. The pain from the soldiers whipping Him was far more excruciating because of their ferocity and hatred for the Jewish people that He represented to them. Then, after the scourging, He had to endure the humiliation of carrying His cross to the hill where He would be crucified on it. Jesus, the Son of God, endured this because of His love for you and for me and for every person of the human race past, present at His time on Earth and for all of the future generations to come after which includes us.
The greatest of the three is the true Love of God. Because if it hadn’t been, Jesus would not have been sent to redeem us and He wouldn’t have gone through all of the things which He allowed to happen and be done to Him if it had not been for the vast love of God poured out on humanity through the blood of Jesus. We are still loved and God still calls many to repentance with the offer of salvation. Some hear His call and listen but choose not to respond to it because of ignorance and pride. Some hear it and do respond but they don’t last because of family or the enticements of the world. Some do embrace the promise and the call and take it in completely and these are the ones that Jesus came to save and welcome into His home one day.
I pray if you don’t know your Savior yet, seek Him out. He came to pay the way for you and if you have ever felt even a little bit of God’s call in your heart, please make the decision to accept it and seek to follow Him today. It doesn’t cost you anything but the eternal reward will be more than you or I can imagine.
When the Lord sits in judgment of the world and how we have lived and worked in it, whether we served Him or not, there will be millions of children who will testify against their parents and those who took their lives before they even had a chance. God will take up their cause and they will have justice.
This is a very disturbing thing to consider but there have been over sixty million children aborted in the past 48 years in America. I don’t know the numbers in other countries of the world but I suppose there are many, many more in the entire world. But…on that day when God takes up their cause, there will be weeping and crying from those who have killed the children that God had sent to them.
This world and its troubles and trials and all of the other problems that are present today is going to soon come to an end. Whether you believe the Bible or in God or not it has been prophesied by Him and therefore it will happen. It may be a few more years but it could begin tomorrow as well, nobody on Earth knows that day or hour but God knows and it will come to pass.
If you are interested in finding out more about what will happen soon, read the book of Revelation because it tells it in detail. You might want to pick up a more modern translation for it because the King James version has descriptions of some things sounding too fantastic to believe. I pray that you will receive a blessing from reading it because it is the only book in the Bible that says specifically “readers of this book will be blessed“.
When you are tested, seek the Lord ask Him for strength. He will bless you and take you through your trials no matter how much it may hurt. You will come through this stronger in your faith and even more able to stand when another trial comes.
God is always near us and He never leaves. He is always within a whisper of a prayer, regardless of what has happened. The best part is that He will never leave you or me out in the cold. No matter what, He is always by our side.
