LIVING IN THE LAST HOUR

We could all be living our last hour.

Recent Posts

  • A Rock and Hard place

    The “rock ” is the visible – the dangerous wolves in the world. The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life, James 1:14-15 (NKJV) says each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death. Everyone is tempted by something. Most everyone is tempted by power, control and success. Be honest.
    The “hard place” is the most challenging. This is the hidden wolf disguised in sheep’s clothing. He can be – a pastor – an evangelist – bible teacher. The false prophet goes into the places of worship, to deceive. He knows no fear. And because his goal is to gain our trust, we willingly share our deepest thoughts with him.

    As a Christian sometimes I feel like I am stuck between a rock and a hard place. There is spiritual danger in the world, but it is in the church too. And to me that is the most dangerous. Satan comes as an angel of light. He is very cunning. I confessed to my adult daughters some of what I fell for when I was a young believer. I have friends in ministry who have been staunch supporters of Trump from day 1. I still recall a conversation with them where the wife declared their support for Him. The remark came across as a declaration of war. My husband and I were like, huh. Ok. I, we trust God, over any friend who would use their ministry, who would use the name of God to declare one man holy, or chosen, over another. God will use whomever, or whatever situation He chooses to lead the heart of man back to Himself.

    To many of my friends and like many fellow believers Trump was/is their king. He was going to save Christianity, this nation and stop abortion. They were unconcerned with his character and moral flaws. Well, both my husband and I found it hard to reconcile their loyalty to a man who could be so cruel and hateful. They truly believe he is sent by God. I do too but not for the same reasons. They hate democrats and liberals. As if it is the same thing as hating the enemies of God. Our battles are not against flesh and blood. Today, after the Democrats won every statewide office in Texas Nov. 3, and won with unprecedented numbers across the country, today they wanted to remind their followers of this, 

    The powers that be may think they are in control... but truth is that they are mere instruments in the Hand of the One who truly is."

    And the truth is, that statement is true regardless of what party is in control. So, I am trying very hard to understand why Christians and evangelicals struggle to accept the Sovereignty of God when their political party loses. No political party represents the God of the heavens. God spoke. John 12:28-29 (NKJV) says God will glorify His name, and if anyone has a problem believing that He glorified His name on Nov 3. political parties are not the problem – as always – the problem lies in the heart of man. The Lord said this as he predicted His death on the cross,

    “Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour. Father, glorify Your name. Then a voice came from heaven, saying, “I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.” Therefore the people who stood by and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to Him.” Jesus answered and said, “This voice did not come because of Me, but for your sake.

    Acts 5: 38-39, And now I say to you, keep away from these men and let them alone; for if this plan or this work is of men, it will come to nothing; but if it is of God, you cannot overthrow it—lest you even be found to fight against God.

    If God did what He did Nov 3. for my sake, for the sake of the righteous who cried out to Him, to glorify His name that has been trampled on by His own, to remind us of His Sovereignty, then we best be shaking in our boots. The Scriptures tell us not to fear the one who can destroy the body, but we should fear the one who can destroy both body and soul. But I guess today’s Christians and evangelicals did not even here thunder from heaven. God has gloried His name.

    To God be all the glory today and forever!

  • If you don’t mind. I am going to share some more thoughts on the matter of November 3, 2026.

    I wondered how “we-believers” who profess Christ could sit quietly while others (American or not) have been treated with cruelty, humiliated and have their families ripped apart all in the name of justice? We are all witnesses to the events of the last ten years. I wondered how some Christians could find enjoyment and humor in watching the inhumane treatment of another? After the election, I wondered why Christians would prophesy doom and gloom because of elections results? Since when does God stop being who He is because of election results? I had a conversation with my husband – a conversation that many of us should be having. November 4, 2026, one FB influencer posted that he woke up to find the world had changed. He is expecting the worst of the worse. I’ve read other voices of the air begin echoing a doomsday message regarding the “blue wave” phenomenon. I am aghast. Suddenly, the Christian right is fearful of the future. Where is their God?

    I can be confident that these folks have not believed in the living God, but in a god of their own making. I live in Texas. And to see a democrat take one statewide office I would call a miracle. Let me tell you – Democrats do not win statewide elections in Texas – not since Anne Richards. There’s a reason for that too. But for Democrats to take all the statewide offices with more than a small margin – that is – the finger of God. Like an EF5 tornado, the Republicans were swept completely off their foundation — a clean slab was left.

    In Exodus 8, when the Pharoah’s magicians tried to replicate what Aaron had done bringing lice on man and beast they could not do it. They told Pharoah what they were seeing was the finger of God. And you know what happened? “Pharaoh’s heart grew hard, and he did not heed them, just as the Lord had said.” What will be the response of Trumps’ Christians and evangelicals in Texas? Are they already plotting their next move against Democrats? No doubt, there. It is the nature of politics. What many outside Texas may not know about, are the candidates that won. Newcomer Benjamin Flores won for Texas Land Commissioner, defeating an incumbent. His political experience was that of former Bay City councilman and member of local development boards. He also battled cancer during his campaign. Newcomer Gina Hinojosa unseated Abbot. Incumbents typically win reelection in Texas. But not in 2026.

    You can believe, or not believe that replacing every statewide office, was the finger of God. In worldly efforts, Texas Democrats did the work. Nevertheless, I refused to accept any outcome accept what the Lord would declare at the end of day. Any day, God’s will, will prevail over the plans of man. This state and this nation have a problem with Pharisees. They have always been before God. If anyone was going to rein in the Pharisees, it was going to be the living God.

    Romans 8:28 reminds me that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. In the Old Testament, God spoke through prophets to call Israel back from idolatry and disobedience. He laid out the consequences and promised restoration -if- they turned back to Him.

    Spiritually, I believe that God heard the outcry coming from America, just as He heard the cries of Sodom. If you recall, there were not many righteous people in Sodom. But to understand what happened in Texas the hearer must step out of their worldly identity. God is serious. And if what happened Nov 3. did not convince any believer of this they had better examine their heart. It was one thing for God to show His power by turning the great state of Texas blue. Blue is a worldly reference to political power. But what happened across the nation was God revealing Himself from His throne.

    For the believer, everything is about the heart. Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. From it comes all sorts of evil. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.

    The Scriptures say God is Sovereign. After the events of Nov 3., are there any doubts left? Pretty sure there are. I believe that with all my heart, soul and might. That is lens through which I see the events of November 3rd. The question is always the same and it is not about who won or who lost. It is whether the heart of man will turn to God? That is the heart of the Christian faith.

    We can spend hours giving ourselves kudos, patting each other on the back, pointing fingers, or debating the political messages, while missing the spiritual examination that we desperately need. The unprecedented events in Texas and across the nation will be a distraction to the humility of the heart. But let’s leave the world and its politics out of this conversation for a moment.

    During the pandemic we had time to pause and consider God’s Sovereignty. The United States with all its power could not keep a microscopic bug from invading our land. If anything, Americans brought it into the country. And it should have brought Christians to their knees, but it didn’t. Instead, they fought tooth and nail against every authority, established by God. Today, yet again, we have reason to pause and consider God’s power. We may not have a problem with acknowledging His existence, but His power, that’s different. My confidence in His sovereignty is not that I understand every purpose behind a particular outcome. But I do believe that we need to separate our worldly identities long enough to ask ourselves: How will we respond when God’s truth challenges our worldly loyalties? The political landscape can change every four years, but a new administration does not transform hearts and does not turn the hearts of men back to God. God knows the heart of every man, every little secret. No man can lie to God. He does what He needs to do for the heart of man to turn to Him. We have seen the outcomes of a heart that gives its loyalty to worldly leaders.

    Texas is a big state. It would have been sufficient for the Lord to show us His power turning Texas blue, but the entire nation! What did we just witness?

    God’s people have yet to acknowledge God’s message. The Scriptures say we can look at the skies and read the weather, but can we read the times? God used Trump’s influence to reveal the wickedness in the heart of man. Idolatry. Trump supporters bent the knee to him and his court. There was no sin he could commit that would make them turn on him. But he did not hesitate to turn on his loyal supporters. Then God revealed His power from heaven on Nov 3, 2026.

    It is easy to see the world powers at play, winning and losing. We are still watching the one side unravel at its defeat. I am curious if Texas pastors, who have supported Trump since his entry to politics, have asked themselves where they went wrong.

    If, God’s display of His Sovereignty, yet another call for man to examine himself, did not put the fear God in their heart… how great is that darkness? And if “we” respond only with mockery, anger, doom and gloom, or fear what have we learned? There is only one way out of spiritual darkness. God is beckoning the heart of man to turn to Him.

    The wolves in sheep’s clothing, and the father of lies rule and lure the blind to the wide path of destruction. Every man does what is right in his own eyes. Every man lays out his plans. We can make our plans, defend our choices, and justify our loyalties, but have no doubt God’s will-will prevail. God is not mocked. He will not give His glory to another. The Scriptures tells us or warns us that it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

    We who believe, must place our hope in God rather than in the people who claim to speak or act for Him. Ours is to share the hope we have in the Son of God, who sent by the Father, came to shed His blood so that we may have eternal life.

    It’s a daily decision. Choose you today whom you will serve.
    “Now therefore, fear the Lord, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord!

    To God be all the glory!!!

  • To all those Bible believing individuals disappointed with Nov. 3, 2026 results.

    What happened Nov 3. was not karma. It was not luck. It was not the work of the father of lies. It was the Lord of the heavens who spoke. And you know what He said? God is not mocked. God will not give His glory to no other. Hate is not a fruit of the Spirit.

    The Pharisees were prepared to stone the woman caught in adultery. And they wanted Jesus to go along with them. And we know what Jesus said. And when Stephen was stoned, the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul (Saul had a day of reckoning ahead of him). Why would any man of God condone a public execution?

    America is not a nation whose God is the Lord, but God is the Creator of all.

    A nation whose God is the Lord
    Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous!
    For praise from the upright is beautiful.
    Praise the Lord with the harp;
    Make melody to Him with an instrument of ten strings.
    Sing to Him a new song;
    Play skillfully with a shout of joy.
    For the word of the Lord is right,
    And all His work is done in truth.
    He loves righteousness and justice;
    The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.
    By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,
    And all the host of them by the breath of His mouth.
    He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap;
    He lays up the deep in storehouses.
    Let all the earth fear the Lord;
    Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him.
    For He spoke, and it was done;
    He commanded, and it stood fast.
    The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing;
    He makes the plans of the peoples of no effect.
    The counsel of the Lord stands forever,
    The plans of His heart to all generations.
    Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,
    The people He has chosen as His own inheritance.
    The Lord looks from heaven;
    He sees all the sons of men.
    From the place of His dwelling He looks
    On all the inhabitants of the earth;
    He fashions their hearts individually;
    He considers all their works.
    No king is saved by the multitude of an army;
    A mighty man is not delivered by great strength.
    A horse is a vain hope for safety;
    Neither shall it deliver any by its great strength.
    Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him,
    On those who hope in His mercy,
    To deliver their soul from death,
    And to keep them alive in famine.
    Our soul waits for the Lord;
    He is our help and our shield.
    For our heart shall rejoice in Him,
    Because we have trusted in His holy name.
    Let Your mercy, O Lord, be upon us,
    Just as we hope in You.

    Psalm 33

    There is a famine in the land – a famine of the true gospel of Jesus Christ. Grown men, men who know the Scriptures are groaning because of the Nov. 3. They say, their world changed overnight. My question is, “What world were they living in the day before?”

    “Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord God,
    “That I will send a famine on the land,
    Not a famine of bread,
    Nor a thirst for water,
    But of hearing the words of the Lord.
    They shall wander from sea to sea,
    And from north to east;
    They shall run to and fro, seeking the word of the Lord,
    But shall not find it.” Amos 8

    “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it (Matthew 7:13-14).”

    The Scriptures teach us many things. And every verse is subjected to interpretation and debate. Most scripture interpretation is bias. And that’s by the folks who believe in God, have trusted the Son of God as Savior, and call Him Lord. We are to walk humbly with our God.

    More to come…

  • Here I go again …

    I have an entire blog post ready to go, but I decided to go in a different direction. Hmm. I had something else I wanted to write about this morning. That fell through. Then, as I read some old posts, I wanted to review an old conversation. I went in yet another direction. But yesterday, I had a very interesting conversation with a friend that I found worth sharing. What can I say, but that I am a woman of reflection.

    An Unexpected Favor

    So, as I said, I was having a conversation with a friend this past week. I had called him to catch up on a project we’re working on. As we said our goodbyes—“Take care, talk to you later”—he said, “Oh, wait! I forgot I was going to ask a favor of you.” “Sure,” I said. “What do you need?” Turned out, it was not what anyone would call a usual request. He was slow in explaining what he wanted me to do. I listened, and then I was like, “An obituary?” He was like, “Yes! That’s it.” Then, he asked me if I would write his obituary. I was shocked. “Are you dying?” I asked. I was ready to break down in tears. But he said, “No! No! No! At least not at this moment.” Oh my gosh. He went on to explain that he and his wife have been going over their estate and burial plans with their eldest child. Their burial plan was purchased decades ago, so they figured they needed to make sure it was complete. As he reviewed their funeral plan, which is all paid for, he thought about his obituary. He wanted to write his own but somehow felt he would not have the right words to describe what he wanted to say.

    He’s 86 now, and I imagine that, like many folks who purchased funeral plans early on, that day was in the far distance. I just experienced that emotional reality with my in-laws when my father-in-law passed in August. He was 94 years old. My friend purchased their funeral plans in the ’80s. And at a fraction of what it costs today. I was not expecting my friend to share his emotional reality with me. But his reality certainly evoked mine.

    As the horizon approaches, no doubt for all of us—memories of yesteryear may come flooding back. These memories carried him through the years. He remembered all the changes he had witnessed in this land of ours. He had me thinking about my yesteryears. He began telling me about the world he was born into, a world vastly different from the one we know today. And yet, he could sense that beneath today’s political current was an unsettling echo reminding him of a world we thought we had overcome. The thought had me wondering if this country could indeed revert to its old nature. His experiences, like mine and those of many Mexican Americans (as we were called back then), are similar, but different in other ways, as well. He grew up next to a German community. He recalls that his encounters with people of German heritage, for the most part, were rather amicable.

    I reminisced with him in sharing the changes I had witnessed in my lifetime. I was born in 1959, at the height of the civil rights movement, while Jim Crow remained in force. I can recall my older friends sharing their experiences growing up during Jim Crow in San Antonio. My older brother has shared his stories of facing racism in the military. He was of Mexican descent, but he too was called by any popular derogatory word to describe people of color. As I grew and changed, my community remained unchanged. Years later, while in college, my curiosity about this observation led me to my demographic professor. He explained my observations rather simply and briefly but admitted it was more complicated. In simple terms, I understood that communities do not change; people change. His explanation did help me understand why still today, the west side of San Antonio, the area I grew up in, hasn’t changed much. But that’s a story for another day.

    Known Beyond Words

    As our conversation unfolded, he explained why he had chosen to share these thoughts with me. We had known each other for more than twenty years, and he felt that, outside his family, I probably knew him better than anyone else in his life. The years had given him room to share a part of himself that most of his family had never truly been involved in—his political goals and grassroots advocacy, even beyond his personal views. His wife was the exception. With her, he had shared that part of his life; with the rest of his family, it had largely remained outside their familial experiences. His words brought our long friendship into sharper focus. He was speaking not simply to someone who had known him for years, but to someone he believed understood the hopes and convictions that were his driving force. As awkward as the situation felt, I was honored by this most unusual request.

    The Stories We Leave Behind

    So, as I thought about his request, I thought about my own life, the good, the bad, and the ugly. I share often the stories my mom shared with me, especially her Repatriation experience. My sisters and I have completely different memories of our childhood. And I wondered who would share my stories. When I reminisce with my daughters about their childhood years, we too have different memories. It had me wondering if anyone could write my obituary with a complete picture of the woman I became. I have no idea who I would ask to write my obituary. I could not think of anyone outside my family whom I have known for thirty-plus years who could write an honest, sincere word about my life, at least not that I would ask, much less trust. Everyone has different memories about a person, but is there one person who would know this woman?

    Except, maybe my friend. I have shared my faith with him, which is something I have not even shared with family. I know a lot of people, many of them Christians. But they have been in and out of my life. They were around for short seasons. These folks are the same ones that were members of the first church I ever joined. Sadly, the pastor fell and the congregation disbanded. Everyone went their separate ways. We gathered one last time, last year, when a former member died suddenly. We called him the brother of Jesus. To this day, he is/was the only man I have known that could bring peace to any room. A few members stayed loyal to the pastor as long as they could, but eventually everyone felt the Lord was moving them elsewhere.

    The Christian friends I see most often are conservatives, and our political views do not always align. I am okay with it, but they tend to be critical of mine. Not that I have political views, but my going about my Father’s business is too often labeled progressive. Therein lie great divisions among fellow believers. I am thankful that my heavenly Father knows my innermost thoughts. As scripture says,

    “Let a man so consider us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover, it is required in stewards that one be found faithful. But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by a human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. For I know of nothing against myself, yet I am not justified by this; but He who judges me is the Lord. Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts. Then each one’s praise will come from God. 1 Corinthians 4:1-5

    In the end, I can write an obituary celebrating my friend’s worldly life. I can even write about his beliefs as he shared them. His faith may not align with mine in many ways, but his compassion and his forthrightness do in many ways. And his commitment to the betterment of society, he knows lies in a good equitable governence.

    What will family and friends say about me?

    I don’t know, but what they may say will be but a glimpse of what they remember of me, once upon a time. I am so thankful that my God knows all about me, and He knows me by name. To God be all the glory!

    For circumcision is indeed profitable if you keep the law; but if you are a breaker of the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. Therefore, if an uncircumcised man keeps the righteous requirements of the law, will not his uncircumcision be counted as circumcision? Romans 2:25-26

  • It’s always good to look back…

    Death comes knocking…