Thursday, December 19, 2013

He Shall Reign Forever And Ever


Yesterday evening I was reading about how "The Church" is losing relevance and how it is impossible for it to have both relevance and moral authority simultaneously.  The inevitable result is supposedly a decline into total insignificance.  (Alas)

Well this morning I was sitting in bed, praising the Lord, and praying in tongues.  A vision came to me of a stone on the top of a hill that got loose and rolled down the hill.  As it rolled it grew larger and larger.  When it got to the bottom of the hill it crushed an image (a statue) that represented all of the kingdoms (governments and cultures) of this world.

Many of you know this vision is written up in Daniel 2, verses 31 through 35, with the interpretation following in verses 36 through 45.  (Well, there is no mention of a hill or the stone rolling down the hill.  Where did I get that idea?  Well, it doesn't matter - the stone was cut without hands, and struck the image.)

Especially take note of verse 44:
And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.

This is like Psalm 2:
1 Why do the nations rage,
And the people plot a vain thing?
2 The kings of the earth set themselves,
And the rulers take counsel together,
Against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying,
3 “Let us break Their bonds in pieces
And cast away Their cords from us.”
4 He who sits in the heavens shall laugh;
The Lord shall hold them in derision.
5 Then He shall speak to them in His wrath,
And distress them in His deep displeasure:
6 “Yet I have set My King
On My holy hill of Zion.”

Numbers 14:21 says:
but truly, as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord—

And Habakkuk 2:14 says nearly the same thing:
For the earth will be filled
With the knowledge of the glory of the Lord,
As the waters cover the sea.

In Matthew 16:18 Jesus said:
And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
Upon Peter?  It doesn't matter to me.  The end result is total victory for Jesus and His kingdom.

And He shall reign forever and ever.  End of story.

So yet again we see the importance of focusing on the Lord God and His truth.

Larry Carroll

Scripture above is from the New King James Version








Saturday, December 14, 2013

Why Even Try?


I know of at least one person, (and probably more than just one), who has given up without even trying, when it comes to personal wealth.

"I'm never going to have real money."  So the next thought is, "Why even try?"  The one person I know who said this explicitly then took her $15 and spent it on after school snacks to take her mind off the situation.  Others spend what little they have on entertainment.

I'm concerned that there are people that regard faith the same way.  They say or think something like this, "I'm never going to be able to live and believe the way these giants of the faith lived, and for sure I'm never going to be able to live as Jesus lived, SO WHY TRY?"

Well, try because it pleases our Father God.

And try because you are not in this alone.  You have the Holy Spirit in you, right?  I hope you do.  And you may have, probably have, other saints living this out with you.  Believer, are you in Christ?

And try because you won't have any real peace if you give up.

I'm told that sanctification is a process.

Winston Churchill, at the beginning of World War Two, gave a speech in which he said in part, "Never give up, never give up!"  Good advise for the Christian Pilgrim.

Larry Carroll