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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
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