Prayer Versus War

Our small group discussion was about helping those who hurt rather than judging them for not matching our expectations. If God was so offended by human sin that He chose to condemn humans rather than show them mercy, who could stand?

Between October 16 and October 28 of1962, the USA and USSR were on the brink of a thermonuclear war. The USSR placed ICBM’s with nuclear warheads in Cuba. The USA demanded that the USSR remove the nuclear missiles, or the USA would remove them by force. After a 13–day standoff, the USSR removed the missiles and the USA promised not to invade Cuba. The USA also removed our ICBM’s from Turkey that were pointed at the USSR. If this standoff had went the other direction, many people in the USSR and USA would have been totally decimated.

Now, fast forward nearly 55 years later to July 31, 2017. China, Russia, and the USA are building up for a potential war over another small country with ICBM’s, that is, North Korea. Prior to the Cuban Missile Crisis, President Kennedy approved a national day of prayer. Christians prayed and the war was averted.

The best option to a resolve a crisis is prayer not war. Pray earnestly for the lives of people. Believe that GOD IS the answer. Our real enemy is Satan. He hates people because we are made in the image of God. He would have us kill each other. He would love for fire to fall from the sky on people and destroy them.

Let us humble ourselves. Let us seek God. Let us pray for our nation and for the nations of other peoples. May the Lord quench all the fiery darts of the evil one. May the Good News of Christ’s death and resurrection be proclaimed. May our churches be places where compassion, forgiveness, and healing take place.

“Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God. He is the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them—He remains faithful forever. He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets prisoners free, the Lord gives sight to the blind, the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down, the Lord loves the righteous. The Lord watches over the foreigner and sustains the fatherless and the widow, but He frustrates the ways of the wicked.”

Psalm 146:5-9

Loyalty Versus Lawlessness

The anti-Christ’s goal is to force people to keep his commandments and to reject God’s. He wants the whole human race to worship him not God.

“The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.” [1]

While looking for an appropriate image to illustrate a point of a sermon, I noticed an image of the band called KISS. My sermon topic was on being rescued by the Lord from stormy seas. I was looking for a picture of a ship at sea. The KISS picture I noticed was an advertisement to join an ocean cruise with them. As I looked at the picture, I realized that Satan uses theatrics, shock, and awe, as well as the promise of fleshly pleasure, to gather followers to himself. Lovers of truth reject these temptations. They denounce the devil and all his ways. They have no desire to join with relatives, friends, and acquaintances who love lawlessness.

The anti-Christ’s goal is to get us to keep his commandments and to reject God’s. Therefore, God offers us a benediction: “Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace, comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work.” [2] “Yes, Lord, please keep us from temptation and deliver us from evil. For Yours alone is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever and ever. Amen.”

[1] 2 Thessalonians 2:9-10
[2] 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17

Cry Out To God

“Out of the depths I cry to you, Lord.” [1]

Have you ever poured out your heart to God? I did in August of 1979, and my life was changed. Christ gave me new life. Now, I live and have hope based on the merits of Christ and not on my own deeds.

Our Lord Jesus Christ took my sin and my punishment on Calvary’s cross and gave me His righteousness and His favor with God His Father. He cleared the way for me to have a personal relationship with God. It does not mean that I am better than anyone else. It just means that God has forgiven me and given me His Holy Spirit. By daily reliance on His Spirit which He gave to me, I can cry out to GOD from the depths of my heart, and He hears and helps me.

I am very thankful that JESUS CHRIST is my Lord and Savior.

“For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is LORD OF ALL and RICHLY BLESSES all who call on HIM, for, ‘Everyone who calls on the Name of the LORD will be SAVED.’” [2]

[1] Psalm 130:1
[2] Romans 10:12-13

When a Nation Returns to God

“All the people rejoiced at what God had brought about for His people, because it was done so quickly.” [1]

“The Lord your God is gracious and compassionate. He will not turn His face from you if you return to Him.” [2]

“The hand of God was on the people to give them unity of mind to carry out... the Word of the Lord.” [3]

“The Lord... healed the people.” [4]

“The priests and the Levites stood to bless the people, and God heard them, for their prayer reached heaven, His holy dwelling place.” [5]

[1] 2 Chronicles 29:36
[2] 2 Chronicles 30:9
[3] 2 Chronicles 30:12
[4] 2 Chronicles 30:20
[5] 2 Chronicles 30:27

The Best Gain is to Gain Christ

“I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord...

Our citizenship is in heaven. We eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables Him to bring everything under His control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like His glorious body.”

Philippians 3:8-9, 20-21

Leaving Behind a Blesséd Legacy

Solomon was the wisest of all men in his time. He wrote thousands of wise sayings, but he also suffered from blindness. A blindness to his desire to please himself! He confessed in that he withheld no pleasure from himself. He had 300 wives and 700 concubines. They turned his heart to other gods. [1]

After he died, the people of his kingdom said to his son, “Your father made our yoke heavy. Now therefore lighten the hard service of your father and his heavy yoke on us and we will serve you.” [2]

Solomon may have been great in his own eyes and in the eyes of other national leaders, but the people under him were ready to revolt. When his son told the people that he would add to the weight of their yoke, they revolted, and the nation split into two nations.

Unfettered personal ambition shattered the nation. Wise counselors told Solomon’s son, “If you will be good to this people and please them and speak good words to them, then they will be your servants forever.” [3] His son rejected wisdom.

“Certain worthless scoundrels gathered about him and defied Rehoboam the son of Solomon, when Rehoboam was soft of heart and could not withstand them.” [4] The devil hits young people with peer pressure to do wrong. The worthless scoundrels in Rehoboam’s youthful life persuaded him to abandon God’s Word. Later, when he was king, he persuaded the people of his country to do the same.

“When the rule of Rehoboam was established and he was strong, he abandoned the law of the Lord, and all Israel with him.” [5]

The Lord allowed an enemy nation to come against Rehoboam and his people with the goal that they would turn back to Him. A prophet of the Lord said to Rehoboam and his princes, “Thus says the Lord, ‘You abandoned Me, so I have abandoned you to the hand of Shishak.’” [6] This strategy worked. “Then, the princes of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, ‘The Lord is righteous.’ When the Lord saw that they humbled themselves, the Word of the Lord came to Shemaiah: ‘They have humbled themselves. I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance, and My wrath shall not be poured out on Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak. Nevertheless, they shall be servants to him, that they may know My service and the service of the kingdoms of the countries.’” [7]

Praise the Lord that He does not write people off forever who abandon Him and His Word. He provides for them powerful incentives for them to return to Him. When they return to the Heavenly Father, they find that HE is the Good Shepherd. The Lord leads those who follow Him to a meaningful and good life.

May the Lord continue to bless people with skills and strengths, but also keep us humble before Him. Then, we will truly leave behind a good memory in the hearts of those who knew us. And He, our Father in Heaven, will have been glorified by what we did with our lives.

[1] Ecclesiastes 2:10; 1 Kings 11:3-4
[2] 2 Chronicles 10:4
[3] 2 Chronicles 10:7
[4] 2 Chronicles 13:7
[5] 2 Chronicles 12:1
[6] 2 Chronicles 12:5
[7] 2 Chronicles 12:6-8

Fill This House with Your Glory

“Indeed it came to pass, when the trumpeters, and singers were as ONE, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord, and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and PRAISED the LORD, saying: ‘For HE is GOOD, for HIS MERCY ENDURES FOREVER,’ that the house, the house of the LORD, was FILLED with a cloud, so that the priests could not continue ministering because of the cloud; for the GLORY of the LORD FILLED the HOUSE of GOD.” [1]

“Dear Heavenly Father, please join our hearts together with such who enjoy worshipping You with music and songs, and with praises. Let us be in Your house where Your glory fills the place. In the Name of the Lord Jesus, I pray. Amen.”

[1] 2 Chronicles 5:13-14

Testimony / Testimonio / 見 證 / شَهادَةُ الله

“And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.” [1]

“May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” [2]

[1] 1John 5:11-12 NIV

[2] Galatians 6:14 NIV

“Y el testimonio es este: que Dios nos ha dado vida eterna, y esa vida está en su Hijo. 12 El que tiene al Hijo, tiene la vida; el que no tiene al Hijo de Dios, no tiene la vida.” [1]

“En cuanto a mí, jamás se me ocurra jactarme de otra cosa sino de la cruz de nuestro Señor Jesucristo, por quien el mundo ha sido crucificado para mí, y yo para el mundo.” [2]

[1] 1Juan 5:11-12 NVI

[2] Gálatas 6:14 NVI

“ 這 見 證 就 是 神 賜 給 我 們 永 生 ； 這 永 生 也 是 在 他 兒 子 裡 面 。 人 有 了 神 的 兒 子 就 有 生 命 ， 沒 有 神 的 兒 子 就 沒 有 生 命 。[1]

“但 我 斷 不 以 別 的 誇 口 ， 只 誇 我 們 主 耶 穌 基 督 的 十 字 架 ； 因 這 十 字 架 ， 就 我 而 論 ， 世 界 已 經 釘 在 十 字 架 上 ； 就 世 界 而 論 ， 我 已 經 釘 在 十 字 架 上 。” [2]

[1] 約 翰 一 書 5:11-12 CUV

[2] 加 拉 太 書 CUV

وَشَهادَةُ اللهِ هِيَ أنَّهُ قَدْ أعطانا الحَياةَ الأبَدِيَّةَ، وَهَذِهِ الحَياةُ هِيَ فِي ابنِهِ. فَمَنْ لَهُ الإبنُ لَهُ الحَياةُ، وَمَنْ لَيسَ لَهُ ابنُ اللهِ، لَيسَتْ لَهُ حَياةٌ [1]

وَأمّا أنا فَأرجُو أنْ لا أفتَخِرَ إلّا بِصَلِيبِ رَبِّنا يَسُوعَ المَسِيحِ. فَفِيهِ صُلِبَ العالَمُ بِالنِّسْبَةِ لِي، وَأنا صُلِبْتُ بِالنِّسبَةِ لِلعالَمِ. [2]

[1] ﻳﻮﺣﻨﺎ ﺍﻻﻭﻝ 5:11-12
[2] ﻏﻼﻃﻲ 6:14