A Lot is Happening
We are living in a time when there is much happening that is either questionable or downright disgusting. The situation in Washington, in the world, even in our local communities is all too often depressing and could even be discouraging if you let yourself focus on the wrong things.
I’m reminded of Paul’s words of caution in Philippians 4:4-9 (one of my favorite Bible passages)
“4 Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice! 5 Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon.
6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
8 And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.9 Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.”
The Bible has warned us the world situation will get steadily worse in the end times so we should not be surprised it is happening now.
A Bright Light of Hope and Joy
Just when things seem to be reaching a low, (think national elections) a bright light begins to appear, the celebration of the First Advent, Christmas! Even now in November gentle glimmers of promise begin to twinkle in the darkness of world affairs as we see the first hints that Christmas is coming. As the weeks pass evidence will begin to increase as preparations are made to celebrate the blessed birth of our Lord Jesus Christ.
For those who long for His return nothing can dampen the hopeful expectations associated with the birth of our Lord; an amazing act of grace, love, and mercy that brought the Second Person of the Trinity to earth to indwell a human body and become a part of His creation. This supreme act of love included the redemption of all who would believe and receive the gift of salvation through the shed blood of our beloved Savior.
King of Kings and Lord of Lords!
In the midst of this political turmoil I am reminded that this will soon be past; a time is coming when all the nations of the world shall be ruled by our Savior and God, Jesus Christ. Can you imagine the joy and peace of knowing the leader of all nations is holy and perfect and completely free of deceit, selfishness and fraud?
The fullness that accompanies our fondest hopes and dreams for Christmas is only a foretaste of all that awaits us in the theocracy that is coming. I look forward to that time with a great yearning; I bet you do too!
In the spirit of Philippians 4:4-9 I would encourage you to look beyond the plentiful troubles of this present world and in faith look ahead to the world that is coming; a world that is filled with peace, joy and that inner sense of full completion that awaits all who love the Lord.
davidbowerkingwood 
Thank you for your wonderful reminder! God bless you David.
LikeLike
By: Melanie Bankston on November 7, 2016
at 12:02 pm
Melanie,
I am comforted by the sure knowledge that God is in complete control of our national elections and does not expect me to understand why elections turn out the way they do.
David
LikeLike
By: davidbowerkingwood on November 7, 2016
at 12:11 pm
Tremendous Scripture to remember! Thanks, David.
On Mon, Nov 7, 2016 at 7:35 AM, davidbowerkingwood wrote:
> davidbowerkingwood posted: “A Lot is Happening We are living in a time > when there is much happening that is either questionable or downright > disgusting. The situation in Washington, in the world, even in our local > communities is all too often depressing and could even be discouragi” >
LikeLike
By: gwwarfelgmailcom on November 7, 2016
at 12:41 pm
It is such a superior alternative to anything the world has to offer! Thank you for your comment and your subscription.
LikeLike
By: davidbowerkingwood on November 7, 2016
at 2:07 pm
Thank you for the reality check as well as the joyous reminder of who God is in the midst. We do have a wonderful Savior who is bigger than what wish would change. Praying, hoping, and praising God for what He has done, is doing, and will do. As do you, I take to heart the promises tucked inside the predictions. Do I have the faith to believe who He is and who He can be to the world in need even when He says what the reality is of the world in need?
LikeLike
By: Ms. Molly on November 7, 2016
at 7:40 pm
I always find it very helpful to focus on God’s reality as circumstances can otherwise become disturbing. Thank you for your comment and your subscription.
LikeLike
By: davidbowerkingwood on November 8, 2016
at 7:23 am
Amen! It truly is a joyful and quite honestly incomprehensible thing to contemplate the eternal state. It makes everything right now seem very small.
I love you
LikeLike
By: Karen Adamson on November 8, 2016
at 9:17 am
Karen,
It will surely be wonderful as the creator who designed us is designing it for us; there is no one who knows us better!
Love,
Dad
LikeLike
By: davidbowerkingwood on November 8, 2016
at 10:16 am
Just beautifully said, David!
“We have this HOPE as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.” Hebrews 6:19
LikeLike
By: Sheila on November 8, 2016
at 4:10 pm
Sheila,
We have so much for which we can rejoice in the Lord; it is a great privilege to let our minds focus on Him. Thank you for your comment and your subscription.
David
LikeLike
By: davidbowerkingwood on November 8, 2016
at 5:47 pm
God’s peace “exceeds anything we can understand.” This should give us reason enough to put these verses into daily practice. How wonderful it would be to always experience peace to this level…sadly we prefer our own methods of attaining peace–and wonder why we end up miserable.
LikeLike
By: Joshua James King on November 24, 2016
at 11:48 pm