I believe that the end time is close at hand. God graciously allowed us to have knowledge of the end times through His prophet John in the book of Revelation. We are seeing prophecy fulfilled. We see the world spiraling in chaos. The news we see all over the globe is bad – wars and rumors of wars accelerating, natural disasters, hatred abounds, acceptance of perversion, no value of human life, the demoralization of society. Every circumstance appears to be out of control but we know from God’s word He is sovereign. He is in control. In the days of Noah the Bible tells us that “the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence”. The world was so corrupt that God regretted that He had made human beings and He decided to wipe from the face of the earth the human race, but Noah was a righteous man who found favor with God. God directed Noah to build an ark. Noah was obedient to God’s call and he built an ark according to God’s plan and at the appointed time Noah and his family entered the ark, God sealed them inside, and the flood waters came and every living thing on the face of the earth was wiped out. Noah and his family were safely in the ark when the floodwaters came – God made a way. God promised that He would not destroy the earth again with water and gave us the rainbow as a sign – a sign we still see in the sky today. God gives us signs. Just as God told Noah the flood was coming He is telling us that the end time is coming. We see the signs of the times everywhere. God tells us in His word that that day of the Lord is coming. 2 Peter 3: 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare. God has promised a new heaven and a new earth. God prepared an ark for Noah and his family. They entered the ark in faith. God provides an ark for us – his son, Jesus Christ. Noah was not perfect. He was righteous because of His right relationship with God. None of us are perfect we all have the same problem – sin. We have all sinned and come short of the glory of God. We have all broken some of the Ten Commandments. We are not under the Old Covenant where the blood of animals was shed for forgiveness of sins. We live under the New Covenant where the blood of one perfect and spotless lamb was shed for all who would receive Him. That perfect and spotless lamb is Jesus Christ who is the Son of God. It is by Him alone that we can come into the presence of the one true and living God. When I was a little girl I heard about Jesus and I heard about heaven and hell. I believed that Jesus was God’s son and I didn’t want to go to hell. I remember sitting on the couch reading the Bible, praying, holding my hand up to God, and telling mom that Jesus saved me. I was drawn to what I didn’t understand. I joined the church. I don’t remember coming to Jesus because of conviction of sin. My mom is one of the most faithful people I know. I saw her studying God’s word and praying every day. As a teenager I questioned my salvation. When I went for counseling at a youth retreat I was told it was normal to question and I felt like I was being assured by the counselor that I was ok. I felt the conviction at a Truth concert and I prayed but I never came forward. I lived my selfish life. I went to church on Sunday. I played the piano, sang, or lead music in church. I prayed when I felt guilt for my sins or when I wanted or needed something. I was hit and miss about studying the scripture. I was still living my selfish, sinful life. When the opportunity would arise I would work in the church in music or other areas. I was always ready to sing or to play the piano but what I thought I was doing for the Lord was an opportunity to show the talent He had given me. I would pray for God to forgive me of my sins and bring the same list to him over and over again – things that I had turned from but didn’t have peace about. I wanted a baby so badly. We went through infertility treatment. I prayed for a baby. Finally one day Sonny and I got down on our knees together and we prayed for peace. God gave us a precious daughter and then just because He is so good he gave us another. I prayed diligently through two very rough pregnancies. God always knows what we need and gives us what we don’t deserve. I remembered my mom’s faithfulness. I wanted to be like her. I prayed for my children daily and tried to teach them to pray. I would sing them to sleep with “Jesus Loves Me” and read them Bible stories because I wanted them to know Him. We moved under some difficult circumstances that I could not understand why God allowed to happen. Looking back I know it was to make me draw closer to Him. I prayed diligently and started reading God’s word faithfully. I tried to live right. I tried to live a life serving God teaching my children about Him and using the talents he had given me for Him in the church. I thought I was saved. I would repent of my ever increasing laundry list of sins and hoped that God had forgiven me. I didn’t have peace. I fell under conviction and thought that I didn’t have peace because I had been holding back forgiveness from someone who had hurt me. I denied the thought that I couldn’t be saved because I prayed all the time. I prayed that God would help me forgive and I made a decision to not live in unforgiveness. I felt better about that circumstance but I would still go to the foot of the cross with the laundry list of my sins and pick the guilt of those sins up and take them back with me. Salvation is not about what we do – it’s about what Jesus did at Calvary for us. We have to accept in faith the great salvation that only He can offer. I needed a Savior. God put conviction on my heart this summer and I realized that what I had been doing all these years was going through the motions of being religious and I had not fully trusted in Him. In Matthew 22 it talks about a great wedding banquet where everyone was invited, but the King came in and found a person not wearing wedding clothes. This person was cast out into darkness. This would have been me, but praise be to God, He loved me too much to let me be deceived into eternal darkness. To come into the kingdom of heaven I needed to be forgiven – I needed Jesus. I had to trust Him – completely and totally trust him. I had to enter the new ark, Jesus Christ, in faith. My sins that were scarlet had to be washed white as snow in the blood of the lamb. I had to put on the beautiful wedding clothes that only Jesus could provide. On the morning of July 27 I surrendered all to Jesus Christ. I no longer “hope” that He has forgiven me – I know He has forgiven me! He is my hope, my peace, my joy, my all! Jesus is coming back again. He is coming soon. Are you ready? Are you truly saved? Have you been washed in the blood of the lamb or are you going through the motions? He is waiting with open arms to save you now.
Posted on: Wed, 17 Sep 2014 11:07:48 +0000
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