There is absolutely…every reason to be concerned with everything that is taking place today. The hurricanes and typhoons, the largest of their kind thus far; earthquakes up-tick in unusual places, riots and protests and the list goes on and on. We can also add the Ebola scare, a disease of unprecedented lethality and one that should scare the pants off you!

And of course, there are many who are concerned and worried about themselves and their families and at the very same time, many are tired of all the hoopla created by the leftist media. People are tired of the sensationalism they bring, mostly about the LGBT incidents across the country endorsing gay marriage. Last but not least you get a byline about Ebola and the Islamic State.

In my frame of thinking, the last two should be of the most interest to everyone. Sadly, they are not. It is important to everyone. People are giving their opinions and a few are terrified, yet…it falls short in the news arena. Question is: Who is applying these stories and how are they doing it?

I know, if I begin to walk on rough surfaces, like gravel and such, I will begin to grow a thicker layer of calluses on my feet, because the surface is irritated. The same thing has taken place here, the leftist media has bombarded us with the “happenings” of the day for so long, everyone is tired of it and calloused to it.

Actually, I am surprised anyone would even jump when startled! I see people walking about, with little or no expression on their faces, at best they look like droids, continuing their tasks in an autonomic/automatic manner. They appear to lack passion of any kind. Now you know why.

Is this the way we are supposed to be? The Bible speaks of being “fervent” about prayer, yet do these people appear to you as being fervent about anything? Fervency IS passion, it is being passionate about what your heart is saying to the Lord God, how you feel about something or what you would like to see most in your life. It is almost, the deep groaning of the heart and is directed to our Lord God.

2 Peter 3:3-4 “Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying ‘Where is the promise of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.”

I have highlighted certain words in the passage above, to note, that the scoffers are not “running,” they are walking.” And this is because “all things continue” every day in their lives as they always have. There is no passion, no fervency, they have become complacent. Nothing truly special has arisen to make them concerned about anything.“Oh another hurricane or tornado or earthquake. No big deal.”

And their lives are calloused, they care about nothing anymore. Is it any wonder then, that they endeavor to create chaos everywhere they go? They want to “feel” something,  see something happen that has never taken place before. For them, life is the same, day-in and day-out! Lackluster, dull. I would like to say, it comes across as a waste of time for them — to even wake-up on any given morning! Is this the way the Lord God wishes for you and me to be? Absolutely NOT!

So what happened, what changed, what went horribly wrong to bring this about?

I can remember, as a young man, I would be draped over the sofa, watching TV and my mom would tell me to go outside and play. Or I would tell her, “I’m bored!” Then I would hear the proverbial reply, “Your bored? I bet I can find plenty for you to do!” and I would run out of the house. Today, we are living with people who are clinically depressed, for varying reasons. I will not attempt to single out any one reason here.

According to Wikidata of Wikipedia in 2010 suicide was the 12th leading cause of death in the United States. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, in the

United States as of 2010, more people died of suicide than in car accidents. In 2010, the total number of suicide deaths in the United States was 38,364. Historically, suicide rates rise during times of financial stress and economic setbacks. In 2009 it was the 7th leading cause of death for males, and the 16th leading cause of death for females.

Suicide was the third leading cause of death for young people ages 15 to 24. From 1999 to 2010, the suicide rate among Americans, aged – 35 to 64 increased nearly 30 percent. The largest increases were among men in their 50s, a rates rising near 50 percent, or 30 per 100,000. For women, this was for women 60 to 64, whose rates rose 60 percent, to 7.0 per 100,000. In 2008, it was observed that U.S. suicide rates, particularly among middle-aged white women, had increased, although the causes were unclear.

In my youth, if I asked an older person about suicide, they would say something like this, “What for? How is killing myself, going to make things any better?” And this would usually come along with a scowl on their face for asking such a dumb question. So what is different today?

We have greater and better technology than ever before, we have things today, my parents would be “flabbergasted” at. And yet, the suicide rate has climbed and everyone wants to know why. Notable people have been “offing” themselves like crazy, or haven’t you been paying any attention? Oh yeah…automatons don’t have to deal with emotions, right?

Look at the passage above, once again! “After their own lusts.” What does that mean? It is talking about what YOU want! “I’m bored!” “I don’t matter anymore!” “I just don’t care anymore!” “There isn’t anything NEW anymore!” “Everyone is so cynical and self-serving!” “I hate my life!”

So, one day comes along and we find someone like this crumpled in a car or hanged in a closet, or dead with a needle in his or her arm or (whatever it may be). And immediately, someone begins to ask, “Where did ‘I’ go wrong? What did ‘I’ miss before? How could this happen to “ME?” And the next thing you know there is some “psychiatrist” on TV talking at length about “depression!” WHAT?

If we are automatons  how is it we feel the need to murder ourselves? For me, it would appear there is much more to John 3:16, than just “face value.” It would appear no one wants to “think” any more or research an idea. They want things handed to them and on a silver-platter at that. So some go to church and sit in the pew and are bomb-basted with blasphemy, the “prosperity gospel or the “feel-good gospel” and nothing that “sticks-to-their-ribs” as my dad would say. It appears they are searching for something to fill that empty hole inside of them. And I know, that there is nothing better for filling that void…than Jesus Christ!

Has it ever occurred to anyone, that these “automaton” individuals are running our country, from the neighborhood police chief to the one sitting in the oval office? So now the question is, who started all this automaton stuff to begin with? Yuppers! You got it right…Satan himself and his happy little helpers to boot! Sort of like Santa and his elves at the North Pole…right? The disparity here is this: Santa only comes around once a year! Right? These bozos are here all the time, bestowing us with all their infinite “wisdom” and picture perfect view of the future. (I digress.)

Come on people! Let’s face the facts here! How many people do you NOT know, that are truly happy and content? I keep seeing in my mind’s eye, President Nixon wagging his jowls and saying, “I did not have sex with that woman!” Oops sorry, that was Clinton, wait…which one though? No you idiot, that was the Secret Service agents down in…umm, whatever!

Oh the sick thought of it all. And so we wonder why so many are murdering themselves? What happened to the automaton thingy? People want more and more, because they are never filled with anything of real substance. They are not mesmerized any more, there is nothing NEW!

My friends, is there nothing else for me to point to, that shows that Satan and his ilk are working harder and harder to confuse and depress you? They are sitting back and watching this agony and pain and suffering, that YOU are experiencing right now…and laughing their little red butts off! Has it never crossed your mind, that everything they do to “Rub you into the dirt” is always at your expense and mine?

Satan is the father of lies, it says so in the Bible. He is the beguiler, the deceiver of all, the destroyer of happiness and harmony. And if that is the case…WHY do YOU listen to him? Have you had enough already? He does nothing more than shovel as much garbage and pain on us as he can. He is the greatest monster that has ever existed in all of eternity, which includes this life! And he has decided to make you and your life as dismal and painful as he possibly can and you accept it, of all things.

There is more to this life through Jesus Christ. There is true happiness and love, there is more joy and harmony if we simply come to Jesus Christ and give HIM our lives. After all, who do you think created us?

The Lord God created Satan and his ilk…they were once angels of the highest order. They chose to rise above God and thus they were expelled from heaven for eternity. That IS truth! And if that is truth, then why would you listen to anything Satan has to tell you?  He is a LIAR!

John 15:13 “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”

Now if memory serves and I believe it still does, Satan and his ilk have never given up their lives for anyone. YET…Jesus Christ died on the Cross of Calvary, to shed HIS precious blood to cover all of our sins! Why would anyone, with an ounce of sanity, choose to follow Satan?

You get up every day and head off to work and do the exact same thing, time and time again and somewhere along the way, you think life is going to get better for you? That is insanity! Because that has been going on for as long as Man has been on earth. You would think, that somewhere along the way, someone would come up with a better plan and execution of that plan, right?

Are you beginning to understand ? Satan is the “prince of the air” and he is using every tactic he knows of to destroy YOU! And he thinks what happens to you, is the funniest thing he has ever seen. He has brought pain and suffering and sadness, the likes of which this race of humans has never seen before.

I urge you to seek a better way to happiness and harmony, to a life of fulfillment, instead of emptiness and we will never find that in anyone or anything but Jesus Christ. He alone is the answer. Time is short my friends, far shorter than you imagine. The Lord is standing just outside the door and HE is about to come in and call the believers home to heaven.

So the question now is this: Who do YOU follow in this life? Where will you be when the Rapture of the church of Jesus Christ takes place? Where will YOU spend eternity? All the things of this world are worthless and that includes our present bodies. The Lord God is coming and quickly at that, only your Spirit will go (if HE calls you).

Will you join us? Or are you still clinging to THINGS?

In my last article, we talked about Satan and his ilk and we also talked about Jesus Christ and going to heaven…IF we choose to follow Jesus Christ. We remember that it is ONLY Jesus Christ and HIM alone that will allow us to enter into Heaven. Still…we, as in you and I, must Choose whom to follow!

So now the question is, “How do we know WHO is influencing us?”

This is not a difficult thing to answer. Simply look around you and recognize all that is going on and follow those actions back to the responsible parties. So the question to that is simply, whom has made the biggest attempts at furthering what all is happening. If a crime takes place there is always, the perpetrator and a victim. Obviously, we know good from bad, because Adam and Eve ate of the “Fruit of the Tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil.”

We inherited this original sin. The question then is, “Who committed the crime, then who is the victim?” And we ask what are the circumstances of the crime. The police investigators then look to understand the crime, how it was perpetrated, who the victim is and who are the witnesses. After the investigation is complete they arrest the perpetrator and bring justice to the community and the victim. This is not difficult to understand, but the “reasons” for the crime are unclear.

If the perpetrator is honest, the answers will be something like, “I wanted this or that, I don’t like them, I don’t like being poor” and the answers could fill a long list. Have you noticed the common denominator here? How about the word “I” or “me?” All of a sudden the curtains begin to part and the truth begins to come clear, right? If Adam and Eve had never eaten of that fruit, we would never know what evil is and everyone’s efforts would be for Good only.

Isaiah 14:12-15: “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.”

1 Peter 5:8: “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.”

There is your culprit! That is where the perpetrators idea for a crime, came from. The perpetrator was deceived by Satan and his ilk to commit a crime and to hurt others. There is no other way to look at this, because the Bible is, directly opposed to any such dealings and God would never tempt you in any manner.

Therefore, if Jesus Christ, who is God, never Tempts you, then it must be Satan and his ilk! IF you truly follow Jesus Christ, there is no way you would commit such a crime or any other crime. This is because, to follow Jesus Christ in truth, means to love others and to do good to others, how could you turn and commit a crime? Unless you do not follow Jesus Christ, if you have never given your life over to Jesus Christ. The Bible is specific on this matter;

1 Corinthians 6:19-20: “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.”

If in fact and all truth, you belong to God, then there is only one way for you to live and that is FOR Jesus Christ, thus Satan’s temptations are worthless. We call on the name of Jesus Christ and tell Him of our temptations and HE delivers us, He always leaves a way out for us. That my friends, is the answer!

Ephesians 2:1-5:  “And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved).”

There is your answer about following Jesus Christ, who IS God! Does this mean, if we are born-again and following Jesus Christ, that we will never Sin again? Absolutely NOT! The difference is that we who are born-again believers and followers of Jesus Christ have already had our sin forgiven. We want to come before HIM and ask for HIS forgiveness of our Sin…every Sin.

1 John 1:9: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Born-again believers and true followers of Jesus Christ, have already been washed in His precious blood from the Cross. We choose NOT to sin, because we want to be like Him, who has never sinned! We do not take sin frivolously, we see our sin is serious, because we stand before a righteous and just Father. Sin will never be in the presence of God, therefore we ask His Forgiveness, because we want to be in His Presence forever, covered in the blood of Jesus Christ.

So where does death come from? Why are there wars and death and dying? Why are there diseases that kill children, and why is there famine? The answer is SIN…our SIN! We own that sin, we are responsible to God Almighty for our sin and the woes of this world. The instigator of our sin is none other than Satan and his ilk. It is Satan and his ilk that are the bearers of LIES, whether that be to others or to ourselves. Our actions are the result of what we think in our hearts, we bear that responsibility. The day is coming when everyone will stand before God Almighty and we will answer for our sin—for the “intent of our hearts.” Know that Satan and his ilk are already condemned to the lake of fire, it is already final…God Almighty has already said so.

If we learn this and clearly understand it, we are then found responsible for whom we have chosen to follow. Make sure you understand there is but one road, that is life. There does come a single division in that road and we must choose which way we wish to walk and one is to heaven and the other is to destruction. We know that our actions in front of others, will show them whom we follow.

That my friends, is a most serious image of people and what their heart’s intentions truly are. If we do not go to the Cross of Jesus Christ and are washed in His blood, we will NEVER see heaven. I do not say this, the Holy Word of God says it, therefore it is for you and me, directly from God.

Death as a human, is the scariest thing in our minds. We (the world) wonders if there is a life beyond this one, after our physical Death. If we, as Humans on this planet fear death so much, wouldn’t you fear death in Eternity even more? It is Satan and his ilk that deceives us and makes us laugh at death, as if it is a joke…at least until we take our last breath, that is. There is a better choice…Jesus Christ!