Word-Filled Wednesday ~#146~ America, God Shed His Grace on Thee

"These are the word of the Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Ruler of God's creation . . . You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked . . . Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. Here i am! I stand at the door and knock. I f anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with Me.

"To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with Me on My throne, just as I overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches."
~Rev. 3:14, 17, 19-22

"Now, brothers, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, 'Peace and safety,' destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a preganant women, and they will not excape.

"But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. You are all sons of the light and sons of the day . . . But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. For god did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ."

~1 Thess. 5:1-5, 8-9

 

I watch the news, I listen to and partake of conversations about our culture and society, I watch the mannerisms and listen to the foul language of our culture and I grieve greatly for our once great nation. We slipped so far during the 1990's and now ~ now ~ we have fallen So far, SO quickly in the last 6 years, in particular. 

Everyone is so self-absorbed. Our culture's speech has become so rude, so foul. Values have completely flip-flopped ~ what for all time has been considered good, is bad; what for all time has been considered sacred, is considered hateful; what for all time has been written in man's soul as right and wrong, has been seared from the unsaved soul, ridiculed and maligned. 

"Woe to those who call evil good

and good evil,

who put darkness for light

and light for darkness,

who put bitter for sweet 

and sweet for bitter.

Woe to those who are wise in their

own eyes

and clever in their own sight."

~Isaiah 5:20-21

They ". . . do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked." 

We, as Christians, are so different. KEEP YOUR HEAD UP! As this world gets darker and darker, our lights will shine brighter and brighter. THIS time is when we are to let our lights shine (Matt. 5:16). And as we shine brighter and brighter in this dark, sinful world, we will attract both the seeking and the wicked. Our light is tempored with faith, hope, love and self-control. 

Those who are seeking will be drawn to us because they want Who we have, they recognize that they need forgiveness for their sins and want to spend eternity with the Lord. While those who are wicked seek our distruction ~ it's already started in the Middle-East ~ just as the Lord warned us: 

"They will put you out of the synagague; in fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service of God. They will do such things because they have not known the Father or Me. I have told you this, so that when the time comes you will remember that I warned you." ~John 16:2-4(a)

These last days bring such conflicts of emotions: such happiness because the Lord is coming back soon. Such sorrow because so many we love will not go with us. Such fear because no one wants to be tortured or lose a loved one. Such certainty that our faith will be rewarded, that it will soon become sight! (Hebrews 1:1)

Stay vigilant, be strong, speak God's truth. People are dying to hear it.

Blessings from Ohio . . . Kim<><