General Articles

Christians, Stop Shopping in the Market of Fear :: By Lynda Janzen

Published on: by RR7

There is no doubt now that the End Times are firmly upon us. Daily, the news gets worse and worse. Fear is being peddled on every side as though to thoroughly demoralize and mentally debilitate us citizens at large, to better enable the evil ones of the world to have sway over us. And that is exactly what indeed is happening.

Fear doesn’t necessarily paralyze. Fear can spook a body into acting irrationally. If you have ever truly encountered a deer in the headlights, as I have on several occasions, you know that rather than being paralyzed, the deer will often react in unpredictable ways. Sometimes they will even jump onto the hood rather than jump to the side of the road.

It seems people do similar things when ‘spooked’ by fear. The ‘pandemic’ has shown those of us who are still thinking for themselves just how irrationally a frightened human being can act. We have seen how people, when threatened with being sexist or racist, or with losing a job, will often adopt the most insane of agendas.

Christians — and I am speaking to all of you who are born-again, born in the Spirit, Christians — when are we going to stop shopping in the Fear Market and begin buying firmly into God’s promises. This endless listing of trials and horrors is getting us nowhere we need to be. We need, instead, to be trusting holus-bolus, surrendering completely in every cell of our being to our Redeemer, Saving, Loving God – the One Who made heaven and earth and each one of us in His own image.

Each morning and evening, practicing Jews repeat the Shema, which is the Hebrew word for ‘hear.’ The first line of the prayer in Hebrew is: “Shema, Yisrael, Adonai, Eloheinu, Adonai Echad.” “Hear, O Israel, the LORD, our God, the LORD is One.” The following lines of the prayer are as familiar to Christians as the LORD’s Prayer: “Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength” (Deuteronomy 6:4-5).

Perhaps we are so inured to these words that we have somehow lost the strength of their meaning. The LORD God wants us to love Him with everything we are, everything we have, everything that is in us … right down to every cell in our bodies.

The hymn “I Surrender All” is a pretty good summation of how much we are called to love the LORD and trust completely in Him. “All to Jesus I surrender; all to Him I freely give. I will ever love and trust Him, in His presence daily live.” According to the words of Deuteronomy and Jesus in Matthew 22:37, before all else, we are to love God completely. If we love Him in every fiber of our being, it means we also trust Him in the same way. If you love completely, you trust completely.

So here’s my question, Christians: Why are you still so afraid? Why do you wallow in the horror that fills our news every day and belabor it until your soul is sickened? Stop! Stop filling yourselves with dread of what is coming on the world. Not one of us ought to be surprised at what is happening when it has all been laid out so neatly in the Word of God for us.

In Revelation 2, Jesus tells the church at Ephesus that they have forsaken the love they had for Him when they first believed. Though they have worked hard and done many deeds of kindness and charity, though they have persevered in the face of wickedness, they have fallen from their first lofty love and trust in Him. And Jesus calls them to ‘Repent and do the things you did at first.”

Coming to Jesus in the first place is a huge step for us sinners. It takes an enormous amount of trust and love to put our hand in His, surrender our Will to His, repent of our sin, and turn away from the life we once knew. It seems incredible that, for some, after a few years, faith can be taken for granted, but it does happen. Sometimes, our first love and trust need a boost, just as the Church as Ephesus did.

There is another lesson for us in Jesus’ letter to the angel at the Church at Laodicea. He reprimands the Church for being lukewarm. They have become rich and complacent, and though still going through the motions of worship and praise, they blow neither hot nor cold for the LORD. Jesus says He could even bear it if they were cold more than this wishy-washy lukewarmness. They are sitting on their comfort, their wealth. Not needing anything material, they have forgotten they need the Saviour, the Lover of their souls, the Lamb of God to Whom they were betrothed at conversion. And therefore, they are no longer surrendered to Him.

In total surrender, we trust that no matter how wicked the world at large is, no matter how messy our personal world is, no matter what is happening around us and to us, we have certain promises from God that He has our back. As believing, loving, trusting Christians, we have nothing to fear.

How often did our Saviour say, “Don’t be afraid,” “Fear not,” and like phrases? We need to stop shopping in the Market of Fear and start buying more into the promises of God that He will never leave nor forsake us.

In order to do that, here are a handful of verses (in addition to the Shema) that would be helpful to visit daily:

a.) “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).

b.) “… I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our LORD” (Romans 8:38-39).

c.) “The LORD is with me; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?” (Psalm 118:6). (The whole of this psalm speaks to trusting the LORD in the midst of all kinds of evil.)

d.) Jesus said: “In this world you will have tribulation [trouble, testing]. But take heart! [Be of courage!] I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

e.) Jesus said: “Since you have kept My command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth. I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have so that no one will take your crown” (Revelation 3:10-11).

It would seem that the time to speculate whether the End is near, or here, has long passed. All the passages of Matthew 24, Mark 19, and Luke 21 are all evident in the world now, as are Paul’s words to Timothy about the terrible times in the last days. That list of evils has now been unleashed in the world. In fact, Paul says, “everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” Rather than being alarmed at knowing this, we can be at peace also knowing that Jesus has us firmly in His care.

If you find you are reading or writing fearful things a lot of the time, please consider what you are doing to yourself and others. Ask yourself if this is helpful. Faithful Christians, who know God’s Word, can help both ourselves and non-believers to find peace in Jesus’ Good News rather than visiting and re-visiting the evil news of the world.

Having written that is not to say that we ignore what is happening in the world. We are to be in the world, but not of the world, until Christ comes for us. Jesus prayed to the Father, “I am coming to You now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of My joy within them. I have given them Your Word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that You protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it” (John 17:13-16).

This world is NOT our home. You and I have nothing to fear from either the world or anyone in it. Our home is with the One Who loved us so much that He sent His one and only Son that all who believe in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.

So, let’s all stop shopping in the Market of Fear and begin appreciating what Jesus has promised us – to keep us from the Wrath of God that is coming on the world and to appreciate what He has bought for us; that is, eternal salvation, eternal life in Him. And all God’s children said, “Thanks be to God!”

Are you Rapture Ready? If anyone reading this devotional has not yet received Jesus as their Saviour, but God has touched your heart by His Holy Word, please email me (amadea649@gmail.com) or find a Bible-believing local church and ask the Pastor what you must do to be saved in Grace. In the meantime, please consider the ABCs of Salvation:

A – Admit

Admit what you have done wrong and ask forgiveness.

Romans 3:23 “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
Romans 6:23 “The wages of sin is death.”
I John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

B – Believe

Believe that Jesus died on the cross and rose again as payment for your sins.

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
1 Corinthians 15:3-4 “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.”
Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates His own love for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

C – Confess and Choose

Confess and choose to allow God to be in charge of your life.

Matthew 16:24 “Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.”
Romans 10:9 “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
Romans 10:13 “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

This article, based on God’s Holy Word, was written by the inspiration of God’s own Holy Spirit. All glory to God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Blessings,

Lynda Janzen

Supreme Justice :: By Terry James

Published on: by RR10

Advancing forces of wickedness, using tactics and strategies we’ve become familiar with, continue their juggernaut ways. We’ve watched and warned for literally years that worship at the altar of Mother Earth will be at the center of Satan’s blueprint for bringing all into compliance with, ultimately, Antichrist’s regime. It seems clear that America, under the current administration, is leading the way in implementing those aforementioned tactics and strategies.

In what seems almost a mockery of Heaven’s Supreme Court of Justice, we are witnessing formation of Satan’s preparation for the next era of human history that will be the worst of all, according to Jesus. The reason we can know this is a force of wickedness, in my estimation, is the deceiving nature of those fomenting a spirit of dictatorial behavior.

One US representative of the Democrat Party I heard referenced on a radio program was giddy over the updated development of Biden’s Executive Order 12898. Rep Nancy Pace, in a threatening tone and with a raised voice, said that the airlines had better adhere to the new demands of the Office of Environmental Justice (OEJ), or they would “be outta here!”

But to understand the reprobate minds foisting this new control implementation, OEJ, through executive order, one has only to know their nature regarding children and abortion, then look at and listen to the wording in their declared action to save “Mother Earth.”

This wicked mindset, as we know of late, has them raging as ravening wolves in packs. They are enraged at the leaked Supreme Court decision to impose certain limitations of abortion—not end it, but limit it.

These packs of evil minions are part of Satan’s blueprint—the part that hates humanity and wants the destruction of as many of us as he and his minions can manage. They are in a rage, threatening the “conservative” Supreme Court Justices if they don’t change their minds and vote against the imposed limitations on Roe v. Wade and the abortion process. They have surrounded the Justices’ homes and have dealt other ominous threats and assaults, as we know.

They have seen to it that between 60 million and 70 million babies have been murdered in their mothers’ wombs (or even after birth). They have championed using the aborted baby parts for various things, both medical and other. This political party can only be deemed by Heaven as the party of death.

Yet here is a portion of what this same party of death says regarding their promise to save “Mother Earth” through their environmental demands.

“This is a historic moment that environmental justice communities have been working toward for decades. President Biden and Vice President Harris are, for the first time ever, bringing the voices, perspectives, and expertise of environmental justice communities into a formal advisory role at the White House,” said Cecilia Martinez, Senior Director for Environmental Justice, CEQ. “The advisory council builds off the important work of EPA’s National Environmental Justice Advisory Council and will provide input and recommendations to senior leaders across government as this administration works to clean up toxic pollution, create good-paying, union jobs in all communities, and give every child in America the chance to grow up healthy.” (“White House Announces Environmental Justice Advisory,” White House press release, March 29, 2022)

Look again at the very last line in the announcement: “and give every child in America the chance to grow up healthy.”

Satan is the father of lies, the Scripture tells us. Even he can’t keep his minions from occasionally mistakenly exposing the lies with which he so masterfully deceives.

He has brought about the death of millions upon countless millions of babies in America and around the globe. The death count is still mounting. There are some with sensibilities within America who are trying to at least slow the rate of this infanticide. The demonic forces, both human and supernatural, are enraged, gnashing their teeth and howling viciously like carnivorous beasts at those who want to deprive them of their killing of babies. Yet the same political party that carries out Satan’s murder of millions upon millions of little ones wants us to believe that they want to save Mother Earth so the children can live in and enjoy a clean environment.

To say that their attempts to deceive are duplicitous is one of the great understatements of all time.

But the lying treachery is exposed. The” justice” that the evil forces of this world want–such as “environmental justice”—emanates from the one who wants to usurp God’s throne and destroy His creation called man. Supreme justice will one day soon deal with the deceivers and would-be masters who would implement their wicked, hell-spawned dictatorships through lies and deceit.

The Lord wants us to stand against evil in these closing hours of this quickly fleeting age. Christ’s call to His Bride, the Church, can’t be too far distant.

The prophet Daniel’s words might well be apropos for our present time: “But the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits” (Daniel 11:32b).

Certainly, the words of the Lord Jesus are 100 percent to be taken as for these times so full of signs of His imminent call to us.

“Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh” (Matthew 24:44).