Storms of Destruction
Psalm 57:1-3 ESV
“Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me,
for in you my
soul takes refuge;
in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge,
till the storms
of destruction pass by.
I cry out to God Most High,
to God who
fulfills his purpose for me.
He will send from heaven and save me;
he will put to
shame him who tramples on me. Selah
God will send out his steadfast love and his
faithfulness!”
We are suffering some “storms of destruction” right now with
all the rioting and destruction of property that is going on in the USA, and in
other nations in the world. But the destruction is not merely physical. There
is a much more sinister destruction at work here behind the scenes of it all.
For, it is a destruction of the “old order” of life on this
earth so that, out of the ashes of the old order, a new order of Satan (of the
beast) can rise and take over. And, this includes the destruction of God-given faith
in Jesus Christ, i.e. of the gospel of our salvation – a devastation which has
been going on for a long while, but which is now being taken to the next level.
So, how is this taking place?
Well, it was initiated by Satan, who wanted to be God, and
who rebelled against God, and so he was cast out of God’s heaven, along with a
third of the angels who rebelled with him. And, Satan has been against God and
against the people of God, ever since God created Adam and Eve, too.
Satan tried to take out Jesus from the time of his birth,
all during his ministry on the earth, and via having him put to death on a
cross. But in his death, Jesus put sin to death, and in his resurrection, he
rose victorious over sin, the grave, and Satan, on our behalf. So, Satan is
already defeated.
But that doesn’t stop Satan from still trying to win. When
he couldn’t stop Jesus, he then focused his attention on Jesus’ followers, and
on the message of the gospel of our salvation. And, he has been coming against
the saints of God and the gospel ever since the crucifixion of Jesus on that
cross.
And, Satan is now using a movement of men (of human origin),
which is calling for or which is demanding equality and social justice, to
bring about this “new order” of things. This movement, though it has some good
intentions, is being used as a springboard to bring about this “new order.”
For, social justice has to do with the
redistribution of wealth, fulfilling our societal roles and getting what is due
us from society. It has to do with “benefits and burdens of cooperation,” being
progressive, attending to the “common good” of others, and conforming to “societal
norms."
Therefore, "social justice" is anti-God, and it is
against the gospel of Jesus Christ, for its goal is that we all be alike, and
that we all agree together, and that we all conform to the norms of society as
determined by the world, not by God. So, to cooperate with social justice will
mean the abandoning of our faith in Jesus Christ. So, if we say “No,” we will have
to pay the price.
An Example
It is kind of like what is happening here in South Carolina regarding
the virus stuff. Our governor has now put together a program whereby all restaurants
have to meet certain safety guidelines set down by the state. If the restaurant
owners follow the safety guidelines, they get a sticker, a seal of approval
from the state. If they don’t comply, they don’t. And, the citizens of SC are
being urged to dine ONLY at restaurants displaying the sticker.
When I first read this, it immediately recalled what it
talks about in the Scriptures regarding the mark of the beast. If we don’t take
the mark of the beast, we will not be able to buy or sell. And, this is where
this is all headed. The state, the government, is going to mandate standards for
all of us to go by. If we comply, we get certain privileges. If not, we don’t
get them.
In the Midst of Lying Ones
Psalm 57:4-5 ESV
“My soul is in the midst of lions;
I lie down amid
fiery beasts—
the children of man, whose teeth are spears and arrows,
whose tongues
are sharp swords.
“Be exalted, O God, above the heavens!
Let your glory
be over all the earth!”
Like I said, I believe there are people participating in
this movement that have good intentions. They want to see people treated with
fairness and with respect. But there are also people in this movement, mainly at
higher up levels, who do not have good intentions, but who are using this as a
springboard to bring us into this “new order” of the beast (of Revelation). So,
we need to be people of discernment who can separate truth from lies.
For, ALL people have suffered something. Everyone has stuff.
As Christians we are to take a biblical approach to suffering. And there should
be no respecter of persons. We should demonstrate equal concern for ALL people
who suffer injustice at the hands of others. Love as Jesus loves.
Each of us should examine his own heart. If we have sinned
against someone, then we need to confess that sin. We don't confess what we did
not do. And, we should not bend over backwards to show special treatment to ANY
race. We should treat all people the same, as Jesus did.
We should live our lives for Jesus and follow his example
for how he treated people. Color should never be an issue in our relationships
with other people. People are people regardless of the color of their skin. And,
don't apologize for who God made you to be, either.
A Net for My Steps
Psalm 57:6-11 ESV
“They set a net for my steps;
my soul was
bowed down.
They dug a pit in my way,
but they have
fallen into it themselves. Selah
My heart is steadfast, O God,
my heart is
steadfast!
I will sing and make melody!
Awake, my glory!
Awake, O harp and lyre!
I will awake
the dawn!
I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples;
I will sing
praises to you among the nations.
For your steadfast love is great to the heavens,
your
faithfulness to the clouds.
“Be exalted, O God, above the heavens!
Let your glory be
over all the earth!”
If we allow ourselves to get caught up in this movement on
the level to where we are calling for social justice and equality, then we must
be prepared for what that means. For, it will mean socialism or communism, and
it will mean forced cooperation with the “international community,” i.e. with the
New World Order, or we will pay the consequences for disunity.
And, ultimately this is going to come down to making a final
decision of whether we will say “Yes” to the world or “No” to the world (and to
Satan), and to follow Jesus Christ with our lives.
If we say “No” to the world, we will have to pay the
consequences for not following the guidelines of the state for what they decide
should be our belief system, and for what they determine should be the “societal
norms” for all people to have to adhere to.
And, this is going to involve much persecution of Christians,
and of the gospel of our salvation, which will be on the chopping block, for
certain.
So, what should our response be to it all?
We need to call on God in prayer, praying for his mercy.
And, we must take refuge in the Lord, and NOT in man. We must rest in the Lord
and in his sovereign will over our lives, too, and commit our ways to him.
And, we must accept who God made us to be. We must accept
that he created all of us, and he made us the various colors that we are, and
he placed us in the homes in which we grew up. Nothing happened to us by chance.
He allowed us to suffer injustice, abuse, scorn, and mistreatment. For, that is
all part of his purpose to conform us to his likeness.
It doesn’t make evil right. And, it doesn’t mean we should
not expose the fruitless deeds of darkness. We should. But then we should share
the only hope for the sin-sick soul, which is faith in Jesus Christ and
submission to the Lordship of Christ. And, it is death to sin with Christ, and
it is living to Christ and to his righteousness, by his grace and in his power
(Rom. 6).
And, we need to let God be God, and remember that vengeance
is his, and he will repay. One day our persecutors will either repent of their
sins, and find faith in Jesus Christ, which should be our hope, or they will
face God’s judgment, and they will be put to shame for the evil they have done.
And, they will fall into the pit that they dug for us.
So, commit your way to the Lord. Trust in him, and not in
ANY HUMAN to save you. Let the Lord be your peace in the midst of this storm.
And, sing praises to him, even when everything we have known seems to all be
falling apart at the seams. Never lose sight of the fact that God is in
control, and that he will have his way in this situation. To God be the glory!
He Gave Me a Song
Songwriter: Alton
Howard
He took my burdens all away, up to a brighter day…
Brighter the way grows ev’ry day, walking the heav’nly way…
I am redeemed no more to die, never to say goodbye…
And some of these days in that fair land, sing with the
chorus grand…
He gave me a song, to sing about
He lifted me from sin and doubt
O, praise His name, He is my King
A wonderful song He is to me
*Caution: This link may contain ads
No comments:
Post a Comment