WHAT IF>

What If?

 “For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.  For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the cleverness of the clever I will set aside” (1Cor. 1:18-19).

 

Hey Gang:  I believe on the day our 45^th president was installed into office, God looked down upon Washington, D. C. with gladness in His heart, but also a great deal of sadness.  Glad, for I believe that He fulfilled Daniel 2:21 once again, “It is He who changes the times and the epochs; He removes kings and establishes kings”, when many feel He orchestrated and greatest upset in presidential election history.   

Upset to the world but, if you recall, when it was time to fed the 5000 the word tells us “He had already made up His mind what He was going to do”.  I believe He made up His mind what He would do on November 8, 2016 in the U.S. of A. before time began.

But, I believe there was sadness in His heart as He watched many of His very special creations, the ladies of our land, traveling from the four corners of our land to assemble in rebellion against our President and those who were on the other side of the aisle.  As was reported by one of the reporters who was there that day,  “It is  more than a rebellion against a man, it is rebellion against God”.

Samuel 15:22-23 tells us that God has some very harsh feelings about rebellion and disobedience.  He wrote: “Has the Lord as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord?  Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams.  For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord”.

As I watched the hundreds of thousands of women assemble and listened to the parade of speakers who put down and cursed this once compassionate nation which protected the weak of lowly in our world, I wondered how God felt about this gathering.  I wondered if anyone had asked God how He felt about it.  He did promise that He would respond to our request, if we ask Him with the right motives.

As I listened to the rhetoric and interviews by the various news media reps, I wondered, if any one there had considered that perhaps Nehemiah had a better way of solving our differences,  “But when they cried to You in the time of their distress, You heard from heaven, and according to Your great compassion You gave them deliverers who delivered them from the hand of their oppressors” (Neh. 9:27).  

I wonder what Paul was referring to when he wrote these words found in Romans 16:17:  “Now I urge you, brethren, keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you learned, and turn away from them”.  I really like Paul’s words in verse twenty, “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet”. 

What say you?  Do you think there might have been deception involved in this gathering?  Jesus said it many times, Careful that you are not deceived!  Paul said, “Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience”.  (Eph. 5:6).  Isaiah wrote: “But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear” (Isa. 59:2). 

But then again, God gave us the ability to think and reason and determine what we believe is good or evil.  Enough about that, it is passed and we cannot change one word that was uttered that day.  Let me close with something I know I can put my whole trust into, for it has stood the test and attacks of time and has more than survived.   It remains the most sought after book that has ever been printed – ‘today’.

Hey Gang:  I peeked!  Our God is a mighty God and the victory is already ours because of Calvary.  It is a complete and total victory over sin, Satan, evil in all its forms, and death.  Again, turning to the words of Paul, “O death, where is your victory?  O death, where is your sting?”  The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the Law; but thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (15:55-57).

One last verse before I close this epistle.  There was an old country preacher that often said “When you come to a ‘therefore’, stop and find out what it is ‘therefore!”  I believe this ‘therefore’ is very clear in meaning! “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the word of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Co. 15:57-58).

Blessings,

Gramps

Do You Feel Like You Are Being Sifted Like Wheat?

“Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat; but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers” (Luke 22:31-32).

Hey Gang:  I do not know about you guys, but I feel like the past month, since Mr. Donald J. Trump became President Donald J. Trump, has been a time of some deep shifting.  Did you ever get up in the morning with a tune running through your mind that continues to repeat itself as the day progresses? 

It has not been a song in my mind but rather the words of Paul in Ephesians 6:12 “We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against; principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Eph. 6:12).

Billy Graham wrote the following in his book The Reason For Hope, written in 2013. “It is a time to take the news of the day in one hand and the Bible in the other and watch the unfolding of the great drama of the ages come together.  This is an exciting and thrilling time to be alive….It is not just Christians that sense something is about to happen.  The world knows that it cannot survive if it continues down the same path. History has reached an impasse.  This world is on a collision course.  Something is about to give.  With increasing frequency, commentators from secular media speak of Armageddon”.

Never in my memory in eight plus decades on the earth has a new year appeared, at its beginning, to be more prophetically interesting to watch, but, most in the world are not into the Word, therefore, they tend to have their heads in the sand pertaining to God’s program for these days. In the times I have been priviledged to share what God has taught me over the years about what is coming, I get the feeling that many times I am talking to door knobs.

I find two great truths that were very important to Jesus, the first found in 2 Peter 3:9, “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance”.  He wanted every soul that received the breath of life to one day be with Him in the New Jerusalem for all eternity.

The second, that no one be left out in the dark. He taught in Mathew 24 and 25 what is to come in the last days of the Age of the Gentiles. He gave divine wisdom to the prophets and disciples to share the word of what was to come, so that we would not live in a confused state.

In a recent message from a prophetic guru, who I have found to be a no-nonsense type of person and have gained much respect for, made this statement after he had done some informal research involving more than a dozen prophetic Bible gurus and found all agree: “Never before in history has the sign of the times lined up as clearly as they are lined up today.”   What does that mean? You best check he oil in your lamp.

 

I have had people say, they think it is time for packing.  Forget it, the will be no time for packing and what in the world would you take to heaven?   

There is a story about one man who was informed by an angel that his life was about over and he should prepare to go.  He asked the angel for permission to take one suitcase with him.  Permission was granted. When he got to the pearly gates, Jesus asked him what was so important.  He opened the suitcase and it was full of gold. Jesus said, “You brought paving material?”

Blessings,

Gramps