June 5, 2012
2 Timothy 3:1-4 says, "But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 2)People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3)without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4) treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God -" ... This passage of scripture sounds just like a typical evening news cast today! When we look at these words closely, we notice three things it says people will love in the end times ... self, money, and pleasure. So let's look at some "isms" for a moment ...
*Humanism = The love of self - The belief that man can accomplish anything on his own.
*Materialism =The love of money - When humanism is your religion, your god will always be money.
*Hedonism = The love of pleasure - the lifestyle that is always produced by humanism and materialism.
*Nihilism = Despair -The end result for any and all who choose the aforementioned lifestyles.
It is not difficult to see that our world is wallowing in despair today. .... We live in a society plagued by abortion, homosexuality, domestic violence, child molestation & abuse, blasphemy, pornography, alcoholism, drug abuse, gambling, and on and on ........ and because of all this prevailing darkness, we are seeing a dramatic increase in depression and suicides in people, young and old, all around us.
What triggered this commentary is one such occurrence in recent days ... a young husband and father who was well known in our family circle took his own life ..... a terrible tragedy that no one apparently saw coming. Needless to say, many of us have mourned deeply over this horrific loss ... all searching for understanding ... trying to make sense out of something like this. .... Just a few days ago, a memorial service was held and some 300+ people came and paid their respects.
........ And this is the part that I and, I'm sure, may others are trying to grasp ... why didn't someone see this coming? ... Why didn't this young and troubled soul know where to turn? ... Is it because we are all so busy with our own lives to not stop and see? ... .... Daniel 12:4 says that we will be "running to and Fro" in these last days, and I guess this is just one of the tragic results of this fast and furious life-pace we are all caught up in.
Going back to the opening scripture, it says that there will be terrible times in these last days. 1 Peter 5:8 also says, "Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." ... While I know all of this to be true, because the scriptures tell us so, I still believe that we belong to a stronger force .. that being the Kingdom of God! ... Matthew 16:18 states, "And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it."
So we know from the same scriptures that we will prevail ... and the key word in the last passage is "Rock".
Let's now look at another passage from the Gospel of Matthew for an example of how we must live to survive these turbulent times .... Chapter 7:24-27 says, "Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25) The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against the house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26) But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27) The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash."
Now I know that many of you have heard this scripture over and over ... but have you really applied it to your own life? Most all the prophets as well as Jesus Christ himself warned us that these days that we are living in would be extremely difficult ... and if we try and withstand the coming storms by ourselves, most likely we will have the same result as the house which was built on sand. ... Things sometimes can go along quite well ... and then the 'winds and storms of life' come crashing upon us ... every one of us at some time ... will we be able to withstand them or will we be fearful and fall? ... I tell you this with great conviction ... The only true freedom from fear is to totally resign our lives into the hands of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!
We are going to see dangers on all sides, including the devil and his legions who want to drown out our faith in doubts. ... But we also have a fiery guard of angels surrounding us ... and we have a God who promises to carry us through any disaster we may face. ..............
I ask you a simple question? ... Do you want to face the coming storm with quiet confidence and peace of mind? ... Then die today to all your own ways and means of protecting yourself. Commit the keeping of your life wholly to God's care. He is your good and loving Shepherd - and He is faithful to see you through it all. Amen!!!
Until next time,
Red