DRAWING NEAR – PART 18

DRIFTING AWAY FROM THE MISSION

If Christians are to be a rising force of power and influence and make a stand for God’s truth, we will need to take our studies and training seriously. Yes, it is true – we must be trained! What do you mean brother? The system of the world has learned how to uphold and represent the message of their king Satan and the philosophies of humanism and the religious worldviews that are slowly being enforced upon the masses are not a friendly influence. This dark agenda is being carefully planned from the pits of hell to win-over the hearts of the lost and keep them occupied away from God until they die and then dreadfully discover they have been duped. There is nothing more discouraging than for a Christian to be “un-informed” about what they believe or even worse living as if they do not care. I was speaking with a dear saint the other day about these issues and they mentioned that it’s always better to not stir up strife so that everyone can be happy. I responded by saying that I just needed to know for sure if these pagan practices were offensive to God or if He did not care. If He does not care, then we can all relax and not worry about it – if He DOES care, then we need to repent and obey! No partial obedience, no middle of the road compromises – we just need to make up our minds how much we love Him and how close we want to be with Him. Yes, it will be painful as the true Christians know they will be targeted as the enemy and faced with persecution because the worldviews of this “system” are in direct contrast with the Bible. There was a time when politics and spiritual convictions were closer together, meaning that candidates and the voters were both aware of Christian values and how important it is to at least acknowledge God in the everyday affairs of life. Sadly, in the last 75 years, we have seen a swing toward mass rebellion where a treacherous demonic spirit of humanism has gained popularity through public education and a general falling away from Biblical principles. So today we find ourselves as followers of Jesus in a battle that I believe we are not sure how to fight. What do you mean? On one hand, we are being persuaded by our instincts and encouraged by our fellow comrades to take a fearless stand for God and against this coming New World Order. I do believe we will need to stand and not compromise in our personal convictions however, on the other hand let us be careful that we do not become so emotionally drawn into politics and aggressive in social issues that we forget about our spiritual witness. Just because we feel that we should get involved with something does not mean that Christ has specifically told us to do it. Well brother, we should always jump in and fight against the darkness and not worry about anything but the cause! This sounds noble and logical but let us remember that even God Himself is NOT stepping into many of these issues and destroying the works of darkness. He is allowing the world to destroy itself and has given free-will to choose and obey whom and what they love. We cannot change the hearts of those who have committed themselves to the devil and even if we fight against them and win, this does not mean they will not immediately re-group with even more hatred against us and a new plan for an even stronger attack. My point is that only God can change a heart and re-direct a conscience as we have not been called to restructure the world but rather to simply serve Christ.

It is good to understand this important truth and it is not a negative confession but rather accepting reality; “the world without Jesus is doomed and many hearts have become so cold and hard they will not be changed or saved.” Brother that is so depressing! Of course it is sobering and causes people to turn down the music and step away from the sausage balls and become serious, but to those who know the Bible, this is an issue that is known and has been an agonizing part of their burdens with lost family and friends for a long time. The end of the world is laid out clearly and if we study human behavior within the entire Word of God, we see that people in general are wicked, depraved creatures and hopelessly lost without the supernatural intervention of God’s mercy and grace. In order for anyone to be spiritually born-again into Christ, there has to be one of the greatest miracles in heaven and earth manifested within the spirit that literally changes the mind, the conscience and the eternal destiny for that individual. Allow me to say that this does not legitimately happen very often and when it does there is tremendous rejoicing in heaven. I personally believe the teaching of salvation has become distorted and its standards have been lowered in order to make everyone feel they are eternally secure. With churches handing out free passes to heaven like tickets to a carnival, it is no wonder why there are many who are deceived. If we believe that Satan is not involved with trying to manipulate the emotions of mankind through a false religious system, we are living in a fantasy world of dangerous denial. There is no doubt a false security of salvation that has mingled in with the truth exactly like the parable that described how the enemy came at night sowed tares among the wheat. We think of the devil only operating in the world of casinos and parties, alcohol, violence, drugs and sex but we hardly ever consider that he is actively involved with religion and politics. There is no doubt that religion and politics are “two peas in a pod” because their agenda always includes earthly power and authority. The problem with these two highly emotional driven passions is how they have left the deepest and widest trail of blood upon the history of the earth. Does this sound like the message of Christ for His followers to carry out? Christ was not trying to establish a new government – He spoke truth because it is the only power than can save a soul. Deception means blindness and when Jesus preached the gospel some were saved while others became angry and filled with hatred – and then they killed Him.

“And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living; as God has said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore COME OUT from among them, and BE YE SEPARATE, saith the Lord, and TOUCH NOT the unclean thing and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and you shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.” (II Corinthians 6:17)

So, today I am looking in the mirror and asking myself; how much am I willing to compromise with religion and politics? What do you mean brother; we are not to compromise AT ALL! OK, I know that sounds like a real trooper but I do not think very many actually have a clue to what I am talking about. You see, most of us are already compromising because we are following a mixed bag of belief systems and even though the masses do not realize what they are doing, to just be painfully honest, they also do NOT really care! There are several “camps” of spiritual thought and one is the group that just walks through life quietly and keeps to themselves. They have opinions but refuse to worry about others because they are convinced they can do nothing to change the way things are. These are the ones that get up in the morning, rush to work, make their own independent decisions about everything throughout the day and come home at night and watch TV until they fall asleep. Ah, but you say this is the lost crowd right? No, I am talking about religious people who call themselves knowledgeable Christians. Brother, we are doing the best we can and besides, what can I do about what everyone else thinks and does? I do not have time to worry about anyone else because it’s all I can do to keep my personal affairs in order. I’m saved but I’m also tired and as far as I’m concerned the world will just need to figure it out on their own. Everyone does what they want and that’s on them! Is this the attitude of the average Christian? Probably, then why are we shocked to realize why the organized church system has a cold and calloused atmosphere that feels like going to the grocery store? Why are we upset to discover that people all around us are hard and uncaring without compassion? We must NOT allow selfishness to cause us to drift away the “holy” vision and meaning of life.

The pendulum also swings the other way with another spiritual camp that believes we are to fearlessly step into the arena with every legal decision and social issue that we disagree with and FIGHT until we secure our opinions and interpretations of justice. This group becomes involved with the political system and tries to infiltrate and defeat the darkness with their own clever ideas, enthusiasm and energy for what they believe is God’s way. They are convinced that their interpretation of good can overcome evil and everyone that does not fight with them is actually allowing the world to destroy itself and ruin everything that is good and sacred. They become so drawn into combat they become distracted from listening to the Holy Spirit because they are determined to defeat the enemy and win their cause. It is good to be passionate about what is right but what many have not recognized is that politics is the devils arena and he is the temporary adversary and ruler of this worlds system. When you step onto his turf and fight on his playing field you have lowered your standards in order to do battle using the carnal weapons of persuasion that can become dirty, ugly and divisive. Many rail angrily against taxes, against the president and every issue that is being that is a part of our everyday concern for the future of this nation as though they would gladly blow away anyone who disagrees. They portray themselves as the biggest supporters of military destruction and killing and big corporations and believe that patriotism is the same as being a remnant disciple of Jesus Christ! Just listen to them talk. It is about as far from the Almighty as you can possibly imagine and the Lord does NOT want us to be a part of it. Why? Because Christians are to be known for their mercy and forgiveness – NOT for their tendency to crush those that disagree with them. Is this not true? “Dear God, help us to realize that one reason why the world hates us and sees us as the enemy is because we are no longer seen as being concerned for the souls of the lost or walking in the message of LOVE.”