Time to wake up

The bible gives many examples of signs that should warn us of the coming end of the age. Jesus said in Matthew 24:36 that we would not know the exact time of the end but gives a list of precursors regarding the end. God obviously wants us to know when the time is getting near and the reason for preparation of living right for God. God does not want us to disregard the signs but to embrace them as we surrender our whole life to Him. All the signs such as disasters, persecution, wars, famine, false prophets, sexual immorality, corruption just to mention a few are a wake up call and we need to get close to God as individuals or as a nation. The unfortunate news is that the church is becoming more of a “sleeping giant “due to insensitivity to the Holy Spirit Who carries the mind of God. The Church is supposed to move from “spiritually sleeping” into “spiritual alertness”. The bible says in 1 Thessalonians 5:1-7 that the day of the Lord will come as thief comes in the night so we should not be spiritually asleep but be watchful and sober. An example of someone in the bible who was “spiritually asleep” is Samson. Samson’s spiritual strength and power was taken away not because of physical sleep but spiritual sleep. He heard the voice of man and so woke up from physical sleep but couldn’t hear the voice of God that sleeping in the lap of Delilah would spell his doom. As Christians continue to sleep spiritually being more concerned about material things than the things of God we shouldn’t expect God to work on our behalf. You see, when one is spiritually asleep, the person becomes dead to the voice of the Holy Spirit but alive to the voice of men. Someone reading this article may argue that this is not true and that Christian are doing what is expected of them. But the truth of the matter is that there are certain actions that explicates if one is spiritually asleep or awake. They are direction, determination and destiny.

Direction: A case of misdirection is when as Christians we deliberately decide to go contrary to the will of God or the direction of the Holy Spirit. The aftermath is loosing spiritual sensitivity and gradually being drawn into spiritual sleep. Another segment of misdirection is when we compromise our faith in Jesus Our Savior and are increasingly drawn into the interfaith movement where Christianity and other religions are seen as sister faith. We have forgotten that there is only One Way to the Father and that Way is Jesus. As Christian we must not accept any practices or culture of the world (corruption, sexual perversion e.t.c) that goes against the Word of God as right. We must refute them by sticking to the Word of God. Christ is the reason for Christianity and not culture so let us give Him all the Glory due His name. In fact, the direction of Holy Spirit is that we seek first the Kingdom of God and its Righteousness and all other things shall be added unto us. To seek the Kingdom first is to seek the spiritual requirements of the Kingdom which is purity, peace and preaching of the Gospel. We need not compromise the purity God requires from us, the peace of God that Christ offers to all who accept Him and the preaching of the Gospel to all. Strangely, there is more emphasis on the unsustainable peace of the world emanating from human negotiation than the eternal peace Christ offers. Also, we have more of the prosperity gospel than the purity gospel on the market today.

Determination: A Christian’s desire to work for the Lord or specifically win souls for Christ is an indication of the level of his or her sensitivity to the voice of God. Christians today are appalled by the level of persecution they experience. It is true that Christians are under attack throughout the world today. And in many other countries it is worse. Christians are being killed and the intent is to eradicate Christianity. In several parts of the world today, conversion from other religions to Christianity calls for execution and even reading of the bible and praying has to be done in secret. What we must remember is that as the early church began to grow (as said in the Book of Acts), most of the disciples experienced the kind of persecution we are seeing now. The persecution of the early church led to the spread of the gospel to Asia and other parts of the world. Persecution is an opportunity for Christians to witness for Christ to those opposed to Him. We don’t have to be fearful or defensive about our faith in Jesus because the Holy Spirit is our advocate when we take a stand for the Gospel of Christ. Besides, the gift of salvation and the power of His resurrection should be our strength. Know that trials and temptation are part of the Christian walk and requires perseverance or endurance. We must not forget that those who endure to the end shall be saved. Not those who take the gift of salvation Jesus gives for granted and mess around.

Destiny: The destiny of a Christian is not in the hands of himself or herself or the World. The destiny of a person, the nations of the world is in the hands of Almighty God. Every human being has two types of destinies namely an earthly destiny and eternal destiny. As a Christian your focus should be on the eternal destiny of being with the Father forever after this life. Don’t expend all your energy seeking for the pleasures of this world for Jesus said, what shall it profit a person if he or she gains the whole world and looses his or her soul.

As you read this article, I would like us to ponder over these things I talked about namely: direction, determination and destiny. I want us to consider the direction we are taking today? Are we striving to walk in the purpose of God or in our own purpose? Are we so focus on acquisition of material things of this world or focused on the work of God? What is our level of determination right now with regards to taking a stand for the Gospel of Christ? Are we so overwhelmed by persecution and afflictions that we are afraid to witness for Christ? Which type of destiny are we focused on: earthly destiny (earth material acquisitions) or eternal destiny of not being with the Father after this life or the eternal destiny of being in the Father’s presence? If our answers to most of the questions preceding are yes, I would suggest we pray to God right now to help us have a change of heart. The time is short because Jesus is coming again soon. God bless and keep you.

Brother Charles H. Ampong

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