For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world,

and lose his own soul? 

(Mark 8:36)

 

Life can be rough as a living organism on our planet.  Thankfully, winning the battles and the war is ultimately God’s responsibility.  We cannot take on and fight the hosts of evil armies of Lucifer and the spirit world, the greedy banksters and CEOs, dirty politicians, hypocritical religious leaders, and war-mongering monsters for many reasons.  We were not made for it, and we don’t have the strength or infinite intelligence to handle it. We were never even called to ‘fix it’. (Luke 18:27) Even with strength in our numbers of able fighters we cannot fight some of the higher unseen battles with forces that are out of this world and beyond our league; it would be a losing battle without the Holy Spirit of the Living God interceding for us.

For he “has put everything under his feet.”

Now when it says that “everything” has been put under him,

it is clear that this does not include God himself,

who put everything under Christ.

(1Cor 15:27)

 

Clearly, it is not our battle, but for the Lord Jesus.  Someday soon, that whole battle will be under the feet and cleaned up by the One who gave His life for us anyway.

Humans have been fighting an uphill battle since the beginning, but the dangers and stresses have significantly increased in the last few decades and they don’t seem to be subsiding.  This is a snapshot of our life on earth now:

• Global economic collapse

• Warfare threats are constant

• Weapons confiscation is coming  (um….well, it’s here)

• Extreme violence is growing

• Disappearing jobs – still

• Disappearing pensions & 401ks

• Food prices climb while quantities of good food decline

• Unaffordable medical treatment & medicines

• Rampant Addictions

• Mass Shootings of strangers/children

• Mass animal die offs

• Nature’s mayhem continues and escalates  (including meteors & sinkholes)

• ‘Entertainment’ by depravity, violence & the occult

• The apostasy of the churches is here (through ecumenicism & watering down the gospel)

• ETC. etc etc

That is if you make it out of your own mother’s womb alive before she legally kills you for being inconvenient.  I would not call that a pretty picture of the here and now, and it will only get worse as long as we leave it up to godless minds and hearts to continue their version of ‘world leadership’ instead of global repentance and turning to God.

My ultimate question to you is WHO gave you this life?   WHO can change it or even take it away? Many people don’t like to honestly answer these questions and prefer to hold onto their lifestyle, kicking and screaming along the way because the answer means total surrender of every worldly thing that they know and love.

Considering where it’s all going, do you really still want all this?

Do not let anyone who delights in false humility

and the worship of angels disqualify you for the prize.

Such a person goes into great detail about what he has seen,

and his unspiritual mind puffs him up with idle notions. (Colossians 2:18)

In denial of the above listed catastrophes, most folks prefer to keep things going ‘as they see fit’, regardless of their religious standing, or worse – lead to believe in a ‘seeker-friendly’ Sunday entertainment session leader who convinces them that their ‘best life is right now’.  It’s easier that way – undeniably.  The masses are also not told about the great things ahead for those who are born again into God’s family, something that is thankfully otherworldly to beat out all this corruption here.   And they are not given any convicting bible verses about repentance, or reconciling themselves to God through Jesus Christ.  So they continue in their sin and ignorance, apathetic to their condemnation, and settle for all this here, or try in vain to fix it all (some are with the best intentions).

Most are being lead down that wide road away from the better things to come.  When churches can’t give a clear answer on what we can achieve in eternal salvation and truth in the world, and they are not clearly shown into what we are investing our souls, this becomes the ultimate crisis.  People are NOT reading the bible themselves, and they are tragically not being directed to do so.

Just a mention of a couple other things that we are being waylaid with on a daily basis as the moral degeneration of youth and family life through the media; did you notice that in MANY cable tv shows, every week is their ‘most shocking episode of the season’? Also on our list of growing aggravations are the increasing governmental controls on daily life, the constant threat of warfare, and the collapsing monetary system and disappearing personal wealth add mounting stresses to our lives (how do you know your retirement funds will still be there or that the FDIC will be able to cover you if the Feds are also bankrupt?).

The free-fall has to hit rock bottom at some point.

Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant

nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain,

but to put their hope in God, who richly provides

us with everything for our enjoyment. (1Tim 6:17)

 

Do we really want all that to happen? God may think so by the way we keep shoving Him out of the picture. (1 John 2:15-17)

And where does it end for us?  Most likely in a box. Our bodies all go there and then into the ground, or maybe out to sea or an urn. But what about afterwards?  Suppose the Christians are right? Would you rather find out the hard way?

Enough of that. Why don’t we flip this around and talk about what you’d have to gain by listening just once to the Christians as the Lord speaks through them?

• Clean slate from bondage of sin (Psalm 57:1)

• Forgiveness  (2 Peter 3:9, Mt. 9:13, John 3:16)

• Peace of mind & heart about your eternal security (Heb. 2:9, Colossians 3:15, 1John 5:13)

• An eternal Father’s love as adopted son/daughter (Ephesians 5:2, 2Corinthian 6:18)

• A Savior who NEVER leaves you, forsakes you (Heb 13:5)

• Eternal Life in Paradise,  healed, happy & with the Lord (Revelations 7:9, Philippians 3:12-21)

 

I could have elaborated more on each of these but I think the benefits and supporting verses stand for themselves. This means repenting of your own ways – the way it wasn’t working in the first place or you wouldn’t be ‘seeking’ something more satisfying at one of those massive entertaining churches. It entails nothing short of total repentance and inviting God by believing in His Son – Jesus Christ – and Holy Spirit, to change your life in a way that’s meant to be prepared for all eternity, not just a short ‘prosperous’ life on earth. Yes, you surrender all things here that are limited to planet earth and your little corner and understanding of it, but you also gain something infinitely beyond supernatural and of The Living God – forever.

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness,

and all these things will be given to you as well. 

(Matthew 6:33)

A significant part of our walk with God is looking up for our redemption, and not trying to hold onto all your possessions down here, which we can’t take with us anyway. Something bigger and better is coming, and it will arrive shortly.

You see it right here, two very contrasting lists of what life is or could be like. Read them both again. You choose. It’s either the world with its own ruination and judgment, or eternal life in rest and peace with God?

What do you have to gain in going along with the world?  Most importantly, what do you have to lose by siding and getting right with God?

I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing

with the glory that will be revealed in us. (Romans 8:18)

Acts 4-5 illuminates how after the apostles were whipped, they were even more motivated to spread the word. Nothing the lawmakers did could squelch their fervor for the Lord Jesus and his merciful forgiveness and resurrection.  Even the Pharisees could see that God & His followers could not be defeated.   Who’s side would you rather be on?

 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. 

The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, 

who loved me and gave himself for me.

(Galatians 2:20)

What do you have to lose?