“And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.
For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth.
Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man. “ - Luke 21:34-36
I have come to appreciate the reality of being true with ourselves, and reaching out to God for help because we desperately need Him, which brings me to ask some questions that only you can truly answer with sincerity of heart - Are you caught up with the things of this world? Are you overwhelmed with the responsibilities you have? Can be responsibilities good in of themselves. Are you caught up with an atmosphere that you find yourself going through the motions but not really knowing what you’re doing? Do you know your Lord? Do you hear Him speak to you?
Jeremiah 32:8 - “….Then I knew that this was the Word of the Lord” How often do you know?
You know growing up I knew there is a Heaven and there’s God. I prayed to Jesus, yet I didn’t really know there’s even something like getting to have a relationship with Jesus.
In the Bible, there’s mention of men like Abraham being a friend of God- Isaiah 41:8, or Enoch walking with God- Gen 5:21-24, or even when Jesus said “I no longer call you servants but friends”- John 15:15. What do you hear when you hear these things?
I have been robbed in life. Perhaps you would say the same. I have robbed myself too in life of opportunities to draw closer to God because I became caught in the busyness of life.
I have a question- why is it that, even when we profess to be Christians, that we might still not find ourselves yearning for a deeper walk with Christ?…Please share your thoughts…
I have come to learn of the reality of having an unregenerate nature, and how this can affect my walk with God. In which, the beauty is being made aware, and now by God’s grace, He can therefore address things in my life. Paul said, “I beat my body under subjection to the obedience of Christ” - 1 Cor 9:27…Why does he have to? Isn’t he a Christian at this point? Is he talking about being saved by works? On the contrary. Paul here shows us our reality as real human beings. Lets pull back the curtain:
“There was war in Heaven, and Michael and His Angels fought against the dragon….” - Revelation 12:7-17
Why was there war? In Heaven?
Sin had reigned in Lucifer as a result of him letting his mind wander from what says the Lord. God has given us ability to be free moral agents, and so with that unfortunately we can oppose His word. I say unfortunately because until you taste and see that the Lord is good, it bewilders my mind that we would want to oppose or act contrary to the perfect instructions God has given us even as we look at the life of Christ. So we see, Lucifer became an enemy and as a result we as human beings were warned of this matter. We - referring to Adam and Eve who are our first parents. Then Satan deceived Eve, and she did eat” - Genesis 3:6
So much is being said just there. This Great Controversy therefore entered man in a way we had no idea. At this point Adam and Eve were supposed to take God at His word whether something seemed good in of itself or not, when God says No, then it should be No to us, and we are to act accordingly.
Here Eve was tempted on something she didn’t even need. She had all. Can you relate? How much has God given you and I, that what He has forbidden should not therefore be as though we’re missing out. I read something in the Book Country Living (a wonderful practical book) and will quote:
Who will be warned? We say again, Out of the cities. Do not consider it a great deprivation, that you must go into the hills and mountains, but seek for that retirement where you can be alone with God, to learn His will and way....
I urge our people to make it their lifework to seek for spirituality. Christ is at the door. This is why I say to our people, Do not consider it a privation when you are called to leave the cities and move out into the country places. Here there await rich blessings for those who will grasp them. By beholding the scenes of nature, the works of the Creator, by studying God’s handiwork, imperceptibly you will be changed into the same image.—Manuscript 85, 1908.
Eve was caught in the moment, and she wandered from the Lord (She had the Word of God where God had told them not to eat) and her husband. Then she gave the fruit to her husband and he ate, and now the human race had fallen. Have you been tempted by something that you know better but you start reasoning it out? “There’s a way that seems right unto a man….” - Proverbs 14:12
We can look at this occasion and see our life and redemption right there. We can see the Great Controversy. As a result of this, sin came into man, and now we have an unregenerate nature that is not subject to God, and neither indeed can it be. This reality is important to remember as we fight in this battle. See, when the mind is operating on the platform of the reality of life being the Great Controversy which is the only reality, then there’s so much God can accomplish through us because this reality brings in realizing our great need to be kept by God. Knowing that there’s an enemy relentless as mentioned in Rev 12:17 and He doesn’t sleep on his post, how much on guard do I have to be? At the same time, the unregenerate nature causes a war within backed by the whole host of darkness wanting to keep me from God, and the warfare rages and remains until “this corruptible will put on incorruptible” - 1 Cor 15:53-55
The good news is Jesus dying on the Cross, “He condemned sin in the flesh” - Romans 8:3, and with that as long as we choose to live in the Spirit (which we can because of Jesus🙏) we will not fulfill the desires of the flesh - Galatians 5:16. What a wonderful reality! It is true! So in this case, not forgetting that because of this there will be a battle. The battle is in the mind. As mentioned in a book by A.T Jones - Lessons of Faith - it says “the beginning of sin is in letting the mind wander” Which we are told, “Let this mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus” - Philippians 2:5. Let to me means I have been given ability to have the mind of Christ, now i’m meant to exercise it. Now, what is in the mind of Christ? This is important. This is a huge invitation from the Lord to ask Him- what is on your mind Lord?Have you ever heard of the book Desire of Ages by Ellen White? Highly recommend- sharing a link here: http://centrowhite.org.br/files/ebooks/egw-english/books/The%20Desire%20of%20Ages.pdf
When reading the Bible, your personal letter from God- what do you hear Him say over and over again?
Brothers and sisters- we really have no time to loose, no time to waste. We are to redeem the little time in the space of eternity that God is extending to us to develop our characters in this anti typical day of atonement. Soon He will stand, and this will end. Soon He will return. Soon we have to make critical decisions to stand. Are we ready? What are we doing to get ready? Without forgetting that our tomorrow is not promised and tonight our lives may be required of us. Please let us not squander our time. Let us come out of the death like stupor that has gotten the world caught up in everything but the one reality- that it is very late in life, that there’s so much to be done. That this is the great controversy, and this is not our world, not our home. Is Heaven real for you? Is God real to you? Do you really believe what you believe? What are you doing about it? Does it matter?
If this is not your reality- then praise the Lord that it can be, but remember we have an unregenerate nature so it does take a moment by moment abiding in Christ to live in reality. It takes fully depending on Christ, and God is ready to fight every battle for us. He says it Himself in 2 Cor 10:5 - “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ”
It takes us recognizing our true condition through the Holy Spirit - John 16:8-9, and as a result see our need to be kept by Christ, and yield to Him. When you wake up and do not feel your need; Do not subject yourself to the feelings prompted by the unregenerate nature because you know you need to be kept by Christ every moment, and therefore exercise that faith even when you don’t feel faith. Do not give way to the flesh promptings instead burn that with the Word. Live in What sayeth the Lord- Romans 3:4 - “Let God be true, and every man a liar” including self.
Reality is- without Christ we will only settle for this world. Our eyes will only live for temporal instead of the eyes and mind of faith, which is required to be on this journey. “The just shall live by faith”- Hebrews 10:38
Do not despair, do not let go. Actually if you let go, i’m here to share from personal experience- there’s nothing in the world that will Ever satisfy you. I can guarantee you that. You might think there is but dig deeper, also once you taste and see that the Lord is good, you will loathe your worldly experience and see that it was nothing compared to a life with Christ. I know this for a fact, and i’m still learning.
“Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” - Revelation 3:20
It is over my friend. The world is passing by. We need our Lord. We need our true identity and choose to walk in it. “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
“If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are” - 1 Cor 3:16-17
We need to wake up to our true and real identity that the world will never give you or I, because the Kingdom of Heaven is not of this world- John 18:36
Oh precious reality how can we let it pass us?Is sin that wonderful than a life of freedom in Christ? Have you ever experienced freedom? Are you caught up and don’t know how to leave the enemy’s camp? There’s a Lord who sets us free. Plead with Him despite your circumstances, despite your situation. If you would like to talk, please reach out too.
But Christ says, “Behold, I come as a thief.” Revelation 16:15. At the very time when the world is asking in scorn, “Where is the promise of His coming?” the signs are fulfilling. While they cry, “Peace and safety,” sudden destruction is coming. When the scorner, the rejecter of truth, has become presumptuous; when the routine of work in the various money-making lines is carried on without regard to principle; when the student is eagerly seeking knowledge of everything but his Bible, Christ comes as a thief. Desire of Ages, page 635, Paragraph 3
Everything in the world is in agitation. The signs of the times are ominous. Coming events cast their shadows before. The Spirit of God is withdrawing from the earth, and calamity follows calamity by sea and by land. There are tempests, earthquakes, fires, floods, murders of every grade. Who can read the future? Where is security? There is assurance in nothing that is human or earthly. Desire of Ages page 636. Paragraph 1
The crisis is stealing gradually upon us. The sun shines in the heavens, passing over its usual round, and the heavens still declare the glory of God. Men are still eating and drinking, planting and building, marrying, and giving in marriage. Merchants are still buying and selling. Men are jostling one against another, contending for the highest place. Pleasure lovers are still crowding to theaters, horse races, gambling hells. The highest excitement prevails, yet probation's hour is fast closing, and every case is about to be eternally decided. Satan sees that his time is short. He has set all his agencies at work that men may be deceived, deluded, occupied and entranced, until the day of probation shall be ended, and the door of mercy be forever shut.. Desire of Ages, page 636. Paragraph 2
Here’s some eye opening presentations/ resources that I know will be a blessing to you:
Total Onslaught by Walter Veith clearly you get to see the great controversy through these presentations: https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLdbXyyVfVp-6TTHXK9aiIoFcBWWH59esb
Health and Wellness by Barbara O’neill: https://youtube.com/c/SelfHealByDesign
Desire of Ages: http://centrowhite.org.br/files/ebooks/egw-english/books/The%20Desire%20of%20Ages.pdf
The Great Controversy: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/25833/25833-pdf.pdf
Comments