Are You Ready?

Are you ready for the future? Are you even prepared for the world we live in today?

Why do I ask these questions? We are living in a world where there are so many things that can get us off the path that the Lord has laid out before us.

The news is filled with articles that can lead us astray, stating this or that exaggerated piece information. There are articles on the net, in magazines, newspapers that will tell us of celebrity’s lives and we should be asking how accurate they are.

There are preachers who preach a gospel that is watered down. There are preachers who preached a hyped-up message. There are church meetings that aren’t much more than a motivational sales meeting.

In this world we need to be prepared and ready. We need to be able to stand on the truth of the Gospel. We need to remember that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life! (See John 14:6)

I see people everyday that get caught up in news and they allow it to affect their life. Some prepare for the worst. I remember when we crossed over from 1999 to the year 2000. Y2K caused many to be concerned and scared about their lives. I know of one preacher who preached that there was nothing to be concerned about.

He preached that God would guide us and protect us, yet he filled his garage with water, canned food, wood was stacked around the garage. Why just in case banks fell due to not being to technologically handle the change. He was concerned this would lead to food not being available and heat sources would fall to technology as well.

As much as he preached faith, as much as he preached a big story, he wasn’t standing strong, he didn’t practice what he preached. He goy caught up in the misinformation of the day. There are many opportunities for all of us to fall for misinformation today.

There are too many opportunities for us to get caught up in hyped-up Christianity.

2 Timothy 4:1-5 (NASB)

I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom:   preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.   For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires,   and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.   But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

The truth needs to be preached that is the long and the short of it!  The time has come and now is that people don't want to hear sound doctrine, they have accumulated teachers in accordance to their own desires, they are turning from the truth and are turning to myths.

Our lives need the truth. Our lives need to be prepared and covered by the armour of God!

Ephesians 6:10-17

The Armor of God
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might.  Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against  flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace;  in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

We need to be ready to face and stand firm in the days of evil. No I am not being “religious” here. Look at the world, look at the events that are happening, this world is anything but peaceful. This world has political leaders who don’t tell the truth far more than we have seen in years. There are political wrangling and stances taken all around us.

There for I say we need to take up the full armour of God so that we can withstand all the mistruths, all the distractions, all the political positioning, the rumblings of a world needing God!

We need to be girded with truth, we need to know the Gospel of peace. We need faith to be shielded against all the distractions. We need our salvation and be wearing it, and using the Word of God, using our sword of the Spirit.

All this means is that we need a real relationship with Jesus. We need to be surrendered to Him, to the Holy Spirit, because He is the way, the truth and the Life.

Romans 13:11-14

Do this, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed.  The night is almost gone, and the day is near. Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us  behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.

We need to awaken to the truth that is all around us. We need to be able to see through all that the devil is throwing at us and be wearing the Armor of God, the Armor of Light! We need to be walking in our salvation and we need to be known as true disciples of Jesus.

Galatians 2:20

I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

2 Corinthians 5:17

Wherefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature: the old things are passed away; behold, they are become new.

It is no longer I who live, that is something that all Believers need to understand and take hold of. It is Christ who lives in me. This is were we should understand the preaching of people seeing the Christ in us. He is to be visible in our daily life.

Our old life is gone, we live a new life in Christ. So we have thrown away our old ways, but the world we live in offers up so many distractions we need to be awake, prepared, covered in the Word, filled with the Word and allowing Jesus to live in and through us!

Philippians 4:6-7

 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

In the Lord we don’t need to worry about anything, He will give us peace and a peace so great we won’t understand why we can be so peaceful. That is where we need to be well grounded in the Gospel of peace, “having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace;” and to be able to use the Word of God because it is, “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”

This is something I need to remind myself of that the Word of God is the Gospel of Peace, and in it we can lay our burdens down and learn from the Lord how to continue don the path.  We need to live by faith, not by sight. We need to stand strong, we need to fill ourselves with the Word.

Not in the way some do so that we can repeat words from the Bible, but have the Word alive in us, so that when we speak the Word is real and comes from the Holy Spirit. It will be the Word needed for that moment, it will be alive and real, it won’t just be empty ineffective words.

Hebrews 11:1

Now faith is assurance of things hoped for, a conviction of things not seen.

This passage has spoken to me in many ways over the years. The fact is faith is in Jesus, I know He is there with us and that He works through us. I am not a doubting Thomas, I believe without having to see Him, I hear Him, feel Him and know Him. He walks with me, He talks with me, I need to be ready to listen.

Is Jesus real to you? Are you prepared to face the world, or will you be caught up in the world and all the distractions?

Put on the Armor of God, be ready for the day, be ready for today! If you are ready for today, the future in Jesus Christ will take care of itself.