Saturday, September
21, 2013 – the Lord Jesus woke me with the song “Return to Me” playing in my mind. Speak, Lord, your words to my
heart. I read Ezekiel 18 (ESV).
“…the
soul who sins shall die.
“If
a man is righteous and does what is just and right— if he does not eat upon the
mountains or lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, does not
defile his neighbor's wife or approach a woman in her time of menstrual
impurity, does not oppress anyone, but restores to the debtor his pledge,
commits no robbery, gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with a
garment, does not lend at interest or take any profit, withholds his hand from
injustice, executes true justice between man and man, walks in my statutes, and
keeps my rules by acting faithfully—he is righteous; he shall surely live,
declares the Lord God.
“If
he fathers a son who is violent, a
shedder of blood, who does any of these things (though he himself did none
of these things), who even eats upon the mountains, defiles his neighbor's
wife, oppresses the poor and needy, commits robbery, does not restore the
pledge, lifts up his eyes to the idols, commits abomination, lends at interest,
and takes profit; shall he then live? He shall not live. He has done all these
abominations; he shall surely die; his blood shall be upon himself…
“But
if a wicked person turns away from all his sins that he has committed and keeps
all my statutes and does what is just and right, he shall surely live; he shall
not die. None of the transgressions that he has committed shall be remembered
against him; for the righteousness that he has done he shall live. Have I any
pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord God, and not rather that
he should turn from his way and live?
“…Therefore
I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, declares
the Lord God. Repent and turn from all your transgressions, lest iniquity be
your ruin. Cast away from you all the transgressions that you have committed,
and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! Why will you die, O house of
Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord God;
so turn, and live.”
It is now Sunday morning, around 9:30 in the morning. I read
the news yesterday and I read the news again this morning. There were purportedly
two mass murders that took place in those two days. There was a mass shooting
of people in a mall in Nairobi, Kenya yesterday, and there was a “suicide
bombing” (purportedly) at a church in Pakistan today. The killings in Kenya
were reported as being a terrorist attack, though it was suggested that the
attackers were targeting non-Muslims, and that the group they suspected of the
attacks had previously attacked churches. So, in both of these stories, one
clearly, and one possibly suggesting it to be so, we have attacks against
people, and the murdering of people just because they bear testimony to the
name of Jesus Christ. And, it appears these attacks and murders are being
blamed on terrorists, militants and/or Islamists militants.
Yet, the Lord Jesus is giving me a different picture as to
what took place and who is responsible. He is showing me that it is the
government of the United States and her allies, i.e. the New World Order, who
are responsible for these murders of believers in Jesus Christ. With the New
World Order Pope now coming out and saying that God is in everyone, and that we
should not get so concerned about certain moral issues as the church once did,
it sets the stage, I believe, for the persecution and/or the killing of all
those who still hold to the belief that Jesus Christ is the only way, truth and
life, and who believe that no one comes to God the Father except through faith
in Jesus Christ. The Bible told us this time of severe persecution of the
saints of God was coming. And, this morning he gave me a picture of this New
World Order as digging its heel into the ground, i.e. as resisting its
opposition stubbornly – resisting Christ’s true servants and witnesses – while refusing
to yield or compromise. And this, and world domination, is really what Obama
and his administration is up to. The stuff we read about with Congress is all a
stage play, acted out for our “benefit.”
Each One Responsible
This passage of scripture makes it clear that we are each
responsible for our own sins, and it gives a list of some characteristic traits
and actions that were considered to be sinful or righteous. The Lord Jesus is
giving me some pictures here of what some of these sins look like in today’s
world. He showed me the invasion of one’s privacy, in particular of spying on
people and invading private communications, particularly between them and God, perhaps
taken from the reading of people’s private journals, and the coming against
them because of their beliefs, thoughts and feelings about certain things, in
particular about sin. He is definitely showing me the murdering of innocents
and the killing of Christ’s servants and witnesses throughout the world, I
believe now in America, too. These people who do this are worshipers of false
gods, idolaters, God-haters, adulterers, and betrayers of the people, etc. These
people will surely die for the sins they have committed and will yet commit.
Yet, if we have been made righteous in God’s eyes through
the blood of Jesus Christ shed on the cross for our sins, then we shall surely
live for eternity with God in heaven. Yet, belief in Jesus Christ is more than
just intellectual assent to what he did for us, or an emotional decision made
at an altar, or a get-out-of-jail-free card. We must turn away from our lives
of living for sinful pleasure and for self-gratification, and we must turn to
follow Jesus Christ in obedience to his commands and to his will for our lives
(See Lu. 9:23-25; Eph. 4:17-24; Rom. 6; 1 John 1; Gal. 2:20, et al).
There are many people who are under the false notion that
they are going to heaven because they simply prayed a prayer to receive Christ,
but they never turned from their lifestyles of sin and they do not see the
necessity of obedience to Christ, either. They do not walk in his ways, and
they are not faithful to walk according to his rules, and he does have rules
for the Christian, too (we find them all throughout the New Testament). They
will die in their sins because they did not repent, and they did not turn to
walk faithfully with God.
God said a day of judgment is coming. For some, it has
already come. He said that Satan will go after the saints of God to kill them.
He is presently doing that. The Bible tells us that nations will conspire
together against the Lord and against his anointed ones. That is happening in
our day and time, and I believe we are not far from experiencing this BIG TIME
here in America, too, when Christians will literally have to run for their
lives, as is depicted in these stories of these mass murders in Kenya and in
Pakistan.
Yet, blessed are the ones who die in the Lord from now on,
scripture says. We will have our eternal rewards in heaven because we remained
steadfast in our faith, and we remained true to the testimony of Jesus Christ.
Yet, we must also be careful to not just trust everyone, for I believe many are
being targeted and killed because they trusted the wrong people. Please pray
about what I have shared here about our government and their allies. God said
this time was coming. We should, thus, not turn a blind eye away from the
truth.
Return or Turn
God is calling out to the world and to his idolatrous church
to repent and to turn away from all our sins, lest iniquity be our ruin. We may
be saved for eternity, but we may still be judged by God on this earth because
we refused his voice and we did not repent until judgment came (see Rev. 2-3).
We are to literally cast away our sins, i.e. scripture teaches us to throw off
everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles us so we can run
with perseverance the race God has marked out for us (See Heb. 12). And, then
we are to allow the Spirit of God to transform us in heart and mind and to give
us new or renewed hearts and spirits committed to God and to Jesus Christ as
our only Lord and Savior.
Return to Me / An
Original Work / September 5, 2013
Based off Jeremiah 31;
Cf. Rev. 2-3
I have loved you with
an eternal love,
Which I give to you,
in my faithfulness.
Keep your voice from
weeping,
And your eyes from
tearing.
You will be rewarded
With much fruitfulness.
There is hope for you
that My family
Will return to Me;
live in victory!
Though I discipline in
My love for you,
My heart longs for you
that you walk in truth.
Turn your thoughts to
your Lord.
Choose to walk in His
ways.
Turn from your sins
daily.
Follow Jesus Christ.
Oh, how long will you
wander in your sin?
Give your hearts to
Me; be restored within.
I will satisfy ev’ry
weary soul
Who repents of sin; is
renewed within.
Behold, days are
coming;
It will surely happen;
Though I discipline
them,
They will thrive
again.
I will be their One
and their Only God.
They shall walk in
white; be in Me, made right.
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