Good Morning, Meetpastordan Readers…I have reflected quite a bit about last week’s blog, because writing truthfully about the end times is not an easy, nor a pleasant, undertaking. Many people don’t believe it; many people just don’t want to hear about it because they find it upsetting; and still others have chosen to believe a counterfeit message that tells them a loving God will forgive, and welcome everyone home. I have taken solace in the truth of this sentence in last week’s blog: “Jesus didn’t share this information with His disciples to scare them; He shared this information to prepare them for what is to come.” Therefore, not believing these truths doesn’t make them any less truthful; if you find them frightening, and you should, then take time to prepare for what is coming (How? Spend more time in the Word checking out what Jesus or Apostle Paul had to say about this subject); and finally, shore up your faith, and that is exactly what I want to write about today.
There is a Biblical definition of faith found in Hebrews 11:1: “Faith is the confident expectation of what you hope for, and the certainty of what you have not yet seen.” You can’t argue with that, but in all honesty, I’ve always thought it was a bit wordy. Today I stand on this simple truth as presented in “Freedom in Christ”: “Freedom is choosing to believe what God said is true.” How simple is that?
Everyone has faith in something. In, fact we live by faith. When we’re driving, we cruise right through the green light because we believe that those who have the red light will stop. When we sit down on a chair, we expect it will support us. But what about the 450 prophets of Baal when they were in the competition with Elijah? No doubt, all the prophets had faith in their god, but he didn’t fulfill their expectations. Elijah’s God did! So, it wasn’t really about “faith” in itself, but it was all about their object of faith. Baal was a counterfeit god; God – the God Jehovah of the Old and New Testament – IS the real deal.
“So why should I believe that” you might ask? Well, for two reasons. God Jehovah has two components. Let’s look first at His majestic qualities: He is Creator of the universe; He is the Godhead of the Trinity; He is omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, immutable, the Alpha and Omega, but He is also LOVE. While we might understand what each of those words mean, how can we possibly relate to them? They are all outside of our paradigm of rational thinking or being. Omnipresent? How can we relate to that? Alpha and Omega? How can we even grasp that concept? But our saving grace is that God IS LOVE. “Thank you, God” that you ARE LOVE.
While we can’t relate to His majestic qualities, we can relate to His personal qualities of love, forgiveness, mercy, grace, kindness, compassion, faithfulness and truth. Now try wrapping your head around this: God doesn’t only love us, His very essence IS LOVE. Love underlies everything He does, including judgement and punishment. (That is enough fodder right there for another one or two more blogs) When God says something, it IS… much like the way He introduced himself to Moses, when He said, I AM… When God speaks, it isn’t the words themselves that pack the wallop, it is WHO spoke the words! The Lord God Almighty spoke those words to us, and for us.
Because God is LOVE, He is also TRUTH. (Logically, He can’t be LOVE and be anything other than TRUTH) That is why the hundreds of promises throughout the Bible are so important. Regardless of to whom, or under whatever circumstances He made those promises, they are as true for us today as when He spoke those words. “God (Jesus Christ) is the same yesterday, today and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8) That is why we can stand on every word in the Bible. It is because of WHO spoke those words! God is LOVE and TRUTH, therefore He cannot lie.
I am writing this because of Jesus’ all-important statement in the midst of the horrors that are to come. “But those who endure to the end will be saved.” (Matthew 24: 13) Jesus referred to this time (the Great Tribulation) as “A time of greater horror than anything the world has seen, or will ever see again” (Matthew 24: 21) This will be a time when satan unleashes his most insidious lies, deceptions and schemes with the intent of destroying our relationship and confidence in God. False prophets will be plentiful, and their message will be wrapped in a most alluring way. Their latest and greatest new gospels will entice our flesh, our egos, and many will mistake the lies for “enlightenment.” His assault will be merciless, because destroying God’s family is the only weapon satan has against God. As I said last week, He knows his time is nigh, and he knows what his future looks like.
I am saying this for the same reason Jesus told His disciples about the future: it is not to frighten you, but to prepare you for what lies ahead. “Enduring to the end” indicates a challenge, and the only way to “endure” is to stand on the Truth of God’s Word. As Neil Anderson said in his book, “Victory Over the Darkness”, our battle with satan is not a power struggle, but a truth struggle. The only way to stop satan in his tracks is to stand on the Truth of God’s Word. Jesus gave us the perfect example when He was tempted three times by satan in the wilderness. He combated the enemy’s schemes by quoting the truth of God’s Word. He said, “It is written,……” It is important that we do the same thing.
As I wrote a few weeks ago, we are called to be discerning about what we see and hear. Discernment for us means that we compare the new gospels, or new processes, or new power structures and edicts with the truth of God’s Word. Standing on His Truth is our only way to endure. Remember, one of His majestic qualities is immutability. He never changes; He is always truth. And that same God also said, “Be strong and courageous; do not fear or dread, because I will never leave you, nor will I forsake you.” (Deuteronomy 31:6)
Knowing that God is LOVE and TRUTH, we also must accept the fact that He cannot lie! His Word is truth and will never change. That’s why I wrote, not only about His personal qualities, but also about His majestic qualities. Even though we can’t begin to wrap our heads around the how’s and why’s of those words, we all have experienced His love, mercy, grace, compassion and faithfulness. Having experienced those truths, it only makes sense that those majestic qualities are His supernatural power that becomes our source of strength when we depend on Him to empower us. Wow! Why would anyone worship a lesser god? If we stay plugged into our God Jehovah during the coming storm, He WILL empower us to endure to the end!!!
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May God Bless You abundantly,
Dan Presgrave (a.k.a. Pastor Dan)
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