Red Alert!

Romans 13:12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.

While many around the world are apathetic and lack understanding about the times in which we live, we as believers should realize these are merely signs of the times and have a sense of urgency to be about the Lord’s business.

Dr. Albert Bartlett, an expert on compounding, gave this scenario. Let’s suppose you’re sitting in a water tight baseball stadium which seats over 50,000 people, and you’re handcuffed to the top bleacher. Let’s say a single drop of water is placed in the center of the stadium and is allowed to double at a rate of 1 time per minute. In other words, 1 drop doubled, equals two drops added to the stadium. The next minute, two drops doubled equals four drops, next minute, four doubled equals eight, and so on.

How many minutes do you suppose you’d have before you’d drown? A few months? A few days? Get this — how about 49 minutes?! That’s right;  it would take only 49 minutes to drown completely! What’s even more remarkable is that at 44 minutes, the amount of water in the stadium would only be at 7%! Seriously, do the math!

You see, the real action takes place only in the last five minutes. It seems there is all the time in the world and then…perhaps this is one reason the scriptures say the Lord will come as a thief in the night!

I do not want to be sitting there in the top bleacher, oblivious and helpless — do you? Those of us who are aware of the times have a key to the handcuffs — discernment, wisdom and faith! We will begin preparing now for the times drawing nearer by the second!

Let’s get a sense of urgency about the hour in which we live. Let’s pray earnestly, invest wisely, and be about His business while there’s still time! There’s SO much work to be done!

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Let me tell you a funny little story. An old mountaineer and his wife were sitting by the fireplace one evening, passing the time in silence. After a while, the wife broke the stillness and said, “Jed, I think it’s raining. Go outside and check, will ya?”

During his reign, King Frederick William III of Prussia found himself in a bind. Wars had been costly, and in trying to build the nation, he was seriously short of finances. After careful reflection, he decided to ask the women of Prussia if they would bring their jewelry of gold and silver to be melted down for their country. Each piece of jewelry he received, he would exchange for a decoration of bronze or iron as a symbol of his gratitude. These decorations would be inscribed, ‘I gave gold for iron, 18l3’.

In connection with the Hebrew Word “Amen”, meaning “faith”, “truth”, “belief”, and “trust”, consider this revealing passage in Isaiah which further amplifies the dimensions of the word in the most wonderful and comforting promise:

“He who blesses himself in the earth shall bless himself in the God of truth [“Amen” in Hebrew]. …

After spending forty years in the wilderness, the children of Israel crossed into the Promised Land arriving to immediately face what seemed an impregnable fortress and an impossible task. Imagine receiving the instruction to march around the fortified city seven times, then finally be commanded to shout with all your might and sound shofars!

What is it about salt? And how do I season speech with it? Gracious speech is sweet, yet Paul says to season it with salt.

Sometimes, the more significant, powerful, or influential someone is, the less you know about him or her. There are some people of influence whose names most of us have never heard, and about whom we know almost nothing, yet they make decisions which affect millions of lives.

Charles Spurgeon wrote “Prayer pulls the rope below and the great bell rings above in the ears of God. Some scarcely stir the bell, for they pray so languidly. Others give but an occasional pluck at the rope. But he who wins with heaven is the man who grasps the rope boldly and pulls continuously, with all his might.”