Jesus Calls All - 72

Philippians 4:11,12 Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.

Having personally gone from owning a successful, growing business to bankruptcy in less than 6 months back in 2008; having been homeless as well as a landlord; having no certainty as to where my next meal will come from and having a well stocked pantry, I have learned to appreciate every situation I am in. Even the impoverished ones, for I know God will meet my needs, although usually at the last minute. You see, God likes to work on my greatest flaw, a lack of patience, whenever He can.

Most of us are fortunate to be fully employed, and are content with their standard of living. A few of us are unemployed or underemployed; yet by the grace of God can make ends meet. Maybe these people are not content, but in this case, a lack of contentment should serve as a motivator for them to push forward and excel, hopefully to the glory of God.

Then, you have the “occupy” crowd. This is a relatively small group of self proclaimed victims who have a wide assortment of gripes and have received a huge amount of publicity from a mostly sympathetic media. Meanwhile, videos of violence by these protesters can be found on the internet, with over 1000 (and growing) “victims” arrested as of this post. In addition, claims of support for them from labor unions, communists and anti American Muslim groups and even our own executive government are circulating across the internet. Since the media is ignoring these claims, no one has any idea as to their accuracy. Indeed, the love for one another is growing cold, as Jesus said it would.

You may not have everything you want, but do you have everything you need? This is what contentment brings about. Sure, you may still pursue greater things - to have more - to save, invest, play and of course give away to those less fortunate, but when Jesus is your life and your love, everything else becomes irrelevant.

And this is what the “occupy” protesters need to know.

Have You Prayed for your Country Today? 7

"Go and tell Hezekiah, 'Thus says the LORD, the God of David your father: "I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; surely I will add to your days fifteen years. Isaiah 38:5; New King James Version.

King Hezekiah was just told by the Lord he was to die and not recover from a serious illness. Hezekiah prayed to the Lord, humbling himself and the Lord rewarded Hezekiah with healing.

This is an example of the Lord’s mercy. Today, it appears that the world is doomed, the rise of the anti-christ is near, and the only thing we have to live for is to patiently wait for our Lord to return.

These are without a doubt the most troubling times the world has ever seen, and we, who have read God’s word, know they will get much worse. But I also see evidence that God is being merciful to those that honor Him.

Dubai, with all of its oil wealth, is having a serious cash flow crisis, which could topple it. The Greek economy is on the verge of collapse and could take the Euro with it. South Africa’s woes are just beginning. Zimbabwe has a currency that requires 10,000,000,000 to one US dollar…we can’t even buy paper napkins that cheap! And Somalia doesn’t even have a functioning government anymore.  Good heavens, we're doomed!

But wait. Through all of this, it appears in spite of all the debt America owes to the rest of the world, the very IOUs America owes to the world are not being called in as would be expected, and they should be. The value of the dollar continues to fall, but nowhere on the verge of collapse…for the moment.  In fact, it appears the rest of the world is starting to place their faith and trust in the dollar again!  If so, we could see commodity prices fall, interest rates remain low, and the economy recover beyond anything we could have imagined!  This would clearly be the hand of God on us all.

The Lord may be merciful, but He is also just. During this holiday season; from Thanksgiving through Chanukah and Christmas; give praises to the Lord for His mercy on us. Pray for and give to those in need. We may know our fate, but we don’t know when it will happen. We still have the Lord’s ear, and His mercy. We too can get a delay in the Lord’s execution.

© 2009 David Etenburn.