“God has made us what we are. In Christ Jesus, God made us to do good works, which God planned in advance for us to live our lives doing.” (Ephesians 2:10 NCV)
While visiting in another country I was privileged to speak with men of God who had far less than me materially, but who knew the Lord Jesus intimately. On one occasion the Christian men of a village were gathered together and lined up to be shot. As a machine gun rang out, each man began to fall, but God spoke to one man: “Run! Run!” But the man said to the Lord: “Lord, I can’t! My hands and feet are bound with rope!”
But the voice persisted: “Run! Run!” So, he began to tug at the ropes that had him bound, and, miraculously, the ropes fell away, allowing him to begin to run. But as he ran the bullets continued to whiz by. Finally, out of range he took stock. His hat and clothes were riddled with bullet holes, but not one bullet entered his body. Miraculous and inspiring, but the sad truth is, he was later killed in his sleep with a machete.
Does your heart ache as mine when you hear a story like that? Do you think your faith would survive the uncertainty of an environment like that? Does it give us insight as to why American “Christians” are so weak in the face of anything which has the slightest hint of controversy? And please understand, I’m not pointing fingers, except at the one who stares back at me in the mirror.
The reality for me is, I’m not sure how to fight the evils that are attacking our country and our way of life, other than through prayer and seeking to live an exemplary life. Certainly, through the polls, but even that has been compromised. I grieve to read of our current President’s “proclamation” that Easter Sunday is now “Transgender Day of Visibility.” How far must we fall before the Lord steps in and says: “ENOUGH!”
This morning, I read these words from Revelation 19:2: “’Praise the Lord! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God. His judgments are true and just. He has punished the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her immorality. He has avenged the murder of His servants.’” One day, sooner than any of us can imagine, Jesus will call a halt to all the lies, slander, murder, power lust, and disgusting distortion of all He has made.
When I was a new believer, I heard an old radio evangelist say with conviction: “When Jesus comes back, He’s not coming back to take sides, He’s coming back to take over!” And my heart sings: “Lord, hasten that day!” But even as I type those words the Lord reminds me of those for whom I pray every day who would not be in heaven if He came today.
We must be about our Father’s business of sharing His Good News with everyone and anyone who will listen. Time is too short for us to be mediocre in our faith. Jesus must be everything to us or He’s nothing! We must pray, live, think, and act as though we truly believe He could come at any second – if not for the whole world, for us or someone we know and love who doesn’t yet know Jesus.
Let me close today with these words of Ron Hutchcraft: “I guess there are three roads that we rich Christians can take. One, we can continue with our mediocrity, doing the biggest things that man can do. Two, we can learn God’s power through a time when He strips us of all the earth things that we are depending on. Or three, we could use all God has given us, but put no trust in it.”
Food for thought.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 