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In light of what has happened in the US recently with the shooting of innocent children I know this will be a touchy subject, yet at the same time I also think it is the best time to discuss it. On Friday, I was in CC chat when the news was just breaking of the shootings. One lady typed about the evil b****** that did this (her words, not mine) the shooting raised anger and hatred towards the gunman who did this.This, obviously, is a natural response but it also concerns me. In Matthews gospel, Jesus talks about the Signs at the end of the age, chapter 24 v 12 it says "Because of the increase of wickedness the love of most will grow cold.
Think about those words.
We hear about the "great falling away" and many say "no, not me!I will stand firm to the end!" but how easy is it for us to get angry when we see evil being let loose. At present we are only seeing the tip of the ice berg.Its going to get a whole lot worse before Jesus comes back. If we look at Noah before the flood it says "The Lord saw how great mans wickedness on the earth had become and that EVERY inclination of the thoughts of his heart was ONLY evil ALL the time". God is a gracious God. He waited until the very last minute to wipe out the earth and I believe He will wait again because God is the same God yesterday and forever.He will wait until the last minute for people to get saved, or until all hope in those not following him is gone.If this is the case just imagine how bad it will be living amongst those people. living amongst those like this guy who shot these children? Will we get bitter? Angry? will we lose our love? Will it grow cold because of the evilness in the world increasing to such an extent it will have a detrimental effect on us?
Jesus tells us to love our enemies and from a natural perspective that seems so much easier said than done. God loves from an eternal prospective. He loves people 100% , we cant do anything to make Him love us less, neither can we do anything to make Him love us more. He causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.God loved that gunman as much as He loved the children that died. Jesus died for both.
The bible also tells us that our fight is not against flesh and blood. So what is the eternal prospective here? 20 children are now in the arms of Jesus FOR ETERNITY, never to feel pain again, never to cry again, experiencing the amazing love and joy of our God and one young guy is not.He will never know what it is to recieve Gods forgiveness, Gods healing, Gods love. Satan claimed a soul.Satan screwed up a young guy so badly that he had no sense of right and wrong anymore. Satan, the enemy of mankind, the one who seeks to kill and destroy ANYONE made in the image of God.
To stop love growing cold we need an eternal prospective. We need to keep our eyes firmly fixed on loving our enemies and KNOWING without a doubt who is behind the evil.No matter how evil a person gets, no matter how bad they hurt others our love for their eternal souls should never falter.
Think about those words.
We hear about the "great falling away" and many say "no, not me!I will stand firm to the end!" but how easy is it for us to get angry when we see evil being let loose. At present we are only seeing the tip of the ice berg.Its going to get a whole lot worse before Jesus comes back. If we look at Noah before the flood it says "The Lord saw how great mans wickedness on the earth had become and that EVERY inclination of the thoughts of his heart was ONLY evil ALL the time". God is a gracious God. He waited until the very last minute to wipe out the earth and I believe He will wait again because God is the same God yesterday and forever.He will wait until the last minute for people to get saved, or until all hope in those not following him is gone.If this is the case just imagine how bad it will be living amongst those people. living amongst those like this guy who shot these children? Will we get bitter? Angry? will we lose our love? Will it grow cold because of the evilness in the world increasing to such an extent it will have a detrimental effect on us?
Jesus tells us to love our enemies and from a natural perspective that seems so much easier said than done. God loves from an eternal prospective. He loves people 100% , we cant do anything to make Him love us less, neither can we do anything to make Him love us more. He causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.God loved that gunman as much as He loved the children that died. Jesus died for both.
The bible also tells us that our fight is not against flesh and blood. So what is the eternal prospective here? 20 children are now in the arms of Jesus FOR ETERNITY, never to feel pain again, never to cry again, experiencing the amazing love and joy of our God and one young guy is not.He will never know what it is to recieve Gods forgiveness, Gods healing, Gods love. Satan claimed a soul.Satan screwed up a young guy so badly that he had no sense of right and wrong anymore. Satan, the enemy of mankind, the one who seeks to kill and destroy ANYONE made in the image of God.
To stop love growing cold we need an eternal prospective. We need to keep our eyes firmly fixed on loving our enemies and KNOWING without a doubt who is behind the evil.No matter how evil a person gets, no matter how bad they hurt others our love for their eternal souls should never falter.