Jesus is near, even if eclipse not a warning, so share the Good News

I've blogged before about whether America would soon be judged. Some feel it already is being judged, of course. The major eclipse on the 21st may not be a sign of doom - but many other things show that we need to return to God, anyway. We must do more, so people know what we're for, not just against, and see God's love in us.

In fact, if you can't do any more, this post should be spread everywhere, in every social media, even if that's all you can do, but there are so many ways to rescue people from evil that we see all around us.

Jesus warns of signs in the Heavens making people very fearful - He doesn't say the signs will *cause* anything, but that the terror will be part of the End Times. We may not have 40 days from the eclipse till judgment as some believe, but we could have only 40 minutes, we don't know when the Lord will return.

How do we prepare?

1. Get Your Heart Right

We must repent, as I've said in various posts, not just what we've done, but what we've failed to do.

Young people can do so much good.You can let the Lord use you even to be the leader of your family, as I wrote in this free blog book and encourage everyone to share.

You are only a single sincere prayer of repentance away from a personal relationship with God who will be that constant guide, comforter, Helper, and friend we all need now, the start of eternal life. 

It is single. Only one time you need to call on Him to save you from your sins, and to make you new inside, then you will be reconciled to him.

It must be sincere. You must truly want Him to save you from the penalty of your sins, which is separation from him forever any horrible place where there is no love or compassion, it is all evil and pain.

And, it must involve repentance. It's as easy as admit, believe, and choose.

Admit you are a sinner, and don't deserve his perfect heaven. Believe Jesus Christ, God in flesh, died to take the punishment for your sins and rose from the dead. And, call on him to save you, choosing to let him forgive you and make you new inside.

You can pray something like this. "Lord Jesus, I know I'm a sinner. I'm not perfect and I don't deserve your perfect Heaven where there is no pain, no suffering. But, I know you died to take the punishment for my sins and rose from the dead. I believe you Lord Jesus are God in flesh and you made a way for me to have that eternal life and peace that passes understanding, with a relationship with you starting now so you can use me to make a difference here. Lord Jesus, I call on you with all my heart to save me and make me new inside. Forgive me Lord, and come work in me so I can be more loving and everything Christ-like. In Jesus name, amen."

You know we can't do it ourselves. This world has too much evil in it. But, we can trust God. You can call and God will answer and move in your situation and community once you know Him. Maybe not exactly the way you want it but according to his perfect plan. And, he is not willing that any should perish but all come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:9.

Young people often have hearts more ready to hear of God's love and forgiveness. 

God is personal and wants to help you understand Him. People may have told you different but they have an agenda to control you. They want to make you think like them and feel you're just an animal. However, God gives you freedom to choose Him. We don't do it because we have to. We follow Him and His love and commandments because we want to, out of devotion for what he did for us.

That means letting God the Holy Spirit move in our lives once we have trusted him as Savior. You can go here to learn more but this aloen will help, too.

2. Let the Holy Spirit Move You

Of course, we can't command the Spirit, and we must pray the devil not counterfeit things, as I posted here with a prayer a while back. So, we can't ask God to move ehings for selfish reasons - which connects back to having your heart right above. However, when we step out in faith with our hearts right, the Spirit will lead.  We must beware of the Great Deception, as I posted about a few places.

However, we can trust God the Holy Spirit to work in our lives and in others when we pray and are filled with his guidance and put on the whole armor of God and bear more and more fruit of the Holy Spirit and be filled (controlled by) His Spirit..

God wants to move, but we have quenched the Spirit by ignoring God.  And, we are told we must avoid quenching the Spirit. This quenching is what has caused fires of revival to die, just like throwing water on a fire to quench it.

So, you could say that we have so many problems in this world, with racism growing worse when we are all one (I've posted numerous times, such as this, on how to unite and let God end such evil), with mean people still hurting others, with so many turning away from what is right, because we have quenched the Holy Spirit. We, being the church.

We have refused to be Christ-like. We spend too much time criticizing and complaining and not showing the love that Jesus showed. Yes, we must tell the truth about sin but we must tell it in love, showing that there is a Saviour who can make them new and change them so there "want to," changes, so they desire much better things than they have been chasing after, eternal things, so they want to follow what is right.

We must edify one another  and ensure that we, too, want those better, eternal things so people can't see a difference in us. So we can focus on our home in heaven and not wealth or power or control or this country or anything that will pass away.

The fruit of the spirit, in Galatians chapter 5 verses 22 and 23, show what we should have.

3. Trust the Lord to grow His fruit in you

Love is unconditional love that can only come from the Lord. Family love is very strong but even that is breaking down nowadays. God's unconditional love will give you all that you ever need and fill all the holes in your heart left by people who have disappointed you.

You can find joy and perfect peace in the good things in life, not tear others down. This is why the Bible says to edify one another, we should be building them up so they can know they don't have to turn to the raunchy and mean lifestyle and don't have to follow or heed such awful things.

There cannot be true goodness if we are just animals. And yet, there is good in this world.

There is so much good out there, so many people doing things with altruistic motives that it must be that God created us. He created everything, this world had no sin in it when it was formed.

By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, so that death passed on to all men for that all have sinned. Romans 5:12

God gives us freedom to choose to follow him, as noted before, so that we don't have to do good, we get to do good.

That includes being gentle with others, being slow to anger, not showing the wrath of man because it will never produce the righteousness of God. James 1:20. That is also where meekness comes from. Meekness is power under control, using self control which is temperance, another gift of the Holy Spirit.

That self-control is important because we are also to be long-suffering, that is to be patient. We must not keep jumping at each other's throats, but talk cordially. That friendliness is something that is lost so much nowadays because we have turned away from the Lord and quenched the Spirit.

We must have faith that God can provide. We must turn to Him in faith, because Hebrews 11:6 says He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. He will bring that Revival when His people turn to him and call on Him for help, knowing that we can't do it ourselves.

There are other things, such as Ephesians 4:32. Be ye kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. That is something which comes from the fruit of the Spirit as well, as does thankfulness, grace, mercy, all those other things which God wants to give us freely and where we should not be quenching the Holy Spirit. Only if we stop quenching it can God give us freely.

That means turning away from the idols of this world, things we put ahead of God, and following Him. If we give those things we treasure over to God, He will use that for His glory and could give them back so that we can use them for His glory.

4. Pray without ceasing

We need to not only repent and turn toward the Lord of again but we must pray consistently. I don't know if we have only 40 days, that is what some say but we could have only 40 minutes. We don't know when the Lord will return. We must pray and witness in love and give out Gospel tracts now.

Let us pray now, with a sample prayer like I have done at other times you can read and pray over so that we can turn to the Lord at this time and call on Him to save this land. Remember, of course, that the first prayer He hears is the prayer of Salvation so you must know Him personally and be right with God before turning to Him on behalf of your family, community, and country.

"Dear Lord Jesus, we realize we have quenched the Holy Spirit. We have failed to show the love and kindness and everything else you want us to show, and turned to meanness and tearing others down rather than building them up. We have followed our own ways and not yours.

"Lord, today we turn from our sins, I first repent of all I have done and said and thought wrong and I invite you to change my heart oh Lord and make me new inside.

"Lord Jesus, please come to this community of mine, my home, my family and  friends, my nation,  and revive us, we no longer want to quench the spirit, Lord we want you to flow down with your unending love and change our hearts. Lord, we need you desperately. We know that there is so much wickedness and evil and it will continue to the end, but we also know that you are full of mercy and grace and can still save. Lord, we know that your Holy Spirit still works in this world, the restrainer is still keeping back the full extent of the evil until it is time.

"So, Lord, we pray that you will work wonders first in my heart and then other's hearts, unite us as one people to accept other races especially and not to put one above another. We do not ask for physical healings and all those other things that draw attention to people. We ask for emotional and spiritual healing and change away from idols and toward you; we pray for a revival like none other. Lord, we invite you, we beg you, come to our churches, even if it is just the youth departments because they are not set in their ways yet, with all of the wickedness we have put in this world, but please come to all of us.

"Lord, we especially ask you to bring revival among the young people. May they all turn from the evil and sensualness of this world. May they share their faith and share their testimonies with Incredible boldness. May their kindness and goodness toward others be so much greater than that of the world, so that people can see there is a difference. Oh, may that Christ-like attitude be evident among your people everywhere, young and old. May an attitude of goodness and grace while standing for what is right be apparent in all of us.

"Lord Jesus, change our hearts, move in a mighty way so that true tears of repentance are flowing, so that people will truly want you at the head of their lives and make you that head, change the wicked ways of this nation and turn us toward you. May all of the young people, teenagers and younger, get saved, covered by your blood before your return, for there being led astray by such evil and they're so impressionable now, and may they share their faith and proclaim the gospel and may many souls be saved in whatever time remains. In Jesus name, amen."

Fight Fear by Uniting in Faith in the Right Thing to Avoid Deception

We fear when we fail to have faith. Children, for instance, need Mommy, Daddy, whoever to chase monsters away, cuddle them during a thunderstorm, or whatever. In a pinch, an older sibling might even step up and assume some parental duties, especially in the case of a parent's death. A child will, in fact, run to that comforter for support - sometimes to a familiar comfort object, too, such as a stuffed animal. They know who will comfort them.

Whoever provides it, a need to be comforted from fear exists in all of us, even as adults. Indeed, comfort is so important Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit as the Comforter.

This could be taken down one of a myriad of roads when connected to recent events, such as a temporary executive order with full text linked here (for because of fear there is confusion over what it says, too). That is only part of this post, though.

This follows up on the post on how we imperfect people can't create a perfect world, because only God can change hearts. It can be tempting, as humans, to think we can, but we can only change the outward appearance, actions, etc.. This is where we humans look, while God always looks on - and works in - the heart.(1 Sam 16:7)

Fear and emotion and seeing the evil of some - especially in Germany, Sweden, and France, where I won't link because stories disturb me - in everyone are driving a lot of things.

That leads to two important questions. 1. How do we stop it. And, 2. What does this have to do with deception?

Fight Fear With Faith

The way to battle this fear is to go to that Comforter - obviously, most readers aren't going to talk to a stuffed animal, though it can help one verbalize one's thoughts clearly and is surprisingly effective even for older people. We humans often try to solve our own problems and end up sinking into despair with dangerous things like drinking when we'd be much better off admitting we need help, even if that help is just verbalizing things to a stuffed animal.

That illustrates how important trust is. It's as simple as a child's faith that a comfort object can help them - and, it does to the extent that they are verbalizing things and thinking things out, just doing so out loud. It just needs to be in the right thing.But, if that faith children use helps them talk things out, or snuggling with one helps keep nightmares away, how much more can the true Comforter - which is the Holy Spirit/Holy Ghost - help?

I doubt anyone voted for a stuffed animal, though given the choices I'm sure some were tempted. :-) People make choices based on that need to be comforted, showing a general desire to put faith in an outward appearance, rather than in the heart. Franklin Roosevelt, for instance, famously told Americans in his first inaugural address that, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." His words on the surface were comforting, but March 5, 1933 was just as bad as March 4 (the day of inaugurations then); it took a long while for thigns to improve. to avoid arguments over how much he helped, let's say he was like that parent who soothes a crying child who just skinned their knee. What helps at the moment - more than medicine they apply - is that someone is there soothing them.

God provides that Comforter that we need, more so than any person can. FDR or any other person is less powerful than god. Even if people could create a perfect world, only God can change hearts.

Because, you see, God has provided all we need to have faith to make that heart change - including that Comforter which is God living in each of us when we trust Jesus Christ by faith to save us. Once you trust Jesus Christ by faith to save you from your sins, you are sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.(Eph.1:13-14) Jesus promised the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost/Spirit, will provide you with the peace you need.

This is very easy, because it's "by grace ye are saved through faith, and that not of yoruselves, it is the gift of God; not of works lest any man shoudl boast."(Eph. 2:8-9) We can't get to heaven and have our sins washed away by our own works, it's only through the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross. And, that's as easy as ABC - Admit you're a sinner and you fall short of God's perfection, and thus can't get to heaven on your own; Believe Jesus Christ, god in flesh, died to take the punishment for your sins and rose from the ded; and, Call on Him by faith to forgive and save you and make you new inside. You can talk to God right now and do that.

Once you have trusted Him by faith, you can pray for others, too - especially for our leaders to also be guided int he right way, as the Bible tells us always to pray for those in authority so we can lead peaceful lives, etc.. This is why I've talked so much in this blog about prayer being so important for revival; there are plenty of other pages you can look at, but just know it's important for it to be prayers of repentance, accepting that we have messed up royally trying to solve thigns ourselves and each of us has sinned and come short of the glory of God.

instead of trusting in God, people fight fear with emotions. Emotions lead to people filled with strife because of spiritual warfare, which we'll touch on soon. Look at the destruction which has marked some riots, which are never the answer. contrast the trash left by those at the Million Woman March versus the peacefulness and cleanliness of the march for Life, and you can see the emotion thrown around there, just like in the immigration debate. For instance, government action comes from a combination of fear and only looking at the outside, but some protests do, too, in a way, because major problems are only addressed when it suits them; for instance, dozens of people were shipped back to Cuba days before Trump took office with no complaints, and that doesn't even consider the many Christians beheaded with no hope of entering the U.S. years earlier. There is lots of fear on all sides. Add to this the fact that most of what was done was just a move back to standards of 6-7 years ago that were just done without warning or planning (on emotion), and you get a lot of confusion that comes because there is no comforting being done.

Why? There is no comfort because there is no faith. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of thigns not seen.(Heb.11:1) Just as someone saying "no monsters in the closet" keeps nightmares away, or being with whomever makes the thunderstorm seem less scary, or whatever, people need to know that they don't have to be afraid. They need faith.

Be Filled With the Spirit - and Truth - For Comfort

Think of what having that faith means. Obviously, a saved person still has that old flesh nature so they will react and not listen to th4 Holy Spirit if they are not careful; the Bible  says peace is one of the fruits of the Spirit(Gal.5:22-23, and to be filled with the Spirit, a verb which means controlled by it.(Eph. 5:16-18) God promises the peace that passes understanding to those who trust Him.(Phi.4:7) And, so on.

You have to have faith in the right thing, though, and that means knowing the truth.  Just like that child learns how far away the lightening is by counting, and gets more used to thunder, they generally aren't as scared, though some adults are terrified of storms and that's fine. However, the point is that we learn facts - truth - to make us less scared. That absolute truth of God's word is so helpful here, as He promises that He won't change,  and therefore His people are not consumed. (Mal. 3:6)

Some truths are very important to know because we can be hurt if we do not know them. For instance, it is good to know if lightning is over a mile away because of the distance between it and the thunderclap. It is wrong to think that lightning can never hurt you because if you stand outside during a storm you could get hit by it and injured or killed. There is a rational and an irrational caution to take around lightning. (Tht healthy respect and caution one has around lightning is the good kind of fear the Bible talks about - God doesn't want us to have the irrational terror kind.) In the same way,  it is irrational to claim all Muslims are moderate since there have been terrorist ttacks by radical ones; and in fact it could be argued that hiding the fact an attacker was a radical Muslim scares people more because they don't know if they'll be told the truth.

Muslims and Christians have very different beliefs, and another falsehood that appears is that they worship the same god. Muslims don't believe Jesus is God in flesh like Christians do, because they misunderstand "Sonship" and think it means physical relations when it doesn't. Sonship is figurative, like the Arabic "ibn," and like the Arabic phrase "The word is the daughter of the lips." Here are some great links to explain more, but suffice it to say that their view of god is totally lacking int he grace and mercy the Bible shows, because the Bible shows God loving all sinners, and tenderly calling them to repent before it is too late. He is personal and wants to reconcile us to Himself. These are not true of the Muslim Allah. This doesn't get into the dangers of radical Muslims views on women.

There is a lot of spiritual warfare going on. A lot of the devil's work is in clouding the truth. Revival won't work without repentant hearts praying. However, as noted many times before, God can change hearts and heal a nation that turns to Him.The devil is going to try to deceive people through their emotions, as well as many other things, though.

Some of that will be through fear. A world leader will come to the fore sometime who will promise peace but who will actually bring destruction; and, that world leader will not like the God of the Bible becasue he will want to have people develop their own system and achieve peace through worldly means, not through trusting God to provide. It is why we must avoid being fooled.

Wait, you ask, how did we get here?

Remember at the  start I mentioned that people are looking for comfort from fear, the fear that is gripping people on all sides? This spiritual warfare happens because the devil, God's enemy - a created being who chose to rebel and try to be like God - wants to draw people away from the truth of God's Word and cause that kind of terror that causes people to panic and put their trust in the wrong kind of thing, in human leaders and laws rather than God's grace.

Avoid Deception - Don't Chase the Wrong Thing In Troubled Times

This makes a lot of sense when connected to that idea of needing to fight fear with faith - as long as it's the right thing. The more chaos the devil can cause, the less we think of how God can comfort us, and the easier we can then be deceived. It's easier to feel safe when things are going well because, well, things are going well, and there is nothign to be scared of. A child playing outside on a calm, summer day wont' be scared of lightning, it's when the thunderstorm comes they need that comfort.

Of course, trauma can lead to one needing a lot more comfort, too - but this is why it's wonderful that God is called the God of all comfort in the Bible.(2 Cor. 1:3) Even minor problems can make one more wary. For a while after escaping a house fire with her parents, a cousin's girl noticed loud noises more becasue they made her think of the sound of the fire engines and crackling of the fire. She perked her ears up more than she did running to them each time, though; had she been injured she would have been more scared. This is why that spiritual warfare happens, so the devil can stir people up and cause them to want to turn to the wrong thigns - the wrong people, the wrong faith, and so on.

Of coruse, God allows it becasue he knows many people can find Him *if* they seek Him - which is why we must not be hating people but rather sharing the love of Christ with them and inviting them to trust that God of love to save them. Sometimes people turn to bad thigns like drugs and drinking and other thigns in times of turmoil instead, though, because they fear there is no hope That's why it's vital to show them there is hope - and that hope is found in Jesus Christ of the Bible, the one who made a way for them to know God personally, for god to live in them through the Holy Spirit.

See, when we fail to look at others as humans, sinners like us in need of the SAviour, we are falling into that age-old trap. We forget that, as one example, many Muslims are afraid of radical Islam, too. That's where, for instance - like the person who has been traumatized - it's important to know the differences and be able to say, "Okay, "Sharia law is awful on women, freedoms, and human rights, and we need to take steps to stop it because it will benefit all of us." this is where honest discussion and not hiding the facts of what radicals have done and are doing is vital, becasue as noted, hiding facts can make one scared of the whole thing.

In the lightning example above, for instance, if you only knew people got killed by lightning and didn't know the lightning was over a mile away and couldn't come into the house, for instance, you'd be more scared.

Avoid Deception by Receiving God's Peace

This looking at the outside and following our fears, rather than putting our trust in Christ, leads to how we can and will be deceived if we're not careful. I want to further discuss what kind of deception might be coming, but current events mean that it's best saved for another day, though in the meantime you can read this and this with good links elsewhere.

It's not just looking at the spiritual realm for concerns, though. We have problems right here that need us to pray to God to intervene and to prevail in this spiritual warfare.

In other words, be careful and don't put trust in world leaders the way you trust in god. that goes for people of all political persuasions. This world is filled with people who are full of emotion and angst, and that means that we don't even know wht's accurate anymore because unless you've been an eyewitness to something, and can then relate it in a calm manner, there is going to be some bias.

WE can trust the Bible, though. It's entirely reliable as God's Word. God loves to communicte with us, and because of that, He is able to comfort us when we call on Him.

It's important to work together to end evil, but more importantly, while we can't bring in God's Kingdom ourselves, someone will try to create a kingdom without allowing Bible believers to proclaim that truth that Jesus Christ is the Saviour of the world, to anyone who receives Him, but that one must trust Him by faith to save them from their sins.

that is because a price had to be paid for my sins, for yours, for everyone's. God Himself paid that pricewhen he chose to die for each and every person on thsi planet. then, the third day, he rose bodily from the dead.

In John 16:33, he says, "My peace i give unto you" - another difference because others want to only give peace to a certain person or people, but the bible shows that Jesus, God in flesh(John 1:1, 14), gives His peace to you and I and everyone who will receive it.

He then goes on. "Not as the world gives; My peace i give unto you. In this world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world."

Jesus has already overcome the world. Whatever spiritual battles await you, if you have trusted Jesus Christ to save you then you can know for sure you have Him living in you. You can go to Godlife.com for more, including people who you can talk to to learn more about following the Lord.

Then, you can be free from fear and able to pray for others to also be free from that fear. When we all get together and pray for God to free us from that fear, he will protect us fromt he deception which will come upon this world and try to trick thsoe who remain with epace and safety, when instead sudden destruction will come upon them.(1 thess. 5:1-3)

Since God made us equal before the cross, let's turn to Him in unity for revival

This will mostly match the blog post I recently did for our ministry blog. I wanted to urge prayer first hrre, though. Who knows, maybe I'll update it to start like that, too.

Don't worry, this won't be as long - though the previous post provides a great model for how to respectfully cry out to the Lord and just bare your soul; and it wasn't near as emotional as it could have been.

We need prayer in this country for unity. I've mentioned many times how we must trust God to heal the many divides in America, and that repentance must occur for tthere to be true revival with this happening.

We are all one race, descendants of the same man and woman. However, I will speak here of a racial divide as it relates to the current climate in America (and elsewhere, I don't know how much it exists elsewhere, though). This is one of the numerous divisions which sinful man's ways have created, since imperfect man can't create a perfect world - we must rely on God's perfect plan.

We are clearly not together when people look down on others because of race or economic situation or anything else - like handicaps such as I've had happen. God tells us to be of one mind in the Lord(Phil. 4:2-3) (put aside differences except for doctrines which are essential for salvation and fellowship together equally in His Word). God strongly criticizes those who look down on the poor.(James 4, etc.) We are all one in Christ Jesus.(Gal. 3:28-9) We must never puff ourselves up with pride and claim supremacy over others - pride cometh before a fall, and a haughty spirit before destruction.

Man's best is still inherently wicked compared to God's Perfection. That is because people are selfish; it is a heart problem that can't be fixed completely by laws. As we grow in Christ we should learn to become less selfish and recognize others as our Brothers and Sisters in Christ

Plenty of people try to do this in their own power and give of themselves, but when they do so they are at best helping in ways that are not nearly as good as God's ways, and at worst are doing so only to show how good they are in front of their fellow man, just like the Pharisees did.

This is the problem with quite a few in the Millennial Generation, from what I have read recently, trying to be kind in their own strength and without God's perfection as a guide. For such people, as well as for everyone, it's important to realize none of us is perfect - all have sinned and come short of the glory of God(Rom. 3:23) - but there is a way to be saved from the punishment for our sins.

Trying but failing to always be kind in their own strength is a good definition of people at their best. At their worst? "The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked; who can know it?" (Jeremiah 17:9) God knows what is in us. Thoughts of superiority are just man's sinful boasting about being better than someone else in ways that God doesn’t look at or that are just inventions of that wicked heart.

The ways people try to solve such inequality can be problematic, too, though. I seem to remember it was Tom Seaver, one of the greatest pitchers ever, who said something along the lines that every Major Leaguer should spend a week in the minor leagues every 2 or 3 years to appreciate what they have in the majors. Whoever's quote that was, it means that people should look at others and be thankful for their status, but not to the point of feeling superior. His idea was not that everyone should be sent to the minors, but merely that it was important to have an appreciation for everything that major league baseball provides - airplane rides in huge stadiums versus bus rides and attendance in the hundreds sometimes, for instance. Actually sending every big league player to the minors for a couple weeks every 2-3 years would be very cumbersome and impossible to apply fairly between teams.

The point is that trying to help others in our own imperfect wisdom, won't work because it doesn't change the heart. Say that idea somehow became a baseball rule. It might give some players appreciation for what they have, but others would refuse, teams would be upset about losing a star at a crucial time, etc..

This doesn't mean that we should stop working, of course. The work of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s was long overdue in allowing blacks and whites to share the same drinking fountains, restaurants, and so on because we are all humans. However, it didn't change everyone's hearts, and getting the "right leaders" in power won't either because in the end, this is a problem for God the Holy Spirit to fix.

We should, as born-again Believers, have a part in it, of course. We should be at the forefront of Godly change, relying on God's principles which he lays out in his word, the Bible. We can also take stands when appropriate as individuals.One great symbol is how a Kent States team reached out during the national anthem recently, going into the stands and each player standing beside a person of a different race. That is just part of the concept of befriending others, listening to them and their concerns. It can be very sad to imagine that racism makes one fear getting shot for no reason. Some news stories have sounded more like they were from 1916 and not 2016. Indeed, as a handicapped person I have some of the same fears black people do about getting mistreated since it would be easy for someone to decide to bully me and not be able to respond. (Of course, visualizing everything as I hear about it doesn't help.)

We can easily reach out and listen and share and come to an understanding of how to work together to still encourage everyone to follow the Lord and trust Him to ultimately make things better. This world is a wicked place, and it won't be perfect for any of us until we get to Heaven. However, we can certainly band together and be part of showing who Jesus really is, and the compassion he always has for the oppressed. We want to be Godly example so they, too, want to know Jesus Christ as Saviour and follow Him with all their hearts.

The best and most important thing we can do, once we know Jesus personally, is pray. And, we should be praying with those of other races so we can all praise God for the good things He has provided along with trusting Him to bring about change in this country that is true change because it is on the inside.

I mentioned talking with each other, but getting together as different races and holding a prayer meeting would really be great. God inhabits the prayers of His people, and He can work in hearts yet once we turn from our sins and trust Him.

So comma let's do that, let's get together as 1 people, One race, and pray for an end to racism, for an end to white supremacy, and for people to turn to God to change them on the inside. Because that attitude of Supremacy is really a selfish one that comes out of a lack of contentment. And, because contentment is one mark of a Godly person, when people become more Godly in he will focus on him more then their racist attitudes will end.

Will some focus on worldly things? Sure, we all do that, it doesn't matter who we are or what our background is. From time to time we all sink into that habit of wanting what is in the world even though it will disappear some day. We are to have property and it is helpful to have money and things like that, but we should not be coveting it or mistreating others to get it. The same Commandments which show personal property is supposed to exist - Thou shalt not steal and thou shalt not covet - also tell us not to want what someone else has in a greedy way.

When we are covetous, we should simply repent of our own covetousness and just agree that being of a certain race or background should not give someone priority, so we can pray against the false pride of some Then, encourage others to also accept others as equals. The problem is that so many people have been taking from the poor and from the minorities in this country in an attitude that is totally against God. There has been lots of oppression and we need to pray that people will realize that there should be no difference at all between us no matter what our backgrounds. All are one in Christ Jesus.

When people see this, then they will realize there's something different about us and want that same Godly spirit. That is getting our hearts right with God, which is necessary for a repentance revival.

There are, of course, other problems which we must all repent of. Sure, some cculture have things in them which are unBiblical, but we should focus on what God's word says and realize we have done the same thing. People talk of the violence and degradation of women in rap music, but there are heavy metal and even lighter music lyrics that also showcase mistreatment and objectifying of women and other satanic things. The horrible vulgarity of some is equally bad among all races. People talk about the way certain people wear their pants, but they refused to talk about their own immodest ways.

The key, then, is that we should all be united to work together to turn from our sins as a nation, to repent and follow the Lord, because it is God's ways that are important and not our own. Where a culture does not violate God's ways we should accept it and where it does we need to first look at our own culture. Jesus says that if a person has a mote in there eye, we can't take it out unless we remove the beam in our own; then we can see to remove the most in the other person's eye.

If we fail to recognize our own need to repent and trust Jesus to save us, of course, it will be all for nothing. What matters is our eternal destiny, the things of this world do not matter in light of Eternity. So, why use selfish, foolish pride to appear better than another culture when in fact that stuff doesn't matter to God. What matters is what we do for Him that is also according to His principles; if we try to do something unGodly and say it's for Him He will not receive it well, it will be burned up as 1 Corinthians 3:11-15 show..

So, we must certainly be accepting them sitting next to us in our pews or our neighborhoods, just like we need to accept anyone new who comes in to hear the Gospel and/or grow in Christ. That Gospel is the most important thing, after all. One day we will all together gather around the throne to celebrate, every tribe and tongue and people and nation.

If you have never trusted Jesus Christ personally to save you from your sin, you are only a single, sincere prayer of repentance away. You simply must: Admit you're a sinner and come short of God's perfect glory with thoughts, words, and actions; Believe Jesus Christ, God in flesh, died to take your punishment for your sins and rose from the dead; and, Call on Him to save you from your sins, Choosing to repent - turn from your sins - and trust the Lord to make you new inside. For if anyone is in Christ he is a new creature; old things are passed away, all things are become new.(2 Cor.5:17) You can go here for a more detailed plan of salvation - here in Spanish for the full site or here for the first part of the "Look to Jesus" study - and visit our radio show page for great shows on doctrine, spiritual growth, etc..

The reconciliation to God needed for repentance revival

I used to link an incident or two at the start of a post, but so much happened in the last few days that would be very hard. It's better to just start with what is needed to solve it. After all, everyone can tell we have a big mess on our hands.

The Bible speaks of a type of reconciliation that doesn't just involve person-to-person, though. We must be reconciled to God so we can have that proper relationship needed to be the loving, caring people He made us to be.

Yes, we can care about others without Him. However, that is a selfish kind of caring, puffing ourselves up, not God, who is personal and loving and desires a relationship with us. We fall short of His perfect glory, and have a sin nature, but he wants to correct that problem through what he did for us, and then work in us to show His love and improve the world.

We can't  rely on ourselves to fix it because there is such a sin problem, a problem that grows when we fail to focus on God and His perfect ways. We instead try to do thing on our own strength and isntead mess up. The Dallas police protecting a Black Lives matter protest and getting shot provide a perfect example - here were people trying to unite for peace, the police were protecting peaceful protesters, and yet the devil still broke in riling people up outside of it to do mean stuff. (Okay, I linked to one - these police and protesters were working together in what seems to be a Godly fashion. It just shows that we can't rely on people to do this themselves - we need God to be our victory.)

As people, we struggle with things like evil. Not everyone will be tempted to be as violent as some of the people in the news lately. However, we all fall short of the mark of perfection. And, we can't make ourselves perfect. The world's system tries, but that system is much better, as this shows from my ministry blog.

God's justice is better, his forgiveness is better, his mercies last forever. So, how do we receive that if we can't do it ourselves? How do we become reconciled to God? Because, that is what needs to be done for there to be a repentance Revival.

New on the inside

First, one must become a new creature in Christ. As I have mentioned often in this blog, each of us sins - even if we don't commit every type of sin, we still are not perfect. So, we must be made new on the inside. It is being a new creature that allows us to be reconciled to God. It's as easy as ABC - Admit you're a sinner, Believe Jesus died to take the punishment for your sins and rose from the dead, and Call on Him to forgive you and save you from your sin, Choosing to trust in Him completely as having done all that was needed to make you new inside.

That reconciliation allows God to have a personal relationship with us. God reconciled us to Himself by taking the punishment for our sins when he came to this Earth as a man, fully God and fully man, died on the cross for our sins and rose from the dead. It Is by trusting Him, calling on Him by faith to forgive and save you, that you become reconciled to Him.

When you do this, Jesus comes to live in you through the Holy Spirit. God the Holy Spirit is how he works in you to help you grow more Christ-like in things like the fruits of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23. He will help you be kind and tender-hearted, like in Ephesians 4:32. You can learn to focus on the many positive thigns of Philippians 4:8. Many other verses which show God's perfect love.

Once a person is reconciled to God, so they know they can go to heaven, they will have life more abundantly here on Earth too, as I speak of here.

More importantly, they will have gain the ministry of reconciliation so that they can be ambassadors for Jesus Christ and share his love with others.

Represent God With Love

An ambassador's job is 2 represent his or her country in another country. An ambassador will work too ensure that businesses have the help they need and working with that country. And, more importantly, the Ambassador will work to ensure his or her nation's citizens are not mistreated and provide help where they can. They speak to the government for the citizens.

As Christians, our role as ambassadors fits perfectly into the admonition to be in the world but not of the world. An ambassador cannot represent his or her country without going to that country. And yet, they also would not be doing their jobs if they broke off contact with their home country and decided they were going to become a citizen the country they were in. That would be laughable if they did that.

Romans 12:1-2 says, among other things, that we should be transformed by the renewing of our minds. That means continuing to allow our minds to be made more in the image of Jesus Christ in our love, compassion, and so on.

We need to care for non-Christians as well as Christians. Ultimately, God wants everyone to come to know him as Saviour. It's just that we fail sometimes because that old fleshly nature wants to do other things. It wants to seek revenge or spout off angrily or do other things that will hurt people.

Thankfully, of course, we are fully reconciled to God and will not lose our Salvation. However we will lose blessings and rewards if we don't take advantage of that relationship and let God work in us to help us to grow spiritually and glorify Him.

So, the key is to reconcile others to God, leading to the Gospel. Gospel is a word that means good news. We have good news to tell people, that the God of love has reconciled us to Himself despite our sin. In His perfect Heaven, we will all gather around the throne and celebrate forever no matter what we do. That is, members of every tribe and kindred and tongue and nation.

In other words, we will all be equal in heaven and that equality should start here on Earth. God is personal and only looks at the heart, not the outward appearance.(1 Sam.16:7) We must put aside differences - while standing firm on sound doctrinal facts that are from the Bible, sharing with others that Jesus save, not man's works - and come together in the spirit of unity.

The answer must involve remembering God's love

It is in the spirit of unity we need to realize that all lives matter - black, blue, green with red polka dots and orange swirly thingies, whoever you are, you are special to God. You matter to Him, and you are special to people here on Earth too. We should see each other as special.

The problem, of course, is that some people, on both sides, don't seem to recognize that. There are too many people acting in anger and frustration. That is a spirit of the devil witch comes only to destroy, rather than to build up. That verse where Jesus promises to give us life more abundantly is in the same place as Jesus warning that the thief does come only to tear down and destroy. That life more abundantly comes as we encourage others and let God encourage us in our walk with him to be more Christ-like in our love for everyone. After all, we are all created in God's image.

In order to do this, we must remember that God is still in the picture. In many ways, we have sadly chosen to ignore God. There are many times when people will only do that which is right in their ownsight(Jud.21:25) , instead of the common sense God gave which allows us to realize other people matter and that we can't simply do whatever we want. True freedom can only come in Christ and what He did for us.

It can sound like a broken record, of course, to say that we need to share with others how they are creations of God and should not be tempted to do violence - and how we need to realize that ourselves so we do not feel tempted to do it to others but instead recognize that God loves them and does not want people to be acting rashly against them.

There are, of course,  bad things in this world. However, that should not cause us to act in a rash manner. As the Bible says in ephesians 4, be ye angry and sin not, let not the sun go down upon your wrath. In other words, don't let anger fester and turn into sin. Instead, make things right by working together in love with those who hurt you. Do good to those who persecute you, and you will heap burning fire upon their heads. This means that if they do not get saved it will torment them that they did not show that kindness and repent. And, if they do, Jesus Christ will have taken the punishment for their sins, just as He did for yours.

We need His help, however. Just as being strong in the Lord means strengthening from the outside, this work of coming together must come from the Holy Spirit working in us and in the country. And, He can. Jesus says the Holy Spirit isn't come into the world only to dwell in saved people. He came to convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment.(John 16:7-12)

So, be reconciled to God, and as discussed elsewhere in this blog, pray without ceasing and encourage others to be, also, so that God the Holy Spirit can work int his nation and bring repentance revival. And, if the devil attack like he did in Dallas, just remember, God has already won the final battle. We just need to help people see His love and feel His perfect peace and comfort here on Earth.