I read a disturbing article the other day on CNN by writer and speaker, Ryan Bell.  Ryan Bell is a former Seventh Day Adventist pastor who after 19 years resigned.  To sum the story  up in a nutshell, Mr. Bell resigned to live a life without God.  He states in his article “Christian upbringing taught me that ultimately this life doesn’t matter, which tends to make believers apathetic about suffering…”  Furthermore, he says, since leaving his faith he feels more motivated to make it count.

This article was so disturbing to me, not only because of Mr. Bell’s misguided faith which led to his faith being destroyed, but because I have read other articles regarding the older, mature Christians leaving the faith.  One article referred to these members as “Goners” while the younger generation, who are not filling the pews, as “Noners”.   This is the tragedy of misguided faith.

Indeed, in Luke 9:23- 24 Jesus says ““Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.” ”  Self denial is spoke of many times in the Bible.  Unfortunately, self denial is something many in this world know little about.  In our fight to reach the worldly pinnacle, many shattered marriages, friendships and relationships, lie in the waste.

What else does the Bible say about this life other than self denial?  If we read a little further in Luke 9:56 Jesus says “For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.”  Jesus came to grant eternal salvation for all believers  while unbelievers, such as Mr. Bell,  choose only to think in the here and now.  This does not mean we live our current life in utter despair.  In fact, as believers, we are granted the Lord’s peace in the storm, we are promised all of our needs will be supplied (Phillipians 4:19), all good things will be given (Matthew 7:11), freedom from condemnation (Romans 8:1) and the list goes on and on.  This life is given to us as a blessing not as a curse or a challenge.  The Lord only wants good things for all of us and He wants to show us how to receive them.  As a child we had no choice to obey our parents.  As a child of God, He has given us a choice.  Do we want to live under His Providence?

If following Jesus has become more of a curse and less of a blessing in one’s life, their faith has been misguided.  If we are not following God’s plan of salvation by accepting Jesus as The New Covenant but instead following man made traditions and religions; our faith no longer lies in The Gospel of Jesus.  Jesus, fulfilling all of the Laws of the Old Testament, being sacrificed as the perfect lamb for our sins, made a New Covenant with God so we would have power over hell and evil in THIS LIFE and eternity.  Jesus’ ascension to Heaven, sitting at the Right Hand of God is proof of His perfection.  The New Covenant was made between God and Jesus.  For us to be a part of this Covenant, we must accept Jesus’ finished work on the Cross.  Too often, religion attempts to make a “new covenant” itself by way of works and legalism.  In doing so, The Cross of Jesus is negated and thus not in God’s plan of salvation leading to destroyed faith.

When we don’t trust The Gospel of Jesus Christ, we don’t know The Gospel of Jesus; our faith has once again been misguided.  As Christians, we are called to minister The Gospel or to “make disciples of all nations…” (Matt. 28:19).  Just as a doctor ministers to ones injuries, Christians ministers to ones soul by way of The Gospel; we are merely the mouthpiece God uses – we are His tangible tool to the lost.

“You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?” Matthew 7:16.  Our fruit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23).  When we show the lost our fruit, minister to them The Gospel of Jesus Christ and allow the conviction of the Holy Spirit to do His work, the Truth of The Gospel will be revealed to them. It is up to them to respond to this conviction, God has given us our free will.  Our motivation cannot convict the sin out of the lost.  Our motivation or dictation is merely temporal.  It is another distraction down any road but Calvary Road.  We do not have to add to or take from The Gospel of Jesus. 

So as the “Goners” are gone and the “Noners” rejection of The Gospel leave the pews empty, this too is a sign of the Bible prophecy being fulfilled of the end times (Matthew 24:10).  As Christians, we recognize the symptoms of the church.  As Christians, the great falling away of many causes us to grow stronger in our faith.  God is raising up a remnant who remain in their faith of Jesus’ finished work, who believe in the entirety of His Word and trust in the convicting power of His Holy Spirit.  My prayer for the “Goners” and “Noners” is they will hear what the Spirit of God is speaking to their spirit.  My prayer is that pride will not hinder their response to His conviction.  My prayer is for the pews to be filled because of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.  – Donna Warren

“For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?” Esther 4:14

If Esther would have remained silent her family would have perished.  The Jews would have been delivered but from another source.  Esther asked for the people to pray and fast for her.  She knew her purpose at that moment; she knew she was born for such a time as this.  Do you ever wonder what your purpose is in this life?  Am I the only one who has pondered this question?

The word “tangible” came to my mind yesterday.  I began to think about the tangibles of life.  The things we can touch,  see, smell, hear and taste are tangible.  As believers, the Lord is tangible.  We begin to see and hear His work in everything.  We can feel His touch.  To the unbeliever, the Lord is intangible.  To the unbeliever, the only tangible thing of Christ is the believer.  We have the Holy Spirit in us but are we allowing Him to work through us?  Are we tangible?  Esther, who was tangible, allowed the intangible (God) to become tangible to her people. Through Esther, God delivered the Jewish people.

The Lord has given us gifts to equip us to be His body here on earth.  These gifts allow Him to become tangible to the lost.  The gifts are not for our personal benefit but for the edification of the body of Christ.  Theses gifts serve as a tangible witness to the lost.  To the lost, we are His light…we are His tangible.  The Lord’s deliverance of our life glorifies Himeself by default.  As believers, we are not waiting to be delivered, we are delivered through the shed blood of Jesus Christ.  Salvation is ours because of Jesus.

“And as you go, preach saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Matthew 10:7.  The Kingdom of Heaven becomes tangible to others when we allow the Holy Spirit to work through us and not only in us.

Where you born for such a time as this?  Absolutely.  Is the Holy Spirit tugging on your heart?  He will not force your will, He will only ask.  Can your life serve as a witness that the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand?  It can.  Are we waiting to be perfected before we step out into His Provision?  If so, we will be too late, only Jesus was perfect.  “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few.” Matthew 9:37.  Step out into God’s Provision and allow Him to use you as His laborer.  You too were born for such a time as this.  Allow Him to use you to show His love, mercy and grace to the lost….be His tangible.  – Donna Warren

Sometimes I wonder, I anxiously await to see what the Lord will have in store for us each day.  It’s exciting to me.  As we go through life, go through the valley’s and stand high on the mountains, God is always teaching and guiding us.  Even through the darkest of days, we can still look up to Him in awe.  We look up and wonder, “how in the world are you going to make this good, Lord?”  We don’t wonder if He will make all things good but we anxiously anticipate how He will make our situation good.  Sometimes we don’t see the “good” until years later; until we realize the lesson learned.  How could we doubt God’s love for us?  He want’s to use each of us in ways we do not yet know.  The Lord wants to use us to glorify Him, to provoke others to seek Him.  How would we glorify Him if we all remained in fear of death and hell; if we were constantly scared He would get fed up with our imperfect ways?  God’s judgment is righteous and any judgment from us is self righteous.  How would we provoke others to seek Him by enforcing strict adherence to man made traditions? Are we glorifying Him or are we attempting to do His job for Him?

God glorifies Himself by blessing us and we can’t help but sing His praises.  His blessings come in many shapes and sizes.  The Lord’s blessings are not always realized until we are delivered.  When we allow the Lord to teach us, we will glean His blessing from the lesson.  Each moment is a teaching moment.  When we are in the valley’s of life, we don’t praise Him for the valley.  We don’t praise Him for the sickness and broken finances but for His grace to get us through that time.  If the Lord doesn’t move the mountain, He will give us the strength to get over the mountain.  We praise Him for what He is doing, not for what the enemy is doing.  The enemy is trying to distract us from God’s blessings by getting us to meditate on him; on the problems he is putting in front of us.  The enemy’s distraction is called worry.  Worry causes us to lose faith in God’s ability to overcome.  Until we know, that we know, that we know the Lord Jesus has already won the war for us, we will continue in the battle ourselves.  We all seek God’s best in our lives but often give Him a percentage.  We tend to stick just a toe in the water to see if He is sincere.  When we decide to live in His grace, no matter the storm around us, the enemy’s worry disappears and God’s peace becomes our peace.  “Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” Psalms 46:10  Sometime we just need to be still and know.

How can God show out, when we are showing out?  Who would be glorified when we show out?  I’ll give you a hint, it wouldn’t be the Lord.  I pray we all allow the Lord to use us this year.  I wonder, will it be you He uses to lead that friend to Him?  Will it be you He uses to lead my lost loved ones to Him?  Maybe it will be me He uses.  I pray for Him to use me.

“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”  Jeremiah 29:11.  To believe anything other than what God’s Word says puts us at enmity with Him.  Allow the Lord to use your situation to glorify Him.  Allow the Lord to use you to glorify Him.  – Donna Warren

Providence is the foresight or the plan to meet an end goal.  Most rational people, even animals act with foresight.  They act and exercise care or make provision for themselves and their offspring.  Living under our own providence can be quite exhausting.  Taking care of our own is a task that can be quite daunting  for us mere humans. As my dear husband pointed out to me yesterday when I stated “I’m not sure what tomorrow holds” regarding my Mother being in the hospital, he reminded me none of us are sure what tomorrow holds.

God’s Providence is the only true Providence.  As we try to make provision for our children, God’s Providence foresight and care over His children is infallible.  God is the only one who truly knows what tomorrow may hold.  The purpose of  God’s Providence is to provide the highest degree of happiness to His creation (us) which would in turn glorify their Creator.  “ In Him (Jesus) also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will,  that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.”  Ephesians 1:11-12.  God wants us to turn to Him for His promises of salvation, prosperity, healing and all our wants and needs ; for His Providence.  God has provided for us all these promises despite the curse.  Jesus Christ is the reason these promises are made available to us, in full – Jesus paid for them in full. 

January 1st, 2015, what will this year hold?  We all set our resolutions, our goals for the upcoming year; we all make our provisions – or do we?  We often try to interpret the happenings in our life.  When bad things happen to unbelievers we say it must be God’s judgment on them.  If the same thing happens to believers, it’s the devil.  No matter the case, that is God’s business and not ours.  Whatever the case, Jesus desires mercy for all (Matthew 9:13); the saints as well as the sinners, in order to bring them to repentance.

In some cases, even believers don’t step into God’s Providence.  Even when we believe in the Gospel of Jesus and accept Him as our Saviour, we still try to remain in “our” providence.  We try to remain in control; we don’t trust God quite that much.  It is a little scary not knowing what tomorrow may hold so we try to plan our tomorrow, make our way…make our own provision.

As we step into 2015 I pray all believers step into God’s Provision.  I pray we all trust in His divine care for each and every one of us.  I pray that if we believe He cared enough about us to send His Son, Jesus Christ, to reconcile us with Him, to be our sacrifice; that we also believe He will continue to take responsibility for us and care for us throughout all eternity.  I pray we walk in God’s Providence and allow Him to manifest His will on earth as it is in Heaven.  I pray we glorify Him by allowing His Providence over our lives.  Step into His Providence.  – Donna Warren