Every Face Turned Pale

Jeremiah 30:4-7 ESV

 

These are the words that the Lord spoke concerning Israel and Judah:

 

“Thus says the Lord:

We have heard a cry of panic,

    of terror, and no peace.

Ask now, and see,

    can a man bear a child?

Why then do I see every man

    with his hands on his stomach like a woman in labor?

    Why has every face turned pale?

Alas! That day is so great

    there is none like it;

it is a time of distress for Jacob;

    yet he shall be saved out of it.”

 

Perilous Times

 

In the year 2021 we live in perilous times. Our world is crumbling before our very eyes. Trouble and distress abound on every corner. People are fighting amongst themselves over multiple issues, some of which don’t really exist, some of which have been manufactured in part, and some of which are real but they have been inflated and sensualized in order to tear people apart.

 

We have an enemy coming against us strongly on multiple fronts and sometimes where they are hitting us the hardest is barely noticed because it is through deception and manipulation that they are attacking us, plus they use other inflated or manufactured issues to keep us distracted in the hope that we won’t notice the real battle being waged against us.

 

And, at least here in America, many men, the ones who are supposed to lead us and protect us, the ones who are supposed to be leading the charge in the army of the Lord, raising the battle cry against our true enemy, who are to be out there crying out against the lies of the enemy, and who are supposed to be proclaiming the truth of God’s word, are missing in action.

 

Instead of listening to God and answering his call of holiness and righteousness, and instead of leading their families and their church congregations through example and in word to the truth of God’s word, and away from the lies of Satan, many are succumbing to the enemy and they are submitting to the teachings and instructions and influence of the world.

 

These men who profess faith in Jesus Christ, many of them pastors and those who are students of the Scriptures are not rising up, they are not standing strong on the truths of Scripture, and they are not living godly and holy lives committed to Jesus Christ, but they have succumbed to the influences of the world and of worldly instruction, even within the church.

 

And they are living double lives, professing one thing outwardly while they often live the exact opposite. They are lovers of pleasure and not lovers of God. Many of them are addicted to porn, or they spend their spare time playing games and watching movies and videos, or they play on social media, and they joke around and poke fun at others, but they don’t love.

 

For they have been deceived and manipulated into believing that they can live for themselves and for self-pleasure, and that their spare time belongs to them to spend it how they want, for their own enjoyment, and that they should immerse themselves in their culture in order to blend in with the world so the world will not be offended by them.

 

The Cheap Grace Gospel

 

Basically they have bought into the cheap grace gospel which is a half-truth gospel which teaches that we can “receive Christ” and have our sins forgiven and now have heaven secured us but that nothing else is required of us. Some may teach holiness, but do not insist on it. Most teach more of a social gospel claiming “good deeds” is living out the gospel.

 

So, what has happened as a result of all of that is that we don’t have many men at all who are leading us spiritually in the ways of God and of holiness, who are standing strong on truth, and who are publicly declaring the whole counsel of God and who are strongly refuting the lies of Satan. But they are satisfied living in immorality or in spiritual laziness and for self-pleasure.

 

And all of this is evidenced by their deeds, some of which reveals this multiplicity of declaring one thing with their lips while they live another. And so they are not daily dying with Christ to sin and to self. They are not living holy lives pleasing to God. And so they are not leading their families and their church congregations to put sin to death daily and to walk in holiness.

 

And this is why we are in the present situation we are in is because the men of God are largely AWOL and they are not standing on the truth of God’s word and declaring the whole counsel of God and leading us by example and in word and deed that we must forsake our sins and walk in obedience to our Lord.

 

So, God Called Women

 

And so God has called some women to do what they should be doing, but are not doing, because the women are willing to do what God says. But they are not supposed to be the ones to lead the church, and to lead their families, so in many cases all they can do is just share what the Lord gives them to share and trust that the Lord will use it to lead people to genuine faith in Jesus Christ and to walk in his righteousness and holiness.

 

And in many cases these women who have answered the call of God to go out into the world and to spread the truth and to expose the lies and to call people away from their wicked lifestyles and to holiness are being rejected by most of the church, and they are being shunned, and the men are not standing with them and supporting them, but often are rejecting them.

 

And so they must often stand alone. And I don’t know how many women are doing this, but I do know there are some, for I read what they write, and I know God’s calling upon my own life, and I know the rejection I have faced for answering this calling of God on my life, but I also know the critical times in which we live and the urgency of getting out the truth, too.

 

And so every day I listen to the Lord, and I hear what he wants to say through his word, and I write out what he teaches me, and I place it on the internet, and the Lord takes it where he wants it to go. And I believe he is using it to change lives, to lead people to repentance, and to lead them to walks of holiness and obedient faith in Jesus Christ.

 

And even if they reject the words now, I believe God’s word will not return empty, so if I am sharing the Scriptures, then God will use them to accomplish his purposes in people’s hearts and lives both now and in the future. For, this is my calling from God to write out what he teaches me each day from his word and to put it on the internet.

 

Jeremiah 30:8-9 ESV

 

“And it shall come to pass in that day, declares the Lord of hosts, that I will break his yoke from off your neck, and I will burst your bonds, and foreigners shall no more make a servant of him. But they shall serve the Lord their God and David their king, whom I will raise up for them.”

 

This is my hope, not for physical deliverance from a physical enemy necessarily, but for spiritual deliverance of so many people who are living under the control of Satan and under the power and influence of the world, that one day we will see a revival, and blinded eyes will be opened, and many people will surrender their hearts to Jesus Christ to live for him.

 

Living by Faith

 

Lyrics by James Wells, 1918

v. 4 by Robert E. Winsett, 1918

Music by J. L. Heath, 1918

 

I care not today what the morrow may bring,

If shadow or sunshine or rain,

The Lord I know ruleth o’er everything,

And all of my worries are vain.

 

Living by faith in Jesus above,

Trusting, confiding in His great love;

From all harm safe in His sheltering arm,

I’m living by faith and feel no alarm.

 

Though tempests may blow and the storm clouds arise,

Obscuring the brightness of life,

I’m never alarmed at the overcast skies—

The Master looks on at the strife.

 

I know that He safely will carry me through,

No matter what evils betide;

Why should I then care though the tempest may blow,

If Jesus walks close to my side.

 

Our Lord will return for His loved ones someday,

Our troubles will then all be o’er;

The Master so gently will lead us away,

Beyond that blest heavenly shore.

 

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