Dear Christian Believers,
Greetings and God bless you in the wonderful name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Mark Twain the famous writer was asked, “What would you do if you knew the world was coming to an end?” And he responded, “that’s easy, I’d move to Cincinnati, Ohio.” His inquirer said, “Why would you move to Cincinnati?” And Mr. Twain remarked, “because they are two years behind everybody else.” I love to tell this story to the folks from Cincinnati, then we all have a big laugh, but, what would you do if you knew the world as we know it was coming to an end, that Christ was returning next week? Are there people you would tell about Jesus Christ and the new birth? Would you be actively telling everyone you saw or met about God’s plan of salvation and redemption, or would you leave that to someone else, and go about business as usual? Honestly, what would you do?

The prophets of old foretold of the Messiah coming and the believers waited and waited, and finally he came. When he came only Mary, Joseph, and a few shepherds were there to greet him and celebrate his coming. There was another prophet that was born 6 months before Jesus, John the Baptist, and he prepared the people for Jesus Christ and his ministry. What about us, are we preparing ourselves and others for the way of Christ at his coming? In I Corinthians 5:17-20, it declares that we are the new creation in Christ and that we’ve been given the Word of reconciliation, and that God had committed unto us the Word of reconciliation, to the end that we might reconcile others back to God.

John the Baptist got Israel’s minds and hearts back to God, so that they would be ready to receive the words and ministry of Christ. Israel had been without a prophet for over 400 years and needed preparation for the way of Christ.

Luke 3:2b-3
“. the word of God came unto John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness, And he came into all the country about Jordan preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins;”

Luke 3:7-8
Then said he to the multitude that came forth to be baptized of him, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We are of Abraham as our father: for I say unto you, That God is able of these stones to raise up Children unto Abraham.

They thought that just because their fathers could be traced back to Abraham, they were OK with God no matter what the fruit of their lives. John said, “fat chance, you are dreaming,” without fruits of repentance you’re just a bunch of non-producing rocks. John nailed them and the people were pricked in their hearts as they were when Peter spoke to the people in Acts 2, because they also said, “What shall we do?” They wanted to know what they should do to be right with God. In Luke 3:11-14 is John’s response. He tells the people to “GIVE,” to those in need, to look outside of their of themselves and respond to the needs of others. The next category of people are those that receive and handle money, and he tells them to “BE HONEST!” And the third category John addresses are those in authority, and he admonishes them to “BE SATISFIED,” and “BE NOT ABUSIVE” with their authority. These were issues in John’s day and they have not changed in ours. Fruits unworthy of repentance are, to be selfish when you have to give, to be dishonest in handling money, and to be abusive and dissatisfied when you have authority over others. John said the Messiah is coming and it’s time to change, “the status quo, must go!”

Christ is returning, he may come in our lifetime or he may not, But one thing for sure, he is coming, and NOW is OUR time to make a difference. What are we willing to do to prepare ourselves and others for his coming? What are we doing to reconcile others back to God? These are the questions we must answer. Moving to Cincinnati might have been the answer for Mark Twain, BUT you and I aren’t Mark Twain. Let’s make a difference, and manifest fruits that are worthy of our being in Christ reconciling men and women back to God.
Endeavoring to make a difference,

John