Off With Your Head!

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I now saw another beast. This one came out of the ground. It had two horns like a lamb, but spoke like a dragon.  It worked for the beast whose fatal wound had been healed. And it used all its authority to force the earth and its people to worship that beast. It worked mighty miracles, and while people watched, it even made fire come down from the sky.

This second beast fooled people on earth by working miracles for the first one. Then it talked them into making an idol in the form of the beast that did not die after being wounded by a sword.  It was allowed to put breath into the idol, so it could speak. Everyone who refused to worship the idol of the beast was put to death.

Revelation 13:11-15

The penalty is death for anyone who refuses to worship the idol of the beast! That sounds frighteningly contemporary! "If you don't worship like we want you to, then off with your head!"

My job as a Christian is not to "read the tea leaves" of the signs of the End, but rather to be ready to stand firm for Jesus if I am called upon to lose my head for Him!

You see, it really doesn't matter where we are on the prophetic time line when you are given the ultimatum to deny the Lord or lose your head. If it is moments before the return of Jesus or many decades before His return your response and responsibility remain the same.

And whether or not we are in the "End Times" there are those now who would like to cut off your head if you refuse to "convert" and deny Jesus! That can quickly make these the "End Times" for me, whether or not they are for anyone else!

A man who formerly believed that I should lose my head, heard the call of Jesus on his life and when I asked him, he told me that my response should be to love those who want to kill me and to pray for them!

So here is the challenge for me and for you. Make sure that anyone who is about to cut off your head, is someone you love!

"Lord Jesus, I don't know when You will return, but I know that I must never deny You even if I lose my head for refusing to renounce my love for You. Help me to love everyone that You love and died to save! Amen."

Prayer for Willingness!

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We had been in Caesarea for several days, when the prophet Agabus came to us from Judea.  He took Paul's belt, and with it he tied up his own hands and feet. Then he told us, “The Holy Spirit says that some of the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem will tie up the man who owns this belt. They will also hand him over to the Gentiles.”   After Agabus said this, we and the followers living there begged Paul not to go to Jerusalem.

But Paul answered, “Why are you crying and breaking my heart? I am not only willing to be put in jail for the Lord Jesus, but I am even willing to die for him in Jerusalem!”

Since we could not get Paul to change his mind, we gave up and prayed, “Lord, please make us willing to do what you want.”

Acts 21:10-14

Did you notice in these verses that when Paul could not be convinced not to go to Jerusalem the prayer that was uttered was not for Paul! I think I would have prayed "Lord bless Paul and protect him from the harm that will be inflicted on him in Jerusalem." Instead they prayed "Lord help us to be willing to do what You want!"

When I look at some rather long "prayer request" lists, the focus is usually to ask God to heal the sicknesses and remove the difficulties from the lives of those who are suffering.

Instead of asking God to help us to be willing to do what He wants, we ask Him to do what we want! The problem with that is that we don't see the "big picture" of our lives as God does. We want immediate relief from this problem or that problem, while God sees how those problems are perhaps essential to the shaping of our lives into the image of Jesus Christ!

"Lord Jesus, show Your power in my life by making me willing to suffer whatever comes my way by Your Sovereign choice! May my victorious life be measured by how much I have become like You, my Lord, Jesus! Praise Your Name now and forever! Amen."

Is Your God Unknown?

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So Paul stood up in front of the council and said:

People of Athens, I see that you are very religious.  As I was going through your city and looking at the things you worship, I found an altar with the words, “To an Unknown God.” You worship this God, but you don't really know him. So I want to tell you about him.   This God made the world and everything in it. He is Lord of heaven and earth, and he doesn't live in temples built by human hands.   He doesn't need help from anyone. He gives life, breath, and everything else to all people.

Acts 17:22-25

Did you know that you can be "very religious" without being a Christian? In fact, you can be very religious without claiming to be a follower of any formal religion. Even those who claim that they have no god have given their heart and allegiance to someone or something.

You will be a "worshiper." The question is simply who or what will you worship?
Many people worship the "things" that they are able to collect or the money that they have which enables them to acquire material things.

Some worship power and authority and they do everything in life with the goal of gaining more power and authority over others.

There are also those who worship nature and the beauty of the earth. They are the ones who see the greatest crime to be anything that would harm the balance of nature.

All of these people know who their god is and they live their lives to please their chosen sovereign.

You may have chosen God Almighty, Lord of Heaven and earth to be your God, but is He still an "unknown" God to you? This life is primarily about getting to know God who is your Creator and the source of everything you have!

There is a famous Broadway play called "The King and I." The most memorable song from that musical begins with the words "Getting to know you, getting to know all about you." That is also the theme song for the life of a Christian. Christians spend their lives getting to know Jesus Christ who is Himself God in the flesh. Spend time today reading the Bible in order to know more about Jesus and pray continually as you converse with your Creator.

"Lord Jesus, I want to know you better today than I did yesterday. Show me today something about You that I do not know! And may You, Lord be praised forever. Amen."

Show the Lord that You Love Him!

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All who belong to the Lord, show how you love him.  The Lord protects the faithful,  but he severely punishes  everyone who is proud.

Psalm 31:23

How do you know that someone loves you? Is it what they say, or what they do?
I don't know who originally said it, but "your actions speak so loudly, that I can't hear what you say" is so very true.

I'm not sure I ever heard my father say "I love you," but everything he did for me for the 38 years that we were both alive on planet earth told me without question that he loved me!

It is wonderful to sing praises to the Lord and to declare with your mouth that you love Him! But it is even more important that your actions each day proclaim your love! Are you humble before the Lord and do you have a willing heart, willing to obey every Word that comes from your Heavenly Father?

"Lord Jesus, show me something today that You want me to do. Give me another way to show You that I love you. Thank You Jesus. Amen."

Be Ready Now or Later!

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You can be certain that in the last days there will be some very hard times.  People will love only themselves and money. They will be proud, stuck-up, rude, and disobedient to their parents. They will also be ungrateful, godless, heartless, and hateful. Their words will be cruel, and they will have no self-control or pity. These people will hate everything good.  They will be sneaky, reckless, and puffed up with pride. Instead of loving God, they will love pleasure.

2 Timothy 3:1-4

The hardest part is just before the baby comes! When the labor pain arrives, for a short while you forget all the joy of preparing for the baby. For some the pain is extremely severe, in fact I am of course told, as a man I can never really understand how bad it is.

As we prepare for and look forward to the return of Jesus Christ, the Bible says that just before He comes, it will be like labor pains. Unless you knew the baby was coming, when the labor pains arrived you would certainly be tempted to give up all hope of things being better. If we are living in the days just prior to the return of Jesus, then things that are bad will even get worse and the pain will only stop when Jesus comes!

But I remember, and you may as well something we called "false labor" pains. We thought, this is it, the baby is on the way, but it was not yet time. You may have even made a quick run to the hospital for nothing. It certainly seems as if the time of the return of Jesus is at hand, but no one knows for certain. These days may indeed be false labor. So we must live ready for the trouble to come because of the soon return of Jesus, but we must also be ready to suffer here, maybe even for years to come.

Jesus will return! That is certain. You can "bet your life" on it! But the date of His return has not yet been revealed! Be ready today for the return of Jesus and be ready to live out the rest of your days on this earth, knowing that when you leave this earth you will be with Jesus! Either way you will be with Jesus forever if you have given your heart to Him.

"Lord Jesus, give me the strength to stand here while we wait for your return. And Lord give me the patience to wait even for years to come if that is the Will of the Father. Either way, may You be praised forever. Amen."

When God Breathes!

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But don't be fooled! People will rebel against God. Then before the Lord returns, the wicked one who is doomed to be destroyed will appear.   He will brag and oppose everything holy or sacred. He will even sit in God's temple and claim to be God.  Don't you remember I told you this while I was still with you?

You already know what is holding this wicked one back until it is time for him to come.  His mysterious power is already at work, but someone is holding him back. And the wicked one won't appear until this someone is out of the way.   Then he will appear, but the Lord Jesus will kill him simply by breathing on him. He will be completely destroyed by the Lord's glorious return.

2 Thessalonians 2:3-8

"When your father gets home he will take care of it!" That was the threat my mother would often use when my brother and I were not being obedient. And it worked! Even the thought of my father's disciple would insure that we would obey our mother.
When Jesus Christ returns, He will destroy the "wicked one" by simply breathing on him. At the beginning it was the breath of God that brought life to a lump of clay, and when Jesus returns it will be His breath that will kill the "wicked one."

When the wind blows, I am reminded of the breath of God. A soft warm wind is peaceful and calms my heart. But a strong wind can blow away everything I have in only a second or two. When God breathes on you it will either bring life, or it will destroy you.

Don't be upset by wicked and evil men. Don't despair even if you think you see today the truly "wicked one" described in the Bible! Evil will not win in the End. Jesus will return as He said He would and His breath will destroy the wicked one!

When I had been disobedient to my mother as a child, I feared the return of my father. But when I was obedient I longed for his home coming! If you are disobedient to God, you most certainly fear the return of Jesus Christ. But if you obey His every Word, your heart will long to see Him coming with the clouds!

"Lord Jesus, help me to be obedient to You today so that Your breath will be a soft and peaceful breeze and Your coming something I long for! May You be praised forever. Amen."

Obey the Law

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Heaven and earth may disappear. But I promise you not even a period or comma will ever disappear from the Law. Everything written in it must happen.

If you reject even the least important command in the Law and teach others to do the same, you will be the least important person in the kingdom of heaven. But if you obey and teach others its commands, you will have an important place in the kingdom.

Matthew 5:18-19 (CEV)

There is a law that God made that everyone obeys. It is the "Law of Gravity." Everyday I am very careful not to disobey the Law of Gravity. If I do, there are sudden and usually painful consequences. Most recently, I stepped on our cat in the dark at the top of a flight of steps and then I descended the steps without my feet touching even one of them!

The Word of God is filled with God's wisdom. God has graciously revealed everything we need to know to live on this earth. But obeying the Word of God is not optional. If you choose to disobey even the least of God's commandments, there are certain consequences.

We like to focus on the fact that we are saved by grace, through faith in Jesus and not by keeping the law! And that is true, but even a man who is saved must obey the "Law of Gravity" and all the other Words of God or there will be consequences in his life. We sometimes live as if a "saved" man cannot fall out of a tree!

Of course, your faith in Jesus Christ is primary and the most important thing in your life, but never ignore the things that God has said. If you do, you will suffer for it. God told us things about lying, stealing, sexual purity, being faithful in marriage, honoring your parents, and the list goes on and on.
Set your heart today to be obedient to every Word God has spoken. Let your life and the way you live it conform to the Word, every Word of God! When you do, you will be blessed!

"Lord Jesus, help me today to open my ears and my heart to receive and obey every Word that comes from You. And may You be praised forever. Amen."