BORN FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair............"  So commences the book "A tale Of Two Cities," by Charles Dickens.

With every passing day, it seems that the battle lines are being drawn, and increasingly, as Christians, we are being faced with choices which not only affect our own lives, but those of our families, and the wider communities in which we live, and beyond that, the nation - and nations of the world.

If Dickens was writing today, would he not say the same about our world, and society, which brings me to the passage in Isaiah 60:1-3

Arise, shine;

For your light has come!

And the glory of the LORD is risen upon you.

For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth,

And deep darkness the people;

But the LORD will arise over you,

And His glory will be seen upon you.

The Gentiles shall come to your light,

And kings to the brightness of your rising.

It is not a time for Christians and the church of the Living God to have a slumber party. We need to take a clear stand for the Lord in our lives, even it goes against popular society attitudes that are clearly in opposition to the non-negotiable teaching of the Word of God in the Bible.

The apostle Paul states in Ephesians 5: For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light, ( for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord....

Therefore He says: "Awake, you who sleep,

                                 Arise from the dead,

                                 And Christ will give you light." (verses 8-10, 14)

I have always been challenged by the words of the Keith Green song "Asleep In The Light," where he says in one of the verses:

                                The world is sleeping in the dark,

                                That the church just can't fight    

                                'Cos it's asleep in the light

                                How can you be so dead

                                When you've been so well fed?

                                Jesus rose from the grave,

                                        And you, you can't even get out of bed! OUCH!

Jesus said of Himself in John 8:12............."I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life."

He also said of His disciples, then and now, in Matthew 5:14 "You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden."     

We are admonished by the apostle Paul to redeem the time, because the days are evil. Ephesians 5:16

He again pleads with those who claim to be followers of Jesus in Romans 13:11,12: And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore, let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.

Can we also hear the anguished heart cries of Isaiah, Paul the apostle, and the Lord Jesus Christ Himself to each one of us in the Church to: ARISE AND SHINE THE LIGHT OF GOD'S LOVE AND POWER, TO AWAKE FROM SPIRITUAL SLUMBER......... and in so doing, to help bring an eternal difference to individuals, to communities and to the nations as we glorify Jesus with our lives.

More than probably since wartime, people are living in such fear, anxiety and uncertainty, and confusion and do not know where to turn. The pressure coming on those in the world who are living by the world system, and are being fed by the negative doom and gloom of mainstream media and social media is seeing a rise in mental illness, suicides, marriage tensions, and domestic violence, and a multitude of other destructive societal trends.

THERE IS ONLY ONE ANSWER TO THE WORLD'S WOES! It isn't in a political party or charismatic political leader. 

The LORD God tells us in Isaiah 26:3,4 

                                        You will keep him in perfect peace,

                                        Whose mind is stayed on You.

                                        Trust in the LORD forever,

                                        For in YAH, the LORD, is everlasting strength.                          

2024 is set to be a wild ride for many whose trust is not in Jesus, but in the world governments, and whose minds are molded by the secular mainstream news cycles, designed to instill fear and anxiety in the masses. The Bible refers to Satan in Ephesians 2:2 as.......the prince of the power of the air - a fitting title for the unseen evil being controlling the lies and manipulation of the secular news cycles, increasingly biased towards presenting propaganda and untruths.

Jesus, in the Sermon On The Mount in Matthew 7:24-27 speaks about the necessity of building our lives on the firm foundation of God's Word, so that we can STAND up under the storms of life. He said: "Therefore, whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.

But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, and it fell. And great was its fall."

COMING NEXT: IT'S HARVEST TIME!

As the crowds emerged from the village, Jesus said to His disciples, "Why would you say, 'The harvest is four months away'? Look at all the people coming - now is harvest time! Their hearts are like vast fields of ripened grain - ready for a harvest."