James 5:1-6 ESV
“Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days. Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you.”
I live in the United States of America. I have never lived
outside of my country, and I have never visited another country, not even
Canada or Mexico. So, I can only speak for my nation, but that does not mean
that this does not apply to other nations, as well.
But first…
The Lord has given us many teachings in Scripture regarding these
final days before the return of Christ. Not everything is spelled out for us in
exact detail, and some of it is written in poetic form, or with the use of
symbols, and thus must be taken more figuratively rather than literally. The
context usually helps us interpret what is literal or figurative.
Thus, some of these passages of Scripture are interpreted in
many different ways by various people who read them. So, in order for us to
understand what they are teaching us, and how to apply them to our lives and to
our world today, it requires much spiritual discernment.
But we are not going to be spiritually discerning if we are
heavily being influenced by political parties and platforms, television, the
internet, social media, and the mainstream news media and some opposing news
sources which are just two sides of the same whole. We must pull away from
these influences and focus on hearing the Lord from his word.
When Jesus died and rose from the grave, after about 40 days
he returned to the Father in heaven, and then after more time he sent his Holy
Spirit to indwell his followers, which he had promised to do when he was still
on the earth.
He said that the Holy Spirit would teach us all things and
would remind us of all things pertaining to Christ or pertaining to all that
Jesus had taught when he was on the earth. The Holy Spirit would be our
counselor, helper, comforter, encourager, teacher, and guide, and we are to
listen to him.
He is the one who quickens our minds so that we understand
the word of the Lord, and he opens our eyes to see truth. And he gives us
understanding into how the word of the Lord is to be applied to our lives and
world today. For, the word of God is spiritually discerned.
Thus, we need to pray for this spiritual discernment, but again,
we are not going to hear the Spirit’s voice if his voice is being crowded out
by the voices of TV, social media, our friends, and the like, or if we are not
living in purity of devotion to our Lord, but if we are still living in sin.
So, with that said…
The Scriptures warn us of a time when deception will abound,
and when a false Christ will appear on the scene and will deceive many. It also
speaks of a harlot who rides a beast and then it speaks of two different beasts
and of the image of the beast, etc. There are many different views on what all
that means.
I want us to strip away all the suppositions and
interpretations for a minute and just look at what this means very
simplistically. We are being told that a great time of deception is coming,
which includes a great falling away (rebellion), and which includes people and
entities which are going to attempt to deceive us into following them instead
of Christ.
So, if we know that, why are so many believers in Jesus (or
professing Christians) following after men, looking to them to save them? Why
do they so easily believe whatever someone tells them without seeking the Lord’s
face to learn whether or not what they are hearing is truth?
I believe some of that is because we were brainwashed from
birth on up by schools, by institutional churches and their leaders, by
politicians, by TV, then by the internet, and then social media, etc. In America
we were trained early on to worship our government via the pledge of allegiance
to the flag.
So, many of us were brought up believing our government
leaders, that they were the good guys, and believing the news, and worshiping
our nation via the pledge, patriotic songs, patriotic ceremonies, and the
honoring of our military as our heroes who are the ones who protect our
freedoms.
This is where I was sixteen years ago when the Holy Spirit
began to open my eyes to the truth behind all the lies. He began to quicken my
mind to what is going on in my nation, and he sent me to read and to do
searches on so many different subjects. And then he began to confirm what he
was showing me in so many different ways, too.
But, it would be nearly impossible to verify all the Lord spoke
to me about our present world, for so much of that information is now hidden or
it has been removed or the sources that may be good sources have been deleted
or altered or discredited by those who are the deceivers.
But then they are telling the truth of what they are doing,
too, if we just pay attention, for the truth is hidden in plain sight. They
leave hints for us all the time. It is in the wording in their news stories,
either written or verbal, or in their bloopers or supposed slips of the tongue.
But the bottom line…
But the bottom line here in all of this is that we are
living in that time prophesied in Scripture, and these things are taking place
right before our eyes, and many are deceived into believing the lies because
they have been brainwashed and mind manipulated and hypnotized by the media.
The judgment of God is upon us for the reasons mentioned in
this Scripture. So, the call here is to repent of your sin, to turn to the Lord
in surrender to his will, to pull away from all these worldly influences and to
get alone with God and to let him show you what can only be seen through
spiritual eyes.
Stop putting your faith and trust in humans and in what they
tell you, for many liars and deceivers are out there lying and deceiving the
people, even the people of God, and even within “the church.” Don’t trust in
the fact check sites, either, for many of them are part of the evil plot to
deceive.
Humble yourselves before the Lord, and let the Holy Spirit
speak to your hearts. Let him change you and renew you and show you the way of
righteousness and truth and expose to you all the evil and deceptions that are
blinding people’s eyes. Then commit your way to the Lord and follow him in
truth until the day he comes to take us home.
An
Original Work / September 26, 2011
When
in the stillness of this moment,
Speak
to me, Lord, I humbly pray.
Be
my desire, set me on fire,
Teach
me to love always.
Help
me to walk in fellowship with You,
Listening
to You; sit at Your feet.
Whisper
Your words to me,
Oh,
how gently, guiding me in Your truth.
While
we are waiting for Your blessing,
Lord,
in our hearts be King today.
Help
us to live for you ev’ry moment,
List’ning
to what You say.
May
we not stray from your word within us,
Help
us obey You, Lord, in all things,
Walking
each moment, Lord, in Your presence,
Our
offerings to You bring.
Help
us to love You, Lord, our master;
Be
an example of Your love,
Helping
the hurting, lift up the fallen,
Showing
them Your great love.
Teach
them to love You, follow You always,
Bearing
their cross and turning from sin;
Walking
in daily fellowship with You,
Making
You Lord and King.
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