Be not troubled...

(Matthew 24.6) “…see that ye be not troubled…”

“Be not troubled” is the cry often heard for God’s people throughout scripture when calamity appeared on the horizon with God testing their dependency upon Him. It has never changed! “If God is for us who can be against us”! This does not mean we will never have opposition, on the contrary we will at times have fierce antagonism, but whatever comes at the believer will be no match for their God and Father. This is a truth that is irrevocably undeniable and our faith towards God demands our undivided attention when the smelting pot begins to bubble.

We all need to enter the “Slough of Despond” and breech the other side and the only way this will ever be achieved correctly as children of God is by our faith in Him. You will hear many voices whilst wading through your times of trouble and at intervals the sludge will look to swallow you up like sinking sand. These are the stints that will either make or break us as professing Christians. Then there will be stretches when we walk in gross disobedience hankering after our own sinful lusts blinded by sin and God will discipline us to get us back on track. He cares for us, praise His name! (See Hebrews 12:7)

It is obvious that whoever God has begun a work with will make it out on the other side, regardless of that individuals merits. God chooses and works all things in accordance with His will. Do not be fooled into believing that we have any influence to thwart His character in any way and misguide His master plan and derail it. Satan believed that and persuaded a third of the angels to rebel with him looking to disrupt God, with the earth and its inhabitants as his playground looking to misguide its populations with the lures of sin, although many will share his fate, God’s children will escape his lies. Their end is sealed; “and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.” (Revelation 20:10) – We must learn to align ourselves with the Word of God and not look for wiggle room. I cannot stress this point enough! If it says it, believe it and if your mind looks to doubt its authenticity, cry unto the King of kings and ask Him to help your unbelief. But never do what Eve did with the Word and give Satan a foothold to twist its original meaning when it is obvious what God has instructed us to do.

There is no other name under heaven save the Lord Jesus Christ, whereby a person may be saved. Any other way is a lie from the devil himself. Do not entertain fools who profess to be wise; their fate is sealed!

It is in the times of troubles that the true Christian will be of value to others, not when life is rosy. You may wonder why I make so many references to the word “true” Christian. Many proclaim to belong to God but in fact like the idea of hedging their bets just in case they are judged one day whilst others see the merits of the potential in “Christianity” with wealth and prosperity as their draw card. It is all about them!

We must learn to decrease so that the Christ in us may increase and we will then be of value to our brothers and sisters in Christ, pleasing our heavenly Father.

The trials of life that God brings across our paths are to hone us into something beautiful and we needn’t look much further that the splendour of Christ our beloved Saviour. How He needed to suffer to set us free, we too need to arm ourselves with the same mind. It is through these difficult patches of our lives that compel us to draw close to Him. These are the true tests for the true Christians.

If our works will be judged by fire when we get to heaven (see 1 Corinthians 3: 13), why then, if we have the mind of Christ, even now here on earth and we have His Spirit are we then surprised by hardship? I have to conclude that we are either babes in Christ or we must be false converts and the wannabe Christian will fall by the wayside. We must cement this truth deep within our hearts and minds; “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31) – We have a Saviour who makes daily intercession for us and He is touched with the feelings of our infirmities. We can and must take our concerns to Him in prayer, He is on our side and He will come to our rescue come what may, of this I am convinced!

Signing off

Tyrone