Written by: John Sernaque
Dear Reader,
One of my early childhood memories was watching the sunset behind the distant mountains. I would always look forward to that time in the late afternoon whereby I would wait on our balcony for that moment when the sun starts to disappear. I would see the bright yellow haze slowly turning into a yellowish red, then a reddish orange, to mostly orange, and then slowly dissipate out of view bringing on the evening sky. You are not supposed to look directly at the sun, but I did anyway. As a child, it was a phenomenon that I did not quite understand, but somehow knew, that there was a great power behind it. It was much later on in life that I learned that our creator was the One that provided this source of light that brings life and warmth to our planet. It was God who created heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is. How we serve a mighty God.
He appointed the moon for seasons: the sun knoweth his going down. Psalm 104:19
The LORD [is] thy keeper: the LORD [is] thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. Psalm 121:5-6
For the LORD God [is] a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good [thing] will he withhold from them that walk uprightly. Psalm 84:11
It is important that we should do our best to take care of our planet. Unfortunately, many have lost sight of who it is that created and takes care of us. The world is focused on the creation and not on the creator. The world marches and protests to protect the environment but fails to see that the spreading and condoning of immorality is our greatest danger. The human race has decayed so much that immorality is encouraged instead of following and obeying the Word of God. How disappointing it is to hear people condone and enable immorality, and not because they are ignorant or naive, but because they themselves do not want to give up their sinful ways. Because of this, they attack God’s people, labeling them as intolerant or even hateful.
Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! [Let] the potsherd [strive] with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no hands? Isaiah 45:9
I have seen thine adulteries, and thy neighings, the lewdness of thy whoredom, [and] thine abominations on the hills in the fields. Woe unto thee, O Jerusalem! wilt thou not be made clean? when [shall it] once [be]? Jeremiah 13:27
Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon, which have been done in you, they had a great while ago repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment, than for you. And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted to heaven, shalt be thrust down to hell. He that heareth you heareth me; and he that despiseth you despiseth me; and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me. Luke 10:13-16
To reject the Lord’s servants is to reject Christ Himself. {DA 489.1}… With a great show of prudence the rabbis had warned the people against receiving the new doctrines taught by this new teacher; for His theories and practices were contrary to the teachings of the fathers. The people gave credence to what the priests and Pharisees taught, in place of seeking to understand the word of God for themselves. They honored the priests and rulers instead of honoring God, and rejected the truth that they might keep their own traditions. Many had been impressed and almost persuaded; but they did not act upon their convictions, and were not reckoned on the side of Christ. Satan presented his temptations, until the light appeared as darkness. Thus many rejected the truth that would have proved the saving of the soul. {DA 489.4}
The True Witness says, “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock.” Revelation 3:20. Every warning, reproof, and entreaty in the word of God or through His messengers is a knock at the door of the heart. It is the voice of Jesus asking for entrance. With every knock unheeded, the disposition to open becomes weaker. The impressions of the Holy Spirit if disregarded today, will not be as strong tomorrow. The heart becomes less impressible, and lapses into a perilous unconsciousness of the shortness of life, and of the great eternity beyond. Our condemnation in the judgment will not result from the fact that we have been in error, but from the fact that we have neglected heaven-sent opportunities for learning what is truth. {DA 489.5}
That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. Matthew 5:45
It is only by God’s grace that everyone gets to receive sunlight and air, the rains, and the shade of the trees. But, it is only by God’s special grace that the LORD God will be a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly. My petition for those that are holding on to their sins is that they repent and ask God for Power to overcome sin that they may sin no more. Look to Jesus, continue in his Word that you may know the truth and be made free.
Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, [then] are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. John 8:31-32
Comments