Last week LaRheasa and I, along with LaRheasa’s dad and Jennie, traveled to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, and spent some time at Dollywood; we spent some time walking up and down hills, and looking at the Great Smoky Mountains. I stood in awe of the beautiful scenery and praised God for what he has done. When you stand and look at mountains, with fog and trees, with bears (yes, we saw one bear up close, and heard another bear near the top of a tree) and deer, turkeys and geese . . . ) you must be reminded that God takes care of all things in his creation. God is in charge. He knows what he is doing and will do.
God’s plan from the beginning was that one part of His creation worship and honor him with their hearts, tongues and lives. He deserves our worship and praise – YES. But what he desires the most is that we honor him, and become like him in thought, word and deed. He gave humanity the things we have and wants us to choose to serve him. Another part of my trip involved looking at wooden bears carved out of cedar logs (which I could have bought for a big price, had I wanted to). These men take a chainsaw and carve out the bear from a cedar tree. It reminds me that as man plans, carves, works, builds, and destroys, we are in many ways like God.
God planned for the salvation of man before He laid the foundations of the world. He made man in His own image. He has given mankind the wisdom to build and to take care of His creation.
Satan, on the other hand, wants to destroy, and ruin everything God had planned before eternity. He is our enemy and does nothing but destroy – he destroys marriages because the couple do not get along. Satan destroys Christians as they walk further away from God and give up on God. In Matthew 24:12-14, Jesus prophesied of many that will grow cold . . . “And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.” (Here Jesus prophesied of the soon destruction of Jerusalem, which occurred in AD 70).
Satan destroys everything he can and does what he can to keep people from becoming Christians, yet also destroys Christians by using doubt, hypocrisy and the world to attack Christ and His way, and above all, His people.
Jesus reminds us in Matthew 25 that one day he will punish the wicked and evil of the whole world. At that time of judgment, there will be no plea bargains or ways out – men will have to deal with what the judgement is. Righteous judgement of God. He will get it right.
Satan destroys nations because of differences of policies. Satan destroys the planet by giving men the wisdom to make nuclear weapons (and all other weapons as well). Satan wants mankind to hate God and hate one another. Currently in history, due to division and hatred in the political arena and throughout the world it seems that we are on the edge, yet again, of war.
(Let me remind you to continue in prayer for our country and the world. Let me remind you that God wants all to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth — see 1 Timothy 2:1-4. Sadly, let me remind you of the eternal destiny of those who do not honor God and follow him. We should weep and pray as never before for the lost).
Through the thousands of years, the battle between God and Satan has gone on. We must take sides in this battle. We must realize how people are destroying other people, as well as themselves. Many Christians have lost their faith and have walked away. What am I doing to try to bring them back? What about you?
As I close, I remind you of what I started this article with – GOD IS IN CHARGE, GOD IS IN CONTROL, AND GOD WILL ONE DAY CONDEMN THE SIN AND WICKEDNESS IN THE WORLD. It behooves us to honestly look at our lives and ask, “Am I really honoring God with my lips, my heart and my life? Do my actions show the world my love for Christ?”
At the same time, remember that about 2000 years ago he sent the solution – Jesus Christ. The world needs to hear about Jesus, the one who loves enough to die for the sins of man to give us hope of eternal life. Do you know Him? Do you love Him? Are you striving to bring glory and honor to Him? Are you daily living for Him, not just on Sunday, but through the whole week?
I close with this thought – when we came back from Pigeon Forge, LaRheasa and I were glad to be “home.” BUT OUR REAL HOME IS IN HEAVEN. We are on a journey through this “vale of tears,” yet we look forward to a place where there will be no more tears, heartaches, pain, suffering, funerals, hatred, war, — all the things that evil has created.
WHERE IS YOUR ETERNAL HOME?
Tommy
