April 2021

(Psalms 127:1 [KJV])
“Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh [but] in vain.“

The restoration and uplifting of humanity begins in the home. The work of parents underlies every other. Society is composed of families, and is what the heads of families make it. Out of the heart are “the issues of life” (Proverbs 4:23); and the heart of the community, of the church, and of the nation is the household. The well-being of society, the success of the church, the prosperity of the nation, depend upon home influences. {Ministry of Healing (MH) 349.1}

(Psalms 127:3 [KJV])
Lo, children [are] an heritage of the LORD: [and] the fruit of the womb [is his] reward. Therefore, the ultimate purpose of children is to develop righteous character.

The picture above depicts families who are interacting with each other, smiling, laughing and truly appear to be happy. This is as it should be, as God would have the world that He created full of happiness. But can there be true happiness and contentment without God?

The world is made up of nations, nations of cities, cities of communities, communities of families. Families then, are made up of parents and children. So the foundation of the world is the family unit and the many other influences such as education, environment, nutrition, political climate, social media and economic status, religion, etc.

The result of wars, mistrust, hate, greed, selfishness that we consistently see in this world can be traced back to the family unit and the adjunct influences.

1 John 4: 8 “He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.”

1 John 4:16 “And we have known and believed the love that God has to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.”

Deuteronomy 6:5-7 “And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. ⁶And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: ⁷And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sitteth in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.”

“It is by the youth and children of today that the future of society is to be determined, and what these youth and children shall be, depends upon the home. To the lack of right home training may be traced the larger share of the disease and misery and crime that curse humanity. If the home life were pure and true, if the children who went forth from its care were prepared to meet life’s responsibilities and dangers, what a change would be seen in the world!” {MH 351.1}

“Great efforts are put forth, time and money and labor almost without limit are expended, in enterprises and institutions for reforming the victims of evil habits. And even these efforts are inadequate to meet the great necessity. Yet how small is the result! How few are permanently reclaimed!” {MH 351.2}

Statistics show that 8 in 10 people identify with a religious group (see statistics below).

Church is more influenced by culture than by the word of God. This is played out in what we see happening today, where individuals are heavily influenced by education and not the word of God. We see where the schools, colleges and educational institutions have the greatest influence on the minds of our children, along with social media platforms. In fact, are raising our children.

The bible teaches that the father should have the greatest influence in the life of his children. Is the Christian father calling his family to worship and directing his household as outlined in Deuteronomy 6 above?

Most young people, even as youth, spend more time with people their own age or want to spend more time with their own age group, rather than with parents or grandparents (those who have the wisdom of life experiences that can be passed on). So basically the unwise/ignorant is learning from the unwise/ignorant.

The home becomes a house or apartment where you sleep, eat, watch television, binge on social media platforms, plan for the future, worry about finances and spend very little time teaching the importance of a relationship with God and treasuring His Word. Many of us were raised in professed Christian homes, yet great importance was placed on: having a good education, becoming a professional, having enough money to purchase a home, buy a car, etc. These are seen and taught as accomplishments to be gained. We have forgotten that we are “pilgrims passing through” this world, looking for a home whose maker and builder is God.

The love of God and His word have not been woven into the fabric of our lives where our eyes are fixed upon the prize that Paul mentioned in Philippians 3:14 “I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”

Where then is the influence of the parent? Should not the parent have the greatest influence on the minds of their children? The fact is that the parents have also been educated by the same institutions, so the cycle is perpetuated, generation after generation.

The educational system is built upon theories of evolution. If then, we are educated by “Caesar”, we become Caesars. We annul the commandments and counsel of the scriptures to carry out our traditions.

This world will not continue. As Christians, we know this fact. The entire chapter of Matthew 24 are the words of Christ speaking to this fact. Verse 35, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.”

We as professed Christians have neglected to bind our hearts and that of our children to God. The only true source of life and the only future that is real. The things of this earth will pass away.

“For the kingdom [is] the LORD’S: and He [is] the governor among the nations. All [they that be] fat upon earth shall eat and worship: all they that go down to the dust shall bow before him: and none can keep alive his own soul. A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation. They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done [this].” (Psalms 22:28-31 [KJV])

“Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin [is] a reproach to any people.” (Proverbs 14:34 [KJV])

Could it be we are repeating the history of the world before the flood where parents abandoned their responsibility to God to seek after material things, thus no child was saved on the ark?

Statistics show:

“Worldwide, more than eight-in-ten people identify with a religious group,” says a new comprehensive demographic study of more than 230 countries and territories conducted by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life.

Here’s the breakdown of “The Global Religious Landscape,” based on an analysis of more than 2,500 censuses, surveys and population registers taken from Washington Times:

• 2.2 billion Christians (32 percent of the world’s population).
• 1.6 billion Muslims (23 percent).
• 1 billion Hindus (15 percent.
• 500 million Buddhists (7 percent).
• 400 million people (6 percent) practice various folk or traditional religions, including African traditional religions, Chinese folk religions, American Indian religions and Australian aboriginal religions.

There are 14 million Jews, and an estimated 58 million people — slightly less than 1 percent of the global population – belong to other religions, including the Baha’i faith, Jainism, Sikhism, Shintoism, Taoism, Tenrikyo, Wicca and Zoroastrianism, “to mention just a few,” the study says.

About half of all Christians in the world are Catholic, 37 percent are part of the Protestant tradition, 12 percent are Orthodox Greek or Russian.

The largest population of Christians (243 million) is found, incidentally, in the United States, followed by Brazil, Mexico, Russia, the Philippines, Nigeria and China.

Google gives a number of 1.2 billion for atheists, agnostics, secularists etc.

That’s roughly one sixth of the world population or about 16.5%

If you are curious, here is a link to:

Global share of people who believe in God or a supreme being, by country, as of 2010

https://www.statista.com/statistics/273004/global-belief-in-god-or-a-supreme-being/

Of course, not all countries are mentioned, they are lumped into the “Overall” category.

In an attempt to refill a service card for my phone, I drove to a Walmart store nearby. On entering the store I was pleasantly surprised, why? the shelves were bare. For two days we had snow, but the roads were opened and travel was not restricted. What caused the panicked buying? Insecurity. This is a repeat of earlier times in the pandemic when toilet paper and other commodities were gobbled up by an insecure multitude. Insecurity brings fear, and fear, real or imagined causes torment.

What then is fear?
Fear is an emotion induced by perceived danger or threat, which causes physiological changes and ultimately behavioral changes, such as mounting an aggressive response or fleeing the threat. Fear in human beings may occur in response to a certain stimulus occurring in the present, or in anticipation or expectation of a future threat perceived as a risk to oneself. Wikipedia

We therefore can conclude that fear reveals that inner nature of mankind that often goes unnoticed for long periods of time. Fear can cause one to lie, steal and kill based on the perceived treat. Fear is anti- God, for it causes those that are gripped by it to break the commandment of God. This need not be, “for love perfected drives out all fear” (1 John 4:8). This love not only set you free, it makes you free. (See John 8:32). It makes you a commandment keeper, standing for principles even in the face of death. The Bible addresses the issue of fear numerous times.

(Isaiah 41:10 [KJV])
“Fear thou not; for I [am] with thee: be not dismayed; for I [am] thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness”.

Skin for Skin …all that a man hath will he give for his life.

Fear is a masterful tool in the hand of the enemy. In a conversation with the Lord, the devil displayed his most effective tool. “3 And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that [there is] none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause.¹ 4 And Satan answered the LORD, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life”.
(Job 2:4 [KJV])

According to Satan when life is threatened a man will put aside God’s law and do things contrary to all that he knows is right. Unfortunately, his accusation has proven true too many times.
It was fear of death that caused Abraham to give away his wife twice. (See Genesis chapters 12 and 20) Naked fear came upon Jacob on his way home as he saw Esau coming. (Genesis 32) Fear caused Elijah to run forty days for his life to escape Jezebel. (See 1 Kings 19:1-8) It was fear of Saul that caused David to flee to the land of the Philistines.
(See 1 Samuel 27) It was fear that caused Peter to deny Christ (Matthew 26:69-75). We also saw a fearful set of disciples hiding in the upper room. (John 20:19)

We see then that fear causes the words and wonderful promises of God to be forgotten.
It is evident that fear is opposite of God, therefore, it is anti-God. Yet in those biblical examples given above, God had already spoken and His words cannot be made void. His blessings were on them, and nothing could alter it. For God cannot lie. (Titus 1:2)

“For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself”. (Hebrews 6:13 [KJV]) “That by two immutable things, in which [it was] impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us” (Hebrews 6:18 [KJV])

In the second chapter of the epistle to the Hebrews, the apostle Paul clearly showed that he understood the power of fear. “Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage”. (Hebrews 2:14-15 [KJV])

Christ came to break that bondage, for it is clear from the Exodus experience that slaves cannot serve God. The mind must be free so it can make intelligent decisions. Love perfected is victorious over fear, the Devil’s tool, because it purges it out of the heart.

The people of God must get this victory over fear, for the greatest threat we face is yet before us.
“And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name”. (Revelation 13:15-17 [KJV])

Are you preparing to stand against the Beast and his Image? Will you be like the three Hebrew boys who stood upright when everyone else was kneeling, with the full understanding of the consequence of their actions? (Daniel 3:12-30) Where will you stand? Will fear cause you to deny God, or will you be one of those?
“And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death”.
(Revelation 12:11 [KJV])

The great apostle to the Gentiles again made it clear in Romans 8; “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? [shall] tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8: 38-39 [KJV])