General Articles

Emotions :: By Sandy Howard

Published on: by RR7

I feel like I’ve been slung around by my toenails these days. This past year, and especially these past couple of months, has brought forth a plethora of emotions in me. And probably you too.

Anxious, grieved, unhappy, troubled, miserable, nervous, horrified, confused, stressed, doubtful, fearful, worried, desperate, unhappy, uncomfortable, betrayed (BIG one!), frustration, fatigue, withdrawn, offended, annoyed, cheated, vengeful, insulted, revulsion, mad, loathing, infuriated, shocked, disgusted, tearful… and did I mention betrayed?

Of course, at the same time, there have been many good emotions too: thankful, happy, surprised, blessed, and even content.

To put it mildly, it’s been a rollercoaster of emotions. I have tried not to let myself be consumed by my negative emotions and keep everything in perspective and positive. But I admit, a lot of the time, I have failed at that. So, my new year’s resolution is to do my best each day to ignore my negative emotions and focus on the glorious hope that I have. Titus 2:13, one of my fav’s, says, “looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.”

I am thankful beyond words that I do have that hope. Frankly, I don’t know how those who don’t have that hope are able to cope with the chaos and swirling emotions of these last days.

It won’t likely be easy to keep myself in check, though, as I am convinced that we have not seen the worst yet. Not by a long shot.

I don’t know how much more of this wicked world God is going to tolerate. But I cannot help but believe that He is sick and tired of it. I’d have been at the end of my rope a long time ago if I’d been Him. But thankfully, His ways are not my ways. My human desire craves comfort, calm, success, and a smooth ride through this life. But His desire is that NO ONE winds up in hell. It is a testament to His great love – He IS love, as my husband reminded me a few days ago, and He defines Himself as love – and it’s a testament to His great mercy and patience that He delays His coming, waiting on all who will to come to Him before it is too late.

There are no conditions on His love. He loved you and I long before we were born – even knowing that we would be His enemies for part if not most or all of our lives on this earth. (He knows the end from the beginning.) But He made a way for us to go to heaven anyway.

I’ve heard this somewhere before, but imagine someone, someone innocent, taking on the punishment for all your sins, ALL of them. Past, present and future. Then imagine someone taking on the punishment for all the people in your neighborhood’s sins. Then imagine someone taking on the punishment for all the people in your state, your country, and even the whole world. That’s impossible to imagine. But that is what He did, through His Son, Jesus Christ. There is only one way to God, and that is through His Son, Jesus.

John 14:6says, “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.'”

So I remind all, this world is not our home. None of us. We will all spend eternity in either heaven or hell. No other options. And anyone not making a decision at all, and trying to ride the fence or wait until your death bed or just wait until … later… is, by default, serving Satan.

The Republic, God and You :: By Bill Wilson

Published on: by RR7

Many say that the Constitutional Republic of the US is over if Republicans do not hold the presidency and Senate. It looks as though, by those standards, it is over. But let us not forget that the Constitution remains intact, its precepts enforceable. Let us also remember that God is our witness; that Christ is our salvation; that the Holy Spirit is our comforter and guide.

The Republic should not define you. In fact, you should define the Republic. And that, my brothers and sisters, is the reason we are faced today with historic consequences of a revolutionary complacency. We are looking for solutions, but there are no solutions in politics, only compromise. And compromise is so systemic that it is as an evil upon our land.

Over the past 19 years, I have grown to know many Daily Jot subscribers very well. You are the active ones. You are, as Christ said in Matthew 5:13-14, “the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world.”

You have written letters. You have made phone calls. You have attended prayer meetings and prayer conference calls. You pray unceasingly. You speak truth wherever and whenever the opportunity. Still, with all this, the Republic is crumbling. And we look for many reasons—the legality of abortion, the killing of the unborn; the acceptance of same sex marriage; the censorship of God in the public square; the abomination of the dishonest scale—which is found in politics, elections, government, the church, entertainment, and business dealings.

But these are not things that you practice. In fact, much of this you and I do not have any control over. We are at our wits end because all of our prayer and acts seem to come to little. Well, it is time to become more strategic. I have written for a long time that the condition of our nation reflects the condition of the “church.” So long as the “church” in general is focused on extra-biblical, emotional and self-indulgent feel-good religion, this nation and the world for that matter, will continue on its path into darkness.

No doubt, the prophecies of the end time foretell this darkness as Christ said in Matthew 24:38, “For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until that day Noah entered into the ark.”

We cannot be defined by two seats in the Senate and the Presidency. You see, as is written in 1 Peter 2:9, “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people: that you should show forth the praises of him who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”

We are the nation. There is a 70% majority of Christians in this nation. Trouble is, most do not even understand what it is to be a Christian because they haven’t heard the Word of God. When it comes down to the future of our nation being held by two Senate seats and the Presidency, we are holding onto the Republic by a thin-threaded rope. We need more than that. Be encouraged that you are the light in this present darkness and let that light shine. Hold accountability, especially with the “church.”

Overcome evil with good. Christ showed us how.

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