“The next day, as they went on their journey and drew near the city, Peter went up on the housetop to pray, about the sixth hour. Then he became very hungry and wanted to eat, but while they made ready, he fell into a trance and saw heaven opened and an object like a great sheet bound at the four corners, descending to him and let down to the earth. In it were all kinds of four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, creeping things, and birds of the air. And a voice came to him, “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.” But Peter said, “Not so, Lord! For I have never eaten anything common or unclean.” And a voice spoke to him the second time. “What God has cleansed you must not call common.” This was done three times. And the object was taken up into heaven again” (Acts 10:9-16).

As little children, we often need to be coaxed into eating certain foods. Somehow, toddlers simply sense what they are being offered as something which they perceive as noxious. Therein is the description concerning taste acquisition. Even a grown man like Peter struggled with this issue!

The grace and mercy of our Heavenly Father knows no boundaries. He created a host of things for the benefit of humanity. Being spoiled for choice in terms of options for the palate is truly a wonderful gift from God. He made very sure that the human race would never be sick and tired of eating the same old stuff. He ensured variety would be a normality. At the same time, He did not want anyone to go hungry, just like He told Peter to kill and eat.

A wide variation in what individuals consume through their mouths became a pivotal piece in the global economy. It was diverse yet highly interconnected. Dairy and meat producers required feed for their stock; at the same time, feed growers were in need of fertilizers. There was need for the meat and dairy items to go through the final stages of production before arriving at the hands of the consumer. With all this in mind, a lot of people would find gainful employment as well as business opportunities. In this manner, it was possible to sustain societies!

No question about it, the Lord never desired for anyone on this planet to go hungry. There was an abundance of foods, and the same could be said about variety. There was truly more than enough to feed the entire globe, including surpluses that could be kept in storage – ready to be used in contingencies like a drought or flood. However, the fallen nature of mankind stands in the way up to this present day. It is this vile element that energizes wars, corrupt practices, and other idiosyncrasies. More than enough to cause hunger and famine, as we are all familiar with.

The fallen nature came about because mankind shrugged aside God’s commandment and instead caved in to the father of lies. In these last days, the lie has taken the form of a delusion, causing the seemingly most learned to come up with concepts and arguments which read like a page from a horror story. It was indeed inconceivable to make mention of stuff like carbon footprints until very recently. At the rate things are going, it would not be very long before folks get obsessed with the amount of carbon they emit. Good enough for them to reject the very blessings the Lord has endowed them with. They assume that by not eating meat or boycotting the dairy industry, the planet would be saved from ultimate devastation. Excuse me; all this insanity is going beyond the green shoot stage as I write.

There are a significant number of level heads who would never buy this nonsense. So the cabal of cold hearts calling the shots have but recently upped the ante – so it seems. Record temperatures, raging fires, and acute water shortages have sprouted very recently. These nasties will go on the climate change drumbeat, screaming for drastic actions.

Could these cause some minds to tilt in their favor? Maybe some, but not everybody. There is currently some speculation that these extremities are engineered for the purpose of stuffing the climate change agenda into many throats!

It is without any shadow of a doubt that these suited shenanigans are the ones doing the bidding for the evil one. They are outrightly repudiating the blessings of their Creator with wickedness stemming from the son of perdition. They yearn for lawlessness to triumph over righteousness. In doing so, they hope to make a mockery of the Living Word! Nothing really to unseat those who live and breathe the Counsel of God. Holy Writ talks about “forbidding to marry and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth” (1 Timothy 4:3).

The stage is being set for all these impediments to flourish; they will during the Tribulation. Aside from rhetoric denouncing traditional God-instituted marriage that sees no end, how about the recent destruction of food processing facilities? At the end of the day, these evil people want humanity to have God-given rights and privileges taken away – all for their own benefit!

Perhaps this could serve as a sneak preview of what it would be like during the time of Jacob’s Trouble. No more meaty barbecues, and thumbs down for romantic candlelight dinners. A very restricted menu comprising of mainly bugs and crickets. The same goes for life per se; an incredible barrage of impediments that make a typical day in Alcatraz quite comical – if there was a sliver of seconds for that sort of thing in the worst moment in mankind’s history. I reckon a lot of people who follow the prophetic truth would thump their fists on the table when it is said by certain cold hearts that owning nothing would be a joyous thing!

Here is my take (five cents worth) concerning the above catchphrase that causes consternation among many in the Body of Christ. After a considerable period of time in a meaningless plus soulless lifestyle, would not something perceived as a comfort out of nowhere be joyfully embraced? Very much like Guyana in the fall of 1978. The crowd that was run ragged by the deceit of their guru by the name of Jim Jones simply bought it. They drank the Kool-Aid; they believed the lie about experiencing great joy from gulping it down. It was never the case.

There is a reasonable prospect of a repeat performance somewhere in the Tribulation, except that it would be a mega amplification of the Guyana tragedy by way of body count. Tormented minds and strangulated souls for quite a while produce depressive states. Enough to consider self-destruction as a viable option!

“So I looked, and behold, a pale horse. And the name of him who sat on it was Death, and Hades followed with him. And power was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beasts of the earth” (Revelation 6:8).

For those who do not know Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, you will be witnessing this in the not really that distant future. Would it be unthinkable that you could be a part of these painful proceedings?

Here is the bottom line; Jesus Christ is the only way out of the upcoming maelstrom. Come to Him now when there is still a limited time, which is fast fading. Ask Him to cleanse you from all unrighteousness, and let Him shepherd your soul forever.

Yours in Christ

Edwin

Contact me at edwinuk13@gmail.com

Not too long ago, the song “Oh Gentle Shepherd” came to my mind, and I was blessed to be able to post a message using this wonderful hymn. In just a short period of time since then, violence, evil, hatred, and world chaos have increased significantly. Revisiting this topic seemed appropriate for today’s atmosphere. Because the song by Cindy Walker (7/1918 – 3/2006) of Mart, Texas, was already given, I will invite anyone to listen to the different versions on YouTube. My personal favorite is by Jim Reeves (8/1923 – 7/1964) of Galloway, Texas. (ESV – any emphasis is mine.)

From the first sin in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3), all the way to the culture of today, evil has been growing by leaps and bounds. This world has now reached the stage where the speed by which evil is gaining ground is unprecedented since the days of Noah and Lot. As for our Heavenly Father, He is not at all surprised. His “Love Letter” to us – the Bible – is explicit as to what His creation would evolve to by the end of this age. Some scriptures in this message have been repeated, but God’s word is always appropriate.

Before anyone can take the Bible seriously, they must first believe that the Lord God Jehovah is the one and only Triune God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. All other so-called deities are man-made, and their followers are led by threats and coercion. No one in them ever knows if they’ve done enough to “please” their gods and whether or not they have a place in their “paradise.” Anything that has to do with the one and only True God is considered to be foolishness to them (1 Corinthians 1:18).

Our Father is a God of love (John 3:16-18) who will not take delight in causing anyone to feel insignificant. We are all important in His sight. He wants us to know for certain whether or not we will have eternity with Him, and the requirements are not difficult at all. Some may say that the way to Jesus is “hard,” but that’s only because they do not trust the word to be faithful and true. They believe there has to be more they can personally do to earn or buy their way to Heaven. Titus 1:2 specifically states that God never lies. Ephesians 2:8-9 tells us we are saved by grace, not by any works we can do, so that no one can boast that they saved themselves.

Romans 10:17 tells us how to gain faith. “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the Word of Christ.” False religions say there are many ways to Heaven and that Jesus was just a good prophet. John 14:6 plainly states, “And Jesus said to him, I am the Way, the Truth and the Life; no one comes to the Father except through Me.” Then there’s Acts 4:12, where Peter declares, “And there is Salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under Heaven, given among men, by which we must be saved.” Romans 8:1 states, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

The world is swayed by a fallen archangel called Lucifer or Satan. He is notorious for causing doubts in the minds of many with the same line he used on Eve at the beginning; “Did God really say?” With all the enticements available in the world today, that old line still works wonders. People would rather believe the lies and pursue so-called earthly “pleasures” than to secure their eternal souls with the One who gave us the most wonderful gift of all.

Jesus wasn’t forced to come to this earth and go through a terrible and painful death for us; He came willingly (John 10:18). He didn’t come just for a specific group of people, but for every living soul that will accept Him (John 10:16). Jesus Himself stated that He was the “Good Shepherd” and that He would know His own sheep, and they would know Him. He stated that the Father knows Him, and He knows the Father, and He would lay down His life for the sheep (John 10:14-15).

To a supposedly logical mind, one would think that when an offer to have a forever, immortal and imperishable body is made and to have a forever Home created by the Son of God Himself for every true believer, to never face death or suffering again, that the line to be a part of this would be never-ending. Sadly, this is not the case. As time gets closer to the end of this age, more people are turning away from the Savior than are calling out to be saved.

Matthew 7:13-14; “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow, and the way is hard that leads to life, and those that find it are few.” The Father has given each and every person the right to freely choose which pathway and which gate they will enter. He forces no one to accept the offer of the free gift that was paid for in full by His Son, Jesus the Christ, on a cruel cross at Calvary.

Hebrews 10:4 states it’s impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to completely save us; however, God allowed these sacrifices as a “temporary” measure until the perfect sacrifice could be made. That sacrifice could only be through a part of the Father Himself in the form of His Son, Jesus.

Although Jesus became fully human while He lived on this earth, He was still fully God. For that short period of earth’s history, He willingly allowed Himself to become lower than the angels (Hebrews 2:9) until the sacrifice could be made. He was the only “Human” in the history of the earth that led a sinless life and the only one that ever would. Our Father is all about perfection, and even one sin would have disqualified our Savior’s blood sacrifice.

While Jesus was human, and after fasting for 40 days, Satan was allowed to try and tempt Him to sin in several different ways. This is recorded in Matthew 4:1-11 and Luke 4:1-13. Jesus stood against Satan, and at the end of the trial, He was victorious. It’s sad that when Satan fell from Heaven, about 1/3 of the heavenly host fell with him, therefore becoming his “demons.” They have no pathway to forgiveness, and the lake of fire was prepared specifically for them (Matthew 25:41).

Our Gentle Shepherd loves each and every one of us, even those who will never accept Him as their Savior. He gave us a beautiful example of His love while on the cross when He asked that those who were crucifying Him be forgiven (Luke 23:34). His plea for forgiveness even extended to the religious leaders of His day because He loved them for their eternal souls. He just didn’t like them as a person because of their evil hearts. He spoke openly and honestly with them on numerous occasions, and only a few believed in Him. The quest for notoriety and power clouded the majority’s reasoning. They could only see as far as that day without regard for their eternal souls.

To become a part of His flock, just follow the simple steps of Romans 10:9-13. It’s as simple as Admitting or confessing we are sinners and asking forgiveness from the Savior. Next, Believe and have faith that Jesus is truly the Son of God and that He gave His life as a sacrifice so that we could have the gift of eternal life in Heaven. We also believe that He died a human death on that cross, and God raised Him from the dead three days later. Finally, all who truly Call on Him to be their Savior will be saved.

The unforgivable sin is not having received and accepted Jesus as Savior when a person takes their last breath on this earth. The outcome will be the Great White Throne Judgment of Revelation 20:11-15, from which there is no pardon. All at that judgment will spend eternity in the Lake of Fire with Satan and his demons.

As stated earlier, we are at the point of the approaching unknown day and hour. The call for all believers, the Rapture, could take place at any hour, any minute, even any second now. For the scriptures on this, see 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17 and 1 Corinthians 15:51-53.

The Father will force no one to call out but will accept all who do. Jesus paid for our sins with a very cruel death that should have been ours. The grace of Jesus and the mercy of the Father is ours for the asking. No amount of works, as stated earlier, could earn even one second of time in Heaven. Remember, “Jesus paid it all; all to Him I owe; Sin had left a crimson stain; He washed it white as snow.”

Today would not be too early to call on Him to get your free gift. It is possible that waiting another day could place a person in a time that this earth will go through that is worse than it has ever been. Please do not gamble with your eternal soul.

Shalom Aleichem – Peace Be with You!

huebshman46@gmail.com