This was written by Pastor Dwila Flynn a few days ago...selah...THINK ABOUT IT!!!
Here we are ending the year 2016! Wow! Time to ask ourselves the two questions that we like to ponder at this time every year.
- Is Jesus and His Kingdom the absolute top priority in my life?
This question forces us to evaluate whether anyone or any thing has taken the place of Jesus as the central focus of our daily lives or the life of our church. If we can pinpoint anything that has crept in to that #1 spot, determine to put Him back in first place.
- Am I closer to God now than I was at this time last year?
If we cannot honestly say that we are closer to God now than at the beginning of this year, some adjustments need to be made in our lives--immediately.
The year 2016 has been a crazy year in many ways. Our nation has endured one of the most divisive Presidential Elections in history which has provoked riots in the streets. Law enforcement officers are being targeted by hostile Americans fueled by a spirit of anarchy. World financial markets are crashing at unprecedented levels. Tensions between nations continue to rage.
Yes, we are living in the “perilous times” that the apostle Paul spoke about to Timothy. The New Living Translation puts Paul’s thoughts like this:
(2 Tim 3:1-5 NLT) You should also know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times. {2} For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. {3} They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control; they will be cruel and have no interest in what is good. {4} They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. {5} They will act as if they are religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. You must stay away from people like that.
This passage certainly describes some of the chaos of our world these days. However, the chaos now is not that much different from the dark, turbulent time that our Lord was born into more than 2000 years ago.
Israel had endured more than 400 years of spiritual darkness. The religious traditions and ideals of the Jewish Sanhedrin had taken over the spiritual lives of the Jews. The Roman Empire controlled everything in Israel with a harsh military presence. There had not been a significant “true” prophet of God for centuries.
Yet, this was the state of things when God sent Jesus into the earth. He was born in that stable in Bethlehem with a mission and a destiny. He came “…to destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8), “…to preach the gospel to the poor, to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, and to set at liberty those who are oppressed;." (Luke 4:18) Beyond all of that, He came to be the final sacrificial Lamb to restore mankind to the Father—for all who believe.
Wow, what a mission! What a purpose! We have learned this year that much of what Jesus was sent to do in his chaotic society is exactly what we are anointed to do now—in our chaotic society. We are to BE what he has anointed us to BE in our character, and we are to DO what he has anointed us to DO in our actions. We can “destroy the works of the devil”, help “heal the brokenhearted”, and help bring deliverance to “those who are oppressed”. We can because He DID, and we have the same Spirit living in us as He did. What an amazing privilege—what an amazing responsibility!
Let’s take what we have learned in 2016 into 2017 in increasing measure. Our dark, perilous times need the light that we can bring as we yield to the same Spirit that anointed Jesus.
We love you and wish you all a very Merry Christmas, and look forward to many more “God adventures” in 2017!
Pastors Rick & Dwila Flynn
