Psalm 57
1 Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me,
for in you my soul takes refuge;
in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge,
till the storms of destruction pass by.
2 I cry out to God Most High,
to God who fulfills his purpose for me.
3 He will send from heaven and save me;
he will put to shame him who tramples on me. Selah
God will send out his steadfast love and his faithfulness!
4 My soul is in the midst of lions;
I lie down amid fiery beasts—
the children of man, whose teeth are spears and arrows,
whose tongues are sharp swords.
5 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens!
Let your glory be over all the earth!
6 They set a net for my steps;
my soul was bowed down.
They dug a pit in my way,
but they have fallen into it themselves. Selah
7 My heart is steadfast, O God,
my heart is steadfast!
I will sing and make melody!
8 Awake, my glory!
Awake, O harp and lyre!
I will awake the dawn!
9 I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples;
I will sing praises to you among the nations.
10 For your steadfast love is great to the heavens,
your faithfulness to the clouds.
11 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens!
Let your glory be over all the earth!
Cataclysmic events in Japan. We have a good friend who has spent years with us at our home stationed in the Japanese island of Okinawa as an EMT. Everyone there is accounted for. Many in Japan are far from this fortunate.
Houston experienced Hurricane Katrina as the evacuees poured in to the Stadium and the hotels were full. 2nd Baptist Church called a meeting with every Christian pastor to attend and the hotels and areas were divided into a grid. The stadium evacuees and the hotel evacuees were fed by the Churches for over 3 months every night. Churches from hundreds of miles away donated time, food, clothing. Our Church collected furniture and household goods as well as moving our evacuees into apartments. At the end of the 3 months, the evacuees held a BBQ buffet for us. During their stay with us, babies were born (2) and one family experienced the death of 2 family members due to the overwhelming stress of being completely homeless. The man of that family said only hope, faith and love where getting him through it. Hope - he knew God would help him through, Faith - God is still at work, Love- all the love given to him for a lifetime. We both stood in the parking lot and cried as he told me this.
So, what is the Google world doing with this information? A whole lot of people are looking to see if this is the end times.
Matthew 24:3-14
3 As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the close of the age?” 4 And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray. 5 For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray. 6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.
9 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake. 10 And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. 11 And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. 12 And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But the one who endures to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
The end of Jesus Christ.... that is what the end is seeking to be. People seeking to do away with Scripture. To establish whatever man decides is just. How frightening. Yes. We have a taste of this in the way life is portrayed in the media. But people still really believe in God, go to Church and seek Him.
We look for the life of the world to come. The Dallas Park Cities Baptist Church steeple and clock says "Night Comes."
John 9:4
We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work.
This is not new. Too often we are observers. Really believing Christians hunker down. No. This isn't what we should do. We need to remember - Christians have always believed Jesus is coming back for them. Mostly we are going to experience this at our own, God-planned for, natural death. But it is day, and we need to find the blessings in each day He provides for us. To help those in need. Yes, of course to the Christian relief efforts in areas with tragedy, but we Know we all have people in our lives with the tragedy of no hope or belief in the redemption of Jesus Christ. We are called to be salt and light. Not ram our faith down the throat of people. Not hunker down believing this is the drain and so scary. No, the love and care of Jesus given. Continual prayer offered. Help given. Encouragement given. Acts of kindness and compassion.
Not rushing off to another country to do God's work. Of course we need to do this as well. But to realize God has given - each of us - a corner of this earth to do for Him what we can. At Church. At work. In our neighborhoods. In our families.
If we sit back and observe - the love of many will grow cold. How will this be the Light of Jesus Christ?
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