Snookered By God

Hope you all had a good bank holiday weekend. I went walking around Pensford with some people from BCC, stopping off at a couple of pubs along the way! It was great fun. In the evening, I watched, what turned out to be, a rather dull snooker final. John Higgins thrashed Shaun Murphy and the whole thing was over by 9pm! Seeing it again reminded me of the message I shared in Sunday's meeting. Since then, I have been talking to a few people and it seems that God really used it to challenge many of us about how our present existence must be shaped and dominated by a 'Last Days' mentality. This does not mean we build underground bunkers, buy lots of tinned goods and talk about 'The Beast' in hushed tones. Quite the opposite in fact!

Essentially, we know how all this ends. We know that Christ will return. We know that we win because He did and that His Victory will be fully realised here on earth forever. We know that we will ALL be judged for what we have done by His perfecting standards. We know that some will be rewarded, others won't and still others will be cast into hell. We know that all sin, poverty, depression, pain, sickness, disappointment, hurt, suffering and so on will end FOR ETERNITY. We know that life on earth now is as bad as it gets!

This revelation must affect all aspects of our lives.

As we look at the world today, we do not need to grow disheartened or depressed. We can rest assured that despite swine fever, wars, rumours of wars, economic meltdowns, tidal waves of unprecedented sexual immorality washing over a generation of teenagers and children (come on - where are the Internet Pastors??!!), catastrophic natural disasters, famine, corruption, abuse and so on, God sees it all, knows it all and understands it all. His plan is perfect.

I believe He is positioning the U.K. for a move of His power that will supercede anything that has gone before it. Moves of God have always been set against a backdrop of deep darkness. God is using these times to identify His true saints; those who are truly born again, passionate about His Son Jesus and willing to live a holy life despite the cost. He is looking for those who are dedicated to pursuing a lifestyle of prayer (this does not involve you living in a Monastery!) and wield His word with spiritual authority and divine revelation. He is going to reward those who persevere and don't give up doing good!

As you go into today, remember these truths. Keep praying, keep persevering, live your life knowing that the 147 is coming and nothing can stop that from taking place.

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