Greetings to all our brothers and sisters of the family of God, with the protection and love of our Father in heaven and the guidance, wisdom and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Tonight I am addressing a brother named Chris who had some questions concerning the state of our world and how we should act during these times. Thank you Chris for your inquiry.

We are in troubling times.  These days have we been prepared for by the word of God, and the messages of Jesus Christ our Lord, given to us by the direct desire of our Father in Heaven.  Why did Jesus warn us of such times?  He did so in order that we do not lose our faith, and so that we could comprehend and understand the outcome and perfect final result of the Kingdom of God.  Christ warned us not so that we would be afraid, but so that we could retain and strengthen our faith, knowing that He guided us even then, for now, that we would not fall back into darkness, fear and anger.

Right now many are without food, without comforts, without hope, without security, without potential or ability to plan a productive and beautiful life ahead.  This fact has been true during all the days on earth since the beginning.  Now we see more clearly that not one on earth is immune to the system of man, nor its weakness and selfishness.  Many glamour for power and personal glory, under the guise of righteousness, just as the days of old, while the population suffers at the result of darkness.  So what do we do?

We do what we have always done, and what we have always professed.  We have two great commands for which we are assured eternal life in the Kingdom of God as sons and daughters of God.  The first command is that we Love God with all our hearts, minds and spirit.  The second is that we love our neighbor as ourself.  If all we can muster is the practice of these two commands – still shall we know eternal joy, peace, and everlasting life – for this is promised directly by God our Father through His Son Jesus Christ.  These matters do not change, regardless of our condition or the condition of the world.  We place our trust and faith in God, that if we care also for His sons and daughters as we care for our own, that God will continue to protect and provide for us.  Even science knows that this is the way of the universe, that it expands, it grows, it continues to add to existence.

During such troubling times, when men and women are judging, condemning and spreading so much hate and lies, must we be even more vigilant to continue to follow God.  Truly none of our former words or protestations of faith will be worth much, if we ignore them now.  Instead, we must realize that now is the time the tree is being shaken, and we must hold firm to the branches lest we fall out.  This we cannot do on our own, and that is the point.  We cannot overcome darkness without God.  We cannot overcome greed, sorrow, anger, resentment, fear, suspicion, retribution or retaliation without God.  God is our Father, and we are the children.  It is God who overcomes, it is God who protects, defends, plans and cares for His children.  We still have the choice to either walk the path of death, or walk the path of Life.  How do we make that choice?  We do so by either playing the role of a wicked god ourselves, and judging, punishing, cursing, fighting, forcing change through violence, forcing opinion and so on – OR – We instead follow a loving God who fights all our battles for us, cares for us, guides and places us exactly where we belong in any given moment.  Before us, even in a moment of strife, are we in a moment we were meant to be in.  It is up to us to choose either to be a Light to the world of Peace, or to be AS the world and add war to strife and fuel to a fire of darkness.  Does this insure freedom from fear and anger?  No it does not, for we are flesh and our flesh will fail us time and again.  That is also the point. We need God in order to overcome all things of darkness.  Indeed there is much darkness on this planet right now, and more than ever do we need the comfort and strength of God to keep us on the path of Life.

No man would require the Holy Spirit, if man was enough.  We are not enough alone, though we are beautiful and wonderful as God made us.  This is not a failing, but a fact.  Just as a tree needs water, and earth and sunlight to grow – so too do WE need God’s power in order to do the works of righteousness.  Jesus Christ is our food and our drink.  We have examples of this in Passover, in communion, in the holy days.  These events are but a physical example of a spiritual truth.  That truth is that Jesus IS the truth, the way and the light.  The laws of God He gave us are the laws of Everlasting Life.  When I drink water, my thirst is subsided and my flesh rejoices along with my spirit.  The same is true when I practice the works of Jesus.  I need not be perfect in them, for God is perfect in them and our desire to try and to do is far more valuable to God as earnest reality than anyone who pretends righteousness. It is said we are made perfect by doing so for God is perfect.  Therefore it is not about the perfection of the work, but about the intent of the heart.  God is the perfection.  The heart is what matters – and it is the heart which can take center stage at this time in our history.  For by examination of our own motives, fears, angers and troubles – we can honestly profess them to God that He may take them from us, and guide us back to His way of Love.

There will be troubles ahead, just as has always been.  But for they who continue to trust God, there will be an answer for all events that happen in our individual lives.  Even Paul, who was imprisoned, saw that there is where he could practice his faith even deeper.  While imprisoned he wrote many letters which to this day are books we read in order to understand the nature of Jesus Christ and God our Father even greater.  Paul may have felt he had no power at all to do anything, sore, beaten, starved – yet thousands of years later do we still consider his words.  Therefore, look not to these difficult times as evidence of a lack of God in your life, but instead remember that as His child we are unable to understand the outcomes.  Just as my 7 year old grandson cannot understand why he is not allowed to drive a car, neither can we comprehend or understand the events of each day as “God directed” until such time as we have matured past it, and in reflection, see the hand of God was guiding us all along.  So our need is to put on our armor of God; faith, truth, love.  We trust infinite and all powerful God, rather than our limited and singular perspective.  This does not mean we will not have sorrows, hardships, confusion or pain.  It does not mean we will not die, or maybe even be killed.  It does mean that nothing will happen without the will of God.  Ultimately God’s will has been, is, and will always be the same; that ALL flesh be saved into eternal life, and all be given an opportunity to know Him so that we may have it even now.  Pain is a powerful motivator to get us to seek God, but it is God who wishes to bless us, provide for us, protect us and care for us.  It is darkness that desires your suffering and pain, and darkness that judges you and condemns you. Yet even when one dies, or is murdered, are they now WITH God in fullness, and no longer subject to the world and its horrors.  Instead we will meet them again, alive and well, in the Kingdom of God.

Therefore pray for those who bring trouble to you in their controlling need, for they are your lost brother or sister.  Pray for those who suffer, struggle, and go without – for their faith is being tested even greater than yours.  Pray for those who desire destruction, for they do not understand the result of destruction which is annihilation into non-existence.  They are blotting themselves out, therefore pray for them that they may know peace and hope also.  Love your neighbor as yourself, regardless of their position. For were we not also in the dark ourselves before?  Did not we also seek to rule, control, steal, lie and selfishly desire our own way before?  Are we better than they?  Indeed we are not.  For it is God who has made us to be light, and God who has made us to be an example of peace.  It is God who offers all flesh everlasting life, and not one of us will ever be able to decide who shall be written into the book of life and who shall not be.  This is God’s, and not ours.  Men and women will wrong us.  When they do, pray for them that they no longer have need to act powerful in order to justify their own secret lack of power.  Realize the truth, that their authority is given to them by God, and if they abuse that authority they will answer to God for it, just as we answered to God for our own lack.  What did God offer us when we humbled ourselves and spoke the truth?  He offered us everlasting Life and forgiveness and understanding and acceptance.  We too practice this acceptance, for it was Jesus who did prepare us.

Mark 13:7 – And when ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars, be ye not troubled: for such things must needs be; but the end shall not be yet.

Verse 8 – For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.

I implore you to read all of chapter 13 – it may seem scary, but it is meant for our comprehension.

Verse 26 – And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.

Nahum 1:7 – The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and He knoweth them that trust in Him.

Trust in God that His way is THE way no matter how things “look” to our eyes.  Many before us thought their time was “the end” and many even now do also.  Let us remember that no man knows the day of Christs return – but that all shall know when it does happen.  We do see many signs and wonders already, and it was Jesus who instructed us not to marvel, or be troubled, for these things must happen.  They who endure to follow Him and learn about the Father will know everlasting life and joy.

No where did Christ ask us to fight or judge or condemn or force or battle with others.  Never once did he ask us to point out the wrongs in the world and others, instead instructing us to remove the beam in our eye before removing the speck in another’s eye.  We may see terrible wickedness and crime in another, so how could we call that a speck?  How is it ours is a beam?  These things are directly for us to ask God in our prayers, and to seek answers in our prayer and meditation.  In the future, God willing, I will address that idea also.  What Jesus did ask of us though is specific, as He asked us to bless those who curse us and persecute us, pray for them, and to remember they are God’s also. ALL that we do to another we have also done to God, the little ones AND the mighty.

So then – we will make mistakes, we will get caught up in the troubles at times.  This is not damning to us if we continue to seek God and ask for His guidance.  Pray to God that His laws and His spirit and His way be written into your heart, so that you may find peace and rest, even in troubles.  Continue to pray for the Kingdom of God to be soon, and that our King returns.  Continue to pray for others, for God hears all thoughts and all desires.  If we bless they who curse, we add to the universe as God also adds to the universe.  If we curse those who curse, we have taken from the universe as Satan does take from the universe.  If we do curse with wrath, we can go to God and speak our moment of weakness and He will give us a way to overcome.  That way is love, that way is tolerance and peace, that way is forgiveness and understanding, that way is amending of wrongs – and what is given to you will be precise and personal to your particular situation.  There is no situation too difficult for God to guide you out of into freedom, for God is not limited by anything.  The only variance being that of our current level of faith and belief.  These matters define the darkness or the light within.  Give the dark to God, pour it out to Him so that He may refill you with truth.  It is not that God cannot do this Himself regardless of consent, but because the choice is ours and ours alone to make.  God gave us that choice.  We are children of God – and we can choose.  Without the choice, we are not children of God.

We often do witness terrible and horrible things.  This is the time to remember Paul’s faith that we endure to the end.  We run the race we have been subject to.  We will stumble, we will fall from time to time, and we will even want to quit altogether sometimes.  Reach out to God in those moments and tell God you cannot take another step without His strength and guidance.  He will direct you and help you.  What matters most is that we continue to try to trust God and seek His power.  Sometimes the darkness may overtake us completely. We might find ourselves so angry, so scared, so unable to accept a situation or event that we simply cannot trust God, nor believe in God because of the terrible thing we witnessed or that happened to us.  This too has been the experience of many who call on God.  So keep your lamps filled with oil.  Pray each morning and ask God to direct your day.  Separate yourself from selfish motives, but giving the day over to GOd to manage. Then when trouble comes, you will have a much better chance of keeping enough light to have courage and desire to run to God for help even then.  It won’t always be easy, but at times it will be extremely easy and naturals.  During the good times, and the blessed moments… take note of how you are feeling.  Tell yourself then not to forget what you have come to believe and know in that moment. This too will help you in times of doubt.  For better or for worse, we are in this world until we are not.  Therefore, why not make a decision to keep running the race, and keep seeking the Kingdom of God, and all goodness, as much as you can?

We cannot do good without God.  Draw nearer to God, and turn your eyes to seek out any good you may find in a day.  When you see a good spirit in other, a good event, a good kindness or a good work by another – you are seeing God work.  Therefore, have faith that all things are under God’s control, and is and has already been leading the entire world into His Kingdom.  If you love God, and love your fellows, you have already won, for THIS is how Christ Jesus won over death – and showed us Himself that this is true.

Ryan