davidbowerkingwood

A Widespread Problem Facing Christians

Each day I get letters from all over the world and a great many of those letters have to do with troubles and problems in the lives of Christians; we live in troubled times and pressures on the Christian community all over the world are increasing rapidly.

Global Media Outreach cautions the online missionaries about a growing list of “Sensitive Countries” where care must be taken to avoid any reference to Christianity in the headings of letters sent to residents in those countries.

We are warned in the Bible about the last days when the persecution of Christians will increase; from the looks of it we are moving into that time period. The Bible itself is under increasing attack because of the stands it takes on issues that have become politically incorrect; Biblical morality is being viewed as out-of-step with the times.

While bringing peace to the world is infinitely above our pay grade it is possible to bring peace within us; to enjoy a peace which passes understanding, to let the God of peace reign and rule in our individual lives.

God’s Promise of Peace to his Children

While the world searches futilely for peace and some world leaders attempt to broker peace treaties between warring nations; there remains a peace for God’s children; a moment by moment rest available from God to those who will believe him and trust him. I am particularly fond of Paul’s advice to the Philippians in chapter 4, verses 4-9 where it is written:

“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.”

Verses 8 and 9 pretty well sum it all up, there are things we must do which will be followed by something only God can do for us, give us his peace; I, for one like the sound of “the god of peace will be with you.”

A Sabbath Rest for Christians

In Genesis 2:1-3 it is written:

“2 So the creation of the heavens and the earth and everything in them was completed. ² On the seventh day God had finished his work of creation, so he rested from all his work. ³ And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when he rested from all his work of creation.”

Here we read of the establishment of the seventh day as a Sabbath which is later incorporated into the Mosaic Law as the seventh day Sabbath. While the Mosaic Law creates several days involved with the various prophetic feasts of Israel as Sabbaths the seventh day Sabbath held a special place in the hearts of the Jewish people.

At the time of the First Advent a new covenant came into being, a covenant of grace which rested on the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ; a new kind of Sabbath was introduced wherein those, under the New Covenant, enjoyed a moment-by-moment Sabbath before the Lord. The Lord had moved from a Sabbath Day to a moment-by-moment sabbath rest for his children.

In Hebrews 4:6 it is written:

“⁶ So God’s rest is there for people to enter, but those who first heard this good news failed to enter because they disobeyed God. ⁷ So God set another time for entering his rest, and that time is today.”

Today is the time for you to enter God’s rest if you have not already done so. The following three essays will discuss the problem and God’s solution to the problems we face living in very troubled times.