“What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31).

Too many news headlines are designed to instill fear into the minds of people. Powerful earthquakes shake the earth, volcanoes are erupting around the world, major hurricanes cause loss of life and homes, war is a theme of news headlines, and internal strife within nations are just a few of the troubles here on earth. Look to the skies and see major sun flares and sunspots, electromagnetic blasts shoot toward the earth, and I just saw a headline that Earth is surrounded.

What are we surrounded by?

Comets, or what is seen as comets, whose names sound like something out of Star Wars. There’s R2 Swan, A6 Lemmon, K1 Atlas, and the mysterious 3I Atlas. That last one has scientists baffled. Some reports say it has started sending out a signal that is not random static, but an intelligent attempt to communicate with us. This can all be unsettling for many people.

Remember, scientists have been wrong about many things, such as evolution. Brothers and sisters, what do we really have to fear?

Life has always been a heartbeat-by-heartbeat existence. Death is one thing upon which we can all be certain will come to us one day, unless we are taken Home in the Rapture, which is what I am praying for. Either way, Christians have the assurance of spending eternity with Jesus. That is a comfort. A wise person will have placed their faith in the Lord long before death.

“He sent redemption unto his people: he hath commanded his covenant for ever: holy and reverend is his name. The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever” (Psalm 111:9-10).

As we see so many unsettling things happening, we all need to draw wisdom from the Lord and live our lives to please and honor Him. Live in Him and find peace.

As Christians, we can live our lives in peace and confidence no matter what is happening around us. “[[To the chief Musician for the sons of Korah, A Song upon Alamoth.]] God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah” (Psalm 46:1-3).

As I write this, Jamaica is in the middle of a Category 5 hurricane; they need our prayers. We aren’t the first generation to have fears, nor are we the first to experience God as our refuge and strength. God is greater than our greatest fears and is ready for us to come to Him in our times of distress.

In the United States, we have some earthquake faults that scientists warn may soon cause powerful earthquakes. The most famous is probably the San Andreas Fault in California. We are told that it’s long overdue for a major earthquake. Another one is the New Madrid Fault, which is on the Mississippi River. The most powerful earthquakes in America were along this fault, and it’s also overdue for a large earthquake. Many people live on or near these faults, and if they do give us a major shake, it could be devastating.

Do we live in fear?

Most who live in California or along the Mississippi don’t spend a lot of time worrying. I lived for much of my life near the San Andreas fault and felt some quakes, and now I live near the New Madrid Fault; I don’t spend a lot of time living in fear. Christians should have no fear. God is our refuge and our peace.

What if Yellowstone erupts?

When it does, the entire world will be affected, or so they say. There are volcanoes erupting all around the world, and they will continue to erupt until there’s a new Heaven and new Earth.

Did I mention tornadoes?

They do much damage each year. It was Paul who wrote, “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21).

Christians should be thankful and embrace the life God gave us; we need to share the Gospel. We aren’t to seek death, but Christians should have no fear about what might happen around us, even if it means death. I’m sure you’ve heard the saying, “If you can keep calm while everyone around you is falling apart, you don’t understand the situation.” I think that is better said as, “If you can keep calm while everyone around you is falling apart, you’re a Christian who trusts God.” There’s nothing to fear when your faith is in God.

Don’t get me wrong, some fear is healthy. I grew up where we had rattlesnakes. I surely didn’t want to be bitten, and that fear kept me from reaching into a place where I couldn’t see if there was a snake there or not. When I was riding my horse out in a field and I heard the distinctive sound of a rattlesnake shaking its tail, I changed my path. That type of fear is a way of protection.

Another fear that is a way of protection is seen in Israel. When the sirens sound, the people have a very short time to get into a shelter before a bomb strikes. This fear protects those living in a war zone, but other fears show a lack of faith in God. Let’s take a look at Saul’s army.

Saul was a very poor ruler over Israel. He was chosen to be king because God answered Israel’s plea for a king like other nations. I’m sure you’ve heard it said, “Be careful what you pray for; you just might get it.” Well, Israel got Saul. God had a great king for them, but David wasn’t quite ready. God answered their prayer with Saul while David was being prepared. When it was time to go to war against the Philistines, the army wasn’t well prepared for battle.

One day, David took some food to his brothers who were in the army. That’s when the Philistines brought out their “secret weapon,” Goliath. “And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him, and were sore afraid” (1 Samuel 17:24).

David’s oldest brother was angry with him for being there and mocked him, but it was their father who had sent David. Even though David was young and merely a shepherd, God had been training him for the kingship. David had protected the sheep against a lion and a bear, and knew about battle. David had done more than just watch sheep; he prepared to protect them.

He volunteered to fight Goliath and told Saul, “Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God” (1 Samuel 17:36).

David had complete trust and faith in the Lord, so what did he have to fear?

Saul tried to fit him with battle armor, but David chose to only arm himself with what he was familiar with. “And he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd’s bag which he had, even in a scrip; and his sling was in his hand: and he drew near to the Philistine” (1 Samuel 17:40).

Goliath’s faith was in himself, not God. He mocked David and underestimated him. David knew his strength came from God and therefore had no fear. With one stone and a slingshot, David caused Goliath to fall, then cut off his head. Saul’s army hid in fear, but a young man who trusted God faced the giant and won the battle.

Fear can cripple an army, but when God leads our battles, what is there to fear?

It’s human nature to try to solve our own problems. Only God can bring true peace, and one day He will. It’s Satan who causes our worry and distress. If we would only follow the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and honor Him, we would have peace. Fear causes us to make poor decisions and we must learn to calm down and trust in the Lord with all of our heart.

“Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah” (Psalm 46:10-11).

This isn’t the type of stillness that is done in transcendental meditation or yoga, which no Christian should practice. The stillness named here is to relax and rely on God to see you through tough times. Instead of you controlling the situation, give God control, and take the action He tells you to take.

What is there to fear when God is in control? Nothing.

The first step in having no fear is to repent of your sin and accept the offer of salvation which God has given to you through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Are you facing a medical problem that could result in death? You have nothing to fear if you have the Holy Spirit living in you. That comes from your repentance and acceptance of Jesus. Are you afraid of the comets in the sky? Don’t be deceived; study Scripture and trust God.

Satan loves it when Christians live in fear because it shows a lack of trust in God, and he can befuddle our thinking and actions. When a person doesn’t know Jesus, there is a lot to fear.

What if you are unsaved when you die? You should fear that. “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28).

The lake of fire isn’t a place you want to spend eternity. God has sent Jesus to offer salvation to lost and fearful people, but salvation must be accepted by each of us individually. If you were baptized as a baby and think that brought salvation to you, think again. The choice to accept Christ has to be your own choice, not that of your parents. You must repent of your sins.

“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved” (Romans 10:9).

Baptism won’t bring salvation, nor will following rituals or sitting in a pew. It must be your own decision, no works involved. You cannot do enough good works to earn your way into Heaven, but good works should be evidence of your faith.

If you have accepted God’s free gift of salvation, then what do you have to fear? Share the Gospel with others.

God bless you all,

Nathele Graham

twotug@embarqmail.com

Recommended prophecy sites:

www.raptureready.com
www.prophecyupdate.com
www.raptureforums.com

All original scripture is “theopneustos,” God-breathed.

If you would like to be on my mailing list to receive the commentaries, just drop me an email and let me know.

“Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee” (Psalm 122:6).

 

God wants to have fellowship with us. He has always wanted this. Many people are under the impression that God is a tyrant who sets down rules and forbids fun. That couldn’t be farther from the truth. The rules God sets down are for our protection. A good parent sets down rules for their children in order to protect them from trouble…even death. Human parents love their children, and that’s why we teach them not to take candy from strangers.

When people ignore God’s rules, trouble begins. Disease is spread, babies are offered as sacrifices to demon gods, and many other bad things happen when God is ignored. We embrace sin, but blame God when our sin brings illness or suffering.

“The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

God gave us a remedy for the disease of sin. That remedy is repentance and humbly bowing before Jesus and asking Him to forgive you. Only faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ will bring salvation.

God chose the nation of Israel. It is through this nation that the whole world is blessed. God gave them the Law, which, by following it closely, separated Israel from the pagan culture around them. It was a protection for them. Some of the Laws were directly related to the priesthood, some directly toward men, and others directly toward women. Keeping the Law took study and dedication.

God also directed Israel to keep certain days set apart for feasts, which were all prophetic, but also designed for days of celebration. We all know about Passover and the special foods they were to eat. For Christians, we know that this feast was a “picture” of Jesus, the Lamb of God. We celebrate it every year, but not in a way that honors God. We color eggs, pretend the Easter Bunny brought them, and seldom think of the sacrifice Jesus made in order to take our sin away. We even changed the date to coincide with an ugly pagan festival, yet we call it a Christian holiday.

Shouldn’t it be a day when God is praised? Shouldn’t it be celebrated on the day He very clearly described? It’s not an arbitrary day, but a day chosen by God that would be the day when Jesus’ blood was shed to take our sins away.

“In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the LORD’S Passover” (Leviticus 23:5).

The first month is Nissan, which is in March and April on our calendar. It’s very disturbing that we can so easily take a pagan holiday, give it a Christian twist, and pretend we are celebrating a very important Christian event. Another one is Christmas. It’s the day we say Jesus was born, but I sincerely doubt it. To think that Caesar Augustus would call for a census requiring every man to return to his own village in the dead of winter is very hard to imagine. They couldn’t get in a car and drive there, but had to walk.

“And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary” (Luke 1:26-27).

The sixth month is Elul, which would be in August or September on our calendar. December is not 9 months after September. The day we celebrate was, once again, put on the day of a pagan festival. Why do we honor pagan festivals over God’s celebrations? We don’t know when Jesus was born, but His birth and His resurrection should be celebrated daily. We must always guard our hearts so we aren’t drawn away from God.

There is a day that most people don’t even disguise as a Christian holiday. That day is Halloween. Children are dressed in costumes, many of which are extremely evil, and sent out to beg for candy. We never really know if the candy has been tampered with. Needles and poison are often found in candy bars that our children take from strangers.

As the children grow, the rituals change. Very heinous movies are binge-watched. These movies are filled with blood, murder, satanic rituals, and much more. We may throw a party, and the entertainment might be a Ouija board or a pack of Tarot cards. It’s all in good fun. Right? The fact is, these things are pure evil and can open the way for demons to control you. Halloween is a very important day to Satanists, Wiccans, and all who dabble in the occult. If you think that you don’t have any of these evil cults in your town, you might be surprised to know that you do.

A few months ago, I had a very eye-opening experience. I found a Wiccan shop hidden in a rundown building in my town. Right here in the Bible Belt of America. Then, I also found that a person can buy a license to perform weddings online. These come with prepackaged themes for the wedding, including Wiccan ceremonies and gay weddings. Marriage is between a man and a woman, and is ordained of God. He should be the theme of weddings. Brothers and sisters, we must guard our hearts against all occult practices.

Jesus taught us to pray “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen” (Matthew 6:13). 

But on October 31, we embrace evil but still expect God’s protection. We cannot be fully devoted to God if we continue to celebrate pagan days. In my opinion, no Christian should participate in any Halloween tradition. We should never watch movies that glorify evil. Ghosts, witches, goblins, and Freddy Krueger are all evil. How does any of it glorify God? It doesn’t.

We can clearly see in Scripture how God feels about pagan ways. Israel had left the pagan culture of Egypt, and He wanted them not to be influenced by the people living in the land which He had given to Abraham and his descendants forever, which includes today. These usurpers were/are idol-worshipping pagans. The Israelites needed to guard their hearts against the evil, so God told them:

“When thou art come into the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee. Thou shalt be perfect with the LORD thy God” (Deuteronomy 18:9-13).

God wanted the nation of Israel to guard their hearts against evil, and He hasn’t changed His mind. Make no mistake, Satan worship includes shedding innocent blood…a mockery of Jesus’ shed blood to take our sin away.

Children need to be taught to honor God and not follow the ways of the world. If you allow your child to go out trick-or-treating, will they become possessed? Probably not, but it’s important to ground your children in Jesus. That’s true of whatever your children do. Do they go to public school? Ground them in Biblical truth. That’s the only way to equip them to face everything in life. Adults need to continually study Scripture and look to our own hearts and lives to be sure we honor Jesus.

We live in a world that is more accepting of Satanic evil than God’s love. This has always been true. Corinth is an example of a congregation that was surrounded by pagan worship and practices, but they didn’t stand against the evil and were proud of their open-mindedness. Paul had some harsh words to them, but also encouraged them to live among the pagans, but not be a part of the culture.

“All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not” (1 Corinthians 10:23).

It might be culturally acceptable to celebrate Halloween, but are you teaching your children to glorify the world or God?

Those of us who have repented of our sins and look to Jesus for salvation should never compromise our Lord. We need to guard our hearts from being pulled away from Him. Instead of allowing the world to tell us what to do and how to act, we need to let Jesus be our guide.

“Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief. For the word of God is quick, and powerful and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Hebrews 4:11-12).

Study Scripture and draw closer to Jesus each day.

The battle is a spiritual one, and unless we stay near to God, we will be without hope. Guard your heart and honor God always.

God bless you all

Nathele Graham

twotug@embarqmail.com

Recommended prophecy sites:

www.raptureready.com
www.prophecyupdate.com
www.raptureforums.com

All original scripture is “theopneustos,” God-breathed.

If you would like to be on my mailing list to receive the commentaries, just drop me an email and let me know.

“Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee” (Psalm 122:6).