Living By Faith.

Proverbs 29:25, “The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe”. The verse says that the confusion and wretchedness we have in the fear of what a person can do to us, is contrasted with the security of the one, who not only "fears" the Lord, so as to avoid offending Him, but trusts in Him as his protector and guide by faith alone.

Man, on his own cannot know what is right or what is wrong.  To understand the truth of what is right and what is wrong, man must first understand and obey God’s Universal laws as found in the Bible.  Jesus Christ gave strict instructions on how man can understand the truth to gain what we need to live in this life and secure eternal life.  Jesus Christ said, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Matthew 6:33). 

Trusting God and following His commandments instead of our own wishes, needs to be our first priority.  If we do not learn and follow God’s commandments, we are actually committing idolatry.  A Christian must choose to do what God has told us to do and then have the faith to let whatever happens to us, in the hands of the Lord.

Keeping the Law and having Faith, is living by the commandments of God and Obeying His laws as written in the Bible.  It is not living by the doctrines of man, and trusting in the consequences of your own actions.  The Bible says that if you keep God’s law, you are actually waging war on the wicked. 

The people who keep the law are actually considered wise by God and do not run the risk of shaming their parents.  But, if you turn away from the law and refuse to obey it, and then pray to God, your prayer is as much an abomination to God as any other sin a person could commit.  (Proverbs 28:4, 7, 9).   

The acquisition of wisdom is not done by some intellectual or spiritual exercise.  Wisdom comes from an obedience to a law that comes from outside of our own existence, personal psychology, desires, and culture.  It comes from God’s eternal law as written in the Bible.  You are justified to eternal life by your faith in the eternal law of God which ultimately points to Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.  (Romans 1:16-17).

Seek the Lord in your daily life.  It is the very law of God that identifies sin and if you cannot identify what sin is, you are in danger of committing sin against God and this ultimately leads to an eternal death. (Romans 7:7-13).  What makes the commandments of God, as written in the Bible, different is that they come directly from God and by living by these laws, you are effectively living a life with God.  The law points us to Jesus Christ and by following it we are then justified by faith.  (Galatians 3:24).  By obeying the law we are drawn closer to the Lord and to the salvation He offers us through our faith in Jesus Christ.

People who do not understand and follow God’s law do not understand the fact that they will be judged by the same standards that the people who follow the law are judged.  People who do understand and follow the law, have a complete understanding of what is at stake, eternal life.  There is no such thing as blind faith.  True faith comes from the knowledge of God’s law.

There are strong words for the Rich who feel they are blessed by God.  If you do not abide by the words of the Bible and follow the commandments of God, it says that the love of God is not in your heart.  This person, no matter how rich he is, will perish like all worldly things will perish, he will lose eternal life.  People are warned not to gain their riches at the expense of those who have less than they do. (Proverbs 28:8).  You will be blessed if you give to the poor. (Proverbs 28:27).  Your riches should come to you as a result of hard work and not by chance.  (Proverbs 28:19).

The Bible also has a handbook for the Poor.  Both the poor and the rich who oppress the poor in order to gain their wealth, were created as equals.  God will shine the light of truth equally in both their eyes. (Proverbs 29:13).  God tells us that you are to “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:44-45).

Proverbs 28:3 goes on to point out that rain is supposed to be a blessing and be fruitful.  It also says that a driving rain can destroy the crops.  People who are blessed by riches should be careful that they do not become likewise destructive by taking advantage or oppressing those who have less in life.  “Better is the poor that walketh in his uprightness, than he that is perverse in his ways, though he be rich.” (Proverbs 28:6).  God will reward a righteous poor person far more than any physical wealth that can be obtain in this world.

It is more important for any person to have faith, that by understanding and obeying the laws of God, they are far richer than if they would or could obtain all the wealth that this world has to offer.  This world and all its wealth will perish, along with all the unrighteous.  But, the knowledge of God’s law and obedience to it give us eternal life.  It was King Solomon who said that the only real progress a person can make in this life is by understanding and obeying the laws of God as written in the scriptures and, with the help of God, living by them.

Living In A Cashless Society.

Today the trend is to live in and conduct all our personal business without using actual physical cash.  It has been reported that North Americans pay 97% of purchases today without using money.  Instead they use some sort of credit, debit or some other plastic bank card.  This was unprecedented 60 to 80 years ago. 

Technology does not have to be developed to live in a society that is described in Revelation 13:16-18.  The passage is talking about a period of time where a person will have to have some type of electronic identification if they want to "buy or sell", if they want to engage in any type of economic activity. 

It is in this passage that the scriptures talk about man receiving “the mark of the beast”.  The scriptural text describes man receiving some type of mark “in their right hand or in their forehead”.  What the scripture is actually talking is about how people will act during this period of time.  “In the right hand” means what people do, and “in their foreheads” means what people think.

The “mark of the beast“ is associated with the period of time when the Antichrist will come into worldwide power.  It is actually describing who people will swear their entire allegiance to in the end times, starting in last seven years before the return of Jesus Christ.  It is all about how people will think and how they will act as they are living their daily lives. 

If an individual swears their allegiance to the Antichrist and his policies, they will receive  “the mark of the beast”.  These people will receive some type of electronic identification which will allow them to engage in economic activity related to "buying and selling".  These people will be left alone.  Those who do not have this type of electronic identification, if found out and if they refuse to swear their allegiance to the Antichrist, they will be martyred.

“And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.  And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:  And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.  Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.” (Revelation 13:15-18).

Current Events Have Been Predicted Thousands Of Years Ago.

There is a general outcry today about the atrocities that are happening in the Middle East, especially countries that are Muslim, and also about what is happening around the rest of the world.  There has been a major effort in the last thirty years by utilizing political maneuvering coupled with diplomatic and economic unification efforts, to set the stage for a future global government.

One of the key tools that the masterminds of this global effort uses the commissioning of the scientific community to support the idea of “climate change”.  The climate in one way or another effects every nation, every human being living on earth no matter what your political agenda is.  Because of the negative consequences to all human beings, this is one thing that every nation can rally around.

The scientific community does use climatic facts to support their theories.  This is why it makes their arguments so convincing.  The planet over the last decade or so shows evidence of what the proponents of the theory claim to be “global warming”.  They claim that the cause of this is man made.  The problem with that claim is that there is no conclusive or clear evidence to supports this claim.

The earth has warmed over the last century, the polar ice caps have decreased, and the oceans have risen.  An intergovernmental panel from the United Nations has produced evidence that supports the theory that the earth will continue to experience significant negative change for years to come.

The interesting point to this whole narrative is that the Christian Bible made these claims of what is happening today almost 2000 years ago.  The Bible says that as we approach the end of time, when Jesus Christ is going to return to the earth, there will be major changes in the earth and its climate, the type of which were never seen before up until that time.  (Read Revelation 8:7-11).

It is predicted to get worse and if you watch the daily news, there is evidence that what the Bible predicts is starting to happen today.  The unstoppable and continuing destruction of the earth’s rain forests which was also to predicted to happen when the apostle John said that on-third of the world’s vegetation will be destroyed (Revelation8:7).  He said that this would be completed in the last seven years of the generation that will witness the return of Jesus Christ.