Living in the Last Hour

Then the Lord called yet again, “Samuel!” So Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” He answered, “I did not call, my son; lie down again.” (Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, nor was the word of the Lord yet revealed to him.) And the Lord called Samuel again the third time. So he arose and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you did call me.”

Then Eli perceived that the Lord had called the boy. Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down; and it shall be, if He calls you, that you must say, ‘Speak, Lord, for Your servant hears.’ ” So Samuel went and lay down in his place. Now the Lord came and stood and called as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!”

And Samuel answered, “Speak, for Your servant hears.”

1 Samuel 3:6-10

The Lord called you. Did you not hear Him?

What are “American Christians” fighting for, protection of their American freedoms, or as they like to call them, God given freedoms? I won’t apologize when I say, I don’t believe the Scripture gives us any worldly rights. And why would Christians continue to stand by a man of contention, that God has replaced as leader? Today’s American Christian is a contradiction in terms.

For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another!

Galatians 5:13-15

Like many, I consider myself a patriotic American. I salute the flag, stand and place my hand over my chest when I hear the pledge, or the National Anthem. I did my military duty. I cried and prayed when terrorists attacked the World Trade Center. More recently, on January 6, 2021, I wept and prayed as my husband and I watched in total horror American Christians launch an attack on their own leaders, their own people. Leaders, that for those of us that accept the truth, God anoints and clearly appoints. On that day, Jesus was well represented in D.C., unfortunately, it was not representative of the love and mercy of Jesus Christ. Scriptures tell me.

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’

Matthew 7:21-23

The people of God have an identity crisis. Just who are we? Are we first Christian, or American?

That fateful day, on the steps of the Capitol, January 6, 2021 was a day of nothing but lawlessness.

Lately, I have been compelled to read the Declaration of Independence (DOI). For the majority of Americans, this is document read, maybe, once, during the course of twelve years of basic education, perhaps a lifetime. I don’t recall which grade I was in, but I remember having to read it, memorize the Preamble, then stand and recite it to the class. Talk about fear. I was scared I was going to forget all the words and fail the assignment. Well, I didn’t fail. The thing is, back then, reading and memorizing did not help me understand what I was reading. It’s been all this chaos with Christians claiming their God given rights that led me back to this document. And reading the DOI this time, I can better understand why this document is the heart of American Christianity and why it is so difficult to separate the two. This is an identity crisis. Whose voice do we listen to?

“When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.-–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,

Declaration of Independence

These two paragraphs are a nice blend of worldly thought and theology. I have to admit I was not sure what Nature’s God entitle them could possibly mean, so I Googled it. I couldn’t find any definition that made any sense. But as I interpret it – it sounds like the author believed, as God’s creation, man was entitled to certain powers. But that makes no Biblical sense. The the word unalienable also caught my attention. Dictionary.com defined it as “not transferable to another or not capable of being taken away or denied.” That also didn’t make any Biblical sense. What did make sense was, That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. Consent of the governed is us. We the people.

At the heart of American Christianity is this belief that man is “entitled.” And because this document was created by white men, for white men, it would make sense that these unalienable rights are preeminently for white men. But God is good! All men are created equal. If we believe in God, His word, Jesus Christ as the Son of God, born of a woman, being all God and all man, and everything else written in the Bible about God, by God-then we believe that…

For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Galatians 3:26-29

Jesus, in his teaching, spoke in parables.

This place is not our home but in the Kingdom of heaven…

Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that was cast into the sea and gathered some of every kind, which, when it was full, they drew to shore; and they sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but threw the bad away. So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from among the just, and cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.”

There is a day coming when God, once and for all, will separate the wheat from the weeds, the good fish from the bad fish. He will call us by name and those that are prepared will hear His voice and respond. He may call a couple of times before we recognize His voice. Scriptures urge believers to be ready. For what? For His purpose. For His return. For His call.

Is anyone listening for the voice of God? Could it be that God’s voice is drowned out by all the other voices that are saying otherwise than “Be still and know that I am God!”, “Fear not for I am with you, be not dismayed for I am your God…” A Christian wrote the book below. It has 261 rating with 4 stars. That tells me that voices will continue to fall in line in spreading fear. Alone, the name of the book may cause Christians to fear.

My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. He will not allow your foot to be moved;
He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, He who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.

Psalm 121:2-4

To Moses: “And the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” 

Exodus 33:19

More later. I am finding this a very enlightening lesson.