|
"No Safety"
By Robert
If you are reading this, and are not saved, then this article is for you.
You're scared.
You don't have to admit it. What this world is facing right now is enough to shake anyone to their core, and frighten even the most self-confident. The economies of the US and EU are shaky at best: credit tightened, countries losing their credit ratings, talk of the dollar being replaced as the world currency by another unit, the housing market in ruins after the "bubble" burst and an ever-increasing national deficit in the US ravage not only America, but the world.
Speaking of the economy: jobs have been slashed to the point that millions are out of work, without any means to support themselves. Social service programs across the nation are strained to the limits, yet more pile onto the already-crowded list of people who need aid. Scores of businesses have been forced to close, and those who worked for them tossed into a job market that is hopeless.
Job security is now a thing of the past, a fairy tale from long ago...
Damage to the environment has also struck a horrible blow: in the US alone, the Gulf Coast Oil Spill has crippled all commerce and livelihood in the gulf states. The damage to the environment will take decades to clean, if not a century or more. Air quality has suffered due to the noxious fumes, while in other cities, 90-degree plus days trap people in their homes because of the humidity and ozone levels.
Any sort of morality is gone; TV and movies spew filth that in our parents' and grandparents' day would have been seen as pornographic, while violence and the occult are so popular that our youth cry and scream for it. Vampires and werewolves are now their 'heroes", where generations before regarded them as villains. Common courtesy, love for your fellow man, and consideration have been replaced by hatred and bitter vileness. Homosexuality, is now accepted and even promoted by churches that would never have done so in years past. Several states have made it legal for "same sex" couples to be married, and speaking out against it is now a crime.
Life itself has been deemed optional, with the unborn at the mercy of their mothers' whims and whether her family, peers and counselors pressure her or not into an abortion. For those of us growing or grown, violent crime threatens us every step: from muggings to murder and rape. We live in constant fear of everything from disease to terrorism, and then some. And for those who reach their "golden years": the 'convenience' of 'assisted suicide" so that their children would not have to care for them.
Material goods flow, with people clamoring to gobble them up: iPhones, computers, cars, and other things are all available to us (provided we have the cash). Our hunger is evident by how much we buy, put ourselves into debt for.
The environment has turned against man: massive earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, powerful storms, all converging on us and striking viciously. Despite claims that there has been no increase, the frequency and power of these has indeed grown, and threaten to grow even moreso. The weather has seemingly gone insane, with once-stable weather patters thrown into chaos by freak systems that come out of nowhere.
War looms on the horizon: the Middle East, always on the verge of all-out conflict, is especially turbulent now with the so-called "peace initiative" Obama seeks to impose there, despite age-old enmities. North Korea is another hot zone, threatening the west and the world with nuclear reprisal if they do not meet their demands. All over the planet, wars stand ready to erupt at a moments' notice.
In short: you are NOT safe, and everyone else knows they are not safe either.
They turn to whomever claims to offer safety in the storms that assail us now: the "Word of Faith/Prosperity" Gospel gurus who offer prosperity and money, good health and good fortune to the vulnerable and the ill, while "psychics" and "spirit guides' offer advice from the 'spirit world" on your future." Horroscopes and palm reading are the thing, and people flock to these things in droves. After all, Harry Potter, Twillight and other such things have popularized them.
There is NO safety in these things.
But for all these things, there is a danger that is worse than all of this put together, and it looms just after death:
"We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags. Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall, and our sins sweep us away like the wind." (Isaiah 64:6, NLT)
"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened." (Romans 1:18-21, NASB)
"as it is written, "THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE; THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD;" (Romans 3:10-11, NASB)
None of us is fit to enter heaven; we can't get in on our good works. The Ten Commandments prove this, as breaking even one of them once is to break all of them:
"For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all." (James 2:10, NASB)
And there is only one other place you can go, if not to heaven:
"But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death." (Revelation 21:3, NASB)
So, if there is no safety in the things of this life, and there is no safety when you die, then where is there safety?
There is only one that you can turn to...
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16, KJV)
Only by believing on Jesus Christ alone can you be saved. There is salvation in NONE OTHER:
"Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me." (John 14:6, NASB)
"And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12, NASB, emphasis mine)
"That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame." For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." (Romans 10:9-13, NIV, emphasis mine)
And this is what he promises for those that trust in him for their salvation:
"For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. "He who believes in Him is not judged;" (John 17-18a, NASB)
What we are seeing now are but precursors to a time that has long since been foretold in scripture: the Tribulation. A time of judgment and trouble greater than anything the world has ever seen, or ever will see:
"For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will." (Matthew 24:21, NASB)
Before this happens, the Lord will take home to him those that are his in an event we call the rapture:
"Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. "In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. "If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also" (John 14:1-3, NASB, emphasis mine)
"For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words." (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18, NASB)
I know you are scared and that you have your doubts. But this is the day to accept the salvation that God has graciously provided for you. Nowhere are you promised another day of life on this planet, and there are no guarantees elsewhere that you will be cared for as the Lord has promised to in his own words in the Bible. You have seen what the promises of the world are worth, and you don't know where to turn...
Turn to the one who died for you on Calvary... the son of God Almighty, Jesus Christ.
I pray you choose to trust him and give him your heart.
-Robert
| 
