It appears many have gone FAR from where they ought to be as Christians, following what is trendy, according to the times! There is grave danger in wandering from THE LORD, and for NOT heeding HIM, LOVE, or HIS WILL! HIS anger is slow, but it IS volatile, and deadly, as well as transforming...
We have a tendency to IMAGINE that we are advanced, or above other generations, therefore, we refute, deny, or ignore crucial instruction, as if we know better when our state of existence proves we are just as lost as ever...
Christians ARE to BE PREPARING FOR THE LORD! This means we are READYING the Church, and ourselves for what lies ahead; an eternal existence in PURE HOLINESS, PEACE, LOVE, and ABUNDANCE! Our days are limited; they fly by, and we HAVE WORK to do IN HIS NAME, FOR HIS GLORY, and the GOOD of others...
JEREMIAH 7: 23-26...
23+++“But this is what I commanded them, saying, ‘Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you will be My people; and you will walk in all the way which I command you, that it may be well with you.’
24+++“Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but walked in their own counsels and in the stubbornness of their evil heart, and went backward and not forward.
25+++“Since the day that your fathers came out of the land of Egypt until this day, I have sent you all My servants the prophets, daily rising early and sending them.
26+++“Yet they did not listen to Me or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck; they did more evil than their fathers.
God shows that obedience was required of them. That which God commanded was, Hearken diligently to the voice of the Lord thy God. The promise is very encouraging. Let God's will be your rule, and his favour shall be your happiness. God was displeased with disobedience.
JEREMIAH 16: 10-12...
10+++“Now when you tell this people all these words, they will say to you, ‘For what reason has the LORD declared all this great calamity against us? And what is our iniquity, or what is our sin which we have committed against the LORD our God?’
11+++“Then you are to say to them, ‘It is because your forefathers have forsaken Me,’ declares the LORD, ‘and have followed other gods and served them and bowed down to them; but Me they have forsaken and have not kept My law.
12+++‘You too have done evil, even more than your forefathers; for behold, you are each one walking according to the stubbornness of his own evil heart, without listening to Me.
Here seems to be the language of those who quarrel at the word of God, and instead of humbling and condemning themselves, justify themselves, as though God did them wrong. A plain and full answer is given. They were more obstinate in sin than their fathers, walking every one after the devices of his heart.
ISAIAH 29: 13-16...
13+++Then the Lord said, “Because this people draw near with their words And honor Me with their lip service, But they remove their hearts far from Me, And their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned by rote,
14+++Therefore behold, I will once again deal marvelously with this people, wondrously marvelous; And the wisdom of their wise men will perish, And the discernment of their discerning men will be concealed.”
15+++Woe to those who deeply hide their plans from the LORD, And whose deeds are done in a dark place, And they say, “Who sees us?” or “Who knows us?”
16+++You turn things around! Shall the potter be considered as equal with the clay, That what is made would say to its maker, “He did not make me”; Or what is formed say to him who formed it, “He has no understanding”?
The security of sinners in sinful ways, is cause for lamentation and wonder. The learned men, through prejudice, said that the Divine prophecies were obscure; and the poor urged their want of learning. The Bible is a sealed book to every man, learned or unlearned, till he begins to study it with a simple heart and a teachable spirit, that he may thence learn the truth and the will of God. To worship God, is to approach him. And if the heart be full of his love and fear, out of the abundance of it the mouth will speak; but there are many whose religion is lip-labour only. When they pretend to be speaking to God, they are thinking of a thousand foolish things. They worship the God of Israel according to their own devices. Numbers are only formal in worship. And their religion is only to comply with custom, and to serve their own interest. But the wanderings of mind, and defects in devotion, which are the believer's burden, are very different from the withdrawing of the heart from God, so severely blamed. And those who make religion no more than a pretense, to serve a turn, deceive themselves. And as those that quarrel with God, so those that think to conceal themselves from him, in effect charge him with folly. But all their perverse conduct shall be entirely done away.
NOTHING on this Earth is more imperative than turning to THE LORD *GOD*, and becoming one with HIM! IF one has received CHRIST JESUS, they have left the world behind, and have put on the 'new' being; we are transformed in mind, body, and spirit, and we RECOGNIZE, as well as PARTICIPATE in HIS perfecting us! We KNOW we HAVE duties and responsibilities TO HIM, HIS WILL, and to bringing the lost TO HIM! We UNDERSTAND that WHEN we are OF HIM, HE IS SEEN THROUGH us, which INSPIRES those lost to seek HIM, at the very least! Lukewarm WORSHIP, half-stepping allegiance do NOT REFLECT HIM, nor do they serve anyone, or anything!!!
In this chaotic, rapidly degenerating world, endless numbers have been fooled into thinking lip-service, or intent are enough, and so, many are as lost as those stuck in the darkness; NOT because they don't know TRUTH, but because they are yet CHOOSING carnal ways OVER HOLY ones!!!
WHILE we are in this mess, we OUGHT to be considering WHY this is happening, and OUR role in all of it! We SHOULD be acknowledging ourselves, repenting, and improving upon the self, and moving forward IN THE LORD, as we REMEMBER the world is temporal, and endangers those who allow themselves to be ensnared by what is of it! CHRIST JESUS IS THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD; THE WAY: THE TRUTH; THE LIFE we seek, and UNLESS we HONOUR HIM, when HE arrives to reclaim HIS own, HOPE IS LOST along with all those who DECIDED too long to be of the world instead OF HIM!!!
LIVE as Children of THE LIGHT; this means IN HIM, HIS WILL, HIS WAYS, and HIS WORD!!!
LWINSOR © 2020
BIBLICAL, and/or other references marked BOLDLY IN COLOURS
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