Is The Lord Testing American Christians With Prosperity?
Dec 20, 2017 19:52:43 GMT -6
sawdy, mike, and 3 more like this
Post by watchman35 on Dec 20, 2017 19:52:43 GMT -6
Is it just me, or does anyone sense that the Lord may be testing the hearts of both merely professing and genuinely faithful American Christians? I found my flesh being tugged upon momentarily today as I listened to news report about how the tax bill was officially passed and what that theoretically portends for our economy. The Dow is up almost 25% from 20K to just shy of 25K since the election. AT&T and other companies have already announced bonuses for their employees in response to the tax bill being passed. Lying, treasonous, corrupt, immoral people are being exposed on multiple fronts. Illegal immigration seems to be down. You can almost hear the music playing in the background, "Happy days are here again, the skies are blue and clear again."
My flesh and carnal mind began down the path of, "Oh, maybe it won't be so bad to stick around for awhile longer." Then my spirit, or perhaps more accurately, the Holy Spirit in me, yanked on my chain and brought me back to reality. This world has nothing for me and absolutely nothing that can compare to what God has in store for those of us who love Him and are called according to His purpose. Forgive me, Abba, for entertaining such thoughts. Like Building 429 sings, "This world has nothing for me, this life is not my own." Or Fernando Ortega, "You can have all this world, just give me Jesus."
I could almost feel the carnal excitement in the air, wooing people away from truth and beckoning us to settle for temporal rubbish instead of the true riches found only in Christ. That's when the thought crossed my mind: I wonder if the Lord may be testing both believers and unbelievers in America to reveal what is really in our heart. Even as the chorus of "Peace and Safety" continues to echo through the corridors of this planet, I cannot help but wonder if perhaps this is precisely the kind of environment that the Lord might violently intrude upon to snatch away His Bride. People are eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, building, marrying and giving in marriage. The "good" old days are back. And on it goes, with all things supposedly continuing as they were since the beginning of creation.
I believe that sometimes the most insidious form of testing comes not in the readily recognizable substance of suffering and persecution, but rather prosperity. Give me neither poverty nor riches, says the proverb, so that we are tempted neither to steal nor to forget His Name. While I am extremely grateful that the Lord did not allow Hillary Clinton to inflict more of her evil on this nation, I cannot help but wonder if many are not now being lulled to sleep spiritually and seduced by the siren call of material prosperity?
Stay alert, true body of Jesus Christ!!! Now is not the time, as if there ever really was such a time, to be letting down our spiritual guards. I believe the Lord may be sifting America to expose who is really His, and who is going back to the world now that it seems a season of "prosperity" is upon us. While much has changed for the better here in America over the past year, nothing has fundamentally changed in the direction and course of this world. The Ezekiel 38 war seems primed to take place at any moment, with the hallmark amazing precision of our Lord's Word being fulfilled literally right before our very eyes. Israel is completing 70 years back in the land, with extensive plans already in place for the 3rd Temple. The framework for the mark of the beast in a cashless one-world global economy is clearly in sight. The high-tech instruments of warfare that would require Jesus Christ to intervene at the end of Daniel's 70th week to keep man from completely annihilating ourselves are now clearly evident. Europe appears ripe for a leader to save them from the chaos and despair overshadowing that continent. Ah, but first the departure of the Bride, along with the Restrainer, before that man of lawlessness can be revealed.
Abba, help us keep our eyes fixed upon You, and upon Your Son, Yeshua Ha Mashiach, as we continue to watch and pray, thanking You for the righteousness of Jesus Christ that makes us worthy to escape all these things about to come upon this earth. Maranatha, Lord Jesus!!! We long for Your presence and prefer You over any material blessing that this world could ever offer us.
My flesh and carnal mind began down the path of, "Oh, maybe it won't be so bad to stick around for awhile longer." Then my spirit, or perhaps more accurately, the Holy Spirit in me, yanked on my chain and brought me back to reality. This world has nothing for me and absolutely nothing that can compare to what God has in store for those of us who love Him and are called according to His purpose. Forgive me, Abba, for entertaining such thoughts. Like Building 429 sings, "This world has nothing for me, this life is not my own." Or Fernando Ortega, "You can have all this world, just give me Jesus."
I could almost feel the carnal excitement in the air, wooing people away from truth and beckoning us to settle for temporal rubbish instead of the true riches found only in Christ. That's when the thought crossed my mind: I wonder if the Lord may be testing both believers and unbelievers in America to reveal what is really in our heart. Even as the chorus of "Peace and Safety" continues to echo through the corridors of this planet, I cannot help but wonder if perhaps this is precisely the kind of environment that the Lord might violently intrude upon to snatch away His Bride. People are eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, building, marrying and giving in marriage. The "good" old days are back. And on it goes, with all things supposedly continuing as they were since the beginning of creation.
I believe that sometimes the most insidious form of testing comes not in the readily recognizable substance of suffering and persecution, but rather prosperity. Give me neither poverty nor riches, says the proverb, so that we are tempted neither to steal nor to forget His Name. While I am extremely grateful that the Lord did not allow Hillary Clinton to inflict more of her evil on this nation, I cannot help but wonder if many are not now being lulled to sleep spiritually and seduced by the siren call of material prosperity?
Stay alert, true body of Jesus Christ!!! Now is not the time, as if there ever really was such a time, to be letting down our spiritual guards. I believe the Lord may be sifting America to expose who is really His, and who is going back to the world now that it seems a season of "prosperity" is upon us. While much has changed for the better here in America over the past year, nothing has fundamentally changed in the direction and course of this world. The Ezekiel 38 war seems primed to take place at any moment, with the hallmark amazing precision of our Lord's Word being fulfilled literally right before our very eyes. Israel is completing 70 years back in the land, with extensive plans already in place for the 3rd Temple. The framework for the mark of the beast in a cashless one-world global economy is clearly in sight. The high-tech instruments of warfare that would require Jesus Christ to intervene at the end of Daniel's 70th week to keep man from completely annihilating ourselves are now clearly evident. Europe appears ripe for a leader to save them from the chaos and despair overshadowing that continent. Ah, but first the departure of the Bride, along with the Restrainer, before that man of lawlessness can be revealed.
Abba, help us keep our eyes fixed upon You, and upon Your Son, Yeshua Ha Mashiach, as we continue to watch and pray, thanking You for the righteousness of Jesus Christ that makes us worthy to escape all these things about to come upon this earth. Maranatha, Lord Jesus!!! We long for Your presence and prefer You over any material blessing that this world could ever offer us.
