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In the coming days, in this country, we will see Christianity come under attack as never before. Christians have always been hated but it has never been so acceptable to attack us simply for our beliefs.

There is evil growing stronger. It is now considered, by many, that believing in God is to be derided. It is now considered something so awful that society is going to be destroyed by the belief that Jesus died for our sins.

Jesus’ message of love and forgiveness is being twisted into something that it is not.

It will not only be Christians who are attacked but anyone who has put their religion as fundamental to their lives.

The forces of Satan are at war with believers. They will do anything, they will say anything, to stop the message that Jesus died for the sins of the world.

They have lost the battle with God and are doomed but they want to take as much of humanity with them as they can. They have convinced people that they must rid the world of Christians to have a peaceful and loving world.

Makes sense? Not at all. Jesus preached the peace and love of God and he was killed by people who had the same mindset as what we see today. They did not want their lives interfered with. They wanted status quo.

If Jesus’ message was real then they would have to acknowledge that they were no better than others. They could not stand that. They had to feel superior to others. So they killed Jesus thinking that was the end of it.

That was not God’s plan. He used their evil to bring about the most wonderful thing the world could imagine. Jesus died sinless and rose again on the third day.

He died for the forgiveness of the sins of the world. He rose again to show us that eternal life was the promise of those who believed in him.

Christianity thrives in times of adversity. It is a time when the wheat is separated from the chaff. We will see that those who truly believe in salvation through the cross will remain true and strong.

Those who give lip service to Christianity will bend and sway with the pressure of society. They will either repent and accept Christ in truth or they will break and remain lost.

Jesus warned us about those who heard his word. In a parable, he likened those who heard about his kingdom as seeds. He told us that some would reject him and that others who hear and fall away and that there were those who truly believed and stayed strong in their belief.

Which type of believer are you?

Matthew 13:3-9

He told them many things in parables, saying, “Listen carefully: a sower went out to sow [seed in his field]; and as he sowed, some seed fell beside the road [between the fields], and the birds came and ate it.

Other seed fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil; and at once they sprang up because they had no depth of soil. But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.

Other seed fell among thorns, and thorns came up and choked them out.

Other seed fell on good soil and yielded grain, some a hundred times as much [as was sown], some sixty [times as much], and some thirty.

He who has ears [to hear], let him hear and heed My words.”

The hate in this world is overwhelming. It doesn’t matter which side of the political spectrum you are on, the other side hates you. That means, that most likely you are participating in hate as well.

It is so easy to hate those things that we either don’t understand or that we disagree with. We seem to confuse anger with hate. Even Jesus showed anger when he threw the money-changers out of the Temple.

Godly anger is okay but make sure that is what you are feeling. Hate is different. You can hate sin but you should not hate people.

Other people are, indeed, sinners. Just like you. In God’s eyes, we are all filthy and are unable to come into his presence because of our sin. It doesn’t matter what the sin is, even little white lies are sin. They are lies no matter how we couch them.

Keep in mind that Jesus told us that our thoughts are as good as deeds when it comes to sin. If you think of something at odds with God’s directions, you are as guilt of that sin as if you had actually done the deed.

That is in God’s eyes but not society. We can’t punish people because of their thoughts. When the thoughts get spoken out loud and are acted upon, either by ourselves or by others who heard our words, society does need to step in.

We are not allowed to hurt other people because we disagree with them. We should not steal or destroy their property. We are allowed to defend ourselves from evil. We are directed to forgive those who hurt us but that doesn’t mean that they won’t suffer punishment because of what they have done.

Keep in mind, that is true for you as well. If you are doing something that is harmful to others, you can and should be punished.

The definition of harm is what is being subverted. I am not harming you when I say she if you are a woman, no matter how you self-identify. If you don’t like it, that’s okay but it isn’t harmful.

It’s this type of crazy reaction to common sense issues that have sparked what seems to be a war. Both sides have some things in common but no one seems to want to explore those.

They would rather hold fast to the hate that they feel and focus on our areas of disagreement.

God must be watching and waiting. At a certain time in history, the time will be right to bring judgement on the earth. If this isn’t the time and these aren’t the actions that trigger that, I have to say I can’t imagine how bad those times will be.

All I know is that putting my trust in God and asking him to take control of my future and to lead me in his footsteps is the only right action for me to take. I suggest that those of you who are Christians, do likewise.

If you are not a Christian, now is the time to make a decision. Are you happy in your hate or do you want to know God and experience his love and peace. It’s up to you and you only. We all have this choice to make on our own. Choose wisely.

Matthew 5:43-45

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

Fear is something that I see in people’s faces. It has become so commonplace, fearfulness never seems to leave us. Rather than diminishing, it is getting stronger every single day.

God did not create us to be fearful. He made us to rely on his strength and to hold to his promises. If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, God has promised that he will always be there and that everything that happens is according to his plan.

Those things will work to the good of his believers, even when it doesn’t seem possible.

Events in our lives are painful and can be crippling. I’ve had my share of those times and when I look back, I can see God’s hand in my life. He used the events that happened to create good even if there was a price to be paid.

Life isn’t easy for anyone, believer in God or not. Those who believe in God have a refuge and a promise of deliverance. Those who do not believe in God must feel horribly lost and alone.

I went through a lot before I became a born-again Christian. I know the anxiety, fear and depression that comes from thinking there is no way out.

When I became a Christian, bad things still happened. The difference was the peace that I felt knowing God held my future and that, eventually, I would live eternally without pain, without tears, without death.

The price for that peace was the sacrifice that Jesus made to save us. What he went through for me lets me know that I can go through anything and hold to my faith in him. He will hold me tightly and keep me from falling into the depths of hell.

I am assured of a beautiful and peaceful future. Consuming fear is a thing of my past. Sure, fear can still somehow reach out and grab my attention for a short time, but I hand it to God and ask him to fill me with peace instead.

He is always good and faithful to do so. He is there waiting for you, too. If you are filled with fear, reach out to the God who created the universe and who knows how many hairs you have on your head.

He loves you and wants you to be saved and to live with a peaceful spirit.

2 Timothy 1:7

For God did not give us a spirit of timidity or cowardice or fear, but [He has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of sound judgment and personal discipline [abilities that result in a calm, well-balanced mind and self-control].

Learning how to pray is difficult for most Christians. For some, it is hard to ask for anything. For others, they seem to think they can ask for anything and receive it immediately. That is a “name it and claim it” mindset which is not what God has promised to those who follow him.

God wants to speak to all of us. He wants us to ask for things that we need and even things that we want. However, he wants us to ask for things that further his kingdom and not for personal gain.

He provides for us. He says so constantly. However, provision doesn’t mean wealth. It doesn’t mean that he will produce the perfect spouse on demand. It doesn’t mean that he will heal us of each and every health issue we face.

Jesus provided us with the way to pray by giving us the Lord’s Prayer. It is not a prayer that we are to pray by repetition, it is a prayer that is an example of the things that we can bring to God.

In the Psalms, David and the other Psalmists wrote their prayers as songs. You can see that they brought their fears, their struggles and their lack of faith to God. They also worshipped God with thanksgiving.

Praying by rote or using unfamiliar language isn’t from the heart. You need to speak to God from the depths of your soul. He doesn’t need to hear thees and thous, he wants to hear from is truly going on in our lives.

He already knows but he wants us to share it with him from our own free will. He wants us to trust him and to lean on him.

He will answer prayers but you may not like the answer. He does what is right and good for his children and not what they think is good.

Think of children, think of teenagers. They ask for all kinds of things that are ultimately harmful to them. Having everything they want can ruin them. A good parent does what is good for a child.

If we are good parents, how much better a parent is God? He is the ultimate father. His way is better than anything we can ever dream of.

Think of children who were given all they wanted and then grew up rotten to the core. They expect society to let them do what they want without consequences.

There is a wealthy twenty year old woman in the news who fits in this definition. She went on rampage with her friends and did over $100,000 in damage to property that did not belong to her. She has been caught and will hopefully face the consequences of her actions.

It’s not too late for her to turn her life around but if she gets off without consequences, she will become worse and worse. I am praying for her that she will be convicted and serve her time and, in doing so, see how wasted she has been living her life. I pray that she will come face to face with Jesus and turn her life around.

This is one type of prayer that God wants from us. He wants us to put others in prayer before him and ask for him to reveal himself to them. Jesus is waiting for this young woman. He is waiting for you, too, if you are not following him.

God is waiting to hear your prayers. Pray for the right things and see what a difference it makes it your life.

John 5:14-15

This is the [remarkable degree of] confidence which we [as believers are entitled to] have before Him: that if we ask anything according to His will, [that is, consistent with His plan and purpose] He hears us.

And if we know [for a fact, as indeed we do] that He hears and listens to us in whatever we ask, we [also] know [with settled and absolute knowledge] that we have [granted to us] the requests which we have asked from Him.

It’s easy to criticize one another. It’s really difficult to find ways to connect with people who think differently from the way that you do.

The things we use to separate ourselves from one another are things that we have come up with. God did not make one person different from another.

We may have different languages, different accents, different colors of skin. We may have different social customs. We may eat different food. We still are ultimately the same.

We are humans and we were created by God for a special purpose. Every single one of us is special. Everyone of us is unique to God. One is not better than the other.

While we are unique to God, we are loved the same. It doesn’t matter about any of our physical differences, he loves us.

We need to stop looking for the differences and concentrate on what is the same. We are all children of God.

Some people don’t know God. Some deny him. Some follow false gods. The Lord God of heaven is the only true God. He is the one that created us and the one that we will answer to on Judgement Day.

We all are in the same boat. We are all sinners and we have no way to redeem ourselves. There is only one way to become acceptable to our Father. There is only one way that our filthy deeds can be washed clean and we can come into the presence of the Lord.

Jesus died and shed blood as a sacrifice. His sinless blood is what can wash our sins away. All we have to do is acknowledge he is God, ask him to save us, to help us to follow after him. We need to repent of our sins and turn our lives around.

He is right there waiting and wants to know you. He wants you to be saved for all eternity. It is up to you. Turn away from the sin of judging others, look at the other sins in your life and know that you have been wrong.

Look to his life and teachings and know that he gave us the example of how life should be lived. While we can never be without sin in this lifetime, we are to strive to do better and better. We are to learn from our mistakes and start over with the help of our Father God, the Holy Spirit and Jesus.

Matthew 7:1-5

“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.

Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye?

You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.

Recently, I’ve been thinking about all the years that I wasn’t following in the footsteps of Jesus Christ. I was a Christian but I wasn’t living the life that he had called me to live.

I was going my own way and that means that I was following the path of another leader. Looking back, I can see all the times that I strayed and all the catastrophes that came about because of it.

It was all due to my willful tendencies. I wanted to do what I wanted to do. I didn’t want to be accountable to anyone but me. I was behaving as if I had never met the Savior and accepted his gift of forgiveness and eternal life.

Each time, I was pulled back from the brink and turned my life back to his way. I am ever grateful for his being faithful when I was not.

The thing that I had never contemplated before was what the effect of my sin had on other people. How many individuals were put in my path that I could have and should have told about the saving power of believing in Jesus Christ.

It may be that I was the only person who would ever talk to them and I blew it. That’s something that I will have to live with. I have turned over the shame and guilt to Jesus but it makes me ever more certain that I should not miss the opportunities he provides to me in the future.

Time is short, whether it is the end of times or whether it is because life is uncertain and one never knows when their end will come.

All I know is that Jesus loves every single one of us the same and he wants to have a relationship with us.

If you are a Christian and haven’t been spending time with those whom you know and/or love telling them about your experience, think again. Jesus gave us the important task of spreading the news of his sacrifice and love.

We are called to tell others about him. If you are not, then you are truly not following in his footsteps. He was willing to die to have people saved. Is it too much to ask that you put yourself on the line and talk to others? I don’t think so.

Find the right time and God will make the conversation easy. Be respectful of others and let them say whether they are interested or not. No one can force another to believe what they believe. All you can do is share what Jesus has done for you.

God will do the rest.

Matthew 28:16-20

Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated. And when they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted [that it was really He].

Jesus came up and said to them, “All authority (all power of absolute rule) in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations [help the people to learn of Me, believe in Me, and obey My words], baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always [remaining with you perpetually—regardless of circumstance, and on every occasion], even to the end of the age.”