Seek the Cross
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Matthew 24:10-13 NIV
At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.
Is it just me, or could this have been written last week? I imagine that anyone reading these words could apply them to their own current times. Mankind doesn’t ever really change! Two thousand years after Christ we have Christians preaching the “prosperity gospel” and wars all over the world and corruption, deceit, hatred and greed. We just don’t learn, do we?
There’s nothing wrong with working to be as prosperous as possible as long as the intention is to give that prosperity back to God and his world. I so admire Rick Warren, the author of “The Purpose Driven Life.” He started what is now Saddleback Church with his wife in their living room. It’s now a multi-million dollar a year operation. But they haven’t lost sight of their purpose.
He’s personally acquired tremendous wealth from his books. As he acquired more wealth, he began paying back to the church the salary they have paid him over the years. At this point, he and his family are now tithing 90% of their income and living on 10%. That’s a stark contrast to flying around in multi-million dollar private jets, living in a mansion and owning several very expensive cars.
Again, I’m trying not to judge these folks, but it makes me want to examine them and their lifestyles in a little more depth. Speaking of trying not to judge . . . the latest poll reported on the news last night indicates that 65% of the country disapproves of the President and his performance. I probably don’t have to tell anyone which side of that poll I fall into. My hope is that if that if that many people are not satisfied with the current administration, they will get out and vote in the next election—for anybody—just vote!
The Middle East is a hotbed as I’m typing. I’m convinced that ardent prayer is the only explanation as to why we haven’t experienced a nuclear war! Spoiled celebrities make the “news” headlines and the continent of Africa is still plagued with genocide, HIV/AIDS, famine and abject poverty.
I don’t mean to be sounding off a doom and gloom message! I’m really just ticking off the things that ran through my mind as I read this passage. The media outlets are “loving” all the turmoil and anxiety, fear and violence in the world. It makes good copy. And we buy into the hype. Even faithful Christians can get caught up in it all.
Our only hope is the Cross! We need to surround ourselves with Christians and participate in a faith community in order to stay focused on what really matters. We are not powerless. We have the might and strength of our God within us and around us who longs for us to be one who makes a difference by how we live our lives, in simple ways—large and small.
My prayer today is that you turn to the Word of God to find truth and understanding. And that you seek the Cross before all else.
Mary
Labels: Africa, Christ, Christian, Cross, famine, genocide, God, HIV/AIDS, war
Here Am I!
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2 Timothy 3:1-5
1. But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of stress. 2. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3. inhuman, implacable, slanderers, profligates, fierce, haters of good, 4. treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5. holding the form of religion but denying the power of it. Avoid such people.
1 Chronicles 16:35
Say also: "Deliver us, O God of our salvation, and gather and save us from among the nations, that we may give thanks to thy holy name, and glory in thy praise.
Year after year I think to myself that surely things can’t get much worse in the world. Year after year I’m proven wrong! I never cease to be amazed at human capacity to destroy and defile not just each other, but everything in our wake. The anger and arrogance, recklessness and blatant lack of awareness of who we are and whose we are is stunning. And year after year we manage to escalate our mindless, soulless disregard for each other and our world to a new level.
Isn’t that the first response to the evening news? Threats of yet another war somewhere in a land far away, the latest escapades of a spoiled and misguided movie star, drought, famine, starvation, earthquakes, bridge collapses, HIV/AIDS, ethnic cleansing, global warming and on and on and on. Do you ever find yourself thinking these must be the last days? Where are the lovers of God? Where are the peacemakers and the healers? What happened to our life?
Well, I have a feeling we haven’t hit rock bottom yet! Sadly, we’re not even close to bottom! So what is our alternative to being victimized and sucked in to the ways of the world? How do we live a life worthy of God’s grace when all around us there is a glaring lack of evidence that it even exists? I think the verse from Chronicles would be a good place to start. Call out to God for our deliverance; our personal deliverance, and the deliverance of God’s world.
There are plenty of reasons to adopt a woe is me attitude. I can understand why so many may be hopeless and disillusioned. At first glance it does appear as if God has left us alone and on our own. That’s why it’s so important to surround ourselves with other Christians. Without a church family and a faith community, we have no place to go, no comfort or reassurance, no hope for the future. Unless we can counter what the world tells us with a reminder of what Christ tells us, we can become hopeless, distraught, afraid and discouraged.
Timothy was written a couple of thousand years ago! And the world is still here. Mankind is still alive and kicking! Somehow we’ve managed to survive. God’s incredible grace has sustained us through the ages. God has sent to live among us today people like Jimmy Carter, Nelson Mandela, medical missionaries and doctors without borders, The Red Cross and volunteer aid workers, prayer warriors and nameless, faceless saints whose names we’ll never know. God’s people are in the world. They labor for His kingdom. They are
doing something to make this world a better place to live in.
We are called to be a people apart. Not separate from the world, but apart from it. We are to live by a higher calling. We are to be the face of God to a fallen and sin-filled world. We are to be the difference. We are to call out to God on behalf of those who cannot or will not do so.
”He has showed you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”[Micah 6:8] “And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" Then I said, "Here am I! Send me."[Isaiah 6:8]
The world is calling out for you. Pick a cause; make a donation; say a prayer. Do something. Be the one who does justice, loves kindness and walks humbly with your God.
My prayer today is that you will respond “Here am I!” when the world calls out. And that you give thanks to God’s holy name and rejoice in His praise.
Mary
Labels: drought, faith, famine, grace, HIV/AIDS, justice, kindness, missionary, war
