ZIG ZAGGING

                                               ZIG ZAGGING

    The zigs have been zagging, and I'm not referring to lightning strikes.
The sharp strikes are polarized all right, from positive to negative or vice
versa. I'm not the only one feeling the shock, but all of Christianity should
wake up to reality. There are a huge number of professing Christians out
there who do not believe the bible! Yes, they believe they can receive
eternal salvation by accepting Jesus Christ as their Savior for eternal
life. But, they refuse to believe much of the bible!

     How can that be, you ask? Well, it's worse than I could imagine. I thought
it was pretty bad when some denominations undertook rewriting some of the
Christian bible to suit their denominational agenda. After all, we are fully
warned in Revelation 22;18 and 19. We can't add or take away from the words
of the bible or God will separate us individually from His Book of Life. No
picking or choosing. Either you are a Christian following the Word of God,
or you are just a talking Christian.

    Why am I so upset? Because I hear so many professing Christians claim
God is not in charge of our universe. He is not in control. Satan is running
some programs of destruction and mayhem. God is not in control. Since God
created everything and has His master plan, I'm at a loss to understand how
He could not be in control of His master plan? I realize we are not capable of
understanding His plan, but we should have intelligence enough to consider
facts from the bible to reach at least a sensible conclusion.

    If God is not in control, we can forget about prophecy, the end time, and all
aspects of the very Word of God. Of course, if you are so smart (not intelligent)
as to know more than God and Christ, your predictions of the future must
obviously be more accurate. However, I'm going to pass up this opportunity,
and follow the leading of the Holy Spirit and Christ to determine what's going
on and exactly what the bible says.

    The apostasy has been flourishing through many successful attempts to
lead professing Christians astray. Rewriting scripture, introducing joint worship
with other faiths that deny Christ's deity and salvation, and misguided biblical
teachers who create cults to fulfill their agenda, are only a few of the procedures now making substantial inroads to corrupt the Word of God. That these methods are so successful indicates many professing Christians are too lazy to study scripture and too willing to listen to emotional ploys by apostate leaders.

    If you do not believe God is in charge, you must not believe the very opening chapters of Genesis, the first book of the bible. Didn't he create everything? How about Jesus Christ? Isn't He the reason we can have eternal life? Didn't Christ tell us God is the Father of everything? Didn't God direct the very happenings that provided salvation for any who accepted His Son? Didn't God give mankind the choice of right or wrong? Is God in control, or do you believe He has abdicated the throne to Satan? Do you believe He is directing the end time?

    I haven't quoted scripture yet except to tell you to read the first few chapters of Genesis. Now, I want you to look at the Book of Job. The lesson we're going to get from this book is not just Job's obedience, but the realization that God is ALWAYS in control. He gave Satan the opportunity to make Job's life a living hell. Job was a man among men, just as the prophets and apostles were. Few of us could survive a test such as that. Oh, yes...here's that word I've been using in the recent prophecy messages. Job underwent a TEST. Could you pass such a test?

    God, in His mercy, does not give us tests we can't pass if we really have a
commitment to Christ and welcome the direction and instruction of the Holy
Spirit. If we fail the test or tests, we do not have a legitimate commitment to our Savior. We are only a professing Christian--not the real thing. Unfortunately, professing Christians are much louder than the real thing, and tend to lead the unschooled and inexperienced Christians astray.

     Note, please, Job1:12,"And the Lord said to Satan, 'Behold , all that he has
is in your power; only do not lay a hand on his person.'" Satan immediately went to work and destroyed Job's material wealth (he lost his money--you know all his assets), and his children. Yet Job worshipped God and accepted the fact that God was in control. In chapter two, you see that Satan moved right on, this time attacking Job's health. When it was suggested Job give up and die, he responded, "Shall we accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity ?" (2:10)

    Job's three friends then arrive to try and comfort him. Job deplores his birth,
reflecting on how much easier it would be not to have been born to experience this terrible suffering. (As an aside, carefully consider Job 3:16-19. This may be study information concerning abortion.) Now Job discovers by his friends' words what some preachers tell people in their congregations--they are suffering because of sins or lack of faith. This may sometimes be true, but is frequently used as a fast fix for a misunderstood situation. The friends tell him he must have sinned and needed correction.

     These friends are using man's thinking to reason out Job's situation. They do not know of Satan's deal with God. They cannot have the understanding of a situation without the facts. They do know God has control of everything, but not that Job's difficulty is a TEST. It is the ultimate test of commitment. Most of us don't have to face such a difficult test. When we are similarly tested, we go through the same stages as did Job.

    Go to Job 12:7-10. "But now ask the beasts, and they will teach you; And the birds of the air, and they will tell you; Or speak to the earth, and it will teach you; And the fish of the sea will explain to you. Who among all these does not know That the hand of the Lord has done this, In whose hand is the life of every living  thing, And the breath of all mankind?" Everything and everyone on earth is under God's control, and seems to know this except rebellious professing Christians.

     They refuse to accept the fact that the election of the president of the United States was in the hands of God. Do you think there is some other power that is greater than God? Or Christ? What bible do you read, not study? Don't you believe this is part of God's plan? Do you think He made a mistake? Do you have a better plan to offer Him? Even Satan is laughing at you.

    It has been sad to listen to Christian leaders bemoan the election because their candidate lost. Did they pray for their desired result? If it didn't happen, why do they suppose God didn't give them a victory? God expects Christians to support His directions. He expects Christians to work for His plan and nothing else. He does not want America to crash, but Satan does. Satan will do everything He can to cause America trouble. Division is a wonderful tool for failure. God is not a politician, and politicians are not gods. If you can't be a cheerful loser, you shouldn't try to be a politician or church leader. Either you accept God's decisions or you are a rebellious Christian who wants your own way. You should, for whatever reason, want God's way.

    If America crashes, it will not be because of a president God chose to lead the nation; it will be because the people are divided and fail to see that the obsession of money has replaced Christ's Eleventh Commandment. If you need to ask what that is, you need to read the Gospels. We need to understand what Christ taught, not what "privileged" people teach. Only a small number of Americans want the "free stuff" conservatives spout about.

    My message that the presidential winner would be God's choice no matter how we voted elicited more comments than any other message. Many professing Christians refused to accept this, simply saying the outcome would lead directly to disaster. My friends, God does not lead to disaster, Satan does. Do you actually believe God would deliberately do something wrong? Are you now going to pray for God to correct His mistake? It's pretty shaky ground to even suggest that God, who gave us our Savior, would make such a gigantic mistake.

    I read a quote of scripture from a person infuriated at non conservatives today that totally indicates the person needs some study time in scripture. The quote is from Jer. 29:11, "For I know the thoughts that I think towards you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope." Isn't this what we want? Too bad the person didn't read the next two verses--this is the problem with most biblical experts, only paying attention to part of the message. Verses 12 and 13 are, "Then you will call upon me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart."

    Those who have deleted this message will miss these last verses from Jeremiah, which clearly state God will listen to our prayer, and  we must seek Him and find Him. That is the problem for these hate filled professing Christians. They are not seeking Him, they only want Him to fulfill their wishes. If they prayed for the wrong candidate, these verses tell them why he and they lost. I strongly suggest that those wailing the loudest read Psalm 46:10, "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted above the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!"

Rev. Walbear