Felix Newbie
Joined: Jan 14, 2010 Posts: 5
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Posted: Sat Jan 16, 2010 10:49 am Post subject: Looming Catastrophe |
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Haiti earthquake, H1N1, SARS, Avian Flu, Tsunamis, economic collapse . . . What can be more deadly?
Most people, particularly the younger folk, live as if they are invincible. Then catastrophe strikes and it is realized that no one is immune. No one can adequately protect him or herself. Yet many strut around as if they are invincible.
For more than two thousand years, the plea has been made. Even now, the warning is being sounded. There is a greater catastrophe looming. It is worse than anything that we have seen. It is worse than death and suffering as we commonly know these. Even the sharpest of minds and wit cannot fully articulate the extent of the present and pending devastation. I wonder if you know about this.
Countless people, driven by true love for humanity, have sacrificed their very lives as they have made their plea about this looming catastrophe. They are largely ignored or ridiculed. The strength of the love shown by these individuals in sounding the warning is often mistaken. Those who propagate a deceptive sense of love for humanity often protest that such pleading about impending doom is cruel. If you are one of these protesters, consider this: What is more cruel? Would you rather be left thinking that everything is rosy until catastrophe strikes? You may think that you have seen or heard about it all: economic collapse, H1N1, SARS, Avian Flu, Aids, tsunamis, earthquake in Haiti, etc . . .
Proponents of the true message of salvation that goes beyond offering respite from earthly troubles are often perceived as gloom-bears or fools. Let’s face it. Their message is about salvation from a gloomy reality. This does not make it a gloomy message. To that person who truly listens, it is a message full of grace and truth.
In fact, this catastrophe spoken of is both a present and future reality. It is everywhere yet illusive to many because of the spiritual blindness that human effort cannot cure. The looming catastrophe is undeniable yet denied by many due to the carnal foolishness that is buoyed and propagated by human pride.
What is this great calamity that has and will overtake our world? Without the intervention of the only one who has the power to counter it, no person does, can or will escape the devastating result. It starts with the denial of God’s existence. This denial is done overtly by some. Others deny the existence of God willfully or inadvertently through disobedience. Sin takes root and the world is at its mercy. Well, you cannot say you have not been warned. In the face of all that is happening and will happen in our world, the best advice that can be given to everyone is this: Run to God. Run to Jesus Christ. He is the only ONE who has the power to counter the catastrophe. He is the only ONE who counters the devastation of sin.
To read more from this writer, visit the Nuggets of Truth website at:
Nuggets of Truth - http://www.afisservices.ca
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Prayer-Soldier Newbie
Joined: Apr 18, 2009 Posts: 1001
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Posted: Sun Jan 17, 2010 3:40 pm Post subject: |
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Dear Felix, many blessings to you.
You write a very thought provoking note. For centuries, man has looked to the book of Revelation for what it may reveal about the end of days; the plagues and signs that will reveal the final calamity before the judgment of the living and the dead. To some it is a stark warning.
“Then the sky was divided like a torn scroll curling up, and every mountain and island was moved from its place. The kings of the earth, the nobles, the military officers, the rich, the powerful, and every slave and free person hid themselves in caves and among mountain crags. They cried out to the mountains and the rocks, \'Fall on us and hide us from the face of the one who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb, because the great day of their wrath has come and who can withstand it?\'” Revelation 6:14-17
To others, The Book of Revelation may be a source of great hope:
“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. The former heaven and the former earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. I also saw the holy city, a new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, \'Behold, God\'s dwelling is with the human race. He will dwell with them and they will be his people and God himself will always be with them (as their God). He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there shall be no more death or mourning, wailing or pain, (for) the old order has passed away.\'\" Revelations 21:1-4
As the events unfold, we might ask for ourselves, where shall we be? Of course, the answer is not found in the attempts to interpret just one verse or one book of scripture. If we look back to Genesis, we see a similar message in which we may take hope.
“Then the LORD said: \"The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great, and their sin so grave, that I must go down and see whether or not their actions fully correspond to the cry against them that comes to me. I mean to find out.\" Abraham drew nearer to Him and said: \"Will you sweep away the innocent with the guilty? Suppose there were fifty innocent people in the city; would you wipe out the place, rather than spare it for the sake of the fifty innocent people within it? Far be it from you to do such a thing, to make the innocent die with the guilty, so that the innocent and the guilty would be treated alike! Should not the judge of all the world act with justice?\"
The LORD replied, \"If I find fifty innocent people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake.\" Abraham spoke up again: \"See how I am presuming to speak to my Lord, though I am but dust and ashes! What if there are five less than fifty innocent people? Will you destroy the whole city because of those five?\" \"I will not destroy it,\" He answered, \"if I find forty-five there.\"
But Abraham persisted, saying, \"What if only forty are found there?\" He replied, \"I will forebear doing it for the sake of the forty.\" Then he said, \"Let not my Lord grow impatient if I go on. What if only thirty are found there?\" He replied, \"I will forebear doing it if I can find but thirty there.\" Still he went on, \"Since I have thus dared to speak to my Lord, what if there are no more than twenty?\" \"I will not destroy it,\" he answered, \"for the sake of the twenty.\" But he still persisted: \"Please, let not my Lord grow angry if I speak up this last time. What if there are at least ten there?\" \"For the sake of those ten,\" He replied, \"I will not destroy it.\" Genesis 18:20-32
We might see in these words, that it is wise, then, for us to seek the Lord; for if we leave faith for the salvation of our families and communities to another, what then when all have turned their back on the salvation which we have been offered? In the very next chapter of Genesis we see that the angels are sent to warn the righteous and a hand is extended to save them. Some will heed the call and others will not be true to their faith. What then do we expect of the Lord?
Then the angels said to Lot: \'Who else belongs to you here? Your sons (sons-in-law) and your daughters and all who belong to you in the city--take them away from it! We are about to destroy this place, for the outcry reaching the LORD against those in the city is so great that he has sent us to destroy it.\' So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who had contracted marriage with his daughters. \'Get up and leave this place,\' he told them; \'the LORD is about to destroy the city.\' But his sons-in-law thought he was joking. As dawn was breaking, the angels urged Lot on, saying, \'On your way! Take with you your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away in the punishment of the city.\' When he hesitated, the men, by the LORD\'S mercy, seized his hand and the hands of his wife and his two daughters and led them to safety outside the city.” Genesis 19:12-16
There is much to God\'s plan and we should not over interpret events of the world, nor should we under estimate them either. Perhaps various calamities are a warning from the Lord, just as He destroyed the cities of the plain or sent the floods across the earth; but then, such events may be our test of what we will do for each other to fulfill the Lord\'s commandment to love one another as He has loved us (John 15:12).
There is much that we must study and much we must seek to understand if we are to truly understand the ways of the Lord. There is much behind what we do and what we fail do to as we pursue each day. We may think only of the moment and fail to think of the future, but lest we forget, Revelation tells us what our passing from this world shall hold and the moment we face before our new beginning:
“I saw the dead, the great and the lowly, standing before the throne, and scrolls were opened. Then another scroll was opened, the book of life. The dead were judged according to their deeds, by what was written in the scrolls. The sea gave up its dead; then Death and Hades gave up their dead. All the dead were judged according to their deeds. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the pool of fire. (This pool of fire is the second death.) Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the pool of fire.” Revelation 20:11-14
The atheist would tell us this is all fiction and what happens in terms of fortune or calamity is mere coincidence. Others take for granted the forgiveness of the Lord and the sacrifice of Jesus for the sins of the world. Still others may have faith, but must wrestle with the deceptions of the evil one where lies are wrapped in truth to lead us astray.
Whether it is a great calamity or in our sleep, we will all face our last day in this world as we know it. Whether it is the faithful or the atheist, we will be held to account for what we have done and what we have failed to do. He died for our sins so that whosoever believes in Him may be forgiven in the final judgment; but we must ask ourselves, what is our demonstration of faith, what we say, what we do or both? In our expression of faith, it is not one verse of scripture in which our hopes must be pinned, but all that which the Lord has sought to teach us through His prophets, His angels and the time He has spent with us as man and God.
There is a great struggle in this world and we each will be presented with our own challenges and opportunities we decide what part we play of the plan of God. To seek the truth and expose deception, the faithful must pray and must join in community through which we may demonstrate our faith in the Word of the Lord.
May the Lord be with you,
Prayer Soldier
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