Today, because of COVID-19 and how awfully the government officials have dealt with it, people are dealing with stress like never before, from isolation to mask-wearing. The fear that the media and government officials have spread is an epidemic in and of itself.

Stress symptoms:

Fear causes stress, and stress can be so detrimental to you spiritually, physically, mentally, and emotionally. Stress symptoms may be affecting your health, even though you might not realize it. You may believe illness is to blame for that irritating headache, frequent insomnia, or fatigue. It may be stress that is the cause. Stress symptoms can affect your body, your thoughts and feelings. Stress left unchecked can contribute to things like high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity, and diabetes.

Chronic stress issues:

The point here is that chronic stress can cause some real issues for you — low energy, headaches, upset stomach, aches, pains, chest pain, frequent colds. This has been a very stressful season. We have been locked down and locked up without committing a crime. If leaders would have looked to the word of God — where God never quarantined the healthy, only the sick — we would be so much better off.

Good news:

The good news is that God’s word speaks to stress. Phil. 4:6-7 — Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.We must come to know the Scriptures, and act on them. Then we will experience peace, and stress and its negative effects will go.

Let’s cling to God’s word and experience a peace that surpasses our understanding. God is still on the throne.

Just a thought,

PSS

Luke 12:56 NLT — You Fools! You know how to interpret the weather signs of the earth and sky, but you don’t know how to interpret the present times.

The last days:

In Jesus’ day the principal occupation was farming, and these people grew skilled at interpreting natural signs. But they refused to properly interpret the signs of the times.

We are in the last of the last days, where the world, politicians, and the courts have removed God from the public arena, the public square. When God and His word (the Bible) are removed, the ridiculous, the absurd prevails.

The absurdities:

It’s absurd for any true believer to believe abortion is OK. It is absurd for a true believer to believe homosexuality is OK. It is absurd for any true believer to believe in bigger government. It is absurd for any true believer to believe that we should listen to the government tell us how we should worship God. It is absurd for any true believer to believe that the indoctrination of our children into a secular, ungodly belief system is OK.

His kingdom:

I hope you get the picture. God is either right, or He is not. He can’t be half right. Either He is Lord of all, or He is not Lord at all. He is not the God of this culture — He is the God of His word (the Bible) and His kingdom. His kingdom is all that matters.

True believers will believe Him, and by doing so we will stand against this ungodly culture.

Just a thought,

PSS

1 Kings 18:21 — Elijah went before the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal is God, follow him. But the people said nothing.

Baal worship:

Baal was the god of gods to the Canaanites; they worshipped him. One of the ways they worshipped Baal was to sacrifice children, burn them to death. There is still the worship of Baal; we just do it in a more sophisticated way. We murder babies in the womb; we call it abortion.

False doctrine:

So much going on in our world today, and way too many people who call themselves Christians find themselves caught between two opinions because they have not decided that God is God and chosen to follow Him. They are tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine (Ephesians 4:14). So, as true followers of Christ, we have to choose to follow Christ and live out the word of God. It’s always our choice. But to say, I am with God,and believe in homosexuality, abortion, government control of our lives means you have not truly committed yourself to God and His word (Bible). Which means you are lost, out of relationship with Christ.

God’s way:

We must decide whose team we are on — God’s or the world’s. We cannot be on both. Remember, the devil owns the fence. So, make the choice — you can be of only one opinion and be right with God! His way or no way. If you believe you can halfway serve God, and the other half you serve the world — Baal — you will be lost forever. Joshua 24:15 — But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.

Can’t have it both ways!

Just a thought,

PSS

The world is working to condition us that somehow because of a virus we must alter our lives, even our spiritual lives. If people don’t comply, they work to shame us.

Fear vs faith:

We cannot now, or ever, allow the world, the government, the media to shame us to conform to this world and its fear. Fear is taught. There was a man speaking to two Amish men, and he asked, “Why aren’t you guys afraid of the virus?” Their response was, “We don’t watch TV!” Fear is taught, and the more we are told to be afraid, and we listen to it — begin to believe it — the harder it will be to serve the Lord. It’s impossible to operate in fear and faith at the same time. Faith in God and His word will dispel fear.

Ignorance vs enlightenment:

The world uses shame to get people into compliance. As believers we are not to be ignorant of the devil’s devices, his ways. The devil works through deception, and I believe a lot of believers have been, and are being deceived. We at times are way too gullible. We don’t question what’s being said; we don’t research it. The result is deception, and we were told not to be deceived. Ephesians 5:6 — Don’t let anyone deceive you with meaningless words. It is because of sins like these that God’s anger comes to those who refuse to obey Him.

The only way not to be deceived is to research and learn what the word of God teaches, and obey Him — no matter what. Obedience is better than sacrifice.

Just a thought,

PSS

Prayer is the key to a successful Christian life — a satisfied life in Christ.

An everyday habit:

At times, prayer is talked about more than anything else and practiced less than anything else. Too often we associate prayer with crises in our lives. It should be something we do every day, like breathing, eating, and walking and talking. It seems for many like that little glass-covered box on the wall that says, “Break in case of emergency.” You cannot really be an effective believer and not pray. Prayer is simply talking to God; it’s the act of drawing near to God and passionately petitioning Him to perform a specific act — a heartfelt request for God to answer a specific need, a continuous request.

A worthy habit:

One day Jesus told His disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up (Luke 18:1 NLT). Praying helps you physically as well as spiritually. It can help you stay healthier, studies have shown. We should never feel like we are bothering God or He has something more important to do than to help us. We need to realize when we asked Jesus to be our Lord, God made us worthy to petition Him, to ask Him, to talk to Him, because Jesus is worthy.

A satisfied life:

Too many Christians are only existing and not living a satisfied life in Christ. Jesus came to give us life. “The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life” (John 10:10 NLT). In order to really live that satisfied life, it is necessary to pray, learn to believe God.

So, let’s learn as much as we can about prayer, because I believe it is the key to walking with God.

Just a thought,

PSS