September 16, 2020 – Click here to listen
A cat 2 hurricane is pounding the gulf coast and slowly moving inland causing billions of dollars of damage not to mention lives lost; fires are destroying hundreds of thousands of acres of land on the west coast with many of those poor people suffering the loss of everything they have including their lives; rioters are destroying cities across our country; the Covid 19 plague is taking lives; people are losing their businesses and jobs; it appears that God is trying to get our attention.
. . . And yet, no one seems to be listening.
Instead of turning to God and asking for forgiveness and repenting, many state and local governments are closing the few churches that are trying to conduct services and harassing congregants that want to exercise their faith. They are in essence thumbing their collective noses at Almighty God!
I’ve been studying my way through the Old Testament and our current situation reminds me so much of the nation of Israel and the problems they endured throughout their history when they chose to abandon God and embrace idols. They would go from good times under a righteous leader to terrible times under a sinful one. This story repeats itself again and again throughout.
Someone told a friend of mine to reread the book of Isaiah and he told me yesterday he did so and only got through the first 6 chapters and it made his hair stand on end to see all of those prophecies predicted thousands of years ago coming true today. I remarked that reading Isaiah and other prophetic books was akin to reading a newspaper.
Anyone who even takes a cursory look at the Old Testament realizes that God, though loving and merciful, does at times reach a point whereby He punishes those who disobey His laws. And the wrath of God is a fearsome thing. (Think of Sodom and Gomorrah.)
The problem for people who are not believers now is our woes are attributed to anything and everything but our own sin particularly by our leaders. It’s “Mother Earth getting angry, climate change, white privilege, biological warfare and so on that is causing the problems.
Unless and until we confront sin head on there can be no repentance. And without repentance there can be no forgiveness or healing of our land.
I’m speaking to a group in Grand Rapids Michigan today via Zoom. My own testimony is a good example of what can happen in graphic terms when someone admits their sins, asks for forgiveness, and turns from those sins and follows Jesus instead of the world. God blesses those who are sincere and in my case, He miraculously transformed my life from engaging in the blackest sins of every description into one of pursuing a godly life as best I could and He blessed me with a wonderful family, rewarding career, peace, and joy. Of course the world chalks that up to luck, coincidence, hard work, working smart and so on. It’s just like the “Mother Earth” cockamamie. It seems that some in society feel they might be labeled some kind of religious fanatic if God’s blessings are mentioned, (or His judgment of sin.)
News Flash: God is real. He despises sin and there are consequences for willfully engaging in it and make no mistake He will punish it.
With that said He has said that His desire is that all will come to God through His Son Jesus and that no one will perish. I will be telling the audience today that we do have a choice. As for me and my family we choose to follow the Lord and enjoy His blessings.
When I was living on the streets, homeless, and alone I feared nothing. I was mean as a snake and my heart was as cold as ice; I was a diagnosed sociopath in every sense of the word. By chance I read the Bible and I came away from that experience loving God with all my heart, but also fearing Him.
It was a good move as He will individually judge every person in the entire world one day. We will face that judgment with our sins washed in the blood of Christ or we will take the punishment for our sins alone. That is what the Bible tells us. Before you dismiss it out of hand and go on to worship your idols of money, golf, parties, power, or whatever, I urge you to read it for yourself by beginning in the New Testament and then the Old through the New Testament again. You might not come away a believer, but at least you will know what God’s word says.
2 Peter 3:8
Beloved, do not let this one thing escape your notice: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise as some understand slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance. But the Day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar, the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and its works will be laid bare . . .