Week 145: For Such A Time As This!

For Such A Time As This!

By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, and

prepared an ark to the saving of his houses… Hebrews 11:6  

• By faith Noah . . .

• By faith Abraham. . .

• By faith Esther. . .

In spite of all the lunacy going on in the world today, God placed us here; right now, for such a time as this! I’m sure you don’t like the troublesome conditions that we face at times. That’s quite understandable; I don’t like them either. However, troublesome times can be noted throughout history—no one escapes. Would you have rather been placed here at a different time? 

No matter when we get here,

God will have an assignment waiting.

Would you have rather done Noah’s assignment, building an ark? Perhaps you would have wanted to trade places with Moses, leading a bunch of disgruntle Israelites out of Egypt. Or, maybe you would have wanted to have been Esther, who daringly approached the king.

God equipped those people and gave them a charge; which they accepted. God has equipped us and has given us a charge. The question that we must ask ourselves: Have we accepted our mission? Do we even know our mission? Please don’t just say, I’m here to serve the Lord. We are all here to serve the Lord; be more specific. One thing is for sure, we weren’t placed on earth to be a nonparticipant. We must ask God, “What do You want us to do with our gifts and talents?” 

     Why would God require so much faith from the people of old,  

                               and just give us a free pass?

The devil wants Christians to waste valuable time worrying instead of using their gifts and talents to make a difference. Not everyone’s purpose is to fight on the frontline like Jeremiah, although we all have personal “frontline” experiences. No job is too small in God’s plan. Everyone’s assignment is important. 

We can’t just shake our heads and excuse ourselves from stepping up to the plate. Is that what God had in mind when He created the world and placed us here at this particular time? Through Jesus Christ we have the wherewithal—

For Such A Time As This!

(Esther 4:14)

© 2016       See you next week on Paulette Talks Faith

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Week 144: NO Exemptions

                             NO Exemptions!

Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure

in him. Hebrews 10:38  

• Prejudice. . .

• Superiority. . .

• Hate. . .

                Back when I taught school, I would sometimes test my students with a trick question to see how much they learned—not just guessing and faking their way through.

 Jesus, the Master Teacher, knows how to get right to the POINT of what we’ve learned. He cuts through all the hypocrisy and aims straight for the heart. We can’t fake our way through this one simple, but yet; complex commandment: Love thy neighbor as thyself. (Mark 12:31)

        This commandment taps into the very foundation of Christianity.

                                        

What makes this commandment so complex?  Let’s exam its brilliancy: 

People come in all different shapes and sizes with varying degrees of intelligence. They have different likes and dislikes. Some people are full of love; some full of hate. Opposing ideologies will cross over into someone’s comfort zone. Diverse religious interpretations are as vast as the capacity to comprehend. There are different races, customs, cultures, and social standings that give innumerable perspectives on how the world is seen. And, what seems clearly simple to some, is muddied and mysterious to others.

The recognizable differences are far more than what I have just listed. YET, with all the dissimilarities, Jesus lumped us altogether on earth and said: Love thy neighbor as thyself!

                                             Brilliant!

This directive digs deep into the depths of our hearts. It reveals everything that Jesus needs to know about us. However, many fail this test every day with prejudice, hate, greed, unforgiveness, jealousy, as they walk around with a false sense of superiority. Nevertheless, they will arrogantly argue that they are Christians—followers of Christ. Hmmm!

If we don’t keep God’s commandments, perhaps He’s not our Father.

                                       (John 8:42-47)   

For one reason or another, some people are deceived into thinking that love thy neighbor doesn’t apply to them. They will come up with all kinds of explanations as to why they are excluded from this MANDATE.

                        Sorry, NO Exemptions Given!

© 2016                          See you next week on Paulette Talks Faith

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Week 143: What Are Christians Supposed to Do?

                              What Are Christians Supposed to Do?

                            So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Romans 10:17

             

                • Immorality. . .

                • Corruption. . .

                • Scandals. . .

                    Don’t tell me you haven’t noticed that this world has gone unequivocally stark, raving mad. Just when you think things can’t get any worse—Whoa!

      We pray all the time for God to turn things around. Nevertheless, He has already told us what to do in order for Him to answer our prayers. 

                              What are Christians supposed to do?  

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

Now mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attent unto the prayer that is made in this place. II Chronicles 7:14-15 

We have to exam ourselves: Are we being obedient to God? We might be able to fool each other, but God sees all and knows all. There is no sense in wandering around like unbelievers scratching our heads trying figure out what’s going on in the world. We know what’s going on. This is spiritual warfare. People might come up with some ideas on how to fix things. But, if it doesn’t include God—

        Whom do you trust to fix things: man or God?

Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, whom there is no help. Psalm 146:3  

                   We must put our faith and trust in God and not conform or compromise from what we know to be right. It’s our turn on the wheel of time to show the world we know the Answer. And, that our allegiance belongs to our Lord and His undeniably, irrefutably, unaltered Word!

  What are Christians supposed to do?

  Obey II Chronicles 7:14-15 and watch God work!

         

    © 2016          See you next week on Paulette Talks Faith

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