So many souls, Christians and non-Christians, live in fear and dread today.

Thousands are without jobs, or barely making a living. Retirement funds have disappeared into the pockets of thieves.

The elderly are wondering how they are going to make it. It’s always been tough for them, but it’s getting worse, much worse. And then there is Obamacare.

Plans for college have been put on hold or forgotten. Those graduating from colleges, universities, trade schools, etc. are shocked to find nothing there for them.

The cost of … well … everything, keeps going up, but the funds that come in the household have remained at the same level, shrunk or vanished. The only ones not feeling the effects are the wealthy and very wealthy.

Nature has turned against man and taken his homes in floods, wildfires and other “natural” disasters. There is too much rain in some areas, and too much drought in others. Winter skipped Spring and went directly to Summer, and Summer is here with a blast. Extreme heat has broken over 4,500 records.

Any crime you care to mention is out of control. Our police agencies are swamped, and our jails and prisons are bursting at the seams.

We may soon be hearing about the largest bank scandal in history. It is alleged that twenty major banks have been fixing interest rates for years. If this is true, it will affect the global financial system, and major Banks could crumble.

Diseases are rampant. New wars are anticipated. Earthquakes are breaking out around the globe. Volcanoes are waking up. Violent storms are moving over the oceans and headed toward land. And I’ve hardly scratched the surface.

Is there anything that could possibly give us hope for a better day? All that is around us is nothing but utter chaos, and is worsening by the day. Suicides are up because people are losing hope. Can there possibly be sunshine at the end of this long tunnel?

“1Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. 2In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. 4And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.” (John 14:1-4)

 

“… I come quickly…” (Revelation 3:11; 22:7; 22:12; 22:20)

I’m here to tell you, that if you know Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, your hope is grounded on the Rock (Matthew 16:18), God Himself, and you have nothing to fear. If you don’t know Jesus, you can, and you too can have a hope that surpasses anything you ever imagined.

By the time you have read to this point, some may be thinking, “I thought he was going to talk sense. I want to hear about real hope, not that religious stuff.”

“And now, Lord, what wait I for? my hope is in thee.” (Psalms 39:7)

 

“Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.” (Psalms 42:5)

 

“I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance.” (Ephesians 1:18 NLT)

Understand that all you see happening around you is bringing this world to a time of judgment, but if you would come to God through His Son, Jesus, there is comfort for you. There is a promise from God that you will, at His appointed time, be removed from this world to be in Heaven with Him while He pours out the really bad stuff upon a fallen world. He doesn’t want anyone to perish, and He is waiting for you.

Are you going to have relief now from the problems you are suffering? I don’t know, but God knows how much you can take. Even though it may seem that our current problems are more important than anything else, that isn’t true. Our eternal destination is the most important concern in our lives.

“There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” (1 Corinthians 10:13)

Maybe you’re more concerned with finding a job so you can eat, than contemplating a God you cannot see. I understand that, and so does He, but look past the material things and think about that part of you that will live forever, either in Heaven or hell. Am I saying that God doesn’t care if you find a job? Why of course, He cares! But I can’t make you any promises about a job. However, I can make you a promise about a caring God. He will be with you in all you go through. You won’t go through it alone, even though you may feel alone. Come to Him and ask Him to forgive your sins, and save you by the blood and power of His Son, Jesus Christ. He will put a peace in your heart that you have never known.

“30Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? 31Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? 32(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. 33But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. 34Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” (Matthew 6:30-34)

Yes, the world is in chaos, but there is glory to be had. By the glory and grace of God, we can have happiness in the midst of misery. We can sleep at night in comforting assurance when we’re in His arms. He has promised that as he takes care of the Sparrow, He will take care of us.

“Though he stumble, he will not fall, for the LORD upholds him with his hand.” (Psalms 37:24 NIV)

This life on earth may seem like a long time, but it is only one grain of sand on the seashores of time. Just as we now look behind us and wonder where time went, we will soon know no end to our existence. In the bowels of hell, each minute of time will be the greatest of agonies for an eternity, but in the glory of Heaven each minute will be another to enjoy in the never ending presence of God.

Will this chaos around us ever go away? Only in Jesus, will it be removed, but if we decide to turn Him down and walk away, it will just worsen and reach a crescendo in an eternal hell. If we will believe, we will have peace and enjoy in a chaotic world by the glory of God’s presence in our heart, and soon, maybe very soon, we will see Him face to face.

“Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.” (Revelation 1:3)

Grant Phillips

“Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.” (Matthew 23:24)

“You blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!” (Matthew 23:24 NASB)

Jesus said these words to the scribes and Pharisees. When drinking wine or water they would use a cloth to strain out a gnat that may have somehow gotten into their drink. On the other hand, when it came to their spiritual lives, Jesus said they would swallow a camel. What did He mean by this? He was simply saying that they would go to great lengths to keep impurities from entering their bodies, but offered no resistance to spiritual impurities that entered their souls.

What can this statement that Jesus said to the scribes and Pharisees say to us today?

First of all, let us realize that He was speaking to religious leaders, but not leaders who were of God. Simply put in our language of today, they were not Christians. However, this doesn’t just apply to religious leaders of today that are without Christ, but to all, leaders or not, who are without Christ but act sanctimoniously.

This reminds me of a television sitcom that ran from 1993 to 2004 called “Frasier.” Sex was free and easy within the Frasier household and among his acquaintances. He refused to tell a lie because it was not within his code of honor, but he would shack up with just about any female who wore a skirt. The same was true of his dad Martin who lived with him and his co-worker Roz, and well, everybody else. Now that is a good example of “strain out a gnat and swallow a camel.”

Society talks constantly about love and equates it with sex, but hates those who say sex should be limited to the marriage bed between a husband and his wife (man and woman).

In the same breath, homosexuality is promoted as love between two of the same sex, but totally ignores what God has to say about the subject. It is a sin, period.

Politicians pass “hate” laws, but ignore true justice for all. For that matter, Congress is exempt from many of the laws the members pass, for example; discrimination laws.

Many so-called leaders of the church convince their members they are servants of Christ, but in actuality they are nothing but charlatans out for a quick buck.

With a smile we speak to another, and later that sharp blade from our mouth is driven deep into that same person’s back.

Some proclaim, “help the unfortunate,” but drive by their house in limousines while they die in their beds.

We preach fairness to all, but are dishonest in our businesses. We steal from our employers with the excuse, “they won’t miss it.”

Much of our time is spent in helping the youth in our community, but we neglect our own children.

Some go to nursing homes to bring comfort to the elderly, but ignore their own parents who raised them.

The court sentences a man for murdering another man, but upholds the murder of babies in their mother’s wombs. Empathy is applied to a mass murderer, defending them at the cost of thousands from tax payers, but little to no regard is offered the

victim.

We make a promise at the altar saying, “’til death do us part,” but at the first excuse, visit an attorney to end it with divorce.

How much of our lives are spent straining out gnats and swallowing camels? We listen to Jesus in Matthew chapter twenty three giving the scribes and Pharisees a tongue lashing like no other. Are we any better than they were?

Are we straining out gnats in our self-righteousness and swallowing camels in our unrighteousness? If our righteousness does not exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, we are spiritually lost.

“For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:20)

Maybe it’s way past time we all need to double-check our priorities. Are we living a double-standard? Are we saying one thing and doing another?

If you are without Jesus Christ in your life, you need to swallow your pride and come humbly to the throne of grace. It’s called the cross. Only through Jesus can you be made truly righteous.

“21 But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;

22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:

23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:

25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;

26 To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.

27 Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith.

28 Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.” (Romans 3:21-28)

If you are a child of God and you can see that maybe you too have been straining out gnats and swallowing camels, come to the one who saved you, and He will forgive you and make you clean from within.

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)

“Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” (Isaiah 1:18)

Allergies seem to be on the rise in the 21st century. Maybe that choked up feeling isn’t allergies after all. Maybe it’s just hard trying to swallow that hairy beastly ole camel.

Grant Phillips