Revelation 3:14-19: “And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: The words of the Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the beginning of God’s creation, I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from Me gold, refined by fire so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent.” (all emphasis mine)

Through the apostle John, Jesus spoke of seven different churches, and all but two received disciplinary remarks. The church of Laodicea received the most negative comments of all. To be blunt, Jesus told them they literally made Him ill. How many of today’s organized evangelical churches would receive comments such as this? Sadly, more than we would want to admit.

In 1 John 2:15-17, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world – the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life – is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.”

Satan is a master of temptation, and he knows the inner desires of every one of us. Doing God’s will is to resist Satan’s ploys, and as James 4:7 says, “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” This does not mean he will never tempt us again, and it doesn’t mean we will never sin again.

Romans 3:10 states, “None is righteous; no not one.” Romans 3:23; “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Then Romans 6:23; “For the wages of sin is death; but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus, our Lord.” And then Romans 10:13; “All who call on the name of the Lord will be saved.” The verse that ties all these together is from Jesus in John 14:6; “And Jesus said to him, I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no one comes to the Father except through Me.”

Anyone who does not believe they have sinned and therefore does not need a Savior, and all who deny Jesus is the Christ – the Messiah – will be bound to join the long line at the Great White Throne of Revelation 20:11-15. Jesus will force no one to believe in Him or accept Him, but His warning in Matthew 10:32-33 is quite specific; “So everyone who acknowledges Me before men, I also will acknowledge before My Father who is in Heaven; but whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny before My Father who is in Heaven.” Both John 3:18 and 1 John 5:12 state in very plain language that whoever has the Son has the Father, and those who don’t have the Son don’t have the Father.

Being in the will of God does not mean we are to put on a white robe, carry a large Bible, and go to the street corners shouting at everyone verses showing just how pious we are. That would be for show, and Jesus cautioned the Pharisees constantly about such activities. Matthew 6:1 covers this very well. “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them; for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in Heaven.”

Next, going to verses 5-6; “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door, and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”

First, I am able to “talk” to the Father, either out loud while alone, or in my mind anytime. I especially enjoy talking to Him while driving from one place to another, and I am alone in the vehicle. As Matthew 6:7-8 states (paraphrased), don’t just heap up a bunch of words thinking you are impressing God, but be specific, knowing He already has read your mind and He knows every action you have taken. He especially would like for us to be specific when we confess to Him that we have sinned and are in need of His forgiveness, which He promises He will give (1 John 1:8-10).

To be “lukewarm” to the Father, His Son, and the Holy Spirit would be to “act” like we’re holy, but all our actions are actually bringing accolades to ourselves. Instead, God should be the One to receive all praise, honor and glory for all we do. He gives us each and every breath we take. The messages I am allowed to post are absolutely from My Heavenly Father. I am nowhere near talented enough to create them on my own.

So how do we avoid being lukewarm, and what are we to do to be in God’s will? Jesus said in Matthew 22:37-40, “And He said to him, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it; you shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets.”

Romans 12:4-8 tells us we have all been given different talents, and God expects us to use them in service to Him. Not everyone is destined to be a gospel pastor, missionary, prophecy expert, or whatever. It’s quite possible our talent is in praying for others. And on this note, when you tell someone you’ll pray for them, do you actually do it?

Jesus made it very clear why He came here as a human, and the results He expected from His sacrifice. John 10 tells us He is our perfect Shepherd, and all who belong to Him will never be taken from Him. (v27-29) For anyone who claims Jesus never said He was God, verse 30 states, “I and the Father are One.”

John 17 is a very detailed prayer from the Son to the Father. He is not only praying for those who were physically with Him, but for every person that would ever live that would receive and accept Him. He is ready to make His ultimate sacrifice and is saying that all who will belong to Him will be with Him forever.

What is so sad is we have a gift that has been offered that is priceless, and there’s nothing we could ever do to earn or buy His gift of love for us. However, more will reject Him in the long run. Matthew 7:13-14 tells of the straight and narrow path vs. the broad path, and Jesus states few will be on the path to life vs. many who will be on the path to destruction.

Jesus wants a relationship with us, and He shed His pure, sinless blood to prove it. There are those who believe Jesus exists but that He is not really the Son of God. Some say He was just a good prophet. The day will come when every knee will bow, and every tongue confess that He is Lord. (Philippians 1:9-11) And yes, that includes Satan just before he’s thrown into the Lake of Fire.

While there may still be time, go to Romans 10:9-13; Romans 8:1; John 14:6 and Acts 4:12. If you see and believe and call out to Jesus to be your Savior, He will not turn you down. He died for all our sins, and the only one you can’t be forgiven for is to take your last breath on this earth without having received and accepted Him as your Savior.

Admit you have sinned and confess this to Jesus. Believe and have faith that He died for our sins and that God raised Him from the dead. Call on Him to forgive you and to be your Savior. This is the ABCs of Salvation. We don’t know the day or hour He will call His “flock” up to meet Him in the air to avoid the coming Wrath. With all the end-time prophecy being fulfilled today, it could be at any moment now.

Your eternal life depends on the choice you make: Jesus or the world (Satan). Now would not be too early to decide, as tomorrow could be too late. All who will be left behind will face a world that they never dreamed could be as terrible as it will be. Call today – right now.

Maranatha! (Come Lord Jesus!)

huebshman46@gmail.com

Waiting for the trumpet to sound can truly sap the strength of believers in Jesus. There is little respite where attacks from the author of confusion matter. It gets a lot messier and murkier as our redemption draweth nigh. Of late, the assault has been targeted at breaking the believer’s spiritual resolve; the adversary’s tactic now hits where it supposedly hurts most – causing severe relationship issues concerning loved ones and people who matter!

It is purely an instance of divide and demoralize! About any human being will grimace emotionally when, all of a sudden, the least likely persons in the intricate social network do the unthinkable if not unspeakable. Whether it is by word, deed, and in very bad cases, both – it can be likened to being sideswiped by a speeding freight train!

All these happenings occur amidst a darkening backdrop. So much so that a good many among the severely stricken end up as a virtual nervous wreck. It is very much like surgery devoid of anesthesia, except that the writhing pain is of a psychological and emotional nature – perhaps much worse than if it were purely physical! Particularly so when the post-traumatic effects do much more harm than just scars on the psyche. It has the propensity to modify entire mental states, enough to generate dysfunctional depressive episodes amidst bouts of sleeplessness!

There are many with this problem who will begin to question God’s love and the presence of the Holy Spirit. These folks will wonder and ponder, while almost submerged in hopelessness repeatedly on whether they were forsaken by the Lord of their lives. Their precarious position is extremely fragile, to a point whereby one smattering of negativity might be sufficient for going over the cliff! Did the evil one finally win? Not the case when we choose to go back to the Word of God!

In the Gospel of Matthew 10:35-37, our Lord Jesus made it clear that whatever is happening where human relationships go is to be accepted and tolerated by believers.

“For I have come to ‘set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’; and ‘a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.’ He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me.”

In plain and simple words, our Lord commanded us to love Him first above everyone else. That is obviously not the case when emotions run sky-high – followed by our human instincts in league with our intelligence; this brings into being a plausible collision course, one that truly brings laughter to the enemy. A can of worms scenario ensues, more than capable of rendering the sufferer spellbound to the point of spiritual incapacitation, unable to do much for the Lord’s Kingdom and Glory!

This is where our souls need a critical focus. Not on the overwhelming character of the situation but on He who has the infinite power to overwhelm situations! A lot of us will find it difficult to swallow the quantum leap of faith in our worldly state. We have undoubtedly had an overdose of better days to the point that nothing prepared us for the unthinkable. Take heart! We have the Comforter of Souls at the ready to assist us when we earnestly bawl out a distress call. Our hearts must first of all be willing to allow Him total access to every aspect of our lives – no more room for compartmentalization!

Resting on this renewed approach to problems is the need for fervent prayer – prayer that never runs out of steam but, on the contrary, is always pressing on with a believing heart. Belief in the power of Christ can never be humanly quantified. Instead of knee-jerk reactions, prayer should take precedence over other courses of action. It could be more than enough to steer one away from snares set up to torment the soul.

There is always that feeling of going it alone and feeling isolated and unloved when under the wicked one’s cosh [nightstick]. Take heart! You certainly have the company of the Comforter of Souls plus an unseen yet awesome Heavenly Host. Feel free to let Him work His way through whatever loneliness that is encountered. You might, through His working, find company through fellow sufferers like yourself. This is where the encouragement for one another becomes a source of strength!

Do not let the concern for the salvation of loved ones and those that matter be entirely on the shoulders of the believer. This is where the Lord comes in. Let these burdens be His battle, as they could be beyond our capabilities but not His infinite power. Our worrying does little to alter the situation, but bringing it to Him in prayer will make a significant difference.

For all those who have about finished reading this article, please bear in mind that there are many out there who need uplifting prayer and encouragement, as they are in the heat of spiritual battle. Some only have the Lord to turn to but may be out in the cold on a lonely spell. It would do a lot of good if you can spend some time with them, regardless of the distance – there is Zoom and email!

The Lord can turn a very bad situation around that will work for His Kingdom and Glory. It is on this noteworthy consideration that you will not lose out. When things like these look as if you are at wit’s end – be assured that when you turn to the Lord, you will in no way suffer loss. More important than any other thing on this planet, you, through much trials and testing, become more attached to Him. This is when the branch gets fully connected with the Vine!

In conclusion, let us look at Micah 7:5-7 for inspiration.

“Do not trust a friend;
Do not put your confidence in a companion;
Guard the doors of your mouth
From her who lies in your bosom.
Daughter rises against her mother,
Daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;
A man’s enemies are the men of his own household.
Therefore I look to the Lord;
I will wait for the God of my salvation;
My God will hear me.”

Put Jesus first.

Maranatha

Edwin

Contact me at edwinuk13@gmail.com