People of G-d, it is time to take courage

by Tales of 2Timothy1.7

Updated*

First of all let me start by saying Thank You to everyone who has been encouraging others in these unprecedented times. I have seen many of you using your platforms despite how big or how small it is to encourage and speak words of hope to those around you. I would like to thank you for what you are doing and ask you to keep sharing those words of hope because your encouragement will be much needed now and in the months and years to come as the world is moving towards new dimensions. Your words may be the only words of hope that someone may hear after being separated from their friends or family for months, or your words is what is needed for an elderly to have the courage to keep going as they have not been able to see their loved ones in a long time. So know that your encouragement is like living water that someone may need to sustain them and make it through the times we are in. So please keep on; writing, speaking, singing, dancing, painting, taking pictures and sharing The Word of G-d, word of Hope, word of Love, word of Unity in whatever way is possible to you wherever you are, because by doing so you are providing a life line for the children of G-d to make it through these storms and because of that; G-d will bless you above and beyond in more ways than we humans can imagine. Therefore, Thank You!

Today I would like to talk to you about the times we are in. I have been wanting to share this for a few weeks now, but was waiting for the right time, and now I realise that it is high time for us to study this particular part of the scriptures.

A while ago I read this parable in Luke 8 11-15. “About a man who sowed good seed in his field, but the enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. When the wheat, which is the good seed grew, the weeds also grew. But the owner did not want to pull the weeds out immediately as this may have caused his workers to uproot the wheat together with the weeds. Therefore he decided to let both grow together until harvest. So that at the harvest he would tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned, then gather the wheat and bring them to my barn. “

Of course you will understand that the story is a metaphor of how the Creator sees the world and those living in it. The Creator knows that His children live in world where the enemy is also present. But reading this made me understand that the Creator of all things was aware that although the weeds was growing among His children and this caused discomfort; He wanted to wait until the time is right to separate His children from those weeds.

When I think with my human mind I still find it hard to understand all this; I often find myself thinking but He IS G-d, He created humans and all that is around them with no efforts so why would He let it get this far? But like the scriptures says in Isaiah 55, 8-9: His ways, are not our ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts. So we need to trust that He who said: 

“Fear not for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your G-d. I will strengthen you, yes I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand’. (Deuteronomy 10) Therefore let us hold on to the faith that G-d will indeed stand by us through these times and help us make it through.

The world is going through a tough time, although I want to encourage you, I don’t want you to take this lightly as to go in the battle with your eyes closed and without any armour to protect yourself. For no soldier goes into a the battlefield without proper training, therefore see this as a training ground.
The enemy has turned this world into a battle field and the children of G-d should not limit themselves to the concept of a church building and start finding ways to reach out and fight the battle wherever they are in the best way they can, because only then we can save not only our lives, but also the lives of those around us. Even though Jesus Christ did preach in the synagogue, most of His teachings took place outside the walls of a church or any religious building.

You see we as Christians have been trained our entire lives for such a time as this. We have been told that adversities may come, the enemy may come against us but we shouldn’t let it overwhelm us, just as Jesus Christ rose from the dead, we will rise from the ashes that the enemy is making of this world, we will rise high. But before making it to the symbolic resurrection part, we first have to fight the battle. We cannot hide from it, we can not run from it we have to face it and the best way to do it is to prepare for it properly with every tools we may have.

First of all you may wonder what is going on in the world right now. Well, according to different scriptures; when we approach the end times the world will be in a state of chaos. From natural disasters such as earthquakes, wars between nations to the increased wickedness of men through the works of the enemy; Mattheuw 24.

Let’s look into this a bit more closer.

Sometimes I open the bible and read the scripture that I get while trying to see how it applies in my life. A few months ago, while doing this exercise and opening the scriptures randomly, it fell on Matthew 24 and so I knew I needed to study this particular passage.

I know that many Christians, me included, do not like to study this part of the bible. It is one that exceeds even the most exciting of Hollywood films. I mean there is suspense, there is drama, there is uncertainty, there is despair but at the end of it all there is a Hero; G-d, who comes at the very end to save His children. There is so much information in these scriptures that the human mind could possibly contain it all and thus has to take it in bits by bits as the time goes. If you have not read this passage before I encourage you, once you finish this blog post to read Matthew 24 and the relating passages in the book of Daniel as to understand even for a bit the kind of times we are in.

Ok, before you ring your bells and think it is the absolute end, let me tell you that it is NOT. These are just the beginning of the birth pains as the scriptures states it. According to my humble and not correct calculation, the end will come a few decades away from now ( knowing that most of us have been living atleast two to three or more decades, you know this goes by quickly). Yes, I said incorrect calculations because the scriptures says that no one knows the end, no human on earth and not even Jesus Christ Himself, only G-d the Father knows when that time will come. (Matthew 24:36). We are not given the knowledge of that particular time for very obvious reasons; but the only thing we can do is live our lives the best way we can until then.

Regardless of when that time will be, it is important for us to know what we are dealing with so that we do not feel overwhelmed by our circumstances.

The scriptures says that there will be an increase of wickedness and because of that the love of many will grow cold, but the one who stands firm till the end will be saved. Matthew 24.12 Eventhough that is the case, you need to know that G-d, the Creator of all things still has this entire world in His Hands and thus we, as children of G-d, should not be afraid but instead take stands and be ready to face whatever storm may come with the knowledge that G-d is with us and if G-d be for us who can be against us?

Why is that, You may ask, why is all this going on.  
Well I heard some people say things like, ‘they cannot wait for things to go back to normal’. But the truth is, the world has never really been in a normal stage.  From colonisation to slavery to the different genocides, racism, sexual assaults, child abuse, human trafficking, calculated poverty, discrimination and several wars; the human being has been living in a stage of survival since Eve ate that apple. Yes, that is how far back it goes. But through out time we have been able to navigate these tragedies and just like any species we have learned to adapt ourselves to the different circumstances and evolve in order to survive and this is exactly what we will do to survive this too. But now as we are approaching the end times, we will need godly faith instead of just our human understanding to make it through. So as long as we read the scriptures and we keep our eyes on the Lord and keep standing despite it all, we will see the salvation of the Lord.

The enemy recruits everyone who has no strong foundation of faith. Therefore it is important to read the scriptures for yourself and keep seeking G-d daily so that you know His word, this will help you when the enemy will try to tempt you and in difficult times it will give you strength to keep going.

Why does the enemy recruits people in his camp you may ask?

Well, the enemy which is a negative spirit, not a physical person, even though at times we would see an evil person and blame him or her for what is going on, we need to remember that “the weapons of our welfare are not carnal weapons”( 2 Corinthians 10:4); meaning that we are not fighting the physical world. The physical world is merely the results of what happens in the spiritual world. As the enemy, who comes to “skd” (John 10:10); cannot do it himself as he is not human; he will find ways to operate through human beings who do not have a G-d based armour around their spirit or souls and will use them to propel his agenda.

How does this happen:
Well first he will make sure to reduce your energy level to a minimum so that he can easily enter someone’s spirit and over master them. The reduction of energy can happen in several ways, one of the ways is what we are experiencing right now; the subtraction of your social contacts. Your social contacts are one of the ways you increase your energy. By meeting up with friends, going out to do activities that you like, you increase your energy level. Other ways of increasing energy is taking a walk in nature, sport, spending time outside, or near the sea, good nutrition, drinking water or taking a shower, having great sex out of love, but I think on this last one I don’t need to give much explanation.

So all these activities increase your energy level, which increases your creativity and gives you strength to operate properly and fight anything that is against your morals. But because the enemy knows this, he will try to subtract each of these elements in order to make you dependant on his will and this way you will no longer have the courage to fight for what you believe is morally correct. That is why the social contacts among people has been drastically reduced lately. Please do not get this wrong, of course certain authorities are trying to do their best to save lives by reducing the risk, but as I said previously when you look into this from a spiritual level you understand that the enemy is at work using different measures. The other ones is deliberately damaging or closing great parts of nature as nature is one of humans most important source of energy just like food.
Before moving from this point, I want to add that love, not just sex, but love even love among family members, friends or siblings is a great source of energy, possibly the highest source outside G-d ofcourse. The scriptures says “perfect love cast out fear” (1John 4:18) Fear is what someone feels when a great amount of energy has been taken out of him in a sudden moment and love restores that energy level very easily. But because the enemy knows this, he is deliberately against relationships of all kinds, with the hope to reduce the energy that comes out of love. Because you may know that when you love someone, you have the strength, (read energy), to do whatever it takes to help them and thus love has always been the enemy’s first battle. That’s why marriages have been a battle ground for as long as we can remember.

Now when your energy is at a low level and you do not have the means to replenish it on time, that is when the enemy kicks in. If you have a strong faith and put on the armour of G-d, see below, you will be able to stand the fight. But again, if you do not know G-d and don’t know what faith is, the enemy will easily sweep you off when you are at your lowest. Knowing that energy is the new currency, you need to protect yours at all cost.

Ok, now that we know how the enemy operates, let us see how we can connect with G-d so that He can fight this battle for us. 2.Chronicles 20.15. I made a short list of things we can do or must have to stand our ground.

First of all let’s go back to the notion of unity.
I told you that one of the ways to get energy is to spend time with others doing the kind of activities that you all like. But there is more to that. In several parts of the scriptures human beings are called “sheep”. If you have ever seen a sheep than you probably saw more than one, because sheep are the kind of animals that are bred in herds. This is the same with human beings. We evolve to our best selves when we are surrounded by others. When we are completely isolated from others we deteriorate, of course this takes a very long process of time before being the case. But human beings need other human beings to develop not only physically but also mentally and to create all kind of biological entities that will make a human being thrive in its environment. When this is taken away it can be disastrous for a human in long term.

Besides that the French put it this way” L’Union fait la force”. Where there is unity there is strength. There is so much to say about unity but I will keep it to this for the purpose of this blog, but just so you know unity is very important. The scriptures says “Where two or three are gathered in my name I will be among them” (Matthew 18.20) Have you ever wondered why it did not say about one but instead talked about two or more? G-d created Adam as one person, so why do humans have to be with more than one before G-d would say “I will be among them?” But that is the case, not that G-d would not hear you if you pray on your own, but unity in prayers brings the immediate attention of G-d. The enemy knows this too, he knows that where there are at least two people agreeing on one thing such as their faith in Jesus Christ, than these two are unbreakable. That there, he will not be able to saw evil because when you are in unity in faith, you are unbeatable by a negative outside force. That is why when the serpent wanted to seduce Eve to eat the apple he waited till Eve was alone, he knew that as long as Eve was together with Adam nothing would be able to come between them because there was unity and there was love.

So unity is important therefore the scriptures says that in the end times:

“They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”  (Luke 12.53). This because the enemy knows that by dividing those key relationship he can bring down the foundations of faith. That is why it is important to pray. Prayer is our next item on the list. Ok, before moving forward let me add the unity of the body of Jesus Christ. If you know that two people already gets G-d’s attention imagine what a church or any unity where people pray to G-d the Father can do in a city or country.

Prayer
First of all, now that most things seem to go well; I would like to encourage you to start praying for unity. Pray for unity in your household, pray for unity among your children, pray for unity between you and your spouse, pray for unity between you and your siblings, pray for unity in your classrooms, pray for unity in your social groups, pray for unity in your teams, pray for unity with your friends, pray for unity in your cities pray for unity in your country. You need to start praying now and do it on a daily basis, whenever you can because the way the enemy is operating, once a unity is broken it won’t be easy to be restored. Thus once something is broken in pieces it is much easier to get rid of it than when it is in its whole strong entity. Concerning prayer and unity there are many passages in the scriptures that underlines this such as when Esther saved the Israelites or when the people of Nineveh saved their town when they decided to fast and pray to G-d after the message they received from Jonah.

Besides praying for unity, know how to pray for healing and strength. In my blog about the prayer I shared this with you and said you are free to add to it any prayer that works for you. The most important is that you start praying this daily starting from now on, because it is best that you know this by heart because when the enemy will test you, he won’t give you any heads up for you to go get your prayer and pray first. So you will need to know it by heart so that you can recite it, even if it is in silence to yourself, just keep reciting it until you have seen the salvation of the Lord.

Faith
Even though faith is not a physical item, it is an important thing which you will need in the coming months and years to come. Faith helps you to overcome the most odd adversities that these times will throw at you. Even if your sky is perfectly blue at the moment, try to build up your faith by reading the Word and getting to know G-d. In case anyone would try to confuse you; know that there is one G-d; The G-d of Israel, G-d of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and there is one saviour His son, Jesus christ. To build up your faith I would encourage you to read the Torah and the Bible.

Seek wisdom in truth
We live in times where it almost feels better to pretend that nothing is happening and just turn the blind eye. But as the saying goes ‘Ignorance is not a bliss’. You need to inform yourself and educate yourself in order to protect yourself. Please note, I did not say you need to watch the news every day or five times a day. In fact I would say do not watch it, but hear it on the radio once a day or once every few days which is more than enough and even then, be very critical to what you see and or hear. But besides that if there are question marks in your mind about certain area’s go look those up. Most of us still have the freedom to go to bookstores, or internet, well use them and educate yourself because that knowledge will save you and save those around you. You need to know things such as how the enemy uses the media to pollute people’s mind. Nowadays even some news channels will feed you subliminal messages, and not just the kind that creates the thirst in you to buy a bottle of soda. Even on social media; be critical and take your distances when needed, reduce your time on those channels by turning off your tv and reading a book or take a walk outside when you can.

Always do the right thing.
Well I would actually put this under faith; that is why it is important to have a good sound faith in the right principals. Because this will dictate what is right and what is wrong for you. Christianity for example states “ Do to others as you would have them do to you”. Meaning that you should not harm others because you wouldn’t want anyone to harm you. But if you have another faith which states for example that you are above all law, and whoever disagrees with you; you need to get rid of them that is a serious deficit in your foundation. So check your faith and make sure it is based on the right principals. Know these principals now so that when the hour of testing comes you will not doubt on what to do, eventhough it can be tough to do the right thing under pressure. Make sure to always, always do the right thing.

Gospel of peace:
Now that you have your faith settled, make sure to study the important passages. The best thing you can do is hold a small booklet and write down the scriptures that speaks to you the most, or the scriptures you come across when reading the bible. When you write them down and you read them from time to time, you will memorise them and the day you will need them, you will see that your mind remembers them. Scriptures such as “ I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4.13) are good to know. They will form the pillars for you to hold on to during your times of testing.

Salvation through Christ:

The scrptures says in Romans 10:9, NIV: “If you declare with your mouth, ‘ Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” This is true and I would like to add to this that you need to live according to G-d’s laws to be able to have acces to this salvation. Again this makes part of your prayer, see blog post The prayer. As a Christian this is the most important thing, make sure you read all about it in the scriptures so that you know that you have been redeemed through Jesus christ and by His blood and by His stripes you are healed.

Further I would add, make a collection of the things you like. Things that uplift you and make you happy. Great positive movies you like to watch, a collection of great songs that uplift you when you are down, a collection of great images that make you happy, a collection of your favourite books, your favourite quotes and favourite songs. Collect these things and put them where you can access them when you need them.

I hope this all will help you in the times to come. Know that you are not in this alone, G-d is with you wherever you are and He will fight for you and you will make it through. Take Courage for He is with you.

I want to leave you with this scriptures:

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.  Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.  Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.  Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place,  and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” Ephisians 6:10-18.

Advertisement