KILLING IN WHOSE NAME?

"Heartless" could not even describe it—how some extremist groups have become savages, pumping our hearts with dread and shaming governments.

Consider these latest incidents happening too eerily close to each other:

The MILF decimating  44 of our finest policemen;  ISIS beheading 21 Egyptian Christians;  and jihadists very recently abducting 90 Syrian believers.

Last year, Boko Haram kidnapped nearly 300 school girls in Nigeria. And backtracking, Hitler exterminated six million Jews between 1933 and 1945.

Yet all these don't even come close to the quiet yet equally barbaric disposal of a demographic too helpless and voiceless to protest or defend themselves—the 40-50 million babies aborted yearly worldwide; 125,000 daily abortions per the World Health Organization (WHO)

How and why has it come to this? The statistics reveal a rising trend of lawlessness  on all fronts as we approach the end-times.

2 Timothy 3:2-4―"... men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God..."

Those who kill in the name of religion do so because they believe God rejoices every time they murder "infidels". They even expect extravagant rewards when they enter heaven.  

Hitler was maniacally driven to upscale the Aryan race when he decimated the Jews. Some terrorists do it merely for money and power.  Those who have their babies aborted do it to cover up their shame or to avoid inconvenience.  

God is loving, compassionate and gracious. How could anyone even think that He would sanction hatred and murder? If He wonderfully and fearfully created each one of us (Psalm 139), how could He say yes to genocide, rape and violence against helpless infants, children, women and ethnic groups?

Some of us are clueless about the devil's machinations. He is real and has upped his game because he knows his time is limited. Jesus will come again soon to forever establish His reign.

Revelations 12:9—And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceives the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

Yes, there has been a tsunami of lawlessness. But we cannot cower in fear.  The bible reminds us: "God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline (2 Tim 1:7)."

Meanwhile, let's pray and believe―that He will visit and make Himself known to those who maim and kill; and make their hearts right with God.  

"Son of Hamas" best-selling author Mosab Hassan Yousef was a member of one of the most-feared terrorist groups;  but Jesus visited him in prison one day and his life completely turned around.

Remember Paul? He too persecuted and approved the killing of believers. But he met Jesus on the road to Damascus and like Mosab, he became a fearless believer.

God is still in control, folks. Let's stay awake, praying and believing.  

Remember too:  His angels encamp around those who trust Him. If He is for us, who can be against us?

Photo credits:

http://wrc.ucr.edu

http://4.bp.blogspot.com

http://fciministries.com

DISRUPTIVE

What would tend to disrupt your day?

The dictionary says something is "disruptive" if it creates disorder or confusion.

It does not refer to mere interruption―which just breaks the continuity or uniformity of a process. Disruption connotes a sense of struggle, violence or conflict.  

In earthquake terms," interruption" might mean a mere magnitude "2" on the Richter Scale; with "disruption" measuring  "7" or above.

Remember the 2011 magnitude 9 earthquake which, with a tsunami,  wiped out the homes of more than 300,000 in Japan?  

Typhoon Yolanda was as disruptive when it levelled communities and claimed 6,340 lives in the Visayas―just as Pinoys were getting ready for Christmas 2013.

Disruptive innovation by highly competitive companies makes old technologies obsolete, resulting in the closure of their rivals' plants and their workers (especially those who have not learned new skills) without jobs.  

It will take time for our kababayans from the Visayas to rebuild their lives. They did not only lose their houses and livelihoods but their loved ones as well.

You might know someone who lost a job recently because the company he worked for closed; and he cannot now find a job―no skills to match new vacancies.  

What has disrupted your life recently? Interruptions and disruptions are a fact of life, as surely as the sun rises, and the tide ebbs and flows. Nothing is permanent.

Because we live in world marred by sin―man's greed, selfishness, mismanagement of resources and the environment―we will constantly be stressing and fighting to get through some days.

You thought you had your business figured out but surprisingly found yourself in bankrupt alley.  

Or your life is just great: money in the bank, wonderful family; but your doctor just told you a jaw-dropper―the big C's got you!

One executive reached the very top of the corporate ladder; but deep down, he knew he got stuck in the basement. His wife left him, and his teenage daughter will soon give birth―father unknown.

Take heart. Jesus is a specialist at turning disruptions around. He experienced it foremost:  Son of God, yet His glorious heavenly reign was put on hold for a while. But what a win for mankind―we've been reconciled with God.

In our brokenness, weakness or struggle to fend off life's constant tsunamis, His is the Name that we can call and depend on.

Jesus knew disruptions spelled the difference between life and death, or superb and mediocre. They gave Him room to act, on someone's behalf.

He was on the way to lay hands on Jairus' sick girl (Mark 5), then was stopped by a woman who had bled for 12 years. She was healed as she touched the hem of His cloak. Because of that delay, the little girl died. But guess what―an even bigger miracle: Jesus made her alive again!

Romans 8: "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose (v 28)."

He continues to intercede for us (v 34)― because He conquered death and sin and all the plans of the enemy to destroy us; then went back to His exalted position at the right hand of the Father, with His eye and His grace trained on those who would believe and place their trust in Him.

With Jesus, nothing is impossible.  Hey, even the storms obey Him!

Photo credits:

http://i.ytimg.com/vi/tPQ5iTcnXW0/maxresdefault.jpg

https://medtechboston.medstro.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/disruptive-innovation.jpg

http://www.pinnlaw.com/bankruptcy_law.html

POSSESSED?

Can the devil possess us?

New Life Christian Center's Pastor Joey Rafael and Shoddy Chase taught on this topic recently---apparently triggered by some believers' fear that spirits may "jump" into them.  

I'm sure this fear has crossed your mind as it did mine at times, especially if you're fond of watching horror movies. (So stop watching them, for your sake!)

Mark 5:1-13 tells of this seemingly crazy man who was in fact demon possessed and tormented day and night by a motley of spirits, collectively named Legion. Jesus's presence caused them to speak out and beg Jesus not to send them out of that region. So Jesus cast them out from the man to a herd of pigs which plunged to their death in the lake.   

So to answer the question: A big "NO!" if Jesus rules your heart, your choices and your life. 

First, Satan is a long defeated enemy. Jesus says in Luke 10 that Satan has fallen like lightning from heaven. He has given believers the authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the powers of the enemy.

His followers testified, "Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name." 

We are in the Winning Team if you've acknowledged Jesus as your Savior and Lord---because all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Jesus! (Matthew 28:18)

Satan shouldn't even be such a huge concern. Jesus Himself says in Luke10:20, "Do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven." 

It's a given: If Jesus is the vine, and we are the branches, the same power is in us. Jesus died and rose again and He's seated today at the right hand of the Father, "Far above all rule and authority, power and dominion and every name that is invoked..."

We can do even greater, promised Jesus! 

John 14:12---Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in Me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 

So who possesses you? Make sure Jesus does.  

Photo credits:
amb-church.net
spiritual-weapons.blogspot.com
gifvila.deviantart.com