Scary Times!

Underlaying breakdown in Society?

Much of the nation continues on as if nothing was happening and yet within the inner cities of many nations knife and gun crime rules supreme, putting fear into both the young and the old alike!

But these times have been foretold for the end, when hatred will replace love and love will be channeled into lust and selfishness, even believers will be swept away into what they want their itching ears to hear, if not also violence?

Our God is great and that is why we are being asked in these last times to endure what is going on around us, Lot had to endure the sexual immorality that was going on around him and God sent angels to destroy that wickedness as He will burn the Earth on Judgement day!

Deuteronomy 28:50, Lamentations 2:21, Amos 5:4, Matthews 7:7-8, Luke 21:23-26, John 3:3, 14-18.

Ripeness?

Growing Old!

The way that society has been orientated over the last thirty years, much of youth and young people have been dying, overdoses, suicide, and many other issues that they have generally been brainwashed with by the evil of this world?

But many of are struggling to make it as believers in a hostile world and at times indifferent Ekklesia, who can appear to be worse than the darkness outside in selfishness!

But God uses a different language in relation to getting old, ripe! He sees us fulfilling what ever was laid out before us as done, achieved and now we can rest with Him in Eternity

Geneses 15:13, 25:7, 35:28, Ruth 4:15, Ecclesiastes 11:8, Isaiah 65:20, John 4:35.

The problem with old Age!

Forgetfulness?

We must learn some essential truths now so that they can be kept in our minds, to recall at those last years of life when most of us will be dotty to some point!

Old age brings many problems than can be both hard and scary for us, shadows and sudden noises can bring fears, while the memory fades and words that are used everyday are lost?

God is gracious to us in that He loves us and wants to continue to use us even in these last years or in our terminal illness to still be able to share Him in the lost world around us!

Psalm 44:20, 103:2, 119:93, Matthew 16:24, Romans 11:29, Hebrews 10:17, 13:3, 16, James 1:25, 2 Peter 3:1.

”Our Gain?

Grace, Serve and Please God!

We have so much as believers and we forget what we have gained that it can become glib with all the meetings, music, praise and services that we were once attending?

But now with this new virus and its problems, life may never be the same again for some long time period and we have time to reflect and get back on track wither we are young, old or just middle-aged?

Showing grace to the dying world around us, having mercy forgiving others as God forgave us! Ready to serve from making the coffee, to leading a Bible study, organizing street evangelism, to a coffee morning and much more!

This is pleasing to God, but it must all be done with fear and reverence of His Holiness, rather than some of the false ideas that are now trying to influence are minds that are running against Biblical teaching!

Hebrews 12:28.

Samuels Mother!

Hannah.

This is the story of a woman who could not have children and the years were passing, so in despair she turned to Eli the Prophet who interceded for her and she eventually had Samuel a child that was dedicated to God and one of Israel’s greatest Prophets serving the rebellious nation who wanted Kings like the pagans in stead of God!

Faith here we see being put into action, now that we know the Lord as the Savior we are still required to walk in faith that will take us out of the world to be closer to God?

This child was to live to an old age and despite his death, King Saul acting in hypocrisy consulted a medium to call him from the dead, thus revealing he had no faith in his mental illness!

1 Samuel 1:5-20.

Two aged Lady’s

Huldah and Anna!

Two old woman Prophetesses are mentioned in the Bible in relation to warns a king that the people were not with him in relation to worshipping God, they were only giving lip service, a warning today to the many so called Church goers?

Anna on the other hand lived most of her life in the Temple area in Jerusalem and was granted those extra years to see the birth of the Messiah into human flesh!

God does not give up on age, in fact older people have more experience of life, we are not always good as yet with the tech, but the next generation will be better?

2 Kings 22:14-20, 1 Chronicles 34:22-28, Luke 2:36-37.

John of Patmos!

Author of the Apocalypse of the Revelation.

A blinded old man who lived to be over 110 years, after breaking stones in a quarry for over twenty years and this was the beloved Disciple of Jesus!

When we are young or even at times old, we can never be certain of our future as John was?

He did not have a pension plan or insurance and as many discovered in 1938-39 Nazi Germany money was no guarantee of success?

Sometimes we just have to face the facts that we may be abandoned or loose our loved ones and end up in differing circumstances, but God will still use us where ever we may be!

Revelation 1:1-19, Matthew 20:22, Luke 22;13, Acts 4:19, Revelation 22:8-21.

We are not on the Shelf!

We are still Needed?

Getting old has become a claim by middle-aged people that we have now come to retirement and even when Moses or others are mentioned much is laughed off a mythical in context to the Bible that they failed to read or never really believed?

One finds that with many Christians, that they are forever learning, but never growing and so the Apostle Paul points that out to the Corinthians Church!

We are needed by young people who are struggling today with many more issues than we did, at the same age? But we can help to listen, to advise, guide and assist and it will in the long run place and anchor on their soul to stay the course with Jesus and be in the ever new of faith!

1 Corinthians 3:2, 1 Timothy 4:1-16, Hebrews 12:1-5, 13:1-6.

‘Not even COVID-19?

Taking a leaf from the pages of Job!

Illnesses are not nice and neither is the pandemic that we are all going through, many who are surviving death are being knocked back by a weak immune system?

But despite these set backs as believers we can look at the life of Job, who faced days of scraping off his rotten flesh, but he never cursed God or gave up knowing that God understood his plight!

Our lungs may have been damaged, but we can still write or dictate a letter, send an e-mail, use the various communication platforms to encourage other believers?

God will not let us go and despite our circumstances there is much service still left in us like the Apostle John and wither we are old or younger disabled!

Job 2:8-9, 3:26, 7:5, 20, Ezekiel 14:14, 20, James 5:11, Revelation 1:9.

Huldah!

‘A lesson in religious Hypocrisy?

Huldah was a tough lady dealing with a nation existing in only lip service to God and living in filth of sin at the same time!

Much could be applied today for such a prophetess that is needed in our lands as homosexuality and transgender is accepted by many who claim a faith but delude themselves to the truth?

Huldah warned of the coming exile and the destruction of Jerusalem and the nation for that lip service hypocrisy, today we are warned of the Day of Judgement, when our great God of love is going to separate evil from goodness and many will find that He does not tolerate sin either!

2 Kings 22:14-20, 2 Chronicles 34-22-28, Matthew 11:24, 12:36-37, Acts 17:31, Romans 14:10, James 2:13, 2 Peter 3:10.