Ask

Ye have not because ye ask not . . .

Have you gone years without certain prayers being answered–at least in the ways you want them? Do you pray halfheartedly because you don’t really think there will be a change anyway? You’re not alone. Many people get discouraged praying the same prayers over and over, seemingly without results. Do you sometimes wonder “why bother”? I am one of those too. However, today I decided that although my prayers may never be answered in the way I desire, it won’t be because I didn’t ask.

It’s the same way I feel about voting. I always vote, and I believe Christians especially have a God-given responsibility to vote, but this year it seems so uncertain that those on the side of maintaining a constitutional republic will prevail that it’s hard to be hopeful. I fear for our country. There is so very much at stake. I know our nation deserves judgment, and depending upon where we are on the prophetic clock, perhaps our prayers cannot keep that at bay any longer. But I will continue to intercede for this once great nation that has God’s fingerprints all over our founding. Yes, we have faults. Yes, there are serious wrongs that have been committed, but overall there isn’t a nation in all history that has been as humanitarian and freedom loving as sacrificing for that very freedom–both here and abroad–as this one. So yes, I will vote, and yes I will pray, because as discouraged as I could be, I want to go down on the side of persevering, of praying for our constitutional republic to survive.

In the same way I will continue to pray for those I have been praying for for years. Though the results, that I can see, are not often what I’m hoping for, I don’t want it to be because I didn’t do my part in the asking.

So in the spirit of Luke 11:9: “. . . keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.” Ask. And keep on asking until God says no, or we are taken home.

Broken Glass

Jack Kelley of gracethrufaith.com gives an poignant explanation of our fallen state https://gracethrufaith.com/ask-a-bible-teacher/whose-image-follow/.

In the beginning Adam and Eve were created in the perfect image of the Triune God. But then they marred that image; they ruined it. We are all broken, all dysfunctional in some manner, all shattered. Sin in us has caused that. When Adam and Eve disobeyed God, what we call the Fall, their God image shattered, like broken glass. They essentially took their perfect mirror image of God and threw it to the ground, breaking it into myriad pieces. When Adam and Eve had Seth, we are told it was in Adam’s likeness (Genesis 5:3). Thus all who descend from Adam have the same broken image.

This is not news, is it. We have only to look at ourselves and everyone else to know something is wrong with us. Some more than others, but we all fall short of perfection. That’s why the Apostle Paul says all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). It’s in our genetic code. That’s why we need a Savior, Someone who can restore us to our original glory in being image bearers of the King of all Kings. As Paul would say, praise be to God for “He that began a good work in us will carry it on to the day of completion in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1:6). No matter how despairing we may be of ourselves, our families, our society, hope is to be found in Christ Jesus. He is the Redeemer and Restorer of our broken relationship with God, our broken relationship with others, our broken image of ourselves. When we believe in Jesus, ask Him for forgiveness and to be Lord of us, we enter into a restored, perfect relationship with the God of creation again. We become new. Yes, we are still imperfect as long as we live in this life, but Jesus is in us going about the business of putting all our broken pieces back together again. We can take heart that one day, one day soon, Christ’s work in us will be completed and we will reflect the glory of God fully once again. Hallelujah.

In The Days Of Noah, Judgment Is Coming

” . . . in the days of Noah . . . when God’s patience waited during the building of the ark in which a few [people], actually eight in number, were saved through water.” 1 Pet. 3:20

“The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise as some understand slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9

God is patient. God is longsuffering. God is compassionate. God is the God of grace and forgiveness. But. But God is first of all righteous and holy. In that, He is a God of judgment. And judgment is coming to this world that has rejected Him and all He stands for. We are in the throes of it now. Today J.D. Farag listed the 10 most current signs of Bible Prophecy: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPXzDvhPeaM]

TOP TEN BIBLE PROPHECIES 2020-2021

10. Mocking of Bible prophecy and the Lord’s return [2 Peter 3]

9. Sudden destruction of Damascus Syria [Isaiah 17:1, Jeremiah 49:23-27]

8. Allied invasion of Israel,led by Russia, Iran and Turkey [Ezekiel 38-39]

7. Massive earthquakes increasing in frequency and intensity [Matthew 24:4-8, Luke 21:10-11]

6. Increase of wickedness [Genesis 6:5, Luke 17:26-29]

5. Increase of lawlessness [2 Thessalonians 2:1-12]

4. Global cry for peace and security [1 Thessalonians 5:3]

3. Intoxicating obsession with dividing Jerusalem [Zechariah 12:1-3]

2. Confirming of a 7-Year peace agreement with many [Daniel 9:27]

1. Forming of a one world religion, government,and economy [Revelation 17, 18, 13:11-18]

Because God is patient and desires that no human perish He waits for us to choose His way of salvation: faith in Jesus. God waited 120 years, during which people had a chance to believe in the one true God, while Noah built the ark. Only eight people believed. He has now been waiting over 2000 years for people to believe in His Son, while He prepares a home in heaven for all who do believe in Him. This next Ark will not be a boat; it will the believers’ removal from the earth altogether. It will be the calling up into heaven of all genuine believers in an event known as the Rapture. We might liken that to a Heavenly Flight 777. It will happen in the twinkling of an eye, at the sound of the last trump. Sudden, and without recourse.

Jesus, when asked by his disciples what would be the sign of the end, said, “When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah’s day.” [Luke 17:26]

In Noah’s day God waited patiently for the Ark to be build, all the while Noah preached repentance. 120 years and only 8 people believed. Today, God is still waiting. Waiting for that last person to board the Heavenly Ark. Will that be you? He won’t be waiting forever. Judgment is coming. The days are dark and the signs are all around us. God is calling your name–for He wants no one to be left behind. Many will be. Many will stubbornly refuse to put their faith and trust in Jesus and His righteousness. Don’t let that be you. The upcoming 7 years of tribulation will see horrors beyond anything the earth has known. Only 1/3 of the world’s population will survive till the Second Coming of Jesus.

You don’t have to go through those years. Believers at the time of the Rapture will be removed from the Tribulation to spend that time in heaven with Jesus. The theological scope of salvation for us is more involved than the following children’s acronym, but our response to the truth of the gospel is as simple as ABC. Paul defines the Gospel in 1 Corinthians 15:1-5 “Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you . . . For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.” How can we respond?

A–Admit you are imperfect, the Bible calls that a sinner. [Romans 3:23, all have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory]

B–Believe that Jesus is the Son of God, Who died for our sins, that whoever believes in Him shall have eternal life [John 3-15], that He was buried and raised again on the third day.

C–Call on God, ask Him to forgive your sins and save you ,”for, “Whoever shall call upon the name of the Lord will be saved.” [Romans 10:13]

Don’t be left behind. Flight 777 is now boarding, soon to push back from the jetway. Clearance for takeoff is on the horizon.