Living by the Invisible...

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There are only three ways in which a human being can live. He can live by his own wisdom and energy, or by satanic wisdom and energy, or by the wisdom and energy of the Lord Jesus Christ. If he chooses to live by his own wisdom and energy, he will end up living by satanic wisdom and energy, although he probably will not realize it.

(9/25/2011). The watchword of the Protestant Reformation is, "The just shall live by faith." This expression is found four times in the Bible, once in the Old Testament and three times in the New Testament.

The "faith" that is mentioned here has little to do with theology. Rather, the "faith" by which the righteous live is that of choosing to walk with God, as did Enoch and the other patriarchs. It is that of bringing God into every detail of our life, every thought, decision, plan, word, and action.

We see the difference between the two ways of living, in the following verse:

Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith. (Habakkuk 2:4) An individual chooses to live in his own pride, or else by continually seeking fellowship with God. He does not rely on his own wisdom and strength but by the wisdom and strength that Christ provides continually.

I have come to believe that the true Christian life is the one in which we always are seeking the Presence of Christ. Our daily life is filled with so many problems and difficulties! We can attempt to survive by striving to overcome all that distresses us; or we can survive by looking to the Lord Jesus in every situation—and I mean every situation.

Our present life in America is filled with material things, helps, pleasures, prospects, that we tend to look to the world for the solution to our pain and problems. We are not accustomed to living by always interacting with Jesus; always practicing the Presence of God.

But we absolutely must learn to do this if we are to survive spiritually and help others to survive during the approaching moral, financial, and political chaos.

Those with prophetic gifts are saying that we in America, and perhaps other nations of the Western world, are heading toward very difficult times. There may be war, persecution, diseases, famine, and other difficulties that most of us Americans have not experienced—although many have.

The average American lukewarm, casual Christian is by no means prepared for such distresses and dangers. We have been lulled to sleep by the current perversion of the Apostle Paul's teaching of "grace," and by the prospect of an "any-moment rapture" which, if the Scriptures are to be relied upon, is assuredly not going to take place. We have not been prepared "to stand in the evil day."

Therefore put on the full armour 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. (Ephesians 6:13)

"The day of evil"! The prophets are telling us that a day of evil is approaching our country. In fact, it already is here for many of our citizens. But I expect it is going to become much worse. We Americans in numerous instances have turned away from God and the Bible and are indulging in every sort of moral depravity.

Under the watchword of tolerance we are endeavouring to become comfortable with sexual perversions that previously have been regarded by decent people as abominations.

Also, there is the problem of foreign gods entering our land. We pride ourselves on religious tolerance. Religious tolerance is a democratic ideal, not a biblical ideal. There is only one God, and that is our Father in Heaven. There is only one Way to the one God, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ.

We speak of "many roads to God," and that all other gods are just names for the one true God. This is a delusion. The other so-called gods are powerful cherubim and fallen angels who are in rebellion against the one true God. Make no mistake about this. Some of these fallen principalities are warlike, filled with blood-lust. Their murderous hatred and rage are revealed in those who worship them.

Although there always have been sinful people in our country, the majority of the populace have regarded Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour, and His Father as the one true God. Now this attitude is changing. People are choosing a way of life which does not fear or revere God.

We pride ourselves on being forward-looking, educated beyond the beliefs of the past. We are not forward-looking. We are not progressive in this attitude. We are reverting to the behaviour of the nations in the past, such as Rome, who gave themselves over to the lusts of the flesh. And, like Rome, we are facing destruction.

Make no mistake. Because of our turning away from God, our nation shall be punished severely. We already can see financial problems. We are involved in two wars which appear to have no successful conclusion. Unclean spirits have been set free to express themselves, and so we see murder, rape, violence, and other destructive behaviours. The abuse of little children is becoming prevalent, Cannibalism and bestiality are on the horizon.

Still it is business as usual. We are blind. We cannot see the evidence of the departure of God from our land. We are not profiting from the warnings of history!

Those who would survive today and in the future must learn to live by the invisible. We must turn away from the clamour of ever-improved electronic devices and other entertaining inventions and situations and begin to practice the Presence of Jesus Christ.

To the worst of the seven churches of the Book of Revelation, the church of Laodicea, are given two of the greatest promises.

First, that Christ stands knocking at the door of our heart. He desires to enter and become part of all that we think, say, and do. Christ will not open the door. We have to open the door. We have to open it every waking moment. We have to keep on inviting Christ into our life. If we do not do this, we will not have the continual fellowship with Him who alone can save us from every disaster.

Second, that if we are victorious over the pressures that would cause us to disobey Christ, we will sit with Him on His Throne just as He sits with the Father on the Father's Throne. Actually, this second promise is the result of our receiving the first promise.

We are not accustomed to looking to God this fervently. I suppose we have imagined that He loves us so much no evil can befall us. This is a delusion. According to the Bible, we have to "blow the trumpet" of prayer if we expect God to help us with our difficulties. And we always are in difficulties, it seems, if we are striving to behave with integrity.

I will not comment on the life of the rebellious and ungodly. Their lives are one disaster after another. But we who look to Jesus at all times are always raised up in times of trouble. We never, never, never are forsaken. But those who choose to go their own way, follow their own path, will dwell in dry and bitter circumstances.

If you find yourself today in dry and bitter circumstances, are you willing to cease being your own god and begin to look to Christ continually? Jesus is interested in the smallest difficulty you are having, as well as in your times of ease and pleasure. He wants to be part of you far, far more than you want to be part of Him!

Today is a season of preparation for the problems of the future. Begin looking to the Lord continually. Bring every decision, every plan, every thought, every word, every action to Him. You may think this is difficult or impossible. It assuredly is not. It is the best, the most joyous, the most peaceful, the most productive, the most successful way in which to conduct yourself throughout your discipleship.

You have a choice. You can trust in the things of our culture to provide security, survival, comfort, pleasure, and achievement for you. Or you can learn to live by the invisible, always looking to Jesus for all you need and desire.

Right now you and I have the opportunity to choose to live one way or the other. We can live in our pride, or we can live by faith in the invisible God.

Our ability to survive and help others to survive throughout the era of chaos that is approaching depends on the choice we make today. We can seek the continued Presence of Jesus Christ, or we can believe the lying message of grace and the rapture and leave ourselves unprepared for the difficulties rapidly approaching our nation.

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