Last fall, people were frightened about energy costs, but we had a mild winter.
God took care of us.
This fall, people are frightened that Vladimir Putin and Russia might drop some nuclear bombs.
There’s a good chance that God will take care of us, again.
It’s a good sign when we learn that God is essential in our lives and not merely incidental. It’s a blessing when we depend on God more than we depend upon our paychecks or the government, etc., and we pay more attention to God than are distracted by our plans or entertained by what’s on TV. It’s God’s never-ending love and patience with us when he shows us that he is our main provider for all the peace, hope and joy we need. And he encourages us that we are his people on our way to eternal life with him.
We need all the encouragement we can get. Many of my friends think God is judging the church these days, and he is using the world to do it, and the Bible tells us to flee the church when we see the apostacy. “When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains.” (Matthew 24:15-16) After God finishes judging the church it’ll be the world’s turn.
In this judgment time, there is terror, and people are scared. God’s people fall, occasionally, but the Bible says that God picks them up. We value God even more because we know we can depend on him.
Also, since we’re like Jesus and trusting God and doing those righteous deeds, Jesus said we’ll be hated. “I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hates you,” the Bible says in John 15. But when the world hates us, we rely on God more and he gives us peace.
The world is full of the deception, fear and fraud of our enemies, so, Putin’s nuclear strikes could be more political theater, or more division of the world. But what we do know is God is in charge. “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies,” it says, in Psalm 23:5.
Are we on our way to heaven? Or not? Just as Jesus gave us a litmus test of whether or not we’re going to heaven in Matthew 6:14-15, where he said, “If you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: but if you forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses,” we can tell if we’re on our way to eternal life by how important God is in our lives.
People who consider God incidental are like zombies, the living dead, dull-minded and dimwitted, and not excited about spiritual things of God. And some are vicious, worldly vampires, upset when shown the cross, because of hate and guilt, and suck the blood out of others because they can’t make it on their own and don’t rely on God. God is obviously not essential to them. They are probably upset reading this article because it has to do with God and the Bible. Some are goodie-goodies, goodie-two-shoes and mama’s boys, who think it’s enough to not be racists and wrongly think it’s sufficient to please people and not God. And some in the church think they can learn how to try to earn their way to heaven.
I apply what the Bible teaches and have a contract with my eyes. If the wrong things compete for my attention, I often force myself not to look at them. I’m reminded of what it says in the Bible: “I made a covenant with mine eyes; why should I think upon a maid?” (Job 31:1) My attention is on God, instead. If Vlad Putin dropped an atomic bomb, I would surely notice it, but my focus would next be on God. “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills,” it says, in Psalm 121: 1, “from whence cometh my help.” The hills are symbolic of God, who is higher and more powerful, by far, than any plane or missile.