Tag Archive | John 1:5

Our Nation’s Peril and Our Nation’s Hope

Aug2

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   First of all, may I ask you a few questions?

Do you condemn yourself or put yourself down?

Do you think others, especially close to you, don’t think well of you?

Do you over focus on your fears?

Do you find yourself doubting God?

Do you struggle with inconsistency in reading your Bible and praying?  

   Have you recognized questions such as these as the fiery darts Ephesians 6:16 identifies? Satan knows quite well, that these fiery darts will never permeate the Shield of Faith. Therefore, what do you think his first plan of action will be with individuals? Of course, tempt an individual to search everywhere but God’s Word for the answers to questions like the ones above. And if he can manipulate enough individuals to reject God and/or His Word, then his plan to destroy a nation falls easily into place.

   Our country’s leaders, some even calling themselves Christians, speak and act in ways that contradict God’s ways. For example, the Bible makes it quite clear how God feels about abortion. Yet, some of our most powerful leaders stand firm in their support of organizations that promote abortion! I just don’t get it. Why would anyone, claiming to be a Christian, support something God is against? But wait, I think I do!

   People who have rejected God and His word, are easily manipulated into seeing lies as truth and truth as lies. You recall those questions I started out with? Well, Satan’s plan is to get us so self absorbed that we loose sight of who God is and the good plans He has for us.(Jeremiah 29:11) We can’t believe that He can take the bad things we are experiencing in life and turn them into something good and thereby enrich our lives by them. (Romans 8:28)

   We look for solutions to the problems we encounter in our lives and Satan makes sure that our search for answers takes us no where near the Scriptures. Every idea we get from him may feel like an answer at the beginning but only serves to intensify our problems and complicate our lives even more. (Proverbs 14:12)

  As Christians, we must seek God’s will and wisdom and apply them to the problems we face. As we hold up our Shield of Faith, then we are protected from being manipulated and distracted by the fiery darts aimed at us by Satan.

   Here’s how it works!

    God’s light will shine forth for all to see and as God helps us, then we can help others. (2 Corinthians 1:4) As His light is experienced and shared then that light grows and the darkness is dispelled. (John 1:5) Eventually, as individuals turn back to God, then a nation has hope. (2 Chronicles 7:14)

  

 

The Light of Christmas!

Dec24

Christmas is a wonderful time of the year but the further away we get from celebrating the birth of Christ then the more challenging it becomes to experience all the wonders this blessed holiday has to offer.  The fiery darts that so cleverly counterfeit the joys of Christmas have overshadowed this blessed holiday to the point that we have all but forgotten the child whose birth we are supposed to be celebrating.

And what’s been the results?  Christmas has become the most stressful time of the entire year for many people.  The worship of self has overshadowed worship of the Christ Child.  People are more concerned with what they are getting than in what they are giving.  And with the economy on a downturn like it is, the lack of money to spend on Christmas presents creates depression of an alarming nature.

As I see this darkness growing and spreading its evil tendrils across our land threatening to extinguish the Light of Christmas, I am tempted to despair.  That is until I open my Bible and I read John 1:5

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

You see the light referred to in this verse is Christ.  What reassurance, what hope we have in these dark days that the light of Christ will overcome the darkness!

Recently our nation has witnessed darkness in its most evil form attempting to eradicate everything of life and light of Christmas.   Those directly affected by this dark evil were left with no heart to celebrate Christmas and who could blame them?  Yet, today I read that though many of those affected by this evil had extinguished their Christmas lights, slowly but surely these hurting people were turning their Christmas lights back on! The Light of Christmas in turn shines bright upon them, eradicating the dark evil while sending forth its blessed healing rays.  Their simple but bold and courageous act affirms unquestionably the rock solid truth expressed in John 1:5.  

Darkness, no matter how evil will never overcome the light!